I'm interested in buying the Tacx Multiplayer VR trainer with the TTS 3.0 SW. HW requirements indicate no laptops/notebooks due to shared memory. A notebook is my only option in my household. Will the Asus G73JH-BST7 notebook with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 with 1gig of dedicated video memory from Best Buy work? If not, what notebook will run the TTS 3.0 successfully?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-307075767413188405&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=G73JH-BST7+&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960

I did check the FAQ's from the Tacx forums and get very mixed opinions. To add insult to injury the TACX contact site is not working.

Can you download a demo and try it out?

_________________
R3 S3 P3C BT X1 | put it in the big ring

I have the same laptop and am looking at the Tacx Fortius. I thought that the fortius was ruled out as it wasnt compatible with 64bit OS. However, the new software seems to be 64 bit compatible. At least that is what I read on the forum. Would love to confirm that before buying. I hope some real world users can chime in.

_________________
I miss the Jerk because your stem is still too short.
Your saddle is probably too high as well.
Oh, and your cleats too far forward.

Got TTS v2.0 running on a 2 and a half year old laptop with nVidia 8600M GT.

Since v3.0 is more or less very similar to v2.0, I guess, you wouldn't have any problems with any notebook which does have a dedicated graphics card on board.

Fortius isn't compatible with 64bit, and never will be.

yet this is what I read on a sellers website re: the new software:

"#
Compatible with 32-bit and 64 bit processor - PC Only. If you have a 64-bit processor, you will need to use the TTS software supplied with this unit.
#
TTS 3.0 software allows you to use both 32-bit and 64-bit PC Processors. Not compatible with MAC."

Yet I have read numerous times that there will be NO 64-BIT SUPPORT.
So which is it?

_________________
I miss the Jerk because your stem is still too short.
Your saddle is probably too high as well.
Oh, and your cleats too far forward.

also, the Asus G73 doesnt have a graphics card with shared memory which seems to be the only reason a laptop is not recommended. So I would assume having the best mobile graphics card in the biz and it being NOT shared memory makes the G73 compliant. Just my guess though.

_________________
I miss the Jerk because your stem is still too short.
Your saddle is probably too high as well.
Oh, and your cleats too far forward.

I think there might be two important points you're missing or confusing here.

1) 64bit CPU and 64bit software are 2 different things.
2) TTS software is NOT Fortius software. Fortius software was the one bundled with iMagic and Fortius trainers before Tacx released TTS v2.0. What Tacx has stated numerous times about the "64bit compatibility", actually is that Fortius wouldn't run on a 64bit operating system (Vista, Win7 if you've set up the 64bit versions of them).

If you're looking at TTS v3.0, it should run on any modern PC / notebook (including the Asus you mentioned) with either 32bit or 64bit Windows OS, provided your experience isn't ruined by some of its bugs which are quite common there.

Mr Lobber
Finally some info that kinda makes sense. THanks
The bugs you state, are they in the TTS software or the OS? Or both?
fyi, I had a Fortius many years ago and gave to a young kid when I got a computrainer as a gift. It had bugs but most of the issue was my laptop at the time. I am genuinely hoping the new software and computer will play nice together. (I got rid of the computrainer unfortunately.)

_________________
I miss the Jerk because your stem is still too short.
Your saddle is probably too high as well.
Oh, and your cleats too far forward.

Just wanted to confirm with everyone who responded to this post that the ASUS G73JH-BST7 notebook with Win7 64bit Home Premium OS and the TTS 3.0 Fortius software worked without issue. Also works flawlessly on a desktop pc with an Intel core duo 2.2 ghz cpu with 2 gig of system memory with a 512mb nVidia 8600 GT video adaptor running on Win7 Pro 32 bit. All in all I'm very impressed with the TACX Fortius Multiplayer trainer.

The bitter truth with the trainer is that it's very expensive and it doesn't end there. Most potential buyers are not aware they'll also need a rather powerful PC or NB with a graphics adapter running dedicated video memory which can run $1K + to support the trainer.

Can you update the Fortius with version 3? I read also there is a yearly subscription, what do you get with that?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.686204,-79.340587

Multiplayer is a feature that they rolled out that not many people use, so be a little cautious before buying a subscription. It allows you to host races online or join other races, but there's reportedly almost nobody using it in any given time zone. You don't pay a subscription fee for the regular software - they do charge for the major rev numbers (i.e., they'll charge for v4.0 when it rolls out) but if you've got v3 you can update it to v3.5 for free. I use TTS3.5 and it's fairly stable - it has the multiplayer mode but I've never used it.

I've run my trainer on the old Fortius SW, as well as TTS1, TTS2, and TTS3. Their software group is very small and bugs always seem to get out with a new release. Many people are very vocal on the user forums, but my experience has been quite good over the years.

_________________
5.6kg Parlee Z4