Gone are the times when a high-performance gaming laptop was oversized and thick, and when its weight could be or exceed 5 kg, making it more of a ‘portable’ desktop PC than an ordinary laptop.
Although they were rarities at first, thin and small gaming laptops are already relatively common. Thanks to the latest releases of more efficient processors and graphics cards enhanced by specific low-consumption designs such as the NVIDIA Max-Q design, we have 1.79 cm thick laptops like this ASUS ROG Zephyrus, a device that can compete against desktop PCs without problems.
Asus has announced another of those devices that are not suitable for all audiences. This is the new Asus ROG Chimera laptop, a monstrous 17.3-inch gaming laptop that stands out for its screen, with 144 Hz refresh rate and equipped with NVIDIA G-Sync technology to provide the best gaming experience to date.
With the ROG Chimera we should leave aside the term “laptop” and use “mobile game station”, as we have often commented with laptops of these dimensions and weight, and although the manufacturer has not yet specified it, it’s a very large and heavy device that will be difficult to take it from one place to another, or use it on your lap.
That said, the Asus ROG Chimera has an Intel Core i7 7820HK with factory overclocking, running at a 4.3 GHz in Boost mode. It is accompanied by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 desktop graphics card, also overclocked to run at 1974 MHz, which will also be responsible for managing the refresh rate of the screen with G-Sync technology. Of course, although Asus has not specified, we understand that the screen, despite having 144 Hz, is IPS, since its response time is 7 ms GtG.
Although the laptop market has been greatly affected by convertible and 2-in-1 devices, current technology provides smaller components and more efficient processors that make laptops the talk of the town, and models such as those in ASUS’ ZenBook lineup are the centerpiece when talking about outstanding devices sporting thin and light designs.
We already reviewed the ZenBook 3 UX390UA, which is a model that won our best ultrabook on the market prize thanks to its good finish and performance, when it was launched. This year, the company announced that model’s successor: the ZenBook 3 Deluxe UX490UA currently sitting on our hands, with which the brand takes advantage of the new bezel-less displays and of additional connectivity options, updating their flagship ultrabook.
The ZenBook 3 Deluxe UX490UA’s general design barely changes, because, as some say, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
It still has a premium feel thanks to its polished aerospace-grade aluminum unibody chassis, its golden diamond-cut edges and its concentric finish, giving it a unique touch when we compare it to other average ultrabooks on the market. In this case, we have the blue variant, which undoubtedly gives it a very original touch.
With the Flip, Asus was looking to prove that they could create a Chromebook that was not only inexpensive, but also beautiful and ergonomic.
The Flip was created with hybrid use in mind. The display, the keyboard, and the trackpad were all designed so that they would be useful in both the PC and tablet modes.
So, is this Chromebook worth buying? Read the rest of this test to find out.
Design
In terms of its design, the Asus Flip is striking because of its small size and extremely light weight. It weighs just 900 grams and measures 1.5 cm in thickness, making it an ultra laptop.
The room reserved for the trackpad is not ample, but it is sufficient, and the keyboard does not give the impression of having been squeezed as it does on certain other 10 inch laptops.
This is one of the most advanced design monitors from ASUS and also one of the most carefully designed monitors that ASUS has put out in a long time. It combines a curved format, whether or not you’re a fan, with an excellent performance panel that combines modern ultra-panoramic resolution with up-to-date functionality and some extra features that make this monitor a very unique unit.
Technical Features
The MX34VQ is a very high range model and therefore will be the best that ASUS has offer in this format. It’s a panoramic widescreen 34″ in ultra panoramic format at a 21:9 ratio. A fashionable format where ASUS adds a very striking feature, although it isn’t very functional, which is the use of a curved panel with a fairly marked 1800mm radius. It forms a slight visual angle of 178 degrees, a little more than we actually have with a conventional flat monitor.
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) has introduced a new high-performance laptop designed for gaming enthusiasts. The new ASUS ROG Strix GL553VD can boast some impressive technical specifications, careful design and great value for money.
This laptop proposed by ASUS presents a sober design with some gaming touches, such as the backlit keyboard in red, differentiated WASD key set, a larger space key and differentiated cursor keys.
At this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Asus introduced the GL553V, a 15,6” entry-level gaming notebook. Inside it sports a lot of current technologies including the Nvidia GTX 1050 and the new Kaby Lake generation Intel Core i7 processors. Find out what this little guy can do in our in-depth review of the ROG Strix model.
What’s Inside?
With the ROG Strix GL553VD, Asus is specifically targeting those users who don’t want to spend 2.000$ or more on a gaming laptop. This gaming laptop has only recently been introduced at the CES in Las Vegas and our test configuration comes in at 1.299$. For those who have a little less cash at their disposal, a base model for 1,099$ is also on offer.
Companies try to brand all of their products with the gaming slogan, and that leads to curiosities like trying to put it on the routers. Linksys introduced the WRT32X at CES, of dubious utility, and Asus has also done the same with the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300-Republic of Gamers, the popular gaming brand from Asus.
In appearance it is similar to other routers of the company that already are in the market (a characteristic form of spider with eight antennas), and with the maximum benefits in this sector: wifi of type 802.11 ac MU-MIMO, eight ports Gigabit Ethernet, Simultaneous use of three Wi-Fi networks (one at 1000 Mbps and two at 2167 Mbps), 1024 QAM modulation and 80 MHz bandwidth for connections, two USB 3.0 ports, and a full firmware with firewall and other security and configuration features.
As simple and elegant in its design as silent in its presentation, this ASUS laptop encloses many more interesting things than others that have made a lot more noise at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Many of us like Laptops like this, discreet and light, without forgetting the minimum power to be able to perform everyday activities without problems.
No, it is not fair to compare it directly with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, since this is a less demanding laptop than Lenovo’s, which introduced new technology and can be configured with very high specifications. But if we look for the lightest, thinnest 14-inch laptop, ASUS new laptop has a lot to say.
The new ASUS BRT-AC828 router is a high-end model with a maximum bandwidth through WiFi of 2.534 Mbps thanks to the use of dual band 2.4/5Ghz WiFi 802.11ac
It includes four antennas for transmission and another 4 for reception (4×4) and ASUS AiRadar technology to optimize the data transmission in a directional way where it is necessary.
We also have two Gigabit WAN ports with added mode for 2 Gbps total bandwidth and fail-safe operation (if one of the internet links fails, it will automatically use the remainder). In addition, it integrates an M.2 port to add an SSD and provide the BRT-AC828 with internal storage to provide functions of a NAS.
