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Product Reviews |
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Michael Campo - 08/25/2010 
Let me start out by saying that I love this laptop. I have had the laptop for about a month at the time of writing this review. Although I have had other laptops, and many desktops over the last few years, this is the first "Gaming" laptop I have ever purchased. Here are my thoughts on the various aspects of this laptop.
Gaming Performance: This laptop does everything I bought it to do. The main reason I purchased it was to play StarCraft 2 and it does an excellent job at running it. The game runs super smooth with all settings maxed out. The only other game I have played on this laptop is The Sim 3. At max settings, the framerate is not as smooth as I would prefer but still plenty fast enough to be playable. This is mainly noticed when zoomed out, viewing a lot of the city. When you zoom in closer to your sim, things run very smooth.
Overall Performance: In addition to StarCraft 2, the other main use for this laptop is running Photoshop CS4 at work. It performs well, easily outpacing my work computer, an AMD 2.2 Quad-Core. In general, I have been very impressed the multi-tasking capability of this laptop. I can easily run multiple programs from the Adobe Master Collection simultaneously (Photoshop, Illustrator, Bridge & iTunes) and it performs as though I only have one program open. In comparison, my AMD Quad-Core at work struggles with this.
Display: The 1080p display is absolutely beautiful whether watching bu-ray movies or playing games. Only downside is that the glossy finish is bad about showing glare.
Audio: The audio is the best I've ever heard from a laptop. High def music is decent, but gaming sound effects are where this thing really shines. It absolutely rocks when playing StarCraft 2!
Styling: I love the stealth fighter styling. The shape and styling says that this is no ordinary laptop while still maintaining a measure of class. This laptop will be at home both at a the office by day and a lan party by night.
Keyboard/Touchpad: The backlit keyboard is great and is easily adjustable via function keys. There are also function keys for a variety of other everyday tasks such as power control, screen brightness and and audio controls. The keyboard also has a numpad off to the side. The touchpad itself is decent, but the buttons are overly difficult to push. I wonder if the buttons will break-in and soften up with time? This issue doesn't really bother me since I use the included Asus mouse 99% of the time.
Accessories: Included with the laptop is an Asus backpack and an Asus USB mouse. Since I ride a motorcycle back and forth to work during the summer, the backpack made this laptop an even sweeter deal. Like the laptop, the backpack looks sharp without being over the top. As for the mouse, I figured it would be a bargain bin piece but to my surprise, it is one of the nicest mice I've ever had, even compared to my favorite Logitech devices, the trackball and the MX Revolution. I dare you to find a surface that the Asus mouse doesn't read perfectly.
Other Notes: The laptop does a phenomenal job of staying cool, even with all the power it packs. My previous laptop, a Fujitsu Lifebook, could not be left in a lap for more than a few minutes before you would break into a sweat from the heat it generates. Which is surpising since it only has a dual-core CPU and no dedicated GPU. This Asus however keeps surprisingy cool even when pushed hard. I can comfortably leave it in my lap while playing games for hours. On another note, the laptop comes preloaded with quite a bit of software. While some of it is useful like the customization and power management software, most of the other stuff is absolute junk and was quickly removed from my machine. I wish manufacturers wouldn't do this but it is not as bad as an HP or Compaq.
Battery Life: Battery life is not great, but I expected this out of a gaming machine. For things like surfing the web and other tasks that don't tax the CPU or GPU, you can expect about an hour and a half before the battery quits. While gaming with the settings at max, you've only got about 20, maybe 30 minutes.
Problems: I have only had one minor issue with this laptop and it seems some others have had the same issue. Most of the time, the laptop will hang, crash or otherwise be unable to wakeup from Sleep/Standby mode. I have had other computers with this problem. Since this is not a big issue to me, I adjusted my power settings to prevent the laptop from going into Sleep/Standby mode. It will hibernate without any problems.
Overall, I love this laptop and would definately recommend it to anybody wanting a performance gaming rig without the Alienware price tag. It is not perfect, but I have never owned a perfect computer. Personally, the small flaws it does have are not really an issue to me. My next computer will most likely be an Asus or possibly a Sager since I have heard good things about them. One last note, dealing with XoticPC.com was very simple and pleasant. There was an issue with my bank blocking debit transactions in certain states and the XoticPC staff was very helpful getting the problem fixed and expediting my shipping. Thanks guys! |
Sean Mattia - 08/13/2010 
as with others, I received the PSOD hardware failure (Psychedelic Screen of Death), and sent to Asus for warranty repair. Two months later, I have not received my notebook back. I left for China on vacation and called asus specifically to put a hold on shipping until I came back. Guess what, shipped while I was gone and it went back. Fedex says it was returned. Asus still tries to say my notebook is shipped. I reference the tracking numbers.... and they blame the repair center for not shipping it out... and said would call me back in 24 hours... and have said the same thing.. for 3 days in a row... now tell me I have to wait til Monday. I hate when I get a Pakistani sounding guy who just wants to pass the buck onto someone else instead of resolving my complaint. Like I said... 2 MONTHS later, no notebook. I received my notebook on May 19th, and sent for warranty repair on June 7th. August 13th today and still haven't seen my notebook.
For those of you wanting to know the research I have found on the hardware failure causing the PSOD, it has something to do with the screen resolution switching resolutions in the LCD matrix controller. Mine Failed while plugging the HDMI into my Samsung HDTV to watch a blu-ray movie on the HDTV. Do NOT expect your G73JH to be repaired quickly. Mine had a manufacture date of April 2010.
It's a great notebook, but I'm concerned about the longterm use of it, and especially of the warranty repair. |
Say Ly - 08/08/2010
I purchased this laptop long time ago maybe in the early January and received it on late march. Its a great laptop, i really enjoyed it. The speakers were awesome, great sounds prefect for gaming. The graphics card back then was top of the line but now i believe that its still rank number 2 right after the GTX480M. This notebook is worth the money, considering this is probably the best price for a top of the line notebook. I didn't really encounter any issues with the hibernate and the screen mess up or anything. But i did encounter the gray strips on my notebook once and that's about it. But remembered this gray is due to driver issue but now i believed it should be resolved. By the way this is my first ASUS notebook, great experience, highly recommended. Plus you got great warranties. |
Timofey Galuza - 08/05/2010
I received the laptop about 2-3 months ago and have had no problems whatsoever. Played Bad Company 2, modern warfare 2, medal of honor beta, starcraft , and many other games high-highest settings with no problems (would have put everything on highest settings, but didnt want to lag slightly online. Put it to sleep, hibernate but with no problems as other ppl have had. Everything works perfectly. The mouse is really one of the best accessories it could have come with the laptop, its a razor mouse with two side buttons on the left side, and a dpi switch with 6 settings that can be switched mid game or whenever, would probably cost $100+ from razor. The packback is nice as well, but dont underestimate the size of this laptop if you havent seen it physically, the packpack that it comes with is probably one of the only cases that will fit it. I could not find a notebook sleeve that can be used with the G73 so its pretty large. The laptop runs pretty quite during games and stays pretty cool. The only time i have had it and the power supply heat up more then usual was when i was sitting on the floor with it in my lap. This is pretty much a mobile desktop then a laptop, its too big and pricy (in my opinion) to take to my university on a daily basis, but what you get is a fast, high-quality gaming laptop that can be taken to a friends house or school or wherever if needed. Almost forgot, the 1980x1080 screen is really nice with no dead pixels.
I have had no complaints so far and dont expect to, if you need a high-quality gaming laptop, but don't mind the size and weight, then this is the only laptop to buy. I have also checked alienware and their comparison spec-for-spec (including the 2 yr warrenty) would cost over $3000. |
Nick Nouri - 07/24/2010
EXCELLENT LAPTOP!!! This thing is one badass laptop for the money... It has enormous power as far as RAM and the overall performance has been great so far... I am very impressed with this manufacturer... I have only had it for about a month and everything seems to be working properly along with the fact that it starts up very quickly and no errors so far.... keeping my fingers crossed based on some of the comments Ive read so far... Very happy with this purchase!!!! |
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