Asus - Laptop / Intel® Core™ i7 Processor / 17.3" Display / 8GB Memory - Black

What can I say, a quad-core Intel Core i7-2670QM processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M discrete graphics card, two 500gb harddrives in a raid array to give you 1TB of quick access, and 8gb or RAM? Schwing! I'll make this short, you won't find something comparable until you pay double the price. The Good: This laptop runs cooler than a polar bears toenails. All thanks to the way the heat is dispersed through the massive stealth fighter ports on the back of the laptop. You can have this thing on your lap (don't forget it is almost ten pounds though) and will not be uncomfortable from heat at all, not matter how far into DeusX you've gotten. It's Asus, one of the best pc manufacturers (failure rate wise) of 2010. Yes, above everyone else. And let's not forget where Asus got their roots. Odds are, you have all owned a PC that had asus mother boards in them at some point. A backlit keyboard!? Still the best invention ever, and speaking of keyoards, you'll find the chiclet keyboard on this lappy at the top of the list as far as action and comfort goes. She really puts out! The sound quality is really pretty good for a laptop. It has a subwoofer (tiny) and it makes a difference. It won't be the best laptop sound system you've heard, but did you look at the price point again? Get yourself a surround sound theater and hook this thing up to it. Or get some small external speakers if it's going to be a desk jockey. The Bad: In Best Buy's version, you won't get a 1920x1080 display, however the unit still has an HDMI port and will play HD content to your TV. Not a deal breaker for most, but it's still something to think about. Obviously, keep it plugged in, 3 hours of battery (and that is in economy mode) is all you are going to get. But once again, if you bought one of these, it's not for portability. Did I mention it's almost 10 pounds? Yeah, I think so. The soft touch rubber accents on the laptop will not hold up over time. I've had plenty of experiences with soft touch surfaces, there is no exception here. My suggestion, get a laptop skin for the top and palm rests, save yourself the frustration of having the surface peel up after your dog pretends the corner is for gnawing on. Or worse yet, your kids take a butter knife to it. (How much can you get for a kid these days? I kid, I kid...... kinda.) The Ugly: Do yourself a favor, before you get too into the machine, make the rescue disc and RELOAD THE LAPTOP. Best buy put so much bloatware on these things it makes me sick. Then I had to sit on the toilet for a half an hour while my wife was yelling at me to change the kids diaper. You don't want this to happen to you, so just reload the laptop, fresh and clean with the OS and drivers and be thankful you did so. Summary: To sum it up, even though there are some small issues here, I don't think they are a deal breaker for a piece of machinery that is this loaded to the gills. I don't really need HD on a 17 inch screen anyways. So what are you waiting for? Go out and get one, get a laptop skin for the rubber surfaces, and get to gaming!

I got this laptop after working my tail off during a summer vacation. I wanted a laptop that could run everything I wanted it to run without a problem. I found it with this beauty. I was inspired to buy this laptop after my friend brought a earlier model over to my house. This laptop has been able to run all the games I have thrown at it at the highest video settings. A few minor problems about the laptop that may turn away some buyers are as follows: 1. It is HUGE! 17.3 inches is no joke, It has a beautiful screen, but I have yet to find a case for it! Currently I am using an old hiking backpack and it fits. No issues with taking it back and forth to classes, it's just large. 2. The touch pad is large and I occasionally move it while i'm typing. It would mess up my typing because I used to tap to click. The laptop comes with a touch pad software and you can disable that. 3. Not a fan of the chiclet keyboard. Some people like it, but if you need to type a term paper, I'd recommend doing what I did and buy a wireless mouse and keyboard combo for when you're at a desk. 4. The battery isn't anything to write home about (leave it plugged in if you want to game). The laptop comes with this AWESOME software extends the battery life by cutting processor power and a lot of "luxury" features. With all of that said, the battery life on its own on full power lasts an hour. When gaming on battery life, thirty minutes, BUT when you use the software the battery life lasts about three to four hours. Now, on to the good parts of the laptop! 1. The screen runs at a 1600x900 resolution. It is great! Nice, big, and bright! 2. i7 processor runs intense programs effortlessly. 3. The graphics card is awesome! It's a top of the line Nvidia, with 2 gigs of memory dedicated to only run graphics. It enables you to run games with ease on the highest settings. Overall, if you want an affordable laptop that can keep up with the big boys, this is it. I absolutely love it.

I've loved this laptop since the moment I bought it, having paid the difference for it after activating my "No Lemon Policy" on my older Asus laptop. I read the specs, read the reviews, and despite a few recorded issues, I went for it and I will never look back. The laptop preforms every day beyond my expectations and I have never once received the "touch pad issue" I've heard about (I am not stating that the issue is false, just that I've never experienced it). Now, a few cons I need to point out before continuing; first off, the weight of the laptop limits it's portable status however, with a good backpack this issue becomes negligent. Second off, the design of the laptop (i.e. the material in which they use on the laptop) is pathetic. Stains, scratches, any marks whatsoever cosmetically can never be removed. I don't understand what they were thinking, personally if Asus was going for a more pristine look they probably should have used an HP model as reference. Thirdly, I have found a common issue linked between most of the released of this model, an improperly mounted right speaker. This is not always an issue with me as I tend to use headphones, but when I want that nice two-speaker sound quality, that right speaker can get down right annoying and I will soon be using my BB warranty for just that reason. And last but certainly not least, shortly after purchasing the laptop I ran into a rather intriguing issue, the words I typed into IE/Firefox/Chrome would begin to appear rather slowly, with a delay between each letter. Now I am a fast typist and that did not sit well with me so after some research I found the issue was inherit in the ATK software that came preloaded onto the laptop. Having discovered this I merely followed the guide and unistalled the current ATK version and installed the fixed version. Despite the issues I mentioned I whole-heartedly love this laptop. The graphics are astounding, the rate at which everything loads is lighting fast, and hard drive space is never an issue. I hope that this review, both positive and negative, will be able to help someone out there choose the correct laptop for them otherwise, thanks for reading!

I bought this computer primarily for my work and gaming. It's truly an excellent choice. People may shy away from it because the brand is not as well known as Sony or that it may slightly heavier and brute. The computer does a great job at what it advertises. The Hard Drives run at great speeds and carry a lot of space, it'd probably take someone like me years to fill all that space. The screen's display, although not HD, is amazing. Unlike many screens, if you were to touch it with your finger, it'd cause discoloration, this screen is so tough it doesn't. The keyboard is comfortable and your hands will easily start to flow over it. The touchpad is not as annoying as many touchpads but you may still want to consider buying a wireless mouse for gaming. when buying a carrying bag, make sure its at least 17 inches otherwise you can forget about it. The speed on this computer is amazing and its better than my desktop. It's essentially that; a portable desktop that in many cases outperforms many average desktops. The backlight in the keyboard is excellent for students and business people who like to work at night, it doesn't drain excessive battery from your computer. And the speakers are good, but most gamers are gonna buy headsets so they don't really matter. If you're into casually listening to music while you work on your computer, the speakers will suffice. I was comparing this computer up to a Dell XPS priced at about $1099 and the Sony VIAO priced at $1249. If you carefully compare the Sony and this computer, you'll quickly note that by buying the Sony, you'd be paying for a Brand versus quality or product. Asus is a well known computer brand in Europe and provides many components for Dell, Apple, Gateway, and HP. Don't let that fool you.

I owned an G71Gx-rx05 from 2009. For quick comparison, this new G74sx definitely heavier than that one. However, the new model feel more solid build. PERFORMANCE For the value of money, I'm very happy with it. This model is a good desknote and I'm leaving it at home. With powerful graphic card GTX560, I can run many games; darksiders, crysis 2, prince of persia tfs, devil may cry 4, red alert 3, street fighter 4, etc with high details with slightly lower resolution than native (1600x900). I noticed how powerful the graphic are by experiencing details that I did not notice before in the same game I play. I end up playing the old games back because of the crisp and pleasant to watch. I wish this model can have 3D enable. That will make me stuck with this deksnote for a week at least.:D . Battery stay for 3 hours on light usage; internet, document, movies, and about 1 hr 30 min for gaming with high end setting. That is i7 quad core power. Awesome! PROBLEM BUT SOLVED: for typing purposes, if you do not change the touchpad setting under "Finger sensing pad" menu, you will have difficult time typing word, and at the same time your cursor are messing around and sometime click at random places on your screen. Yes, the touchpad is big, and it was the only drawback I have at the beginning, until I explore the menu above. There are menu to disable the touchpad when using keyboard ( you can setting how many seconds the touchpad will active back after idle at keyboard), set up the palm detection (this is by putting your hand palm on touchpad for 2-3 second when accessing the menu), have the ability to zoom in and out using two fingers, are things that you can do to make this laptop experience flawless almost. Fair enough, this laptop is awesome (for now 2011, but it might be change another 4-5 years, just like I feel with my G71gx-rx05. However, this laptop fit my needs for at least 4-5 years ahead).

There's not much more to add that zbomb33 hasn't covered. I was looking for a machine that would replace my desktop and had the power for almost anything I could throw at it. This one fit the bill. Quad core i7, 8 GB ram, total of 1TB drive space, BluRay, and a dedicated graphics card. Last but not least, "Portable". This machine is heavy. If you are looking for "commuter laptop" this one may not be for you. The weight is not an issue for me as I want to be able to have the ability to use it somewhere other than my desk if I'd like a change of scenery. I looked at the next model up of this machine that was available from a competitor. The only difference was a 3GB dedicated graphics card, 4GB more ram, and a 1080p display for $200 more. I didn't plan on watching to many movies so the display was a non issue. ram i can upgrade later, and 1 Gb more video ram would be a minor performance increase. I also looked at Dell and HP machines with comparable specs. And to be honest they were way more expensive when trying to match feature to feature. What also brought me back to this machine, was the quality service I always get from BB at my local B&M So Pros: Nice bright display, the power, bluray, price, very little bloatware. Cons: 1080p would have been nice to have, lacks fire wire and could use 1 more USB. It is heavy (but like i said not a big issue for me). I think the speakers could be better, but I'm no audiophile.

As previous owner of G50, G51, G53, Alienware M14x (loud p.o.s) and M15x. This G74SX is the MOST quiet among them all. When idling or doing web browsing, the laptop is barely audible at all times. There are no crazy fan that revs up and down like M14x did. During peak gaming, the fan stay at a constant higher RPM, but still more than tolerable. I understand everyone's tolerance is different, but I am an extremely sensitive person to noise and having owned all those aforementioned laptops, G74 is the most quiet during heat of battle. I did not measure FPS for game, but Starcraft 2 I can play at max resolution 1600 x 900 at ULTRA setting with no lag on multiple player with hundred units. At Modern Warfare 3, I can play at 1600 x 900 everything highest setting with no lag. Now the facts This GTX 560m is 128 bits not 192 bits, I verified through Nvidia control panel. To me this is not a big deal because 1600 x 900 is really not a demanding resolution for a laptop/video card of this caliber. Also this GTX 560M is 2GB NOT 3GB like other variant of G74SX sold on newegg and amazon. Once again, to me this is not a big deal. 1600 x 900 is not that high of a resolution that demands high memory at this time or in the near future. For those not convinced, Macbbook air's integrated intel HD3000 video is enough to drive the 27 inches Apple Cinema Display at 2560 x 1440, 2GB GTX 560M is more than enough for 1600 x 900 for quite a while. Silence: This laptop at idle is silent, I can put it beside me and fall asleep with no problem. At peak gaming, the constant fan is still a low sound and will not disturb anyone even if you are in a quiet room. At no time does the keyboard or the palm rest feel warm at all. Most of the previous reviewers has answered questions a reasonable people might ask, so I just intend to address a few special areas such as noise and spec of this laptop that was not answered. Hope this helped. PS: Speaker is WEAAAAAKKKKK but a good gaming headset solved it.

For those concerned about keyboard lag, the latest bios updates from Asus fixed them completely and the keyboard is responsive. That was my only complaint, and now that it's fixed I have no complaints on this great laptop. Asus is a great brand - they make their own motherboards rather then outsource like other companies do. My first laptop was an Asus x83vm-x1, and it's still in perfect working condition. My boyfriend has an older ROG Asus (G72 something) and that is still working. We can't go wrong with Asus. :) I got this specific model as I wanted to get the best bang for the buck. I wanted something that would play Skyrim on high/ultra, and something that would render Sony Vegas stuff nicely. I don't care about Blueray, and upgrading ram to 16 gbs was cheap. (25 bucks per stick) I do wish that this model had the 3 GB graphics card, but 2 GB will work in the meantime. It's certainly bigger then my old laptop's 14 inch screen. xD FYI - Skryim selected Ultra settings on this laptop, and the game runs around 30 FPS. Those who want to get Sony Vegas pro 11 will be pleased to know that this card will support GPU acceleration nicely. Also, be prepared to have a hard time finding a bag that will fit this laptop. Asus sells backpack bags on their website, but I have not ordered one yet as they're very expensive.