ASUS - ROG Strix SCAR 17.3" 240Hz Gaming Laptop QHD - AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX with 32GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 - 1TB SSD - Off Black

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• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Better than Most Desktops

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for less than 1 week

  Performance: This is likely the main reason you would get this specific laptop. In my opinion, it has the best processor you can buy right now in a laptop. While the Intel i9-13980HX still has the best single core score, the Ryzen 9 7945HX takes the edge in multi core performance. There are only a few consumer desktop processors that are better, mostly the high-end offerings from Intel and AMD which puts this desktop in desktop replacement class PC. There is removable DDR5 memory and it supports up to 64GB of RAM as well as 1TB of NVMe storage which is also upgradable with a 2nd M.2 slot if you want to expand onboard memory. Along with performance is cooling capacity. This laptop runs quiet for the most part. Playing New World on max settings you can hear the fan going but it’s not distracting in a room with the TV on and ongoing conversations. You do see the CPU hit 90 degrees Celsius when doing synthetic testing and it hovers in the 80s on regular gaming but this is the new norm for gaming laptops. As for heat comfort, the bottom gets warm if you’re going to use it in the lap. I recommend a cooling pad or at least flat surface to put it on. The keyboard and trackpad however do not suffer from any kind of heat discomfort. Design/Display: This laptop has gamer vibes. There’s ROG logo branding on the lid that lights up (not RGB, sadly) and ROG written just behind the lid. There’s a light bar in the front that seems a bit gimmicky as it’s not diffused well, but it accents the surface you have it on when in use so I’m not bothered by it much. The laptop is thick and doesn’t taper off much towards the front. The lid has a small notch that allows you to easily open the lid with one finger. The hinge is a bit loose in the nearly closed position but stiffens up as the lid opens, hopefully it will stand the test of time. The chassis is all plastic from what I can tell. Most laptops with metal or magnesium chassis with these specs are typically over $3,000, so this could be some of the cost savings. That being said, it doesn’t feel cheap, but not premium either. The display is good. It’s QHD with advertised 300 nits of brightness. There’s DCI-P3 100% support as well as Dolby HDR ready. The 240hz refresh rates gives a smoothness to movement and gameplay that is hard to go back to anything less. HDR video playback looks good as well. There are better panels out there, I’m not going to oversell it, but this one looks good. I think they would have to increase the price for a better panel and honestly, I’m happy with this sweet spot. Input/Output: Keyboard isn’t bad. The typing experience is pretty good. The keys are spaced appropriately and don’t seem crunched, even with the addition of a keypad, although it is a bit smushed, it still is easy enough to use, and I’m a keypad fan. There is per-key lighting and the alternate function are clear for backlighting but because the main light source is in the center of the key, they aren’t as lit in a well lit setting. I am a bit bummed that the F1-F12 keys are painted on though. There are dedicated macro keys at the top which also serve the purpose of volume, microphone mute, and fan settings, with the last one set to launch Armory Crate app. The function keys main icon is various functions from brightness, airplane mode, to turning off the trackpad. The trackpad is good enough. I’m not a trackpad person but it’s big enough and it works. It’s smooth enough that there’s no issues sliding my finger as needed across the surface. I’m disappointed in the camera however. There’s no reason a laptop over $2,000 should have a camera less than 1080p resolution. This also lacks windows hello, lacking both an IR camera or a fingerprint sensor. Sound is OK. I wish it would get a bit louder. There’s sound profile within the Dolby Atmos app which can be set for music, movies, and 3 custom settings where you can tune with 10 sliders to customize if you wish. I think the sound is clean enough for a laptop. They’re bottom firing so you’re limited by the surface you have beneath them. If I want premium sound, I prefer to use headphones anyways. As for ports, there’s really all that you need on a laptop. Two USB A, Two USB C, Ethernet 2.5gbps, HDMI. I would say the one lacking item is an SD card reader. I personally don’t use them but I know for something that could be used for creators, it would be a must. Gamers probably care a bit less. Software: This comes with ASUS’ suite of software. Armory Crate controls the ins and outs. If you need to change the power profile, fan speeds, lighting, AURA wallpaper, Visual profile, game launcher and a sleuth of other features and functionality, it’s there. Also, I would say, ASUS has some of the better software. It’s fast to launch, quick to respond, and provides good feedback. There’s not a lot of bloatware outside of ASUS’ own products which is expected. It did come with McAfee but it was easy enough to get rid of. Final Thoughts: I think the goal here was to cram the best CPU, GPU, and adequate RAM to get the most affordable top end laptop you can get while still maintaining best in class build quality for the materials used. I would say CPU and GPU at the time of this writing, this is the 2nd best money can buy without including a 4090 for $600 more. They cut some corners for cost. An all plastic chassis, crappy webcam, no biometric login, basic trackpad are all cost tradeoffs to get one of the best performance PCs you can buy. You’re buying a pretty good screen, screaming performance, and fantastic cooling all under $3,000.

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  Posted 2 years ago by TravisJ

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Good laptop

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for 3 weeks

  Good graphics and light able to carry when i travel

  Posted 2 years ago by Texman

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Great computer

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for 1 week

  This is a great a computer for the task at had and can handle games with ease. My only gripe is the price because you would think asus would at least throw in some stickers for that amount. Asus if you see this please reach out you should include stickers at least with your amazing laptops.

  Posted 2 years ago by ixtuckx7