Hello there, I've had my new laptop for a full week now, and since the community here was so informative in helping me decide what to buy, I figured the least I can do is post a review of what I got. For a very quick summary, I'll say I got a powerful machine at a very competative price. Part of that saving is certainly coming from the chassis.
Here are the specs:
Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V+200 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (535MB/R, 460MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Total cost was £750.
I was originally planning to get Windows 7, at a total cost of £829, but I removed that when I realised that many insurance companies won't insure a laptop worth more than £750. Fortunately, PCS charge exactly £79 for Windows home, so after removing that the Laptop is right on the limit of most cheaper policies. Something to keep in mind perhaps?
Anyway, on with the review. First impressions were excellent. Like many others on this site I got a very precise delivery time bracket, I nipped outside a minute before it and sure enough, there the delivery guy was. So spot on service from the courier.
There are already discussions of packaging, so suffice to say everything seemed to be well packed and protected. No problems.
On boot up I discovered that PCS had placed a trial version of Windows 8 on the drive, which installed itself without difficulty. I had been about to install Windows 7 by USB but decided to give 8 a go, and I don't regret it. It's not so bad to use as I've been hearing, although it is a pain in the backside to change any settings. I'll be buying a key for Windows 8 from PCS (also £79) on payday.
I should mention that my previous laptop for 4 years was basically a brick, and I have little experience of tricked out computers, so I can't really talk about the performance without gushing about how great it feels to turn UP the graphical settings in a game for the first time in my life. Objectivity aside then, it runs everything I've tried on it like a dream (Shogun 2, Mechwarrior Online and others) and I'll be trying Metro 2033 later this week, so I'll let you know on that one.
The screen is beautiful, and not a dead pixel in sight. My girlfriend, who is short sighted, gave it a go as well and said having the large HD screen did make things much easier to read. The lid has a nice textured finish on the back, but holding each corner reveals a disturbing amount of flexibility in the screen mount. I definitely want that insurance!
A colleague of mine told me, after I showed him the specs, that he reckoned the only way PCS could offer this high spec a laptop at this price is if they are saving money on the chassis. I think he's right, and a part of me wishes I'd gone for the Vortex or Skyfire models.
The keyboard is nice and functional (chiclet design I think it's called?), and despite the keys being smaller than I'm used to I still find it very comfortable to type on even with my shovel-sized hands. But it feels flimsy. With every letter I'm typing I can hear and feel a small rattle run through the surface of the machine. Press and hold down on a key, particularly the home keys, and I can see the flex in the casing. The (huge) resting area is made of the same plastic, although it doesn't flex in the same way at all, and is very comfortable. I can't really talk about the touchpad much, as I use an external mouse, but it seems responsive enough for purpose.
In terms of design, I can't say I like the Escape key being right next to the power button, I've already put it to sleep by mistake a couple of times. As for the 'VGA' key on the other end, I haven't looked into what it does closely enough to talk about it properly, though as I broadly understand it it switches between preferred Nvidia GPU vs Intel HD. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
For sound, the reports are true, and it can be a bit tinny if you listen closely. I'm fine with it for games, but I notice it more in those with bombastic soundtracks. If you listen to a lot of music you'll want to invest in a set of externals.
Also on that note, I got really worried when I tried to plug in my speakers, and they wouldn't fit! I thought maybe it was a non-standard jack, but no, it's just a very, very tight fit. I have to use a level of force I'm not entirely comfortable applying anywhere near a machine this price.
I know this will come across as a very negative review, but that only goes as far as the outside of the machine. I will emphasize that I simply don't have any real basis for comparison so far as performance goes. What I do know is that I could not find a laptop of this spec, for anything less than another £200 on top, anywhere else at retail or on the 'net. Clearly yes, PCS are making a part of this saving on the chassis, and as much as I've criticized it, I don't begrudge them that. In the end it still does everything I want it to, I am looking forward to taking advantage of that spare SATA slot. And all at a price I can afford. I just want to make sure that any other buyers know what they are getting with the Optimus IV model.
Edit: By the way, I have to give the thumbs up for PCS's customer service. Every time I called, before and after ordering, I got through without hassle and the people on the other end are A) friendly and B) evidently know what they are talking about.
Here are the specs:
Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V+200 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (535MB/R, 460MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Total cost was £750.
I was originally planning to get Windows 7, at a total cost of £829, but I removed that when I realised that many insurance companies won't insure a laptop worth more than £750. Fortunately, PCS charge exactly £79 for Windows home, so after removing that the Laptop is right on the limit of most cheaper policies. Something to keep in mind perhaps?
Anyway, on with the review. First impressions were excellent. Like many others on this site I got a very precise delivery time bracket, I nipped outside a minute before it and sure enough, there the delivery guy was. So spot on service from the courier.
There are already discussions of packaging, so suffice to say everything seemed to be well packed and protected. No problems.
On boot up I discovered that PCS had placed a trial version of Windows 8 on the drive, which installed itself without difficulty. I had been about to install Windows 7 by USB but decided to give 8 a go, and I don't regret it. It's not so bad to use as I've been hearing, although it is a pain in the backside to change any settings. I'll be buying a key for Windows 8 from PCS (also £79) on payday.
I should mention that my previous laptop for 4 years was basically a brick, and I have little experience of tricked out computers, so I can't really talk about the performance without gushing about how great it feels to turn UP the graphical settings in a game for the first time in my life. Objectivity aside then, it runs everything I've tried on it like a dream (Shogun 2, Mechwarrior Online and others) and I'll be trying Metro 2033 later this week, so I'll let you know on that one.
The screen is beautiful, and not a dead pixel in sight. My girlfriend, who is short sighted, gave it a go as well and said having the large HD screen did make things much easier to read. The lid has a nice textured finish on the back, but holding each corner reveals a disturbing amount of flexibility in the screen mount. I definitely want that insurance!
A colleague of mine told me, after I showed him the specs, that he reckoned the only way PCS could offer this high spec a laptop at this price is if they are saving money on the chassis. I think he's right, and a part of me wishes I'd gone for the Vortex or Skyfire models.
The keyboard is nice and functional (chiclet design I think it's called?), and despite the keys being smaller than I'm used to I still find it very comfortable to type on even with my shovel-sized hands. But it feels flimsy. With every letter I'm typing I can hear and feel a small rattle run through the surface of the machine. Press and hold down on a key, particularly the home keys, and I can see the flex in the casing. The (huge) resting area is made of the same plastic, although it doesn't flex in the same way at all, and is very comfortable. I can't really talk about the touchpad much, as I use an external mouse, but it seems responsive enough for purpose.
In terms of design, I can't say I like the Escape key being right next to the power button, I've already put it to sleep by mistake a couple of times. As for the 'VGA' key on the other end, I haven't looked into what it does closely enough to talk about it properly, though as I broadly understand it it switches between preferred Nvidia GPU vs Intel HD. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
For sound, the reports are true, and it can be a bit tinny if you listen closely. I'm fine with it for games, but I notice it more in those with bombastic soundtracks. If you listen to a lot of music you'll want to invest in a set of externals.
Also on that note, I got really worried when I tried to plug in my speakers, and they wouldn't fit! I thought maybe it was a non-standard jack, but no, it's just a very, very tight fit. I have to use a level of force I'm not entirely comfortable applying anywhere near a machine this price.
I know this will come across as a very negative review, but that only goes as far as the outside of the machine. I will emphasize that I simply don't have any real basis for comparison so far as performance goes. What I do know is that I could not find a laptop of this spec, for anything less than another £200 on top, anywhere else at retail or on the 'net. Clearly yes, PCS are making a part of this saving on the chassis, and as much as I've criticized it, I don't begrudge them that. In the end it still does everything I want it to, I am looking forward to taking advantage of that spare SATA slot. And all at a price I can afford. I just want to make sure that any other buyers know what they are getting with the Optimus IV model.
Edit: By the way, I have to give the thumbs up for PCS's customer service. Every time I called, before and after ordering, I got through without hassle and the people on the other end are A) friendly and B) evidently know what they are talking about.
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h34r: As you say though, you'd be hard pushed to find another laptop with that level of performance under £1000, let alone £750. 
