Asus G752VY: The gaming behemoth

The Asus G752VY isn't meant for everybody, but makes for a great plug-and-play proposition

It was extremely embarrassing. Here I was, after spending nearly a quarter of a century with these contraptions, struggling to switch one on. And that, too, in front of my former neighbour's son, who has been rushing to me with his tech queries for close to a decade. Finally, I spotted the groove on the Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) G752VY, pushed it, and the beast purred to life.

The G752VY, weighing over 4 kg, is one notebook you won't fancy lugging the entire day. With a 17.3-inch screen and a nearly full-sized keyboard, it's so massive that my wife wondered if it was a desktop when she saw its large carton. The copper and silver colour scheme, shiny logo (which lights up) and the lighted accents on the back scream out its gaming credentials. Add a sixth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GTX 980M graphics processor, 16GB RAM and you have gaming nirvana. Well, there's more: The G752VY boasts of a pretty responsive and spacious track pad, four USB 3.0 ports, Thunderbolt, HDMI and USB Type-C ports, among others; a card reader and Blu-Ray drive; as well as 1.5TB of storage.

The massive lighted fins at the back looked to me as if a Lamborghini had backed into the notebook. The speakers are placed behind the screen and the woofer on the bottom. Thus, if you're watching a movie after placing the notebook on the bed, chances are you'll muffle the sound. Not that the speakers would wake up your neighbours, but they suffice if you watch/game solo.

With such hardware at my disposal, I was rearing to go. Windows 10 Home booted up fast and soon I was testing the limits of stealth as Snake in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. The dark scenes were particularly enjoyable and there was no stutter. Thus, I connected the notebook to a 55-inch TV via HDMI and started on The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux. It was a different kind of experience trudging along the mining village gone waste in Red Creek Valley. And, I realised, nothing beats the experience of open-world games on a big screen. A caveat: do keep the notebook plugged in if you want to play the games at high resolutions

Next, I revved up for the showboating Dirt: Showdown. And for this, I connected my Xbox 360 controller for PC. But I was in for a shock as I could barely control the vehicle. A tweaking of the controls made things a bit better but it was much better controlling the car using the keyboard, however, the notebook never heated up significantly.

Still, you would do well by not using it as a laptop. My knees were left aching due to the notebook's weight. And the bulk makes any kind of portability ineffective. That said, the battery lasts at the most for four hours or so, albeit with a dip in gaming performance.

The Asus ROG G752VY, at Rs 1,79,990, isn't meant for everybody - if you want a gaming system with all the bells and whistles but can't fit in a desktop anyhow, this makes for a wonderful plug-and-play proposition.