Customer Ratings & Reviews

Overall this is the best laptop I have seen. the price is excellent, and the specifications are amazing. I played with it at best buy right when it was setup on display and it is very fast. it also allows the user to overclock the FSB from 667 to 733, which boosts cpu speed from 2.0GHz to 2.2GHz. the laptop is also very good looking and lightweight, making it perfect for just about anything. it also has a centrino 2 chipset, which allows support for upgrading to many high end processors with up to 1066 FSB, should you decide to do so. gaming performance is also excellent with the 9700gt, averages a 6800 3dmark 06 score. the only thing im not sure of is battery life, but im sure since its based on the centrino 2 platform it should be decent.

I have owned 4 laptops over the past few years, and this is by far the best I have ever owned. My previous laptops were a Compaq (before the HP buyout), a Dell, and a Gateway. This Asus packs is the best value of any laptop I've purchased hands down, and the laptop is very high quality, no flimsy feeling parts or lackluster assembly here. Asus builds quality products, and their service and support is top notch. Their support website includes all the latest driver and software updates, along with downloadable manuals in case you lose the one that came with the laptop. The screen is bright and sharp, I've had no issues with the native screen resolution of 1366x768, and many of my games support the resolution so I've had no issues with distorted or fuzzy low resolution graphics. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor handles everything I throw at it with no slowdown or stuttering, and even when running demanding games (Team Fortress 2, Oblivion, Sins of a Solar Empire) the computer stays pretty cool. The 4Gb of RAM definitely help it to keep up with everything I'm running, and since it comes with 64bit Vista I can eventually upgrade to 8Gb! The 200Gb hard drive is fast at 7200rpm, but about average for storage capacity compared to most laptops. But wait! Asus was kind enough to include a second hard drive bay, so when you start getting low on space, you can throw in a second hard drive and greatly increase your capacity! The NVIDIA 9700M GT has its own 512Mb of dedicated DDR3 RAM, and is Directx 10 compatible so any game you run on this laptop will look awesome! Don't worry about the native resolution "ruining" the graphics, the resolution is only low if you compare it to a high end desktop. The resolution is fine and will actually allow you to max out more graphics settings (AA, Anisotropic filtering, textures, shadows, etc) while still maintaining a higher framerate. On top of all these great capabilities, the laptop is also incredibly light for its size, includes a full keyboard with numberpad, has an extra LCD screen for status indicators and messages, and looks really sweet with it's black piano finish and orange accent colors. If you're looking for a new gaming laptop to take on trips, or even a desktop replacement that you can easily move around, pick this thing up!

I have been buying ASUS motherboards and peripherals for years now, they did not disappoint with their gaming laptop line. The 512 mb video card is sweet, better than what I have in my gaming desktop! I also like the fact that it has 64 bit vista installed so windows recognizes all 4 gb of memory. I have only had limited compatibility issues but it was because the games were old 16 bit Windows 95 games. Everything else I have thrown at this it has played, extremely well. Half Life Orange Box, Crysis, Civ IV, and especially World of Warcraft. This is a WoW machine. The 15.6" screen is nice, bigger than the standard 15.4" screen of midsized laptops. Only downside is that you will need a 17" laptop bag as it does not fit in bags designed for 15.4" laptops (I know, I tried) Once I get a 32" LCD TV I am going to try the HDMI output for gaming on a big screen. There are options to overclock but I have not seen any need to do so. It's fast right out of the box. It runs hot, as most laptops do, but not as bad as my last one, which wasn't even a gaming laptop. Battery life has varied depending on what I am doing and what power scheme I am running, but it averages around 1 and a half to 2 hours. Enough time to watch a dvd. You can also turn off the fancy LED lights to save power if needed. The audio system is nice, speakers are not as loud as I would have liked but it still has good clear sound. I use headphones mostly so I am fine with it. Lastly, it came with very little bloatware. Just a trial version of Microsoft Office which I uninstalled, and a couple ASUS programs that I have rarely used and are soon to go. I had been eyeballing this one for about a month then they put it on sale. I jumped on it and I am glad I did. It's a great laptop for games and everything else.

i got this a few days ago, i was very impressed at first....it is really fast with the 4 gigs of ram, everything but crysis runs great and no problems related to 64 bit os so far. the resolution is kind of a bummer, but i have a good gaming pc so its not a deal breaker for me. two things i dont like are the very short battery and how loud the dvd drive is, i had to return one it was so loud, it was similar to the sound of 5 year old hair clippers that had never been cleaned or oiled. the one i got now isnt nearly as bad, although still loud at times. this is pretty much a desktop replacement in a nice small package that is very affordable compared to its market competitors. i would recommend this to anybody who had the cash to afford it if they wanted to play games on a laptop. all my complaints are just minor annoyances to me and do not impede my overall satisfaction with this product. i didnt expect this thing to wrangle with crysis and it wont on high settings with a good framerate, but thats why i have my game rig, but this thing demolishes bioshock and f.e.a.r. and handles warhammer online admirably, which isnt easy.

With Intel's new 45nm dual CPU at 2.0 GHz, Nvidia's blazing 9700 GT GPU with 512 MBs dedicated memory and outright system memory to spare, as well as a cream of the crop Asus motherboard that allows for future-proofing, this can't be beat by the guys at HP, Lenovo, or Dell until you get above $2K. You might - repeat, might get close with certain Sony VAIO's - but it's always a trade-off. Here, you have top quality MIP (most important and critical parts) and at a tiny screen of 15.6", we must be realistic. If you really want to see what this machine can do, attach it to an external high def monitor and see how Asus can rock'n'roll on graphics-intensive gaming and HD DVD's. Meanwhile, the 15.6" monitor is competitive with anything you can throw at it.

I recently purchased the Toshiba quosmio x301 at bestbuy. The specs looked better and I thought it would run faster. For some reason the Toshiba was slower (noticeably) than the asus. I returned the Toshiba and picked up the ASUS. The ASUS runs much faster and is a cleaner design. One feature I like was the 2 year parts and labor warranty. The Bestbuy site says 1 year but 2 years is stamped on the bottom. It also came with a surprisingly detailed manual and a recovery disk. I called tech support to find the part number for a second hard drive cover (it can hold two drives). Tech support answered quickly on Saturday night and they sounded like they are based in the US. I read a concern that the screen resolution should be better, but that has not prevented many people from commenting on how nice my screen is.This is my first ASUS but I can tell it will not be my last. I'm very glad I returned it for the Toshiba

I have been waiting for years for a company to develop a high-end budget gaming notebook in the 15" form-factor! Asus got this one right on the money. For $1,250.00 you cannot go wrong! The Dell XPS line with similar specs would easily cost you over $2,500.00 and it would have to be a 17" desktop replacement. Even the aesthetics of this laptop are phenomenal! It has a very nice gloss finish with blue led accents & a gorgeous LCD Panel to display CPU usage, Memory Usage, Ect. The Asus power management software works like a charm enabling easy switching between performance & battery saving. Right from the moment you open the box you will not be disappointed! BestBuy does not even have this thing on the show-room floor...I personally think it is a good thing because they would not keep them in-stock if they did. If you are looking for a mid-size, yet still portable laptop that is very capable of gaming; head over to BestBuy and pick this up. You will not be sorry you did.

I opened the box when I got home and a massive dead insect was inside, but as soon as I powered it up I realized it was worth it. It has a retro-80's design to it, but I bought it for its video card and processor speed. I took the laptop with me to school, and complete strangers were walking up to me telling me how cool it looks..I'm not fond of orange and the flashing lights on the case but hey, it's what's inside that matters. I bought this for school and to also play MMORPG's in my spare time, and have been installing WoW on it for 4 hours now (you know how those patch downloads go), and it has yet to overheat. Be careful though to always have an outlet nearby, because the battery life is really short. The graphics are amazing! And it is really fast. I would definitely recommend this to a friend. I'm pretty picky when it comes to computers, but this was definitely worth it.

This is a great laptop... I am not a gamer at all... I am interested in performance, and the fact that it had 4GB RAM, 7200 RPM HDD made it my first choice... Also the dedicated Graphics card is really good since it doesn't consume any of the 4GB RAM,... that I really need for my simulations at work... When I saw it in the website I didn't really like the color but I got used to it... Finally, there is a backpack for 15" laptops that can barely fit this... I do not know if it is appropriate to say it in the review but since it might help other owners I will let Best Buy decide on this... It is actually an SLR Camera and Notebook Backpack by Case Logic. I cannot find it in Best Buy.com and I do not know if they have it... but you can check on their website... I own it and it kind of stretch but it kind of fits in there

Well I did some research and decided to go buy a laptop since most of my siblings have overun my old desktop computer. Looked at this and found out that Asus computers have a good standing among many people. (From what I read) I decided to go with the buy and even got a warranty since this was my first credit card purchase. I needed it for gaming and general purpose studies. I've had it for around two weeks now and it works great. All games I've installed on it run very fast and efficiently. It can multitask well too, yet don't be throwing up 9 different programs than it will slow down a bit. Only problems I have is it has Vista...yea only one problem. However, I did notice a minor graphic issue that brought a ton of lines at startup. There could be something wrong with your graphics card if this shows up. However, I rebooted and everything worked fine. Also recently I've noticed a very slight clicking noise that just started in the last couple days, this could be from prolong usage or something might be wrong with the drive. Just thought I'd throw this out to any potential buyers in case they recieve the same problem. However, nothing horrible has happened to my laptop, I do have a 3 year warranty and this makes me happy since it will be replaced if something happens to it in the upcoming weeks or months ahead. Oh yea, this can handle the game Crysis and is the only one that loads slowly from what I've seen. I'm very happy with the purchase and will be using it for upcoming games like Spore, Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3. This thing is great and I do recommend it. You will need a very large bag to carry this in, don't buy a 15.6 inch bag, it won't fit. So if your looking for a gaming laptop with plenty of power and also want to do general purpose things on it, go for this one. It has a great price and a 3 year warranty will give you peace of mind in case a surge or you spill a drink on your laptop. It will be replaced. :D >> Great laptop for gaming, can run crysis at high settings! Great mobile connections and runs smoothly. From what I've seen thefans run and cool the system effectively and quietly. Very good pricefor a laptop with this kind of power and Asus has a very good track record. A must have for mobile gaming.

This laptop is the best there is for price range its on! Asus has been tested for years for their ingenuity of the architectural design of their motherboards! ive been using asus since i was at 10th grade and this laptop shows the promising results of asus. Quiet, fast, sleek, truly for a gamer like me! Plays WoW, CS, Call of duty, Silkroad, Rohan online with ease! theres nothing to regret with this laptop. I will keep this laptop for years to come! A best buy (",)

I would have rated this laptop a 5 of 5 stars if it weren't for the absolutely terrible performance of the built in wireless adapter. It is so pitiful, I only get 3-4 of 5 bars sitting across the room from a powerful and fancy access point. My GF's computer can be across the house and up stairs and get full bars on her Asus (G2). When I take mine up where she sits, I get 1 bar at the most, and it's not enough for a solid connection. Aside from being the most pitiful laptop wireless wise, the thing is absolutely an amazing machine for it's price.

For the price you can't get a laptop with better hardware. The processor looks a little weak but I haven't been bothered by it at all, seems still quite fast. Vista's lame but just about everything comes with it installed now and at least this one comes with 64-bit. Overall a great purchase. If you don't want to spend over 2k go with this laptop.

I love, love this computer. I have been looking for a smaller than 17" laptop and this is it! It's full number pad is great. As the reviewer before me I am not a gamer, but I do need the higher graphics and the looks of the computer have grown on me as well! I am very pleased and would recommend this computer highly to anyone!

Asus has long been performance oriented with their motherboards, and this laptop doesn't disappoint. This unit is fast, with a great video card--the best you can get right now in a laptop. As others have mentioned, it's an odd color, but that makes it easy to pick out in the herd. Also 64-bit OS, it uses all 4GB ram VERY effectively. The only (slight) drawback is the unusual size of the display--1366x768. Makes for a wider than normal 15.6" display that may not fit in a normal 15" compatible bag. This was done for gaming, as it matches an in-game resolution for WOW. Two more things to mention: The media center allows the machine to power up outside of Windows (hurray!) to listen to music or watch movies. Very nicely implemented. Also, there is a small alphanumeric display above the keyboard, that can be used for instant messaging or to cycle through system information (battery life, free memory, etc.) Very nice! I have to say that we got this for my Geek Squad gamer daughter to replace her desktop for school--and now everyone else in the house is jealous!!! Maybe she'll let me use it occasionally if I ask really nice...

This computer is wicked fast and awesome. It only has a 2.0 Ghz processor but you hardly notice with the advanced ram and powerful graphics card. This will play almost any game you throw at it. And for the price it is amazing. It barely breaks a thousand!

Let me begin with the Enhanced Intel® Centrino® processor technology with interrelated Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T5750, Intel® PM45 chipset now think of a Alienware laptop. 802.11b/g/n network connection and extended battery life capability 4GB memory for multitasking power for the Geek Squad in you, 667MHz frontside bus, 2MB L2 cache and 2.0GHz processor speed for your Need for speed raging laptop Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible media for a true directors cut master piece and so and so also supports LightScribe direct-disc labels using compatible LightScribe media but please respect anti-piracy production do project cd's for fun 15.6" WXGA widescreen display with Asus Splendid Video Enhancement technology and 1366 x 768 resolution for the HD like screen

What a great computer!!!! This is the first laptop that I have owned and I am glad that I went with this other than the other laptops offered. The 15.6 inch screen is a great alternative for people that want a desktop replacement but not the huge size or the quick battery drain. Plus the graphics are unbelievable for gaming. Although this Asus has no bluetooth, everything else is very fast and stable. Even the 64 bit vista has installed and ran everything that I have put on it except the virus scanner. The lightscribe drive is awesome as well. For the price, you can't find a better deal. I even like the fact that you have a dedicated numpad separate from the keyboard. Definately a great laptop!!!!

Purchased on sale for $1099.00. other models I looked at in this price range did not have dedicated video card and weren't packaged as nicely. Neat unit for the price and upgradable,

So, I did a lot of research looking for a gaming laptop that didnt cost $3,000. There is another laptop made by ASUS that has better specs than this, ie faster processor and a better display, but it is not available at Best Buy. I've been impressed with the performance when gaming though the screen resolution makes playing in windowed mode a bit odd. Playing Warhammer online and WoW, I entered PVP or RvR areas with no lag what-so-ever. It should be noted that this machine comes with 2 hard drives, which is not stated in the specs. Dividing 200 Gigs of hard drive space out makes for 2 not very big drives, especially when Vista takes up sooo much space on the first drive. If you store a lot of music and videos, you may want to take this into consideration. Overall, this laptop meets my needs very well, is quiet and remained relatively cool through several hours of gaming.