 What is it about gaming laptops that really gets you fired up? Is it the flashy angular designs? Maybe the thick cooling? The anemic battery life and super heavy power bricks? Yes, bricks. Sometimes they have more than one. Well... Asus clearly didn't think it was any of those things because their follow-up to last year's GL502, the GL503 features none of them. Synergy 2 makes sharing one mouse and keyboard between multiple computers so simple and seamless that anyone can do it. Check it out today through the link below. Picking up the GL503 Scar Edition, ours is the VS configuration, the most immediately noticeable thing is the significant difference in build quality compared to the last generation. It's noticeably thinner, which gives it, along with the faux carbon fiber finish here and the darkened brushed aluminum on the back panel, a bit of extra curb appeal. Now, as for its little brother, the GL503 Hero Edition, this is a VM model, this guy gets kind of a feathery half-tone vinyl wrap that looks pretty cool up close, but then from a bit further away, subjectively, I think kind of looks like dust or dirt or something like this. Now, although they share a common chassis, the keyboard area of the Scar Edition compared to the Hero is quite a bit stiffer, leading us to originally believe that this surface really is made of carbon fiber, hence the title of the video, but as I alluded to before, it is not. It should be noted both of them are on the excellent side of acceptable though, with better screen flex than the previous gen as an added bonus. There's more than meets the eye though when you're comparing the two incoming models. While both of them come equipped with five USB 3.1 ports, four Type A and one Type C, the Scar Edition's Type C over here is Thunderbolt 3 enabled, allowing it to drive up to three external displays. Speaking of displays, let's switch back over to the Hero here. ASUS used a 120Hz AHVA panel for the Hero. That's pretty good, but the Scar sports a brighter 144Hz IPS G-Sync affair, with both of them boasting 100% coverage of the Adobe RGB color gamut for getting real work done, and they both deliver a spectacularly smooth gaming experience. In all but the most demanding titles, a GTX 1070 can get near the 100fps mark on medium to high settings, and then especially on the Scar's G-Sync display, I mean, this is a huge upgrade compared to whatever kind of gaming notebook you're running from a couple of years ago. Inside them, we find mostly the same guts that powered the GL502, except this time with more storage thanks to Seagate's FireCuda SSHD hybrid drives. ASUS also added intake vents above the keyboard, and then a cutout on the rear of the display hinge that actually clears both the intake and exhaust vents, and allows the laptop to breathe easy whether the lid is open or closed. And then as a neat little bonus, this notch right here actually gives you a quick look at the main indicator LEDs while the notebook is shut. Specs aside, in terms of expansion, they've both got two DDR4 SODIMM slots with one slot populated on each of them, and NVMe SSD support along with a single 2.5-inch SATA mount. Where they really differ internally is in their cooling setups, which might help explain the extra stiffness of the Scar. It didn't throttle one bit, even under a combined CPU and GPU load. That is as long as you don't mind the mini vacuum sound that accompanies ASUS's OverBoost mode. By comparison, the Hero and the last gen GL502 put up much worse results. As for our gaming tests, it showed a bit of a blow for blow between the GL502 and our Scar, with all configurations scoring within 10 FPS of their desktop equivalents. Except in CSGO where... Okay, yeah, they were different, but like... If somebody offered you a 600 scoop ice cream sundae versus a 700 scoop ice cream sundae, would you really worry about it? For productivity, meanwhile, the Scar overtakes its predecessor, coming closer to our comparison desktop, thanks to its superior cooling with the Hero taking a backseat. Now, of course, all of that comes with a cost, and I'm not talking money yet. Without switchable graphics, both of our GL503 units put up unimpressive battery life numbers. So this is better than the gaming notebooks of yore, but if you're planning to use either of them for school, you might want to factor an extension cord and a power strip into your backpack's weight allowance. For those of you who care, the webcam and built-in microphone look and sound about like this, so serviceable, but I wouldn't go using them for streaming on Twitch or anything like that. As for the side-firing speakers, well, there are nothing to write home about either, but they're a significant upgrade in clarity over the previous model and well within the range of acceptable. Moving on to the keyboard and trackpad. Do you remember how the trackpad on the GL502 had this kind of lip that made it awkward to use? That's ancient history. Now we've got flush trackpads that feel smooth and easy to glide your fingers across with virtually no input lag, and four zones of RGB lighting on the keyboard. Now the switches themselves are just as satisfying as the GL502, and the layout is improved with full-sized arrow keys now, making them easier to find by touch. So overall, I've got to say Asus did an excellent job of refining this design. It's still not to a level where I'd call it perfect, and sure, at these prices, you can get this raw performance for less, not to mention with better battery life. But what Asus brings to the table here is superior build quality, expansion, cooling performance, especially in the Scar, and perhaps most importantly, again, especially on the 144Hz Scar, truly gaming-grade screens. Recommended. We're teaming up with Audible to show you just how easy it is to use your Echo to listen to any audiobook you'd like. Alexa, read a song of ice and fire. Just like that. Does anyone else get kind of like a McDeath vibe from this? You know what, don't worry about it. The point is, Audible has an unbeatable selection there for the asking, including audiobooks featuring celebrity narrators, bestsellers, and just about anything else on your reading list. You're in control. You can go from mobile to Echo listening and never lose your place. You can pause, you can go back, or you can set a timer. It's great for any time you want to listen, with the family, while relaxing, in the kitchen, at bedtime, that's where that timer comes in handy, etc. Try it for free now on your Echo device, and when you're ready for more, go to audible.com slash Linus, which we'll have linked below, or text Linus to 500-500 for another free book with a one-month trial. I love that. Text Linus to 500-500 for your special offer today! So thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description. Also down there is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one, and our community forum, which you should totally join. Whenever I do that, I feel like I've got like a nipple eruption. Now what the fuck?