No love for the G501?

I guess not too many people are into Ultrabook gaming.

I've had one for a couple weeks now, G501JW with the FHD screen. The 960m in this machine seems to be a marked improvement over the 860M in my last machine even though I know technically it's just a slightly upclocked 860m. This chip overclocks a massive amount higher than the 860m in my previous laptop (Lenovo Y50, it was stolen and I was only given about $1000 to replace it - I had to add $200 to get this laptop) too. The cooling is much better (two fans) and the screen and keyboard are way better than the Y50s. It's also lighter.

One weird thing with it, is the keyboard backlight seems to be 100% controlled by software - it doesn't function outside Windows, and isn't on until Windows boots to the login screen. The Y50's backlight worked even in the UEFI interface.

There's only two negative issues with it. One is that there is no ethernet built in. I'm using a USB3 hub with a Gbe jack built in. The second is there's only one RAM slot when there is more than enough room for two - it has 4GB ram soldered on the motherboard. Asus has assured me that it can handle a 16gb SODIMM though.

I also had a problem with it where, after removing the bottom panel and swapping to an SSD, it wouldn't fall over to battery or power up on battery power. Removing the plug simply caused it to turn off. I reseated every cable in sight under the back panel and reinstalled it making sure to not over-tighten the screws and it seems to have fixed it.

Other than that, I really like it. It's got cool styling, it's ultra thin and light, and runs cool. The fans are loud at full speed, but not enough to distract. I won't say I'm glad that my Y50 got stolen, but I will say I'm glad to replace it with this machine.

 

The Y50 did have heating issues so yes this one is better designed. Most backlit keyboards do rely on software updates to the EC (which are flushed on each boot).