Sunny's G51VX-RX05 Review

ok folks...
buying a laptop for my kid bound for college.

i'm a longtime mac user (work in the graphics field) so i no little about pcs. I'm also probably considered kinda old by most of your standards (mid 40's) so i'm not as up to date technology-wise either...

here's what i'm looking for for my kid though...


solid reliable laptop (1K or under) that they can take to college and take care of any college business with.

They ARENT hardcore gamers...(hell, i'd hardly even call them 'casual gamers')...but OF COURSE they TELL me that they REALLY would need a "gaming" Pc laptop (hence the reason they said they didnt want to look at macs. yeah, right. whatever.) They said because a 'gaming' pc would SURELY have enough power to handle all of the multitasking they'd need to do while working on school projects & studying.

yeah, i know...I laughed out loud too.

my response was the typical dad response...
"we're not paying for you to go to college for you to 'game' kiddo"

anyway, this Asus model was one of the ones i saw for just under 1 k...it's probably more stuff than my kid "really" needs though...

but i want YOUR honest opinions...

for a college bound 'BARELY casual gamer' is this ASUS G51vx-rx05 what i should get them, or are there other models out there that are as reliable and and priced under 1K. (i admit, of the PCs out there, i'm leaning towards sticking within the Asus brand...they seem to get consistently good reviews).

Also, if buy this ASUS, what ELSE will i need to buy with it? (i think it comes with Windows Vista installed...do they come with Microsoft Office installed or am i gonna need to buy that too? Probably depends on where i get it from right?

anyway, all suggestions are welcome.

thanks in advance

MacDadinPCworld

 

So i recently bought the G 51 and while it runs very nicely i was wondering if someone could please answer some questions about overclocking for me.

1# Does the G 51 cpu the P7350 overclock well without adding to the heating problem.

2# What are the specs for the best overclock, i think it was 2.4 ghz i could be wrong though.

Thanks!

 

Hi everybody, I,m seriously looking to get an ASUS laptop, before i knew the g51 had come out, i was looking forward to buy an asus g50vt-x6. I would only like to have a little information. I know that, since it's a gaming laptop, i won't get a long battery life. But could anyone tell me what's the battedy life they get while they just go on the internet... reading on websites, or using softwares such as microsoft word... cause i'm buying a laptop for college + gaming (plugged while gaming), and i'd like to be able to go through my classes without having battery issues. I'd take notes in word probably in a power saving mode to extend the battery life, with the screen luminosity not too high.

Thanks for any answers
Frank633

 

HAHAHA thats what my dad said...

 

So with the cooling device I was making, whats the name of the fan power connectors located on the motherboards of desktop computers?

 

Some things to keep in mind:
- gaming laptops usually do not have stellar battery life (I don't know particulars about the G51 battery though). Battery life is usually a concern in college, during classes.
- I think there are some GPU heat problems with the G51, so be informed about that before you make any decisions (I don't have specific links, since I only saw these problems mentioned in passing while reading threads today; owners should be able to help)

 

you might need a new bios if BB havnt upgraded the BIOS . About the cooler you can get one from Baghdad-Iraq , when I was there I bought mine from there and it was ridiculously cheap, I bought mine from Alsinaa st. , this street is very famous in Baghdad everybody knows about it its like the source of computers in there . GOOD LUCK!

 

If its for school and they dont do anything graphically intensive, this is not the laptop for them, IMHO at least. The processor is lacking, and since that is the component that overall determines how powerful a system is, you will want something stronger for multitasking. Also, as E.B.E said, you will want something with a bit more batterylife as well. I wouldnt expect the G51 to get more than 2 hours of mobile life while casual surfing and connected to Wifi.

If they really dont game much, something more mid-range with a stronger processor would suffice, or, if battery life isnt an issue ( though in college I imagine it would be, it is for me ), but pure power is, then the G50-X8TW should suffice, assuming Newegg gets more in stock.

If something more midrange that should have better batterylife is better, then the MSI GX620, the Asus N50, or the Asus F81 ( all of which can be found at newegg ) are all decent options.

There are other things to choose from, but thats just what I found from a quick search.

 

MacDadinPCworld, I just finished my freshman year at Purdue University and I used to have an HP dv6000 and it did the job with a normal 2.5 Hours battery life but what really sucked about it is that I couldnt play any games so I sold it on ebay and yesterday I bought the G50VT-X1 ASUS. I have done alot of research before buying the G50VT its almost the same as this G51 with couple of exceptions , The G50VT has a better CPU for multitasking but the G51VX has a better graphic card not that the G50VT graphic card sucks but the G51 graphic card is the latest on the market, The difference between those 2 models graphic card is not alot if you check the 3dmark06 score for both of the graphic card you will notice that there is only 10% or less performance difference . With the G50VT-X1 you can play games at Max settings quality except for some games you will need to play it at high settings instead of Very high lol.
the G50VT-X1 costs $740 refurbished by ASUS!! its like you are buying a completely new laptop with 1 year global accidental warranty from ASUS .
These gaming PCs consume alot of battery life if you are playing games and consuming GPU but if you are not playing games you are just using it for normal college tasking you will have about 2.5 hours battery life and you can still upgrade it to 5 hours battery life with a 12 cells battery .

If you are looking for a very portable not Extreme laptops like the G50VT-X1 or this G51VX you can get the ASUS X83VM-X2 14.1 inch its loaded except for its graphic card but still you can play games but on medium-low quality and its only 620$ also refurbished by ASUS with 1 year accidental warranty .

I Think gaming pc is better than a normal one because at some point you will need to play some games and when your pc doesnt run them you will have to buy an xbox360 or ps3 so why not just buy a gaming pc and end everything .

ASUS X83VM-X2 14.1
http://www.jr.com/asus/pe/ASU_X83VMX2_hy_RB/#productTabReviews


ASUS G50VT-X1
http://www.google.com/products?hl=e...=8rF&q=G50Vt-X1&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wf


the comparison between the graphic card performance can be found in the link below at the bottom of the page
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9800M-GS.12932.0.html


Sincerely,
Roody.

 

Hey guys if you go on Newegg under laptop accessories you can buy an Asus extended warranty there. Would that apply to the G51 if it was purchased from BB?

 

Um no.

The only external / extended warranty available if you buy from BB is either the BB extended warranty or one from SquareTrade.

 

BB does have extended warranty

 

New egg is a reseller of a slightly different type but they still qualify as a reseller. Bestbuy comes with only 1 year asus warranty not extendable through asus. Bestbuy offers there own warranties but.... yeah anyways.

 

Any G51 owners tried hooking up the laptop to an external monitor running 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 and see if it takes the GPU nuclear?

 

The overwhelming consensus from the people I've been talking with is that any of the mobile quads from intel will work just fine.

In all honesty, I'd try something less... aggressive, like the G50vt-X8TW. It has a more powerful processor, which will be more helpful in the working environment, and it's it almost like my slighty-more-powerful X6, it should have enough battery for a class or two and no heat issues.

You get a sample of MS Office, I believe. You'll have to buy it after thirty days, I think. I forget.

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4786505&CatId=3444

wow too cheap....1.99 shipping and no tax... I wouldnt mind refurbished at all but i'm a sucker for new generation hardware.. i.e. gtx 260 vs 9800gs

 

Hey, correct me if I'm wrong... the two previous G50 bestbuy sold did not indicate they were LED display neither did tigerdirect's refurbished batch. However the G51 is indicated as to be using LED on the web site and the screen does look brighter and more vibrant than the two previous ones......

 

As per the leaked release info before the G51 came out said it would be using led backlit displays. The G50 did not have that.

 

Thanks, you have the answer as usual lol.. and yea I had the G50 and I kept staring at the G51 (when i thought it was LCD) and thought. whoaaaaaa asus makes damn good LCD, with that who needs LED! lol

 

ASUS doesnt make the lcd AU Optronics or Chi Mei in the past, which was further backed up by a post made by David back before his username was david. Might have changed but i doubt it check with everest ultimate.

It still is an lcd, its LED backlit instead of CCFL. Thinner (doesnt matter on the G50 sourced chassis, uses less power, and usually is brighter/looks better. Most LED screens are the size of bilboards and OLED panels for tvs and computers are still way expensive.

 

Hey Forge,

I saw on another Thread you quoted someone who said they bought a Q9100 and had issues and I know you are getting/have a QX9300, but do you (Or anyone at that matter) know anyone who has bought, installed, and are using a Q9100 with no problems on the G51? I wanna upgrade but I'm not gonna buy unless someone has a good review of the upgrade.

 

Just a thought.. why not just use Q9000 like the quad core asus at bestbuy? might not be as satisfying, but I'm pretty sure if that one can use it G51 can use it too....on the safer side...

 

A proper Q9100 should work but its VERY expensive compared to the Q9000. People are more likley to buy a shoddy ES version that might have issues.

GenTechPC and XoticPC are going to be offering the Q9100 and QX9300 so it SHOULD work doesnt mean it will and if they do have problems i imagine one the resellers will not offer the upgrade until, two, asus fixes this with a bios update.

 

Yo.

Not that I've heard of. The G51 is still relatively new, so people are stepping around it carefully. Although, since some retailers are offering the Q9100 as an upgrade choice, there doesn't seem to be a reason why it didn't work. NiR commented that the poor schmuck might have gotten a bad part, or might even have installed it wrong.

In other news, I'm an ignorant Neanderthal, so I'll be NBR's guinea pig when it comes to upgrading processors. I'll have one of three outcomes

1. My laptop frys and becomes a paperweight... which sucks because I voided the warranty in the process of transforming it into a paperweight.
2. Nothing happens. The processor doesn't work in this computer
3. It works, and the high-end processor plus the high-end GPU get cracking on performance.

I'm really, really, hoping for three.

The way I see it, if I'm going to void the warranty and go through the trouble of obtaining parts/information/intestinal fortitude for the upgrade, I might as well go the whole nine yards.

 

To tell you the truth I was thinking of that, but I can't find a Q9000 cheaper than a Q9100, as odd as that sounds :X

 

Where are you looking?

On eBay they usually sell engineering samples, which are used and nominally inferior to the retail versions.

 

Yeah that makes sense, I think I'm just gonna wait a while before I void my warranty, I'll let other become the guinea pig (Forge)

I'm really hoping for three as well, when does your new CPU come? Or have you even bought it?

 

Bidding ends in a little less than three days as of this post.


I just got a email from Ken of GenTech. This is a little more assurance that a QX9300 will work in the Best Buy model.

While not an explicit "Yes it will work" it's a good sign.

 

Nice, thats good to know

 

wow.I wanna be like the two of you when I grow up! must be nice to have the disposable income to try the possibility of frying an expensive cpu and a 1k computer lol...but we need people like you.. hope it works out for you.

ps: your battery may last u 1 hour after that lol.....

 

Granted, I doubt the processor would fry the motherboard. The processor might die, upon which I would incur a roughly--depending on the end-bid--$375 loss.

And no, I'm don't have enough money to write that off as peanuts. I actually lurked here for a pretty long time before I decided to experiment. It might be a risk but I'm stacking the cards in my favor as much as I can.

 

Well think of it this way. You were actually asking:

"Hey I want to buy this notebook that you're selling with X customization option from this competitor of yours, and then I want to customize X myself. Will it work? "

Now you see why he was vague. If he would have been any clearer and his company colleagues saw the email (that he sent in his quality as company representative), they wouldn't be very happy. If you would have been dealing with a rep less honest than Ken, such a rep might even have told you that they were doing something special, so that you buy from them. Luckily Ken is a very honest and trustworthy guy.

 

To be honest EBE half the time i ask ken two questions at once i get one answer back. But he is also a very busy man. He is very generous with his time among other things.

Personally I would have asked if they had actually confirmed support for the Q9100 or QX9300 in the G51VX-A1 with ASUS, to be sure of their compatability prior to shipping the unit to GenTech. I could have told you their the same bios and mainboard, but there is less clue to what the bios actually supports outside of GenTechPC offering the upgrades.

 

Well I asked him a VERY similar question....

and I got

So, as Clutch said, he gives and honest answer.

I actually asked him if there company adds anything when they receive the computers from the manufacture, because you are able to customize the computer on the site, or if all computer come from the manufacture supporting all Q's in the G51VX-A1, but have ot got an answer yet

 

ONe you need to learn how to quote my name is on all those quotes

Two not sure about now but since theres a couple weeks to go probably, last time i talked to them they havent gotten theirs yet neither has xotic and itll probably be a little while. So outside of what ASUS is telling them and what they can get from other sources they dont know anything else thats not in front of them.

 

My confidence concerning this is like a damned seesaw.

 

Thanks I didn't mean to put words in your mouth...

But yeah, by the way it looks they wouldn't know anymore that what they actually have, its just too bad they couldn't throw me a definitive answer. I guess it serves me right for basically say I'm not gonna buy a computer, or anything right now, from you guys but please help me lol.

Anyway I doubt now I'm gonna upgrade anyways. Buy the time I return from Iraq I will might just make a new desktop, or maybe upgrade then. Its too dangerous out here (Dust storms, heat index, constant moment ext.) to void a warranty without 100% assurance of success.

Side note, I saw someone said they had a Silver Thermal compound that they added and said it works way better then the stock. So much so that I should look into using it (And most likely voiding the warranty in the process) because it was worth it.. Any merit in this statement, because the cooler I can get my Computer the better.

I am buying a NZXT Black Aluminum Notebook cooler w/ 3 120mm adjustable fans Model CRYO LX because, well, honestly all the other coolers got bad feedback. Hopefully its good,

 

The NZXT will probably be okay but note the fans and where the air comes out will be pushed to the upper half of the notebook and all the vents are on the lower 3/4. Even so the G50/51 doesnt work well off forcing air in and the NZXT will create a cool pocket of air to draw from. While i like the zalman for the vent match i think its possible the NZXT can atleast achieve the 5C drop of the zalman.

 

You use the Zalman, but friend has the same set up as you but he suggested the NZXT. What would you?

 

Well the NZXT is great for many dells and most hp's due to there vents being at the top of the notebooks and the NZXT pushes out alot more air with its 3 larger more direct fans. Personally the way the cooling system works i dont think anything will do better than the zalman.

There is only one better way the way I roll. While its never a good idea to run the laptop with the bottom panel off because then nothing but the cpu and gpu are cooled its perfectly fine on the cooler. With the bottom off the zalman blows on every part of the laptop and it keeps the GPU down to 75C in a situation where even with the cooler it would normally be 90C.

Check out my review in the signature there to look at the zalman and the G50.

 

Well thats awesome. Someone does a review for a fan built perfectly for my computer . Im gonna buy the Zalman, as everyone has been praising it equally, and because you did a very in depth review of the cooler. And a plus its 10$ - 20$ cheaper than the NZXT (wish the NZXT fans were lower) but I think this would be the better choice, it look like it was made for these computers lol.

As for the way you cool your computer, I doubt I could ever do that out here, for the amount of dust storms we have I would murder my computer taking off the back plate like that.

When did you buy your ASUS G50VT-X5 and how much did your T9600 cost and at where?

 

I'm sure Ken at GenTech just loves getting random emails asking questions about the G51's Best Buy is selling...

He deserves a medal of valor for that.

 

I am going to travel to South Korea in two months and I just don't want the worry about having something break on me because of heat issues and then I would have to be without a laptop for awhile until it is fixed...I think I am going to go for a different model...Or am I just being paranoid about this heat problem?

Also, is the g71 problem fixed? Are they good to buy now? Or are they still having problems? Also, does the g71 have heat problems at all?

Thanks,

Adam

 

ASUS Official Page Update on the G71/51 bios update, we will test the bios before releasing it officially. will keep you guys posted. Sorry want to make sure it works 100%!
12 minutes ago

 

Have you guys noticed how low the volume is on the G51VX (BB version)?
Mine is pretty low

 

Yes. When I max out all of the settings it is still very quiet. I have not tried pluging in headphones to see if they are much better, but it's pretty sad.

 

they posted that the G71 BIOS update is up and say nothing is wrong with the G51.
http://www.facebook.com/ASUSOfficialPage?v=wall&viewas=688642952

 

Well, they are playing it safe, "if it ain't broke, dont' fix it" no bsod, no shut down, no freezing, why fix it? sure it gets hot but what bios can fix heat issue really besides downclock everything, and I doubt that's what anyone on this forum would want to bee happen cause it defeats the purpose of this laptop.

 

There was this small part of me that was hoping the temp sensors were actually just reporting incorrectly high temps... but I guess that was a pipe dream.

 

Did anybody attempt to do a processor upgrade yet?