The 17-inch gaming laptop does not need to be as thick and heavy as a scaffold board. Asus has proved this very well RoG Strix GL703VM Scar Edition.
Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is a high performance gaming laptop that is not so big and heavy so moving between the room looks like a major operation. It's still a 17in laptop, so you do not want to carry it all day, every day, but it's easier to live than the sluggish animals among gaming laptops.
It has performance, look and display quality.
ASUS ROG STRIX GL703VM SCAR EDITION REVIEW
There are several issues of Asus RoG Strix GL703VM that need to be considered. Battery life is poor, relatively slender frames see the heat bleed to the keyboard after running the game and some of you may prefer the keyboard from the fat model of Asus, Alienware and Acer.
It also uses the last gene processor, especially since at the time of manufacture (and review) it is still the best choice.
PRICE
The specification of our review of Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is probably the most widely sold in the UK. It has a Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1TB hard drive, GTX 1060 GPU, and 1.599 / US $ 1,599 available from Amazon. That's a lot of hardware, and quite a lot of money.
For some wider context, let's compare it with Alienware 17, which may still be a money-no-object option among gaming laptops. The closest Dell Alienware configurator allows us to get this spec to cost you £ 220 / US $ 220 more.
The cheaper Asus RoG Strix GL703VM Specs with Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD cost £ 1299, and may need to be considered if your main concern is game performance per pound. As far as we know, this model is not available in the US.
Asus offers one year of collecting and returning warranty.
DESIGN AND BUILD
Asus makes many gaming laptops. It can be difficult to get your head around all the options and model number.
GL703VM is one of the high performance models, but also very thin and lightweight for 17-year-old gaming laptop, like last year's model. Taking it and taking it around is a completely different experience to do with Acer Predator 17 or Alienware 17.
Just look at its statistics: GL703VM is 25mm thick and weighs 2.7kg. It's not ultra thin or super light, but here's what you expect from a "normal" productivity laptops. Predator Acer 17 weighs 4.2kg and thick about 40mm. It will look great next to Asus RoG Strix GL703VM.
The extra measure comes with benefits, of course, especially the larger and better cooling systems.
However, such big laptop is unpleasant to use in your lap in the living room when Friends re-play non-stop in the background. GL703VM feels like home with this casual use.
Builds a typical gamer machine. The lid is brushed metal, but the rest is plastic, and there is a nice soft touch on the inside, as it looks like carbon fiber.
The panel is not as strong as the stone as it is in Alienware 17. But to be honest we only notice the difference when pressing with thumbs to find the weak point. There are some fractional flex, but no one affects the real world use.
This style is quite aggressive, but since no giant ventilation looks as if based on something seen in a sports car, we think more people will find its nice style. A large lamp logo lights up on the lid, there are several contours of the Strix series swooshing in the lid and inside. But nobody tries to pretend Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is a laptop for people who are ashamed of their game play habits.
CONNECTIVITY
There are various connections, all sitting by her side. You get four full-sized USB 3.0 ports and one USB-C 3.1, conjunction with "Gen 1" standard than faster 3 Thunderbolt.
The HDMI and Mini Display Port connector makes installing the monitor or TV easy, and there is RJ45 for direct connections to the router, access point or Powerline adapter.
There is no optical drive, which we do not miss, but there is an SD card slot on the right side.
KEYBOARD AND TRACKPAD
Keyboard is one of the reasons to consider one of the big and fat gaming laptops on top of Asus, but not because this laptop has a bad typing surface. Laptops like Alienware 17 and our old favorite Asus G753 have a special key that tries to instill some mechanical keyboard shades.
This laptop has a more conventional key action. There is a solid resistance and feedback is great, but the button is pressed relatively soft and smooth. If you're after a click or clack, you do not get it here.
Our impression is a very high quality GL703VM keyboard, and typing in it is very easy. But gamers can be very specific about key feel.
As you would expect, backlight adds gamer talent that is lost from the main action. You can set it to rainbow colors, and four zones let you create your own custom gradient. There is also an animation program, though as most are quite annoying, we think they work best on the store floor rather than at home.
There is no macro key row, but some dedicated push keys give you practical access to volume control, mute microphone (for game chat) and Asus ROG control center applications. This lets you monitor the temperature and power of the system, and change the fan behavior.
The trackpad is just as conventional as the keyboard, as well as some redundant marks on its surface. The buttons are integrated and use plastic surfaces instead of textured glass.
It feels great to use, with a very small sign that is not a top-class glass construction, and the click action is worth it. Not too stiff Not too hard No driver problems But at the price, the glass would have been nice.
SCREEN
Asus RoG Strix GL703VM comes with three types of screen depending on the exact model and region where it is sold. All have 1080p panels, but you will find them with 60Hz and 120Hz refresh rates and TNPS panel or TN continuation.
Our review samples have the most interesting of the many. This is TN panel 10.3 inch 1080p with 120Hz refresh.
Most TN screen laptops look horrible, with bad colors and contrast and a very bad viewpoint. However, Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is very good, surpassing most of the IPS LCDs.
Color saturation is fantastic, with a full range of sRGB color standards and so on, ending with the 135 most common gamut. It also includes 84.2 percent of Adobe RGB and 92.8 percent of DC3 P3 standard cinema standards. Colors look rich, and this is only reinforced by the excellent 1200: 1 contrast.
The fascinating lock of this special laptop is somewhere else. Refresh 120Hz allows v-sync to frame rate higher than 60fps, which GTX 1060 can achieve with some games, and TN response time is very fast. Asus cites "5ms", much faster than the IPS alternative.
We can not say that we have noticed this in our use. But we are not a competitive blinking player: hardcore FPS fans will appreciate the low screen lag.
There are still some signs indicating TN technology is used, which may make you want to hunt the version of IPS if you are not bothered with the display response time. Tilt the screen back and you'll see some contrast shifts, where the image looks dark and upside down. And we only find IPS display character more attractive than TN.
PERFORMANCE AND BENCHMARKS
Asus RoG Strix GL703VM has the core specifications we've seen on the laptop since the beginning of last year. It has the 7th generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card.
There is no revelation here, but this specification is still the best for Asus RoG Strix GL703VM. In January 2018, the eight generation chipsets designed for performance laptops have been ridiculed unofficially as part of the "Coffee Lake-H" family, but are not yet available.
Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is the flagship laptop for 1080p games, and the frame rate you'll see will not be much different from much larger and heavier alternatives. You can play the most games at 1080p, with all the visual effects appearing, and get a solid frame rate.
Deus Ex: Divided Man is a fairly heavy title, but still an average of 39.8fps on Ultra. It runs at 95fps blazing at 720p, low setting.
Less demanding aliens: Isolation is a pretty sluggish indicator of GTX 1060 leaves in some games. At 1080p, visual maxed-out, an average of 138fps, increases to 216fps at 720p.
We think the GTX 1060 is a sweet spot for serious gamers who do not want big or very expensive laptops using the new Nvidia hot low Max Max Max graphics card. They offer even greater power, but do not get cheap.
As Asus RoG Strix GL703VM runs SSD storage of 10 from SSD, general performance is excellent. Quad-core CPUs have plenty of space to run video editing and similar applications, and having 16GB RAM to lean allows you to take care of your desktop like dirt without clear performance.
It's a very good score of 4390 points on PC Marks 10 and 12965 at Geekbench 4.
The only reason to pause is what's in the pipe. We look forward to hearing more about IBM's 8-generation 6-core performance laptop laptops and Volta Nvidia GPUs for too long. These are high-performance laptops, but we will see more impressive hardware this year: all components here are well established.
Given how rugged Asus RoG Strix GL703VM, we are quite impressed with the noise level. Close to silent with lightweight usage, and while his fans instantly turn around as the game runs, their tone is not too disturbing. There is no high whining tone that you hear with ultraportable tensions.
Heat is a problem. The cooling system can not withstand heat from all the areas you are touching. When you play the heat from the CPU and the GPU begins to bleed to the keyboard. When we write this on a cold day in January, a warm keyboard does not seem to be too bad, but this is a sign of the cooling system is not strong enough. Or that the Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is a bit too slim for its own good.
It radiates through most of the locks, from the top center, indicating that this distribution is partly deliberate. But that's not ideal.
BATTERY LIFE
Asus RoG Strix GL703VM also has a low battery life. We frankly will not dream of taking a laptop 17in too far from home just for our shoulders but also students or clever multi-taskers who are looking for a laptop that can do everything to watch out for.
Playing a video on a 120cd / m brightness circle, Asus RoG Strix GL703VM lasts 2 hours and 15 minutes. You can noodle around the laptop because others are watching movies you do not want to watch, but will not handle long train times. And, of course, a mile away set a full day's work from the battery charger.
Such a stamina actually feels just like us for a laptop like this. But we can appreciate some of you will be disappointed. Last year we reviewed the Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming laptop which lasted almost 9 hours. What a difference.
SPECS Asus ROG Strix GL703Vm :
- Asus RoG Strix GL703VM Scar Edition: Specification
- 17.3 "LCD (1920 x 1080) Full HD 282ppi TN matt 120Hz
- 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ (3.8GHz boost) 4 core, 8 threads
- Windows 10 Home 64-bit
- Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU with 4GB of RAM
- 16GB DDR4 RAM 2400MHz
- SSD 256GB
- HDD 1TB
- 2x2 MIMO 802.11b / g / n / ac single band
- Bluetooth 4.1
- 1x USB-C 3.1
- 4x USB 3.0
- HDMI
- Ethernet RJ45
- Mini Display Port
- Kensington Security Slot
- SDXC card slot
- stereo speakers
- Webcam HD
- single microphone
- Jack headset 3.5mm
- English-level keyboard with nomorpad
- two button trackpad
- 57Wh lithium-ion battery, released
- 418 x 280 x 25 mm
- 2730g
- 1 year redemption guarantee
MUST BUY ASUS ROG STRIX GL703VM SCAR EDITION?
Asus RoG Strix GL703VM is a high-quality laptop that complements the good 1080p gaming performance with lean and light cases. It's not portable, and it's not designed to be, but it's a good choice for those who do not want a 4kg machine and 4 cm thick.
You do not pay for the performance, but Asus RoG Strix GL703VM keyboard does not get warm during play, which may be annoying.