Asus packs GTX 1060 in slim ROG Strix GL702VM gaming laptop

[Scorpus]

The last 17-inch Asus ROG laptop we reviewed at TechSpot was the massive G752VS, which packed an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 in a body that's 53mm thick and 4.36kg heavy. For those after something a bit more portable, perhaps the GL702VM is what you're looking for.

The Asus ROG Strix GL702VM still packs a 17.3-inch 1080p display with G-Sync, however it swaps out the GTX 1070 and its massive cooling solution for the more modest GTX 1060. The result is a laptop that's 24mm thick at its thickest point, and just 2.73kg heavy. Asus has also toned down the 'gamer' style that plagued its bigger and heavier brother.

The rest of the GL702VM's hardware is about what you'd expect for a gaming laptop. There's an Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor clocked at 2.6 GHz, 16 GB of DDR4 memory that can be expanded to 32 GB, a 1TB hard drive with an optional 256GB SSD, and a 64 Wh battery. The collection of ports is decent too, thanks to the inclusion of three USB 3.0 ports and a single Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port.

While the cooling solution isn't as beefy as what was seen in the G752VS, the GL702VM still includes a triple-fan cooler with independent heatsinks and heatpipes for the CPU and GPU. Asus boasts that the keyboard features 30-key rollover protection and 1.6mm of travel distance.

The GL702VM is available right now, starting at $1,399 for the base model, or $1,599 for the model with an additional 256GB SATA SSD.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/66414-asus-packs-gtx-1060-slim-rog-strix-gl702vm.html

 

[ForgottenLegion]

That's a decent price although a 4k screen would have been nice at this size.

 

[ZackL04]

If it were a 15" and more around $1000, I would definately consider buying. The 1060 is a sweet spot for ultrabook like gaming.

 

[psycros]

That keyboard looks utterly flat, which would render it useless.

 

[Wendy Oltman]

I'll soon need a replacement laptop, but I want to wait until I could get something like this but with 32GB of RAM and for $600 cheaper - maybe this time next year.

 

[Techtree101]

What's really exciting about these laptops is their ability to play just about any game these days, even the slim lines. It's exciting to see the days where a massive box in the house are numbered.

 

[The Savage]

That keyboard looks utterly flat, which would render it useless.

How?

 

[Ascaris]

No real buttons on the touchpad. NEXT!

Perhaps MSI will do better.

 

[The Savage]

How does that affect the gaming performance of the laptop? If anything it's just a minor con that doesn't amount to anything.

 

[Ascaris]

The Savage, I am not sure if you were asking me or someone who replied before about the keyboard. If you meant me... True, when gaming, I use a real mouse, so the "clickpad" (as they call the buttonless ones) isn't a detriment there. However, I am not always gaming; I use a laptop for regular, mundane stuff too, and there's no reason that it can't do double duty (much as the desktop PC I am using to write this does).

I have an older laptop sitting on my desk right now, right next to my desktop's display. For years, the silver coating over the left touchpad button has been worn off, revealing the black plastic underneath, and it's starting to happen on the right button too. I use the buttons all the time, and I find the recent trend of buttonless touchpads on laptops to be frustrating.

I've had four laptops over the years, and at the time that I purchased each one, all of the laptops I considered had discrete buttons for the touchpad. While tap to click was always an option (a very annoying one that I disabled as soon as I could), it was never the only method for generating click events. I never thought the buttons themselves were a candidate for deletion!

As long as there is an alternative, I'd never buy a laptop without touchpad buttons (whether a gaming laptop or not)-- and MSI's laptops have always had the buttons on the touchpad when I've looked. While most or all of Asus' recent laptops lack the buttons, their RoG series have sometimes still had them; this laptop is obviously not one of them.

I know I am not alone in this; I have seen comments from others to this effect. How many of us are there who insist on actual buttons? Are we enough of a group to matter? I don't know-- but we're certainly not encouraging Asus to include the features we want if we let it slide when they drop them.

 

[Nobelstone]

You'd be insane to buy a 960m, 970m & 980m based system at the moment.

960m are still, £900-£1000, 970m £1100-£1200 and 980m £1400-£1500.

Might as well go for a 1060 based system, cheaper and better than 980m, same price and far better than a 970m and anyone opting for a 960m will likely be rebuying in 12 months so that's a false economy.

I'm amazed they have been cut in price.

 

[Nobelstone]

You'd be insane to buy a 960m, 970m & 980m based system at the moment.

960m are still, £900-£1000, 970m £1100-£1200 and 980m £1400-£1500.

Might as well go for a 1060 based system, cheaper and better than 980m, same price and far better than a 970m and anyone opting for a 960m will likely be rebuying in 12 months so that's a false economy.

I'm amazed they haven't been cut in price.