ASUS ROG G75VW Pro Reviews

Gaming prowess rarely comes cheap, but that doesn’t mean it can’t at least be affordable. The Asus G75VW-DH72 gaming laptop may offer pricing and performance well below what tricked out systems like the Eurocom Scorpius can offer, but when stacked against mid-range gaming systems like the Alienware M17x R4, it still holds its own, getting you on the gaming grid for under two grand.

Gaming prowess rarely comes cheap, but that doesn't mean it can't at least be affordable. The Asus G75VW-DH72 gaming laptop may offer pricing and performance well below what tricked out systems like the Eurocom Scorpius can offer, but when stacked against mid-range gaming systems like the Alienware M17x R4, it still holds its own, getting you on the gaming grid for under two grand.

The ASUS G75VW is a true gaming station. It has a powerful hardware configuration, providing a gaming experience that is comparable to the best desktop gaming computers. Of course, the G75VW is not recommended if you are looking for an easy-to-carry laptop. It is big and heavy, made to be used on a good desk, connected to the AC power. The combination of a full HD 3D screen and a Blu-Ray reader/burner makes the G75VW also great for watching Blu-Ray movies. The only “problem” we found is the hard disk drive configuration, since two 500 GB hard drives only make sense if they come configured in a RAID0 array. It would be better to equip this laptop with an SSD as the boot drive and a 1 TB hard drive as the secondary drive.

I have no reservations recommending the ASUS G75VW to enthusiast gamers. It excels in nearly every area as have previous-generation ASUS G-series gaming notebooks. I like the design tweaks of this iteration including the much-improved keyboard and touchpad and anti-glare screen coating. Build quality is good; it gets a respectable three hours of battery life and overall performance is outstanding. It plays all the latest games including Mass Effect 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at maximum settings. The G75VW has an excellent cooling system; the fans are almost inaudible and the chassis is lukewarm even under maximum load. The only item that sticks out as needing improvement is the speakers - but that's hardly a con on a notebook. Gamers wanting a bit more power can opt for a G75VW with a slightly faster GTX 670M graphics card.

The Asus G75VW-DS71 is nicely priced for a midrange gaming laptop, and it works as a multimedia behemoth. But it starts to wheeze when taxed with high resolution and detail settings. Think of it as a part-time gaming rig.

If I could have given this a 4.75 out of 5 I would have – sadly our scale doesn’t work like that. I think it is better than a 90% score, but needs just a small amount of work before it reaches that magical perfect rating – as it is though, you will be hard pressed to find a better gaming laptop for the prices Asus is charging – Asus is again at the front of the gaming revolution.

This somewhat cheap gaming laptop has unimpressive performance and awful speakers, but it offers a beautiful screen.

Our first verdict is mostly also true for the production model. The G75VW-T1040V from Asus is a successful and sophisticated gaming laptop with hardly any flaws – apart from its weight. Besides high build quality, decent input devices, and low noise and temperature emissions, we have to mention the matte FullHD panel positively. Gamers and film fans will not only appreciate the low black value, but also the excellent contrast. The components also seem to be selected wisely. However the graphics cards might be too slow in the future. Due to the steep price of 1800 Euro, many gamers will consider buying twice. If you do not mind system noise, you'll get cheaper and/or faster products from competitors. Leaving aside future proofness: The G75VW-T1040V is without doubt one of the best high-end notebooks available today.

The Asus G75VW is a budget-priced gaming laptop, and in this case you kind of get what you pay for. Don't get me wrong: The G75VW can play most games at an acceptable level, and it's a fairly attractive machine to boot. Plus, it has a great screen with excellent viewing angles. That said, it's lacking in general performance, and it's nothing like some of the higher-end gaming laptops we've seen, such as the Origin EON17-S. On the other hand, though the EON17-S has twice the WorldBench 7 score of the G75VW, it also costs more than twice as much. If you're looking for a somewhat budget-friendly gaming laptop, the G75VW is quite capable. But you will need to use headphones.

The Asus G75VW features a basic software bundle. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium and features the limited and ad-supported Microsoft Office Starter 2010, a trial of Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security, and CyberLink’s MediaSuite for disc-creation chores. Asus bundles a number of utilities of questionable value, including Asus @Vibe, which provides a full-screen interface for listening to music and Internet radio and shopping for games and books. We had a trouble-free experience with the Asus G75VW, except for the company’s utility for controlling the Webcam. The Asus Virtual Camera application refused to open. A quick search online showed we weren’t alone with this issue. The solution is to search for the Asus LifeFrame utility, which is the app needed for using the Webcam. It’s confusing because it’s not listed in the Asus utilities folder, nor does it show up when you search for “Webcam” or “camera.”

If you want to buy a “budget” gaming laptop, the Asus G75VW-AS71 offers plenty of horsepower and features in its heavy 17-inch body. Just don’t expect anything svelte -- or good battery life.