Solved! Asus G73 vs. Lenovo Y560

[TheMysteriousStickman]

Comparing Best Buy's cheaper G73 ($1,200 + tax + shipping) vs Lenovo's Y560 ($950 special, no tax or shipping)

Worksheet:

What is your budget? $1300 + tax max, below $1k is better

What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15"+

What screen resolution do you want? 1280x720 +

Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? DT replacement

How much battery life do you need? Very little, more is better

Do you want to play games with your laptop? Yes. See below

What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? Video editing, 3D rendering, general purpose multitasking

How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need? More is better, ~320GB min

How long do you want to keep your laptop? 3+ years

What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer

U.S. Resident.

Other information & Questions:

Best Buy's cheaper G73 ($1,200 + tax + shipping) vs Lenovo's Y560 ($950 special, no tax or shipping)
Relevant Specs:
G73:
i7 720QM
6 GB 1066 DDR3
Ati Mobility 5870
500 GB HDD (5200 RPM)
1600x900 17.3" LCD

Y560:
i7 720QM
4 GB 1333 DDR3
Ati Mobility 5730
500 GB HDD (7200 RPM)
1366x786 15.3" LCD

Is it worth it to get the G73?
Details: I plan on having this laptop for the next 3+ years, and I likely won't be able to upgrade until the end of that time. I'd be doing some heavily threaded rendering work (thus the i7) but I'd also like to be able to game.

I don't demand crazy res. with x8AA and all ultra, but in 2.5 years I'd still like to walk into a store, buy what looks cool, and get Low-Med out of it. The 5870 has twice the cores and DDR5, I know. It's also pushing about 1.5 times the pixels, but it would still come out ahead.
Question #1:
Giving best guess, will I still see acceptable (30+ fps) performance from the 5730 in 3 years with new releases on low settings/No AA at native res (1366x786)?

I've heard of overheating problems with the G73, issues with the screen on BB models, and I know that BB models don't get Asus' warranty. There are also some reported bugs but those are my concerns. An idea of how frequently those issues come up would help tremendously.
Question #2:
Has anyone here experienced issues with BB G73s or a G73 in general, or does anyone have stats on the prevalence of those problems?

I'm willing to sacrifice portability for the G73 but if I pick the Lenovo it'd be nice to carry it easily.
Question #3:
I'm a lousy estimator, with the Y560 at a bit over 5 and a half pounds, how would that compare in weight to other laptops in the 15" range?

Question#4:
More generally, what's the consensus on the Y560?

Question#5:
Overall, is it worth $250 + 6% tax and $50 shipping for 2 GB ram and the improved graphics/screen of the Asus; alternatively, are there other options I should consider?

Answers and opinions?

 

[Maziar]

1_No one can exactly tell you that,because we don't know what kind of hardware the future games demands but i "think" a 5730 can handle them fine on a low resolution and low settings.
And as for the screen issues,i don't know much,so i recommend you to search or ask in this thread
http/forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/457024-official-asus-g73jh-owners-lounge.html
2_Since i don't own one,you better ask in the link above
3_That's a matter of opinions,but we have both lighter and heavier 15" notebooks compared to Y650
4_Its a good laptop,but you may run in to overheating problems because i7 720QM produces a considerable amount of heat,so i would recommend getting a laptop which has a good cooling(and its bigger)
5_IMO its worth it,you get a better VGA,more RAM,better display and a better cooling solution.

 

[cats_Paw]

history-wise, the 5730 wont do in 3 years : 3 years ago we had the HD 2xxx and the nvidia 7xxx in the quality of the 5730. Those Gpus wouldent move current games 2 well unless youd get sli 79xx or crossfire 2900 XT... and that costs crazy. Better get "WHAT YOU REALLY NEED" and then the cash that u saved, spend it in 2 years for a new laptop, getting a far better overall component balance. Not to mention in 2 years you might not even like games anymore or have a totaly diffrent job/interest for your laptop. The only reason to go for a high end gpu is to play current games and "near future" games on max settings, becouse next generation might be "a bit better" or a total revolution, so u could potencially get a beast gpu for a lot cheaper.
On the BSOD from ASUS, well im not sure on how often it happens, but i heard that if you work your way around and update bios, it gets stable unless you overheat it (unfortunatelly any i7 has huge chance of overheating your computer).
I dont have one.
I got a 2.7 KG laptop 15.6", and the laptop itself is light, but when you add to it some stuff (in my case gaming gear: mice, headphones, dvds,external hdd,laptop cooler...) it gets really heavy.
As far as i know, asus is much better: 17 inch screen beats 15 big, also it means laptop is bigget and cooling system is bigger in it.
6 gb ram for the kinda work you describe is a blessing.
lower hdd speed will heat up less and only really matter to you in games, and only games like crysis, so its a lot better overall, ofc unless you get BSODs offten 8(.
Sorry, search for info on it yourself, half of the BSODs posted online might be posted by other companies, or 200% more common that the actual % of this info online.
Youll have to guess on that 1 im afraid.

 

[pimpasaurus]

I am currently an owner of a Lenovo Y560. I was in the same situation you are in and was trying to make the choice on the two laptops in question. Having owned this Y560 for about a month, it has been a pretty good piece of equipment. I chose this laptop because it would be more portable as I need something to take with me while traveling.

At times though, I wish that the graphics card was better. I play Starcraft 2 and could set it to Ultra settings and play, but it would get laggy during online play. I set the graphics to the high setting and I could get through all my matches fine that way. Since I game a lot more than anything else that I do on my computer, I do wish that I would've gotten the G73 for the Radeon 5870 graphics card and bigger monitor with better resolution. The only thing is, I didn't want to spend another 200 to 300 just for looking at ultra settings.

Since you're looking for more of a desktop replacement though, are you going to be using external equipment (monitor, mouse, speakers, etc)? If not, I would go with the ASUS. If so, and don't mind the lower video card, go with the Lenovo.

 

[magnumfinger]

Comparing Best Buy's cheaper G73 ($1,200 + tax + shipping) vs Lenovo's Y560 ($950 special, no tax or shipping)


Answers and opinions?

New updates unfolds as this 3D beast will be available before the end of June starting at 1.2k USD. Lenovo Ideapad Y560 3D Updates

On a sidenote, I wonder if there'll be a 3D laptop on the future wherein it would cater the features of the Nintendo 3DS (experiencing 3D sans the 3D glasses)