 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
||||
 |
|
|
| Introduction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 We mentioned that the G73 had killer specs and here they are. At the heart of this monster is an Intel Core i7 720QM quad-core processor, clocked at 1.6GHz with Turbo Boost technology for increased single core performance (up to 2.8GHz) and Hyper-Threading for multitasking situations. We find 8GB of DDR3 RAM installed, along with 1TB of total storage, consisting of two 500GB Seagate hard drives. But the real draw is ATI's Mobility HD 5870 graphics card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and enough pixel pushing power to feed a 17.3" screen. In addition, Asus includes a full sized keyboard, Blu-ray drive, and a 2MP webcam, and a all of this comes at a relatively affordable price point. Interested? We thought so. Read on to find out how fast the G73 really is, and if it has what it takes to be your next laptop. ;) Asus G73JH-A1 Notebook
Measuring in at 16.4" wide by 12.6" deep and weighing 8 lbs, the G73 does not qualify as thin and light. Don't get us wrong though, it is mobile enough for LAN parties and occasional travel, but much too large to carry on and use during a flight. Yes, the G73JH is smaller and lighter than your average desktop replacement notebook, but we feel that it is similar in that it begs to be stationary and plugged into a wall outlet. ;) |
| Design |
;) The G73 feels like no other notebook we've tested. The entire top cover features a rubberized coating that creates a unique experience as you handle the product. In addition, the palm rest is also lined with the same soft material. A downside to this feature is that it will show scratches and scrapes more drastically than standard plastic. But the huge advantage this rubber layer offers is the elimination of fingerprints and having to wipe them off your laptop all the time.  From left to right, we find an RJ-45 LAN port, USB 2.0 port, Blu-ray drive, another USB connector, microphone input, and headphone output jack.  Here we have a memory card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI connection, 15-pin D-sub VGA port, and the DC power input jack. The 8-in-1 reader supports the following types of flash media: SD, miniSD, MMC, Memory Stick (Pro, Duo, Pro Duo), and xD-picture card.  Along the rear of the G73JH, we find two exhaust vents, a Kensington lock port, and battery pack. The Kensington lock port allows the laptop to be secured using Kensington security products, which include a metal cable and lock combo that deters theft. During normal operation, we felt warm air escape from the vents but temperatures never reached uncomfortable levels. ;) ;) ;) Under the lid, the notebook sports a full size keyboard and number pad. We wouldn't expect anything less from a laptop this size. Every key featured good travel and cushion while providing a sufficient typing experience. Furthermore, the touch pad felt as if it had a bit more texture than we're accustomed to but was responsive and worked well. Like most touch pads, a scroll function is available along the right edge. In addition, the left and right mouse buttons are combined into a single row that integrates the rubberized film found on the palm rest. Its worth noting the mouse buttons required more pressure to click than we expected and will take some time to get used to. |
| Accessories | ||||
;) Asus includes a small bundle with the G73. Along with the notebook, we find documentation, a lint-free LCD cleaning cloth, power cable, AC/DC adapter, wired mouse, and software recovery disks. The good news is the notebook is ready to roll once powered on so only the power cables and 8-cell lithium ion battery are required right from the start. But we were disappointed in the user manual as it obviously was made to cover just the basic features of the laptop, in order to be used with several different models. Along with the drivers disk, there were several software utilities included.  It would be fitting if Asus included a game to go along with this gaming notebook, but no luck in that department. Instead, G73 owners get a sweet looking, black Republic of Gamers backpack that holds their new toy, with plenty of room to spare. It is actually much darker than the image above reflects, feels very sturdy, and appears very well built. There is light padding within the backpack for a small degree of protection, but we still suggest being very careful when transporting the G73.  Our G73 arrived with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit preinstalled, which can make full use of the 8GB of RAM. Asus also included a software bundle that some users may find useful. In a perfect world, the trial versions of CyberLink and Microsoft Office would be replaced with full versions. But a bigger disappointment came when we loaded a Blu-ray movie into the drive and tried to watch it. After some searching, we realized we couldn't. Windows Media Player can't do it natively, and the CyberLink programs installed won't do the job either. The G73 simply does not come with software to play Blu-ray movies even though it features a Blu-ray drive. Odd, isn't it? You can find third party software on the internet for this purpose but its a surprising omission for this product. |
| User Experience |
Our testing of the G73 consisted of everyday tasks such as word processing, internet surfing, email, and music playback, in addition to a slew of benchmarks you'll see later. All told, this powerful notebook did not break a sweat in these areas, and we found multitasking performance to be excellent, as running multiple programs did not effect the working environment. Of course, we did not expect any issues with a high-end quad-core processor and 8GB of memory installed.   Once we installed Blu-ray playback software on the laptop, watching high definition movies on the G73 was an awesome experience. We watched several movies on this notebook and came away very satisfied. Although the screen was limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, we didn't encounter any problems with motion blur or ghosting. Video quality was clear and vibrant, while the audio was replete with crisp highs and lows. In general, notebook speakers are notoriously bad, but the ones found on the G73 are the exception. |
| PCMark Vantage and SiSoft 2009 | ||||||||||||
We ran the Asus G73JH through Futuremark’s latest system performance metric built especially for current Windows operating systems, PCMark Vantage. This benchmark suite creates a host of different usage scenarios to simulate different types of workloads including High Definition TV and movie playback and manipulation, gaming, image editing and manipulation, music compression, communications, and productivity. We like the fact that most of the tests are multi-threaded as well, in order to exploit the additional resources offered by multi-core processors.
|
| Cinebench | ||||||||||
|
| 3DMark | ||||||||||||
Want to see how well the G73 performed during our gaming tests? Of course you do. The following pages will focus on gaming specific benchmarks starting with the 3DMark tests. Then you'll find that we conducted extensive testing on several games to find out if the G73 could handle them at its native resolution of 1920 x 1080, with image quality settings maxed out. We also turned down resolutions and settings to show the performance improvements when doing so.
3DMark Vantage is specifically bound to Windows Vista-based systems because it uses some advanced visual technologies that are only available with DirectX 10, which isn't available on previous versions of Windows. With the latest version of the benchmark, Futuremark has incorporated two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, in addition to support for the latest PC hardware. We tested the graphics cards here with 3DMark Vantage's Performance preset option, which uses a resolution of 1280x1024.   The G73 outpaced last year's model, the G51, by several thousand points. Although the Clevo and Eurocom models led the pack, keep in mind that these desktop replacement notebooks cost at least twice as much as the G73 and feature dual graphics cards, however.
 |
| Battlefield Bad Company 2 | ||||||
|
| Dirt 2 | ||||||
|
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat | ||||||
|
| Unigine Heaven 2.0 Benchmark | ||||||
|
| Just Cause 2 | ||||||
|
| Batman: Arkham Asylum | ||||||
|
| FarCry 2 | ||||||
|
| H.A.W.X. | ||||||
HAWX
is a DX10-class title that still provides a good platform for testing. We find it was playable at 1920 x 1080 at maximum settings. As with other games, lowering resolution and anti-aliasing improved frame rates, but there is no need for this particular title. In this case, all the way up to 8X AA settings HAWX was completely playable and that's fairly impressive actually. |
| Battery Performance | ||||
To test out all battery life claims, we use the notebook benchmark tool Battery Eater Pro running in Classic mode and record the time it takes for the laptop to run out of power in battery mode and shut down.
 With Battery Eater Pro running and High Performance mode enabled, it took 64 minutes for the G73 to use up a full charge. The battery life we experienced was on par with Eurocom's M98NU Xcaliber, and a few minutes better than the Clevo X8100. Keep in mind, our benchmark puts a continuous load on the graphics card as well as the CPU so we consider this result as a "worst case" result. With a lighter workload combined with idle time periods, the G73 will keep its charge much longer. But if you plan on gaming or watching movies for very long, you better find an outlet to keep the juice flowing. |
| Conclusion | |||||||||||||||||||
Performance Summary: Keep in mind, while looking at our benchmarks that we ran every game with every setting maxed out to see how well the G73 could handle them. Ideally, it would have ran through every test without a hiccup, but that wasn't always the case. Our benchmarks revealed that it is possible to run the latest gaming titles on this laptop at its native resolution of 1920 x 1080; you just need to turn down settings to medium and lower the anti-aliasing (2x or 4x) in some titles. But then again, full 1080p is pretty tight and you could always opt for something lower at 720p, where you could dial up all the eye candy just fine. Our testing pushed the G73 to the limit and what we found was a gaming machine with strong performance at a resolution that most laptops can't touch.
Of course, there are other options out there too. MSI offers the closest comparable product with the GX740 notebook, featuring specs similar to the G73, but with a smaller screen and 1680 x 1050 resolution. Although it compromises size and pixel count, the GX740 runs about $200 less than the G73, depending on the configuration. It is worth a look for anyone considering a notebook at this price point. On the other end of the spectrum, if you crave a higher resolution display and maybe some bragging rights, then your options open up to the world of desktop replacement notebooks, like the AVA Direct Clevo X8100. The model we recently reviewed crushed our benchmarks and set new records at every turn. But the caveats associated with this barn burner are considerable: last-gen DX10 hardware and a $3975 price tag that can buy you two G73 laptops with money left over for 14 games. Think about it. This is where the G73 series from Asus fills a void nicely at its price point, with top-shelf features and performance. ;) Throughout testing, we found this laptop to be a pleasure to work with. It combines attractive looks and superior gaming performance with an ambitious price point that leaves the competitive offerings a little flat. Though we were surprised to find that Asus didn't bundle any movie player software for the Blu-ray drive, we're hoping the bundle will include that in future SKUs of the product. And battery life could be improved upon, along with perhaps an SSD option for the top of the line model. But in our opinion, this product is the sweet spot for enthusiasts who want the most laptop for their moolah, without having to take on a second mortgage. Given the system's overall features, we think the G73JH-A1 represents an excellent choice for those in the market for a high-end gaming notebook.
|
;)
;)
;)
;)
