Pyroflash Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) SO I have this issue that revolves around portable computing (or rather a lack thereof). I need a new laptop. MY desktop is simply too heavy to be carting around places, and I need something that will run my mainstream games (no flight sims) without issue. The only problem is that I am price capped at around $1500, as I plan on buying another PC later this year, either that or go skydiving, or fly some more aerobatics. The point is the rest of the money is going gone. Thus I need suggestions for a good mid-price desktop replacement laptop. Edited February 29, 2012 by Pyroflash If you aim for the sky, you will never hit the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustur Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) How about this one? ASUS G73 It's got stealth too :D EDIT: Newer Model G74 Edited February 29, 2012 by Mustur [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
159th_Viper Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 It's got stealth too :D Advisory: VIRUS = STEALTH STOP! :D Novice or Veteran looking for an alternative MP career? Click me to commence your Journey of Pillage and Plunder! [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] '....And when I get to Heaven, to St Peter I will tell.... One more Soldier reporting Sir, I've served my time in Hell......' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I'd advise against the ASUS. I own the G74. There are keyboard and mousepad issues which are well documented. There is a BIOS update available which may or may not resolve -some issues. For instance... the keypad is not really a keypad.. i.e. no view keys for DCS. I find the CRT screen also lacking in color accuracy. Looks nice on paper but I wish I'd chosen a different brand... "It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroflash Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 CRT? Do you mean CFT, in which case, how would that affect color accuracy? Also, how do you define accurate color, what are your criterion for defining the display as inaccurate? Also keep in mind that I only need something that will perform well, and the newer G75 is indeed near the top of my list, so any accurate info you could give me would be of good help. If you aim for the sky, you will never hit the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) for any issues regarding ASUS G74. http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?3076-G74SX-Keyboard-Issues-ATK-1.0.00010-BIOS-202-Available-(SOLVED)/page12 I meant LCD.... getting to old for this s.... :-) Edited February 29, 2012 by chaos "It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 To elaborate a little further... I can't get the color right. Flesh tones are off and I even tried calibrating with a 'spider'. It's calibrated alright... As far as performance goes, I can't complain too much... it's a laptop after all. I don't like the fact that it is throttling back the clockspeed to conserve battery power. Mine is always plugged into a wallsocket. DCS:WH and SB Pro work fine although I'd expect it does better on a desktop of a similar spec. One very annoying 'feature' is that the cursor sometimes jumps back a few words. If you're typing without paying too much attention to the screen, you end up with a completely incoherent piece of text. ASUS has acknowledged the problem and updated the BIOS. For some it alleviated some of the problems. I haven't flashed mine yet because I intend to reinstall the whole thing. I bought it a couple of months ago and haven't had time to do it yet. Again... not all the issues are resolved with the new BIOS. I,d stay well clear of it. No more soup for ASUS! Anyway... hope it helps to clarify a few things. Good luck with your quest. One piece of advice... you get what you pay for. Good things usually don't come cheap. I was fooled this time around. "It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtherealN Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 "I don't like the fact that it is throttling back the clockspeed to conserve battery power." That's a windows configuration. Any machine running the same configuration will have the same behaviour, no matter what make and model. This can be easily changed through Control Panel. "One very annoying 'feature' is that the cursor sometimes jumps back a few words." This sounds like you accidently coming into contact with the touchpad while typing. (Something I do a lot when using my Transformer, wherefore I typically disable the touchpad while typing.) This would occur on any laptop. (Depending on exact touchpad placement.) [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules | | | Life of a Game Tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroflash Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Yeah, my TF Prime does the same thing, I am sitting there trying to plan out a flight and instead of "KSBN GIJ AZO LFD FNT KFNT" I get "KSBFNT KFNT GIJ AZO LFD" Annoying as all get out. but yes, this is a touchpad issue. If you aim for the sky, you will never hit the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweaves6 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Same question here. This is what I was considering: MSI GT685-818US Intel Core i5 2430M 8GB 750GB DVDRW 15.6IN NVIDIA GTX580M 2GB DCS speaking, is it true that there is little to no advantage in getting the i7 vs. the i5 and what's everyone's thoughts on the GTX580M? Is there a big advantage in getting a SLI card? Thanks in advance for any insight. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyroflash Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) No, the I5 is gimped compared to the I7. SLI, probably not so much of a help in DCS. Edited March 1, 2012 by Pyroflash If you aim for the sky, you will never hit the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 " This sounds like you accidently coming into contact with the touchpad while typing. No... I've seen it happen without touching anything. It's a known issue with this laptop. "It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtherealN Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 So it randomly issues a couple Ctrl-Left commands? Sorry, that issue is so weird I'd like to see documentation on it. That's just weird. :P [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules | | | Life of a Game Tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Look, I'm not making this up. ASUS themselves acknowledged the problem. Google it if you're truly interested (or check the link provided in an earlier post)... "It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtherealN Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Unfortunately, for some weird reason, that link does not work for me. That's why I'm asking. (Server not responding.) [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules | | | Life of a Game Tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtherealN Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Got it to work, and my takeaway reagarding jumping in text remains the same: 1) Touchpad issue. Possible over-sensitivity, fixed by SmartSense configuration. (With some caveats for some uses though.) 2) I did not find any official acknowledgement of this problem. That said, the fact that there appears to be a fair bit of problems going on is pretty obvious. But I remain unvonvinced about this one. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules | | | Life of a Game Tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweaves6 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Got it to work, and my takeaway reagarding jumping in text remains the same: 1) Touchpad issue. Possible over-sensitivity, fixed by SmartSense configuration. (With some caveats for some uses though.) 2) I did not find any official acknowledgement of this problem. That said, the fact that there appears to be a fair bit of problems going on is pretty obvious. But I remain unvonvinced about this one. Hi EtherealN, would you be willing to give any input to my earlier question? You seem remarkably knowledgeable on the subject and I would sure appreciate your opinion or any feedback that you're willing to share. Thanks. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtherealN Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 The i5 vs i7 thing is mainly in the realm of desktops. Things get a bit more hairy in the land of mobile processors and there I'd not say there really is any such distinction - mobile CPU's is such a minefield as far as their marketing names go that each processor has to be looked at in more detail. The i5 you linked should work well for current DCS titles, but I don't like it being a dual-core - that might become a liability in the future. Then again, prices can go up weirdly fast in the laptop scene when you start upgrading, so it depends very much on the available alternatives. Generally I'd say look at something that preferably is Sandy-based, has 4 cores, hyperthreading isn't terribly important at all, and has a high turbo speed. Also depends on what other uses you expect from the laptop, but there's literally like 30+ sandy-based laptop CPU's that I gave up trying to keep track of them. :( GTX580M is nice, pretty much top-of-the-line as far as laptops go. I don't see much utility in going SLI on it - at least not as far as laptops go. It seems like overkill to me and comes at the expense of added heat generation (which is already bad with the 580M). If you specifically intend to dock the laptop to a double cinema display for gaming then perhaps, but nah. Regular 580M should serve you very well, especially if it has 2GB dedicated vRAM. Do they carry a spec on the speed setting of that vRAM? [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Daniel "EtherealN" Agorander | Даниэль "эфирныйн" Агорандер Intel i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz, ASUS Sabertooth P67, 8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz, ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1GB, Samsung 830series 512GB SSD, Corsair AX850w, two BENQ screens and TM HOTAS Warthog DCS: A-10C Warthog FAQ | DCS: P-51D FAQ | Remember to read the Forum Rules | | | Life of a Game Tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweaves6 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Thank you good man. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leafer Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Yeah. I wish there's a follow feature in this forum. Some people here leak info. :D ED have been taking my money since 1995. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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