Asus is so stoked about the release of its ROG Strix GL702VM, 17.3-inch “slim” gaming laptop, that it’s begun taking orders for the device immediately. Asus aims at showing the world that a gaming, and even VR-ready, device doesn’t have to be a big desktop beast. Many gaming laptops can be some hefty burdens, but only if you were to decide to haul it around somewhere, which most people don’t.

Hence, anytime you see a power-driving gaming machine not look like a cinderblock, it means the trend of portable PC gaming is continuing to catch on. PC gaming has gone through a series of changes, as follows- you could buy your own gaming-ready desktop computer and game, game away. Then came the build your own PC trend (I’m not sure when it started), that continues to carry on, which allows gamers the ability to custom build, swap, and most importantly, choose which hardware components they want in their device. This can be the most affordable way to PC game, and many have found this method to be a lovable hobby. or simply the most feasible way to get what they want without being restricted to all that extra pre-installed fluff software that comes with game-ready desktops.

The latest trend happens to be portable PC-gaming. However, it is difficult to do a build your own laptop-style, and many companies have been jumping on the gaming laptop bandwagon. As such, Asus says it's ROG Strix GL702VM, a 17.3-inch laptop with Full HD (1920 x 1080p) G-Sync display, is most definitely portable gaming, still with a decent-sized chassis. However, believe it or not, that large display only causes a weight of just 6 pounds, and its body simply an inch thick- at its thickest point when closed.

The ROG Strix GL702VM features the Nvidia GeForce GTX 10 graphics card series, and in this model you’ll particularly find the GTX 1060 chip, 6GB of GDDR5 video memory, up to a 1TB HDD at 7,200RPM, an SSD of up to 256GB, and an M.2 SSD of up to 256GB as well. Connectivity includes an audio jack, one USB 3.1 Type-C, three regular USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet port, HDMI output, and mini DisplayPort jack. Plus, the mentioned G-Sync technology means more than a nice steady display, but a refresh rate that mimics what the output of the GTX GPU is doing, said to “eliminate screen tearing and stutter”.

Along with most ROG laptops, this Strix model comes with Asus’s ROG Gaming Center software pre-installed, which makes personalizing your own gaming lighting effects, overclocking options, and key macros fun, and just to your liking. The Asus store has the gaming device up for sale in two iterations, the DB71 and DB74, both of which offer pretty much all the same specs, except storage on the DB71, which includes a terabyte of 7200rpm HDD, while the DB74 has a 256GB SATA III SSD, plus 1TB of that 7200rpm HDD storage. They both include Bluetooth 4.1, Gigabit Ethernet jacks, Intel 8260 2x2 802.11ac for Wireless, and all the ports mentioned. Pricing on the ROG Strix GL702VM-DB71, and ROG Strix GL702VM-DB74 run for $1,399 and $1,599, respectively.