the new asus g51

I don't know which variant he was talking about, but saad said he didn't like the battery life on the G71.

 

I'm aware of that, which is why I'm suggesting that he could buy a 2nd battery if his budget is $1300. Plus, I don't know about him, but with almost any gaming laptop out there you're not going to get both performance and battery life at any rate, which is why humans invented the electrical outlet.

 

At the same time, I don't think he digs the idea of carrying around the extra battery.

And from the description of his needs a GTX 260m might be overkill. Something with a 9800m G[T]S might work just fine. Then again, battery life won't see much of an improvement.


In other news, does this guy here look like a good second HDD for a Best Buy G51?

 

You shouldn't have any problem with it.

 

how is the keyboard flex on this laptop?

 

there was no flex on the previous models. the g51 is based on the same chasis of the g50vt, so there shouldn't be any flex to worry about.

 

Quick question

Anyone know if it would be possbile to OC an X9100 in the G51 using SetFSB. (i know that u can do it with the multiplayers, but I specifically mean SetFSB)
I'm not sure, because according to this post, its not possbile: http://img12.imageshack.us/i/setfsb.png/ (Or does it not apply to the G51...?)

 

Actually, there is a tiny amount of keyboard flex. Not anything damning, but if you've recently moved from the "standard" keyboard og a G50vt to the chiclet of the G51, you'll notice it.

Doesn't bother me, though.

 

I was going to get the G51 today, called Best Buy and they didn’t have it in stock.
The person on the phone said they may have it after Wednesday.

Should I wait until Wednesday or buy online?

 

Anyone see BestBuy.com increased the price of the G51 by $50? Pretty random since it seems to be the same model. Glad I got it back in June.

 

This was mentioned a few peages back...

Can someone answer this pls

Anyone know if it would be possbile to OC an X9100 in the G51 using SetFSB. (i know that u can do it with the multiplayers, but I specifically mean SetFSB)
I'm not sure, because according to this post, its not possbile: http://img12.imageshack.us/i/setfsb.png/ (Or does it not apply to the G51...?)

 

how easy/hard is it to install windows 7 on the G51?

 

It's absolutely easy. You just install 64bit edition, and then open drivers for vista. Works flawlessly

 

Jus't PM him
If anybody has answer it's him.
But notice the date the post was written, 10-31-2008.
A lot of time has passed, maybe he found a way to make it work.
Hey it's worth a shot.

 

Hey guys, bit of a silly question as they just raised the price at BB, but do you all think that there may be a price drop in August? I just don't want to go buy this and have the price go down a few weeks later >.<

 

Realistically, even a high-end desktop wont really be able to play the most demanding games on high in 5 years from now, let alone a laptop. You kind of have to scale back your expectations with computers, but the G51 is quite powerful if that comforts you ;-)

 

I think it may be related to demand. I saw this laptop go out of stock at a majority of the best buys near me over the course of a few days.

 

I hate how much better US best buys are than Canada's.

Canada's best buy doesn't even sell a laptop with a 9800, let alone a 200 series GPU =/

the best gpu they have are 9600m gt's-absolutely pathetic. =/

 

Alright, so I'm torn between the two versions to pick up...I definitely want some variation of the G51 case mostly because I prefer the case style, the key style, the back-lit keyboard and size.

The G51VX-RX05 versus the G51VX-A1

Here are the pro's and con's:

G51VX-RX05
This model is cheaper by about 600 dollars, but it doesn't come with any sort of warranty past the regular one year Asus warranty, so I will definitely be picking up Best Buy's protection plan. Their plan not only covers me for accidental damage for the next two years rather than one, but it gives me a a free new battery and AC adapter next year. Plus it is much more convenient to bring it into Geek Squad any time there is an issue, rather than having to spend time with packaging and mailing it out.

The problem I have is I'm worried about the performance of the 2.0 Ghz Dual
Core processor for games in the next two years. I would rather play everything on max settings for at least the next year. Plus the display on this version isn't a full HD display, which is definitely something I want, though I would be willing to use an external monitor.

The total for me for this package would be about $1350 considering tax free weekend deals and my slight employee discount...;P

G51VX-A1
This model is a definite investment, but has every feature I would really like. It has a full HD display, has a 2.0 Ghz Quad Core processor, and still comes with a 1 year accidental damage warranty and a two year Asus warranty. I dont really need more than a 320GB HDD though, but the Bluetooth is definitely a plus for my Bluetooth stereo headphones I also use with my iPhone, but I could always get a micro adapter for that. It doesn't come with an AC adapter and battery though, and the price of those when I need them replaced would add a couple hundred dollars if they ever wear out on me.

The total for this version would cut me about $1700 though, but its got at least everything I would really want.


In the end, the two issues are either get a not as good display and weaker CPU and yet have accidental protection for an extra year, or spend an extra 350 dollars and get twice the processor and an HD screen, but get less of a warranty. Also, my budget is tough. I can definitely make the 1400 for the RX05, but the 1700 is going to be very hard and I don't want to deal with much hassle if any issues come up with the laptop, especially when in a year and a half or so, I could "drop" the laptop and just get store credit to invest in a brand new laptop.

What do you guys think, or do you know if there will ever be a medium version soon, like the RX05 with just an HD screen and a Quad Core that isn't 650 dollars more? Or do you think I'm just downplaying the RX05 because I see it next to a better laptop, when I would probably be more than happy with the RX05?


EDIT: I thought I'd mention that the Best Buy website has the laptop for $999.99 again(hopefully permanently), which would drop the price for me to about $1300.

 

Hmm looking at your pros and cons and your buget i would say the G51VX-RX05 is slightly better because it has a lower price range and you can save up for a CPU upgrade,and comes with also with the longer accidental warranty. But if lower resolution and bluetooth are a major decider i would go with G51VX-A1.

But as a owner as a G51VX-RX05 i have to say it is very realible and the cpu is very easy to overclock to 2.5 ghz as long as you get a cooler. So personally i would go with the G51VX-RX05.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking that. I am thinking in a year and a half, I'll just upgrade to the Q9000 or better, which would increase the performance a lot more considering most games now are going to be multi-core games. That and if display is ever an issue in the future, I can always pick up a good 23-25 inch 1080 monitor. The blue tooth I'm definitely not worried about, because they have micro-usb bluetooth adapters that I haven't heard anything bad about, and would fit relatively flush with the side of the laptop like my logitech wireless mouse with a micro-adapter.

That, and if the laptop stays 999.99 by tax-free weekend, I'll get the laptop for 1k, then get the protection plan with my employee discount for like 300, and a laptop cooler.

For the price, I definitely think its going to be a kick- set-up. It just gets to me to see the A1 for just a couple hundred more dollars, just barely out of my reach, but I guess thats just the effect everything has, especially technology. I gotta appreciate what I can get and do have...;P



Though about overclocking, I need to find out how that would affect my warranty, and whether they would even know my computer was overclocked if anything did happen to the CPU. Would you or anyone else know anything about that?

Considering I work at Best Buy, I should know, but I dont want to go about asking Geek Squad those questions and then bring them my laptop when something goes wrong...plus they wouldn't be able to answer any questions I had about strategies to get around that in case over-clocking does cause the CPU to burn out(which is unlikely, but if anything goes bad and they see somehow through the BIOS that it was overclocked, they could always use the excuse "it was overclocked" to get out of fixing or replacing it.

That, and you guys have any recommendations on laptop coolers? Anything that is more effective based on fan direction and position, as far as compatability to the G51 case and vents?

And one more question...about audio port that supports spidf, I have some logitech x-530 5.1 computer speakers, that have an adapter to rca. Would I be able to output from that spidf supported audio port to an rca converter to conntect to my logitech speakers, and get the full 5.1 out of my speakers, sub and all?

 

I don't know what happens when a CPU starts to fail. Does it just splutter our suddenly or does it gradually degrade?

If the latter you can simply uninstall any overclocking software and no one's the wiser. And, hell, the Best Buy G51 comes with built-in overclocking software, Power4Gear Hybrid.

 

Orly? So is it set to only be overclocked to about 15% using that built in program?

And say I was to use another program, say the CPU or anything went out to where I couldn't uninstall the software, would it leave any obvious or discoverable signs of overclocking, say, in the BIOS, to where when they were diagnosing my laptop would discover I had overclocked it and void my warranty?

 

Actually, according to CPU-Z it's only like +7.5% give or take on extreme. (At stock settings the processor is actually running at 1.95 GHz.)

And as far as I know a program like SetFSB is entirely local. Well, I mean it stores stuff in the folder you unzip it to. Delete the folder and it's bye-bye evidence.

But overclocking is pretty safe, as long as you don't push too far and only use it for heavy use. For example if I turned on Crysis I would overclock, but once I'm back in the web typing things out I'd turn it back down.

 

Has anyone figured out if the G51 and G60 have an actual socket for the CPU, that I could buy with the lower end Q9000 but if I find a great deal on a better CPU, I install myself? Sorry if I missed this anywhere, I ran a search.

 

MooCwzRck with the BB warranty if your problem is more then a quick issue, then your pc will be packed up and shipped to one of their repair centers. I would check out the BB forums like to see what others have experienced. http://www.forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board?board.id=Policies


Reading the BB forum if you bring in your pc make sure you back up all your info BB will not be responsible for lost data. There have been posts on how a person took their pc to BB for keyboard issue. It was sent to the repair center and came back with a new keyboard....and a new hardrive to which that persons info is gone with the wind, or they'd charge you $250 to try and recover the info if your old drive is still around lol. If you were to go with the manufacturer warranty or the BB warranty either way your pc may end up being packed up and shipped off for weeks or months on end in some poor peoples cases.

 

There's already at least two threads dealing with this specifically.

Anyway, Q9000 will definitely work, at least architecturally. Two people who have tried to upgrade with a Q9100 have been met with no success. There was no damage to the computer, the processors simply didn't go past windows bootup. The theory right now is that the BIOS in the Best Buy G51s don't have support for quads. Since the G51rx-A1 coming from resellers come standard with quads, that's definitely going to change.

Any T-series Intel processor, up to the T9900, will for sure work as-is.

 

Hi, I am almost in the same situation as MooCwzRck.
Recently BestBuy canceled my order due to billing adress issues, so im thinking if the A1 is a better deal.
What do you guys think, is worth the $650 more for the upgrade, or is better to buy the RX05 now and upgrade the processor later? Maybe upgrade the screen also, but I think that If anyone wants to play in 1080, its better to have a bigger external monitor, so the low res screen isnt a big deal for me.
Also, Is the G51rx-A1 the best gaming laptop around $1500?

HELP!?

 

Am I blind or did my browser stored the old page, but didnt BB lower the price of the G51 by $50?

 

As-is the A1 is bordering on $1600+.

As for processors, that's what I'm doing right now. Going where no NBRer has gone before with a QX9300. It's definitely cheaper, but it also voids your warranty.

 

I know what the BB warranty entails, I work there...I gotta explain to people what the warranty entails and other services, especially data back-up, entails dozens of times a day...;P.

I have an external HDD so I have a back-up of everything I have, so I'm not worried about that. That and if my repair took more than a week and a half(reasonably) I can bug Geek Squad whenever I'm at work and find out exactly where its at or what they are doing.

I used to(still active with Radioshack, actually) have a protection plan with my current laptop with Circuit City, and made good use of it. It was just much much more convenient for me to hand it off to Circuit City(like it will with Geek Squad) and let them do the sending out and repairs and replacements, plus get things like the battery. The battery in my HP stopped even charging fully about a year and a half into its life and only lasts 5 minutes on me.

If I had a desktop, I wouldn't even consider bothering with a warranty, I can do anything on a desktop, including diagnostics, swapping out processors, etc. I worked at a LAN gaming center for 3 years maintaining 16 high-end gaming desktops at a time, so I am comfortable messing with desktop towers...but I dont wanna around with the laptop, the parts in there are too precise, and way too expensive for me to have add up over the years. I dont mind waiting until about a year and a half and upgrade the ram and processor, or sell it and get a new laptop.

 

Yeah, I think Im going with the BestBuy one (again!).

Wooo! the QX9300! you're going to need some liquid nitrogen there hahaha. No just kidding, hope it works fine because with a quad at 2.53GHz this Asus would fly!

 

Moo Bestbuys geek squad is one of the worst rated service plans around. I STRONGLY recommend you do some research before you bother to even THINK about purchasing a plan from those uneducated,un certified clowns. They have legal litigation pending against them in several states over many cases of refusing to honor there warranty and or canceling it for no reason. I would advise looking into Squaretrade or another provider similar to.

 

Again, I WORK for Best Buy, and I haven't seen any issues with their service so far. Some obscure and isolated incidents in other Best Buys aren't enough to convince me that the service in every location, especially mine where I work with the guys 5 days a week and know what they know and are capable of.

Of course issues are going to pop up often around the country, and there will be mis-communication, and there will be complaints, etc. But then again, Best Buy is the largest electronic retailer in the United States now, and all of their main competition is either gone or sinking, or still barely known. They have some good competitors as far as internet goes, or Tiger Direct/CompUSA, etc, but none of them are nearly as large as Best Buy and sell as many products as Best Buy while also offering a service plan. So yeah, when they sell as many service plans as they do every day of every year at thousands of locations, there will be isolated issues.

But again, I work with these guys and any issues I have I can argue directly, as a fellow employee.

 

As a certified technician myself honestly i think it should be illegal for them to even be called repair services. However as an employee with the ability to argue i see your point. As per ""isolated" incidents? There BBB rating is horrible, Reseller rating is horrible And there have been numerous televised fraud investigations into there service proving they try to sell you what you don't need and or misdiagnose the problem. Isolated is hardly a word i would choose to describe the situation but you can in there defense only expect so much from uneducated un certified """techs""". But again if your an employee i do see your point in the matter. Best of luck to you.


P.S I am curious as an employee do they enforce that """adjusted total/Similar spec'd"" crap on you too if your computer is deemed unrepairable?

 

I'm not a mod or anything, but can we keep the Best Buy Rox/Sux arguments somewhere else?



Kind of a minor issue--not really a problem--but I notice my computer doesn't automatically enable numlock after I shut down. I have to enable it by pressing the key. I know, I know, it's a simple issue, just pressing the key. The thing is my old G50vt enabled it from the get-go, and I was wondering if there's a way to do it here.

 

Sager NP8662 is a better buy right now.

 

The one thing I don't like about that chassis is that it doesn't have a full numberpad.

 

Are you referring to the idea of giving someone a "comparable" model if their laptop is unrepairable? I'm sure they will and I wouldn't mind it. I've had people sent back to me working in computers when Geek Squad said their lap-top was not fixable. If we don't have a model that has about exactly what they had, I have usually given them something slightly better, which is usually the case because of the fact that laptop generations are constantly improving, even the low-end models.

Of course, if you spend a thousand dollars two years ago, we aren't going to give you a thousand dollar laptop today, but if you bought it 2 months ago of course we'll find something comparable. Especially as a non-commission employee, it doesn't really hurt me to give the customer a slightly better laptop thats relatively comparable. That kind of thinking is actually drilled into us by management, which definitely wasn't what I was expecting from working for a big retailer.

Plus an A- is a pretty good score from what I can imagine, but I don't know much about how the BBB scores...


EDIT:

Sorry and agreed.

 

Indeed it is. I'm getting one with a qx9300 for the same price as a g51vx-a1 with AS5 on the GPU+CPU .

 

Moo ok i understand what you are saying. Im sure the GS guys in your store will treat you and your pc good. As a person who has had a few dodgy experiences with a few folks at BB was just relaying some of my own info. And what has been posted on BB's own forum. We all hope to never have to do warranty work on our machines so i hope you have great luck and no issues with your machine.

 

For a 15"?
NO.
That title still belongs to a CLEVO M860TU/SAGER NP8662

 

Interesting. What seller are you buying from? I notice Xotic and GenTech don't offer the QX9300 as an upgrade option.

 

i'm buying the barebone from rjtech and i got my qx9300 from ebay.

 

YEAH!
How much did you manage to get it for? If you don't mind me asking.
Looked today and they only had OEM versions for over a grand,,(NO thanks )
ES from Shirley?

 

yes. i got it for $520 from Shirley.

 

Very true and I suspect build quality and durability too be better.

I've never had a number pad on a laptop, so although it would be nice, I won't be missing anything.

My hope of Newegg offering something similarly speced to the RX5 with improved resolution and CPU for 1,300 -1,400 is fading.

 

I think it might be possible through the BIOS. Didn't remember seeing it last time I was in the BIOS but I didn't spend that much time so it won't hurt to take a look

 

I'm considering the A1 version from GenTech, but I think will wait until the G60 comes to make my decision. How do you guys feel about the G60 compared to the G51?

 

honestly to me I think the G60 will be basically the same but a higher price tag.