Lafité 13.3"

Chassis & Display
[rollinglaugh]:yawn: Silver Aluminium Chassis: 13.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Dual Core Processor i5-5200U (2.20GHz, 2.7GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 5500 (Only with Intel® Core™ CPUs)
1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
120GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 520MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
Sound Card
Realtek 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-7265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Lafité Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6,300mAh)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 40W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
LAFITÉ SERIES INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
DVD Recovery Media
NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM


I originally wanted a dirt cheap laptop just to mess around with Linux. But when I couldn't find a suitable one on the high street, I thought what the hey! Let's buy a decent one from PC Specialist. I bought my gaming desktop from here, so I'm familiar with their excellent quality and great tech support/customer service.

Despite ordering the i5, I buckled and changed my order to the i7 a day before it was due to be built! I'm incorrigible, I know

It's really thin, at 1.8cm, and the aluminium chassis is quite slick looking. Looks like a MacBook, but without the apple logo (and half the price with better spec!) The only complaint I have, is that there it a little bend in the metal just below the webcam - not a huge factor for me. It's quite light also, nice to have on my lap and code while the footie is on.

The HD screen is very crisp and HD pictures look great as the desktop background.

I ordered an SSD to put the OS on, so it's completely silent when running, unless I access the standard hard drive which I use for storage.

I ended up installing Ubuntu. This, I think, is the best choice for a Linux noob, as there is a really good gui that helps ease you into the new OS. Although, after a couple of weeks, I'm using the command line more and more. But this is about the computer and not about ununtu, so enough about that. I'll just say that the wifi/Bluetooth work fine, as Ubuntu will automatically install the latest drivers for you. Also, the sound works.

I haven't done any gaming on it yet, so I can't comment on the graphics capability, but that's not why I bought it.

I've been running several virtual machines, and it copes fine with 2 (the most I've run simultaneously), and could handle more depending on what you're doing.

The sound is a bit "tinny"' but what do you expect from a 1.8cm thick piece of metal! Bluetooth speakers would be a good option for music.

So, if you're looking for a portable, stylish, powerful laptop. I would recommend the Lafité.

I've heard the touchpad isn't very good, what's it like?

The touchpad on mine is ok I've read about lack of functionality on Linux; the two finger right-click works and so does the page scrolling with the edge of the pad.

It's very stable, and doesn't wobble as others have reported. There is a little more action on the two buttons than would be ideal, but it doesn't really bother me.

Any comments on the battery and the heating with the i7?

Not sure yet tbh. Once I've put it through a little more intense use, I'll make another post re the battery and CPU heating. (If I remember )

ric said:

Not sure yet tbh. Once I've put it through a little more intense use, I'll make another post re the battery and CPU heating. (If I remember )

Click to expand...

have you got an update on that yet ?

how loud can the fan get?

thanks

also what is the boot time??

Any updates?

Did you take the dead pixel guarantee? And are there any dead pixels on yours?

On Windows 8.1, boot time on a HDD would be anywhere between 30seconds - 1 minute or maybe more.

On an SSD, it'll be no more than 10 seconds at max. Though that's a slight generalisation.
Really depends on your processor also the number of programs you have installed - as well as what HDD or SSD the OS is installed on.

I would recommend on any PC to ALWAYS ensure the OS is at least installed on either an SSD or SSHD