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15" i5 Macbook Pro vs. Asus G73JW. Which would you pick?

R

Ryz0n

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 6, 2007
16
0
I don't really know why I'm even asking this because most people will probably say it's really my decision and depends on my needs. Anyway, i recently fried my mid-2009 15" Macbook Pro and now need a replacement. My mom is going to help me out with getting a new one, but I rather not spend 2,000+ on a new one. Now I'm torn on whether I should go back for another Mac, or return to Windows.

If I go Mac again, I plan on buying a refurbished 15" i5 Mac from Apple for $1529. This one to be exact.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC371LL/A?mco=MTgwOTc2ODA

But, I did have my eye on this ultra-gaming PC, the Asus G73JW for 100 cheaper, brand new.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Notebooks-_-ASUS-_-34220834

I used to game on PC's and would love to get back into it, but realistically the only games I play now are Starcraft 2 and soon Diablo 3. I also produce music in Logic, but using Logic is not 100% necessary, I could use FL studio or Ableton. There are also a good amount of music programs I need that are Windows only, but I can still get them from bootcamp.

I just don't know if I'm ready to never have the Mac OS and have a huge 17" laptop (the Asus is damn thick and 8 lbs heavy), although my laptop usually stays stationary in my room and this is my last year of college so...don't know if I really have to have mobility anymore. The Asus is so much more powerful and could last me for many more years than the Mac I imagine. I'm only torn because I don't want to spend big bucks again for a slight Mac upgrade from my old one and have to buy yet another laptop somewhere in the near future. However, I love Mac OSX and could have Windows as well for the few gaming/music things I need to do on that side.

So my main uses for this computer are going to be music production, gaming, and photoshop work and possibly film editing.In my situation, what would you guys do?

I'll also add that the Asus represents significant change and excitement to my computer experience as I'll have a full-HD display, super fast processing, and will be able to game again, although realistically I don't know how much this will fulfill itself down the line. Getting the mac would essentially be the same experience I've had for the last year and a half with some slight performance boosts.
 
The question is, do you want to run windows or do you want to run OSX.

While the MBP, certainly can run windows, the MBP represents a total hardware/software package.

Personally, I love the MBP and would say that would be the best option, but ultimately if you're looking to play games and you're happy or content with windows, go for the ASUS
 
The 330m is enough to play Starcraft II on high ( at 1680 x 1050 ), so it will probably handle Diabo 3 fine aswel.

But there is no denying that the Asus wrecks the MBP i5 on specs. 1.73 ghz i7 Quad core, 8 Gb dd3 ram, 1.5 Gb Vram GTX 460m, 500 gb HDD, Full HD 17" LED screen. ( it even smokes the MBP 17" which costs more than $2000 )

Asus makes good quality laptops, so it's not a bad brand ( it's even more reliable then Apple laptops according to some articles ).

The question you have to ask, is battery life and OS X more important than raw power :)

Personally, if I had to do it all over again, I'd still pick the MBP. The Anti-Glare screen is the best screen on any laptop I have seen. And I like the battery life and the design of it. And it stays so cool & quiet. I never hear the MBP, only when doing heavy gaming or video encoding :p
 
battery life honestly isn't important to me anymore because out of the 2 macs I've had, their batteries have dwindled in under a year to less than average charges. My last MBP also got hot as hell, coulda been a defect, I don't know. Anyway like I said, my computer for the most part is stationary on my desk, it's more of a workstation than something I take around.

And yeah, I really don't know about only Windows. I love many things about Mac, especially the trackpad and all the windows organizing features. And I will have to give up Logic as well. I looked up some 15" mbp's on Ebay though, and it looks for 1700-1800$, I can get a 2.53 i5, either 320gb or 500gb. The saving factor is no tax, whereas the refurbished mac at 1500 would have 200 bucks or so of tax.

So realistically, it's like, the G73 for $1500 shipped or the 2.53 MBP for $300 more...
 
i was in your position a couple of months ago..

i have a i5 15" mbp since june and wanted more cuz i love to play but k just cant like the thickness of other non mbp notebooks!!! also bat life hits me hard and screen quality! i carry a loooot (like 30 miles) in my motorbike the notebook and with the asus the screen would mark with the keyboard and die evetually

if you wont move it to much, and take care of the ntbook go for the asus, if u like stylish notebook the mac is the choice thats it. having a 460m is a huuuuuuuuge big step from the 330m.. i play a lot sc2 in ladder on high meed and i would love to use it on ultra =)

cheers
 
Have you looked at the cost of getting yours fixed instead of a new computer?
I would
1. If you never move it, get a desktop.
2. If you do move it get the mac (weight, battery life, size)
 
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Wow, I'm in a similar situation as you. I'm thinking about selling my new 17 inch 2.8ghz i7 macbook pro to get an asus. I'm seriously disappointed in apple to a point where I don't want to support them anymore. I was looking at an asus with the same spec's except the GPU is a radeon 5870.

Also the 330m gpu in the macbook is terrible. I ran starcraft 2 on a 17 inch at native res (1920x1200) with everything at low, except for textures which I put at medium. Also in left 4 dead, I keep the resolution at 1920x1200 everything on low, 2x antitropic filtering, and triple buffering for v sync. It get around 45-60fps, sometimes dipping even lower when the action picks up. Not a good card at all.

Ultimately it is your decision like you stated. I'm personally leaning for the asus, and selling my macbook pro. It's a decision I'm going to make by tomorrow.

Link to the asus I was looking at, according to notebook check the mobile radeon 5870 is about 14% more powerful than the GTX460m.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...220695&cm_re=asus_5870-_-34-220-695-_-Product
 
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If you aren't going to move the laptop going Apple is a huge waste of money.

The Asus totally destroys the MBP and it's cheaper to boot. Just get a good antivirus and enjoy amazing performance at bargain prices (compared to Apple).
 
If you don't need portability or batterylife and like gaming. Buying an MBP is a completely irrational decision. If you were a programmer you might prefer the Unix but for Adobe and stuff not on the road (meaning you have a mouse and don't need a perfect touchpad) there is truly no point in getting a MBP.
Maybe the screen is not as good on the Asus but still if it is stationary a external monitor makes up for it easily.
Windows 7 has very good program support you can also install little progams that give you spaces and other features you might miss from OSX. The G73 being a gamer notebook is obviously much faster.
For your needs if you go for Apple you are a Fanboy and don't think rational.
 
Two different roads here.

8lbs + 2hours battery vs 5.6lbs + 8-9hours battery.

Apple has a physical store you can bring it to if **** hits the fan.
Apple also will keep it's resale much better.

It's obvious which one I'd pick, but thats because I use my laptop like a laptop.
 
If refurb vs new is a concern - don't let it be. I've had 4 refurbs now and you won't be able to tell if it's brand new or not.
 
A friend of mine recently got a G73. I will say, they are amazing computers. They're designed really well, just in a different way than Apple does. If you like simple, understated design, you might want to forget the G73. ;)

No bright orange highlights or anything.... and you do get an amazing screen and a 5870. :)

Also, don't the MBPs only have dual-core i7s?
 
Yeah, the G73 has a quad core i7, where the mb's have dual I think. Spec-wise I know the thing destroys, but the whole part of Apple and the whole computing experience I've lived by the last 3 years is that top of the line specs are not necessarily important. For me, I'm still unsure if I want to give up the OSX experience, although the power of the g73 is very enticing.

I still have some concerns though regarding my broken MB Pro that I'm trying to take the hard drive out of to restore my data. If I get a Windows, how am I going to transfer most of this over? I have songs made in various programs, such as Native Instruments Maschine, and I'd like to retrieve the project files so I can finish the songs, but I don't know if they'll truly be restored on a new computer. In general, is it easy to save my mac's hard drive to a new mac? What would I have to do if I had Windows?
 
The Asus would be characterized as a "desktop replacement". I am not all that certain that the quad core i7 is all that much better than the the dual core (drops to two cores within one step and single core, while the mbp i7 is still running two cores). The Asus does have a nice screen and superior GPU subsystem and blu-ray. Heck, Tiger Direct had a pretty good sale running on them a little while ago.
It is all about what you want to run. We cannot make the decision for you.
 
With the money you save, you could pick up a used MacBook to still be able to use OS X, and you'd get a smaller laptop you could travel with! :)
 
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