~G1s Owners Lounge~

you went with the G1S over the zepto then, those benchamarks are so persuasive. where did you get it from? i have only seen preorders on a couple of web sites.

 

You are astute! Yes, I did - and yes, the benchmarks convinced me, but ti was a very close call. I am still after a really portable laptop for my better half, so have my eyes on the 14" laptop maybe later in the summer.

I got it from asuslaptop.co.uk - they got in stock yesterday, but limited amount, so check it out quickly if you're interested.

Petrov.

 

Okay, so I've run the in game test, and played the game a bit, and the in game test and actual game are nothing alike (thought this was an FPS, heh). When actually playing the game it's not near as slow.

Suggestions on best part of the game to bench, that you'd like to see here?

 

so..then,is it GDDR3? with 512MB Video Memory flavours?

 

Not sure what you're asking exactly, but the G1S is 8600GT with 256Mb of GDDR3.

Petrov.

 

doesn't it has the turbocache feature?
256MB would be insufficient for running games at higher details,with AA and AF maxxed

 

It probably does have turbo cache, but I was under the impression that's not that useful for cutting edge gaming.

Also, this is still only an 8600GT card - doubt you're going to be running games on even a 512Mb version with high details and AA and AF maxxed at any sort of playability on relatively recent games. Ain't no 8800...!

Petrov.

 

yes, it has turbocache

 

Definitely won't get max in game settings with it, but it is the best for a 15.4" laptop you can get, so what's the complaint about? If you want more power, get a 17" laptop.

 

Mryerse - do you think the outperformance the G1S has in 3dMark06 at 1024x768, by virtue of the 256mb of GDDR3 memory against other laptops with 512mb of GDDR2 memory will be similar in real world gaming, particularly at higher resolutions (such as 1680x1050)?

Petrov.

 

probably the higher memory capacity wins in a high resolution battle.
TurboCache enabled? must be great! but ASUS' website itself didn'y mention any turbocaches?

 

Yes, I think the G1S is at a disadvantage for high res gaming. I wish it had 512MB of GDDR3, but oh well.

However, my FEAR benchmark earlier shows that the G1S can play FEAR at 1680X1050 quite well, and also is the case with games like Civ IV and COH. Some games might need to be lowered though, especially ones that haven't come out yet I presume.

 

for me 1024x768+maxxed graphics is already a satisfactory resolution,but..don't think that such resolution would last longer,i'm going to bigger ones.

 

Here's some pics of the G1S for those interested. I had planned to review it but since I deploy this weekend didn't have time. Sorry!

Small pics
Large pics

In all this is good value on the laptop. Infotechnow is offering it for $1900.

It is heavy and big. Asus could make the keyboard and mouse buttons much better. However all that is outweighed by it being a great gaming laptop for 15.4" screen. FEAR runs awesome on this thing.

Hope you all enjoy your G1S's!

 

your last name is a nightmare to pronounce. Also, thanks for the pics and benchs.

 

mryerse, thanks for the gallery of pix, in two resolutions, even. I gave you rep for your efforts.

 

Well, I pulled the plug on Lenovo and ordered the G1S from Gentechpc. I wonder though, I noticed it says if you modify the computer, the global warranty is voided. I upgraded the HD to 120GB... does that void my warranty? I was confused by that statement...

 

Technically, you don't if you upgrade the HD/RAM, however, there are always extreme complications.

If your notebook breaks down and it is found that the upgraded RAM/HD is at fault, then yes, your warranty will be voided. However, this is rarely the case, but they still state it just in case.

 

Do you know of any other companies or websites who will offer a warranty or coverage? Kind of like a 3rd party insurer?

 

I Have to wait 7 days from today and up to 10 maybe

Has anyone gotten a G1S without mouse and back pack?

 

I envy you all but I'm hoping in a month or 2 to order my own G1S, however I've got a few questions.

Now this is a really really nice laptop anyone ordered some extra warrenty for it or do they feel the current one is enough? Also are the mouse and backpack any good?

 

I think that the mouse and backpack is standar it doesn't matter where you'll buy it they'll both come, enjoy it

 

I think 1 year is enough so to me this two year is great.

 

well all I can say is that the mouse is logitech and the bagpack is targus, both are good brands besides that don`t now any thing else

and the warranty I going with the standar because that is pretty much what a laptop lasts regarding gaming technology, for quality it last much more

 

hey mryerse how is the review coming along?
did you put good info in it?

hey nice feet in the IMG_0114, I'm joking just in case

 

Thanks for the pictures mryerse. Sure is a fine looking machine!

 

if you get if from best buy, you don't get the mouse or backpack.

 

Hey i just got my G1s and am posting this on it!! lol. I see what the reviews have said about there being a lot of bloatware on this machine. What exactly do i not need? I don't want to go deleting stuff and then realize i need it. So what is the useless stuff i don't need?

 

ASUS Live Update and Norton Anti Virus are useless, for an AV program, check out AVG or NOD32. Rest are useful but if deleted, it won't make a difference much.

 

AVG from www.grisoft.com (antivirus)

 

Down to the nitty gritty.

GAMING performance (IE NON synthetic benchmarks); how is the G1s doing????

 

I remember "mryerse" posting some gameplay benchmarks. Just search for his posts.

 

asus live update is useless? this will be my first notebook, and first asus product, but wouldnt the updates be good to get?

also do you need to update drivers when u get the g1s ive been hearing some things about having more thne 2gb ram it doesnt readit....some other stuff.

 

for a big name like asus.updates aren't avaiable?
wish that it wouldn't happen on c90s

 

I am posting this response on my new Asus G1S. It came today and besides a corrupt mobo drivers disc and some minor vista act ups everything is running smooth.

 

It's not that updates are not available or anything, it is just that the Asus Live Update program is pretty bad, causes the system to hang and such.

Everyone else just goes to the website and downloads whatever drivers they feel like upgrading, like the GPU, the rest is generally up the the end user.

Most people will state, "don't fix what's not broken", which means don't update endlessly to get better performance because things "may" end up getting worse.

Other than that you will want to remove Norton, and get AVG Free for viruses, and enjoy your notebook.

 

Is your G1s recognizing the 3 GB of RAM?

Please let us know...

Thanks in advance

 

Yep, all 3071MB of it. Also, since I upgraded my HD I had a clean install of Vista without bloat ware from right off the bat.

 

If you don't modify the CPU then don't worry about it, upgrade RAM and HD does not void Asus warranty, CPU is the only components that has "warrranty void if broken" stickers on it:

 

also one more question... does the G1s not come with some kinda of microsoft word or word perfect or something? I am looking and have yet to find one.

 

Hi Fore, I ended up posting those pics because I won't be posting a review. Had too much to take care of this week as it's the last week before a 1 year deployment... squeezing a review in just didn't work. But the pics are there . Those are my wife's feet, and yes they are nice

No word processing other than whatever comes with Vista (wordpad?). I'd download star office if you can't get MS Office.

 

Personally I think Norton AV works well. In a corporate envirenment there isn't anything else as good at reporting as SAV, and it seems pretty good at detecting and removing stuff I don't want. Maybe it's just me and I don't get into things I shouldn't to begin with?

 

hey all, just saying hi. estimated eta for my G1S... 2 weeks

 

It's not true, I first thought the same thing as you do. But we finally figured it out that G1, F3SV, G2S will only works on one special RAM Module of 2GB stick.

 

Ok guys I recieved my G1S today and I LOVE it! but, I have a few questions.

1. How do I get into the bios for the G1S?

2. How do I turn on the 2 green lights on the sides of the screen? (were they originally on and I uninstalled something?)

3. what are the newest drivers for the 8600M GT and where can I find them?

 

Just out of curiosity can you replace the lid on the asus g1 or g1s? The lid looks replaceable. Anyone know?

 

Ah one more question guys. Is it possible to do a clean install with just the recovery disk since I don't own Windows Vista? or is it possible to make the C: smaller and move about 40gb of that over to the D:? I tried disk management but it wouldn't let me expand the D: and Ive heard Partition magic doesn't work with vista?

 

I'm waiting to load new software on my G1S (arrived today, loaded with the 160 GB 7200 rpm drive and Vista Ultimate ... kudos to Ken and Brian at GenTechPC ... on time and as ordered), then I'll post more impressions. I use Vista Ultimate on my desktop and want desktop and mobile to have the same functionality.

My initial impressions are:
1) The G1S is a large 15.4" system. I definitely would not want to carry anything larger around, e.g., a G2S. The weight of the G1S is fine, but it is almost as big as some 17" notebooks that have only a thin margin between LCD and lid edges. Smaller 15.4" systems don't have the resolution and lack of ghosting the G1S has ... so ASUS must be using that extra lid and base volume.
2) The LCD color depth is the weakest major component (since I swapped out the HDD, otherwise the HDD would be the weakest). You will definitely want to adjust the screen parameters using Splendid and nVidia CP. For watching DVDs, I used 7800 color temp, 30% brightness, gamma at 15%, and RGB at about 70%. The resolution is fine, no ghosting, no bad TFT cells, but I miss the color depth of a Vaio. Not that I would revert back to a Vaio notebook (two over the past 5 years). The relationship of Splendid, nVidia Ctrl Pnl, and Win Mobility is not clear to me yet. They all adjust the LCD. As noted by other owners, there is a significant light leak along the bottom of the LCD, i.e., a totally black screen is tinged grey from the backlight along the bottom edge. With content on the screen, the light leak is not noticeable. The blacks are very black, without noise.
3) Using headphones, the sound is excellent (DVD: Blackhawk Down).
4) A new BIOS will be needed to bump the RAM clock to 800 MHz when DDR3-800 memory becomes available. The BIOS on the current machine does not provide clock control in the Advanced tab. (BIOS is AMI, latest copyright date is 2005. F1 or F2 (I forget which I used) to get the BIOS before Win launches.
5) The manual has "G1" on the cover, not "G1S" and doesn't discuss Vista, only XP. The G1S was obviously a rush project, and Asus is several months ahead of its competitors, and also ahead of its own documentation. Folks, the manual is a G1 manual. There are no specs, and the F, R, L, and R drawings show the I/O ports of the G1. The manual doesn't mention or show the eSATA, HDMI, or Express Card ports (but does show a PCMIA port, which the G1S doesn't have).
5) In summary, absolutely no buyer's remorse. I would never listen to the speakers on a notebook anyway, and I can live with the light leak when balanced against features like DDR3, nVidia 8600M, T7500, eSATA, HDMI, Express Card.


Edit: Uninstall Asus Splendid and go to zero gamma, 50% brightness, and 50% contrast in nVidia CPnl if you want a GREAT IMPROVEMENT in clarity of text, being able to see fill-in boxes on webpages, and color saturation. That leaves nVidia CPnl, Power Mgmt, and Mobility Ctr as controlling the screen. With Splendid (published by Macrovision, so it's an add-on), my screen lost settings even in a simple launch of Splendid.... without touching settings... so I uninstalled it and PRESTO, text is sharp and easy to read, looks like a Vaio notebook screen now.

 

Just wondering, if I do a clean install of Windows to like XP (not in the mood for Vista yet), and don't use Norton or anything that that will that void my warrenty?

 

No ^^ you can choose your OS, even if it did you can put vista back on if something ever happened.

Im not digging the idea of x86 vista on my machine I want x64 so I am going to buy my own copy of vista home premium x64 to put on my asus machine. Does the disk you get with the OS/Drivers allow you to install just the drivers and not the OS, or is it more like a disk image that installs everything in one shot??