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After hours of research, pouring over reviews, potential issues, and whatnot, I finally decided on snagging myself an Asus G50VT-X5. The $949 MSRP laptop cost me $650 on eBay AFTER Bing cash back.
I came down to choosing this particular laptop not because of how it looks or how fast the CPU was, but the fact that it had an NVIDIA 9800M GS in it. (That's actually how I choose my laptops, since it's one of the components that everyone seeks to upgrade, only to fall fruitless after realizing that you can't. Or not without difficulty, if the possibility arises.)
It was a refurbished model, but I didn't care. I received it in its original box, original wrapping, and I still have the cheap-o screen protector on it. More on this on a bit.
First off, the laptop looked GOOD. As in pictures didn't do it justice, because after looking online at the geeky design that Asus slapped on this laptop shell, I was already on the market for a laptop skin, but I'm glad I waited. The laptop looks sharp... almost too sharp. The shell is pristine and way too shiny, giving anyone with OCD a headache with having to polish away constant fingerprints and smudges from the gloss exterior. The screen is the same way... which is why I'm keeping the tacky-looking screen protector on with the tape that it came with, just as it is. Asus did a great job with blending of colors, as it isn't fugly and it isn't too "extreme" with its design... except for the Republic of Gamers logo. (Now THAT screams geek.) It even lights up on the sides and the logo, which isn't functional in any way unless you WANT to draw attention to yourself. There's also an OLED display on the upper left portion of the laptop that, by default, displays the logo and Republic of Gamers title, but you can change this through an Asus utility to display e-mail notifications, CPU and RAM usage, etc. Nothing earth-shattering with it, though.
The keyboard is kind of mushy-feeling but responsive. The touch pad is actually pretty good, although strokes with your palm sometimes causes your cursor to end up where you don't want it to be. The shiny touch pad buttons also attract fingerprints and are as "mushy-feeling" as the keyboard. I kind of miss the ability to turn off the touch pad via a button like I was able to with my HP Pavilion zd8000, but it won't be missed.
It comes with a multitude of ports, although I still have to rely on a USB hub to accommodate my strange obsession of sticking as many peripherals into a system as possible. The eSATA port is a welcome addition as I can finally harness the speed boost over USB 2.0, and it comes with an antenna port (to extend WiFi?), FireWire, and I believe 4 USB 2.0 ports. No Bluetooth though... which isn't a killer, but it does kill off my few gadgets that utilize BT.
The machine came with Vista Home Premium (x64) installed and an average amount of bloatware. It was the longest time I've experienced Vista... which wasn't long, considering I wiped out the machine and installed Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) on it shortly after I realized that I didn't like Vista's reputation of hogging resources and less-than-desired performance. Windows 7 Ultimate doesn't fare too much better with performance compared to XP or Vista in many aspects, but it feels nicer, and I feel like I combined XP's performance with Vista's eye candy, which is a win-win for me. Couple that with an Intel 2.13GHz dual core processor and 4GB of DDR2 and I have a machine that runs pretty darn well enough to keep me happy, in comparison to the Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz single core and 2GB of DDR2. I may put Ubuntu 9.04 x64 on it, but I don't have much of a reason to go to Ubuntu quite yet other than to play around with Linux. If this wasn't a gaming machine and I didn't do much with Windows-exclusive programs, Ubuntu would be a no-brainer for me, but I have yet to see Linux run the games I want to play without too much trouble.
Performance of the machine was a large leap from my old HP. Instead of taking nearly half a minute, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 opens up in 3-4 seconds. 720p HD video runs flawlessly on this machine... more to come when I try out my first 1080p HD movie. Games boot up faster with a significantly-less drag time, and coming from an older system, the difference is huge to me. I like knowing that I can actually run games at medium to maximum graphical settings without so much as a hiccup, although I'm frankly surprised that games like World of Conflict still struggles on this computer (4+ FPS when the nuke hits the benchmark test in comparison to the 60+ FPS when the bombers make their entrance). Call of Duty 4 plays at maximum settings without a hitch, and Crysis is rather playable even at high settings (although you would have to tone it down a bit for fluid gameplay). Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars works very well too at the highest settings. One thing that just seems weird to me is the fact that the LCD supports up to 1680x1050, but most games only offer a strange resolution cap of 1366x768. It's an off number to me, but I'm used to resolutions like 1440x900 on the HP.
This laptop also comes with an instant-on technology called Express Gate, which boots up a meager operating system environment to access Internet, IM, word processing, and other basic essential functions. I turned this on once by accident, but I'm so used to pushing the power button on and walking away that I don't yet use this feature. I do find utility in this technology since you are able to view pictures, share files, chat, check e-mail, browse the Internet, and listen to music, so if you want to put on some music or share your latest adventure with your camera instantly, you can. What I wonder, though, is if they'll ever make an instant-on operating system that silently boots up your main OS so you can have the option of switching to your main OS if you want to. That would be nice... that way, you have instant access to your photos, music, and Internet while you wait for your computer to finish booting up. Wouldn't that be something?
The speakers on this machine are rather disappointing, in my opinion, and although I'm one to settle for poorer quality items, I also know when to appreciate good sound. I'm surprised that no one mentioned the sound quality of this puppy, as it is tinny and sharp at higher volumes, but maybe no one cares since it's probably going to get aftermarket 5.1 or headphone treatment like most laptops.
Speaking of this bad puppy, the entire package weighs in at 8.8 lbs with the adapter. It's actually an upgrade for me, since I'm used to hauling the 11 lbs of the HP Pavilion zd8000 during my travels, and it gave me quite the eye-opener to lighter options. (11 lbs isn't really heavy until you carry it for over a couple of hours.)
For power-consuming freaks like me, the system draws about 55+ W at idle... but I'm sure it spikes with gaming.
This machine, expectantly, runs hot, as I can feel the same sort of heat that I feel with my HP Pavilion zd8000 out of the side vents, but I'm amazed that the machine itself doesn't feel hot. The zd8000 had a problem with the palm rest becoming uncomfortably hot, but so far, I haven't had any personal complaints. I have yet to sit this on my lap for true mobile usage though, and considering that there is a huge vented port on the bottom to further reduce heat, I might have to report back later as to how hot your lap will get if you do decide to get this.
Recommendation? I suggest that if you are in the market for a laptop that can act as a mobile desktop replacement, but feel restricted with your budget, this is the way to go. At $650 for a laptop that's light and small enough to move from place to place and play most games of today's caliber, I feel that it is money most definitely well-spent. Casual laptop users should look elsewhere, as you can probably get a beefier machine for the same amount of money (or save money by purchasing a mainstream laptop)... but the Asus G50VT-X5 warrants a serious look to mobile gamers and power users.
Update 11/25/2009:
The keyboard drives me nuts as it isn't as responsive as I normally thought it was. With the way I type, I frequently end up with occasional typos because it's like the input never makes it with one or two keystrokes. I don't know if my typing style is light and I'm not pressing the keys hard enough or what, but I'm definitely looking to getting a wireless keyboard to go with this.
Re-installing "in-house" Asus utilities can be kind of a pain because apparently you have to install them in a certain order to get everything to work correctly. Earlier, I whined about not being able to turn off the trackpad... but it's because the "button" doesn't work thanks to me not knowing which order to install all the Asus utilities to get it to work. I also couldn't get Direct Console to work for a while (which controls the lights and the OLED display), but after looking up some things, I uninstalled utilities and installed them in the appropriate order to get them to work.
Battery life is great for watching a movie, but gaming really kills it. I played Fallout 3 for about an hour with full settings without AA or AF and the battery was drained to 20%.
There is a warm spot to the right of the track pad where your right wrist would rest, but it's not hot to the touch and you would only notice it if you were to look for it.
The laptop is not hot on the lap since most of the heat vents to the sides. However, during gaming, you could keep a coffee mug warm with the heat that comes out of the left vent... no joke.
The location of the USB 2.0 ports and headphone jack on the right side interferes with mouse usage if you are a righty... I frequently bump into my earbud cord and the huge USB receiver for my wireless mouse, which would easily be rectified by just using the mouse over the right palm rest (since I play games this way) or not being cheap and buying a wireless mouse with a nano-receiver. Or moving the receiver to the back USB port, of course.
The glossy finish is too easy to scratch up. I'm a bit rougher with my laptops than most, so it is to be expected when you throw a laptop into a full backpack and take it out repeatedly, but I would heavily suggest that people looking to retain that nice glossy finish to get a laptop skin, clear or otherwise, just to protect its looks. InvisiShield products would be awesome, but they don't make skins for laptops... I checked.
Despite the carping, I still love the crap out of this machine.
Just trying to give more of an educated review for those looking to purchase a budget-friendly gaming laptop.
Edited by rayzoredge, 25 November 2009 - 02:24 PM.
