ASUS G73JW-A1: Quick Review

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Asus is well known for releasing good performance notebooks at attractive prices. The new G73JW is a gaming focused laptop. Let’s take a quick look at the laptop.

Configurations

• Display: 17.3 inches, high definition 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution.
  LED backlighting
• Operating System: 64 bit Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
• Intel Core i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz/2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB L3 cache)
• 8GB DDR3-1066 RAM (4×2GB), 2 x 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drives
• Connectivity: Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR, Atheros AR9285 Wi-Fi 802.11
• Battery: 14.8 V, 75 Wh, 5200 mAh 8 cell lithium ion pack
• Dimensions: 16.3″ (W) x 12.6″ (D) x 1.8″ (H)
• Weight: 8.79 pounds
• MSRP: $1,745

Design

The G73JW appears to be little bulkier than the normal gaming oriented notebooks. It has a wonderful finish and fit which makes it feel hardy.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard is completely equipped with white LED backlights. The key actions are smooth and firm and The Chiclet or the island style keyboard provides the space for the keys and this helps in reducing the errors in typing. The G73JW laptop uses a Synaptics touchpad that is larger than average and very easy to use in games or when navigating webpages.

Screen and Speakers

The glossy display sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9. The inbuilt speakers are effective for a gaming laptop, placed above the keyboard with a covered mesh but these speakers are not as good as the ones that are found on the other multimedia laptops.

Ports

ASUS includes three USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, VGA and HDMI-out, and a SDHC-card reader on the right side. The left side has the optical drive, LAN interface, audio jacks and a couple of USB 2.0 ports. It also sports a DVD burner and a Blu-ray reader. The only thing lacking is an eSATA port.

Performance

The system pack 8 GB of RAM, couple of 500 GB hard drives, Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX graphics card letting the notebook handle whatever it is subjected to. It produces good gaming with high definition 720 pixel and 1080 pixel videos, and a wholesome performance.

Battery

The 8 cell battery has a life of at least 2 hours at heavy workloads.