Asus G50Vt-A1 & Asus G50Vt-A2 Review

[BtoTech.com]

Asus  G50Vt-A1 and G50Vt-A2 Notebook Review

Specifications:

	G50Vt-A1	G50Vt-A2
Processor	Intel CPU CORE 2 DUO MOBILE T9400 2.53GHZ FSB1066MHZ 6MB	Intel CPU CORE 2 DUO MOBILE T9400 2.53GHZ FSB1066MHZ 6MB
Memory	4gb DDR2 800mhz (2x2gb)	4gb DDR2 800mhz (2x2gb)
Hard Drive	500gb sata2 7200rpm (2 x 250gb)	640gb sata2 7200rpm (2 x 320gb)
Video Graphics	NVidia 9800M GT 512mb gddr3	NVidia 9800M GT 512mb gddr3
Display	15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glare	15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glare
Optical Drive	DVD+RW Super Multi Double Layer	Blu-Ray Reader / DVD+RW Super Multi Double Layer
Operating System	Windows Vista64 Home Premium	Windows Vista64 Home Premium
Manufacturer Warranty	2 Year Global with 30days ZBD (zero bright dot), 1yr accidental damage warranty, 2-way overnight Free shipping for warranty service, Technical Support: 24/7 (except holidays), Hotline: +1-888-678-3688, 1 year battery warranty	2 Year Global with 30days ZBD (zero bright dot), 1yr accidental damage warranty, 2-way overnight Free shipping for warranty service, Technical Support: 24/7 (except holidays), Hotline: +1-888-678-3688, 1 year battery warranty
In the box:	asus bag back pack, asus optical usb mouse, battery, ac adapter, drivers, restore disks, manual, warranty, cable ties	asus bag back pack, asus optical usb mouse, battery, ac adapter, drivers, restore disks, manual, warranty, cable ties
Camera	2.0 Mega Pixel web camera
Chipset	Mobile Intel® PM45 Chipset ICH9M Montevina Platform
Card Reader	5-in-1 (MMC, SD, MS/MS-Pro, XD)
Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN	Integrated Intel® High Definition Audio chip ( Azalia) compliant MDC fax/modem and 10/100/1000 Base T Integrated Intel Wireless 5100ABGN Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.0+EDR
Interface	1 x HDMI 1 x eSATA 1 x Express card 1 x Microphone-in jack 1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF) 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor 4 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x IEEE 1394 port 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
Audio	Built-in speakers and microphone
Battery Pack & Life	6cell battery pack 2hours run time (9cell extended optional)
AC Adapter	Output: 19V DC, 4.74A, 120W Input: 100— 240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Dimensions	7.5lbs 15.5" x 10.5" x 1.1"-1.6"

Pictures: 

 

Video Card 3dmark06:

It is no secret that this beast is made for the casual to extreme gamer driven by nVidia 9800M GT 512mb DDR3 GPU. The video card is not a joke. The benchmarks below will show you what you are paying for. Multiple screenshots are included for 3dmark06 with various resolutions. Although asus states this is a 9800m gs the computer actually reports it as a GT. Benchmarks put it about 5% below what a GT scores and some identifiers prove that it does have the qualities of a GS. In either case this is a bargain for the price.

   

Battery Life:

Unfortunately just like most asus laptops larger then 14" this one also suffers from lower then desirable battery life.  expect 2 hours of battery life tops.  If you disable the lights, Bluetooth, vga card and kill some of the ports in device manager you may be able to get 3 hours.  Just barely finishes a full length blu-ray movie.  Anything over casual typing or playing a movie expect lower then an hour of life.  Asus does offer a 9cell extended battery for the g50.  This would stick out about an inch from the rear and would get roughly an extra 1-1.5 hours of use. http://btotech.com/product.asp?pf_id=m50%2D9cell

Display:

This laptop comes with a high quality 15.4" LCD with 1680X1050 native resolution.  I rate this A quality for its brilliance, wide view angles and vivid colors.  Asus has been integrating very good quality displays in all their gaming targeted models.  For those who are worried about dead or sub pixels, have no fear asus warranties against such defects with all their notebooks.

Noise and Heat:

Given it's target audience this laptop is remarkably cool and quiet.  You can just barely hear the soft hum of the single cooling fan and 2 hard drives.  Thumbs up to asus for keeping their customer happy by using good quality fans.  The palm rests remain cool all over with the right side warming up just a bit because one of the drives is under it.  Under full load the fan does throttle but still remains well below what I would call acceptable noise.  Even under full load it is friendly enough to use in close proximity to a neighbor in a library.

Cool Features:

This one has a few cool features built in.  The secondary display above the keyboard can be programmed to show any number of widgets like instant messages, cpu usage, battery life and with a bit of programming anything else you can imagine.  Asus does include software to control what appears on the 2nd display.  This also comes with splashtop operating system.  This is a simple version that allows the unit to fully boot in under 10 seconds with access to internet, email, music and more.  The panel above the keyboard has all the fast function touch buttons.  No pressing required as these are touch sensitive.  The palm rests are made out of honey comb design abs plastic which stays cool while you use it.  HDMI and Bluetooth is always a standard on asus notebooks.  The ports on the left and right side are covered by red magnetic panels to give the laptop a more "refined" appearance.  If the lights on the laptop don't make you dizzy maybe the spaceship mouse asus bundled will. 

Lights:

Asus has really outdone them selves here.  If you have a crystal ball hanging in your car then this notebook would top the term "tricked out".  You have a light around the touchpad, a light on each side of the lcd, a light on the back of the lcd, a lighted decal on the lcd, and a lighted touch panel above the keyboard.  These lights of course can be managed and turned off.

Keyboard:

This keyboard does have the full num pad on the right side.  This is also a spill proof keyboard for someone with butter fingers.  I would rate this keyboard B quality only because I have not spent enough time on it.  It feels solid, there is little to no flex and it shares the same keyboard from various asus models which have not had any complaints over the years. 

Hard Drive Performance:

We used hd tune to test the hard drives performance.  The picture below shows the standard dual 320gb 7200rpm hard drives.  The performance of a good ssd drive would be almost double.  Here is a thread that details the difference between the two http://btoforums.com/showthread.php?t=1559.  The asus g50 series is equipped with a raid controller.  This does allow the user to select either raid(0) striping or raid(1) mirroring.  The tests below reflect a mirrored set up.  Needless to say striped drives would get noticeable better results.

Sound:

This laptop comes with altec Lansing branded sound system  Unlike the asus g71g this notebook only has 2 built in speakers.  Not much more to add.  For the gamer a headset or external 5.1 channel of better speakers are required and can be hooked up using the spdif port. 

Package contents:

Asus Targus premium Backpack, Asus mouse, recovery disks, drivers, power supply, battery, manual, alone in the dark game

Camera:

2mp digital camera.  Allows video communications using your choice of software with decent quality.  Asus SmartLogon is a software that uses the camera to scan your picture.  You can then logon using the saved picture instead of the traditional password or fingerprint. 

Warranty:

2 Year Global with 30days ZBD (zero bright dot), 1yr accidental damage warranty, 2-way overnight Free shipping for warranty service, Technical Support: 24/7 (except holidays), Hotline: +1-888-678-3688, 1 year battery warranty

Pros:

Excellent for the gamer on a budget
Nice lighting effects
Great High resolution display
Cool and low noise

Cons:

No TV-Tuner
Hard to remove keyboard
Heavy and bulky

[carmine]

Why is btotech the only website that advertises this laptop with nvidia 9800M GT?. Every other site has it listed as 9800M GS.

[BtoTech.com]

Originally Posted by carmine

Why is btotech the only website that advertises this laptop with nvidia 9800M GT?. Every other site has it listed as 9800M GS.

Because every site is wrong? We post exactly what device manger states. I dont think the 3dmark and device manager would lie,

[EdCris]

WTH?! this is not the same posts I read before?

[BtoTech.com]

what? ????

[EdCris]

Originally Posted by BtoTech.com

what? ????

haha.. nice reviews. I thought I read already this one but now I get it.

Good.. you edited the video card review. Nice one man...

Thanks.

[USMC-Delta]

I heard most ASUS labtops, specifically the M series, and some of the G-Series are affected with keyboard lag. Thus, when typing fast... they pc would skip a key. Is this true?

[BtoTech.com]

the issue was address in a bios revision long time ago

[EdCris]

Originally Posted by BtoTech.com

the issue was address in a bios revision long time ago

ok, but is it true?

[BtoTech.com]

ok, but is it true?

not exactly. the notebook has no issues that are inherent other then an issue which was related to the keyboard where you could not press certain keys at the same time. Stop reading notebook review for complaints. there is no end to complaints. the forum is good for solutions. generally if there was never a solution then the complaints fell on deaf ears because they were either caUSED by user error or simply did not exist on a mass production scale (not inherent) or were reported by very picky users who had a one sided uncommon opinion.

[USMC-Delta]

Oh alright. I never knew the 'cuase' of the problem....

A similiar issue happens when using wireless keyboards, only a certain number of keys can be pressed at one to in order for the cpu to register them, good example would me playign crysis with a wireless keyboard, Crouching, and sprinting at the same time as well as side stepping and going forward or backwards at the same time.

Depending on the order the keys where used in, the 4th and etc... key would never register. Did the ASUS have a problem basically the same as wireless did?

[BtoTech.com]

yes but that was fixed with a bios update