Asus ROG GL553VE: Mid-segment gaming PC

The Asus gaming notebook is surprisingly lightweight and equally heavy-duty

Laptops built for gaming are usually brawny and heavy, and thus, I was surprised when I saw the ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE (Rs 1.37 lakh). A bit bigger than a regular 15.6-inch notebook, the GL553VE, didn’t feel too heavy because of its plastic construction. That said, it looked well-built and the orange accents on the lid and the feet, along with the ROG logo, pointed to its gaming heritage.

The GL553VE sports both an optical drive and a USB Type-C socket, one of the few current-generation notebooks to do so. The power button is part of the backlit keyboard, and the first time I switched it on, I was asked to select a few “useful” apps I wanted to install. Suffice to say, don’t check any app you haven’t used earlier.

Soon, I logged in to my gaming accounts and was playing Crysis 3. The review sample came with a 250GB SSD, which runs the operating system and a 1TB HDD, for all those games. With Crysis 3, I got decent frame rates, even with some eight apps running in the background; the fan was loud, but the laptop stayed cool. The 15.6-inch screen had some decent viewing angles and the speakers in front were loud enough for gaming, and didn’t get muffled even when I placed the notebook on my lap. The touchpad, though decent, could have been better.

Next, I played my favourite, NFS: Most Wanted. I connected the GL553VE to my TV. I was so caught up in the game that I failed to realise that I had (in my wife’s words) “wasted” about three hours, and the laptop’s battery had run out.

One night, we watched Pink on Netflix on the GL553VE, and quite liked the experience.

The GL553VE is meant for those who want a powerful gaming notebook but don’t want to go the whole hog.