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Review Asus G1S Notebook

G1 Gaming reloaded. The Asus G1 series, the 15 inch gaming notebooks, are offered as G1S, further improved and updated with new technology. An Intel T7500 CPU and a Geforce 8600M GT video card make it fit for current DirectX 10 games, and, furthermore, impress by an outstanding performance increase.

Asus G1S Logo

Case

Besides the ports at its backside the G1S' case is alike the one of the already reviewed Asus G1. Therefore, the aspects case and layout are identical.

The design of the Asus G1 is very similar to that of the Asus G2P, which is the 17 inch version of the gaming series. Because the colored inlays left and right of the keyboard were omitted, it is not that ostentatious and coltish than the G2P.

However, the G1 does not completely miss color out. The selected identification color of the G1 is green, more precisely a really bright green. This color is partly used for the keys, but also the web cam and the flashing lights at the edge of the display are colored green. According to the advertising, these flashing lights should boost the playing user (they are coupled to activation of DX9).
We can confirm this. Our aggressions actually increased by the flashing, but we doubt that this is helpful for playing games.

A small, but useful display above the keyboard provides you with some interesting information like e.g., the current time.

Be that as it may. The workmanship of the Asus G1 is alright. The case is very flexural rigid and resistant against applied forces. However, applying very strong forces might lead to slightly creaking noises, but you'll hardly hear any during regular operation.

The outside of the case is mainly out of plastics. It is used with matt appearance and slightly sand blasted surfaces as well as with reflecting and partly transparent appearance for the display cover and the hand ball support. Furthermore, metal is used at some spots, e.g. some screws and at a molding at the front region and at the touch pad (aluminum) .

The least stable, but yet sufficiently stable part of the G1 is the display cover. Especially in the center of the back, the display cover can be deflected by only applying moderate force. This hints on that only the outer hinges are actually for holding the display, whilst the one in the center is presumably only used for providing the electronic contacts.

The display can be positioned by applying a comfortable amount of force, and slightly see-saws after adapting the position. Even if closed, the display, which is locked by two hooks, possibly slightly wobbles.

Because the case gets slimmer at the side edges and and at the front edge, most of the ports are placed at the back side and at the right side near the back. The number and kind of provided ports is passable. Instead of a DVI port which is provided by the G1, the G1S now provides an HDMI port, which can be used as DVI port by means of an adapter. Additionally an external S-ATA interface is available.

Asus G1S interfaces
Front Side: No ports
Asus G1S interfaces
Left Side: DVD drive
Asus G1S interfaces
Back Side: 4x USB 2.0, S-ATA, HDMI, VGA-Out, Power Connector, Fan
Asus G1S interfaces
Right Side: PCCard, Cardreader, Firewire, Audio Ports, S-Video, Lan, Modem

Input Devices

The keyboard of the Asus G1 considerably differs from the G2P's. E.g., its enter key extends over two rows and it provides a second FN key at the right. In turn, the left shift key is a little smaller.

The A-W-S-D keys have again big, colored imprinted digits, but in the contrary to the G2P, the imprint is green. Striking and in similar form also provided by  some other new competitor notebooks: a Windows key with round and gleaming Vista-Logo. This notebook provides even two of them. Even if it is convenient, we feel that it is a shame that a dominating operating system also influences the design of case components.

Nothing objects to the keyboard in use. The whole unit is tightly attached to the case. However, its layout is understandably rather dense. Even fast typing did not uncover any weaknesses, you can only hear a slight clicking noise.  Typing itself also feels comfortable.

The touch pad has a surface, which is similar to those of the display cover and the hand ball support. Still, its sliding properties rate good up to very good. Regarding response and precisions we could not detect any anomalies.

The pad is edged by an aluminum part, which also contains both of the touch pad's buttons. Despite the challenging choice of material, they can be used in their whole extend without any problems.

Furthermore, the Asus G1 comes with 2 pads providing additional keys. A row of keys is at the front side of the notebook and provides keys for controlling the media player. Another one is right above the keyboard and keeps keys for Asus typical functions, e.g., a mail and browser shortcut key and a key for controlling the performance- or energy settings.

Asus G1S Touch pad
Touch pad
Asus G1S Keyboard
Keyboard

Display

Asus G1S Displaymessung
Color Diagram

The first relevant difference of the Asus G1S is the provided display. Instead of a 1280x800 standard display it is equipped with a 1440x900 WXGA+ panel. This increases the clarity and lets the Windows Vista desktop appear slimmer. The heavily reflecting surface was retained.

During the test the panel reached a good maximum brightness of 195.0 cd/m² in the center of the bottom part. Also regarding average brightness this display is alright with 165.3 cd/m². The illumination is only 67.3%, because the brightness diminishes at the upper corners. However, subjectively this does not really impact the picture.

The measurement diagram depicts a clearly lowered blue color curve, which leds to colors appearing warmer.

143.8
cd/m²
154
cd/m²
131.3
cd/m²
162.5
cd/m²
180.7
cd/m²
154.3
cd/m²
183.2
cd/m²
195
cd/m²
182.8
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Maximum: 195 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 165.3 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 67 %
Contrast: 258:1 (Black: 0.7 cd/m²)

With a black value of 0.7 cd/m² the Asus G1S' display reaches a maximum contrast of 279:1, a good value. Also the display's speed of reaction tested by various scroll tests is alright.

Asus G1S Outdoor
Operation Outdoors

The display's good brightness supports outdoor usage. However, depending on the vantage point and the brightness of the environment, you'll face heavy reflection at the display surface.

Regarding stability to the vantage point the area of operation is sufficient. But, outside it, especially vertically, looking from bottom up the display clearly darkens and colors change. Horizontally, the maximum angles are basically limited by reflections.

Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point
Asus G1S Stability to the vantage point

[Video of Stability to the Vantage Point]

Performance

The only weakness we criticized at the Asus G1 with Intel 945 chipset was its moderate performance. The new edition of this gaming notebook called G1S now utilizes Santa Rosa and some other new hardware components and so performance was clearly improved.

Mainly two components are responsible for the very good performance rating: First of all the T7500 CPU with 2.2GHz, secondly the powerful Geforce 8600M GT, which clearly outperforms the Geforce 7700 provided by the G1. The benchmark results clearly depict the performance increase. So, the Asus G1S is fit for current games.

Further information about the video card can be found  here or in our comparison of mobile video cards. Detailed information about the Core 2 Duo CPU can be found here.

Please also look at our benchmark list of mobile processors or at our benchmark list of mobile video cards, in order to compare this notebook to other configurations.

Asus G1S Benchmark Comparison
Benchmark Comparison 3DMark
Asus G1S Benchmark Comparison
Benchmark Comparison PCMark
3DMark 2001SE Standard
24609 points
3DMark 03 Standard
11846 points
3DMark 05 Standard
7700 points
3DMark 06 Score Unknown Setting
3994 points
Help
PCMark 05 Standard
5568 points
Help
160 GB - 5400 rpm
Transfer Rate Minimum: 40.7 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum: 80.6 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average: 67.5 MB/s
Access Time: 13.7 ms
Burst Rate: 83.3 MB/s
CPU Usage: 5.8 %
160 GB - 5400 rpm
Transfer Rate Minimum: 40.7 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum: 80.6 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average: 67.5 MB/s
Access Time: 13.7 ms
Burst Rate: 83.3 MB/s
CPU Usage: 5.8 %

Further Benchmark Results:

Doom3
Native resolution: 1440x900, details: "ultra" -  at 25-60 fps playable without problems.

Supreme Commander
Resolution: 1024x768, details: "high" - Skirmish 1 vs 1 on a small map - 15-50 fps - well playable  (sometimes flickering by zooming out).

Company of Heroes
Resolution: 1440x900, high details well playable, sometimes flickering.

So, the GeForce 8600M GT is well up to very well fit for current games. If you insist on absolute game fun without any flickering at highest resolutions, you should rather choose a notebook with a 8700M GT or wait until the 8800M series is launched at the end of summer.

Emissions

Loudness

Choosing the performance profile "Quiet Office", somewhat helps limiting the G1S' noise. Although the fan runs all the time even in idle mode, its noise level of 34.3dB is still alright.

Under load at maximum performance the fan speeds up and a maximum noise level of 49.4dB can be measured. However, this should still be alright for playing games.

Noise Level

Idle
34.3 / 38.2 / 39.3 dB(A)
HDD
36.6 dB(A)
DVD
38.2 / dB(A)
Load
0 / 49.4 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light    (15 cm distance)

Temperature

Although the G1S gets also at its top side clearly warmer, this has no impact on the use, because the hand ball support and the keyboard stay comparably cool. At the back edge the maximum surface temperature at the front side was 45.9°C and at the bottom side 49.2°C.

Upper side

palmwrist: 34.4°C max: 45.9°C avg: 38.7°C

Bottom side

max: 49.2°C avg: 43.2°C

Speakers

At moderate volume the sound of the speakers, which are located below the left and right front corner, is alright. Maybe they sound a little dull. However, at maximum volume and at special frequencies they blast, which negatively impacts on the sound. The maximum volume is just sufficient.

Battery Runtime

Because the G1S is alike its direct predecessor also equipped with 4800 mAh battery, a direct comparison is of special interest. Under load the G1S reached a runtime of 90 minutes. The maximum was about 3 hours. These are about the same values measured for the clearly weaker equipped G1. In total the battery runtime is rather moderate, but still allows a limited mobile use.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
2h 53min
DVD
1h 50min
Load (maximum brightness)
1h 30min
Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0 / 0 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 30.4 / 37.3 / 40.6 Watt
Load midlight 78.3 / 74.6 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

Verdict

Asus G1S
Asus G1S

The Santa Rosa update made a really mature gaming notebook out of the G1. Despite its design is still striking and needs getting used to, the complete package is successful.

The keyboard seems sufficiently robust to stand even intensive gaming sessions and LAN parties. Also the provided Logitech MX518 mouse is alright for ambitious games.

The 1440x900 WXGA+ panel scores especially by its high resolution. The brightness of the display is also alright. Only regarding the aspect stability to the vantage point it scores worse than the 1280x800 version.

As already mentioned the Asus G1S hardware is basically interesting, because of the new Santa Rosa technology used, which stands for global performance increase. Another highlight is the Geforce 8600GT video card, which supports even brand-new games by DirectX 10 support.

While the emissions are alright in idle mode, under load they are apparent. But, the tolerances regarding loudness and surface temperatures are generally higher when playing games, so the Asus G1S still scores passable regarding this aspect.

The battery runtime is between 1.5 and 3 hours, which is acceptable and even allows a limited mobile use.

Many thank to the company Planet Notebook which kindly provided us with the reviewed notebook. You can configure and also buy this notebook here.

Please share our article, every link counts!
Asus G1S
Reviewed: Asus G1S

Specifications

Asus G1S
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT - 256 MB VRAM, GDDR3
Memory
2048 MB 
, DDR2 PC5300 667 Mhz SDRAM, maks. 4096 MB, 2x 1024 MB
Display
15.40 inch 16:10, 1440 x 900 pixel, WXGA+ Color Shine
Storage
160 GB - 5400 rpm, 160 GB 
, 5400 rpm, Hitachi Travelstar HTS541616J9SA00: 160GB, 5400rpm
Connections
ExpressCard, wej¶cie mikrofonowe, wyj¶cie s³uchawkowe (S/PDIF), Line-In, 4x USB 2.0, VGA, S-Video, HDMI, FireWire, zewnêtrzny port SATA, blokada Kensingtona
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 36 x 354 x 284 ( = 1.42 x 13.94 x 11.18 in)
Battery
, litowo-jonowy 4800 mAh
Additional features
Intel 965M, HDD: 160GB, 5400rpm, Hitachi Travelstar HTS541616J9SA00, Realtek ALC660 HD Audio, DVD +/-R (DL) HL-DT-ST GSA-T20L,
Weight
3.2 kg ( = 112.88 oz / 7.05 pounds) ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
7100 Euro

 

Asus G1 Image
Notebooks of the G series can be clearly distinguished from other models by their striking design...
Asus G1 Image
And the surface temperatures, especially at the bottom side are quite high.
Asus G1 Image
The G1S's fan can be heard nearly all the time.
Asus G1 Image
Good performance has impacts:
Asus G1 Image
Core 2 Duo CPU T7500 and Geforce 8600 GT video card built-in the G1S.
Asus G1 Image
Top equipment, considering its a 15 inch notebook:
Asus G1 Image
The vertical stability to the vantage point could be better too.
Asus G1 Image
The brightness of the display is good, but the illumination below-average, and the display clearly reflects.
Asus G1 Image
Even the keys are styled to reflect the gaming character.
Asus G1 Image
Generally, the input devices are alright.
Asus G1 Image
Most of the interfaces are next to the right back corner.
Asus G1 Image
...and a variety of different materials.
Asus G1 Image
and an interesting appearance by the means of reflecting surfaces...
Asus G1 Image
The case is of solid and robust workmanship,...
Asus G1 Image
...or also a 1.3 Megapixels web cam.
Asus G1 Image
...and provides some interesting features like flashing lights at the display...
Asus G1 Image
The G series by Asus is especially designed for fans of computer games...
Asus G1 Image
...the trademark of the Asus G1S.
Asus G1 Image
By all means mobile: The 4800 mAh battery makes a limited mobile use of the G1S possible.

Pro

  • Stable and robust case
  • Good workmanship, high-quality materials
  • User-friendly order of interfaces
  • Good input devices
  • Bright display, high resolution
  • Very good performance
  • Comprehensive equipment
  • Contra

  • Striking design
  • Display reflects clearly, only moderate stability to the vantage point and illumination
  • Moderate regarding temperature and noise emissions
  • Similar Notebooks

    Price Comparison

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    Asus G1S

    Bewertung

    Asus G1S - 08/31/2007
    J. Simon Leitner

    Chassis
    90%
    Keyboard
    88%
    Pointing Device
    86%
    Connectivity
    88%
    Weight
    70%
    Battery
    69%
    Display
    84%
    Games Performance
    94%
    Application Performance
    98%
    Temperature
    58%
    Noise
    74%
    Add Points
    92%
    Average
    83%
    84%
    Multimedia - Weighted Average
    J. Simon Leitner, 2007-06-20 (Update: 2013-05- 8)