Questions on G2S-X3

I am very new to ASUS and don't really know too much about the notebooks they produce and their quality. I know about their desktop motherboards, but not about their notebooks. So, I am posting here in the hope that you ASUS experts can help me out. I have browsed the various ASUS models and a few caught my eye, but they seemed too expensive for me.

I am looking for a 17" notebook with great capabilities basically with multimedia and light gaming. I am going to use the laptop to type documents, surf the web, listen to music, watch web tv/youtube, and light gaming. I mostly would like to play RTS/RPG games on it and mainly the new StarCarft II, not a lot of FPS games, if any. I would also like to play some of my older games on it like Warcraft III etc.

A model that caught my eye was the G2S-X3 and it seemed pretty inexpensive.

Here are the specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2G
Windows Vista Home Premium
17" WUXGA
2GB DDR2
250GB 4200 rpm hardrive
DVD+-RW
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT GDDR III
Intel Wireless WiFi 4965AGN
5-in-1 card reader
8 cell battery
2 year warranty

$1150

Could you please answer my questions below? Thanks.

1.) How is this notebook? How is the build quality? Is it all plastic or is there any alloy reinforcements?

2.) I don't plan on taking it to travel or college. It will mostly reside in the home with the occasional trip to the cafe. Given this usage, would this laptop last me 3 to 4 years?

3.) How compatible is it with Linux? I want to run Kubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 on it. Most of the hardware(Wifi, GPU, CPU) all seem well supported in Linux.

4.) How is the screen on this? I am looking for a clear, bright crisp glossy screen with a high resolution. I read that the similar models have a great screen. Is this also true of this model?

5.) Can the notebook contain 2 drives or only 1?

6.) How is ASUS's customer support for the US?

7.) Overall, would you recommend this notebook to me?

8.) The harddrive that comes with it is only 4200rpm. I would like to replace it with a 7200 rpm or large 5400 rpm drive. Does the notebook only take specific models or can any 2.5" form factor harddrive(with the right interface IDE, SATA etc) work?

 

This NBR review should give you a good idea about most of those questions:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4010

 

Thanks. I did read this review. Isn't this laptop different than the G2S-X3? If they are the same then still a lot of my questions still haven't been answered by this review. Can anyone else give me some feedback? Thanks.

 

He had the same specs as you. It won't be different in terms of casing or build quality at all. For your other questions: it can only handle one HD, it should be pretty compatible with Linux, it'll last you 3-4 years+ in terms of build quality if handled properly, technology-wise it'll only last you a good 2 years for gaming, Asus has great support from what I've heard.