ASUS
G73Jw-A1
Republic of
Gamers 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black)
"Every gamer knows that the latest games demands the best performance. But we don't believe in just meeting the minimum requirements, we believe in obliterating them. That's why we made sure that the Republic of Gamers (ROG) G73Jw-A1 was jam-packed with one-of-a-kind innovation that propel mobile gaming performance to unseen levels."
Review Of The ASUS G73Jw-A1
Better Than I Even Hoped For
This review is from: ASUS
G73JW-A1 Republic of Gamers 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black) (Personal
Computers)
I've had this computer for 4 days now (bought it from a less expensive
vender, sorry, Amazon) and I still love it. I was very concerned about
the keyboard after reading some of the comments here, a G73 forum, and
in one professional review. Apparently, there is a known problem with
some of these machines having to do with skipping when keys are typed.
(I occasionally had that problem with my old HP dvt9000, also. Not
often, and I never did figure out what caused it.) One person said that
it only happens with his G73 every few days. So far, it hasn't happened
with mine, but, as I said, I've only had it for 4 days. An ASUS rep, on
a G73 forum, said that he had not yet been able to find that problem on
any of the G73s he had tried out, nor was he able to reproduce it even
on machines that had specifically been known to have exhibited it. The
intermittence is making it harder for ASUS to address the problem and
track down what is causing it. Regarding the "chicklet" style design of the keyboard: I was very apprehensive about that after reading several of the reviews here, since I do a lot of writing. Actually, considerably more writing than gaming. I lost sleep over that concern while I was waiting for it to be delivered. It was the first thing I looked at and tried out when I got the box open. Even before I turned it on, I "dry" typed on the keyboard to see how it felt and if I noticed a problem with my fingers slipping off of the keys or a "cheap" feel to the keyboard because I was ready to put it right back in the box and return it. Nope, on all counts. It feels fine to me and I don't have any problem typing along comfortably now that I do have it turned on. I am a touch typist, not a hunt-and-pecker and I have no problem finding the keys. You have the little raised thingies on the "f" and "j" just like any keyboard. Those are your reference points. (It's true that the one that should be on the "5", on the number pad, is missing, though.) Someone who uses the hunt-and-peck style will appreciate the back-lit keyboard feature. (And, yes, the light under the keys is bright, but it can be turned down or off by pressing the "function" and "F3" keys.) The keys seem normally sized so I don't think you're any more likely than usual to hit two keys at once. In my case, the keyboard concerns were not actualized, so far, and thank heaven, because it is an absolutely wonderful machine.
This might seem like a small thing, but the rubberized wrist rests and the cooling system make laptop typing so much more comfortable than it has ever been for me before. My old HP had plasticized metal where your wrists rest and got so hot that when I was doing a lot of writing, my wrists would get miserably hot and sweaty and then sore. Not with this design. My wrists stay cool and dry and really comfortable. Also, the keyboard is slighty inset. Some people have complained about that. I think it may be a deliberate ergonomic design because my hands and wrists are so notably comfortable while typing. The angle of my wrists is less abducted than on any other laptop I have typed on, decreasing the liklihood of developing or exacerbating carpo-tunnel syndrome.
I won't go into all the other features and specs--those have been well covered by others. But I did want to address the keyboard questions. All the complaints about the keyboard almost caused me to bypass this amazing machine. What a shame that would have been!
The touch pad is large, but you can set your machine to have the keypad ignore touches when you are typing and turn off altogether when you have an external mouse plugged in. I haven't used it much, because I have a wireless mouse which I prefer to use. When I did use the touchpad, it seemed to work okay for me. I like the feature where you can expand your view by moving two fingers apart, but I haven't actually tried it out, yet.
Okay, one more thing. The sound is fantastic for a laptop computer. It gives amazing volume. I'm listening, right now, to a Pandora station playing a New Age piano piece at 16% volume. Earlier, I turned it up to about 75% so that my husband could hear a news video in the kitchen from the family room. The sound quality is good enough to play internet radio, iTunes, or CDs considerably better than our kitchen boom box. I'm especially enjoying this ability, which I really didn't expect and certainly did not have in any of my previous laptops.
If I have any issues come up, I will return and address those.
Thanks to all the previous reviewers, even those with whom I disagree. What an amazing resource we have in Amazon Customer Reviews--made so by all the people willing to take the time to share their opinions and experiences, and sometimes actual expertise. I check Amazon before I buy practically anything these days, even grocery products I haven't tried before!
