Solved! ASUS G73SW-XA1 vs Qosmio X505-Q8102

[dwright]

I am looking for a laptop to replace my current desktop. The two that I am considering are the ASUS G73SW-XA1
http/www.amazon.com/G73SW-XA1-Republic-Gamers-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/tech-data/B004LRO9AK/ref=de_a_smtd
and the Qosmip X505-8102
http/www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Qosmio-X505-Q8102-18-4-Inch-Gaming/dp/B004GTNCQK/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1
I will primarily be using this for gaming (I generally play MMOs) and would like to have my graphics setting on high. Which one of these two would you pick? (are there any other recommendations?) Any thoughts on the two? Other suggested brands? See below for more details.



1. What is your budget?
I'd like to stick around $1500


2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
17" +

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1920x1080

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Desktop replacement. Mobility will be confined to moving the laptop from room to room in my house.

5. How much battery life do you need?
Not a whole lot. PC will usually be plugged in.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Yes, gaming will be the primary use of the computer. Want settings on high.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
After gaming this PC will mostly used for internet, email, and office programs.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500 GB is enough.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

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

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
If I can get a bluray that would be a nice to have but not a necessity DVD is fine.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Besides the two listed above I am open to suggestions.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

 

[AntiZig]

Looking at the Asus specs on Amazon ( I can't get Asus website to work for me...) and then looking at Toshiba on their website:
http/us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio/X500/X505-Q8102X

They have the same: CPU, GPU

Asus has 2Gb RAM more than Toshiba, but I don't think that's very critical.
Toshiba also has a 100GB less on HDD
but
toshiba comes with a Blue ray drive and has a bigger screen 18.4" vs 17.4"(asus).

I think they will do about the same performance wise. (Toshiba actually seems to have a lower native resolution, even though the screen is bigger, might get better fps there, not sure)
So, if you feel that extra $100 for blue ray + 1" of screen space is a good choice, you could go with Toshiba, otherwise Asus will be a great choice just as well.

Also, if you're still open to suggestions and not too shy to pry away from mainstream vendors.
Based on your location check the pricing on equivalent machines from the following custom vendors:
http/www.digitalstormonline.com/ - CA, good for west coast
http/www.xoticpc.com/ - NE, mid west
http/www.maingear.com/ - NJ, east coast

You might get a cheaper deal from them for the same components in a different case or better ones for the similar price you'd pay for Asus/Toshiba.

 

[randomstar]

Having purchased the Asus, and used the Toshiba, I would lean towards the Toshiba for appearance and feel, but the Asus for actual use. go to xoticpc and re-price the Asus with Blu-Ray and the way you want, probably get the same price. - they will price match!

 

[Maziar]

G73SW is good but Sager NP8150 is better(if you customize it with GTX 485M)
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150-clevo-p150hm-p-2972.html

 

[randomstar]

G73SW is good but Sager NP8150 is better(if you customize it with GTX 485M)
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150-clevo-p150hm-p-2972.html

But the Sager is a 15, and the others are 17/18

 

[dwright]

Looking at the Asus specs on Amazon ( I can't get Asus website to work for me...) and then looking at Toshiba on their website:
http/us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio/X500/X505-Q8102X

They have the same: CPU, GPU

Asus has 2Gb RAM more than Toshiba, but I don't think that's very critical.
Toshiba also has a 100GB less on HDD
but
toshiba comes with a Blue ray drive and has a bigger screen 18.4" vs 17.4"(asus).

I think they will do about the same performance wise. (Toshiba actually seems to have a lower native resolution, even though the screen is bigger, might get better fps there, not sure)
So, if you feel that extra $100 for blue ray + 1" of screen space is a good choice, you could go with Toshiba, otherwise Asus will be a great choice just as well.

Also, if you're still open to suggestions and not too shy to pry away from mainstream vendors.
Based on your location check the pricing on equivalent machines from the following custom vendors:
http/www.digitalstormonline.com/ - CA, good for west coast
http/www.xoticpc.com/ - NE, mid west
http/www.maingear.com/ - NJ, east coast

You might get a cheaper deal from them for the same components in a different case or better ones for the similar price you'd pay for Asus/Toshiba.

I didn't notice the difference in resolution. Is that something I will even notice while gaming do you think? I'm liking the idea of the bigger screen on the Toshiba.

 

[AntiZig]

It will depend what resolution you will run your games on. The only problem I see that you might run into is say your MMO doesn't have the 1680x945 resolution available, so you'd set it to 1920x1080 as you would for ASUS, then your graphics card will have to do some extra work to scale the image to fit the screen fully. Which in turn will result in extra load on GPU, unless you willing to turn the scaling off, but then you might have black borders around the image. (assuming game runs full screen)

I can't tell you for sure why Toshiba uses a lower resolution while having a larger screen size though.

 

[randomstar]

It will depend what resolution you will run your games on. The only problem I see that you might run into is say your MMO doesn't have the 1680x945 resolution available, so you'd set it to 1920x1080 as you would for ASUS, then your graphics card will have to do some extra work to scale the image to fit the screen fully. Which in turn will result in extra load on GPU, unless you willing to turn the scaling off, but then you might have black borders around the image. (assuming game runs full screen)

I can't tell you for sure why Toshiba uses a lower resolution while having a larger screen size though.

I did notice it, as most games do not have a preset for that odd resolution, and you had to either under or over set it, resulting in unusual scaling and GPU load even on software that should not have been too much work..

 

[dwright]

What's interesting is that the more expensive model ($300 more) does have 1920x1080 resolution.
http/us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio/X500/X505-Q8104X
Along with the higher resolution it has a bunch of stuff I don't need. The CPU and GPU are still the same. It seems strange that they did this. I know they are probably trying to push you into the more expensive model but if I'm going to spend $300 more I will probably start to look at the Sager with a better GPU. The Toshiba is looking less desirable.

 

[dwright]

Having purchased the Asus, and used the Toshiba, I would lean towards the Toshiba for appearance and feel, but the Asus for actual use. go to xoticpc and re-price the Asus with Blu-Ray and the way you want, probably get the same price. - they will price match!

Since you have used both of these computer how big of a difference did you notice with the larger screen size of the Toshiba? It is better for game play or not that big of a deal?

 

[randomstar]

didnt really notice the difference.. after you get above a certain point, it does not really matter that much. plus. i felt like I had to swivel my head or sit farther away on the 21 inch unit i tested..
I am not a small person at all, but I rally feel that the 18 inch plus units really cross a line..
that being said the G73 is a concrete block to move around.
If I had it to do again, I would likely go with MSI or Sager just for the appearance, but the SandyBridge units were backordered due to the recall when I had to get one, and the ASUS came into stock first. I could not wait any longer.

 

[dwright]

didnt really notice the difference.. after you get above a certain point, it does not really matter that much. plus. i felt like I had to swivel my head or sit farther away on the 21 inch unit i tested..
I am not a small person at all, but I rally feel that the 18 inch plus units really cross a line..
that being said the G73 is a concrete block to move around.
If I had it to do again, I would likely go with MSI or Sager just for the appearance, but the SandyBridge units were backordered due to the recall when I had to get one, and the ASUS came into stock first. I could not wait any longer.

OK. Now I'm starting to talk myself into the more expensive ($1799) Sager NP8170. It has the Nvidia 470m processor as opposed to the 460m. I'd like to keep this laptop for a few years so my thoughts are that the 470m will future proof it a bit more. So many laptops and so little money.

 

[AntiZig]

http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8170-built-clevo-p170hm-custom-gaming-laptop-p-2971.html?wconfigure=yes
comes out to about $50 less with their instant discount (2630qm, 470m, 8gb ram, 500gbhdd, win7home, else stock)

 

[randomstar]

you may be on the right track. although the 460 to 470 isnt that much, the overall system should hold up for a while.

 

[AntiZig]

here's 460m vs 470m just for reference, so you can see what you pay for:

 

[dwright]

Thanks for all the good replies. One more question. Is the GPU on a Sager upgradable after purchse if I decide I want a better one at a later date?

 

[Maziar]

You can get something like 470M and swap it later with 485M but I don't know about the future 5xxM cards since they aren't out yet(the high-end models)

 

[dwright]

Thanks so much for the help! I know what I'm going to get now. It's going to be the Sager NP8170.

 

[Maziar]

It's a great machine,hope you enjoy it

 

[dwright]

Bought the Sager NP8170 today from Xoticpc! Now I must wait patiently for it to arrive. Yeah right!