Ray's Review On The Asus G50vt-x5... A superior, budget-friendly gaming laptop

[rayzoredge 2]

So I finally bit the bullet and after having sold two of my laptops and tolerating my slow, crappy work laptop, I survived long enough to buy myself a new one.After hours of research, pouring over reviews, potential issues, and whatnot, I finally decided on snagging myself an Asus G50VT-X5. The $949 MSRP laptop cost me $650 on eBay AFTER Bing cash back.I came down to choosing this particular laptop not because of how it looks or how fast the CPU was, but the fact that it had an NVIDIA 9800M GS in it. (That's actually how I choose my laptops, since it's one of the components that everyone seeks to upgrade, only to fall fruitless after realizing that you can't. Or not without difficulty, if the possibility arises.)It was a refurbished model, but I didn't care. I received it in its original box, original wrapping, and I still have the cheap-o screen protector on it. More on this on a bit.First off, the laptop looked GOOD. As in pictures didn't do it justice, because after looking online at the geeky design that Asus slapped on this laptop shell, I was already on the market for a laptop skin, but I'm glad I waited. The laptop looks sharp... almost too sharp. The shell is pristine and way too shiny, giving anyone with OCD a headache with having to polish away constant fingerprints and smudges from the gloss exterior. The screen is the same way... which is why I'm keeping the tacky-looking screen protector on with the tape that it came with, just as it is. Asus did a great job with blending of colors, as it isn't fugly and it isn't too "extreme" with its design... except for the Republic of Gamers logo. (Now THAT screams geek.) It even lights up on the sides and the logo, which isn't functional in any way unless you WANT to draw attention to yourself. There's also an OLED display on the upper left portion of the laptop that, by default, displays the logo and Republic of Gamers title, but you can change this through an Asus utility to display e-mail notifications, CPU and RAM usage, etc. Nothing earth-shattering with it, though.The keyboard is kind of mushy-feeling but responsive. The touch pad is actually pretty good, although strokes with your palm sometimes causes your cursor to end up where you don't want it to be. The shiny touch pad buttons also attract fingerprints and are as "mushy-feeling" as the keyboard. I kind of miss the ability to turn off the touch pad via a button like I was able to with my HP Pavilion zd8000, but it won't be missed.It comes with a multitude of ports, although I still have to rely on a USB hub to accommodate my strange obsession of sticking as many peripherals into a system as possible. The eSATA port is a welcome addition as I can finally harness the speed boost over USB 2.0, and it comes with an antenna port (to extend WiFi?), FireWire, and I believe 4 USB 2.0 ports. No Bluetooth though... which isn't a killer, but it does kill off my few gadgets that utilize BT.The machine came with Vista Home Premium (x64) installed and an average amount of bloatware. It was the longest time I've experienced Vista... which wasn't long, considering I wiped out the machine and installed Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) on it shortly after I realized that I didn't like Vista's reputation of hogging resources and less-than-desired performance. Windows 7 Ultimate doesn't fare too much better with performance compared to XP or Vista in many aspects, but it feels nicer, and I feel like I combined XP's performance with Vista's eye candy, which is a win-win for me. Couple that with an Intel 2.13GHz dual core processor and 4GB of DDR2 and I have a machine that runs pretty darn well enough to keep me happy, in comparison to the Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz single core and 2GB of DDR2. I may put Ubuntu 9.04 x64 on it, but I don't have much of a reason to go to Ubuntu quite yet other than to play around with Linux. If this wasn't a gaming machine and I didn't do much with Windows-exclusive programs, Ubuntu would be a no-brainer for me, but I have yet to see Linux run the games I want to play without too much trouble.Performance of the machine was a large leap from my old HP. Instead of taking nearly half a minute, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 opens up in 3-4 seconds. 720p HD video runs flawlessly on this machine... more to come when I try out my first 1080p HD movie. Games boot up faster with a significantly-less drag time, and coming from an older system, the difference is huge to me. I like knowing that I can actually run games at medium to maximum graphical settings without so much as a hiccup, although I'm frankly surprised that games like World of Conflict still struggles on this computer (4+ FPS when the nuke hits the benchmark test in comparison to the 60+ FPS when the bombers make their entrance). Call of Duty 4 plays at maximum settings without a hitch, and Crysis is rather playable even at high settings (although you would have to tone it down a bit for fluid gameplay). Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars works very well too at the highest settings. One thing that just seems weird to me is the fact that the LCD supports up to 1680x1050, but most games only offer a strange resolution cap of 1366x768. It's an off number to me, but I'm used to resolutions like 1440x900 on the HP.This laptop also comes with an instant-on technology called Express Gate, which boots up a meager operating system environment to access Internet, IM, word processing, and other basic essential functions. I turned this on once by accident, but I'm so used to pushing the power button on and walking away that I don't yet use this feature. I do find utility in this technology since you are able to view pictures, share files, chat, check e-mail, browse the Internet, and listen to music, so if you want to put on some music or share your latest adventure with your camera instantly, you can. What I wonder, though, is if they'll ever make an instant-on operating system that silently boots up your main OS so you can have the option of switching to your main OS if you want to. That would be nice... that way, you have instant access to your photos, music, and Internet while you wait for your computer to finish booting up. Wouldn't that be something?The speakers on this machine are rather disappointing, in my opinion, and although I'm one to settle for poorer quality items, I also know when to appreciate good sound. I'm surprised that no one mentioned the sound quality of this puppy, as it is tinny and sharp at higher volumes, but maybe no one cares since it's probably going to get aftermarket 5.1 or headphone treatment like most laptops.Speaking of this bad puppy, the entire package weighs in at 8.8 lbs with the adapter. It's actually an upgrade for me, since I'm used to hauling the 11 lbs of the HP Pavilion zd8000 during my travels, and it gave me quite the eye-opener to lighter options. (11 lbs isn't really heavy until you carry it for over a couple of hours.)For power-consuming freaks like me, the system draws about 55+ W at idle... but I'm sure it spikes with gaming.This machine, expectantly, runs hot, as I can feel the same sort of heat that I feel with my HP Pavilion zd8000 out of the side vents, but I'm amazed that the machine itself doesn't feel hot. The zd8000 had a problem with the palm rest becoming uncomfortably hot, but so far, I haven't had any personal complaints. I have yet to sit this on my lap for true mobile usage though, and considering that there is a huge vented port on the bottom to further reduce heat, I might have to report back later as to how hot your lap will get if you do decide to get this.Recommendation? I suggest that if you are in the market for a laptop that can act as a mobile desktop replacement, but feel restricted with your budget, this is the way to go. At $650 for a laptop that's light and small enough to move from place to place and play most games of today's caliber, I feel that it is money most definitely well-spent. Casual laptop users should look elsewhere, as you can probably get a beefier machine for the same amount of money (or save money by purchasing a mainstream laptop)... but the Asus G50VT-X5 warrants a serious look to mobile gamers and power users.Update 11/25/2009:The keyboard drives me nuts as it isn't as responsive as I normally thought it was. With the way I type, I frequently end up with occasional typos because it's like the input never makes it with one or two keystrokes. I don't know if my typing style is light and I'm not pressing the keys hard enough or what, but I'm definitely looking to getting a wireless keyboard to go with this.Re-installing "in-house" Asus utilities can be kind of a pain because apparently you have to install them in a certain order to get everything to work correctly. Earlier, I whined about not being able to turn off the trackpad... but it's because the "button" doesn't work thanks to me not knowing which order to install all the Asus utilities to get it to work. I also couldn't get Direct Console to work for a while (which controls the lights and the OLED display), but after looking up some things, I uninstalled utilities and installed them in the appropriate order to get them to work.Battery life is great for watching a movie, but gaming really kills it. I played Fallout 3 for about an hour with full settings without AA or AF and the battery was drained to 20%.There is a warm spot to the right of the track pad where your right wrist would rest, but it's not hot to the touch and you would only notice it if you were to look for it.The laptop is not hot on the lap since most of the heat vents to the sides. However, during gaming, you could keep a coffee mug warm with the heat that comes out of the left vent... no joke.The location of the USB 2.0 ports and headphone jack on the right side interferes with mouse usage if you are a righty... I frequently bump into my earbud cord and the huge USB receiver for my wireless mouse, which would easily be rectified by just using the mouse over the right palm rest (since I play games this way) or not being cheap and buying a wireless mouse with a nano-receiver. Or moving the receiver to the back USB port, of course. The glossy finish is too easy to scratch up. I'm a bit rougher with my laptops than most, so it is to be expected when you throw a laptop into a full backpack and take it out repeatedly, but I would heavily suggest that people looking to retain that nice glossy finish to get a laptop skin, clear or otherwise, just to protect its looks. InvisiShield products would be awesome, but they don't make skins for laptops... I checked. Despite the carping, I still love the crap out of this machine. Just trying to give more of an educated review for those looking to purchase a budget-friendly gaming laptop.

Edited November 25, 2009 by rayzoredge (see edit history)

[rayzoredge 2]

Update 01/20/2010:Concerning HD playback, the performance of playing x264 720p or 1080p with AC3 or DTS 6-channel audio was slightly frustrating. Playback was not exactly seamless with occasional stuttering and re-syncing of the audio track enough to distract you from the movie itself. (The video, however, played seamlessly.) Having done some research, I saw that this laptop barely meets the recommended requirements for full-blown 1080p playback, which was a discouragement straight from Microsoft. But I was determined, considering the fact that this laptop was not that far off from being a quasi-HTPC when I needed it to be.Some homework revealed that CoreAVC would be the best fit to play x264 content from the ton of MKVs and MP4s I've collected in the past couple of months that housed my many 720p and few 1080p movies. (DTS and AC-3 5.1 playback was already being handled by AC3Filter, which, after some fiddling, I got to work.) Since CoreAVC was able to handle passing on the load stressing the CPU to the GPU, I figured this would help with the audio track "skipping" and thus giving me a simple solution for seamless HD playback. I'm still in the middle of downloading an updated revision of drivers for the nVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS straight from nVIDIA for CUDA support, so I can't comment on whether CoreAVC really does help in this aspect. Evidently, however, CoreAVC by itself does not help with the stuttering of audio that has been driving me nuts when running just uTorrent in the background (which apparently takes up a lot of CPU cycles). (Even when running my usual Norton Internet Security Suite 2009, Logitech SetPoint, and a small handful of utilities in the background WITHOUT uTorrent, the performance still stutters.) Since I'm not too partial with having to shut everything down just to play a movie, I looked to another solution: overclocking.This leads to the whole "installation order" gig that I mentioned earlier with this particular Asus. I didn't find any problems, however, installing the Windows 7 x64 counterparts of the ATK drivers and utilities to get them all to work, to include Direct Console, the pain in the *bottom* for most owners of this Asus line-up. This is what I did, just for reference:- I uninstalled just ATK-related drivers and utilities and Direct Console, leaving the power management suite alone.- I reinstalled the Windows 7 x64 ATK drivers one by one with the exception of the ATK ACPI driver, which apparently doesn't have an x64 variant.- I then installed Direct Console, which worked like a charm, first-time go.Firing up Direct Console and putting the overclock setting to Turbo, I saw an immediate difference in the decrease on CPU load and a lessening in audio stutter, but it was still there... probably about half as frequent as it was. Turning up to Turbo Extreme did the trick, and I could watch and listen to my 1080p movie with Media Player Classic using CoreAVC (without CUDA) with uTorrent and Firefox running at the same time as well as my usual start-up programs. Getting to this point netted me about 200MHz or so of additional processing power, so you can probably say that HD playback requires a 2.3GHz dual core processor or better.Just for reference, I play all of my high-definition movies using Media Player Classic - Home Cinema and installations of the latest K-Lite Mega Codec Pack and CoreAVC. During the K-Lite installation, make sure that you prefer AC3Filter over any other codecs, and set it up correctly to match your sound setup. Before playback, set up MPC-HC to utilize your External Filters (by adding AC3Filter and CoreAVC and setting their priorities to Prefer).I also took a look at undervolting but using RMClock 2.35 (with a patched 64-bit file that works in Vista x64 and 7 x64) suggested that I was already running this thing near the lowest voltage it could go. I'm not sure if I'm just not understanding what I'm looking at, but it seems that this laptop is already good to go after having installed RMClock and the Asus power management software.If anyone has questions, let me know and I can try to answer them in the best way I can.

[iGuest 3]

keyboard issueRay's Review On The Asus G50vt-x5...

 hi there! first of all, nice review. I am planning to buy this laptop but I just want to know if you were able to solve the issue with the keyboard lag. This would probably be a deal breaker for me if there is no work around for this. 

Thanks!

 

-reply by kangta

[iGuest 3]

Update 01/20/2010:
Concerning HD playback, the performance of playing x264 720p or 1080p with AC3 or DTS 6-channel audio was slightly frustrating. Playback was not exactly seamless with occasional stuttering and re-syncing of the audio track enough to distract you from the movie itself. (The video, however, played seamlessly.) Having done some research, I saw that this laptop barely meets the recommended requirements for full-blown 1080p playback, which was a discouragement straight from Microsoft. But I was determined, considering the fact that this laptop was not that far off from being a quasi-HTPC when I needed it to be.

Some homework revealed that CoreAVC would be the best fit to play x264 content from the ton of MKVs and MP4s I've collected in the past couple of months that housed my many 720p and few 1080p movies. (DTS and AC-3 5.1 playback was already being handled by AC3Filter, which, after some fiddling, I got to work.) Since CoreAVC was able to handle passing on the load stressing the CPU to the GPU, I figured this would help with the audio track "skipping" and thus giving me a simple solution for seamless HD playback. I'm still in the middle of downloading an updated revision of drivers for the nVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS straight from nVIDIA for CUDA support, so I can't comment on whether CoreAVC really does help in this aspect. Evidently, however, CoreAVC by itself does not help with the stuttering of audio that has been driving me nuts when running just uTorrent in the background (which apparently takes up a lot of CPU cycles). (Even when running my usual Norton Internet Security Suite 2009, Logitech SetPoint, and a small handful of utilities in the background WITHOUT uTorrent, the performance still stutters.) Since I'm not too partial with having to shut everything down just to play a movie, I looked to another solution: overclocking.

I have the G50vt-x5 as well, and i have found running Media Player Classic Home Cinema makes my 1080p videos smooth as silk, before i would get some glitches in the video every so often. You will have to run the direct X June 2010 runtime update for it to run nicely. I used this guide http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/accelerate-x-264-1080p-movies-over-the-gpu-guide,4.html