Stamp's G51vx-A1 Review

Preface

Unlike most people here that ordered online, I ordered mine through a local computer store. We went to a desk in the sales area, and ripped open the box together, the sales guy and I.

I check all around the laptop, not so much admiring its sleek awesomeness, but rather scrutinizing it, looking for the slightest of blemishes on my new $1500+ laptop.

Several years before, I purchased a $200 car stereo from Best Buy. They couldn't install it that day, so I took it home so I can look at the instructions. A few days later, I bring my car in along with the stereo during my lunch hour, expecting a quick install. I wait in the waiting room. 30 minutes rolls by, and finally I am told that there was damage done to the stereo, it appeared that "I had try to pry open the front cover." After fighting with the manager, I was escorted out with a broken stereo, and a forever lost customer. Apparently, if they discover that there is visible damage on the outside of the product after you leave the store with it, YOU ARE ASSUMED TO BE GUILTY OF DOING THAT DAMAGE. I CONFIRMED THIS WITH THE MANAGER.

Being new to this, and not knowing my rights as a buyer, I opened up the stereo (not prying, but instead via unscrewing the bottom) to find that the inside CD carriage had been dislocated, as if it was dropped. So I tossed it, thinking it as a $200 dollar lesson in how to become a better buyer. Looking back, I understood that I could have done more to exercise my rights as a buyer, and I will in the future.

Now, whever I purchase ANYTHING from ANY STORE, I look closely for any blemishes on the product. If I discover one, I demand another. I do not care about who is behind me. If I'm investing $$$ for a product, I don't want it to be a broken one.

After giving my approval on the physical state of my new g51, we boot it up. *BOOM* goes the Dynomite Bios. I wait as Vista starts up. We confirm that it boots up, I pack it up, and head back to the office, satisfied that if something, ANYTHING goes wrong with this for the next year, I am not at fault. I can sleep at night After that, 2 more years of hardware fault warranty (I bought an extra year of warranty from the retailer). For the next 3 years, this laptop will be my business and gaming companion. I will be installing a dual-boot of Windows 7 and Leopard. Boom.

Initial Impressions
4 days have passed since I first booted it up, and still, I think "the most powerful 15 inch laptop on the market? boom."

Keyboard: The most important part of a laptop is the layout of the keyboard. I cannot stand typing on a double-height ENTER keyboard layout, where the backslash is on the home row. As a programmer, the single quote belongs beside the enter key, you can't shimmy another key in there! This keyboard is laid out EXACTLY as it should, to standard.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about this flex. Agreed, there is flex at the top near the f7 key, IF YOU BASH IT. WHO PRESSES F7 ENOUGH TO BE BOTHERED BY THIS, NEVERMIND THE BASHING? If you feel flex in this keyboard, I'm surprised noone has tapped your shoulder for TYPING TO HARD. AND THIS IS A QUIET KEYBOARD!

The backlight on the kayboard is a godsend. I keep mine on minimum light, to keep the cool factor up. But on several occasions, when looking for specific keys when the backlight is off and the ambiance is dim, having that option to lighten up the keys just makes this laptop very practial in any lighting conditions.

The feel of the keys is very nice too. When you press down, there is some initial minute resistance, but releases under pressure as you continue to press down. This gives a nice tactile feel, that the keyboard has confirmed that you pressed hard enough. A lot of keyboard just provide an equal amount of resistance until you hit the bottom of the push, or the initial resistance isn't quite balanced, leaving you to just press hard each time. The G51 gets it right.

The keypad. MY GOD YES. EVERY LAPTOP SHOULD HAVE ONE. I type IP addresses frequently, and being able to keep up with other IT techs is

Ports: They haven't broken yet. Typical ports, nothing special. Haven't figured out the eSata yet.. I heard that doubles as a USB port since they share the same protocol. Everyone looking at this review should know what ports are on here by now. If not, go to Asus' site.

Backpack: I've seen a few topics regarding this. It has two main compartments, the big one holding the laptop (held down by a velcro strap) with a few other slots for small duotangs. This compartmenet is up against your back when worn. The smaller compartment can't really hold books, but is designed for cords, HDDs, other Misc junk that you would carry. This is not a student backpack, this is a LANNER's backpack. There are also several small pockets scattered around and within the backpack to hold little stuff. I use a zipper'd pocket on the side to hold my mouse. That's the only pocket I actually use though.

Wii EEE sticks Never used them yet. Interesting though, can replace a gamepad, if I would use one.

Screen: This is the A1 subversion, so its got a 1920x1080 screen. Being a programmer, the less I have to scroll, the better. Even though it is just a 15" screen, the resolution is just right for me. The video card is beefy enough to handle all of the latest games at full resolution at full settings (Crytek engine games don't count. One thing to note is that the fancy blue lights on the lid bleed into the screen, although I only first noticed it while booting up, the screen was pitch black, and I believe the backlight hadn't kicked in yet. I'll confirm sometime soon.

Temperature: Despite how cool this laptop is, this laptop can be hot tempered at times, but Windows has yet to freeze. (How many puns can you make with a g51? I just made 4) Playing Mirror's Edge on max settings pumped out the heat, but it should be noted that it was CONTROLLED. It did a FANTASTIC job of controlling and concentrating the heat to a single point of output, which you can conveniently place a cold coffee to warm up. I placed some brownies there, makes a GREAT hotpad! I'm all for the double-functional laptops! I haven't checked the actual temperature, but in all honesty, I don't quite care. I hear people saying "don't go above 100c!". I suppose i'll check some day, but if it turns out that it WAS going above 100c, I'll just return it. If the video card craps out, I'll return it. My point is, I LOVE WARRANTIES.

Video Card Performance: It plays Minesweeper very well. Section completed.



Just kidding!

Mirrors Edge: 1920x1080: Playable on FULL SETTINGS 40fps (16xQAA = 20fps)
16xQAA, 20fps and i'm STILL seeing jaggies? I'll take the higher 40fps thankyouverymuch. Keep in mind that since this is a VERY BRIGHT LIGHT GAME, Jaggies are quite visible when looking at structures against a bright background.

Left 4 Dead: 1920x1080: Very Playable on FULL SETTINGS 60fps (16xQAA = 30fps)
I kept the AA on this time because since 30fps solid is very acceptable, and I didn't noticed any jaggies when AA was on full. Also, you can warm up brownies with this game!

UT3: 1920x1080: EXTREMELY Playable on FULL SETTINGS ??fps..
Ya. This laptop pwns.

Bloatware: For some reason, Asus believed that 1.5 GIGABYTES were required for this laptop to function correctly!! Humbly disagreeing, I reformatted to windows 7, installed most of the drivers/apps, resulting in 900mb usage. Much better! A far cry from my record-setting 65mb (!) when using XP on my old 2GB memory laptop, but.. I'll live with 950mb since I've got another 3GB to SPARE on this small beast.

PhysX and 3d: Did you know that the GTX 260m fully supports 3d gaming and PhysX?

For 3d gaming, download the drivers HERE, grab some red/blue glasses, press CTRL-T, and get your mind blown away! Most games supported!!!!

Using nVidia's CUDA technology, the GPU can process physics calculations while also acting as the graphics for your game. Agreed, it DOES impact fps performance, but comon.. I'd TOTALLY sac a few fps for some cloth action!.. As long as it is above 20fps. That's my limit.

To enable PhysX, download the drivers HERE go play mirror's edge, and see some realistic plastic, cloth, and drapes action while people shoot at you! Exciting! Some other games support it too, go check out the wikipedia article for more info.

Conclusion:
I am EXTREMELY satisfied with my purchase. What, you were expecting MORE text to read? You WANTED PICTURES? Comon, theres already TONS of reviews with PICS and VIDEOS. I am aiming for practicality and usability. I'm not shooting for the top FPS, I just want a good, practical laptop that will last 3 years. I think I've got it.

If you would like more detail, or pictures on specific parts of this laptop or its accessories, post here, and I'll update!
ToDo: Get list of installed drivers/apps, and take a screenshot.

 

Nice review, it provides some details which I did not find on the other reviews.
Great purchase you've made there, and don't forget to buy a decent cooler if ur gonna play, these lappy's tend to run hot.

 

But you need special monitor and glasses for that?

 

For Anaglyph mode, you only need the red/blue (cyan) glasses.

Wikipedia link

 

Great review stamp, and I am definitely going to check out the 3D thing ASAP!

 

which driver do you use?

EDIT: Do we need NVIDIA drivers? or DOX are ok?

 

Are you referring to playing in 3d? I haven't installed the 3d drivers yet (since I did a fresh win7 install), but with the above fps, I was using 190.56 official drivers

 

Ok let me know when you will try the 3D. And if its working.

 

Thx stamp, nice review! although the shopping experience you are telling us is a bit unsettling XD

 

I've just installed 190.38 from laptopvideo2go.com, installed the driver and 3d stereo seperately (different installers).

I encountered a few errors on the driver installer, probably trying to access the stereo driver. I just cancelled that prompt, and it installed fine. After that, I installed the 3d stereo driver.

Now, theres a new section in my driver properties "Stereoscopic 3d"

 

Can you test it? In game?

I have the 3D section in the driver properties but it's not working.

 

Can you please elaborate on what is not working? What errors are you seeing? Games work for me 100%, CTRL-T switches to 3d mode fine..

 

I believe the effect you are witnessing are the OLED backlights of the screen and not "bleed" from the cosmetic lights on the lid cover.

During boot up when the screen is pitch black without any video signal you may notice three ghost lights in a sort of triangular pattern which are the OLED backlights at least thats what I recall from my G51-RX05 days. I have yet to boot up my new X1A to see but I would guess it will be the same.

 

Well I'm not at home right now but I always get something like : This driver (3d Stereo) was designed for older version of your graphic driver. I think it's because i'm using DOX driver. I've tried different version of the 3d driver. 1st time I tried the Compatibility Test, it didn't worked, just plain black screen. With another driver, just a nvidia's logo flying around, no RED/Cyan color. And then, with another driver it's just crashing.

 

Can you give me the links?

 

Actually I'm pretty sure its a bleed-through. When I have my computer in sleep mode and the lights blink, they blink in the same general position and timing as the lights on the cover. Its definitely not an issue at all, but its there.

 

Happy you are enjoying it

This is a great notebook with some great fun to be had

 

Yes, I agree, the upper bleed seems to be the light from the ASUS RoG "shield" and the other two are the lights for the bottom bar. (on the lid)

 

Error while doing test compt:

Error in Stereo Driver
Stereo Blit call copied only half of the image, as if it did not recongnize Nv_Stereo_image_Header and performed a regular blit instead of stereo.

Edit:Nevermind, it's working with 190.38

 

hey stamp does your g51vx-a1 version have bluetooth? i cant remmeber if my a1 had bluetooth with the initial vista installation, but after installing windows 7 on it, it says it doesnt have bluetooth :S

never mind - after installing wireless console, bluetooth got detected lols -.-;

 

Could you post a picture of your laptop running Vista in 1920x1080? I have never used a FHD resolution on a 15.6" screen, and I'm wondering if it might be too small for me...

 

Hey Eiement, just wondering if you like the look of your laptop, the blue design. I am still waiting to recieve mine.

 

imo it looks a lot better in person, but I'm still more a fan of the RX05's lid.

 

See i actually really like the RX05's lid, but i really desired components closer to the x2a so idk. I hope your correct and in person it looks better... and that it performs really well. Last nooby question, what are the temps for your laptop when gaming games like cod 4?

 

I don't have COD4..but I hit ~92C when playing crisis max res w/ all settings at very high.

 

Ok so basically, i should be fine... because i am not going to be gaming as hardcore as you are. Around what fps do you get on those setting? thanks for your help

 

Thanks for the pic, the desktop looks fantastic. Can't wait to get my hands on mine... (Also, in France we only get the white lid, no matter what components. Sweet! )

 

Please tell me if some of you could get install Mac Leopard, thank you.

sorry for my english

 

Didn't really understand you... but search mac osx on pc, on google...

 

This topic is not allowed on these forums, as it violates Apple's end user licensing agreement.

 

haha OLED i wish. Its just white-LED. OLED 11" screen cost like 2000usd alone. but yea i dont experience any blue bleed through.

 

??? everyone always says it OLED...

 

OLED refers to the display panel. The screens in the G51 are LED bakclight not OLED.
Led backlight screen are just normal LCD's, but they use LED backliht instead of CCFL or HCFL.

 

^exactly...you cant call OLED and LED the same thing. OLED is organic with no backlighting. its actual organic pixels that can turn off providing the best TRUE blacks instead of pixel actually just turning "black".

 

My real question is if some of you have gotten install Mac Leopard in your G51VX-A1, because I am thinking to buy this model, but I need windows vista or 7 and Mac Leopard, and the user "The_Stamp" he said it would install leopard on your laptop

 

OHHHHH ok thanks guys

 

You cannot legally install OSX on non-Apple computers.

 

Thanks for the review, it was added to the ASUS Info Booth and to the ASUS Reviews and Owners' Lounges Index!

 

Is your quad stable at 2.53?

I might be trading my MBP 2.66 for a g51vx-A1 and I am concerned about the CPU being a bit slow.