ASUS ROG GL702VM

[RUSH1]

I'm hoping to be playing again soon and have been recommended this laptop.  The price seems reasonable for what I'm being told I will get.  Problem is I know nothing about computers.  Could one of you tech geniuses give me the confirmation I need before shelling out the cash, or a better option?  Thanks in advance.

Processor
Intel® Quad-Core™ i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz (Turbo up to 3.5GHz)

Operating System
Windows 10 (64bit)

Memory
16GB DDR4

Display
17.3" FHD (1920*1080)160° View-Angle, matte

Graphic
NVIDIA® GTX1060M 6GB GDDR5 G-SYNC

Storage
1TB (7200 RPM)

Card Reader
SD

Camera
1.2MP HD Camera

Networking
802.11ac 2x2
Built-in Bluetooth™ V4.1

Interface
3x USB 3.0 Ports
1x USB3.1 Type C (gen 2) with Thunderbolt Port
1x Headphone-out & Audio-in Combo Jack
1x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1x HDMI
1x mini Display Port
Card Reader

Audio
Built-in Speakers And Microphone
Audio by ICEpower®
SonicMaster

Battery
76WHrs, 4-cell Li-ionPolymer Battery Pack

Power Adapter
Output : 19V DC, 9.5A, 180W
Input : 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal

Dimensions
16.5" x 10.8" x 0.9" ~ 1"

Weight
6 lbs

[Skuzzy]

My Wife has one the ROG laptops.  She hates the keyboard.  Specifically, the red back light is worthless. It is nearly impossible to read the keys in daylight.

Worse if your screen has a lot of white in it and you need to look at the keyboard.  Can't see a thing.

I am in the process of painting the letters (using white urethane paint) on the keys so she can use it.

If I knew it was going to be that bad, I would not have purchased it.

Now, if you are a touch typist, it is not a problem.  They do have locator keys.

[RUSH1]

Wow, I'll have check into the keyboard issue.  What about having enough beef to run the game? 

[Bizman]

Wow, I'll have check into the keyboard issue.  What about having enough prettythang to run the game?

That should run AH3 pretty well. Not sure about how much the mobile is slower than the desktop equivalent, but people use much weaker systems than that.

[Skuzzy]

Wow, I'll have check into the keyboard issue.  What about having enough beef to run the game?

As far as performance goes, just make sure to disable all the power management and it should run the game fine.

Oh.  They do not ship any OS media with the laptop.  While the hard drive is user replaceable, in order to get it up and running again, you have to ship it back to ASUS.  When her laptop got bricked by the Windows 10 update, she had to ship it back to ASUS to get the OS restored.

[RUSH1]

Thank you for all your help Skuzzy.

[Gman]

Check out the MSI laptops, they are similar in price and capability, I've had ASUS ROG laptops too, the keyboard for the MSI are RGB and a more..standard feel  than the ASUS keys.

[RUSH1]

Thank you Bizman, Gman. 

[Bizman]

As far as performance goes, just make sure to disable all the power management and it should run the game fine.

Oh.  They do not ship any OS media with the laptop.  While the hard drive is user replaceable, in order to get it up and running again, you have to ship it back to ASUS.  When her laptop got bricked by the Windows 10 update, she had to ship it back to ASUS to get the OS restored.

What? No nag screen about creating the reinstall media?

Also, for what I've seen, Win7 systems come with the license sticker and Win8 systems have installed just fine on a new disk without having to worry about the license. It apparently is hard coded in the bios or something like that. I must admit that the first time I did a hdd change on a Win8 system I had to ask for advice from our biggest builder shop who also are an Asus dealer.

And of course a good precaution is to find the license code with a third party program. The installation media is freely available from Microsoft (for those who didn't know it).

[Skuzzy]

The generic Windows 8.1 install did not work.  That was the first thing I tried.

Yes, the license code is built into the BIOS rom.

No, no nag screen about creating a Windows boot disk and no information to be found on how to do it for that laptop.  Although, I could have done a slipstream build before it crashed, but that is her computer and I try very hard to stay away from it.

Overall build quality is top notch.  The IPS video panel is exemplary, but the keyboard ruins it all.

[Bizman]

Could it be that they ship with a different setup for Europe? Haven't actually reinstalled a ROG, so I can't tell. But every laptop I've seen so far has had the reinstall media on the hard disk and a program to make a copy of it. Very strange.