Customer Reviews

ASUS G51J-A1 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop (Blue)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have been waiting for the i7 core laptops to release and here it is. I originally had a dell XPS 16 on order forever and a day (32 days to be exact) and they delayed it AGAIN, so I looked elsewhere. Amazon had this one in stock and got it for next day shipping for $40! And saved a ton off the dell version.

As for the laptop itself, it is a great machine. It boots very fast, does not run hot (considering equipment). The screen is beautiful and the keyboard has a nice feel to it. What it used to take my Core 2 Duo desktop 12 hours to do, this does in 4 (compressing and archiving over 100gb of photos in a .rar)! I have tried to tax the crap out of it and can never get the processors to 100%. Gaming will fix that.

I am not a huge gamer, but wanted a powerful machine for a lot of photo \ movie stuff and also play the occasional game (COD MW2). Also, as a graduate student, I often hook up external monitors and use Dragon NS 10.1 and it has absolutely no issues with it. This is way overkill, but a sweet machine nonetheless.

Pros- built in Blue-tooth, sweet wireless card, cooling seem adequate. Core i7!

Some minor annoyances- Lights on external lid can not be shut off.

One more note- Amazon's write up states only 4gb, but it can actually go to 8gb according to ASUS and a lot of 'boutique' sites.

Reasons for not getting four stars:
Very low batt. life- Gaming laptop, so take that for what it is worth
No fingerprint reader (comes with facial recognition, but that can be beat with a photo)
Dual drives but no RAID?!??

A very excellent gaming laptop for the money. Sure, it's not as fast as a dedicated desktop gaming rig, but for a portable one it's hard to beat. My only complaint would be the LCD is somewhat washed out which appears to be from the LED's in the top of the lid. Notice when the rig is asleep and the screen raised, one can see bleedthrough from the blinking LED in logo. Not a big deal, but if I had one complaint, that would be it. Also, much to my surprise this thing stays pretty cool to the touch. I expected it to get extremely hot, but it doesn't. The air coming out of the left side is very hot, but to touch the laptop remains cool. You can actually play games on this for hours without baking your hands and face off.

Pros:

* Great performance for the price
* ASUS provides an awesome warranty and accidental protection for this, so you can take it to a lan-party and not worry
* Plays Dragon Age, Torchlight, Empire Total War, LFD1, Warhammer: DOW2, OFP2: Dragon Rising, MSFlight X, Demigod, all extremely well at native res
* World of Warcraft runs beautifully at native res!
* Keyboard functions well and has adjustable illumination
* Relatively quiet for a gaming laptop
* i7 processor is blazingly fast
* HDMI and VGA output means this can be used to game on a TV (keep lid open!)
* Included mouse and bag are both excellent and high quality
* Totally reliable, no crashes even after hours of playing


Cons:

* The LED lights in the lid can bleed through into the LCD
* ARMA2 runs very poorly
* 260M graphics card slightly underclocked on this model
* Cannot be used to game on an external monitor with lid closed (not really unexpected though)

Pros:
-i7 mobile processor
-Sturdy Construction
-Beautiful Display
-Backlit Keyboard with a num pad and superb feel.
-Great Graphics (Full 1920x1080)
-Solid Webcam
-Free Accessories (Bag and Gaming Mouse)

Cons:
-Battery Life (Not really that bad considering the amount of horsepower in this machine.)
-Another review mentioned the RAM being upgradable to 8GB but I'm not seeing that on ASUS' website:
[...]
-Does come with ASUS' bloatware but some of it is actually useful unlike every other laptop I've ever owned.


I was in the market for a new laptop that I could take with me to and from work. This was the only machine I could find that had the spec set I was looking for.

I don't do much gaming on my PC. I mostly use it for work: multimedia editing/production. In the short time that I've had this machine it has blown me away with its performance. Video previews render out very quickly for a laptop. Captures also perform admirably. Disk burning and ripping is fast and flawless.

I would recommend this machine very highly to anyone looking for a portable multimedia editing station.

Out of the Box Windows Experience Index:
Processor: 7.0
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 6.7
Gaming Graphics: 6.7
HDD: 5.9

There is a lot to like with this laptop. Including: great performance, good price, beautiful screen, sturdy feel, good standard warranty and the two hard drives. I have very quickly become a fan of ASUS, it seems you get a lot for your money and the company is really trying to build a quality differentiated product. The added mouse and backpack are a nice touch and are very reasonable quality.

The screen and size of the laptop feel a lot bigger than the 15.6". I think it is the illusion created by the HD 16-9 format screen and the high native resolution 1920x1080. Win 7 seems to run very quickly on the machine and it frankly is a huge upgrade of Vista/XP.

So what kept my rating from 5 stars is a couple of quirks that could be a deal killer for some people. Number one is the often mentioned battery life, if you are going to be using this on battery, expect about an hour give or take depending how you use it. I like full screen brightness and power and at those settings about an hour is all I get. I know, it is a gaming PC, but still an hour seems a bit short. I just purchased a bigger 9 cell battery and we will see how that does. The 9-volt battery should be standard or at least an option. Nonetheless, the battery life is the main reason why I gave the machine four stars and not five.

While, I love the dual drives, not sure why they partitioned the drives into 4 separate partitions, it doesn't take much to undo the default set up but was a minor hassle. Also, they should give you the option of having the drives in a RAID configuration, which as far as I know is not possible. So while I like the dual drives it could have been implemented better.

Also, the 120W ASUS power brick is exactly that a brick. I know it is giving off a lot of power, but the thing is a boat anchor. It feels like a couple of pounds which takes the total package weight up. I ended up buying a second power adapter, for work so I don't have to carry it back and forth from home to work along with the laptop.

I like the keyboard now, but it did take some getting used to. The keys are similar to a Mac keyboard and they squished a full keyboard with num keypad. At first, I really did not like it as it was causing a lot of typing errors, and some of the keys are in slightly different spots. After a week or so I am used to it and now really like it. I like having the full keypad/numpad and I am used to the size and the keys. Some people may find the keyboard a deal killer as well, but like I said I didn't like it at first, but it only took about a week to get used to it. Now I really like it.

My other complaints are that the manual was very skinny and the web presence for ASUS is lacking so not much info there. I suspect as ASUS gets bigger in the states that will improve. Also, I could not find a travel adapter for the machine that works on airplanes and ASUS does not make one. I guess the downside of a lesser known brand is the fewer peripheral choices.

Overall, the quirks were not deal killers for me and after investigating numerous gaming/multimedia laptops this was far and away the best choice in my view.

NOTE:This is for the Intel Core 2 Duo model. Not the I7.

I really loved this computer, i say loved because i just didnt think it was necessary for me, since i already have a PS3, 360, and a gaming Desktop, so yes it was a bit overkill. But i'm glad i tried it out just the same. I got this laptop right after the release of the windows 7 models, also i had a friend who had the old Asus G51 i believe, with the Nvidia 9800GTM, with 512mb of memory. This one comes with the Nvidia Geforce 260M, which isnt quite as powerful as the desktop models, but holds its own for a laptop. I actually have an ATI 4850 1mb that beats this card quite a bit, and can play pretty much anything at 1920 x 1080, but thats neither here nor there. Being able to play pretty much any game thats on Xbox on this laptop is a very cool way to do things, especially if you travel and want to whip out, Call of Duty MW 1 or 2, Dead Space, Devil May Cry 4, Borderlands, or even something old like Doom 3 or SIMs 2, whatever your pleasure. So bascially yes this is a portable Xbox 360, and plays much the same, resolution wise, etc. The speakers leave something to be desired, but if you go down to your icons next to the clock you'll see the real tek red speaker. Click on it, go to the menu underneath where it says sound effects, you'll get many options like Club, Rock, Classic, etc. Choose live, and the volume will shoot up drastically, the only time you should uncheck it, is when watching a movie, not sure why this is, but it works. The native resolution is low, but even the G72 is still only 1600 x 900, and not full 1080p, but most laptops aren't considering the punishment the smaller screens will take with this high resolution. You really shouldnt start getting into the 1080p area until about 24inches or so. Besides if you look on Xbox live and see the demos, it tells you exactly which games have what resolution. Well sadly, very very very few have it, and most are 720, or 1080i. The only draw back i've seen or heard are two things, what i've heard is the wireless drops quite frequently and even on all the Asus models it may do the same. Thats the biggest issue i've heard about ASUS in general. While i didnt have a problem in this area, what i did notice is when copying movies, the max speed you can get with the software your given is 4x, this i thought is totally unacceptable. Next to my girlfriends cheap Toshiba(which i gave her) it was really really slow at burning. Converting is fast and a breeze, and why the drive slows when copying or burning, i have no idea. Thats why i decided to move up to the G72 which was a beast in itself, but just to much money for me to blow. After using it for a few days i decided i didnt need it, but compared to its little brother, the burning was fine, speakers where much better, the resolution was well, about the same, but had 6 gigs of RAM to make up for the slower 5400rpm hard drive. So all in all they are about on the same level, and if you check with this model the calculations per second and the Pentium Core 2 Duo of 2.13ghz actually gets 5 stars, as compared to the G72 getting 4 on the intel sticker. Best buy now has this model(not the I7 which i imagine is sweet) for 899, i would definitely get one while they last. So if you want a great computer for all around, and its not to big, get this lil bad boy, or just up and get the big brother, they are really about the same.

Also something else to note is i really liked the rubbery texture to rest your hand on as opposed to the high glossy blue that comes on the G72. This one shows prints much less and can easily be removed. Another thing is don't always rely on the Windows Rating Index, this computer shows the same as the G72 pretty much in every area, which i don't see how its possible considering the bigger model has a 2.53ghz duo core processor. Strange. And least but not least, do not i repeat do not but your PC games anymore at Gamestop(which is stopping anyways) or Best Buy. Go and download them from either GamersGate or Direct to Drive dr2d(my personal fav) and you'll find anything you want DRM free. No kidding, the DRM is removed and there are no discs and you can re-download anytime you like. Also i've heard went Infinity Ward gets up off its rear and finally fixes all the flaws with the pc version of COD MW2 they are aiming for these sites to be the first with the fixed versions. So definitely take the warning, stay away from discs, download digital. :)

Combined with a Logitech V450 Nano wireless mouse (not included), this laptop meets my lofty criteria for a computer in every way except that it is just not quite able to fit into my Lowepro SlingShot 350 AW. It's a pity, but at least it comes with it's own nifty laptop backpack, which I did not expect and was a great bonus. I feel that having the 1920x1080 screen, Core i7 processor, and 260M graphics card was more than worth the trade in size. This thing delivers desktop performance with a Windows Experience rating of 5.9, 64-bit Windows 7, and 4GB of RAM.

Other things to love about this laptop versus your typical laptop...

You get a dedicated keypad, just like with a full-size keyboard, which to me is fantastic.

The keyboard itself has a great feel that is about as close to a standard keyboard in both size, feel, and response as I have ever seen and experienced with a laptop. The keys are flat and have a nice matte texture. I have been to the stores and seen those glossy keyboards ... I wanted to stay far away from those.

The touchpad also works just fine. The slider area for scrolling works great, and for a nice touch (haha) it is set so that if you take your finger off it while in motion, it continues the motion, scrolling to the end of the page (top or bottom) or until you tap the pad to stop. If you ever experienced dragging your finger repeatedly over and over to try and scroll through a long document or page, this cuts all that effort down to a single flick and maybe a tap to stop mid-way.

There are four USB ports (2 per side), which feels generous.

It is styled as a gaming laptop, so it might draw some attention for the fancy logo and running lights...

For a laptop of this size, spec, and price point, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything better.

This is an great laptop, especially when considering its price.
Great boot speed, and has handled all the games I've thrown at it (so far)
Love the 1080 resolution, allows me to fit so much on the screen at once.
Some text can be a bit too small to read, but most modern applications have ways of increasing the font size.
My favorite is browsing the web at this resolution, I can easily scan the whole page ( so much screen real estate ) , and when I find something that looks interesting I can either get closer to the screen OR just increase the page zoom level to 125%.
My biggest complaints are: no blu-ray, low volume and the keyboard sensitivity is ok, NOT great ( especially bad when using key combinations like Ctrl+c )
The built in DVD drive is upgradable to a blu-ray drive ( comes off easily with two screws on the bottom, no need to open the laptop case )
The keyboard experience can be easily improved by using an extenal keyboard ( which I plan to do, since I live off Ctrl+c / Ctrl+v for software development )
For normal typing, the keyboard works great for me.
Use headphones to get around the low volume problem ( when ambient noise warrants it ) .

With the BSOD issue now fixed- (see [...], "G51J BSOD" thread 2 for link to latest BIOS posted by Gentech computers. This laptop is now almost perfect! The only minor issues I have with it are: it runs a it hot and the battery life is poor, however, as this is a gaming computer with some pretty power hungry components I'm not surprised at all by this. The only other item I would mention is the graphics on the lid, I would have preferred something more "professional" looking but that's more a matter of personal preference. On the positive side, the build is solid, it runs very fast, plays games great and is an awesome value for the money. A similarly configured computer from Alienware would price out at close to 2k, you also get ASUS' geat warranty,reputation and industry leading build quality.

I've had this laptop for about 4 months now and I love it. It plays all my CnC games on the highest video settings and plays very smooth. I love having two hard drives so I can keep backups on one. I also use virtual pc's and they work great on Window's 7 64bit. I can have a vpc running with Sql Server working on SSIS/SSAS packages and leave it running while I switch over to war gaming for the night. Best laptop I've owned so far including Alienware which costs almost twice as much if you configure it like this one.

I've had this laptop for about a month now. I'm in the IT business for 9 years. My past career was in Electronics. I own multiple desktops and laptops with various OS.

I love this laptop! I use it for work and play. No BSOD for me. I also own most gaming consoles like wii, ps3, 360, ds,psp, game boy and xbox.
I have no problems watching movies on this. I've played Dragon age and Wolfenstein with no issues. I burn DVDs with no issues. From you tube to CBTs, they all work great!

For work apps, I use Visio, Office for creating presentations, spreadsheets, tools that monitor or configure networks, etc and I have no problems at all. I run some good apps for security, anti-virus and spyware. I tried taxing this laptop and haven't been able to slow this thing down yet. I know there are sites out there that test laptop performance but I only care for it's performance on how I use it.

It comes with a cool backpack that could easily sell for [...] bucks along with a gaming mouse. I've already loaded all kinds of things on my laptop and so far so good. Proper housekeeping is assumed. I never load anything on the same partition where my window OS resides.

I also bought a notebook cooler and it's very possible that this is keeping me from getting the BSOD. Heat is a killer on any electronic device. This is why you get the 3 ring of death on a popular gaming console. Happened to my console and I fixed it myself. Bought a cooler for that console too. The heat couldnt be dissipated fast enough.

Get a laptop cooler when you buy this laptop and you should be ok. I hear they may modify this laptop by toning down the GPU. This decreases the performance but keeps it cool enough to be less of a problem. well, when I play my games, I want it to kick butt!! So, when you do play some high res games, make sure you have it on a laptop cooler.

For me, having the laptop cooler at all times is not a problem and it feels cooler on my lap because of the air flow.

To summarize the pros:
-HDMI makes games, movies, etc look awesome!
-Fast fast fast bootup.
-Windows 7 works great for me!
--Love the backpack!
Love the mouse!
-partitioned by default so you can keep you apps apart from your OS.
-lit keyboard makes life easier when using at night.
-Love the manual switch to turn off bluetooth/wireless access. This is good when you don't want your apps to go out to the internet for updates when your security tools aren't up and running yet during bootup.
-Screen size is perfect. Big yet not too big like a 17 inch. I have friends that end up buying two laptops. One 17 inch and one smaller for portability. This defeats the purpose of getting a laptop I think.
-Warranty is awesome. Two years coverage. First year covers stuff they shouldn't even have to covered. You should never get coverage for spilling a drink on your laptop. This is just laptop abuse. 30 day coverage for white pixel issues (Mine had none).
-Looks good and feels sturdy.
- 4 USB ports. I've hooked up the laptop cooler, external hard drive, wireless mouse on it already so four USB ports are perfect.
- Price
- Wireless setup was so easy, it almost set itself up except of course for the secret password.
- Scroll option on the mouse pad is nice.

Cons:
-Battery lasts for only about an hour.
- Left and right click on mouse pad is too hard to press. It should match the keyboard pressure.
- Customizing the text size was not the easiest to do. Lots of squinting before I finally got it sized right. Custom DPI sizing didn't work.
- Runs hot so you really need to have the laptop cooler under it.
- Speakers are too quiet at times.
- Fingerprint magnet
- wish it came in different colors.
- upgrade to 8 Gig not possible or at least I don't think it is.

Overall? Good quality and the price makes it an awesome purchase. Remember, get the laptop cooler. I also bought a powered usb hub so I don't draw too much power from the laptop making it more hot.