Stereo speakers installed above the keyboard under a metal grille and a subwoofer located on the underside offer up big, booming sound not as high-quality as premium speakers, but suitable for immersive gaming.
Matte black plastic forms a thick bezel, and part of the bezel warped away from the screen in our review unit. Unfortunately, the construction quality around the screen is less than stellar. Colors pop, and both games and Blu-ray movies looked sharp. It's a step below the quality of the Razer Blade's standout screen, but better than average. Adding that antiglare screen addresses one of our issues with the previous G74's overly glossy topcoat. The benefit of less glare has no drawbacks here: the screen's still extremely bright, and the viewing angles are superb. The whole affair feels several notches below a premium product, which is a shame because it's certainly not a budget-priced machine. When the system is already running Windows, that second button activates a quiet mode to reduce fan noise. You're unlikely to ever deliberately use the quick-launch pre-Windows operating system, especially as this laptop is designed to stay tethered to your desk full-time, but since the two buttons sit right next to each other, it's easy to accidentally hit the wrong one. The interior of the laptop holds only a keyboard, a large touch pad, a few status indicator lights (HDD access, Wi-Fi, and so on), and power/quick-launch buttons.
Some might like to appreciate such over-the-top design elements head-on, but I prefer my laptop grille out of sight. Somewhere between dorm-room gamer chic and something more understated, Asus has saved most of the glaring sports-car touches for that rear vent. Mock it if you must (I sometimes did), but the Asus G75 has a somewhat attractive design. We'll take the improvement, but most people won't notice it's still the Lincoln Town Car of laptops. As I mentioned, however, this year's model is lighter and thinner, at 9.5 pounds and up to 2 inches thick at the beefiest point, versus the G74SX's 10 pounds and 2.4 inches. With this laptop on my lap I felt like a tiny child with a very large cookie. Place it on your lap and you'll realize how much of the G75V's bulk is hidden with sleek angling and a hinged-forward screen that masks a big rear with a race-car-like vent exhaust. Much like last year's G74SX, the G75VW is a big, big beast of a machine: weighing in at 9.5 pounds, this is a laptop you'll want to keep on your desk.