My thots being a G74SX owner for about 5 weeks now:
Pros: Solid built and heavy machine: a real desktop replacement with fast processor and graphics. Beefy hinge and nice rubber coating for non-slip wrist-rest. Awesome screen (1920x1080 FHD LED). Incredibly comfortable and spacious keyboard. Very quiet.

Cons: Useless BIOS: no control over anything relevant to performance (e.g. no RAID) or power (e.g no ACPI) really. Mediocre battery life (3 hours). No backup BIOS, meaning a bad flash dooms your machine to RMA. Slightly crippled CPU (does not reach full 2.9 GHz Turbo speed in Windows 7) which also throttles itself downwards when you drive it reasonably hard (but not overly so). All extra hotkeys for backlit KB, screen brightness, calculator button, power profiles, etc are software controlled, meaning you are constrained to using windows to get those features.

On my own G74SX-CST1 the first thing I did was burn a recovery DVD. Then I downloaded Hiren's BootCD, Windows 7, and the ASUS eDriver disk, both of which Chastity linked in the Sticky threads for this forum. The rest is easy: boot Hirens, remake the partitions on your drives the way you like them and get rid of the 25 GB "hidden" partition containing the recovery install (that you just backed up), install Windows 7 HP, and stick in the DVD with the ASUS drivers. Install only the ones you want. Finally, activate Windows using the product key on the sticker on the underside of the notebook.

Takes a couple hours, but its worth it: there is no trace of the polluteware that ASUS installs on there, your registry is clean, primed and unfragmented (uninstalling via control panel always leaves ghost garbage in your registry), and you have the disk partitioned the way you want, having recovered space from the hidden partition.

JRd1st wrote:
Aside from that, you may want to open it up and fix the ground going to the touchpad, as that's the Achilles heel of the G74. There are lots of thread and guides, just search for BrodyBoy's posts and you'll find more than you ever wanted to know about touchpads.

Here's a good place to start reading about the touchpad issue: http://www.asusrog.com/forums/showthread.php?883-Troubleshooting-ASUS-G73-Touchpad-Problems/page36

http://www.asusrog.com/forums/showthread.php?3426-G74SX-trackpad&highlight=g74sx+touchpad

It is possible to get a G74SX that does not exhibit the touchpad issue. I believe I have one - haven't experienced any problems with it in 2 months. If you do get an ASUS Laptop that exhibits erratic cursor movement in normal touchpad use (i.e. NOT while typing), be aware there is no software solution. The resolution involves removing the tape and adhesive from the back of the touchpad to get proper grounding of the unit. The touchpad itself may be faulty, with replacement being the only resolution.

I recommend buying from a reputable retailer like Amazon, who will exchange your system with a new one if you encounter problems, particularly if you encounter this issue. Don't spend any time on it, try to exchange it immediately to get one that works correctly.

As for making a purchase decision, I would recommend comparing the G74SX to similar offerings from Alienware, Sager, and MSI. From my research prior to purchase, Alienware is generally considered top of the line, but is more expensive. The guys at Xotic PC (who sell all 4 brands) on Notebook Review forum appear to believe Sager offers the most value for the buck . MSI offers hardware RAID0, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX570, a larger battery offering up to an extra hour of run time, less weight, smaller footprint, ports in the back of the laptop, and better built-in speakers. Like the G74SX, I've read reviews on NewEgg that indicate some MSI units suffer from poor build quality, and exhibit keyboard and mouse problems.

No matter which system you choose, I believe it is possible to get a lemon. That's why I think it is important to be able to readily exchange it for a new system. You may need to do this several times to get one without issues.

G74 is like a G6.

380mcn wrote:
what the hell is a G6?? sorry for being dumb!

From the overplayed song here in the states, 'like a G6', referring to the Gulfstream 650 jet that is still in flight testing, but is the baddest business jet around.