Asus G2P Review (Pics of G2 & G1 + Games + More)

[MilestonePC.com]

Introduction and Overview
The Asus G2P is a new gaming series 17” notebook. The G2P offers an array of interesting and cool design features. The Asus G2P reviewed here comes with a Core 2 Duo T7200, a 17” screen with a native resolution of 1440x900 (WXGA+), an ATI Radeon X1700 512mb, 2048M DDR2 @ 667mhz, 160Gb @ 5400rpm, DVDRW, Windows MCE, and Asus 2 years ASUS Global Warranty with Global Zero Bright Dot Guarantee for 30 days. There are many more features that the notebook has and will be described in the review.



Reasons for Purchasing
The G2P is a 17” notebook and the target market in my opinion is those who are looking for a moderate gaming desktop replacement. This notebook also appeals to those looking forward for a lower native resolution laptop, since it will be relatively easier one’s eyes. The price of the G2P is $1899 USD and $2179 CAD.

Specs of the Asus G2P

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0Ghz; 667mhz w/ 4mb Cache)
• Display: 17" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Color Shine, AUO4087 (B170PW04 V0)
• Asus G2P w/ Intel 945PM Chipset
• Memory: 2048MB DDR2 667 (2x 1024mb)
• Hard Drive: 160GB @5400RPM SATA (Seagate)
• Graphic: ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 512MB
• Wireless: Built-In Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 A/B/G
• Optical: 8x Super Multi DVD Burner (LG Electronics)
• Battery: 8-Cell Li-Ion, 4800mAh, 71Whr
• Operating System: Windows Media Center
• Dimensions: 16" (length) x 12.5" (width) x 2.63" (height)
• Weight: 9.7lbs
• Warranty: ASUS 2 Years Global Warranty + Zero Bright Dot LCD Policy (30 Days)
• Ports: 1x Express Card, 1x VGA port, 1x Headphone-out jack (SPDIF), 1x Microphone-in jack, 1x RJ11 Modem, 1x RJ45 LAN, 3x USB 2.0 ports, 1x IEEE 1394 port, 1x TV-Out, 1x Infrared Port, 1x μ-DVI, 1x Docking Port,
• 8-in-1 Card Reader
• (MMC/SD/Mini-SD/XD/Memory Stick/MS Pro/MS-Duo/MS-Pro-Duo)

What’s in the box?

• G2P 17" Notebook
• Standard Capacity; 8 Cell; 4800mAh Li-Ion; 14.8V
• Asus Design Gaming Series Notebook Backpack made by Targus
• Asus Gaming Series branded Logitech Mx518 Carbon Fiber look
• S-video to RCA Cable
• Microfiber LCD Cloth
• AC Adapter (19v DC, 1.5A, 90W)
• Software:
• AsusDVD (CD)
• PowerDirector Pro (CD)
• Medi@Show (CD)
• Nero Burning Rom OEM Suite (CD)
• Microsoft Works (CD)
• G2 Driver and Utility (CD)
• Asus Recovery Disc for Windows MCE (DVD)

Packaging
The packaging of the G2P is very nice; the box presentation is very colorful and inviting. There is no rattling in side the box, but the box is quite heavy, and taking out the laptop form the box is also quite hefty.



Design
The design of the laptop has a very rugged look, but also very nice accents of faux aluminum on the lid and anodized aluminum on the palm rest. The laptop basically has 3 color tones, red, black and silver. The red color is used to signify some new features in the G2P, like the side lights, the top vents, and the trademark G2 symbol between the touchpad buttons.



My initial impression of the laptop was that it is reasonably sized for a 17”, great color scheme, but the glossiness of the screen exhibits a lot of reflections. I was also impressed by the lid design looks very unique and is glossy and emanates a brushed aluminum look.



Screen
The screen on the Asus G2P is a medium resolution glossy screen. The native resolution is 1440x900 (WXGA+) which may be a benefit to some but a detriment to many, since WSXGA+ or WUXGA is more desired on a 17” notebook. The screen is perfect, no dead or bright dot pixels. In my opinion this resolution is not satisfactory, I prefer higher resolutions, but the images, icons, and text on the G2P are very clear.

Max Brightness


The screen is very bright, and I do feel comfortable using it at the maximum brightness. There are 16 levels of brightness however, if I decrease the brightness from max, you will notice the screen does not decrease in brightness much. It feels like there are about 5 real brightness levels.

The viewing angles of the screen are excellent, just like I anticipated. The horizontal viewing angle is roughly 145 degrees both ways, and the vertical viewing angles are roughly 120 degrees. The contrast level is very high, the whites are white and the blacks are black.





There is a slight amount of light leakage at the bottom of the screen, it is quite hard to notice and I don’t find it to be a problem at all.

This image shows where the light leakage is in blue, but don't worry that is really glare, light leakage is white. Also it doesn't look that bad at all, you can barely even notice it.


Keyboard
The keyboard is a black color with white letters on the keys. The keyboard has 88 keys and the sizes of the keys are nice, except for the spacebar, because there are 5 key to the left of the spacebar, causing it to be smaller than usual. The CTRL key is left of the FN key, which I am happy about since that is my preference. I also don’t like the fact that there isn’t a full sized keyboard with num pad.



The sound of the keys is a soft click. If you type fast and lightly the sound is very minimal, if you type hard, then there will be some noise. The keyboard has a short travel, but still feels nice to use, I can type on it without a problem.

The keyboard has a reasonable amount of flex which is noticeable and so far it not a big problem for me, but you will notice it. The top left corner of the keyboard flexes, the bottom left corner flexes, the middle exhibits a lot of flex, the top right corner flexes but the bottom right corner has a minimal amount of flex.

Touchpad
The touchpad material looks like it has a textured feel, but instead it is very nice, a silky smooth touchpad, my fingers are able to glide nicely without a problem. There is a silver accent around the touchpad which enhances the look of it. There is a vertical and horizontal scroll embedded in the touchpad, and it works very well.



The touchpad buttons are silver and are very easy to press, the sound of pressing them is rather loud and somewhat annoying, but they are easy to use. The G2P emblem is in between the touchpad button and glows a nice red color. I did not find it to be a problem, being in the middle of the buttons.

Features
The Asus G2P has a variety of features that make this notebook unique.

Flashing Lights and Direct Console
The G2P has two lights encased on both sides of the lid, they are red and flash when you are gaming or even running benchmarks and will light up a small area. The G2P also has an emblem that is located in between the touchpad that glows red, and looks quite nice.

You are able to turn off the flashing lights by using a program called Asus Direct Console. Also in the Console you can adjust and tune the Direct Messenger. There is a little LCD in which it will show the ASUS name, and or time in digital, but then you can change it to an image, with your own text. This is a cool feature!

Red Light Off--------------------------------------Red Light On


Mini LCD Direct Messenger


Bluetooth
Bluetooth allows for wireless connectivity to other devices, like cell phones, mice, keyboards, headphones and others. There is a Bluetooth manager in which it will take roughly 5 minutes to set up a connection.

Multimedia Keys
There is a power button, then there is a previous button, forward, stop, and play/pause button. If you press the play button, it will open up the Media Center ability, where you can see pictures and movies organized in a nice interface.



Webcam
The Asus G2P is equipped with a 1.3 mega pixel camera, located above the screen and does not swivel. The quality of the camera is decent, certainly better than other laptops I have seen. I would feel comfortable using it for online conferences and chatting.



Webcam Images



Sound System
There are 4 speakers on this laptop, and it sounds amazing! The speakers are located under the left palm rest, the right palm rest, under the left side hinge and right side hinge. It gives a surround sound feel and is clear and crisp.

When using headphones, you won’t believe how well games sound. I am using Sennheiser MX400 earphones and love how games sound, everything is very crisp and clear.

When playing music on earphones the sound is excellent, treble is excellent and the bass is quite good. When playing music on the speakers, once again the sound is very loud, the bass is somewhat little but still better than most laptop out there.

When playing movies the sound quality is great on both earphones and speakers, the treble and bass are reasonable for watching movies.

The sound card is Realtek HD Audio and I am very pleased with its performance and quality. There are 16 levels of sound and I feel very comfortable using 3/16, any higher and you can support a small house party with just a laptop.

Input and Output Ports
The G2P has a great number of ports and a variety of them as well. They are mainly located on the left side and rear of the notebook.

The front side of the laptop contains:

• the latch
• multimedia keys
• front status indicators
• CIR, which is a consumer infrared port, which allows the consumer to use infrared devices like a remote

The right side contains:

• speaker located under the right palm rest
• optical drive with eject button
• power input plug
• direct flash red light on the lid.

The left side has a great amount of ports:

• direct flash red light on the lid
• LAN port
• Modem port
• USB 2.0
• Audio Input Jack
• Mic Jack
• SPDIF output jack
• IEEE1394 port
• Wireless Switch
• ExpressCard Slot
• Card Reader
• IrDA port
• Speaker located under the left palm rest

The rear of the laptop also has many ports:

• Vent
• Kensignton Lock Port
• S-Video Out
• VGA out
• DVI-D out
• 4x USB 2.0

The bottom of the laptop has several slots to open certain compartments.


There are button and indicators above the keyboard:

• Direct Messenger (LCD)
• Bluetooth Indicator
• Hard Drive Access Indicator
• Num Lock
• Caps Lock
• Power4Gear Button
• Power For Phone (Skype)
• Splendid Software
• Touchpad Enable and Disable
• Power Button

Wireless
The Asus G2P comes with a Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 A/B/G, I found that using the Intel Proset drivers to work great, I was able to connect to internet wirelessly very easily.
I get 5/5 signal strength moving around the entire Markham location store.
Overall I am very happy with the Intel wireless card.

Build Quality
The build quality of the laptop in my opinion is good; the materials used seem to be different forms of plastic. Some of it is glossy plastic, some of it is matte, and the other material is anodized aluminum on the palm rest.



The quality of the lid is very good, the plastic lid and bezel hold the screen in place. There is no flex or rippling in the screen, even if you press hard. There is very little twisting of the lid as well.

There are three hinges that hold the top portion of the laptop, but this looks rather unusual at first but the hinges are very solid, strong, and do not feel like it would break. The screen barely wobbles on these hinges and the screen will not move if put in awkward positions. No creaking when moving the lid up and down.



The palm rest are very interestingly designed, there is one portion of the palm which is anodized aluminum and the other which is a high gloss plastic. Overall the palm rest exhibit no flex at all, and gives an interesting feel to it.

As previously mentioned the quality of the keyboard is ok, the spacebar is small, the arrow keys are a little small, but at least the CTRL and FN keys are in the correct position. Also there is a considerable amount of flex, and that is a negative aspect of this notebook.

Size and Weight
The size of the notebook is quite big and bulky. The dimensions are, 16" (length) x 12.5" (width) x 2.63" (height). The weight of the laptop is 9.7lbs and yes this is heavy, this is something I would not want to carry around on my back, but for sure for LAN parties and occasionally to work.

The power brick weighs 500grams which is equivalent to 1 pound. The dimensions of the power brick are, 5” x 1” x 1”, I find this size to be just normal like some of the other laptops out there.

Heat and Noise
When I first plugged the laptop into the AC adapter, I heard an interesting gust of wind sound, the heat out of the rear vent is warm, not hot but warm when gaming.

The palm rest are cool, the aluminum part of the palm rest is cold for the first 4-5 hours of use, and then it starts to get slightly warmer. The plastic portion of the palm rest is cool but will start to get Luke warm after hours of gaming.

The keyboard and sides of the keyboards are also lukewarm after hours of gaming, but above the keyboard is warm. The air coming out of the rear vent is just warm, not hot; this means the cooling inside of the G2P is extremely good!

The noise is barely noticeable when gaming, the sounds of the game will easily overcome the sound of the vent. The sound coming out of the vent when gaming is a “whirr” sound with a touch of a high pitch sound. Otherwise when doing light tasks there is no sound, the laptop is very quiet.

Idle Temps:
Core 1 – 45 degrees Celsius
Core 2 – 46 degrees Celsius
Hard Drive – 47 degrees Celsius

Gaming Temp: Call of Duty 2
Core 1 – 58 degrees Celsius
Core 2 – 58 degrees Celsius
Hard Drive – 47 degrees Celsius

Gaming Temp: Medieval 2: Total War
Core 1 – 60 degrees Celsius
Core 2 – 58 degrees Celsius
Hard Drive – 48 degrees Celsius

Battery life
The battery pack of the G2P is 71whr, and it is located in the front section of the laptop.



My battery life tests yielded the following, on Max Battery for P4G and WIFI On.

• 16/16 Brightness – 2 hours 15 minutes
• 8/16 Brightness – 2 hours 24 minutes
• 1/16 Brightness – 2 hours 47 minutes

If you were to game on the G2P with a battery you can yield close to 2 hours, with max brightness and WIFI On.
If you are planning on using this notebook to be a portable laptop with the need of more battery life, I would suggest purchasing another main batter to extend your battery life.

Benchmarks

Boot time

I used BootLog XP to measure how fast the system boots.
The laptop booted in 74 seconds with stock applications and startup programs.

SuperPi
This is a screenshot of SuperPI, the Asus G2P was able to calculate 2 million calculations in 1 minute and 3 seconds which matches most other laptops equipped with a T7200.


3DMark05
This tests the graphics and performance of the laptop. The clock and memory settings on the X1700 512mb are,
The laptop scored 4493 points on stock drivers.


3DMark06
This benchmark test the performance using Shader Model 3
The laptop scored 2292 using stock drivers


PCMark05
This tests the overall performance of the laptop when running PCMark05.
The laptop scored a respectful 4626.


HDTune
The hard drive is quiet, no noise at all, when gaming, light tasks or movies, which is great. The hard drive is made by Seagate, and the temperature is slightly warm when compared to other laptops.


CineBench
This program show how well the computer is at designing and 4 dimensional rendering.


Comparisons
Here is a table comparing some benchmarks of the G2P, G1P, and V1JP.


When comparing the G2P and G1P to each other, you can see that the performance is roughly the same. The G2P is a 17” notebook while the G1P is a 15.4” notebook. The overall feel of using the laptop doing basic tasks is very nice since it has 2GB of ram and a 2.0 GHz processor. The looks are very similar, using glossy plastic, but not compromising on build quality. Red or green lights, which one do you prefer? While testing I found that the green light to be more exciting on the G1P, while the G2P has the red lights and is very bold.







When looking at the V1JP to the G2P and G1P, there is definitely a difference in styling since, the V1 series is aimed at the business users, who still want sleek styling and performance. There is an obvious size difference between all 3 models, and the G1P would cater towards more of the home gamers looking for a great all around system. While the G2P would also cater to home gamers looking for on par performance to its 15.4” counter parts.

Games

NFS Carbon
The game ran very well on the G2P, these were the settings used below.

• Resolution: 800x600
• AA: 4x
• Texture: Antistropic
• Max Graphics, No V-Sync
• FPS: 17-23 FPS

Battlefield 2
This is great fun to play, the graphics are excellent the FPS are great, all round good fun.

• Resolution: 1024x768
• AA: 6x
• Texture: High, No V-Sync
• FPS: 36-55 FPS

Oblivion
This is not one of my favorite games to play, but it sure is demanding and quite interesting.

• Resolution: 1280x768(*)
• Medium settings, HDR Enabled, No V-Sync or AA
• Indoor FPS: Ranges from 22 – 50 FPS
• Outdoor FPS: Ranges from 21– 26 FPS

BF 2142
This is another one of my favorite games to play, and this laptop played it pretty well.

• Resolution: 1024x768
• AA: 6x, No V-sync
• Textures: High
• Outdoor FPS: Ranges from 15– 30 FPS

Call of Duty 2
This is a great LAN party game, in which many can enjoy fast paced action.

• Resolution: 1024x768
• Texture: Bilinear
• Detail: Medium
• Outdoor FPS: Ranges from 15– 20 FPS

Medieval II Total War
Playing this game requires a lot of strategy, this forest like map was very intriguing, have a look at the pictures.

• Resolution: 1024x768
• AA: 4x, 4x AF
• Details: Medium
• Bloom and Reflection Enabled
• Outdoor FPS: Ranges from 12– 20 FPS

Software
The Asus G2P comes with Window MCE pre-installed, but I prefer Windows XP. The initial Windows setup take roughly 7 minutes, after that everything seems to work very fast.

There is vast amount of programs pre-installed on the G2P, some of them are vital some of them are not. There is some bloat ware on the laptop like Norton and Symantec and that Asus Live Update which is pretty useless. I would recommend users to remove these programs or simply do a fresh install of Windows, if you feel that you would need it.

Accessories
There are a few accessories that you will greatly appreciate.

There is an Asus laptop backpack, and it has a few pockets, and one large pocket for the laptop. The back is well padded, the hand strap is also nicely done, same with the shoulder straps.



There is also an Asus branded mouse, which is a Logitech Mx518 mouse, this is an excellent mouse, 5 buttons and you able to change the speed of the mouse on the fly.

Asus also provides a micro fiber cloth used for cleaning the screen.



Customer Support
This notebook comes with 2 Years Asus Global Warranty, and 30 days Zero Bright Dot Warranty, if anything should happen, just contact Asus. Their customer Service in North America is very good.

Pros:

• Screen <- Great viewing angles, brightness, and contrast
• Graphics <- Decent performance for the X1700 512mb
• Performance <- The overall performance matches most 15.4” notebooks
• Battery Life <- Decent battery life, achieving 2 hours 47mins maximum
• Touchpad <-Textured feel, worked well right away, with vertical and horizontal scroll
• Keyboard <- The keyboard color scheme is good, and soft
• Build Quality <- Good build quality all around, thick plastic used
• Hard Drive <- Seagate Momentus, quiet, reasonably cool and efficient
• Speakers <- The speakers are loud, very loud, clear and crisp
• Heat <- very little heat all round
• Cool <- this notebook is very cool in whatever you throw at it
• Battery Life <- 2 hours gaming, 2 hours 47 minutes doing light tasks
• Ports <- great layout of ports and variety of ports
• Freebies <- backpack and gaming mouse Mx518

Cons:

• Glossy Plastic <- this is a fingerprint magnet
• Weight (it is heavy and you’ll feel it when traveling)
• Bulky <- The laptop is big, has a big bezel
• Light Leakage <- there is a small amount of light leakage at the bottom of the screen
• Keyboard <- considerable amount of flex

Conclusion
Overall this laptop was fun to use; the red accents make this notebook stand out. The performance and specs of the laptop matches most 15.4” notebooks, but in terms of graphics and other 17” notebook there is much to be desired.

The notebook is geared towards people looking for an excellent screen, and good CPU performance and average graphical power. It is a desktop replacement for midrange performance and those who wouldn’t mind using a relatively low native resolution.

In the end the notebook did meet all my needs in a 17” notebook, except for graphics. Like many we would want something much more powerful like a 7900GS or GTX or an ATI comparable solution. The price is also a bit steep for what you are getting when considering the GPU can be improved. Look forward to other 17” gaming laptops, and possibly the rumored Asus G3.

Thanks,

This review is completed by Akhil Parujanwala at www.MilestonePC.com in the Markham showroom.

[CeeNote]

Nice review, I always thought the go7700 scores higher on 3dMark 05 than the X1700 but apparently I was wrong.

[Blake]

Those Asus gaming notebooks are just cool. I love the scheme they do on each, Lime Green for NVidia and red for ATi. I love the accents on either side of the keyboard as well, but its a shame it doesnt feauture a numpad instead. All in all, I couldn't justify spending that much for money for the G2 than my dv9000t when the performance is nearly identical. Good looking machine though, and great review!

[MilestonePC.com]

Thanks for pointing that out, the A8js has scored some remarkable scores, even back when i tested, it achieved close to 2700 points in 3DMark06, however many are stating that the smaller screen and lower resolution allowed for it to get a high mark.

But when you look at the G2P and G1P they both got roughly the same marks, but with different resolutions and screen sizes.

So keeping this in mind, it would seem what screen size and resolution does not have much of a real effect on 3DMarks, but rather the clock speed and memory of the GPU could potentially be driving the A8js 3DMarks higher.

As you can see the V1JP scores much lower 3DMark06 despite the GPU is the same as the G2P, I highly doubt the extra 1GB played that much of a different.

[link1313]

Nice review!

They should have stuck an x1800 in there but meh.

[Dragon_Myr]

That is one of the most attractive-looking and well-designed laptops I've ever seen. It's got a look no one else has. I would love to have one of those.

However, I don't like the fact that there's not a stronger GPU and no numberpad. :/ That price is decent for what you get, but I'd like to see an even higher model that's not grossly overpriced like some other competitors out there.

[TehStranger]

Nice review!

They should have stuck an x1800 in there but meh.

Agreed. My only gripe is that in a 17" body, it's not taking advantage of a more powerful card. The temps during gaming shows that it can handle the heat from a X1700 easily. Stick a Mobility X1900 in there and it will be a true gamer's rig.

[zadillo]

Very good review. One question though; as a Pro you said:

Performance: The overall performance matches most 15.4” notebooks

Is that really a pro? If anything it seems like at a bare minimum you would expect a 17" gaming notebook to match a 15.4" notebook, and specifically that you'd expect it to exeed it.

I think what seems odd to me about this is that Toshiba's comparable 17" P105-S9722 is lighter and smaller dimension wise, and costs about the same, yet offers a GeForce 7900GS. It does seem like this should have a more powerful GPU in it.

I think I would personally choose the G1 over the G2 if performance was going to be similar....... normally I would put up with the larger size and heavier weight of a 17" notebook primarily to get better performance or a higher resolution out of it. I'm not quite sure where the G2 fits into things.

[usapatriot]

Great Review!

I wish it had a 7950 GTX 512mb in their.

Awesome viewing angles.

[madonion]

Man that is a sexy laptop! Exept i dont like the red and it looks bulky and huge!.

I bought a toshiba p105-s9722.
2Ghz Core2Duo.
Nvidia 7900gs 256mb.
200Gig Hdd.
17" 1440x900.
2048MB DD2 667mhz.

It weighs 7.1lbs and is very thin with a battery life of 2:30 surfing the web and cost me $2000.

I get score of 7329 in 3dmark 05 with a little gpu oc .