Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 27 October 2008 15:25
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Although high powered notebooks have been available for some time from
the likes of Toshiba, Alienware, Dell and others, Asus says its quad
core G Series gaming notebook is a "world first".
The grunty quad-core Asus G71 gaming notebook is the total opposite of the Celeron or Atom-powered Eee PC netbook with Asus claiming it is “specifically designed for gamers” – and is but the first of a whole new series.
Although Alienware has been making gaming desktops and notebooks for some time, Asus clearly feels there’s plenty of space in the market for more, promising an “emphasis on audio clarity and stunning display of graphics.”
Powered by Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 processor (running at 2.53Ghz) with Overspeed Protection removed, Asus says the G71 can be overclocked for “ultra-high performance”, and is billing it as “the ultimate in muscle gaming, pushing the envelope in computer processing power thus allowing users to multi-task in mammoth proportions.”
The notebook was launched overseas earlier this month, but has only been launched in Australia today.
When you pop open the lid of the G71, you’re presented with a 17-inch “Crystal Shine” 8ms high brightness display, coupled with an NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT graphics card with 512MB of GDDR3 memory.
The notebook itself has 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz memory and twin 500GB DSATA 5400RPM hard drives for a total 1TB of storage.
Asus have also included its “Direct Console 2.0 all-in-one gaming control interface” letting you select from three processor speed settings, letting you control Instant Messenger settings and also shows you email notifications, instant messages, battery reserves and system loadings in real-time even during a game in progress.
You can also configure the supplied “gaming hotkeys” to launch your favourite games and “execute in-game commands on-the-fly”. Even the chassis has been tricked up with a programmable lighting system, which “lights up and blinks during in-game events”, although thankfully this can be configured via the Direct Console 2.0.
That’s because Asus says the lights provide a “pyrotechnic-like ambience while in the game”, and while this might appeal to some, others might want to turn it off so as to avoid any visual distractions.
Premium entertainment features include a Blu-ray drive, a Hybrid TV tuner, Vista Ultimate, Altec Lansing speakers coupled with a subwoofer and Dolby Home Theatre technology, a 2.0 megapixel camera (instead of the 1.3 or lower megapixel models often found on notebooks) and a “dedicated game keyboard layout”.
More specs and pricing on page 2...
