Asus G53SW Owners' Lounge

[kaworu876]

Oh my!! Thank you for the information there, Nid. I was on the verge of purchasing a Crucial M4 at some point this week for my Asus (or maybe my M11x, wasn't decided) but this really changes everything. I'll probably go with the Intel 510 now, I'm pretty certain there are no compatibility issues there but I'm going to do some more research for sure.

And in terms of SSD users in this thread, I know that TailGunner has the 160GB Vertex 2 installed in his, and has had no compatibility issues with that setup to my knowledge. But then, that's also a SATA II model, and I don't know if the Vertex 3 would be markedly different or not in terms of functionality.

[adampk17]

Going through the back-pages in this thread - I have a new G53SW, and while I don't feel the same sluggishness overall with the system (running on the factory image), I DO get these occasional short freezes (3 seconds-ish as mentioned by Kellhus above).

Does anyone else get this issue, and is there a fix? It happens halfway through games and is annoying to say the least!!

TIA~~~

Have you tried running Throttlestop? It may help your situation if you are primarily having trouble in games.

[Keith]

It seems there's a compatibility issue between the two because the machine won't boot the OS unless I go in the BIOS setup first and exit. If I don't I just get a blank screen ...

This may or may not help in your case, but I had a frustrating SSD issue with my G53 that I was able to resolve. I too think I have a SSD that this laptop doesn't like. (Dell branded Samsung 470) If I installed Windows 7 with SP1 already integrated (downloaded from technet), the laptop would not take the install of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology package. It would bluescreen after every reboot and it would not recover.

I found that installing Windows 7 RTM (without sp1 integrated) allowed me to install IRST successfuly, and I then installed SP1 through Microsoft Update.

Something in the integrated SP1 build didn't play nice. I know the SP1 integrated disc I have is good, because I have used it a multitude of times already, so it wasn't that.

[ElKid]

Mine just arrived! Typing on it now. Seems to be working great, but then again this is only the first boot. Hopefully this thing keeps on working and doesn't end up being one of the oh so common Newegg lemons.

[kaworu876]

Mine just arrived! Typing on it now. Seems to be working great, but then again this is only the first boot. Hopefully this thing keeps on working and doesn't end up being one of the oh so common Newegg lemons.

I really don't think those are nearly as common as you might believe. Bear in mind that very few people write reviews who get successful, working laptops - whereas if you get a DOA one you are *far* more likely to write a negative review out of anger/frustration/annoyance. Note the number of people who post in this thread as they are buying/waiting for their G53, and then as soon as they get it, they hightail it outta here. Besides the fact that at the least, of the very few people in this thread who did happen to get a DOA laptop from newegg, they all seem to have gotten replacements that work just fine in short order.

[ElKid]

I really don't think those are nearly as common as you might believe. Bear in mind that very few people write reviews who get successful, working laptops - whereas if you get a DOA one you are *far* more likely to write a negative review out of anger/frustration/annoyance. Note the number of people who post in this thread as they are buying/waiting for their G53, and then as soon as they get it, they hightail it outta here. Besides the fact that at the least, of the very few people in this thread who did happen to get a DOA laptop from newegg, they all seem to have gotten replacements that work just fine in short order.

Hmm good thinking, Kaworu. This insight, combined with my lack of problems so far, is a good sign!

Enjoying the laptop so far. Going from ~100ppi to ~140 (see sig) is the first thing that jumped out at me. Delightful.

[Seril]

I just picked up my G53SW from Newegg's willcall center in the City of Industry and am messing around on it right now. I chatted with the people at the front desk and they said they didn't have a customer service notice on the notebook. My model obviously DOA, so I'm guessing the DOA laptops are far and few inbetween.

Something this thread could use is an F.A.Q. in the first post. I don't have my home laptop on me, but I read through the thread before I ordered the laptop and bookmarked a few good posts in it (on stuff like throttlestop, resources, etc.). I can dig for them tonight while I'm throwing a clean install of W7 on this puppy.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the laptop. The keyboard is a bit squishy (only really noticeable if you have a really high WPM), the speakers aren't the best, and the bloatware is annoying, but these detriments really don't outweigh the price. $1200 for the laptop is pretty absurd comared to its competitors.

Something I noticed that hasn't been mentioned much is the laptop is built like a tank. One of my friends is in the Navy and he deploys frequently, and he was so impressed by the build of the thing he ordered one and is on his way to the willcall center to pick it up right now.

[ALLurGroceries]

@Seril if you want to share your bookmarks with me I can add them to the sticky.

The G53SW section is pretty lacking right now since most stuff is either for the G53JW or G73SW.

[kaworu876]

Yeah, I intended on putting a FAQ and some resources in the OP, and it kept getting away from met. I've been a bit busy, and maybe a little lazy, as well

I think it'd be nice if some of us more motivated posters could get together and provide a nice little collection of important info to put into the OP. It's hard to try and tackle this stuff all by yourself, but maybe I can get the ball rolling a little bit. Off the top of my head, the more relevant stuff to cover for the G53SW would be the following items, in no specific order:

• Base technical specs.
• Best places to purchase the G53SW in terms of price/quality/customizable options.
• A section of user-provided photographs of the G53SW in action.
• Information on the throttling problem and a guide on how to install and use the ThrottleStop for the workaround.
• Links to current reviews of the G53SW out there - of which there are still surprisingly few in the English language if memory serves, although a decent one has gone up on the main page of this very site.
• Links to especially useful posts in this thread and links to other useful G53SW-oriented threads on these forums.
• List of accessories that work well with the G53SW (such as neopreene sleeves/backpacks that fit the notebook well). I would have a little section on how useful a 90-degree right angle power converter is for this system, for instance, given the placement of the power cord on the right side of the notebook. Or a section on better power bricks to get with higher wattage that work with the G53SW, which (I believe) actually helps when you're using ThrottleStop a lot.
• Links to some youtube videos of teardowns and install procedures for additional drives/RAM of the G53SW - links to videos on the G53JW would work as well since I believe the internal construction is identical to the SW. Maybe a step-by-step guide on how to do a teardown of the G53SW would be really helpful, unless someone has already done one, in which case it would be nice if that link could be sent to me or posted here.
• A section on Solid State Drives - information about the SATA capabilities of the G53SW, which SSDs are proven to work well with the G53SW, etc. Nid's experience with the Crucial M4 not being compatible with the G53SW would be useful, for instance, especially if we could verify that with something beyond his anecdotal experience.
• A section on CPU/GPU benchmarks/temps would also be good, although again, this sort of information can be variable and inconsistent at times. I think the only one to post any comprehensive information like this complete with screenshots was TailGunner, and that was in a prior thread.

Well, those are my ideas for the OP for now. I'll get to work on some of that on my own over the next few days, but really - any of you folks out there who are feeling proactive and want to send me stuff on that list (or anything else helpful at all that isn't there) I'll edit it into the OP and give you credit for it. I think it'd be really nice if we had an informative, comprehensive guide in the OP.

[adampk17]

Do we know for 100% certainty yet if the Atheros wireless module also contains the bluetooth radio?

I'm ordering my Intel wireless adapter tomorrow and I need to decide between the 6200 and the 6230.

Thanks!