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Asus G50VT Review

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  1. Dan •  November 5, 2008
    Rating: 4/5

    ASUS G50VT-X1 performs fantastically with games and all manner of applications. Sound isn’t great through and the laptop is missing a volume wheel or even dedicated volume buttons. You are instead relegated to hitting Fn+F10/F11/F12 for muting, volume-down and up kinda sucks if you are using the laptop speakers. For me though this is almost a non issue as I use headphones with a builtin volume control when using the laptop out and about and have my 5.1 surround sound plugged in when at home and gaming, listening to music or watching a movie.

    The secondary display is actually not LCD, but OLED using very little power(you could probably run it on a watch battery until upgrade time came aroud) and while it is true that the effect lighting cannot be turned all the way off, it uses low power LEDs leading to a negligible increase in power drain.

    Battery life isn’t that great, but it isn’t that bad either, at least not when compared to other media/gaming centric budget(-$2000) laptops. A great example is my brothers Toshiba Qsomo which maxes out at about 1.5hrs while offering considerably less in the performance aspect and running for only about $100 less.

    Further interesting is that the laptop can be overclocked via the DirectConsole app available via the far left electrostatic key sitting above the keyboard. Not that this laptop really needs it and definitely not recommended if running on battery. Other rather nice features include a dedicated key for switching power profiles and another one for turning off the touchpad. So no more accidentally brushing the touchpad with your wrist and getting yourself killed playing UT3 online :)

    As far as the Altec-Lansing logo goes. I’ve never assumed Altec was anything special. Their desktop speakers have only ever been slightly above the ones that you can get with any logo you want on there just by going to a different store. Again though, a non-issue. I don’t plan on jamming out to Thousand Foot Krutch with the speakers blaring at a coffee shop or in an airline terminal. And sorry, but even a the best laptop speakers pale in comparison to a decent set of external speakers which most laptop users plug in when at home.

    Lastly, I bought the laptop thinking that that coax jack on the side was for the WiFi card too… It’s not. It’s for the optional tv-tuner. Which I didn’t get. I even confirmed this by opening the laptop and seeing the wire just sitting there taped to the top of the Wifi card so it wouldn’t flop around in there.

    In all it’s been a fantastic laptop, easily outperforming all other laptops I’ve used in the same price-range. True, it’s no Alienware. And it doesn’t have dual video adapters to let you save power when you’re not gaming. It also doesn’t cost $3K…

    Rating: 8 :: 1 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

  2. Chris •  November 13, 2008
    Rating: 5/5

    I have just purchased this laptop after returning one hp dv-1175nr which is a nice laptop it has a bluray drive and on runs on centrino 2 duo t5800 2.0 ghz and 320gb harddrive at 5400rpm. A 17 inch screen and a 9600m gts card. It was nice i had it for a week and a half. Then i saw the Gatewaty p-7811 fx on sale for $250 more i purchased it. This is a monster of a laptop, the hardware is solid and the screen resolution is outstanding. it has a p8400 chipset a 200gb harddrive 7200 rpm. I like it a lot more than the hp. But it had light leakage from the top and the bottom edges so i returned and got a replacement. This one had the same problem but it had ghosting in the middle so i returned it. And now i have my third fx this one is alright only a little leakage at the bottom. So i decided to live with it, its the only laptop for the price that does so much. Not being trully happy i kept looking for a replacement laptop. So sunday i open the paper and saw best buy aid they had the asus g50vt-x1 for $1099. Almost the same hardware as the fx but with a larger hd at 320 gb(7200rpm) and the graphic card is 9800gt that what it says on the windows index score. It also has the same windows index score as the Gateway. It does have a smaller screen and resolution at 15.6 and 1368*768 which is fine with me. So i ran to best buy and exchange the Gateway fx for the asus and i like my decision. this is smaller and its easier to move around and it plays crysis on full screen which i had a hard time doing on the gateway. It dosent get as hot and it makes less noise. And no light leakage. Plus blue is my favorite color I love the design.

    This is steal the only laptop that can compete with the gateway on performance and price.

    Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

  3. Rico •  January 1, 2009
    Rating: 5/5

    As a gamer, there are very specific things I look for in a laptop without nuking my wallet. I got the ASUS G50VT-X1 at about $1400 and I must say I am very pleased at what I got for my money. The GeForce 9800 gs runs like a dream. I recently bought Fallout 3 and it is running flawlessly with all visual settings on the highest level, making the gaming experience very enjoyable. Speakers seem to not meet the mark in this gaming laptop, but it is easily resolved with a set of headphones or your own speakers. The 2nd display is fun. You can customize it by inputting your own message and it can be fairly long :). Heat was another concern on my older laptop. It would get flaming hot in my lap after an hour of use, but this ASUS doesn’t get very hot at all. Warmth is noticed but after about 5 hours, so it’s no biggie. Lastly, the SmartLogon Program is very innovative in its “reading your face to log on” technology, and it works quite well. But only in your most common place because you have to take pictures of yourself with the program and doenst work sometimes when traveling, so the password is needed. In all, this laptop is a top notch in gaming without breaking the 2K barrier. You can play all your favorite games in the highest qualities without this ASUS breaking a sweat.

    Rating: 10 :: 1 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

  4. Brandon •  January 26, 2009
    Rating: 5/5

    Despite the review, this is an extremely great laptop, I have the best buy model and it runs great, im able to play crysis on all settings high. For the price and specs this laptop runs circles around the Alienware M15x.

    Rating: 10 :: 1 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

  5. Brian •  January 28, 2009
    Rating: 4/5

    I have been using this laptop for two months now. I can run games such as Half-Life 2 and Bioshock at maximum settings and resolution. This laptop runs hot however, so unless you get a notebook cooler, don’t use this on your actual lap.

    There is a problem with the sound for this laptop! Whenever you start up a video game, movie, or anything that really uses the graphics card you get a really annoying high pitched buzzing noise that comes from the audio output jack.

    The noise is lessened whenever I disconnect my mouse and disable the built-in touch-pad. The sound will change depending on how high I raise my Logitech MX518 mouse. Interesting indeed. I would suggest getting an external sound card to stop this buzzing noise.

    This laptop also tends to “lag up” when it gets hot.

    The battery does run out quickly, lasting for 1 hour on high performance mode. The DVD drive is loud when it spins up.

    The glossy shell for this laptop makes it a haven for finger-prints.

    Rating: 8 :: 1 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

  6. Dean •  June 12, 2009
    Rating: 3/5

    I have had my Asus G50Vt laptop for more than 4 months now. I have to admit it is very good, it runs fast graphics are great and everything but the loading time with the windows sidebar and everything else at boot up can be slow. It has about an hour battery life and as many other people have noted it gets VERY hot very fast. I’ve actually warmed up tea with it, forget that USB drink warmer, this has it built in. I don’t play games on it at all, I got it because it was recommended from a friend. Also, it is very big and I still have not found a laptop case that fits it well, they are all either too big or too small which is very frustrating. I had to cope with a second hand case that causes scratches on the cover. The cover is also very prone to fingerprints, scratches about anything, and it also creaks. I also noticed the main part of the laptop quite often makes a weird noise when i’m moving it around and it takes a few minutes before it stops. I have to admit it really does the job though, besides the minor problems I had to resolve through Asus (e.g. my DVD drive was not being recognized on the laptop and I had to hunt to find a solution) it is good. In the long run, I would probably go for an Apple, even though they are pricey they are definitely more reliable and if there is a problem, they will definitely fix your computer and even replace it if necessary. I really enjoy my Asus G50Vt except its many quirks.

    Rating: 6 :: 3 out of 3 people found this user review helpful.

  7. Seth •  August 24, 2009
    Rating: 4/5

    Still not sure yet- I’ve had it for about 4 days and have been testing it in every way possible. Gaming performance seems solid enough, considering it has the

    GF 9800m GS (not the GT version despite what Windows says, sigh…)

    Although Cryis is a good benchmark, I decided to try Supreme Commander instead because of the extreme unit count the game permits.. With max settings the game ran fairly well, even when the units hit the 500+ mark.. not bad in my opinion.

    Sound is a different story- with a Sony Vaio VGNNR385E sitting beside my G50vt x5, the Sony won the loudness contest, hands down.

    I’ve had a few problems with sound lagging behind in-game movies (such as intro movies..) and on the graphic side, intro movies tend to jump and skip frames rather sporadically.

    Just my computer??… maybe. Perhaps it has something to do with Windows SP2.. idk.

    The built in 1.3Mp Webcam is crap. If you’re buying the computer for that reason, get ready to purchase an external USB camera.

    Despite these “flaws”, I’m enjoying my G50vt. Unique design, powerful performance, and most importantly, a gamers dream. Paid $600 for mine through Bing.com (refurbished)

    Rating: 8 :: 1 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

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