1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:07,120 The ASUS Stris GL502 feels like it's 2 00:00:03,439 --> 00:00:10,320 part of a dying breed of laptops. It 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:12,639 isn't thin. It isn't light. It doesn't 4 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:21,039 feature fancy materials like carbon fiber or magnesium. And wait, what? No 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:23,840 RGB. But was the old formula really that 6 00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:31,119 bad? Or did it just need to be tweaked a little? with its proudly displayed VR 7 00:00:27,039 --> 00:00:34,800 ready sticker. Is ASUS's latest stricks 8 00:00:31,119 --> 00:00:37,350 laptop ready for the 2017 consumer? 9 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:40,490 Let's find 10 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:51,360 out. Cooler Master's 25th anniversary 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:53,920 edition Cosmos 2 features a unique dual 12 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:59,559 curved tempered glass side panel. Check it out now at the link 13 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:02,399 below. At just under an inch, the 14 00:00:59,559 --> 00:01:07,439 GL502VS is not exactly a thin and light, but that does seem to be the standard 15 00:01:04,559 --> 00:01:15,360 thickness shared by most gaming laptops these days. And at 5.2 lb, it is a 16 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:19,040 whopping 1.4 lb less than the Alienware 17 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:21,840 15, putting it more comfortably into the 18 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:28,479 marginally portable category. The outer finish is a combination of brushed 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:31,680 aluminum like plastic and real brushed 20 00:01:28,479 --> 00:01:33,920 aluminum that ends up looking good while 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:39,280 avoiding feeling cheap. Though it does fall a bit short of feeling premium. 22 00:01:37,119 --> 00:01:45,360 There is some flex around the keyboard and trackpad and the screen and hinge 23 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:47,200 are solid but could be better. So, in 24 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:54,079 summary, although the Stricks doesn't have quite the robust build quality of 25 00:01:50,479 --> 00:01:56,920 the Alienware 15, for the same specs, it 26 00:01:54,079 --> 00:02:02,159 comes in at a whopping $645 less. So, I'm sure some folks will 27 00:02:00,079 --> 00:02:08,080 find themselves asking, "Well, did I really need that?" 28 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:11,200 Magnesium IO is also strong with three 29 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:13,040 USB typeAs and a high-speed USB type-C, 30 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:18,160 although Thunderbolt 3 would have been really nice here, along with everything 31 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:23,520 that most people will need to keep a dongle off their keychain for at least 32 00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:27,280 another year. The specs are highlighted 33 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:31,280 by a quad-core Core i7 seventy700 HQ, a 34 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:35,200 powerful GTX 1070 graphics card, and an 35 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:38,400 NVMe boot drive that while small is 36 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:41,040 fast. So, we should be getting a pretty 37 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:45,680 awesome gaming experience out of this device, assuming it can keep all of that 38 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:51,599 cool. One pit stain on this otherwise great 39 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:57,360 laptop was that out ofthe-box thermals were awful. It does seem to be an 40 00:02:54,959 --> 00:03:02,000 isolated issue with our machine though, and it was solved by reseating the 41 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:07,360 cooler. So, we aren't sure if it was a problem with ASUS's thermal paste 42 00:03:03,959 --> 00:03:09,680 application or perhaps a less than 43 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:15,200 gentle shipping company, but at least we know that it doesn't overheat by design 44 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:20,400 like some devices. With that said, under synthetic loads on 45 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:22,400 both CPU and GPU, we did see a little 46 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:27,959 bit of thermal throttling, but under realistic loads like gaming, there was 47 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:34,000 no adverse effect on performance whatsoever, which is good because there 48 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:37,280 is lots of performance in this guy. its 49 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:40,239 GTX 1070 was able to smash through the 50 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:46,480 60fps threshold in our AAA gaming benchmarks at very high details at the 51 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:49,519 screen's native resolution of 1920x 52 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:51,480 1080. And what's really nice is that 53 00:03:49,519 --> 00:03:56,319 when it does go over 60fps, you don't have to worry about 54 00:03:53,840 --> 00:04:00,720 those frames getting wasted. It runs at up 55 00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:03,120 to 120 hertz with G-Sync variable 56 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:09,200 refresh rate technology. And thanks to ASUS's choice of an IPS panel, it's not 57 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:13,920 just a delight to game on, but it's good enough for productivity, too. It's nice 58 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:19,759 and bright, and although I wouldn't recommend it for professional color 59 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:22,720 sensitive work, it trounces the 120 Hz 60 00:04:19,759 --> 00:04:28,400 TN display on the Alienware 15, making doing anything from watching YouTube 61 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:32,160 videos to writing in Word to video 62 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:36,080 conferencing with relatives just plain a 63 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:37,919 better experience. And the keyboard is a 64 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:42,320 contributing factor. It's one of my favorite things about the Stricks. Its 65 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:48,080 scissor switches have a long travel distance and excellent tactile feedback 66 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:53,759 for a notebook. And perhaps equally importantly, this feel is consistent 67 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:59,120 across the whole deck. The red backlighting and tactile knobbyby on the 68 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:01,600 W key are also nice touches. And unlike 69 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:06,800 some gaming oriented keyboards, this is one that I wouldn't mind using to write 70 00:05:03,919 --> 00:05:11,120 up an essay. To top off the usability, ASUS has been kind enough to include a 71 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:15,919 numpad, something that can no longer be taken for granted on a 15-inch laptop. 72 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:19,759 So, the only minor gripe then is that it's a little bit easy to accidentally 73 00:05:17,759 --> 00:05:24,000 open up the ROG gaming center when you're aiming for the 74 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:27,680 backspace. Now, the enthusiasm gets kicked in the head a little bit because 75 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:33,120 the trackpad, I mean, it's usable, but it's not nearly as amazing. It's a click 76 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:37,919 pad, but the force required at the top is much higher than at the bottom. The 77 00:05:35,919 --> 00:05:42,880 way it's recessed into the chassis makes two-finger operation um a little bit 78 00:05:40,479 --> 00:05:49,759 less comfortable than necessary. And it's high input lag gives it kind of a 79 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:52,000 sluggish feel. So, forgetting a mouse on 80 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:55,960 the go is a little unfortunate. Though, with that said, not nearly as bad as 81 00:05:53,520 --> 00:06:02,639 forgetting your charger. In fairness to ASUS, this is about what we expect from 82 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:05,840 a high-powered gaming laptop. Though 83 00:06:02,639 --> 00:06:08,800 noise-wise, the Stricks remains at a 84 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:14,000 comfortable volume while gaming and at no point got close to being obnoxious. 85 00:06:11,759 --> 00:06:18,800 And the speakers, while not the loudest that I've heard on a laptop, are 86 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:23,520 surprisingly punchy and remain clear at full volume. So although you wouldn't be 87 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:27,039 using them for your next house party, they're more than enough to throw on 88 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:33,039 some tunes while you're fixing up supper. So then in summary, the Stricks 89 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:35,840 is not a perfect laptop, but it gets 90 00:06:33,039 --> 00:06:41,360 what it needs to right, and it does so for a great price. The excellent screen 91 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:47,919 and outstanding keyboard make using the Stricks a great way to be productive IRL 92 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:50,400 or in games. So the bottom line then is 93 00:06:47,919 --> 00:06:54,479 recommended. Are you a small business owner or 94 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:58,080 freelancer? Would you rather spend your time actually doing work instead of 95 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:03,759 fussing around with complicated accounting software? Well, FreshBooks is 96 00:07:00,639 --> 00:07:06,720 built for you. It's the simple way to be 97 00:07:03,759 --> 00:07:12,240 more productive, more organized, and most importantly, get paid quickly. You 98 00:07:10,639 --> 00:07:17,120 can create and send professionallook invoices in less than 30 seconds. You 99 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:20,880 can set up online payments with just a couple clicks to get paid up to four 100 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:24,639 days faster. You can accept deposits through the platform and you can accept 101 00:07:22,639 --> 00:07:28,960 payments through the platform. And this is the biggest one for me. You can even 102 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:33,520 see when your client has seen your invoice and put an end to that back and 103 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:37,199 forth. Yeah, I didn't get it. Can you send me another one and then maybe I'll 104 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:41,960 pay you in a while. No, no, no more of that. So, for an unrestricted 30-day 105 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:46,080 free trial, go to freshbooks.com/teips and enter Linus 106 00:07:43,759 --> 00:07:49,280 techtips in the how did you hear about us 107 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,840 section. So, thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to 108 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:56,319 do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, maybe 109 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:59,919 consider subscribing. Yeah, that's right. Wait, I already said that. Also, 110 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:06,160 you can check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description and the other link 111 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:09,520 to our community forum, which you should totally join.