ASUS G73JH-TZ008X battery charging
The G73 is the latest gaming notebook in ASUS' successful G-series product line. This 17.3-inch monster has a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and the most powerful mobile video card available, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870. Read on for our take. ASUS G73JH-TZ172V battery charging
The ASUS G73JH is available as a pre-configured notebook only, though some dealers including XoticPC offer limited customization. Those looking for Blu-ray should check out the G73JH-A1 model, which has the same specifications as our test unit plus a Blu-ray drive for $1,699. ASUS G73JH-TZ155V battery charging
Build and Design
The ASUS G73 is has a "stealth" look, with non-traditional shape with angled surfaces and sharp lines that is clearly influenced by modern stealth aircraft. . The protruding rear end is especially aggressive with its angled exhaust vents. ASUS G73JH-TZ128V battery charging
The physical size of the G73 is intimidating, even compared to other 17-inch notebooks. The chassis is actually angled upward 5 degrees, which gives the notebook a more assertive feel and helps with ergonomics. The notebook has a rubberized shell, which has a pleasant touch and adds a measure of durability. ASUS G73JH-TZ091V battery charging
The G73 has strong build quality; it feels very solid (and heavy) when being held. The notebook is constructed entirely of thick and good quality plastic. The chassis is very resistant to twisting and surfaces like the palm rests barely flex under pressure. The lid has excellent support from two large and strong display hinges. The panel itself has ample support and twists less than most 17-inch notebooks. Furthermore, no ripples appear on the display when pressure is applied from behind the screen. Overall, the G73 is impressive in both the build quality and design departments. ASUS G73JH-TZ059V battery charging
Screen and Speakers
The G73JH comes with a 17.3-inch LED-backlit screen with a full HD (1920x1080) resolution. The display has a glossy surface that helps make colors more vibrant, but suffers from reflections as a result. The display is, in a word, beautiful. It is very enjoyable to use for gaming and multimedia. Viewing angles are about average; there is little color shift from side to side. However, colors quickly wash out and darken from above and below. ASUS G73JH-TZ034V battery charging
The display has a high-resolution as well, which is appreciated. With a full HD resolution, it's easy to view two windows side-by-side without shrinking them too much. The higher resolution also helps bring out the finer details in games and reduces the amount of scrolling necessary while surfing the Web. ASUS G73JH-TZ014V battery charging
The G73 has two stereo speakers located below the display and a small subwoofer. The speakers get reasonably loud and there is measurable bass. For notebook speakers, these are more than acceptable. ASUS G73JH-TZ012V battery charging
Keyboard and Touchpad
The G73 has a full-size keyboard with a separate numeric keypad. ASUS G73JH-TZ011V battery charging The keyboard has a "Chiclet" or island-style keyboard, where the keys are raised above the keyboard surface and have more than usual spacing. The keyboard has a soft, rubbery feel (not a bad thing) and makes typing easy. While some flex is evident when you type and the keyboard could have slightly better support, these two factors do not affect its usability. The tactile feedback is adequate, though could be improved if the keys had a longer throw. ASUS G73JH-TZ008Z battery charging
The G73's keyboard is backlit and looks good in the dark. We like that the keys have a rubberized non-slip finish, which adds durability and makes them more comfortable to use over extended periods of time. The keyboard's layout around the number pad is somewhat squashed though all keys are more or less in their expected positions. Overall, we like the keyboard and do not have any major qualms with it. ASUS G73JH-TZ008X battery charging
The extra-large touchpad sits slightly off-center to the left of the chassis to line up with the keyboard. ASUS G73JH-TZ002V battery charging It has a much-appreciated matte surface, which is easy to track on regardless of whether fingers are moist or dry. The right side of the touchpad is a dedicated scroll zone however it required an unusual amount of pressure to use. Unfortunately, the touchpad buttons are subpar. While quiet, they are harder to push down than expected, and we don't like that they are contained under a single piece of plastic. ASUS G73JH-TY098V battery charging
Apparently, gamers have no appetite for subtlety when it comes to style, ASUS G73JH-TY075V battery charging colours and flashing lights. As such, gaming PCs tend to resemble the Blackpool Illuminations, while gaming laptops have more lights than a 1980s revival disco. We expected the same from Asus' latest Republic of Gamers laptop, so we were surprised by its velvety, matt-black exterior and the Lamborghini Gallardo-influenced angles, complete with exhaust-shaped vents at the rear. ASUS G73JH-TY048V battery charging
The G73Jh doesn't weigh a ton either, and even when we turned it on, it had only subtle lights for WiFi, overclocking and so forth, and a slight blue glow beneath the screen. There's an Intel Core i7 processor and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 inside – this isn't just a chic laptop, it's also one of the fastest ever. ASUS G73JH-TY042V battery charging
As with most laptop technology, you shouldn't expect the same level of performance as a desktop, even if the laptop parts share the same names as the desktop. The CPU is the Core i7-720QM, the third highest in the range, yet it's nominally clocked at a meagre 1.6GHz. It may be a Hyper-Threaded quad-core CPU, but that seems paltry when decent desktop processors are a full 1GHz faster. ASUS G73JH-TY009V battery charging
Note that we used the word 'nominally' – the CPU is based on Clarksfield, which is the mobile version of the Lynnfield architecture of LGA1156 Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs. As such, it has Turbo Mode (Rev 2) and can boost its speed to 2.8GHz when necessary, and drop as low as 996MHz when idle to cut down on heat, noise and power consumption. ASUS G73JH-TX008V battery charging
Unlike the nominally 1.73GHz Core i7-820QM, the i7-720QM has only 6MB of Level 3 cache rather than 8MB. More is better, and Intel always equips its flagship CPUs with 2MB of highest-level cache per physical core. ASUS G73JH-ROG battery charging
Equally, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 isn't the equal of its desktop relative, thanks to the small dimensions of the card and the limited cooling ability of a laptop. While a desktop HD 5870 packs 1,600 stream processors into the GPU, which run at 850MHz, the laptop equivalent has half the number of stream processors and runs at 700MHz. However, the laptop GPU has more than half the number of transistors and a TDP of 50W, while the desktop card consumes 188W (ATI doesn't quote directly comparable power and heat figures for the desktop and laptop parts). ASUS G73JH-RE1 battery charging
However, with 800 stream processors, the Radeon Mobility HD 5870 is closer in configuration to the capable, but mid-range Radeon HD 5770 desktop card, although it has a slower GPU (700MHz compared to 850MHz). ASUS G73JH-RCNX09 battery charging
Still, with a ludicrous 8GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 memory, our review version of the G73 was hardly likely to be slow. Asus has seen fit to pack in two 500GB Seagate Momentus 7200.4 hard disks, and as their name suggests, these have spindle speeds of 7,200rpm rather than the typical 5,400rpm of laptop hard disks. Around the sides of the laptop are four USB 2 ports, an SD/MMC/MS media card reader, jacks for a headset (the audio codec supports EAX 4.0), and D-Sub and HDMI video outputs. ASUS G73JH-RBBX09 battery charging
When word of the Asus G73JH first came out at CES 2010, it definitely left an impression. A giant, all-black 17-inch full HD wide-screen gaming laptop with a Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, dual 7,200rpm 500GB hard drives, a Blu-ray combo drive, and a 1GB ATI Radeon HD5870 graphics card for $1,700 is tough to ignore. However, this is not that G73JH. ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 battery charging
The model we reviewed has less storage, less memory, no Blu-ray playback, and a lower-resolution display than that model, but retains much of the core components at a significantly lower $1,200 price. It's an excellent high-performance notebook for the money and well put together, too. We have a couple of issues with the design, but nothing to keep us from recommending it for anyone needing a more affordable, but still very powerful, desktop replacement. ASUS G73JH-DX11 battery charging
Inspired by the F-117 stealth fighter jet, the angular chassis is big and aggressive looking, but still somewhat low key. ASUS G73JH-BST7 battery charging Gone are the flashing lights and garish color schemes of previous Asus gaming systems we've tested. The G73JH is instead a nice matte black with the lid and keyboard deck finished in a pleasant rubberized texture that, unlike glossy plastic, doesn't need a constant wipe down to remove fingerprints. ASUS G73JH-B1 battery charging
On the lid is a simple silver Asus logo with a small engraved Republic of Gamers emblem below it. The only lights are a handful of blue backlit buttons and a single beam of blue light tucked into the bottom edge of the LCD's bezel. (The keyboard is also backlit for easier use in the dark.) It's an impressively large notebook and far from travel-friendly. All things considered, the system weight isn't bad; the power brick is gigantic, however, and weighs 2 pounds alone. ASUS G73JH-ATI 5870 battery charging
Immediately noticeable--whether the lid is up or down--is the junk in the trunk of this laptop. ASUS G73JH-ATI battery charging The keyboard deck is angled up 5 degrees to improve ergonomics, but also draws your eyes to the giant back end. There are two large cooling vents at the far left and right sides that apparently draw air through the front and exhaust it out the back. The battery charging pack is tucked in between the two vents. The setup allows the system to stay cool and relatively quiet even under full load. There are two substantial hinges for the LCD, but they are not in a typical location at the back of the system; they're moved forward about 2 inches so the display sort of floats above the body with the vents extending out behind it. ASUS G73JH-A3 battery charging
At the top left of the keyboard are three buttons; one shuts off the blue light under the screen, another activates a TwinTurbo mode, and the last changes screen color modes (Normal, Gamma Corrected, Vivid, Theater, Soft, and a custom option). ASUS G73JH-A2 battery charging The TwinTurbo mode provides instant overclocking and didn't seem to make much of a difference on this already powerful system. There are no discrete media controls, just markings on the function and directional keys. It's not a huge deal, but separate volume/mute keys would be appreciated. ASUS G73JH-A1 battery charging
Asus as usual makes good use of Function button commands so you can quickly change things like power schemes (High Performance, ASUS G73JH battery charging Entertainment, Quiet Office, and Power Saving) by pressing Fn + space bar. The keyboard is, again, backlit and the intensity is adjustable or can be shut off entirely. The keys have a peculiar rattle to them when typing and though the keyboard is pretty big, considering the size of the system, it seems unnecessarily compact; the number pad on the far right is noticeably squished compared with similarly sized laptops we've tested. In contrast, the touch pad and its accompanying single button are huge. ASUS G73J battery charging
The 2.1-speaker system performs well, getting very loud without distortion, but for having a small subwoofer, it doesn't have a great low-end. They sound good, but you'll still want to invest in desktop speakers or headphones for gaming or media. ASUS G73GW battery charging
The Asus G73JH-RBBX05's 17.3-inch glossy wide-screen LCD has a 1,600x900-pixel native resolution, ASUS G73G battery charging which is standard for lower-end desktop replacements. However, we're starting to see 1,920x1,080 pixels as the prevalent resolution on laptops at and more than this G73JH's price. In fact, other versions of this notebook are available with that resolution. The LED-backlit LCD gets very bright and has good color and contrast, though, and while the higher resolution would be great, we can't say we were disappointed with its performance. Viewing angles off to the sides are pretty good, too. ASUS G73 battery charging
The networking and port assortment on this G73JH is pretty basic; no Bluetooth, no eSATA or FireWire ports, no ExpressCard slots, no DisplayPort, and no Blu-ray player. If you don't need any of those things then you're set. ASUS G53SX-XT1 battery charging
Though the G73JH-RBBX05 isn't configurable before purchase, the G73JH is available in other versions. The port assortment stays the same, but you can get things such as Bluetooth and a Blu-ray-DVD combo drive. Should you want to make your own post-purchase additions, a panel in the bottom gives you easy access to internal components; there's room in the version we reviewed for 2GB more memory and an additional hard drive. ASUS G53SX-XR1 battery charging
The combined performance from the Core i7 processor, 6GB of RAM, 7,200rpm hard drive, ASUS G53SX-XN1 battery charging and 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is pretty great, especially considering the laptop's price. It sailed through our multitasking, image processing, and audio encoding benchmark tests, achieving exemplary scores on all. In real-life testing it had no trouble handling streaming audio and video while simultaneously running IM and e-mail clients and other background tasks. We tested with a handful of games including Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Just Cause 2; all played smoothly. Again, for the money, this is a solid system. ASUS G53SX-XA1 battery charging
Earlier this year, we attended the Asus 2010 CES Event in Las Vegas. ASUS G53SX-XA battery charging While there, we caught a glimpse of several upcoming notebooks the hardware giant had in store. One of the most anticipated products we saw was in the Republic of Gamers line up. Dubbed the G73JH, it possessed a list of impressive specifications and an aggressive, stealth fighter design that spoke directly to enthusiasts. Thankfully, this powerhouse of a notebook made it to our lab and we had a chance to put it through our own testing. Ever since CES, we've been waiting to find out if the G73JH performed as good as it looked. Equally important, we aimed to determine where it fits in a market bursting at the seams with gaming laptops and desktop replacement notebooks. ASUS G53SX-TH71 battery charging
We mentioned that the G73 had killer specs and here they are. ASUS G53SX-SZ019V battery charging 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 G53SX-SX017V battery charging
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. ASUS G53SX-S1185V battery charging
The hardware specs speak for themselves. This is a cutting edge gaming notebook with a powerful CPU, tons of RAM, and a high-end Radeon HD 5870 mobile graphics card installed. Let's take a closer look at the rest of the laptop, as well as the results of our benchmarks and testing. ASUS G53SX-RH71 battery charging
When not making tiny netbooks, Asus is busy crafting enormous gaming laptops that are fast enough to melt your face off. Its latest effort, the 17.3-inch G73, is the first we've seen that features the ATI Radeon HD 5870 GPU -- ATI's fastest mobile graphics card to date. The model sold in the UK, the G73Jh, also features an Intel Core i7-720QM CPU, 1TB of storage, a Blu-ray drive, and 8GB of DDR3 memory. It's available now for around £1,900. ASUS G53SX-NH71 battery charging
Stealth bomber
The G73Jh is the Hulk Hogan of laptops. It measures 420 by 67 by 310mm, and weighs 3.9kg, so you'll struggle to use it anywhere other than at home. That's a shame, because it's a sexy beast. ASUS G53SX-IX122V battery charging
Unlike most gaming laptops, it isn't adorned with flashing lights and garish embellishments hinting at its performance. Instead, it politely suggests its aggressive nature with a menacing matte black finish and a chassis inspired by the iconic F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. Every surface -- from the area around the keyboard to the frame of the webcam -- features slanting surfaces and jaunty angles. The G73Jh may not be a bomb-dropping, radar-dodging bringer of atomic death, but one glance is all it takes to convince you that it means business. ASUS G53SX-DH71 battery charging
The meaty vents on the G73Jh's rear keep its high-end internal components cool
Although the G73Jh lacks a built-in light show, it's not dull to look at -- there are plenty of appealing touches that look cool and also serve a real purpose. For instance, the battery charging pack isn't some off-the-shelf unit borrowed from another Asus machine. Its chunky, angular aesthetic is completely coherent with the rest of the laptop's design, and it gives the G73Jh a wedge shape, raising the keyboard to an ergonomic, five-degree angle. ASUS G53SX-AH71 battery charging
The keyboard itself is fabulous. Its chiclet-style buttons are well spaced out and have a responsive feel. The entire keyboard is backlit too, so you can see what you're doing in the dark. ASUS G53SX-A1 battery charging
Fast components
The G73Jh is brimming with high-end components. An Intel Core i7-720QM processor takes centre stage, accompanied by 8GB of high-speed DDR3 PC3-10700 memory and a top-of-the-range ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. ASUS G53SX 3D battery charging
The keyboard is comfortable to use, and its backlight means you can use it in the dark
These components can generate a massive amount of heat, so it's just as well that Asus has fitted the G73Jh with an elaborate cooling system. Two large vents live at the rear of the system, sucking air in and away from the internal components. It looks like the sort of thing that would generate a great deal of noise, but, for the most part, the G73Jh runs quietly and remains cool to the touch. ASUS G53SX battery charging
Rock out with your clock out
The G73Jh's Core i7-720QM CPU runs, as standard, at a relatively modest 1.6GHz -- the same clock speed as most netbook processors. Don't let this fool you, though -- it's a quad-core monster with the ability to overclock itself dynamically. It can sense when the user requires more performance and increase its clock speed to a mammoth 2.8GHz -- provided the unit is operating in the right temperature and power envelope. Accidentally cover up a vent, for example, and the system may get hotter than normal, limiting its overclocking potential. ASUS G53SW-XT1 battery charging
