ASUS G53SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop
ASUS G53SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop
- Intel i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz Quad-Core with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz);
- 8GB DDR3 1333MHz, 4 SODIMM Sockets, up to 16GB;
- 750GB HDD (7200RPM), Super-Multi Optical Drive
- 15.6-Inch FULL HD (1920×1080) LED Display; Nvidia GTX 460M Graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM
- Windows Home Premium 64-bit Operating System
15.6″ FHD (1920×1080) (LED) / Intel Core i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz Quad-Core) / 8GB DDR3 RAM / NVidia GTX 460M 1.5G GDDR5 VRAM / 750GB HDD (7200RPM) / DVD Super Multi Combo Drive / Illuminated Keyboard / Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit) / 802.11BGN / 2.0M Pixel / Bluetooth / 8 Cell battery / Gaming backpack and Gaming Mouse included / 1 USB 3.0 port / 3 USB 2.0 ports / 8-in-1 card reader / 2YR Global warranty / 1YR Accidental Damage Warranty / 30-Day Zero Bright Dot / 2-way FREE shipping / 24-7 tech supp
List Price: $ 1,199.99
Price: $ 1,099.00
Great, powerful laptop!,
I have been researching getting a new laptop for quite a while now. I am quite experienced with computers in general. I’m not really a PC gamer (I prefer to game on Xbox 360 and PS3 because I like to be in the living room). That being said, I like powerful PCs, because they do everything faster, so I was seriously considering an Alienware, the MacBook Pro, and this Asus. The Alienware has a really cool design, and great performance. The Macbook Pro was very sleek with a nice, elegant design, and provided the benefit of being able to install native Windows XP via Bootcamp (I still need XP for some of my vintage PC stuff). The Asus has a very cool design, very good performance, nice graphics card, excellent specs, and a beautiful 1080p screen. To get the same specs as the Asus on the other 2 you’d have to pay almost twice as much.
So I didn’t like the other two twice as much as the Asus, so I took the plunge.
I ordered it from Amazon because of the very favorable experience I’d had with them in the past. I read about them putting the laptop box inside of another box with no padding, allowing the laptop to shift around during shipping – which is not good for drives, etc. Some said to order 1 day shipping to avoid this. I ordered 1-day shipping, but they still shipped it in a larger box with no padding, so this part isn’t great. I was very unhappy with the shipping arrangements (they shipped it signature required, which I understand given the $$$; I tried to get UPS to hold it at the distribution center because I wasn’t going to be home so I could pick it up later that day – they said NO, the shipper has to call to do this – I called Amazon and they contacted UPS, but they DIDN’T tell UPS that I wanted to pick it up that day, so I had to wait a day. Ordinarily this is OK with me, but I paid $50 to get it overnight so I was not happy. I emailed Amazon about this. They apologized and refunded my shipping cost, which was nice of them.)
Anyway, I eventually got it. Opening the laptop box, it’s well packed. I comes with a Republic of Gamers bookbag and gaming mouse (both with ROG logos and both seem to be high quality) – pretty nice extras.
The laptop just looks so cool. I’m very glad I decided to get the 15″ screen as opposed to the 17″. Both have 1080p, and I like a screen with higher density pixels. Really nice design on the whole. Magnetic lid closure, bright clear screen, no dead pixels. It’s really quiet and stays quite cool, although I haven’t given it a real test yet. I burned my Recovery DVDs without a hitch. Tested the media reader, camera, microphone, ports, etc. Everything checks out. The keyboard does have a little flex, but it’s hardly noticeable. If no-one told you it had the flex, you probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Sure, if you STARE at it when pressing keys, you notice it, but I think people are really blowing this fault out of proportion. The key backlighting is nice, but it looks a little messy with the light escaping from the edge of the keys. I would prefer that just the letters on the keys are lit. The trackpad works well, although smaller than many other laptops, and much smaller than the MacBook Pro. It’s very zippy, and runs everything very quickly. Lots of bloatware, but I’m in the process of reinstalling a clean windows copy.
Design things I would change: 1) I would have put the power plug in the back because it looks so messy in the middle of the right side of the laptop. 2) I would like to have had the USB ports towards the back not the front, so the cables stay out of my way. 3) screen hinge is a bit stiff, so you have to hold the base down while opening it to keep it on the table, 4) screen doesn’t pivot back quite far enough for me. These quibbles are pretty minor though.
One thing that is clear the moment you open this thing up. It’s so masculine. It really makes the MacBook Pro seem quite girly. The stealth-fighter look is totally badass. Now I love macs, and I’ve got a few, but this machine just makes you feel like a man (grunt, growl). Yes, it’s heavier and thicker than the MacBook Pro, but I plan on using it as a desktop replacement anyway.
So I’m very happy with my purchase. I would have liked to have a Blu-ray drive in it. Given the sale price with the $150 rebate on top of that, it can’t be beat for value.
If you’ve been considering it, GO FOR IT! I think you’ll be very happy with your choice.
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|Great machine thus far. (Update: Never-mind).,
I received this laptop yesterday and I’ve been very satisfied so far.
Packaging: Amazon put the laptop box in a larger box with no padding. It could have easily shifted back and forth in the box. Previous users mentioned this problem so I opted for the overnight delivery to minimize UPS handling of the unit. It seems to have worked.
Screen: Looks amazing – although strangely there wasn’t a plastic covering when I first lifted the lid. There was no damage or scratches so it didn’t bother me so much.
Sound: It’s nothing fantastic but it’s doable. The laptop has a sub woofer so it’s definitely better than most out there.
Video: I tried playing starcraft II at 1920 x 1080 at “Ultra.” It wasn’t amazingly smooth and there was a bit of lag. I turned the resolution down and textures to high and the game works flawless. This is the only game I’ve tried so far. 3dmark01 score was 39,421.
Keyboard: I love the backlit features. I’ve had no problem with it so far. I read reports that the lights will sometimes go out but I’ve yet to experience that.
Mouse/Backpack: Quality items. The backback is pretty awesome and stylish. The mouse is a Razer Abyssus.
Overall I’m very satisfied with the purchase. There was a lot of bloatware pre-installed however. I simply removed everything that wasn’t windows related and installed the drivers again (included on a CD). All of the hotkeys work great and windows boot-up is very fast. I would definately recomment this computer – especially since Asus is offering a $150 mail in rebate. Mine is already in the mail.
Note on rebate/warranty: You have to send in the warranty card that comes with the notebook. I’ve read that if you don’t mail it in you will experience troubles in the future if you need to utilize warranty repair. The mail-in rebate is very strict and has small details you have to include – be sure to read the instructions carefully. The most annoying part is the UPC code – there were so many I didn’t know which one to include. It turns out the one I needed was taped on the very tough cardboard box. I just sent the cardboard cutout itself.
UPDATE: 7/25/11
I’ve been experiencing freezing issues. A couple of times per day my system just freezes. It has yet to freeze while gaming though. When I’m viewing pictures, browsing the internet, etc. When the computer freezes, about 5 seconds later the system makes a large “beep” noise. After a few seconds it unfreezes for about 5 seconds – but the freezing continues – it’s a never ending cycle. I have tried for hours to get ahold of phone support, but while I’m waiting for an agent I get disconnected – which leads me to believe phone support is non-existent. I’ve written an email but it says it’ll take 48 hours to respond. I’ve dropped my review from 5 stars to 1 until this problem gets handled.
UPDATE: 09/23/11
Problem has been fixed. I forgot exactly what I did but it was related to hibernation/sleep mode (which is now disabled).
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|Reliability issues,
Great laptop for the price, but has reliability issues. Screen on mine would not power upon receiving it this afternoon. Will update when I get the new one. Buyer beware, you might be in for a hassle.
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