New Laptop

[BrandonH]

Thinking about an ASUS G74SX-A2. Does anyone have any exterience with the asus brand? I think the specs would be more that adequate. Looking for a thumbs up or down from the guru's.

 

Processor: Intel Core i7 2630QM (4 cores / 8 threads) 2.0GHz, 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost

Graphics card: NVidia GTX 560M with 3GB of Dedicated GDDR5 VRAM

Memory: 16GB DDR3 (16GB Max)

Display: 17.3″ Full HD (1920×1080) LED backlit

Storage: 750GB 7200rpm HDD + 160GB SSD

Optical drive: BluRay Disk Combo

Connectivity: 1 USB 3.0 port/3 USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, 802.11BGN

Other: Illuminated Keyboard, Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit)/, 2.0M Pixel webcam, 8 Cell battery, 8-in-1 card reader, Gaming Backpack and Gaming Mouse, 2YR Global warranty, 1YR Accidental Damage Warranty, 30-Day Zero Bright Dot

[Leigh @ Kodiak]

I have the exact same laptop, and it runs Mastercam very well. I like it very much!

[Chris Rizzo]

Curious what they are going for? $

[BrandonH]

$2,030 to your door.

[Leigh @ Kodiak]

The spec on mine is identical, less the SSD drive, and a DVD in place of the BLU Ray. I got it for 1300 all in.

[Jeremy Herron@DBS Solutions™]

Had a G73 for about a year and it is still going strong. I also run their motherboards in my desktops. I am a fan.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

You WANT the SSD. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it.

[Todd Tracey from Fastech]

So, James, you're saying he wants the SSD? j/k

We have 3 ASUS in our classroom. We didn't have any sales PC's to pass down. They work very respectable in there.

Our 1 support tech has a DELL XPS that works well also. Just a little more than the ASUS.

[Thee Awbade™]

Asus is the rare computer brand that I support. They make good quality stuff, and I always run their Motherboards. A couple of my comp-geek friends call them Ajesus.

 

I give it the thumbs up! also; Apps guy is right, SSD is totally worth it.

[Brian B 74]

I had an Asus laptop at my previous employer. Paid $1200 at Best Buy and paid to upgrade to Win 7 pro. Worth the $$$. Ran MCX and UG NX7.5 very well. Benchmark for MCX was under a minute.

 

Good luck!

[gcode]

I have an Azus lowball gaming machine that has servered me well for a couple of years

It's got a 1 gig Nvidia gaming card and does a good job running Mastercam.

My current laptop is a Dell M4600.. with an i7 proccessor a Quadro video card

12 meg of memory and an SSD hard drive... $900 out the door at Dell refurb

(with a 25% discount coupon)

[mig]

Thinking about an ASUS G74SX-A2. Does anyone have any exterience with the asus brand? I think the specs would be more that adequate. Looking for a thumbs up or down from the guru's.

 

Processor: Intel Core i7 2630QM (4 cores / 8 threads) 2.0GHz, 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost

Graphics card: NVidia GTX 560M with 3GB of Dedicated GDDR5 VRAM

Memory: 16GB DDR3 (16GB Max)

Display: 17.3″ Full HD (1920×1080) LED backlit

Storage: 750GB 7200rpm HDD + 160GB SSD

Optical drive: BluRay Disk Combo

Connectivity: 1 USB 3.0 port/3 USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, 802.11BGN

Other: Illuminated Keyboard, Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit)/, 2.0M Pixel webcam, 8 Cell battery, 8-in-1 card reader, Gaming Backpack and Gaming Mouse, 2YR Global warranty, 1YR Accidental Damage Warranty, 30-Day Zero Bright Dot

 

Just got one :G74SX-AH71. I love it

[BrandonH]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I ended up with a Dell M6600 from the outlet. I forgot to mention that I also run catia. Our full time cad guy said I needed a quadro card for catia. So taht was a deal breaker. Shrug.

 

I think I did OK with the 6600 though.

[Thee Awbade™]

=[ Dell.

[jeff]

I ended up with a Dell M6600

 

LOL@Dell

Overpriced garbage, they might as well join forces with Apple, since their business practices are the same.

[gcode]

LOL I've been on this fourm too long.

 

I read that Brandon bought a Dell refurb last night.... and when I saw that Jeff was the last post on this fourm

 

I knew it would be a Dell bash before I even opened it.

 

 

You can bash Dell all you like, but I've been buying them from the refurb store for a decade now

 

I have made some very good deals and have never purchased a bad machine.

 

I can't speak to Dell's customer service. I've never had to call them.

 

To each is own.

[Oscar R.]

Let the Dell bashing begin, LOL

 

+1 on the

Overpriced garbage

 

I purchased a laptop from the outlet a few years back thinking I was getting a deal. Did'nt buy the extended warranty becuase I figured I'd be covered by the manufactures warranty. Well, right around the time the 30Day warranty ran out I started having issues with the hinges ( a common problem on Dell laptops from what I now understand) loud crunching and cracking noise every time I opend it. A few months later my hard drive just died, yet a few months after that my LED backlit went out.

 

Garbage in my book.

 

I've also used Dell desk top with alot of issues and just overall crappy performance.

 

I can't speak to Dell's customer service. I've never had to call them.

 

I have had to call them on several occasions and always with bad results. The person on the other side of the line seems to be as clueless about my issues as I am.

The troubleshoot reading out of the same troubleshooting manual that comes with the computer, word for word. can't tell you how frustrating that is.

 

My 2¢

[BrandonH]

How about a forum for computer hardware, so people can post their experiences with different brands and components.

 

Or would that just turn into "your _____ sux, and my ____ is the best."

[Thee Awbade™]

If you have a small custom computer shop around your area, get friendly with them. In my experience they always provide the best prices/service of any other place. Normally really friendly people too.

[jeff]

How about a forum for computer hardware, so people can post their experiences with different brands and components.

 

Or would that just turn into "your _____ sux, and my ____ is the best."

 

No, it would turn in to a "Buy the super overpriced Solidboxx brand" forum lol

I already proved those setups are too much money in the benchmark thread

[jeff]

LOL I've been on this fourm too long.

 

I read that Brandon bought a Dell refurb last night.... and when I saw that Jeff was the last post on this fourm

 

I knew it would be a Dell bash before I even opened it.

 

 

You can bash Dell all you like, but I've been buying them from the refurb store for a decade now

 

I have made some very good deals and have never purchased a bad machine.

 

I can't speak to Dell's customer service. I've never had to call them.

 

To each is own.

 

I've had 2 Dell's, but many years ago, and never again.

The main reason I dislike Dell is because their builds leave no room for flexibility, meaning if I want to add a bigger video card down the road I'm probably hosed because of the 250w power supply is running at 95% capacity.

or I can't add more RAM... etc... and the price versus building your own is not worth it in my opinion.

Are they good machines? Yes, but not the best bang for the buck.

 

The best bang for the buck on a pre-built machine is CyberPowerPC, my shop has bought their 7th one, and never had an issue so far.

They offer both gaming and workstation PC's.

[Guest]

I already proved those setups are too much money in the benchmark thread

 

Jeff, I build my own too and I agree BUT........

 

Most people don't have the time, knowledge or ability to tinker, they JUST need it to run.

 

Companies like Dell, Solidbox and us as a Reseller, fit that niche

[gcode]

In a big company, they don't want people tinkering with computers.

They want people doing what they are paid to do.

My current employeer used to have his IT people build the Cad/Cam machines

and they really didn't know what was required.

They spent a lot of money for minimal results. Now we buy Solidbox.

We have 5 of them now, and have yet to suffer any downtime.

I have no doubt I could build better machines for less money, but I don't have the time.

On a personal basis, Solidbox is way too pricey for me. At home, I buy Dell refurbs then upgrade them

as time and money allow.

[BrandonH]

I just spec'd out a laptop with comperable (as close as possible) components to the M6600 I ordered from the outlet. Price was $593 more than what I paid. I'm not saying it's better or worse, I'm saying it's better for me.

[jeff]

Jeff, I build my own too and I agree BUT........

 

Most people don't have the time, knowledge or ability to tinker, they JUST need it to run.

 

Companies like Dell, Solidbox and us as a Reseller, fit that niche

 

My pc that is faster than the solidboxx pc'c in the benchmark thread was from CyberpowerPC, I didn't build it ,they did

1/3 of the price and a faster benchmark time... I'll take that any day of the week.

and yes, there is a warranty lol.

The only ones I build are my home pc's, for work we buy pre-built.