Which gaming laptop to buy?

[joshryback]

I need help deciding which laptop to get. I at least narrowed it down to two:

- Acer Predator Helios 500 PH517-51-72NU Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1070 Overclockable Graphics, 17.3" Full HD 144Hz G-Sync Display, 16GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, 1TB HDD https/www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-PH517-51-72NU-i7-8750H-Overclockable/dp/B07CTL2YRY/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1545600346&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=helios+500&dpPl=1&dpID=41rnYv-VTJL&ref=plSrch

~or~


- ASUS ROG Strix Scar Edition Gaming Laptop, 17.3” 144Hz 3ms Full HD, Intel Core i7-8750H Processor, GeForce GTX 1070 8GB, 16GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe SSD + 1TB FireCuda, Windows https/www.amazon.com/GL703GS-DS74-8th-Gen-i7-8750H-Processor-FireCuda/dp/B07BP9SFZ5/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1545603542&sr=8-13&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=gtx+1070+17.3+laptop

Thanks for this help. Just asking for opinions on these two choices. Or if you know of an even better idea let me know. I understand that they are both basically the same as far as specs go. The Asus is $50 more compared to the Predator Helios 500. I guess they just looks different aesthetic wise.

 

[rgd1101]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from joshryback : "Need help deciding which to buy"

I need help deciding which laptop to get. I at least narrowed it down to two:

- Acer Predator Helios 500 PH517-51-72NU Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1070 Overclockable Graphics, 17.3" Full HD 144Hz G-Sync Display, 16GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, 1TB HDD

~or~


- ASUS ROG Strix Scar Edition Gaming Laptop, 17.3” 144Hz 3ms Full HD, Intel Core i7-8750H Processor, GeForce GTX 1070 8GB, 16GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe SSD + 1TB FireCuda, Windows 10 - GL703GS-DS74

Thanks for this help. Just asking for opinions on these two choices. Or if you know of an even better idea let me know. Thanks!

 

[tejayd]

They both look good and fairly comparable at least on paper. The acer has g-sync though. I dont know anything about them specifically. But assuming everything else is comparable, I would say g-sync is the tie breaker.

 

[oma2668]

The Helios has 2 extra ram slots (which are free) and an extra m.2 slot. So if you want to upgrade in the future it may help (For gaming 16gb of ram is good enough, but for productivity you might want to consider upgrading if your work requires that extra boost)
Also the Helios seems to have a better score on 3d mark and more fps in some games on notebookchecks review.
I'm not sure how accurate they are so you could confirm from other sources.

The Asus is ~1.2 kg lighter (including the power brick) see if that's of importance to you.
It also seems to have ~30 mins of extra battery life.

Most of my info is based off of notebookcheck, so just double check with other sites.

 

[Rflyer]

I owned an ASUS gaming laptop for about 5 years. It was plenty fast but also not very reliable. During the time I owned it (from new) the Ethernet stopped working and so did the Wi-Fi. In order together internet access for 3 of those 5 year I had to buy a USB wi-fi adapter.

The laptop came with a Blue-ray capable disk drive bu no blue-ray compatible video player to actually watch Blue Ray DVD’s. Shortly after I bought the machine I called ASUS tech support to ask how I could get the software so I could watch Blue Ray. By this time I’d owned the computer for a month or two and had installed a ton of stuff. ASUS told me I would need to restore the hard drive using the recovery CDs. I was unwilling to do this because of al, the work I’d have to do AGAIN to set the computer back to the way it already was. ASUS made me feel like a criminal, there were completely unwilling to provide me with any software even though I had the original bill of sale and the machine was still under warranty. It was not clear how restoring the hard drive to as-new condition would have magically cause pd the software to appear when it wasn’t there in the first place.

The machine suffered from overheating, the battery wouldn’t hold a charge for long (the machine drew a lot of power), etc.

I would not recommend ASUS and will never buy their products again. My laptop was expensive but not very good quality, as evidenced by the failure of my two networking interfaces, the tendency to overheat and the ultra loud fans that kicked in just before the computer would suddenly shut off because they couldn’t cool it sufficiently - probably a thermal protection mechanism designed into the machine. My experience with their customer service was abysmal.