Asus G751JY short review

Ok guys, this is a little small review from an Asus G751JY, which I bought locally second hand from eBay. Been using it for a week for web browsing and playing GTA 5. Official site specs and description:
https://www.asus.com/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-G751JY/

MAIN SPECS:

• Microsoft Windows 10 Home
• BIOS Mode: UEFI
• BIOS version: American Megatrends G751JY.211 02/11/2015
• Intel Core i7-4720
• RAM: 32GB
• Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 980m 4GB GDDR5 with G-SYNC
• Screen: 1920x1080 FullHD IPS anti-glare
• Hard Drives: Samsung SSD MZHPV512HDGL-00000 512.1GB + HGST HTS721010A9E630 1000.2GB mechanical 7200 rpm
• DVD: MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ8G6
• 5 activity leds on the front in front of the trackpad: power, battery, hard drive, airplane mode, NUM LOCK.
• Some dedicated keys: Steam, Asus Gaming Center, ShadowPlay.
• m1, m2 and m3 ROG MacroKeys configurable by software.
• Numeric keypad
• Complete spec list on the website (a lot of stuff)

POINTS TO CONSIDER
- The keyboard has backlight but is only red. Its brightness can be changed to several degrees from disabled to maximum.
- The screen has a maximum opening angle, can't open it 180 degrees but no problem.
- The screen refresh rate is constant at 75Hz, due to G-SYNC enabled.
- The screen is quite good but average contrast, you see black color has light on game credits for example. No glare.
- The CAPS LOCK key has a built-in led like the macbook pro that indicated enabled/disabled.
- All connectors are on the right and left side, no one on the back or front.
- The computer originally came with some recovery partition, that you can enter hitting F9 during boot, but the hard drive was completely erased to fresh install Windows 10.
- I still didn't open it, so no idea how easy it to replace components, upgrade DVD to Blu-ray, drives or ram, but should be easy.
- The power supply is a little bulky, but probably is needed if you connect a lot of power hungry devices on USB 3.0 ports, so the motherboard doesn't undervolt.
- The first driver you must install after a fresh Windows installation is the Asus ATK: ATKPackage_Win10_64_VER100039.zip


WHAT I LIKE

- POWER: playing GTA 5 at very high graphics tops to 75Hz, which is the maximum. Impressive performance. The 4GB of VRAM really help.

- G-SYNC: perfect, avoid screen tearing. Games like GTA 5 allow to disable it on "Vertical synchronization".

- COOLNESS: since the laptop is quite thick, has two big vents in the back, one at each side. The ventilation is always on and steps up a little when gaming, but not a big difference in noise. Very very good ventilation, you only notice a small heat in the Fn keys, but nothing compared to the Macboo pro for example, for those who have tried it.

- TRACKPAD: the trackpad is quite good, and really love the two big buttons for right and left click. Big and pleasant, won't miss a pulsation. Computers with buttons integrated under the gliding surface tend to be blunt, except for macbooks.

- SOLID CONSTRUCTION: the screen hinges are pretty tough, and the laptop overall.

- A LOT OF PORTS AND CONNECTIONS: has 4x USB 3.0, HDMI (version not stated on website), thunderbold (version not stated on website) VGA-out, sd/mmc card reader, LAN/RJ45 gigabit, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, bluetooth 4.0, 3 sound jacks, etc. It lacks displayport connector.

- DESIGN: for being a gaming laptop, I must admit that the finish and the colors choice is very good. The only two things that can draw some attention are: the keyboard + power button backlight being red (although can be turned off) with red letters, and the emblem "REPUBLIC OF GAMERS" just under the lid's logo, and the WASD coloring. Without that, it would perfectly look like like a office computer. The red color in the vents is not a big deal. The MSi brand for example, is much more overkill.

- STABILITY: for the week I've been using it, no BSOD or any crash of any kind. Working really stable.

- NO PWM FOR SCREEN BACKLIGHT: most LED screens use Pulse Width Modulation for monitor backlighting. Well, this doesn't, which is awesome. It will not cause any kind of eye strain or tiredness. Even Apple Macbooks use PWM which plain sucks.


WHAT I DON'T LIKE

- KEYS IN SOME ASPECT: the keys move a little on its position, rotating slightly to the sides as you move the finger while touching them. Also, the edges of the keys are a little harsh and you quite notice it. Still didn't get used to them completely. In any case, that's the whole thing about the keys, any other than that they just work perfect and no issues at all, working perfectly so far so wood. Travel is good, but I still prefer much more the keyboard of my Sony Vaio VPCZ1, which is much better hands down at least for me.
Another thing is that in the top left corner, instead of being there the Esc key, there's a dedicated Asus Shadowplay key which you can press accidentally when looking for the Esc key. That top arrow of dedicated keys should be shifted to the right so you don't press them by accident.

- PORTS POSITION: the LAN RJ45 and audio jacks are placed at the right side, thus interfering with the mouse in cause you put it next to it. Most people is right handed, so this can be a problem. The DVD reader should be on this side, while it's on the left.

- SOFTWARE AND DRIVERS DOWNLOAD FROM ASUS: the website of course includes a list of all drivers and software to be downloaded. However, you have to manually download each file to your hard drive. They should provide a link to a ZIP file with everything included, and the proper order to install and update the drivers. This would make it much easier to reinstall everything after a clean install of Windows 10.

- COLOR TEMPERATURE PROFILE BY DEFAULT: there's the Asus Splendid software, that by default it changes the color temperature when gaming. By default it's to Vivid, but I found Normal to be much better, so I've got to modify the profile right from he start. I didn't like how the color looked like in GTA 5.

- USABILITY BUTTONS INTEGRATED WITH FN KEYS: one thing you expect from gaming and productivity keyboards, is to have dedicated buttons for basic usability functions, without being integrated on Fn keys: volume controls; brightness controls, etc. Basically almost all the ones that are integrated with Fn keys. They should have dedicated buttons next to m1-m3 keys.

- OLD THUNDERBOLD CONNECTOR: it has the old thunderbolt connector, while the latest version 3 uses the standard USB-C type. But hey, at least it has it. If you but a hub for the G751JY it will not be compatible with future computers.

- MISSING A USB 2.0 PORT WITHOUT XHCI ON THE LEFT SIDE: I know it would take additional space, the an additional USB 2.0 port on the side wold help, for those devices that don't work properly on USB 3.0 ports, like some USB mouses (XHCI problem?). See issues section.

- COMPUTER NOT EARTHED: this is a big security concern, since the chassis and "ground" (metallic exterior part) of all ports should be earthed for wellness reasons.
This happens because the minus (-) or the powering cable, which is rounded, is not linked internally to the earth of the mains. For that reason, the computer is floating, and several induced volts can be present and a flow of current can happen through the body of anyone using the computer. Other laptops like Sony Vaio Z1 have proper earthing, so this is no excuse.
The issue was reported to the official Asus forum, and two related videos are available:
Asus ROG G751 is not grounded or earthed: big security concern
How to Ground Your Computer
How to Measure the EMFs from Your Computer

ISSUES FOUND:

- When connecting my Mad Catz RAT 3 mouse to any of the USB 3.0 ports it works but laggy and jerky. I've got to use some USB HUB with USB 2.0 so it works smooth. See post on Asus site:
MAD CATZ R.A.T. 3 MOUSE LAGGY JERKY MOVEMENT ON USB 3.0 PORT ON ASUS G751JY

The solution is to connect the Mad Catz mouse to a USB 2.0 port or use a hub, since this brand doesn't support USB 3.0 or higher for mouses.

REALTEK SOUND CARD VOLUME RESETTING TO 100% : after pausing a video and resuming playback after a while, the sound volume is reset to 100%, although the volume slider is kept at the same position. This is presumably a Windows 10 bug, so the workaround is to disable sound enhancements:


Go to system tray -> right click on the volume icon -> Sounds


Then select Communications tab -> Do nothing


Then go to Playback tab -> select Speakers -> Properties


Select Enhancements -> deselect "Immediate mode"


And deselect all enhancements from the list:

• Environment
• Voice Cancellation
• Pitch Shift
• Equalizer
• Headphone Virtualization
• Loudness Equalization

Make sure you have properly installed Realtek High Definition Audio Manager. It's required to automatically change sound output to headphones when you connect them. If it's not installed, perform an automatic driver update from Device Manager, Windows 10 should automatically download and install it.
The program is located at " C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RtkNGUI64.exe".

Now restart the computer to take effect. In this case I'm using the official Realtek drivers provided by Asus, but some users say that it should work perfectly with the drivers that Windows 10 installs automatically. This issue is Windows 10 generic, so probably other brands and models are affected also.

BOOT FROM USB : to boot from usb you need to follow 3 steps:

1. Go to Start menu (Windows 10)>Power>Restart+Shift>Troubleshoot>Advanced options>UEFI Firmware Settings>Restart. Once you click restart, BIOS will appear. The trick here is to press Restart AND Shift at the same time.
2. Restart and hit Escape key
3. Be sure to disable 'secure boot' under 'security' and enable 'Launch CSM' under 'boot', save and exit, and go back into the bios to see boot options for non-UEFI devices. Then choose the boot option you want
4. After done with the USB device, go back to BIOS/UEFI and change again the main boot option to "Windows Boot Manager".

 

Ok, the issue with the mouse being jerky and laggy (periodically freezing) is due to a defect in the motherboard. It happens always when you connect some USB 3.0 hard drive, plus a mouse or other device, doesn't matter which port you connect each one. I'll try to send it to repair under warranty. See more here on the official Asus forum:

G751 - PROBLEM WITH USB3.0 PORTS (LEFT SIDE) AND EXTERNAL HD... ANYONE ELSE?
[G752VY, G751JY] EVERLASTING BUG OF USB 3.0 LEFT PORT RANDOMLY DISCONNECTING

 

Finally the mystery with the Mad Catz R.A.T. 3 mouse is solved: Mad Catz mouses only support officially USB 2.0 ports, so don't complain if you connect it to any USB 3.0 port and you have issues. Use some USB Hub as a workaround.

 

Updated with no earthing fault.

 

Well after getting the MSI GT73VR 6RF Titan Pro with 120Hz 1080p screen, I can say that the screen is way better on the MSI. Not only the refresh is almost twice, but the contrast makes it way more comfortable.

The G751JY had quite bad contrast, when watching movies the black background was lit and you could barely see anything. Really bad screen.