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- 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-430M Processor
- 4GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM, 2 SODIMM Slots; 8GB Max
- 500GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM); Super Multi Optical Disk Drive; Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn
- 15.6″ Full HD 1920×1080 LED LCD Display; NVidia GTS 360M Graphics Engine with 1GB DDR5 dedicated VRAM
- Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System; Bluetooth; 2.0MP Webcam; Backlit Chiclet Keyboard
Product Description
The ASUS G51JX-X3 is one of the newest notebooks from the Republic of Gaming(ROG) Notebook line. Powered by Intel’s i5-430M Core i5 processor and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics card, the ASUS G51JX-X3 offers users a completely new class of physical gaming interaction for a more realistic and dynamic experience. The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M also features 1GB GDDR5 VRAM, which performs significantly better than the standard DDR2 and DDR3 video memory. W… More >>
ASUS Republic of Gamers G51JX-X3 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop
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Yeah, I guess you could be upset that you didn’t get some complimentary swag or whatever with this machine, but I didn’t buy it for swag.
Let’s get down to business, shall we?
Pluses: Gorgeous, smooth graphics in Star Trek Online, DDO, Champions Online and Team Fortress 2 with the sliders cranked just shy of the max. EAX sound is amazing: even sounds decent out of the built-in speakers (really rocks with my headphones though). CPU performance and multitasking is sweet and responsive. I have multi-surfed Word, Visual Studio and Photoshop CS with no lag or issues.
More ports than you can shake a stick at: plenty of USB, eSATA, FireWire (1394) and even HDMI (which outputs to full 1080p if that floats your boat). Bluetooth devices are easily paired. Amazing Windows 7 performance (rates a 5.9 Windows Experience out of the box, with 6.6s in graphics, before any tweaking)
This thing is a sweet PC for money.
Cons: Runs hot. Be sure to keep side vents for cooling free. Might be worth investing in a cooling mat for this bad boy. Also, can we please not pre-install a bunch of crap on our new, high-performance gaming machines? I had to uninstall a bunch of cheesey ASUS games and stuff before I could really get down to business.
Rating: 5 / 5
I did a bit of research and this laptop seemed pretty highly anticipated by those looking to buy and well received by the few that already had them. I also saw that it seemed most of the initial shipment came with 1333MHz DDR3 ram instead of 1066. I opened mine up and it does have 1333MHz. A supply issue I guess. Very nice considering it’s a $150+ upgrade on some websites.
I installed Borderlands and it seemed like a dog at first, then I realized I didn’t have the AC adapter plugged in. It automatically goes to a power saver mode when only on battery (of course) and it makes a big difference. Once plugged in I put all the settings on high except for anti-aliasing at 4 instead of 16 and resolution at native 1920×1080 it ran a little slow. Frame rate was around 30 usually. Fine for most games but not a FPS. At 1280×720 the frame rate was in the 50s. I played for about an hour and it was running very hot so I stopped for a while. I bought this laptop to replace an older Dell laptop I had because I burned out the vid card on the Dell, so I was a bit worried, maybe needlessly.
The keyboard is fine but the keys are real slippery, could use some kind of texture or concave shape. They are lighted which will be very useful (hit Fn+F4 when you 1st get it, mine were turned off).
Could use a USB in the back (I like to use a cooling pad) but it has 2 on each side near the front which is nice.
Lights on the lid are annoying. The side ones turn off in battery mode, I’ll have to look into a setting to turn them off all the time. The logo light in the center of the lid never turns off.
I like the physical switch for wireless and bluetooth.
No dead pixels, I’ll be looking close for 30 days but I hope to not have to RMA. Nice warranties on this thing, definitely a selling point. Watch out if you try to buy an ASUS from Best Buy –they do not honor all the standard ASUS warranties, I think the accident insurance. Because Best Buy wants to sell you their own insurance for $179.
The thing I don’t like the most about this laptop is the screen size. Not the resolution but the actual physical size. There is approximately a 3/4 inch bezel on the sides and bottom and nearly 1 1/4 inch at the top. This makes the laptop less attractive visually also, like it’s chunky and thick. The large top bezel is likely because of the webcam which I will never use. The screen could easily be 16+ inches which would help lots with the high resolution. At 1920×1080 for a laptop you need all the size you can get. Text at 100% is tiny but mine shipped at 125% so that’s smart on their part. I primarily use it for painting in Photoshop and Painter so the high resolution is great. Trying to show someone text on the screen is difficult when they can’t read it unless they are real close.
One other thing I didn’t like was 40+GB of pre-installed software. Why anyone would want all this crap is beyond me. I was going to wipe and reinstall but there is the quick start OS which I need to look into and see if that will be wiped and if there is any difficulty reinstalling it. I pretty much always plan on wiping a new computer but most people wouldn’t so that is a factor.
I got my backpack and mouse, I see some others didn’t.
Oh yeah it’s not black, even the darkest part of the lid is a dark blue.
So:
+Free ram upgrade
+speedy
+lighted keys
+wireless switch
+free backpack and mouse
-slippery keys
-physical screen size
-bloatware
All in all very happy with it.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is the most powerful laptop I have seen at this price point. This system is easily a match for high end gaming systems by alienware or voodoo pc, but at hundreds of dollars less.
Pros:
There are a plethora of ports on the laptop – 4 usb, 1 e-sata, 1 hdmi, and 1 firewire. Add the standard network jack and multi-card reader, and you can use almost any conceivable device on this.
The display is gorgeous, with full 1080p resolution.
There is plenty of power out of the box. This machine was able to play Dragon Age, Champions Online, and City of Heroes at full 1920 x 1080 resolution with graphics sliders set to maximum with no slowdown.
The power is not limited to gaming. I was able to run Word, Access, Excel, Visio, and several web browsers simultaneously with no slowdown in the applications.
The illuminated keyboard is a very nice touch, making it easier to use the system in low light.
Cons:
A machine this powerful generates a lot of heat. You will need a cooling mat of some kind.
The ROG logo and case art is cool looking, but it can be gauche in a business environment.
The battery life is on the short side, but I had planned on using this plugged in anyway.
Bottom Line:
The G51JX-X3 is a steal for the price being offered. It is a powerful desktop replacement at a great price.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this system to replace a stolen HP HDX16t because it was the only currently available laptop I could find that had some things that I required (since the HDX16t is now discontinued). So far, it seems like a solid, powerful machine, but not without little quirks that I haven’t been able to find workarounds for.
First, the pros:
1. Impressive specs (you’d know about those already if you’re reading the product reviews)
2. Backlit keyboard, with 3 brightness levels
3. Almost full-size keyboard with number pad, and lots of Fn key shortcuts
4. LED backlit screen has decent viewing angles and is very bright
5. The “soft touch” palm rest feels nice
6. Freebies, and better warranty than any “standard” laptop warranty I’ve ever seen
Cons:
1. My biggest beef with this laptop: its volume controls. First of all, I can’t change the volume or mute/unmute with one hand. 3 of the LED indicators above the keyboard are also touch-sensitive buttons. They could have included volume controls there. Secondly, when the volume is at 0 and you press volume up, it goes straight to 12%. After that, it goes up in 6% increments. The only way to get finer control is to use your mouse on the volume icon in the system tray–a PITA if you’re trying to watch something full-screen. I MUCH prefer the HDX16′s dedicated volume slider, which does 2% increments.
2. The touchpad buttons are stiff. They seem fine to me now, but they stressed my thumb when I first received the laptop. I must have gotten used to them, or they became softer with use. Either way, be warned.
3. It runs kind of hot. This is not surprising, and it actually seems to manage heat a lot better than HP laptops in my experience. The keyboard, palm rest, touchpad, etc., all feel cool to the touch. However, the area around the side vent gets quite hot. It makes me wary to have any kind of food, beverage, pills, or things made of soft plastic/rubber on the left side of my laptop.
4. I’m not a fan of the colors and LEDs on the lid. Too “loud” for my taste. I also find the whole “Republic of Gamers” thing rather silly, and am glad they at least had enough sense not to slap that text label on the backpack, or *too* prominently on the laptop lid. [Disclaimer: I'm not a gamer =P]
5. The wireless card only supports up to half-N speeds (150 Mbps), and only in the 2.4 GHz band. I tried to find out what type of card it is before buying, but couldn’t find anything as the model was quite new at the time. Anyway, it’s an Atheros AR9285. I suspect it would be upgradeable, but if you want full 802.11n speeds and/or dual-band functionality, it’s an extra cost you’ll have to consider.
6. Biggest, heaviest power brick ever. The thing weighs over 22 oz, twice as much as the HP HDX16t one. This is my first quad core/high-end GPU laptop, so maybe it’s supposed to be a common thing, but it came as a surprise to me. FWIW, my boyfriend’s Thinkpad W510 with an i7 and Nvidia Quadro GPU also came with a similarly huge power brick.
Other thoughts:
- Speakers weren’t as good as I’m accustomed to (long-time HP customer here)
- The screen could’ve easily been 16″ without increasing the size of the overall machine. The 15.6″ screen has a huge bezel on all sides.
- Yes, my system also came with the upgraded 1333 MHz RAM, but I don’t think I’m getting much of a performance boost, if any at all. Just maybe a slightly better resell value. MAYBE.
Rating: 4 / 5
I purchased the earlier version of this computer (ASUS G51J-A1) for my son for xmas. Everything works great except the HDMI output – it will not drive an LCD TV (Sharp or Samsung). I’ve contacted ASUS for support over a week ago, but, in spite of their promised 48hr. reply time, have yet to receive any sort of response. Review Amazon’s computer return policy very closely too, before buying – they’re of no help because we’ve had it for more than 30 days. Nvida, the graphics card mfg. won’t help because their board was purchased as part of a computer. And ASUS simply doesn’t reply. In my opinion, such poor customer support makes them all look bad. Buyer beware!
Rating: 2 / 5