Asus G73Jh review
Looks and features mean nothing if the build quality is suspect, though, and here the Asus suffers. The wristrest deflected too easily for our liking, especially around the trackpad and keyboard, and while the lid is sturdy the rest of the base feels creaky. It isn't terrible, but it’s also not the perfection we’d expect from a laptop that costs £1,531 exc VAT.
Value for money?
Gamers won’t be entirely satisfied by the keyboard, either. The design isn’t flashy, and the Scrabble-tile keys offer reasonable travel and comfort, but minor issues abound. The base isn’t solid enough, and the sheer size of the G73Jh hasn’t been used to full effect: the keys on the number pad and cursor cluster are too small, and the Return key isn’t as wide as we like.
The trackpad is large and responsive enough, but there’s no multitouch and no scrolling area. The large rocker button is too firm, and hardly ideal for quick-fire gaming. External peripherals would be a wise investment.
The speakers are disappointing too. While there’s plenty of volume, the mid-range is too muddy and the bass just isn’t strong enough. When compared to the thumping, sub-woofer powered sounds of a good entertainment laptop such as the Alienware M17x (web ID: 263398), there’s no competition.
That Alienware proves a bone of contention for Asus, as since we last saw it it's been updated with the same HD 5870 graphics and Core i7-720Q processor. Both offer similarly weak battery life – the Asus lasted 2hrs 14mins in our light-use test and barely over an hour when pushed to the limit – but the Alienware's chassis is built with a quality the Asus simply can't match.
The M17x also has a much nicer edge-to-edge display with better colour reproduction, and as long as you can stomach the slightly more garish design it's a more pleasant device to use. Admittedly, if you customise the M17x to share the same core specification as the Asus, it will set you back around £500 more, but opting for just 4GB RAM reduces that premium to around £200. Whenyou're already talking amounts in excess of £1,500 exc VAT, that's a premium we'd pay.
Price when reviewed: £1,531 (£1,799 inc VAT)Laptops
