Which laptop to go with? My hair is falling out!

[Fadekyn]

Hey all, been looking for a month and I may have finally come down to two choices.

What I'm looking for is some expert opinions about the value and cpu performance. One is a recertified and one is an open box, but I would prefer that everyone focus solely on the components. I'm primarily interested if there's a major difference between the i7 at 1.6GHz and the i5 at 2.4GHz.

Purpose: Gaming, but don't need ultra settings, just trying to ensure longevity that will allow med-high settings. At least for a while within reason.

ASUS G Series G73JH-RBBX05 NoteBook: ($909.99)
Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz)
17.3" (1600x900) LED backlight
6GB Memory DDR3 1066 (max 8GB)
500GB HDD 7200rpm
DVD Super Multi
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Backlit keyboard
4x USB port
1xVGA
1xHDMI
1xheadphone1xmic
Altec Lansing Speakers
8-1 card reader
1.3MP webcam
8cell battery
90day warranty (Recertified)


MSI GX640-260US NoteBook: ($842.99)
Intel Core i5 450M(2.40GHz)
15.4" Wide SXGA+ (1680x1050)
4GB Memory
500GB HDD 7200rpm
DVD Super Multi
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850
Chiclet Keyboard/no backlit
1x Express card slot
2x USB port
1x VGA
1x HDMI
1x Heaphone1xMic
Stock speakers
4-1 card reader
2.0 MP webcam
9cell battery
No warranty (unless they treat open box like new and you get general warranty.)

Summary:

Please address--
1) Screen resolution bias last in your argument.
2) pros and cons of i7 vs i5
3) impact of 6GB RAM vs 4GB RAM
4) advantage of the express card slot
5) reliability of MSI vs ASUS (regardless of recertified or open box)
6) any experience you have had with recertified or open box
7) if I'm missing any details, such as either having dual hard drive slots or what not.

Thanks for all the help, because I'm reaching the end of my thread on this search. I'm pretty much disgusted with what is offered out there and by the prices associated with anything remotely serviceable for midtier gaming.

OH! P.S. If anyone is familiar with whether either laptop has the ability to be upgraded later that would help a ton too. (Not that it's likely, since these are laptops, but every piece of information helps.)

 

[Maziar]

5850M is faster than GTX 260M so overall the MSI one will give you better gaming performance.
And 4GB vs 6GB won't make a notable difference in almost all games.

 

[Fadekyn]

5850M is faster than GTX 260M so overall the MSI one will give you better gaming performance.
And 4GB vs 6GB won't make a notable difference in almost all games.

What about the CPU though?

Also, one is an ATI 5870 and the other is an ATI 5850, not sure where a GTX enters into this equation.

 

[Maziar]

oops,at first i thought its the G72(which has GTX 260M),sorry about that
Well,my vote changes to G73 then because of having a faster card,better build quality,much better cooling solution and a better keyboard.
As for CPU,well it depends on the work you dn daily tasks and most games,the i5 is faster but in apps like PS,3d image/video rendering and games like GTA IV etc. i7 is better because the apps/games mentioned benefit from a quad core CPU.

 

[Espada]

Hey all, been looking for a month and I may have finally come down to two choices.

What I'm looking for is some expert opinions about the value and cpu performance. One is a recertified and one is an open box, but I would prefer that everyone focus solely on the components. I'm primarily interested if there's a major difference between the i7 at 1.6GHz and the i5 at 2.4GHz.

Purpose: Gaming, but don't need ultra settings, just trying to ensure longevity that will allow med-high settings. At least for a while within reason.

ASUS G Series G73JH-RBBX05 NoteBook: ($909.99)
Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz)
17.3" (1600x900) LED backlight
6GB Memory DDR3 1066 (max 8GB)
500GB HDD 7200rpm
DVD Super Multi
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Backlit keyboard
4x USB port
1xVGA
1xHDMI
1xheadphone1xmic
Altec Lansing Speakers
8-1 card reader
1.3MP webcam
8cell battery
90day warranty (Recertified)


MSI GX640-260US NoteBook: ($842.99)
Intel Core i5 450M(2.40GHz)
15.4" Wide SXGA+ (1680x1050)
4GB Memory
500GB HDD 7200rpm
DVD Super Multi
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850
Chiclet Keyboard/no backlit
1x Express card slot
2x USB port
1x VGA
1x HDMI
1x Heaphone1xMic
Stock speakers
4-1 card reader
2.0 MP webcam
9cell battery
No warranty (unless they treat open box like new and you get general warranty.)

Summary:

Please address--
1) Screen resolution bias last in your argument.
2) pros and cons of i7 vs i5
3) impact of 6GB RAM vs 4GB RAM
4) advantage of the express card slot
5) reliability of MSI vs ASUS (regardless of recertified or open box)
6) any experience you have had with recertified or open box
7) if I'm missing any details, such as either having dual hard drive slots or what not.

Thanks for all the help, because I'm reaching the end of my thread on this search. I'm pretty much disgusted with what is offered out there and by the prices associated with anything remotely serviceable for midtier gaming.

OH! P.S. If anyone is familiar with whether either laptop has the ability to be upgraded later that would help a ton too. (Not that it's likely, since these are laptops, but every piece of information helps.)

1) 1680x1050 vs 1600x900 people tend to like the 1680x1050 more bc shows more pixels etc... its between your preference of 16:10(1680x1050) vs 16:9(1600x900). its more for preference on that one
2)i7 turbo boost will up to i think 2.6ghz in dual core if needed but i think the i5 will up itself to 2.8ghz? so i5 will be better for most games that still use dual core but i7 will shine more when using all cores
3)6gb vs 4gb not a very good impact, unlesss your doing photoshop video editing etc...
4) express card slot can put a wireless card more usb connections a sound card..
5) MSI vs ASUS they are both good ive contacted both. I have an msi laptop had to rma once wasnt bad, asus rma a motherboard same thing.
6) don't really like to buy recertified since it doesn't have much warranty, open box usally has warranty left you should call MSI to ask them about it. If electronics were to fail usally tends to be first 30 days.
7) MSI vs ASUS. If i remember correctly its a pain to take apart an asus vs msi. Asus uses different MXM video card slot. MSI tends to be easier to take apart. 2-4screws from the bottom you see your ram, cpu, gpu and heatsink. MSI has a universal MXM format that sager uses. Still hard to upgrade you have to look through forums to see if anyone has put a better video card in it. the MSI can be upgraded to an i7 as well. All in all if your not gonna upgrade I say go with the asus
MSI is more easier to clean, easier to upgrade, but with the upgrade you gotta find the quadcore and find someone who has done an upgraded gpu.
ASUS- if your not gonna upgrade
MSI- you enjoy to mod/upgrade, and like to clean the crap out of your laptops

 

[Fadekyn]

I pulled the trigger on the ASUS. After a day or two of tinkering around I'll report whether buying refurb was a good idea.

 

[Espada]

let us know when you get it.