Asus G73: The 'mega laptop' cometh

When it's not releasing flamboyant netbooks and laptops with audiophile speakers bolted onto the sides, Asus is busy churning out laptops for gamers. The latest addition to its polygon-processing portfolio is the G73 -- a high-speed, high-end 'mega laptop' designed to give Alienware a run for its money.

Unlike previous Asus gaming rigs, the G73 doesn't look like a 14-year-old boy went at it with stickers and red nail varnish. Its sleek, matte-black chassis has an understated, yet aggressive, aesthetic and is adorned with sharp angles that give it the same menace as a stealth fighter plane -- sort of. Some might argue it's a blatant copy of the Alienware M17x, but that's not such a bad thing.

Power is provided by a top-of-the-line Intel Core i7-720QM chip, 8GB of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 graphics card with 1GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory, all of which, according to Asus, is good for a quite staggering 3DMark Vantage benchmark score of over 7,200. That, friends, equates to 32 per cent more gaming grunt than Asus' previous portable gaming rigs.

All that power demands a quite impressive cooling system. The G73 draws cool air in through the front of the unit, passes it over the internal components and expels it through 'extravagant cooling vents at the backside', in a similar fashion to BTX desktop systems. This technique, we're reliably informed, keeps all surfaces that the user is in physical contact with cool at all times, so you can play a game of Crysis without roasting your reproductive organs.

It's not all about gaming, though. Asus also chucks in a Blu-ray disc drive to complement the machine's 17.3-inch, 1080p display, 'enhanced audio' and a backlit keyboard tilted to a 5° angle that, according to the company, will give you 'happier wrists'.

Prices and availability for this beast aren't yet official, but our sources reckon a February release is likely. Hit the 'Continue' link below to have a gander at more pictures, and check back soon for additional information.