indeed, putting aside everything else, jz is still the best bang for bucks in terms of gpu

the vindicator 18 backpack should be just nice for this machine. the 17" version is too fit.

ah.. asus qc kantoi big time :/

what is your windows version?

to extract the windows key, usually belarc advisor should be good enough. run it and look for the key within the report; http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

alternatively, with compatible versions of windows (w7, w8; not w8.1), you can also use advanced tokens manager to restore the activation tokens from a backup. http://joshcellsoftwares.com/products/advancedtokensmanager/

yeah the cooling systems in those big boys are impressive. (g55 still inherited this trait. well sort of.) it's too bad asus takes away customizations and maintainability from the equation. (to me that's a huge turn off)

slimmer design usually means huge sacrifice of cooling. for something tagged as performance laptops, i still prefer bulky design.

right. it's business, so tapping into the market by fulfilling demands is common sense. however doing things against the law of physics without compatible technologies are nightmare.

after so many years with its presence in Malaysia, that's the weakest link that asus has never paid attention and efforts to fix. seriously.

in asus, i see so much about smart minds doing stupid stuff.

they can spend so much money decorating the whole lyp with asus this and that, yet they neglect the importance of improving their after sales and tech supports (which definitely affects the confidence level of consumers, and eventually sales in the long run).

to me, one of the keys to provide good service time lie in the internal design of a device (that can provide convenience to access internal parts). it is not because i want customizations. it relates to how easy it can be to service that device. if you looked at brands that can deliver excellent service time, their devices usually have such designs. and that does help. a lot. this is one of the known secrets of how, for instance, dell can do so well in servicing their machines, via outsourced service providers (ok i put aside availability of parts, logistics and what not, because those should be dealt with first)

what asus does (i.e. design their laptops to become close to unserviceable) actually affects their own service time. (it will take the service staff more time and patience to do just simple tasks). the outcomes? there is a special thread just for your reading pleasure :/

asus is well established. they have good technical and marketing teams, and they build good machines. to become better, they must fix these fundamental issues first. it's killing them. (and there is no need to tell us the various 'problems' if they have to fix it. people are doing it right. why can't asus?)

hehe what i meant to say was that they wasted a lot of money and efforts in something not practical in their business. at least not until they have fixed the fundamental issues.

these days ads have no effects on me. i feel nothing. they are full of lies.

asus builds good stuff. (i have some of them, other than laptops. they are good) however establishing competitive advantages based on products alone is not enough.

this is true. people do like asus. i was asked about asus laptops just a few days ago, because they saw how well my g55 can run. (they just didn't realize how much i have spent to make it like that) i told them there will be problems when they need services, since they are not exactly IT savvy. however they still insisted to go for it. it's these people, who believe in what they saw in asus ads, that i think it's the sole responsibility of asus to serve them better. do not take them for granted.

almost all of us do. imo this is most significant upgrade for any laptop.

what's your laptop? there are 2 types of msata ssd. the full-size mini card and half-size. full-size is common and is available in retail, not half-size.

boot time depends on OS. it can be under 10 secs (w8/8.1, uefi bios and fast boot enabled).

it's a waste of money, because it's like asus pay to kill themselves. ads attract people to buy their products. the buyers found problems with the products and visit the service center, and go through the hell of warranty support and come back. imagine the outcomes.

oh great yes you need a full-sized. the process to reach the msata slot is kind of tedious but it's simple. just refer to the first page of this thread for more information.

about the ssd of choice i suggest you get plextor m5m 256gb. if you want larger capacities there are samsung evo msata version 500gb, or crucial m500 (480gb) / m550 (512gb).

haha nice. you are good to go

nice did that a few months ago. until now it's still good. as a workhorse, g-series is really great

yes.. be patient. for asus laptops it's better to get the one with a new card.

check the bottom of the laptop for air intake area, and put the fans there.

how future proof it is depends mainly on your usage. if it's for gaming purposes only, then no. the best you can do is to get one with top cards if possible. (for now it's the jz model with 880m 4gb vram). if you're talking about doing after-market cpu/gpu upgrades at later times, in general recent asus g-series cannot do that. (cpu is soldered; gpu is custom, non-standard type). you will have better luck if you pick select alienware or clevo/illegear models.

if you're talking about converting it for common usage after 2 to 3 years, then it might be a good machine that last longer than you want it to.

imo only desktops with high end basics can provide such long-term guarantee.

This is sad news :/

Yes, i am grateful that i have a g55 that allows easier maintenance.

don't make me start imagine the worst :/

this is why i think internal design with limited access to serviceable areas might hinder many things, including the reputation of asus service centers locally.

normally when you tear down a laptop for the second time, you basically know pretty much almost of it. most of us don't have such chances lol!

imo with top graphic cards, it could be a good combo of that, depending on your expectations on how you wanna play games. if you're fine with lower game settings a few years later, it will work. for common usage, i think you can use it more than 4 years.

just be realistic, it's a laptop.

edit: riku2replica has a better answer. maintenance is alwaysimportant to extend the shelf life of a laptop.

This post has been edited by horns: Jul 15 2014, 10:42 PM

wow.. that's a much nicer layout for asus g-series laptops. it's like my xps.

maybe in real-world gaming purposes, 850m is good for performance/cost ratio, compared to 860m. (i cannot think of any valid reason other than this one)

one thing to note is that the gpu's at this range tend to age faster. for long-term common usage it should be good.

oh. that's sad. i think they should just fork out these laptops from rog g-series :/ it looks like only g7xx are qualified for the name.

.. or maybe we misinterpreted what it is to become rog g-series. whatever it is, i still hope rog can live up to our expectations. it's such a good brand imo. the republic of gamers. i like the idea of having a better cooling system in gaming laptops. however i hope this uniqueness is achieved by innovations in better cooling design, not by using entry-level hardware alone (everyone know this trick. it surely helps bring down heat).