Asus unveils new ROG gaming laptops

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Matthew DeCarlo

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Asus has unveiled two gaming laptops stamped with the well-established Republic of Gamers (ROG) seal. When the company first began using the ROG name, it was mostly imprinted on gaming-oriented motherboards. It is now seen on notebooks and a few other products, to highlight their intent for gamers.


Jumping right in, the G51Vx and G60Vx appear to share identical specifications, apart from the extra .4” of display on the G60. They each offer the choice between a host of Intel Core 2 Duo’s and a Core 2 Quad Q9000. They have an Intel PM45 + ICH9M chipset, up to 4GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM, support for dual SATA HDDs (up to 1TB 5400RPM and 640GB 7200RPM), a Blu-ray combo drive and a 2 megapixel webcam.

Asus claims to have remedied the typical thermal issues presented when squeezing a GTX 260M into a 15” form factor. The laptops weigh in excess of 7lbs when equipped with a 6 cell battery and single HDD. There’s no word on US availability, but folks in the UK are looking at a September launch date and a price of £1,500 (about $2,475).

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Hmmmm....guess I just don't understand the concept of "gaming laptops." With the specs listed, I would consider these as average, maybe a little above average gaming rigs. For that same $2,500, you could build yourself a screaming gaming desktop.

I'm as avid gamer as anyone and go through my usual withdrawls while traveling. But the thought of trying to do some hard-core Crysis, Unreal Tournament, GTA IV type games on an average rig, looking at a 16-inch screen, using a notepad for control and having to wear headphones for decent sound leaves me scratching my head - I don't get it.

I can play solitaire on my work laptop until I get home where my gaming rig lives for the real stuff. ;-)
 
I think I may be getting one of these. There is actually a forum where people are part of this "RoG," I myself being one with my last pc upgrade/purchase. Its powerful and not as big as my old 17." Definately not for everyone though, how many people actually do mobile gaming these days.
 
@TomSEA

"notepad for control"? You can use a mouse with laptops... it's allowed. :) I see your point though, and I I agree that gaming laptops are pretty niche, but I don't think they're quite so alien that I can't understand why anyone would want one. Maybe not for those who only play FPS, but I play Defense Grid on my laptop and I've been thinking of installing WoW. These types of games run pretty well on average systems.
 
license27kill said:
you cant bring that desktop anywhere...

isnt it.?

mind you
Well... it's not like you're going to carry a seven-pounder all over the place either. ;)

As a personal view, I find Gaming laptops useless. Why?

1) they cost 2x to 3x more money and deliver at best 80% the performance of a $1500 Gaming rig

2) they're heavy to carry around all day. They're good for weight lifting though!

3) small screens! Yes, even 17" seems small to the now usual 22" of gaming desktops. Sure, there are some 19" and 20.1" notebooks, but those are scarce.

4) IMO, they shouldn't even add batteries in 17" SLi/Crossfire notebooks. They're useless!! Show me a gaming notebook with >4hrs of playtime, and by playtime I don't mean writing .doc files, but playing games or other intensive 3D apps!

5) most heat up like a car engine. This also reduces battery performance.

6) most of them are pretty noisy as well. This might not matter very much for a PC under the desk, but for something 30cm away from your ears...

As I said, this is my personal opinion and would really like to hear someone defend gaming laptops.
 
I'm not going to really go head strong on the defensive end for gaming laptops, the market is small, but its still there, making this thread valid i guess:p All the things available on a laptop today, like blueray and ssd's make most mobile computing devices more expensive, but despite that, some people are happy about the advances making "mobile life," just a little more convenient.

Everyone knows the drawbacks to a laptop, specifically gaming laptops, battery life, lack of upgradability, but for us who like to keep our gaming on the road, we appreciate every single advance in mobile technologies that make it a little easier and more fun for us. Despite the high price points.
 
@guest
u cant use a mouse when on the move.the mouse wont work on ur lap
this laptop has ddr2 ram! laptops at half that price have ddr3 ram
 
@guest
u cant use a mouse when on the move.the mouse wont work on ur lap
this laptop has ddr2 ram! laptops at half that price have ddr3 ram

Actually, I have a decent gaming laptop, and the free space to the right of the touchpad makes a good surface to do it on. Just get an optical notebook mouse and you're all set.
 
Gaming laptops are probably geared more towards MMORPG players. These guys are so addicted to WoW, they got to play everywhere! A lot of WoW clans set up shop with these laptops inside university libraries and classrooms just to game.
 
To be entirely honest, I don't see the point of laptops such as these either. They are only slightly more portable than a desktop, have no autonomy worth mentioning and will very likely be superseded by the next generation of run of the mill 15' notebooks. If you want portability and gaming in the same package, play last year's games on a 13' notebook with a discrete GPU. You'll pay half the price for the machine and much less for the games. Plus, it's a lot easier to weed out the over-hyped games that are not really worth buying.

And as for WoW addicts, I can tell you from experience that you DO NOT need to lug that beast around just to play WoW or any other MMORPG that i can think of. Those types of games are not aimed at the 1% PC-using population that can afford bleeding edge graphics hardware and oodles of RAM but rather at average PC users (which pay the same subscription and play a lot less) which is why tend to run just dandy on rather old machines, including those nice 13' notebooks with discrete GPUs that I mentioned before.
 
@TomSEA, you just turn the settings down, and plug in a mouse and headphones. It's a given that can get more power for your money buying a desktop rather than a laptop but that's totally irellevant. The fact you don't see the point in playing current games at less than optimal settings is indictive of how mediocre present games really are, and the necessity of wowing people with technical improvements rather than ones effecting gameplay (with a few exceptions such as Portal). We were almost all playing games like Deus Ex, Thief, Half-Life, System Shock 2, etc on 19" and less 4:3 CRTs and crappy stereo speaks back at the start of the decade with no complaints.
 
I use my asus g50vt for everthing (including games) at the moment i enjoy Left 4 dead online,gta IV,and far cry 2---and sometimes swat4 (hardly ever)
and of course movies n music! I leave town alot and it is very nice to be able to bring my games n media with me wherever i go! I have built a few gaming desktops in the past.
but once i bought this and started gaming with it------i ended up giving my desktop away.
and, for the record it has hdmi and hooks up very good to my 42 lg lcd (one simple plug and you have big screen gaming) and with the asus closed and use of wireless mouse n keyboard,
all you see is the lg ! no box and tons of wires to mess with!as for the $1100 price tag,
worth every penny! and with 300 gig hd, 4gigs ram--you dont need to upgrade for awile!
anyway, im just saying-----desktops are of course more powerful but with the newer laptop graphics cards, you can play most games out there now! and no need to buy a monitor, just use your lcd tv!
and sometimes i enjoy the kitchen table for gaming with my munchies! try that with a big, corded desktop! and, built in cam n mic (no need for all the cluddery extras!) peace
 
Sure desktops are better and cheaper, but for someone like myself traveling all over the world nine months out of the year, I need my laptop! Gotta game
 
personally, I'm on the fence when it comes to the concept of laptop gaming. Starting off on the side where I list the pros, portability is a definite plus. It's much better than trying to lug your desktop around to a LAN party... People are also correct in just hooking up your laptop to an LCD tv; most people seem to have one in their housebecause of the ongoing current trend... and if you really don't have one, then just buy an external monitor. I'm also insulted that some people think these kind of laptops are meant for mmorpgs; no offense to those kind of gamers but the specs to run those kind of games is practically runnable on anything that has discrete graphics. Some of the most graphics intensive games out there are now able to be played on laptops because of the constant advances in technology. I will admit, and so should everyone else, that laptops WILL NEVER beat desktops; it's a given fact of life. The point of the matter is: I don't think ALL the gamers out there will demand blood just to play their games on the highest settings with over 9000 frames per second... these gaming laptops are quite powerful in their own right; it's just sad to see people diss laptops because they dont fit their absurdly high expectations when it comes to computing power.

Now, the cons: money. Laptops will always be more expensive than their desktop counterparts for the similar, if not exact, configurations. Heat is always an issue and a deal breaker for some. Power is also something that laptops will never match desktops in... unless you're taking the most current laptops and comparing it to older generations of desktops... and even then, it matches a year or two behind; not bad considering in my own opinion.

Deciding points: if you are constantly on the move and do not need to play your games with over 9000 fps, get a laptop. I do because I hate being at home... I love gaming in other people's company, especially if they're fellow gamers as well. True enough you will be restricted to a cord in the wall with a gaming laptop if you ever plan on gaming at any time, but its much better to be off the cord if you just wanted to do school work... seriously, getting on a gaming desktop to do school work? Really? Come on. Besides, it's much more cost-effective to get a gaming laptop and compromise power.... than getting a hardcore OMG gaming desktop and a mediocre laptop for school, like several people i know.

If you don't get out too much and all you do is hardcore gaming and scream for the highest settings and want to see how high fps you can get, then sure get a desktop.

Actually, thanks to this review: I realized I'm getting this laptop. Thank you to all the people who were dissing this particular concept; you've helped me to realize how ideal getting a gaming laptop is.
 
First and foremost you should only invest in what you can afford and what you think best for your situation. I can afford and do like the laptops because I don’t want a desk taking up floor space to house a big monitor and a huge tower to do the same thing I can do on my ASUS.
Many different things can be said about both type of gaming platforms but all weighted out the laptop suits me. Things I considered was cost, space, portability and power. For most the almighty $ would weight the most but for me space and portability (due to my job I do travel a ton) was top on the list.

I have ASUS 17.3” Quad with 6mb L3Cache, 6 GB ddr3 640 GB HD (raid 2 x 320) with 260M nvida 1 GB DDr3 , upgraded from vista to 7 ultimate. Also I have a 4gb mem card inserted in the side to run “ready boost” for non critical system applications that allows me to boost system during gaming Crysis on above avg specs. I also play Far Cry 2, COD4, Cod4 2, Section 8, Army of Two and a few other older ones. Each of these run without issues. (also I use wireless gaming mouse, Razor and the nostromo n52 elite game pad, very nice for either platform)

At home I do hook up to a 37 “ LG that I use for TV 90% of the time unlike your 32” PC monitor that you only game with. But most importantly since I can go wireless in my house it even benefits when I am home sick and don’t feel like getting out of bed, or I want to move to the couch etc. Some have said you wouldn’t want to lug the 7.4 lb laptop all day, but when it is less weight than your monitor not to mention your pretty huge game tower then I say 7.4 all day suits me fine.

Bottom line do what suits you , but also know that WOW may suit you but has never interested me one bit. But I don’t diss the game or you for that….just not my style.

But funny part is that people complain about gaming laptops and cost, when we all know you are paying for smaller and more convenient mode of computing…much like how you go to your cell phone company each time a new phone comes out and spend 200.00 for the next best shiny thing, think about it………

Bottom line is there is a market, they are made and you may or may not ever buy one BUT you still bought a pc and therefore the other side of the Market got your money….lol Now all we need is an APPLE eater to come in here and take it from arguments about gaming laptops to pc vs apple….peace out all.
 
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