Cosmos VII Initial impressions

rogerggbr

Member
Background:-
This is my third laptop from PCS. First died after about 5 years (motherboard), second Laffite III still going strong. Bought to replace home based Lenovo (about 7 years old) which is almost dead. I considered another Laffite but wanted a larger screen and didn't need the portability.
Spec:-
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen
(1920x1080)
Intel® CoreTM i5 Quad Core Processor 8300H (2.3GHz, 4.0GHz Turbo)
8GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE
(7,200rpm)
256GB ADATA SU800 M.2 2280 (560 MB/R, 520 MB/W)
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
1 x 90W AC Adaptor
Cosmos VII Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlasterTM Cinema 3
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
United Kingdom - English Language
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Total Order Price £670.0

The SSD means it is really fast to boot. It took about an hour or so to install Ubuntu 18.04 + maybe another hour to let it do all the updates.
I was a little nervous over the whole UEFI thing but it went perfectly and all hardware appears to be working.
The second disc provides loads of storage for photos etc. I don't play games on it so processor speed not really important.
I like the keyboard, nicely backlit. Battery appears to be long lasting but these are only my first impressions, no proper testing or comparison yet.
Obviously compared to a laffite it is quite big and bulky, but it will suit me for it's largely static use.
Screen is excellent as expected.
The only thing I don't like is the lack of contrast between the touchpad area and the case - both are black so difficult to see in low light. No doubt I will get used to it or some stickers will be deployed :)
Overall - very pleased so far.
 
Top