The Asus ROG Strix GL503VD is a budget gaming laptop with style.
Traditionally priced at $1,299, it's currently on sale for $999 at Amazon, which beats Newegg's price for the same system by $250.
Buy Asus ROG Strix GL503VD on Amazon.com
Under the hood you get a 2.8GHz Core i7-7700HQ quad-core processor, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD with 1TB HDD, and a 4GB GTX 1050 video card.
For a budget gaming rig, the ROG Strix GL503VD sports an impressive 1080p display that covers 113 percent of the sRGB color gamut. That's more vivid than the mainstream notebook average of 101 percent. In our tests, the colors were also nice and bright with a 297-nit rating on our light meter, which again beats the category average of 257 nits.
The ROG Strix GL503VD a plethora of ports including three USB 3.0, USB Type-C, USB 2.0, HDMI, Ethernet, and a Mini DisplayPort.
It also has an RGB backlit keyboard with dedicated keys for volume, muting a headset, and accessing Asus' Gaming Center software.
In terms of performance, the Strix will plow through everyday task and will let you play popular titles at respectable settings. For instance, we played Battlefield 1 and ran it between 42 and 53 fps on ultra settings at 1080p.
Things to look out for include an unpleasant touchpad — you'll definitely want to bring your own mouse — and short battery life (3 hours and 32 minutes), which is due to the dedicated graphics card. Otherwise, it's a solid machine for budget gamers.
