Just bought a G74SX-XC1 and need help

[M240b]

Just purchased it off the web (haven't taken delivery yet), and now having found this site, I'm crapping my pants that I'm going to have horrific issues with the touch pad, with latency issues, etc. etc.

Would you recommend I try to cancel my order or roll the dice that I get a relatively unaffected laptop?

I'm not computer savvy and I don't want to be having to try to figure out how to install and uninstall various drivers, how to mess with the bios or other stuff that is above my head. I just want a laptop that works right out of the box.

Advice please.

[BrodyBoy]

This is tough, because I really do like this laptop when it's working smoothly. But in my honest opinion, it's not a plug'n'play kind of computer, and I personally would not recommend it to friends who are computer-challenged. I know a lot of people like this....I'm their "tech support," so I know where you're coming from. Not everybody wants to spend time "tuning" a computer, any more than I want to spend time "tuning" a car!

You probably wouldn't have actual hardware issues, but you could well run into the kinds of software problems you've read about here. There are resolvable, but it takes a little time and effort.

If your retailer has a good return policy, why not get it, try it out for a couple weeks or so, and see what you think? If it's sufficiently trouble-free, you might find all the worry's for naught and decide to keep it.

[JRd1st]

Just purchased it off the web (haven't taken delivery yet), and now having found this site, I'm crapping my pants that I'm going to have horrific issues with the touch pad, with latency issues, etc. etc.

Would you recommend I try to cancel my order or roll the dice that I get a relatively unaffected laptop?

I'm not computer savvy and I don't want to be having to try to figure out how to install and uninstall various drivers, how to mess with the bios or other stuff that is above my head. I just want a laptop that works right out of the box.

Advice please.

If adequate support is part of your expectations, I'd lower those expectations and plan on learning to disassemble notebooks to fix small issues. You should also learn how to troubleshoot windows and driver problems.

[M240b]

My retailer has a replacement only policy.

Like I said, I'm not computer savvy... I can install software and use windows software remover tool to remove it. That's about it.

I don't know how to hunt for drivers to remove them and update them, other than using the search function with the file name. I'd never find them other wise.

I very much do want something that is plug and play... and with a replacement only return policy, I thought it best to just cancel my order.

Thank you for the advice.

It sounded like a sweet laptop, but I'm not looking for anything that is going to cause me to be on the phone with tech support for hours on end and that is going to drive me up the wall.

Thanks again for your honest opinion.

[M240b]

If adequate support is part of your expectations, I'd lower those expectations and plan on learning to disassemble notebooks to fix small issues. You should also learn how to troubleshoot windows and driver problems.

Never had to worry about any of that when I had a Macbook Pro.

[Symb]

Never had to worry about any of that when I had a Macbook Pro.

I was just about to say that if you want plug and play, go mac...

[ricksaint]

Just purchased it off the web (haven't taken delivery yet), and now having found this site, I'm crapping my pants that I'm going to have horrific issues with the touch pad, with latency issues, etc. etc.

Would you recommend I try to cancel my order or roll the dice that I get a relatively unaffected laptop?

I'm not computer savvy and I don't want to be having to try to figure out how to install and uninstall various drivers, how to mess with the bios or other stuff that is above my head. I just want a laptop that works right out of the box.

Advice please.

In a forum like this one, you're likely to read about problems more than anything else, although the problem units are probably a minority. The fact is that most people who buy our laptops lately have been quite pleased with them OOTB. Here is a sample from a search for " G74sx" from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...sx&sprefix=g74.
As you can see, they get 4.5 to 5 stars for almost all models.
I, for one, am in love with mine.

[380mcn]

if you are savy enough to (in an emergency) throw windows 7 dvd and install it AND install the drivers provided on jrd1st signature, than there's nothing to worry about.

i would recommend alienware but they in the past had sound problems (lag) that was only solved 9 months later..

there is no pc 100% error free and yes, the sentellic touchpad of the g74 is crappy..

[eskion]

If you want something, I don't know, reliable, go sager or msi gaming laptops. If ASUS would buy back my G53JW I would pay to FedEx overnight that paperweight. The damn thing has more downtime than my Pentium D desktop. Now that's just embarrassing isn't it.

[fostert]

My g74 is the most "quirky" laptop I've ever owned (formerly a Toshiba Satellite, and a Dell D610); by quirky I mean alot of minor strange behaviours which give me the impression that the thing is not the most stable or well thought out design (e.g. turning off touchpad in BIOS kills the keyboard, the numlock misbehaves, the insane amount of uselessware that demands new users to clean the system and start over with an install, etc). Not for the OOTB user; for sure there are better ones for lower maintenance. Gotta say my Dell D610 has never ever had any quirks, and is going strong after 6 solid years of use and travel.