ASUS G51VX-A1 REVIEW

The Asus G51VX-A1 notebook is built for the ultimate multimedia experience. It comes with dual hard drive bays and Nvidia GTX 260M GPU. Now if you think this specification isn’t high enough you can opt for the quad-core processor.

Asus has equipped this series of notebooks with a 1080p 16:9 display and Altec Lansing speakers to further enhance the multimedia experience. A high-end configuration with the quad-core processor and dual hard drives may cost as much as $1,699.

The Asus G51VX-A1 configuration
Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 (2GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3 memory
Display: 15.6 inch WUXGA FHD LCD display 1920x1080
Memory: 4GB DDR2-800 SDRAM (2GB x 2)
HDD: Two 320GB Seagate 7200RPM Hard Drives

Build and Design
Most of the notebook is made of sturdy plastic, so build quality is good. There is a chrome trim around the side and bottom edges of the outside cover. Asus has also painted a futuristic pattern onto the lid. Both of these design elements enhance the gaming theme of the notebook. Users who want to upgrade components will find it easier as a single panel gives access to all user-replaceable parts.

Screen and Speakers
The glossy display makes colors pop out of the screen. Color saturation is good, so are the viewing angles. The display is bright enough to make viewing possible in a bright room, but it won’t be viewable in direct sunlight.
The speakers sound nice, but the lack of a sub woofer on a notebook of this size is a bit disappointing.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The backlit keyboard features a chiclet style. It is comfortable to use and shows no signs of flex at all. There is, nevertheless, one problem. The keyboard is slightly small for the bezel around it. The touchpad is a Synaptics model. It shows good sensitivity. Tracking speeds are also excellent.

Ports and Features
Port selection is good. There are 4 USB ports, HDMI, VGA out, an eSATA port, Firewire 400, LAN and three audio jacks. For expansion, there is an ExpressCard/54 slot and an SD-card reader.

Asus ships the notebooks with plenty of free goodies such as a padded notebook backpack, a pair of Eee Stick game controllers and a Razer Copperhead Gaming mouse.

Performance
With its Nvidia GTX 260M GPU and Intel Q9000 quad-core processor this machine is capable of high-end gaming. Multimedia playback is equally good. In fact the quad-core processor can even decode two 1080p videos at the same time, showing one on the notebook display and the other on an external monitor through the HDMI port.

Heat and Noise
Heat levels are normal for a notebook of this configuration. The fan tends to get noisy during extensive gaming, but it is quiet during normal activity.

Battery Life
Battery life is below average. The G51VX-A1 can manage barely one and half hours as against the Gateway P-7805u which offers up to 3.5 hours of uptime with similar specifications.

Pros:
Good build quality
Great gaming performance
Attractive design

Cons:
Poor battery life