Asus releases 15-inch gaming laptop, the G50V

(Credit: Asus)

Mobile gamers, take note: Asus today released the G50V, a 15-inch gaming laptop that appears to be a high-powered, low-priced affair.

The majority of gaming laptops use a 17-inch chassis and weigh 8 pounds or more. The Asus G50V packs many of the same features inside a 15-inch chassis that weighs a relatively svelte 6.2 pounds. Inside, the laptop supplies a high-end 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 processor, 4GB of fast 800MHz DDR2 memory, and an Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT graphics card with 512MB of DDR3 memory. Two hard drives are on board for a combined 500GB of storage. Throw in a DVD burner and your total is a very reasonable $1,699. A Blu-ray-equipped model with smaller hard-drive space (two 200GB units) goes for $1,899.

The 15-inch screen features a 1680x1050 native resolution. While the GeForce 9700M GT is a DX10 graphics card and member of Nvidia's current generation, it's still a notch down from the three 9800 series members and a half-step down from the 9700 GTS card.

Gaming-friendly features include an overclocking button that pushes the CPU into Turbo mode or--hold onto your headset--Turbo Extreme mode, as well as a 2.0-megapixel Webcam, and LED lights along the sides of the display. A small OLED secondary display sits above the keyboard and displays system status, IM, and e-mail alerts. Asus also adds a backpack and Logitech MX518 mouse to sweeten the deal.

Non-gaming features include an Express Gate button, which lets you bypass Windows and quickly boot to a Linux shell where you can access your Web browser and other apps. The Webcam features facial-recognition technology, which you can use to log in to the laptop in lieu of a password. An HDMI-out lets you output audio and video to an HDTV, and an eSATA port provides fast data transfers to external drives.

In all, both G50V models appear to be great values. A similarly configured Dell XPS 1530 with weaker graphics costs more. And 15-inch models from Dell's Alienware brand and HP's Voodoo brand are much pricier.

Thankfully, it looks as though the Asus G50V will simply smell like a laptop and is not a member of the company's scented models.

Full specs can be found on the Asus Web site here.

[Lerianis]

Still doesn't beat the value of the Gateway P-7811 that you reviewed awhile ago. And let's face facts: with most things still coming on DVD's, who really needs a Blu-Ray drive yet? Not me, and not anyone who I have talked with.

[C433Z]

I agree. I'd rather it not come with 2 HDDs, the mouse, backpack. I'd would like to see it have a 9800gt and be same price or cheaper. If it needs a less powerful cpu that's fine; i'm not paying $1700 for a "low-priced" laptop.

[Stories84]

BD movies? DVD looks like trash on these high-res monitors.

[ywkhgqo]

thats why the base model doesn't come up with one. It's an option. It's an awesome deal for the money. Especially from Asus, one of the top motherboard manufacturers in the word

[piratenegro]

never have understood the point of a "gaming laptop."

[nam11b]

If you have never understood the gaming laptop, you haven't spent enough time on the road.

[chrisjust98]

No joke.

[Placebo1985]

I actually got one of these last month when they first came out. So far I'm really liking it, it's got a great screen and runs all of my games really well and I'm glad I only spent $1640 for the base model (I agree that BluRay is overkill for most people). The build feels very solid and there's no "wobbly" feeling in any parts on my laptop, also hinges feel strong. The few gripes with it I have are the back panel which is a total fingerprint magnet and the speakers are a bit soft for my taste. But I normally use it with a headset anyway so the latter point is pretty moot in my case. Also I get a lot of use out of the Express Gate feature but this may be not be exclusive to this laptop, I'm not sure.

Bottomline is I think this is a great value for people needing a solid gaming machine but not wanting to spend 3k+ on boutique brand laptops.