Software and bloatware
As has become typical of Asus notebooks, the G50V is for the most part free of bloatware. The system's startup time is fantastic, and Asus includes both the ExpressGate instant-on Linux distro (installed to the hard drive rather than a flash memory module) and recovery partitions. Happily, Asus elected to ship the G50V with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit to fully support the 4GB of DDR2-800 installed in the system. The only pockmark on the included software is a free trial of Norton AntiVirus; the vast majority of what would only uncharitably be called "bloat" is custom software Asus includes to manage the computer.

Asus provides its own system management software that offers pop-ups to handle screen brightness, volume, power modes, and so on. Mainstream manufacturers rarely include similar software, and while it's appreciated here, the interface itself is a bit overdone. The ripples you see in the image above are actually animated, and the whole interface has fade in and fade out effects. Unfortunately, these animated graphics can make the interface feel somewhat sluggish, and they didn't play well with Call of Duty 4, essentially causing the game to minimize, never to maximize again.

A "Splendid" color management utility is also installed on the system, but it doesn't appear to expand on the functionality already offered by the digital vibrance section of Nvidia's graphics driver control panel. Splendid is easier to use, though, and it offers a series of presets if you don't want to tweak individual values.

While Asus' software is generally good, we ran into some problems with the Direct Console control panel. This control panel allows users to choose between "Normal," "Turbo," and "Turbo Extreme" modes that run the processor at stock speed and overclocked by 100MHz and 200MHz, respectively. Unfortunately, with the control panel enabled, WorldBench consistently spat out an error code during its Office 2007 test. Given the beta nature of this benchmark (version 6.0 beta 2), this could easily be attributed to the WorldBench suite itself. However, disabling the Direct Console did allow WorldBench to run properly.

We also ran into issues with Asus' Power4Gear software. While it's ordinarily pleasant to see manufacturers include power management software with laptops, Power4Gear appears to interfere with MobileMark's scripting, causing the application to error out. We had to wipe the system and start with a clean 32-bit Vista build, without any of Asus' own software installed, in order to get MobileMark to work properly. Since MobileMark and Power4Gear both interface with the battery, and since the former relies on scripting, we suspect that's where the problem lies. We didn't encounter any problems with Power4Gear in normal day-to-day use.

The last software issue we dealt with on the G50V was the limited resolution support found in its graphics drivers. We tried two different driver sets for the GeForce 9700M GT downloaded from Asus' web site, and apart from the inclusion of a bizarre 1600x1024 resolution, neither supported intermediate widescreen resolutions between 1280x768 and 1680x1050. Support for 1440x900 would have been nice given the G50V's graphics horsepower, or relative lack thereof. Using Nvidia's stand-alone graphics drivers isn't much of a solution, either, since they haven't yet been updated to support the GeForce 9700M GT.

Beyond these issues, the G50V was a perfectly stable system. The problems we encountered with WorldBench and MobileMark aren't likely to affect the vast majority of users, although limited support for intermediate widescreen resolutions could be an issue for gamers.

The traditional Asus perks
In keeping with the largely consumer-friendly software package, Asus includes a handful of useful extras with the G50V. Upon opening the laptop's box, you'll be greeted by a second, smaller box snuggled up against this:

Asus almost always includes some kind of carrying case with its laptops, and the G50V comes with an olive green backpack fashioned with a "Republic of Gamers" emblem. Of course, that's not all.

Also included is this mouse, which more astute readers may recognize as a re-branded Logitech MX518 optical gaming mouse. The MX518 is a popular choice among gamers, and it helps make the G50V feel like a complete package. Asus also throws in a copy of Atari's Alone in the Dark. Two out of three ain't bad, I guess. It's nice to get a game bundled with the system, of course, but Alone in the Dark only managed an average score of 53% on GameRankings, so it's hardly a must-have title.

In addition to Alone in the Dark disc, you'll also find an Asus applications disc, DVD playback software, and a recovery disc. The recovery disc might seem like a small thing, but not every notebook maker includes one. When you're splashing out over a grand for a new laptop, the inclusion of recovery media that costs probably pennies to press should be a given.

The last perk associated with the G50V may yet be the most delightful of all: two years of warranty coverage coupled with one year of accidental damage coverage and a zero bright dot policy. Warranty coverage this extensive is unheard of from other manufacturers without paying at least a hundred to two hundred dollars more.