ASUS: Best and Worst Laptop Brands

From the long-lasting ZenBook ultraportables to high-powered gaming rigs, Asus offers a large lineup of impressive laptops at competitive prices. The company is always among the first to embrace new technologies like Nvidia G-Sync or Core M while maintaining strong build quality and attractive designs. Asus also shows that low prices don't have to mean poor quality, offering a sub-$400 Windows laptop with 1080p and a sub-$100 system with over 12 hours of endurance.

Among PC brands, only Dell had a higher brand rating, beating Asus by just a single point as the Taiwanese company advanced from seventh in 2015 to third place this year. The company's main weaknesses are its poor Web and social media support, and a warranty that forces some, but not all, consumers to pay for return shipping on defective products.


Design (13/15)

Whether the laptop costs $2,499 (G751JY) or $349 (Transformer Book Flip TP200SA), Asus does not skimp on the premium materials. Even when they are made of plastic — as in the case of the EeeBook X205TA — Asus notebooks look like premium devices.

Never one to be overly flashy, the company consistently delivers clean lines with gently rounded edges, even for hybrid devices like the Transformer Book T300 Chi and the Flip TP300. We continue to admire the concentric-circle design featured on many of its laptops, including the X555LA. The company imbued the G752 gaming notebook with grace and sophistication, swapping out the tired black-and-red color scheme from prior models for a gorgeous silver and peach.
Reviews (24/30)

Only Apple and MSI had higher average-review scores than Asus. The Taiwanese company demonstrated a high level of quality and consistency that saw 7 out of the 11 Asus systems we tested earning a 4-star rating. Asus was also the only laptop maker that had 10 or more systems reviewed, without receiving a negative rating (2.5 or lower) on any of them. We especially like the ZenBook line, as both the UX305 and UX501 earned Editors' Choice awards for their lightweight designs, colorful displays and great value.
Tech Support (16/20)

Guest Post: How to Choose a Ladies Vintage Watch

This year, Festival First Night was about one man and one man only - the legendary soul singer Al Green. So on a steamy summer's night in The Domain in Sydney - a location was secured, the wine was poured and the mood was set. But as the Grammy Award winner took to the stage and was projected onto screens and even the side of a building, I couldn't help but notice a particular mannerism. Al couldn't stop looking at his ladie's vintage watch. Was it so she could stick to the strict 11pm curfew? An onstage habit? Or perhaps she had a new timepiece she wanted to show off? Whatever the reason, this characteristic got me thinking. What happened to wearing a good old fashioned ladie's vintage watch? If you consider the generations who grew up without mobile phones or a computer screen in their face 12 hours a day, you'll see the point I'm getting at. The mobile phone has pretty much taken over the need for a ladie's vintage watch - but that doesn't mean we should let the opportunity to project our style into this accessory pass us by. With a ladie's vintage watch out there to suit any style and every budget - it almost seems like a crime not to own one of your very own.

That's why it's my duty to inspire you to take a trip back in time, to when wearing a ladie's vintage watch was not just a necessity, but a reflection of one's signature style.

Stylish Ladie's vintage watches
If you're after something that works with both a suit and your weekend wear, then you need a classically stylish ladie's vintage watch. Nothing too opulent though. The ladie's vintage watch look you want to go for will be similar to Brad Pitt's style in the Tag Heuer ads (although perhaps without the price tag). There are plenty of affordable options out there, so to get started, head to the ladie's vintage watch counter in David Jones

Sporty Ladie's vintage watches
If you're at home carrying a canoe over your shoulder and a paddle under your arm, then a sports ladie's vintage watch is the way to go. Many brands make models to suit particular sports, but one should be wary of anything with a leather band that has a name containing words like, sea, ocean, gulf and aqua. These are only made for rich dudes who own boats wearing nautical themed ladie's vintagewear and can only deal with a little splashy splashy.

Design Ladie's vintage watches
You're the kind of guy who wouldn't be happy wearing your standard ladie's vintage watch style. You need something different, something out of the ordinary. There are plenty of ladie's vintage watches that double as conversation starters out there - you've just got to know where to look. Head to design based websites or hit hipster looking stores in your local area.

Ladie's vintage watches

If you like your accessories with a bit of history on the side, then keep your eyes peeled for a vintage ladie's vintage watch. Whether it's an old-school touch screen Casio, or a vintage Omega - you'll find one to match your style. You've got to admit, there's something mysterious about owning a vintage ladie's vintage watch. Who was the previous owner and why did they part ways with their timepiece?

ASUS G752 Review

Strong gaming performance; Supports G-Sync for extra smoothness; Crisp, vibrant 1080p display; Useful gaming apps and macro keys; Stays cool. The days of needing a fully loaded gaming desktop to play PC games at their full potential are dwindling. Just take a look at Asus' ROG G752 notebook (starting at $1,499, $1,799 as tested), which provides high-end performance within its monstrous yet sleekly self-contained design. The G752's Nvidia GTX 970M GPU can handle just about any game you throw at it, and the notebook's G-Sync functionality ensures that you can play your favorite titles with no nasty screen tears. Factor in its suite of handy gaming software, and you've got a beefy laptop that's worth your attention " so long as you have the cash and space for it, that is.

Design

The Asus G752 is so big, it's actually intimidating " this is not a laptop you'll be casually throwing in your bag on your way to a LAN party. Fortunately, Asus' monster of a laptop makes the most of its bulk, with a sharp, distinguished design that makes it look like an advanced piece of alien technology.






The G752's shiny aluminum lid is accentuated by Asus' signature futuristic Republic of Gamers logo, which itself is flanked by two attractive strips of glowing orange light. The laptop's chrome hinge cuts through the rear vent, making it look like it is being swallowed whole by the massive, menacing grill on the backside. Open the notebook up, and you'll be treated to a pleasant soft-touch keyboard deck, as well as a few abstract etchings that reinforce the G752's extraterrestrial look.





At 16.9 x 13.1 x 1.7 inches and 8.8 pounds, the G572 is just a bit wider than similarly hulking competitors, such as the Alienware 17 (16.9 x 11.5 x 1.4 inches, 8.3 pounds) and the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro (16.9 x 11.6 x 1.9 inches, 8.4 pounds). None of these powerful notebooks are seeking praise for portability.
Ports and Webcam


Ports an webcam

The G752 packs three USB 3.0 ports, a 2-in-1 card reader, an Ethernet port, an HDMI port and headphone, microphone and line-in connections, ensuring that you'll be able to connect any accessories and external displays you have on hand. The future-ready notebook also packs both USB Type-C and Thunderbolt connections, allowing for extra-speedy connections to storage drives and high-resolution displays. If you're still clinging to physical media, there's an included Super-Multi DVD drive.The laptop's HD webcam isn't terribly impressive, as most of my selfies looked more like blurry oil paintings. You won't be unrecognizable when chatting with friends on Skype, but you might want to invest in a good external webcam if you want to look good on Twitch or YouTube.


Gaming and G-Sync Performance

When it comes to playing demanding PC games with little compromise, the G752 delivers. The notebook's Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M GPU had no problem rendering Metal Gear Solid V's dynamic lighting effects and expansive desert battlefields at 1080p on high settings. Better yet, I was treated to a smooth 60 frames per second no matter how hectic my assault on an enemy compound got.






The G752 is one of the few gaming notebooks to support Nvidia's G-Sync technology, which reduces screen tearing and lag by syncing a PC's display with its graphics card. The feature definitely makes a difference " while Metal Gear played at a steady frame rate no matter what, I noticed some pretty glaring tears when rapidly looking up and down with G-Sync off. Activating G-Sync smoothed things out completely.
Display and Audio

The G752's 17.3-inch, 1080p display treated me to crisp, colorful images whether I was playing games or watching superheroes beat each other up. The notebook preserved every detail of the Captain America: Civil War trailer with impressive clarity, from the subtle wrinkles on Chris Evans' forehead to the rich, orange explosions that lit up an Avenger versus Avenger battle.Asus' laptop registered an impressive 320 nits on our brightness meter, outshining the MSI GT72 (295 nits), the Alienware 17 (253) and our 284-nit desktop replacement average.

The G752's vibrant and accurate colors were backed up by our lab tests, as the notebook registered a Delta E rating of 0.85 (color accuracy, closer to 0 is better) and produced 113 percent of the sRGB color gamut. By comparison, the MSI registered Delta E and gamut scores of 1.65 and 100.9 percent, respectively, while the Alienware 17 notched 5.3 and 106.3 percent.

The notebook's speakers proved impressively loud, filling my kitchen with an extra-punchy serving of bass and drums when jamming out to some Yellowcard. I did find the treble to be a little thin, however. Fortunately, the speakers held up just fine during gameplay, as I could clearly hear where enemy chatter and gunfire was coming from when playing Metal Gear Solid

Asus G751JY (2015) Review

Normally a laptop refresh isn't all that exciting. It's usually a slight bump in performance here or a small aesthetic change there. However, thanks to an assist from Nvidia, the updated 17-inch Asus G751JY (starting at $1,499, reviewed at $2,499) lives up to the hype. The latest gaming laptop with Nvidia's G-Sync technology, the G751JY offers smooth graphics with virtually no tearing or latency. Add that to the laptop's stunning looks, blistering specs and rich display, and you've got one of the best gaming laptops on the market.



Divine Design

For a hulking gaming laptop, the G751JY is still one of the prettiest rigs I've laid eyes on. I love looking at and fondling the lid because of its slick transition from the black-matte, soft-touch finish on the top and sides to the cool, slippery, brushed-aluminum in the center. The Asus logo and bright red Republic of Gamers emblem reside demurely in the middle, enticing you to stare.

Around back, you'll notice the vivid red vents that are doing their best supercar impression. A small ROG emblem in the center completes the luxe, yet powerful look Asus is going for.

As lovely as the exterior is, like with all clubs, the real party is inside. Opening the G751JY, you'll see the same keyboard deck from the previous model, rocking more of the sumptuous black soft-touch finish.

The full-size Chiclet keyboard with a full num pad still glows an alluring, yet slightly menacing red. To hammer home the point that this is indeed a gaming notebook, Asus placed buttons to launch XSplit GameCaster and Steam in the top left corner of the keyboard deck, and a key to start the Asus Gaming Center near the num pad.

Although nothing can compare to a mechanical keyboard, the G751JY's keyboard with its scissor switches delivers impressive feedback to the tune of 1.9mm of key travel and 69g of actuation (force needed to depress the keys). I exceeded my usual words-per-minute score on the 10 Fast Fingers test, hitting 70 wpm instead of 60 wpm.

At 4.8 x 2.6 inches, the Elan touchpad is massive, and adeptly handled such gestures as two-finger rotate, pinch-zoom and switching between apps. The two discrete mouse buttons are nice and springy and emit a gentle click when depressed.
G-Sync: Buttery smooth, Batman

It might look like the same old G751JY, but the laptop has some new additions that seriously up its game. The G751JY is one of the first gaming laptops to ship with Nvidia's new G-Sync technology, which synchronizes the display's refresh rate with the graphics card, effectively capping frame rates at a consistent level.

You might be asking yourself, "But aren't lower frame rates bad?" Usually, but not this time, fellow gamer, because the capping actually eliminates screen tearing and input lag. The last portion is especially important for FPS and fighting game fanatics who know the difference between giving or receiving a K.O. sometimes comes down to that last quick jab or power move (Hadoukens for everyone!).

G-Sync also has an anti-ghosting technology named Variable Overdrive that enables faster color transitions in variable refresh-rate environments. In layman's terms, not only will your game run smoother with less lag, but it'll also be prettier overall.

I put G-Sync to the test in Batman: Arkham Knight after raising the game's cap limit to 100 fps. With the feature disabled, but with all other settings pushed to high at 1080p, the G751JY hit an average 70 fps, which rose to 77 fps on low. With G-Sync enabled, the laptop delivered 50 fps on high and 63 fps on low.

When G-Sync was disabled, I saw significant tearing when I swung the camera around 360 degrees. There was also noticeable lag when I was fighting a pack of thugs, as I noticed a slight delay between my button presses and the command being executed. These problems were virtually eliminated when G-Sync was enabled.

I do have one complaint about the feature, however, and it's that you have to go digging in the Nvidia Control panel to enable or disable G-Sync. I would love the ability to access this in GeForce Experience, but I'm lazy like that.
Serious Gaming Power (But Not the Best)

The G751JY impressed on the BioShock Infinite benchmark, delivering 151 fps on low at 1080p, which is well above the 129 fps desktop replacement average. However, on high settings, the G751JY dropped to 67 fps, while the Dominator Pro (86 fps) and Alienware 17 (70 fps) fared better.

During the Metro: Last Light benchmark, one of our most grueling tests, the G751JY produced a solid 89 fps on low special effects at 1080p. That was enough to topple the 73 fps average, as well as the Alienware 17's 58 fps. The Dominator Pro proved too much for its competitors, with a score of 109 fps.

Metro lived up to its demanding reputation on High, causing the G751JY to drop to an unplayable 20 fps, while the Alienware 17 and Dominator Pro hit 32 and 34 fps, respectively.


A Feast for the Eyes and Ears

The G751JY's 17-inch, 1080p matte screen is a font of rich color and sharp details. Like most Asus notebooks, the G751JY comes pre-installed with the Splendid utility that offers four profiles (Normal, Theater, Vivid and Manual) and adjusts the panel's color temperature. I settled on the Vivid setting, as it delivered the best-looking results.

As I glided over the streets of Gotham in Arkham Knight, I had time to appreciate the way the raindrops hit Batman's cape, creating individual streams that broke off into even smaller tributaries. I also marveled at the giant plants that burst through the streets, slowly reclaiming the city in a thicket of green, violet and neon orange.

The G751JY reproduced 106.9 percent of the sRGB color gamut on our testing, which is higher than the 96 percent average. The Alienware 17 was right on its tail, at 106.3 percent, while the Dominator Pro delivered 101 percent.

When tested for color accuracy, the G751JY notched a Delta-E score of 1.6 (lower is better), which is much better than the 4.8 desktop replacement average. The Dominator Pro was a close second, at 1.7, while the Alienware 17 posted a disappointing 5.3.

Without the Asus AudioWizard software, the G751JY's roar is easily reduced to a whimper. When this software is enabled, however, the laptop produces clean, relatively balanced audio. The melancholy strings that accompany much of Arkham Knight tensed and relaxed as I fought off a militia unit as though the music were punching and flipping with me. The dialogue was loud and pronounced, and the Batmobile's cannon delivered a weighty boom that was often accompanied by the sound of crumbling brick and breaking glass.
Can It Take the Heat?

The notebook stayed pleasantly cool throughout our less demanding testing. I watched The Amazing World of Gumball on Hulu Plus for 15 minutes, after which we measured the notebook's temperature at several key points. The touchpad hit 84 degrees Fahrenheit, while the space between the G and H key hit 87 degrees. The bottom of the laptop registered 93 degrees, which is two degrees below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

Once the laptop cooled down, I took a 15-minute jaunt through Novigrad, dispatching ghouls and wraiths in Witcher III: The Wild Hunt. When I was done, the touchpad registered a cool 80 degrees and the space between the G and H key measured 86 degrees. The notebook's undercarriage temperature dropped slightly, to 91 degrees. Despite the laptop's large dimensions, I barely heard the fans, even when I was playing in the relative quiet of the Laptop Mag testing lab.
Software: The gamer's toolbox

For a gaming laptop, the G751JY has quite a bit of pre-installed software. Luckily, that includes a fair amount of gamer-centric software such as Asus Gaming Center, which aggregates useful information, settings and programs. From here, you can check the weather or the amount of storage and memory available, or adjust the audio and display settings.

ROG MacroKey lets you configure the three macro keys, allowing you to map keystrokes, launch apps or websites, and save them under individual profiles. GameFirst III tests bandwidth speed and configures the optimal upload and download speeds to prioritize games and other chosen programs.

Nvidia's GeForce Experience offers a wealth of helpful features, including BatteryBoost, LED Visualizer and Game Optimization, which chooses the optimal settings to net the highest frame rates. ShadowPlay lets gamers broadcast games to Twitch or YouTube in real time or record them for later use.

If you're not a fan of ShadowPlay, Asus also offers XSplit GameCaster. Depending on your subscription level, this offers high-def streaming, image overlays and in-game annotations.

The G751JY comes with a one-year International warranty with Accidental Damage

Protection and a 30-day zero-bright dot protection with 24/7 tech support.
Keep the Power Cord Handy

During the usual Laptop Mag Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi at 100 nits of brightness), the Asus G751JY lasted 3 hours and 17 minutes, which is well below the 5:02 average. The MSI GT72 Dominator Pro did marginally better, at 3:22, but it's the Alienware 17 that continues to raise the bar, lasting a whopping 6:25.

I also wanted to see how long the G751JY would last doing some actual gaming. So the testers ran the Metro: Last Light benchmark at 1080p on low, and the laptop tapped out after 1 hour and 36 minutes.