New+Computer+Challenge

So, as most of you will have realized by now....from the technology withdrawal symptoms I've been experiencing...the Flaming Red Qosmio Rogue that is my constant companion has died for the very last time.

(Long moment of Silence for the Beast)

On the plus side, this time they finally found the fault in the motherboard and so I have been given a replacement computer. I narrowed my choices down to....

[|dv7-6199us]

**Pros:** Beat Audio (not harman-kardon, but no one is perfect), Dedicated Line Out for Audio, it's so PREEETTTY.

 * Extraneous:** Blu-ray which I don't want. Thumbprint scanner I don't want.
 * Cons:** I can bend the lid with one finger enough to disrupt the liquid crystal...been there, done that. I give the monitor 3 months. The online specs say it's a 2gig Radeon, but in store the techs insist the only 2gig machine they have is an Asus. Even sitting on the bench in idle at the store this machine was warmer than I'd like. You see, two of three laptops I've owned were HP. I owned them a total of 4.5 years. Between them I burned out: 5 monitors, 6 motherboards, 5 power relays, 7 USB ports, 5 HDD, 4 optical drives, 4 battery chargers, 2 synaptic pads, 1 media button array, and 9 adapters (three of which actually caught on fire). Fool me once....well, you know the rest. I'm thinking with HP the third time may not be the charm.



[|G74SX-BBK8]
 * Pros:** 2gig Nvidia GTX 560m, really good cooling system, 1TB (2HDD), backlit keyboard, backlit LED, it's not an HP and rep for survivability is ten times any other manufacturer, long battery life for a gamer, nice keyboard comfort for my writing side.
 * Extraneous:** WiMAX I can't afford.
 * Cons:** The speakers are horrid. Worse than horrid, inexcusable. There are also issues with the previous version (BBK7) having a gimped GPU due to a bottleneck setting, so some doubts due to Best Buys rep for dumping the junk. It's even bigger than the Qosmio...and there's a lot of black space everywhere. It's NOT pretty...unless you're into Imperial Tie Fighter/Stealth Bomber Aesthetics.


 * I should probably note, I did look at the new Qosmio (I LOVE Harman/Kardon speakers.) and Alienware (that I can't afford). Only the i5 Qosmio is available from BB right now with no frills for the same price as the G74sx above and...hey, I just ran one with a motherboard fault for three years. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment. The Qosmio is also the only Toshiba that even has a graphics card, otherwise I would have looked at a Satellite. (Apparently they're throwing a 1gig Nvidia into the new run of the high-end Satellites, but I'm not waiting for the trickle down to Best Buy for 1 gig.)

I decided on the G74SX due to my terrible history with HP, frankly. I have 30 days to decide if this is the beast of my next three years, so that's where the challenge comes in.

**KILL THE BEAST CHALLENGE:**
The G74 is scheduled to arrive 11/12/2011. It will take me a little while to remove the bloatware, update all the drivers, etc, and then I will be testing this thing into the ground. Upon successful completion of the 30 day trial the new beast will be adopted with the ceremonial bestowal of a new laptop skin or other such adornment (cause, yeah, it be ugly.) If it should fail beyond my frayed tech nerves willingness to live with it, said gizmo will be promptly shipped back for an alternative. Testing will continue until I've found something I like.

So, what can //**YOU**// do? Give me suggestions for killing the beast. I'm planning on at least 3 years of gaming and glory out of this thing, so do your worst to discover its Achille's heel. (or, heaven help us...heels.)

Tests already scheduled:
//The 3 Second Life Viewers Test// // (PASS) // - because dual logging into intensive graphic environments is for wimps. If I can't log THREE avatars at once, it's not worth its Black Tie Protection. I've got colonies of meeroo and musicians depending on me (and my alts), after all.

//The Seamless Kingdom Test (in German)// // (SEMI-FAIL only because LOTRO doesn't recognize the card and keeps changing settings every time I log in and Windows 7 will NOT allow download of LOTRO via Pando Media Booster....good thing I still had my Mines of Moria DVDs) // - I've got about twenty days worth of crafting and orc raiding to catch up on in Lord of the Rings Online. I will be logging into the Morthond server and "having to" at anything that moves while crossing multiple instances at the speed of my store exclusive steed. (Don't you just love class quests that take you from Lothlorien to Celondim on an hourly basis?) All of this while video skyping my Dutch Guild mates and Google translating the Russian and Czech Guildies. This may well be accompanied by the //DoesThisRedCloakMakeMyLoremasterLookToGirliePink Color True Screen Test// ...depending on the success of said Orc Raids. (Fail on color test. Color Saturation cannot be altered and Gamma and Brightness settings leave Skyrim in the dark by comparison. Backlit LED is like RUNWAY LIGHTS! lol)

//The Simultaneous Chain Stream Audio Test// - Can I DJ and chain stream at the SAME time? We'll find out.

//The Ghost of Crashes Past Test// - Only two things have ever killed my previous computers' GPUs (indicated by frame rates under 10 or black screen crash). The first was the end battle in //Oblivion// where you're fighting alongside a screen-full of the royal guard while being attacked by hordes of Daedra. The frame rates dropped so low I actually managed to kill one of the guards flanking me without ever seeing him there. He appeared literally dead at my feet as I was fighting a Dremora Lord. The second thing to kill my gpu entirely was the fighting style in //The Witche//r. Occasionally when Geralt used his alchemy skills Blizzard, which makes the screen go quite insane, in a fight with more than four mobs...I crashed...bad...to the motherboard bad.

//The Crysis Engine is Shiny, but Planet Calypso Sucks Creds Test// - Actually, this might have to be renamed the "Do I remember my login?" Test since I haven't been in since sweating was broken and all noobs were forced to run around planet side in their underwear.

//The IhopeIhaveenoughmoneyleftforSkyrim Test// // (PASS...though Steam FAILS.) // - The name says it all. Skyrim releases 11/11/11...the day before the Asus ships....I'm taking it as an omen.

Student submitted Suggestions
//Adobe After Effects CS5.5 Test// -apparently, this is a gpu killer...or possibly a cpu killer in terms of the multi-taking required. If I can get a "demo" copy we will see about the gpu and the hyper-threading in the i7.

//Flight Simulator X Test//