Sporting solid graphics chops, an attractive design, and an even more attractive price, the ASUS G51Vx-RX05 ($1,049) is a good desktop replacement for gamers on a budget. Its screen resolution is a bit low, and the speakers won’t blow you away, but those who want to frag it up at home or LAN parties will find much to like in this Best Buy-exclusive system.
Design
The notebook weighs 7.2 pounds on it’s own, but the travel weight increases to a hefty 8.8lbs when you add the bulky power brick. The G51Vx’s design screams gaming machine, but not obnoxiously so. In lieu of fire-red color schemes and Alien-inspired aesthetics, the G51Vx sports a more subdued look—but it’s not boring. Inspired by Japanese mecha programs, the notebook’s white lid is highlighted by a glowing Republic of Gamers logo, which is centered between mechanical artwork that makes it look like you’re peering into the guts of the machine. There is a separate glowing strip further down the lid, as well as two more on the left and right sides. Along the edge near the hinge is a black, textured honeycomb pattern.
When we lifted the lid of the 14.3 x 10.3 x 1.3-inch system, our eyes were treated to a highly attractive interior. The bezel surrounding the 15.6-inch display and the keyboard are glossy and reflective, making the system an immediate attention-grabber, though highly susceptible to fingerprints and smudges. A rubberized slip-proof (and smudge-resistant) palm rest inhabits the space below the keyboard, and has a great feel.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The premium look extends to the keyboard, where a white backlight gives each key a soft halo that can be raised or lowered through the use of the Fn and F3/F4 keys. Keyboards, of course, are made for typing, and the G51Vx’s doesn’t disappoint; the island style keys are springy, which made for a solid typing experience. Because the layout doesn’t extend to the edges, some keys are undersized, such as the right Shift key and the numbers on the dedicated number pad.
As the G51Vx is designed for gamers, there are a number of gaming-specific icons scattered across the keyboard: Arrows highlight the WASD keys (which are typically used for movement), and the 1 and 6 keys are highlighted with white circles, as they help you see where the first and second halves of the number row begins, so you can quickly tap whatever number you need to switch weapons.
Above the keyboard is a grill that houses Altec Lansing stereo speakers, and buttons that let you cycle through visual modes (Normal, Gamma Correction, Vivid, Theater, Soft), and power settings (Office, High Performance, Battery Saving, Entertainment). To the right of those are two buttons: Power and Express Gate (ASUS’ brand of the Splashtop instant-on operating system).
A nontextured touchpad allowed us to navigate the desktop with ease. The brushed-metal mouse buttons look cool, but felt a little stiff.
Express Gate
Pressing the Express Gate button allowed us to boot into the instant-on Linux operating system in 15 seconds, and connect to the Web in another 18 seconds. The combined 33 seconds was 19 seconds shorter than the time it took the G51Vx to boot into the Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) operating system. We were also able to chat with friends over AIM and Skype, view photos, and listen to music while within Express Gate.
