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Game on: ASUS drops price of G501 “gaming” laptop to more competitive level

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Asus
When we reviewed Asus’ G501 gaming laptop earlier this month, we noted that while its battery life was strong and it sported a beautiful 4K display, it really fell down when it came to bang for the buck. Its performance, particularly in gaming, didn’t seem to warrant its price tag. As you can imagine, for a laptop billing itself as a gaming machine, that’s not exactly a rousing recommendation.

Fortunately, it seems that Asus was listening, as it’s just announced a price cut for the gaming machine.

According to an Asus representative, the price tag for the high-end 4K notebook is being dropped from $2,000 down to a more acceptable $1700.

Related: Asus ROG G501 review

While this doesn’t necessarily make it a cheap buy, it does at least make it a more viable one. Better yet, it offers consumers looking to spend under $2,000 on a gaming laptop more choice, since with this price point it’s straying very near the Acer Aspire V15 Nitro, which retails at a few hundred dollars less.

When we reviewed that machine late last year, we found it to be a standout for its 4K display and stellar performance, but one noticeable area that it fell down on was battery life. The eagle-eyed among you may have picked up on the fact that this factor is one of the Asus notebook’s key strengths.

While there is still quite a price gap between the pair, this latest shuffle does make the landscape a little more interesting, inviting consumers to make a choice based on performance versus battery life. We must admit though, neither laptop is much of a looker. If you want to show off your wealth with your gaming laptop purchase, there are probably better options out there.

With that in mind though, price drops from major manufacturers can often herald similar cuts from competitors, so watch this space as there may be even better deals coming.

Available at: Newegg

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
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