Daniel-3640
Member
I have been looking for a new laptop since January of this year to replace my aging lenovo T430s. I had spent ages looking around trying to decide on the best one for my needs. I was after a portable laptop that i could use to edit go pro footage and do some gaming neither of which i could do with the Lenovo it was to slow and the screen wasn't in hd so i couldn't watch any footage i took.
To meet those needs i was after a laptop with a decent processor and graphics card and ideally a good battery. When i first started looking i did the usual and looked at the named brand offers and that led me down the gaming laptop route. I was very close to buying one until i went into a local shop and seen the size of them even the 15.6" gaming laptops are big and heavy to much so for my needs. I am heading off back packing at the end of the year and plan on doing a fair bit of motorcycle travel to so a 15.6" laptop was out of the question. My Lenovo laptop seemed to me to be a good compromise at 14" between the small and compact chrome book size laptops and the 15.6" so i then started to look at the 14" offerings.
There isn't a lot of options out there in this size if you want a good spec processor and graphics card unless your willing to spend big bucks and with a budget of just over £1000 that wasn't achievable. Some more internet searches and i came across the 14" Defiance III from pc specialist which seemed to fit the bill perfectly only issue i could see would be the 2 hour battery life. I did some more research and couldn't find much about this laptop online but i couldn't find anything else at this price point with these specs so on the 21st April i placed my order.
15 Days later, a little longer than i was expecting however there was 2 bank holiday weekends over this period so im happy enough with that the laptop, arrived at my house. Opened the box to find the laptop very well packaged and secure and once unwrapped it was clear i made the right choice the size of the laptop is just what i was looking for, the shape, weight and feel of the laptop too are great it feels like a premium product. The keyboard is nice to use, good size buttons feel nice and are easy to push. I had a little issue with the touch pad to begin with it was lagging a lot and not going where i wanted it to but after a few windows updates this has cured it and now it works great.
First boot up was quick and the laptop easy to set up to my needs, windows 10 is a bit tricky to get used too coming from windows 7 but now after a week of using it i really like it. The screen is clear and bright although some slight bleed of back light in the top left corner how ever it is barley noticeable. Using it for video editing i don't have much to compare with but i am very happy with the speed in which it handles the rendering of the videos. Played a few games on it, Total war games, Halo wars 2 ( which i got for free with the processor ) and with the gtx1050ti it handles all of them on there highest setting and look fantastic on the hd screen. Sound is fantastic clear and crisp. Battery life is pretty accurate at 2 hours can be slightly longer or less depending on what your doing however after using it for a week i am not concerned by this at all its not an issue, i can always look into an external power pack if needed on my travels.
So far laptop has done everything i have asked of it, not had any crashes or mishaps i couldn't be happier with the laptop or my experience with pc specialist and i look forward to many happy years use out of this unit.
Daniel
To meet those needs i was after a laptop with a decent processor and graphics card and ideally a good battery. When i first started looking i did the usual and looked at the named brand offers and that led me down the gaming laptop route. I was very close to buying one until i went into a local shop and seen the size of them even the 15.6" gaming laptops are big and heavy to much so for my needs. I am heading off back packing at the end of the year and plan on doing a fair bit of motorcycle travel to so a 15.6" laptop was out of the question. My Lenovo laptop seemed to me to be a good compromise at 14" between the small and compact chrome book size laptops and the 15.6" so i then started to look at the 14" offerings.
There isn't a lot of options out there in this size if you want a good spec processor and graphics card unless your willing to spend big bucks and with a budget of just over £1000 that wasn't achievable. Some more internet searches and i came across the 14" Defiance III from pc specialist which seemed to fit the bill perfectly only issue i could see would be the 2 hour battery life. I did some more research and couldn't find much about this laptop online but i couldn't find anything else at this price point with these specs so on the 21st April i placed my order.
15 Days later, a little longer than i was expecting however there was 2 bank holiday weekends over this period so im happy enough with that the laptop, arrived at my house. Opened the box to find the laptop very well packaged and secure and once unwrapped it was clear i made the right choice the size of the laptop is just what i was looking for, the shape, weight and feel of the laptop too are great it feels like a premium product. The keyboard is nice to use, good size buttons feel nice and are easy to push. I had a little issue with the touch pad to begin with it was lagging a lot and not going where i wanted it to but after a few windows updates this has cured it and now it works great.
First boot up was quick and the laptop easy to set up to my needs, windows 10 is a bit tricky to get used too coming from windows 7 but now after a week of using it i really like it. The screen is clear and bright although some slight bleed of back light in the top left corner how ever it is barley noticeable. Using it for video editing i don't have much to compare with but i am very happy with the speed in which it handles the rendering of the videos. Played a few games on it, Total war games, Halo wars 2 ( which i got for free with the processor ) and with the gtx1050ti it handles all of them on there highest setting and look fantastic on the hd screen. Sound is fantastic clear and crisp. Battery life is pretty accurate at 2 hours can be slightly longer or less depending on what your doing however after using it for a week i am not concerned by this at all its not an issue, i can always look into an external power pack if needed on my travels.
So far laptop has done everything i have asked of it, not had any crashes or mishaps i couldn't be happier with the laptop or my experience with pc specialist and i look forward to many happy years use out of this unit.
Daniel
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