Welcome to G-Nation

Asus enters the gaming arena with the 17″ G series notebook. It sports a Radeon Mobility X1700 512MB and a mean design, but is it enough to beat the older Dell M1710 or the similarly configured Asus Z96J?

Asus has been making major inroads into the mobile computing market over the past year. The products we have reviewed here on PC Perspective have all shown that Asus is a competent notebook manufacturer with a focus on quality and style. Though Asus’ mobile product line is extensive and targets a wide range of users, one of the missing pieces from their catalog was a system dedicated to gamers. Manufacturers like Dell, Alienware, Voodoo, and ROCK have long been catering to this crowd with high-end gaming notebooks, and now Asus is joining the fray with their G-series systems.

Asus G2P 17" Core 2 Duo Gaming Notebook Review - Mobile 70

The notebook we are looking at today is the G2 notebook which comes outfitted with a ATI Radeon Mobility X1700, a large 17″ LCD screen, and some unique lighting features. Is the G2 a worthy contender in the gamer space, or is it a product that still needs a few more revisions? Let’s take a closer look.

Specifications

The Asus G2 we received came with a Core 2 T7200 CPU, a 160GB 5400RPM HDD, Radeon Mobility X1700 1024MB, and 2GB of RAM. Here is the specification table as seen on the Asus website:

Processor & Cache Memory
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7600/T7400/T7200/T5600/T5500, 1.66~2.33GHz, FSB: 667MHz, 4MB/2MB L2 Cache
Operating System
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional,
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home,
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Centre Edition
Chipset
Mobile Intel® 945 PM Express Chipset + ICH7M
Main Memory
DDR2 533/667 MHz SDRAM, , expansion up to 2GB SDRAM
Display
17.0″ WXGA+ (1440×900) ColorShine TFT-LCD,
Asus Splendid Video Intelligent Technology
2nd Display
ASUS Direct Messenger for In-Game system information
Video Graphics & Memory
ATI Mobility Readeon X1700 GPU
512 MB Physical VRAM
Hard Drive
2.5″ 9.5mm HDD,
80/100/120/160 GB (5400rpm)
Optical Drive
DVD Super Multi drive
DVD Super Multi Light Scribe drive
Card Reader
MMC, SD, MS, MS-Pro
Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN
Integrated Intel® High Definition Audio chip (Azalia) compliant MDC fax/modem and 10/100/1000 Base T.
Integrated 802.11a/b/g.
Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.0+EDR(optional).
Video Camera
1.3M Megabyte Pixels
LED Status Indicator
Power-on/Suspend
Battery Charging/full/low
Storage device access
Capital / Number Lock
Wireless indicator
Bluetooth on status (optional feature)
Interface
1 x Express card
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
1 x VGA port
1 x DVI-D
5 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x IEEE 1394 port
1 x RJ11 Modem jack for phone line
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x Wireless ON/OFF switch (Wireless Console to control Wireless/BT)
1 x SIR
1 x CIR
1 x TV-out(S-Video)
1 x AV-in port (Optional)
Hot Keys

Function Keys:

  • Fn+F1 suspend switch
  • Fn+F2 Wireless control
  • Fn+F5 Brightness down
  • Fn+F6 Brightness up
  • Fn+F7 LCD on/off
  • Fn+F8 LCD/CRT/TV-out switch display
  • Fn+F10 Volume on/mute
  • Fn+F11 Volume down
  • Fn+F12 Volume up
  • Fn+Ins Numeric Key Pad on/off
  • Fn+Del Scroll Lock on/off
Audio
Built-in Intel® High Definition Audio ( Azalia ) compliant audio chip,
Built-in speaker and microphone
Keyboard
Standard Keyboard with 88 keys
Battery Pack & Life
Li-Ion 71WHrs (8 cells: 4800mAh, 4S2P)
charging time: 4.5hrs/2.5hrs (System On/ Off) to 95%
AC Adapter
Output: 19V DC, 4.74A, 90W
Input: 100— 240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Dimension & Weight
410.6mm * 315.6mm * 46.6 mm(W x D x H)
4.4 Kg (8-cell)
Security
Booting / HDD User Password Protection and security lock
Kensington lock hole
Supplied Accessories
Optical Gaming Mouse
Gaming Backpack
Built-in TV-Tuner
Hybrid TV Tuner (Analog+DVB-T)
Multimedia Software
ASUSDVD XP 6.0
Power Director V3.0 DE
Medi@Show V2.0 SE
Virus & Tool Software
Symantec’s Norton™ Internet Security 2005
Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0
NERO Express V6.0
ASUS Utility
ASUS Live Update
ASUS Splendid
ASUS Life Frame 2
ASUS Power4 Gear+
ASUS Direct Console
ASUS Wireless Console
ASUS Power4 Phone
Warranty & e-support
2-year limited global hardware warranty
1-year battery pack warranty
On-line problem resolution through web interface (BIOS, Driver update)
OS (Microsoft Windows XP) install/uninstall consultation
Bundled software install/uninstall consultation
ASUS software supporting

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