ASUS' ROG G751 review: a properly oversized gaming laptop

ASUS' ROG G751 review: a properly oversized gaming laptop
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In a world where most notebooks strive to get thinner and lighter, 17-inch gaming laptops stand out like the sorest of thumbs. Thick, heavy chassis and enormous screens almost make them a parody of portable computing. It's a necessity, of course, but it's also a shame -- few gaming rigs embrace their size as a means of standing out. Fortunately, ASUS' ROG G751 does, owning its gargantuan frame by taking liberties with the standard tropes of laptop design. Even at a glance, you can tell it's a little different: Instead of placing its screen hinge on the far edge of the machine's base, the G751 pivots its screen a few inches away from that edge. This leaves a distinctive, large "brick" jutting out from behind the laptop's open lid.
This look is typical of ASUS' heaviest gaming machines, but it's more than just visual flair -- it's a surprisingly well-thought-out design. Not only does moving the screen closer to the user make the laptop with battery like Asus Eee PC 1215 Battery, Asus Eee PC VX6 Battery, Asus Eee PC 1005P Battery, Asus Eee PC 1001HA Battery, Asus ML32-1005 Battery, Asus PL32-1005 Battery, Asus A32-F5 Battery, Asus X50 Battery, Asus X59Sr Battery, Asus AP31-1008P Battery, Asus Eee PC 1008P Battery, Asus AP32-1008P Batteryseem a little less large while it's being used, but it also gives the machine an isolated area to vent heat away from the user. It's a unique design, and it gives the rest of the machine's chassis license to be fairly subtle by comparison. The ledge and lid have a few brushed-metal accents and the vents are flared with red paint that lends them a sort of "jet intake" look, but the rest of the machine is covered in a matte, almost soft finish. It's nice.
Looking for connections? There are plenty on the G751: two USB 3.0 ports, a VGA connector, three audio jacks, Ethernet, HDMI and even a Thunderbolt port can be found on the machine's right edge. Two additional USB 3.0 connectors are arranged on the left side, as are the rig's optical drive (a Blu-ray burner) and SD/MMC card reader. Although "huge and heavy" are expected from 17-inch gaming notebooks, I'd be remiss not to mention the GT751's measurements, so here they are: 16.4 x 12.5 x 1.7 inches (length, width and thickness) and a total weight of 8.5 pounds. While I can't fault a single inch of that frame for poor build quality, it is an admittedly (and unsurprisingly) cumbersome laptop.
The ROG's island-style keyboard doesn't look like much at a glance, but spend a little time with it and you'll find it littered with subtle tweaks designed specifically for PC gamers. Mostly, it's little things: an extra layer of red coloring running around the edges of the W, A, S and D keys, for instance, or the small, tactile "bump" on the W key to help players find it without looking down. There are a few custom keys, though -- including three programmable macro keys (labeled m1, m2 and m3) and specific buttons to launch NVIDIA GeForce Experience, Steam and ASUS' own "gaming center" menu (more on that later).
While none of these are unwelcome, they're also not really necessary: the GeForce Experience button seems to merely replicate the program's own screen-capture hotkey functionality, and the Steam button simply launches Big Picture mode in a few less clicks than using the mouse would. They don't take up any extra space, at least. The keys themselves are a general delight, falling 2.5mm with each depression and featuring just enough tactile resistance to feel satisfying. If you need a little more flair beyond the keycaps' red lettering, you can always hit fn+f4 to activate a dark red backlight.
I couldn't find anything wrong with the machine's trackpad, either -- the ROG's mouse surface is large, responsive and quite apt at handling multi-finger gestures. Better still, the quality of its buttons match the keyboard's fine balance between tactile resistance and a soft landing depression. The buttons aren't at all stiff or clicky. It almost feels like the machine's entire suite of inputs has been broken in beforehand, but not worn out in the slightest. There's nothing to complain about, and that's more than I expect from most laptop keyboard and mouse setups.