Asus G1-S - even better laptop
Written: Sep 19 '07
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Pros: Awesome screen & resolution, fast performance, nice mouse & backpack, 2-year global warranty
Cons: Slow hard drive, poor speakers will make you cry
The Bottom Line: Excellent for games, video and photo editing. You'll need to buy a set of speakers.
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| andrevm's Full Review: ASUS G1S-A1 (90NLBA6132413CQL400T) PC Notebook |
The Asus G1-S is virtually the same computer as the G1, except for a few minor changes:
:-: Windows Vista Home Premium replaces Windows XP Media Center Edition
I won’t dwell on this upgrade too much. The only benefit I see is the new interface which, while it looks cool, consumes additional memory and power to maintain. I often see computers with Vista running at 100% CPU when there’s nothing actually running besides Microsoft’s background applications. If you are running on battery, the time available is substantially shorter.
A number of G1-S owners have opted to format the HDD, and install a clean copy of XP instead. Since Vista is not yet compatible with a large number of legacy hardware you may have around the house or office (and it might never be), you won’t be worst off by going back to XP... In fact, I read in multiple forums that Windows Vista doesn’t like being on one hard drive with two partitions – like Asus ships their computers – and have had to format the unit and install it under one partition alone.
Overall, I think Vista is too buggy to maintain at the moment.
:-: GeForce G8600M GT 256MB GDDR3 replaces GeForce 7700 256MB GDDR3
The 8000 series from NVIDIA provides the following features worth mentioning here:
- Microsoft DirectX 10 video architecture – higher levels of realism, especially lighting and video effects;
- 16X Anti-aliasing Technology – reduces jagged edges;
- HD Video acceleration – the laptop display is capable of showing native HD videos, nothing better than a video card made for that.
One should be able to run any of the current set of PC games with the 8600 video card.
:-: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 2.2GHz replace the 2 GHz CPU model
The G1-S is slightly faster than its predecessor, although most people won’t be able to tell the difference due to CPU alone.
I consider the G1-S the best solution for the performance-oriented enthusiast in the 15” notebook range. The laptop is sharp looking, built solid, meets the requirements of most of today’s entertainment and work-related applications, has a glossy screen akin to Sony’s well known Vaio models (see local store), and sports a 2-year global warranty – perfect for someone that travels or studies abroad.
It also doesn’t come loaded with bloat ware, although it doesn’t hurt to delete some Asus applications either (more on this later).
:-: Build Quality :-:
The G1-S case is shiny and beautiful with its carbon fiber construction. It’s actually all plastic, but it feels solid. The only immediate drawback I’ve noticed is that the shiny portion gets finger smudges easily – both on the outside and where your arms lay prior to the keyboard.
The 15.4” WSXGA+ (1680x1050) screen reflects all light around it, as expected from a glossy screen; but the text and photographs look awesome. Some people might want to adjust the text size or resolution. I sometimes zoom in when reading NY Times online.
The computer offers 16 levels of brightness adjustment. In battery saving mode, the laptop defaults to level 1. This is almost too dark, though one can adjust the level and it will default to that setting every time.
Asus has a zero bright pixel warranty on the first 30 days of ownership. This is great since there’s nothing more annoying that spending thousands of dollars and finding out you got the one bad unit out of the batch. I had a Sony monitor with a bright red pixel, and I could not replace it because Sony required eight bad pixels. Guess I was lucky: imagine having seven red lights constantly staring at you! It would drive me insane.
An item that concerned my when I first saw the G-series laptop pictures online was the bright green ASDW keys. Would they annoy me? Turns out they are harmless. The screen grabs all my attention.
The keys make a slight click when pressed, traveling about 2 mm. They feel solid and sturdy. There’s no visible flex by the keyboard.
The keypad can be turned off by a simple click of a button, located next to the power button. It has a smooth surface and the sliding bar feature functions well. A green LED located inside the “eye” of the game series logo shines brightly when the keypad is on. This is also not as disturbing/bright as it might look (probably because it’s green).
The G1-S has five multimedia keys in front of the case: power, reverse, forward, stop, and play. They are intended to control the optical drive when the laptop is turned off. I’ve found this particular feature worthless, as the laptop is too big to be carried around as an iPod. However, I use the keys all the time when playing music with Windows Media Player. They allow me to skip, pause, and stop songs without having to switch programs. This is really nice when playing games. The buttons are tiny enough that I cannot press them by mistake. (However, it’s not compatible with iTunes.)
Aside from the player, there are four additional hot keys besides the power button: fan/processor performance adjustment, e-mail, Internet browser, and turning the keypad on/off. The fan setting has five options: quiet office, presentation, super performance, high performance, and game. When running on battery alone, a battery-saving mode is also offered, which decreases LCD brightness and processor speed substantially.
:-: Accessories:-:
Along with the G1-S, Asus also includes a cloth to clean the LCD screen, a cable tie, an optical mouse, and a backpack made by Targus. The backpack is made of top notch materials and is well capable of carrying everything, plus even a couple note books, pens, and other stuff in the front pocket. I particularly like the compartments deep in the main opening, as I can store important items like my iPod, wallet, phone, etc. and they are out of view, even when the bag is open.
Along with those items, Asus also included recovery disks. Most brands charge extra for those.
:-: Speakers :-:
Much like its older sibling, the G1-S has speakers on the bottom of the case. They play loud music, but sport a very cave-like sound. If you are an audiophile, you will want better speakers.
:-: Processor & Performance :-:
The Asus G1-S laptop is capable of running large CAD assemblies (preferably when plugged in), video editing applications such as Premiere Pro, or even dozens of photos open in Photoshop CS. I’ve used all of these applications without any hiccups or crashes. The dual Intel processor and 2 GB of memory work very well together.
On the other hand, the hard drive is very slow at 5400 RPM. While 160GB is nice for storage, one might consider installing a faster model. A 100GB 7200 rpm drive usually costs $100 or less.
Another factor in performance is the extra software Asus included with the G1-S. I would suggest deleting the sample anti-virus software and some other resource-consuming applications. The only apps I have running on my laptop are the AVG free edition, NVIDIA Control Panel, and the Asus Direct Console which manages the speed of the fan and processor (power consumption).
:-: Heat and Noise :-:
Due to the more energy intensive graphic card, I suspect heat could be a bigger issue in the G1-S. If you live in a very hot and humid area, you might consider buying a laptop cooler. According to my research online, Antec’s models fit the G1-S well. I almost bought one for me, but the weather changed!
The palm area turns slightly warm over time, but it’s not enough to annoy me. The heat sink and fan exhaust on this model are located on the rear left side, away from the mouse. I placed the computer on my lap, and it didn’t bother me, however I find it too big to use it there.
In regards to noise, I can hear a faint hard drive swoosh sound when the laptop is idle or doing light tasks. When playing games, the fan picks up speed and becomes more noticeable. The exhaust can be very hot, so keep that area clear!
:-: Input & Output Ports :-:
The Asus G1-S exceeds prior offerings in this category (in bold).
- Express Card
- Microphone-in jack
- Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
- Line-in jack
- VGA port
- DVI-D port
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports
- IEEE 1394 port
- RJ11 Modem jack (I turned this off on the first day)
- RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN
- TV-out (S-Video)
- eSATA
- HDMI
- Memory Card Reader (MMC, SD, MS, MS-Pro)
:-: Wireless :-:
I have no Bluetooth devices, so I can’t test this feature.
I connected the G1 to my wireless home network through the g mode, and it worked flawlessly. It also works well at school, even when the signal is at 2 bars.
:-: Battery :-:
My laptop is plugged in most of the time, so battery consumption was not a factor in my purchase decision. Asus doesn’t sell longer-lasting batteries. If you want to spend a long time on batteries, you might want to purchase an extra battery.
:-: Customer Support :-:
My G1 had problems after 10 days – the screen died. Asus was quick to replace it; and I didn’t even have to pay for shipping. Since that incident nine months ago, I have been very satisfied with the computer. I expect the G1-S to be solid built; and if you have problems, at least know Asus will be there to service you.
:-: Conclusion :-:
Overall, I’m very satisfied with my G1 purchase. I expect the G1-S to be superior in performance and equally reliable in the long run. Despite Vista, I highly recommend the computer.
However if good sound out of the laptop is a must, look elsewhere. The speakers are horrific.
::!!::
- Feel free to ask questions!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1800
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
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Epinions.com ID:
andrevm
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Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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