ASUS G70

It's the Asus G70 gaming laptop. Then saw a shiny thing, got distracted and forgot to tell you about it. Thankfully the magpie syndrome has waned, so we'll take this opportunity to lay a few words.

As you can see from the picture it's not particularly attractive, but it is very 'gamey'. In other words it's huge, has more flashing lights than an airliner and a brushed aluminium lid that Asus reckons looks like a suit of armour. We're not sure about that, but it definitely looks like it could put a good-sized dent in your floor if you dropped it.

Details:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 (2.6GHz)

Memory: 4096MB (2048x2) DDRII 667

Graphics card: 2x Nvidia GeForce 8700M GT DDR3 512MB in SLI

HDD: 640GB (320GB x2, 5400rpm)

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

Disc Drive: DVD Super-Multi Light Scribe/ Blu-Ray Reader/ Blu-Ray RW

Network Connectivity: 10/100/1000, 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V2.0+EDR

Screen: 17" TFT WUXGA, Colour-Shine, 1,440 x 900 native res

Weight: 4.9kg with battery

Extras: Two year global warranty, Asus branded Razer Copperhead mouse, super-cool Asus rucksack

So, a few things to bear in mind. Firstly, this hardware set-up is a complete mix of high end and mainstream - Asus doesn't seem to know what the system really deserves. It’s running a 32-bit version of Vista for starters, not the 64-bit version offered in other laptops like the Kobalt Comanche SLI so it's 4GB of memory is instantly limited.

The massive chassis allows it to ship with twin hard drives, and you can cram up to 8GB of system memory into it. That's quite a lot. You also get Altec Lansing speakers with a base-mounted subwoofer, HDMI out, and an embedded TV tuner card. We're not sure how much it'll cost or when it'll ship, but it'll be out this side of summer. We'll bring you a full review when Asus sends us one.