Laptops Reviewed Laptops Reviewed Laptops Reviewed Laptops Reviewed Laptops Reviewed

Featured in: Quad Core Laptops.

The Asus G51VX-A1 15.6-inch gaming laptop, comes with an Intel Q9000 quad-core processor and has 4GB of RAM – which satisfies two of our minimum requirements for a gamer’s mobile laptop. The market for gaming laptops, such as the Asus G51VX-A1 15.6-inch gaming laptop, is on the rise.

 

Some years ago few would expect gamers to look at the laptop as a suitable replacement for desktop gaming machines. However, times have changed. Fueled by rapid advances in technology, great gaming portables are now on the market. There are quite a number of them so you would need a guide to choose the best gaming notebook available.

 
As a minimum, a gaming machine should have high processing capabilities, a dedicated graphics chip and lots of RAM. The first requisite is obvious given that today’s games are more demanding and more complicated; thus, requiring more capable quad core processors to handle its requirements. The average processor out there just won’t cut it. The second characteristic is that a gaming laptop should have a dedicated graphics chip. Most, if not all gamers agree that a great graphics chip constitutes a major part of a great gaming experience. And lastly, the gaming laptop should be loaded with lots of RAM – to allow today’s games to run properly without a hitch.

 

The Asus G51VX-A1 15.6-inch gaming laptop passes the minimum requirement for a gaming laptop with aplomb as it is also loaded with a GeForce GTX 260M dedicated graphics chip with 1GB of VRAM.

 

The Asus G51VX-A1 comes in a 14.6 x 10.3 x 1.3-1.6-inches package and weighs about 7.26 lbs. – it is neither light nor handy.

 

Design-wise the Asus G51VX-A1 makes no qualms that it is a gamer’s laptop. The graphic that covers the lid screams gamers in design. If that is not enough, there is a “Republic of Gamers” logo in the center.

 

Inside, there’s a full sized keyboard with separate number pads. There are rubber palmrests and metal buttons in the trackpad.

 

The Asus G51VX-A1 we reviewed also has 640GB of hard disk space, a DVD Super Multi drive and has exterior ports that include USB (4), HDMI, FireWire, VGA, Ethernet, eSATA and an ExpressCard, among others. It has wireless bgn capability as well as Bluetooth and a multiple card reader.

 

The 15.6 inch display will fill the need for most gamers as it comes with a 16:9 aspect-ratio and a 1920×1080 resolution.

 

The device is also preloaded with Asus’ proprietary software like Data Security manager, Winflash, Splendid Utility and Smart Logon Manager among others.

 

Performance-wise the G51VX handles normal, day-to-day computing with ease. In gaming duties the GeForce GTX 260M is not as powerful as dual 280M graphic chips found in higher-end models but still it delivers pretty well.

 

Normal usage allows up to 2 and a half hours of battery life. Heavy gaming usage will trim this down to about 90 minutes.

 

SPECS	AVAILABLE OPTIONS (From Asus’ website)
CPU	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 (2GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)
RAM	4GB DDR2-800 SDRAM (2GB x 2)
Screen Size	15.6 inch WUXGA FHD LCD display 1920×1080
Operating System	Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit)
Battery Life	Around 2 and a half hours
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3 memory

Pros

 

 

What we liked about the Asus G51VX-A1 are: the overall build quality, the 1GB of VRAM and the great gaming features and performance you get for the price you pay.

 

Cons

The short battery life is a disappointment considering that Asus’ netbooks are famous for their enduring batteries. We found the fan to be a bit noisy during the long hours of gaming.

 

Conclusion

We described a set of minimum criteria for gaming laptops at the start of this review. The Asus G51VX-A1 met the minimum standard plus we think it offers a bit more especially when you consider its relatively low price. We recommend you check it out if you are in the market for a gaming laptop that offers a lot of value for your money.

Related posts:

1. Asus G71 Quad-Core Gaming – Review
2. Asus UX50V – Review
3. Asus K50IJ-RX05 – Review
4. Asus G51J – Review
5. Asus X77 – Review

Tags: Asus, gaming laptop

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Asus, and is tagged with Asus, gaming laptop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.