Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Disclaimer: This review is on the similar Asus G750JW from Best Buy. The difference between this one on Amazon and the one from best buy is the warranty and memory. -About me I am a full time grad student. I use my system for course work and entertainment. The Asus G750 meets those needs. I have given this system five star and would have given it four in a half if I could. Most of my review will compare to Alienware given that I believe they are subjectively the set standard for gaming laptops and I returned one for this Asus. -Display: The display has great viewing angles. If you check out Asus's website, they state it has a 140 degree viewing angle. The Alienware has an upgrade panel of 1080p with IPS technology. This is relevant because IPS is known for it's great viewing angles while the TN panels such as the one in the Asus aren't. However, TN panels have quicker response time and are better for gaming in my opinion. The Asus screen produces rich and Vibrant colors. Also, the TN panel in the Asus has great viewing angles countering the stereotype of poor viewing angles. While not an IPS, it will more than suffice for gaming. IPS panels are also prone to light bleed in which light from behind the panel can be seen above the screen on occasion. TN panel don't typically have this issue. My Alienware had light bleed and I could not tolerate it. Thank goodness I had this Asus as an alternative system. -Speakers/Sound The audio is ok. The Alieware I had sounded slightly better. The speakers in this system sound slightly hollow, but the subwoofer does help offset this. I have not played around with the audio settings yet, which may help out. Also worth mentioning is that this headphone jack in this system has a built in amplifier for those gamers with huge headphones that need some serious wattage. -Fan Sound One of my pet peeves when purchasing a laptop is the noise it may produce. I do not want to be distracted by the system, especially if I'm up late or stressed out working on a paper and find myself easily distracted. For example, I was temporarily using an HP laptop. The fan would continually spin up and idle down with no particular set speed. This was very annoying. Even while gaming, the fans remain relatively quiet. Compared to the Alienware 14 I had, this system is whisper quite given the Alienware had one fan for GPU/CPU while the Asus has two separate fans. For a powerhouse, this is one stealthily quite machine. -Keyboard I prefer the island style keyboard on the Asus for gaming since they are well differentiated and spaced while I preferred typing on the Alienware. The Alienware has a more traditional keyboard. However, while gaming, I would miss keystrokes on the Alienware, especially holding down the space bar which is required for a first person shooter I often play. The keys on the Asus are just as comfortable and more responsive during game play over the Alienware. The spacing also helps me to be more accurate while gaming than on the Alienware which as all of the keys side by side. Also worth noting is that the keyboard does not exhibit any flex. It is sturdy, comfortable, back-lit (variable brightness with white light) and comfy. -Touch-pad Not much to say other than it works well. Given its large size, I do brush up on it occasionally while typing. This is rare though, but worth noting. Overall, I'm glad that two touch for right click is offered and that the touch pad is consistent and responsive. I've had poor experiences with Asus ultrabooks in the past and I'm glad to say that did not carry over to the Asus g750. The buttons are responsive and the touch-pad does feel slightly plastic. It's smooth and serves its purpose. -Ports and CD-ROM It has an arsenal of all USB 3.0 ports (four total) with Asus's charging technology for when the system is powered off. It also has an Ethernet jack, HDMI, VGA, SD, thunderbolt, Mini-display port out, and separate microphone and headset jacks. -Performance If you are purchasing this system, it is likely because you are aware of the performance it offers. All I can do is confirm to you that this system does perform and I've had no issues regarding performance. The system has been able to handle every task I have been able to challenge it with. -Wifi This is one of the few laptops on the market to offer the new 802.11AC wifi card over the old 802.11N. It works great. However, at one point I did need to uninstall and re-install it because for some strange reason I was getting lag (ping spikes) while gaming on the 2.4ghz band. However, that didn't carry over to the 5ghz band. There was no interference with my wifi, I'm fairly confident it was a driver issue. -Battery I can comfortably get five to six hours of battery life on optimized settings and working on papers and browsing the internet with the screen brightness up at just over 1/4th brightness. This is insane and likely the longest battery life of any full feature gaming system. While it does not offer Nvidia's Optimus tech like the Alienware, it still outlasts it in battery life. Also, it is very important to know that this system has a changeable battery, while Alienware's are sealed inside the unit and not serviceable. My 14" Alienware had about 3.5 hours of battery life which wasn't really practical when away from the outlet. Now I have a larger system with longer battery life. -Build Quality The system is very sturdy all around. However, went through five of these systems (yes five ! ! !) Before getting one in acceptable condition. The other system all had something wrong with the left hinge cover being broken and or detached. I went through hoops to get an acceptable unit. However, Best Buy staff was great in assisting me! ! ! I went to three different stores. The first BB I went to, I opened the computer at the desk after purchasing it so I could check it for imperfections such as DOA or dead pixels. However, I never even powered the system up. I called the BB employee over and he was surprised to see the broken hinge. He personally did the return for me. I then went to Tiger Direct and the same thing. I then went to a different Best Buy the following day since the other one I went to only had one in stock. I told the sales rep that I had already purchased two of these G750s and returned them because of broken hinges (hinge cover; one had a broken hinge that made popping sounds.) I made my purchase and opened it at the counter. Sure enough, the BB sales rep and I looked at each other and had a good laugh. He said instead of going through the return process and getting my ID flagged for excessive returns, he would just open the units and check them with me since there was something seriously wrong. He stated there must have been a bad batch of shipments. So we opened another unit/laptop and then another. Finally the third one was mint with no cosmetic defects. I powered it on, the screen looked good and I was ready to head home and game the night away. I highly recommend you have a BB associate check this computer before leaving the store so you don't end up not being able to return it because they think you broke it. Overall, the system does have a sturdy build and I like the rubbery all matte finish. One negative about the build though is that this lid does not stay shut well while in transport; very unfortunate given that the overall build looks great. I really like the beefy and sleek exhaust ports in the back. -Side Note (out of box quirks). I spent too much time on these issues and I hope this helps you solve them if they surface with you. What I like most about this system is that it can be used in clamshell configuration. This is when the lid is closed and an external monitor, keyboard and mouse are used. You can also wake the system over the USB with the keyboard or mouse while it is hibernating/sleeping. Unfortunately, I was irked to find out that the 14" and 17" Alienware laptops didn't work well in clamshell configuration. You have to fully power up the unit with the lid open and then you can close it up into clamshell config and use it. However, if you restart the computer or put it in standby, you have to open up the laptop again. The Asus can be left in clamshell mode at all times unless you completely power it off. The Alienware not working well in clamshell config was a deal breaker for me. Thank goodness that Asus mostly got it right. While I prefer the build of the Alienware over the Asus, Asus got the design and price points right. Musts! ! ! 1-Uninstall the splendid utility and re-install it. It causes horizontal lines to appear on dark backgrounds. 2-increase the refresh rate using the Nvidia control panel from 60hz to 85hz. My screen seemed to blink at 60hz, which almost cause me to return it until I found a ROG forum where it was confirmed by Asus it was ok to increase the refresh rate of the screen and how to do it. There is also a youtube video on this. 3-If you exhibit out of place game lag on the 2.4ghz band, un-install and re-install the wifi driver. Both the Asus and Alienware expressed this strange problem. Possibly because it's the new 802.11AC and needed updated drivers? Summary If you found my review helpful, please GIVE IT A THUMBS UP ! ! ! Thank you :-P I would recommend this system to anyone who's a serious or moderate gamer. It also great for the college student or average person looking for a portable gaming rig that can easily replace a powerful desktop.