The ASUS G51J-A1 Gaming Laptop is a powerhouse of a computer! It was one of the first laptops to sport Intel's newer Core i7 chips. Even better, the pricetag is in an excellent sweet-spot for a notebook of its class. I was able to acquire one of the basic earlier models, and I must say I have been enjoying it thoroughly. But with all that power under the hood and the lower asking price, what trade-offs should you be aware of before you reach for your wallet and buy this thing? Read on for the full review.

Or you can just click here to skip to the bottom-line summary.

The Guts

The Asus G51J-A1 features two options in processors, an Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM or 820QM Processor. The standard clock runs at either 1.6 or 1.7 GHz with TurboBoost speeds of up to 2.8 or 3.05 GHz, respectively. That's a lot of power for four double-threaded cores. An effective 8-core laptop machine can handle just about anything thrown at it. In my both hobbies, gaming, and work, I always have multiple applications running simultaneously. This laptop can handle it. In fact, it performs noticeably better than my Quad-core desktop tower (AMD Phenom II).

Speaking of multi-tasking, this machine comes with a standard 4 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable up to 8 GB. 4 GB is generally plenty for most people's needs, and the ability to upgrade to 8 GB total adds to the longevity of the notebook—a very useful and important aspect to note when you're considering your next laptop purchase.

In terms of connectivity, this notebook has all the options. 1 mini-Firewire, 1 eSATA, and 4 USB 2.0 ports allow you to connect just about any storage or peripheral device you can think of. An HDMI and standard RGB analog port allow for virtually any standardized display option. I enjoy how I can easily hook up the laptop to my HDTV for gaming, watching Hulu, and so on. For the networking side of things, the laptop sports an A/G/N Wi-fi card from Intel, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, and a 1000Mbps standard Ethernet jack. The Optical Disk Drive is a standard 8x DVD+RW Burner, though the G51Jx offers a Blu-ray drive option.

The last major specification to discuss would have to be the storage capacity. Sporting two 2.5" storage bays, the Asus G51J gives you dual 320 GB hard drives spinning at 7200 RPM. Having two bays brings a nice variety of options to the mobile computing market. Replace one drive with an SSD for running your operating system, use the other for data storage, and then you have one fast laptop!

The Glory

I did say that this was a gaming rig, and the video card definitely backs it up. An nVidia GeForce GTX 260M with 1 GB of GDDR3 discrete memory allows you to crank up the settings on just about any game you throw at it. When it was first released, this laptop had the second-fastest single graphics card in the mobile platform market. Of course it isn't as top-notch now that nVidia has released the 300M series of notebook GPUs, but it is the kind of card that will play most games for some years to come. Running the newest games right now is not a problem. Mass Effect 2 Collector's Edition with full graphics turned on (sans AA because it doesn't make that much of a difference on a 1080p 15.6 inch screen) ran beautifully well and buttery-smooth. These newer graphics cards also sport CUDA architecture, which can be wonderful if you use specialized software that can take advantage of it (e.g BOINC, Badaboom, and PhysX games). The display for all this graphical goodness is a 15.6-inch LED-backlit 1920 x 1080 work of art. It might not have the best viewing angles (what laptop screen has good viewing angles?), but at least it's not an incredibly stupid super-glossy screen!

It may seem trivial, but one of the main reasons why I bought this computer was for the illuminated chiclet-style keyboard. The keys feel great and respond well to the touch, and it even includes a numeric keypad. This does mean getting used to a different positioning of keys, but it is just like any other notebook keyboard.

On a small software-based sidenote, you generally expect most bundled PC software to be fairly lame and useless, but ASUS was able to seemlessly integrate their management tools and other software into the background of Windows 7. For example, facial recognition technology is added to your Windows logon screen in an aesthetically pleasing and thoughtful manner. Managing brightness, color correction, and power profiles is surprisingly easy with the included ControlDeck software. Perhaps most useful is the Power4Gear Hybrid technology that integrates with Windows 7's power management system, allowing you to tweak your power profiles easily and more thoroughly than Microsoft's standard options.

And before I forget, a nice Quick Power-on boot up Operating System allows you to access the Internet and Media from a Linux kernel that is up and running in less than 8 seconds.

And lets not forget the extra supporting items that came standard with the laptop. When you open the beautiful brown UPS box, you will be pleased to discover an ASUS laptop backpack and gaming mouse (designed and created by Razer). While this technically is not a part of the notebook itself, I feel like ASUS put that extra bit of thought and care into the whole package, and that makes a huge difference in the entire experience. I carry my laptop around in the backpack all the time, and the adjustable-DPI gaming mouse has been a huge blessing in my gaming ventures.

The Gore

Just coming into this review and seeing the price with the specifications listed, you knew that there would have to be trade-offs, and they definitely exist. First and foremost, the standard battery that comes with the computer is a simple 4800 mAh 6-cell affair. When you compare that to the power output of the AC adapter (19V 6.32A), you can see that this won't give you much juice to work with when you go un-plugged. Running conservatively, I was able squeeze a mere 2 hours of battery life out of the device. The extended battery should effectively double your un-plugged time, but the power draw of the discrete graphics and quad-core processor effectively transforms this machine into a wall-tethered desktop replacement. Remember, this technology was released prior to nVidia's Optimus technology.

The other elephant in this virtual room would be the sheer weight of the device. The G51J could be a heavyweight champion with its 7.3 lbs bulk. It weighs even more if you invest in the extended battery. This machine is definitely a desktop replacement in more than one way.

Last but not least, watch your hands around this thing's cooling vent. It has the ability to run quite hot when you start to put a real load on the CPU or graphics card. My desk is always very warm after I pack up the laptop, so I would suggest that you always keep your chocolate stashed far away.

Bottom-line

This computer is for gamers and desktop-replacement purposes, pure and simple. It's not so light or small that you can fit it into your nice business attaché case. And it's not so powerfully efficient that you can cuddle up with it on the couch and do your homework for hours on end. If you are one of these people, this machine is probably not for you.

At the same time, the G51J makes no excuses. It delivers pure, raw power. Power that enthusiasts and gamers can take advantage of. If you're like me and rarely use a computer far from an outlet, always plug in headphones or speakers wherever you go, and can handle the weight and heat from this powerful beast, then the Asus G51J-A1 is your new best friend.

The best part of it all is that Asus has come out with other sweet upgrades to the system in the forms of the G51Jx and the G51J 3D, thus driving down the price of this particular machine. The G51Jx offers a more powerful nVidia 360M GTS graphics card along with an Intel Core i5 option if you want to be a bit more stingy on the power consumption, but for a little bit more in terms of cost. The G51J 3D is one of the only laptops in the world that can deliver portable 3D gaming technology, and that is a nice option to have for all you 3D enthusiasts out there.

Pros

• Excellent price (less than $1,400 USD) for an Intel Core i7 desktop-replacement laptop
• Back-lit chiclet keyboard is excellent to work with under any lighting conditions
• Linux fast-boot OS gives you basic Internet and Media access in about 8 seconds
• Incredible graphics technology for games as well as multi-display desktops
• Facial-recognition technology for easy user logon (other bundled software works great, too)
• EAX Advanced HD 4.0 chipset for excellent sound quality
• Wide variety of connectivity options (USB, eSATA, HDMI, Firewire, etc.)
• Dual-hard drive bays for customizability (SSD drive, anyone?)
• Included gaming mouse and backpack are perfect for gaming on the go.

Cons

• Standard included battery-life is miserable (less than 2 hours)
• Analog RGB output signal issues (at least on my unit)
• Built-in speakers are relatively weak in volume compared to other gaming laptops
• Runs a bit hot when you put it to work.
• Software support is a little less than ideal.
• It is a heavy piece of equipment: 7.3 lbs.