ASUS G1 Gaming Thin and Light Notebook

The Bottom Line

Those looking for a notebook system that has good gaming possiblities without it being too bulky or expensive should take a close look at the ASUS G1 thin and light notebook.

Pros

• Strong 3D Graphics
• Two Full Gigabytes Memory
• Good Storage Capacity

Cons

• No ExpressCard Slot
• LCD Panel Has Some Light Bleed

Description

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Dual Core Mobile Processor
• 2GB PC2-5400 DDR2 Memory
• 160GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
• 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
• 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) LCD with 1.3MP Webcam
• NVIDIA GeForce 7700 Graphics with 512MB Memory
• v.92 56Kbps Modem, Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11a/b/g Wireless
• Four USB 2.0, One FireWire, Type II PC Card and 4-in-1 Card Reader
• 13.9" x 11.2" x 1.5" @ 6.8 lbs.
• Windows Vist Home Premium, ASUSDVD, Power Director, Norton Internet Security

Guide Review - ASUS G1 Gaming Thin and Light Notebook

5/7/07 – The ASUS G1 notebook name is derived from its primary purpose, an affordable yet portable notebook gaming platform. Most gaming notebooks tend to use large 17” LCD panels that make them big and bulky. ASUS has decided to use a high resolution 15.4” widescreen LCD panel to give the G1 a smaller and lighter design.

Graphics are driven by the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7700 processor with 512MB of memory. While this isn't as fast as the higher end 7800 models from NVIDIA, it does provide strong performance that lets it play today's crop of PC games. It doesn't support Direct X 10 though for upcoming games. The design includes features such as a secondary OLED display, highlighted WASD keys, sleek black case and DVD-D output for an external monitor.

Performance of the system is good thanks to the Core 2 Duo T7200 dual core processor and the full two gigabytes of memory supplied with it. This is especially helpful with the new Vista Home Premium operating system that demands a bit more memory than the older Windows XP. Storage is also quite good with a large 160GB hard drive and 8x dual layer DVD burner.

There are some minor drawbacks to the ASUS G1 notebook though. Even with all its great features, the chassis lacks the newer ExpressCard interface. This prevents the use of external peripherals such as the upcoming ExpressCard graphics box from ASUS. In addition, the LCD panel while quite bright does exhibit some light bleed on the edges and is not as solid as some other notebooks.

The biggest surprise with the ASUS G1 is the price. Most gaming specific notebook computers easily cost double most notebook PCs. The G1 is probably one of the most affordable gaming notebooks currently on the market.