So my desktop is like 120lbs and hard to carry around so i think it would be a good idea to get a laptop. I'm looking for a laptop that Will be able to run 3 wow accounts on all low settings and when I'm playing be able to run everything on high. I never ran more then 1 account at a time so i dont know how much ghz your cpu has to be,how much ram you need, and so on. I was looking at best buy and these are my options......
ASUS - Laptop / Intel? Core™ i7 Processor / 17.3" Display / 8GB Memory / 750GB Hard Drive - Black - G73SW-BST6
or
ASUS - Laptop / Intel? Core™ i7 Processor / 17.3" Display / 8GB Memory / 1TB Hard Drive - Black - G74SX-BBK7
pretty much the same thing with small differences. Any help at all would very much appreciated.
I *love* ASUS G-series computers. Not only great hardware and decent price, but their warranties are the best in the industry.
I currently have a G53JW (previous one was a G1S), and regularly run the following with it (simultaneously)....
- 5 WoWclients (graphics are low, but it works with them set to high also) + 5 HBs
I believe it would easily do another 3-5 WoWclients/HBs, but don't have the accounts to try it.
- VisualStudio
- Firefox (with about 40 tabs open)
- Thunderbird
- Financial (trading) app
- Skype
I run the Dexpot virtual desktop, but the limiting factor is still screen real-estate (1900x1080) instead of CPU/Memory/Disk. It can handle an external monitor, but my work environment doesn't allow for that.
If you are a touch-typist, you will find that most ASUS laptops like to drop characters. There are some forum threads about this, and I've managed to correct mine by updating the BIOS, and their ATK utility (does the keyboard lighting, and fancy Windoze interface to enable/disable WiFi/bluetooth/sound/etc).
I've had ASUS laptops for about 7 years now (along with Sony, Lenovo, and Dell). ASUS beats the pants off the competition (except for perhaps boutique machines like Alienware, but those cost a good bit more, also).
I wouldn't touch HP with a 10-foot pole, and would never buy a Dell again. Customer service & warranties for those two are the absolute worst. Also, HP is exiting the hardware business (my jaw dropped, but the board claims it wants to focus on 'software only'. Ha!).
Edit: Be careful if you buy ASUS from BestBuy (maybe some Amazon suppliers, and others). Frequently, these machines are built with BestBuy considerations (perhaps cheaper screens, slightly slower CPUs, smaller memory, etc), and include only a one-year warranty instead of the normal two-year warranty. Such machines carry a non-standard model suffix (i.e., you won't find it listed on the ASUS website). The G73SW and G74SX are both listed on the Asus site, so you're probably good. Just be sure you get the standard ASUS 2-year warranty with it.
Also, you may want to read some reviews (
http://forum.notebookreview.com/), a few years ago the G53JX/G73JX had overheating problems. That's why I waited for the G53JW. The newer ASUS designs have eliminated that problem completely. The G53JW is the quietest and coolest laptop I've had--even when under heavy load. It gets warm, as all gaming laptops do, but no where is it really hot. It doesn't get warm under the keyboard, all the heated airflow moves out the back.
One more upside, ASUS is one of the few companies that ships a 150W power block instead of the normal 80W power block. Although the block is a bit more bulky, it allows the laptop to run at full speed. "Gaming" laptops that use < 100W power block frequently cause the CPU to go into 'power throttling' mode, and either your CPU or graphics will suffer because of this. Simply buying a bigger power block doesn't always help--as the system has to be built for proper power management (i.e., the CPU and graphic card(s) communicate on a 'power control bus'). ASUS builds systems properly for this, and gives you the adapter big enough that its not an issue.
One more downside, as a gaming laptop, the battery life stinks--maybe an hour. But, the G53JW was prior to the Sandybridge chipset which is supposed to help that immensely.
cheers & good luck with your decision,
chinajade
