OK,so I'm 95% sure of getting G51vx-a1 but...

Ok, I'm pretty sure that's what I want.

But like anything exspensive, it's hard to hit the buy button. I was considering the Sager 15in. I like it because it has a thumbscanner and the Turbo cache(although people say its not all that great), no downclocked GPU, although I don't know how much it'll make. Maybe 2-3fps?

The configuration I picked is for these reasons:
1) Gaming (full screen resolution)
2) Work (lighted keys and keypad)
3) Blu-Ray watching at full resolution. (Hoping 9cell extra battery is goog for 2+ hours of Blu-ray)

What do you think?

It'll be configured like:

ASUS G51VX-A1
- 15.6" WUXGA FHD "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen (1920x1080)
- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) 30 Day Pixel Guarantee
- -Intel® Q9000 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Quad 2.0GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB - Default
- IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 260M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10
- - 4,096MB (4GB) DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (2x2GB) - Default (Vista 64-Bit required to use 4GB+)
- Standard Finish
- - 2X Blu-Ray Reader + 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- - 320GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default Hard Drive
- - 320GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default Hard Drive
- Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader: MMC/SD/Mini-SD/XD/Memory Stick/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Asus G Series Matching Backpack
- ADD Asus M5 9 Cell Battery
- Asus G Series Matching Gaming Mouse & 2 ASUS EEE Sticks - Standard with System
- -Windows Vista Business 64-Bit + Windows 7 Professional Upgrade Coupon w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's

 

The G51Vx-A1 will work for all of your purposes, but I don't think you'll get 2 hours of Blu-Ray watching out of even the 9-cell battery. I recently reviewed this notebook and the battery life when playing DVDs is miserable. You may have better luck, since I was using a worst-case scenario (full screen brightness, performance mode), but I wouldn't count on it.

If you want to look at my review, it's here: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread229459.html

 

Sounds like a good configuration. The quad is a bit slow though. Generally a faster dual core (2.66Ghz>) will beat a slower quad in terms of gaming. The only time a quad will really shine is in multitasking and encoding.

As for thumbscanners, I really don't find them that useful. I rarely use the one on my Toshiba, and I only really set it up to see if it worked well (which it does, I just don't use it).

And 2-3 FPS? I don't know where you got that idea, but really, you want a game to be running at 30FPS and over. 2-3 is really bad. Really, really bad.

 

Not true. 2GHz is enough for pretty much every game, and the games that require more also support quads.

 

You might want to wait until late october to see if the new mobile i7 Asus gaming laptops will be released.

 

Might be my wording. I meant for the amount the Asus is underclocked, it may not be that much of a disadvantage when compaired to a system that runs the same configuration and not underclocked. Example: You might see the difference in 3dmark, but in everyday gaming, the few extra fps you might not see it.

 

I thought I read something about that. But I wonder if it'll be kept as a 15in model. I can see them adding that feature for a 17in. I think for case design, it's hitting the max for heat exchange. Might be harder to cram a larger GPU in a 15in. And a larger CPU (i7) while still being able to get rid of the heat.

 

I've been told this time and time again here on the boards. For gaming ONLY, I might be better off getting that 2.6+Ghz dual CPU. But improvement would be more noticable with a GPU upgrade.
And for everyday programs, the quad 2.0 would actually outperform the 2.6 dual as long as the software can handle more than dual cores.

 

Thanks for the review. Only 12mins difference between the 6 and 9 cell? Wow. That is BAD. I would have thought a 30% increase in time.

I would have mine set to full brightness. But maybe set the performance mode to something like "normal" I think in "High Performance Mode" the CPU/GPU is not dynamic and kept at 100%. So I have a feeling that's what killed it.

Any chance you can run that test again with 100% brightness and performance mode somehwere in the middle?

 

The multiquote button is a pretty cool guy.

 

I couldn't use that on my pda.

 

I'd stick with a quad core, even a 2.0 GHz one. It's very overclockable. People are playing Crysis with a measly 2.2 GHz overclock on a P7350 C2D.

Adn the games that require a lot of CPU juice, like Supreme Commander? Quad support.



As for the differences between Sager and Asus. Well. Sager gives better cooling on the GPU (Their HDDs tend to run hot, or so I hear). In my opinion, the Asus G51s just look and feel nicer, plus are a bit cheaper. Your call.

 

Fixed. 10char

 

The W860, maybe. The current Clevos don't do much for me in the looks department.

 

Don't make me take pictures of my laptop tomorrow.

 

I dare you. Besides, he was talking about 15-inch Clevos/Sagers.

 

Oh, it's on. I'm busting out my Canon Cannon.

 

I didn't know they used a Canon in the Hubble Space Telescope.

 

Hey nobody dies in a post I start. But yeah.. The Asus I like because I can use the keypad at work.

Now If I can just get myself to push the buy button. Every time I buy something electronic something never goes right...

 

The mobile i7 is going to run cooler than the current configurations so heat won't be a problem.

 

I heard that before.. But I guess only time will tell. Btw, I did come across an article stating the i7 2Ghz version is 45watt.

Battery: Hmm... Now that I'm re-reading the reviews for this laptop, I thought 2hrs was possible for normal webbrowsing, but might be closer to 1.5 hours. I wonder if the 9cell battery isn't doing as good because it's not being fully charged in the laptop?