Physical Examination
Since the Asus G51J is a laptop targeting gamers, you would expect the build quality to be top notch as gamers are a fickle bunch. Keeping gamers happy is going to be a challenge, so let’s see how Asus fared.

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Majority of the G51J body is built using a glossy black plastic. The glossy finish makes smudges and blemishes pretty obvious, but luckily Asus has included a cloth for you to use.

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The lid of the laptop features an edgy rip graphic that may or may not appeal to your personal tastes. Regardless of what you think of the image, it helps the G51J stand out from the sea of solid colored laptops.

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Opening the lid reveals a glossy 15.4” screen, with the 2MP web cam on top. Next to the camera is the stereo microphone.

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The G51J has full 88 key keyboard which is rare for a 15.4” notebook. This is definitely a selling feature for a gaming laptop since it allows users to use game macros on the keypad which are often easier to use. The keyboard is backlit too!

Interestingly the wrist rest area is almost rubbery making it slightly more comfortable to use and doesn’t attract fingerprints as badly as the rest of the body. This is a thoughtful design since this is where your hands will be most of the time.

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Embedded in the wrist area is the track pad framed by attractive brushed aluminum buttons.

Along the top edge of the keyboard are speakers, status indicators, and the Express Gate and power buttons.

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Turning our attention to the right side of the G51J, there is a 8x DVD writer, two USB 2.0 ports, and the audio connections. The Headphone jack doubles as the SPDIF output for digital receivers and amps.

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Along the front edge of the laptop, there aren’t any ports at all which keeps the front work area uncluttered.  When the G51J is turned on, you will also see subtle blue indicators for wireless, Bluetooth (optional feature), battery and power states.

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On the left side, there are two more USB 2.0 ports (bringing our total to 4 ports), HDMI and eSATA connections, and finally Firewire-400. Almost hidden is a 26 pin Express Card slot above the USB ports. There is also room for a TV cable option (digital or analog) which our review sample did not include. Lastly there is a large heat exhaust vent, and a VGA port.

The TV cable option does not appear on the website, but shows up in their instruction manual. Perhaps this is a carry-over from an older design that didn’t make it into production.

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On the back of the laptop you have a gigabit Ethernet jack, a Kensington lock port, the power connection, and your battery (pictured is the standard 6-cell 4800 mAh battery).

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Finally, on the bottom of the G51J you’ll find the battery and what looks like a large speaker or a grill for the intake fan, but you’d be surprised to know that neither is the case. Let’s see what’s underneath the cover, shall we?

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