15.6" Vortex III 3740QM, GTX680M, very pleased with laptop and service

[brukin]

Build:
Vortex Series: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
128GB KINGSTON V200 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (300MB/R, 190MB/W) (Special Offer)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
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
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 3 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£59)

Delivery and Packaging:
Turned up at my work late in the afternoon (but still in timeframe of the 3 day fast track build). Big box with foam keeping the smaller "Notebook computer" box in place. Nothing loose or detached from the laptop, all as it should be. DPD delivered it in the timeframe that was reported by their tracking info.

Service:
All in all I'm a happy camper, PCS staff were good at all stages of this purchase. Providing information, cancellation of my order with a 7970M equipped Vortex (although posting a cheque out to refund payment made by bank transfer was a bit of a pain) and constant updates of the orders progress. And everyone I dealt over Live chat was polite and informative, although no real comment was made about the 7970M Clevo Enduro issues other than a recommendation of the GTX680M.

First impressions:
Unfortunately I didn't get much of a chance to do much with it on the first day of ownership, I ran windows updates etc. while "working". Installed keyboard software and activated the THX sound tool. Quite impressed with the boot time and system response given that I only opted for the special offer Kingston 128GB V200 drive (plan to switch it out for a 500GB Seagate Momentus XT I already have). Matt AUO screen is lovely. Makes my crappy HP work monitors look rubbish. Windows update has identified the monitor as "Thinkpad Display 1920x1080" and using a icc colour profile for that. I guess it must be the same panel used in Thinkpads then? Was worried about typing on the keyboard as some people reported screen shaking when typing, or keys not functioning properly. Have to say it's all good, just had to get used to the smaller return key, left shift key seems to be noisier than other keys but nothing major to complain about.

Audio is another area that has been reported as being bad. I found it isn't actually bad in terms of quality, noticed many nuances in the game music of SC2 that I hadn't heard when playing on my old laptop. Only thing it lacks is bass, even with headphones. Will see how I feel about it after playing some other games, watching some Blu-rays etc. The THX software allows for making the speaker "bigger" as far as I can work out. This fleshed out the sound a little when using the built in speakers, and boosting highs and lows with the Crystalliser(strange name for the THX graphic equaliser).

So far I've only managed a quick game of StarCraft2 and with VSync turned off(just to get an idea of what the GPU can push out) and just having a few things building and mining at my base the in game FPS counter reported something like 240fps(think maybe the ultra settings hadn't applied as today I've gotten 66+fps), and that was with it set to Ultra. Still downloading some of the patch (but was at the playable stage) so not sure if some of that might be textures or such and bring the fps down a bit. Obviously big battles with lots of units will bring it down but I'm guessing it will not get below 60fps More testing to come after some more game installing and Steam library downloads.

Will get some pics up when I can and further feedback after more messing around

 

[lunarchamp]

Nice , i hope it's all you expected, enjoy.

 

[neiman]

how you finding the keyboard mate? - i'm not impressed with mine for a gaming laptop, expected more

 

[brukin]

how you finding the keyboard mate? - i'm not impressed with mine for a gaming laptop, expected more

Only had one quick game of StarCraft 2, but coming from a much cheaper Acer laptop I thought the keys were alright. Not as good as my logitech desktop keyboards though but that's to be expected really.

Was worried about typing on the keyboard as some people reported screen shaking when typing, or keys not functioning properly. Have to say it's all good, just had to get used to the smaller return key, left shift key seems to be noisier than other keys but nothing major to complain about.

 

[rickne]

how you finding the keyboard mate? - i'm not impressed with mine for a gaming laptop, expected more

Totally agree. Buttons are just too squished. When you consider the Alienware keyboard below which has spaces in the right places. Espcially around the cursors.

View attachment 2073

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[brukin]

Dunno, I've gotten used to using laptop keyboards on a variety of Dells and HPs over the years so I don't mind squished keyboards. My Acer had a squished in numpad, and until recently I've used Logitech Dinovo Edge wireless keyboards which also have fairly laptop like tight spaced keys. I guess the only concessions that the keyboard makes to gaming are the arrows on the wasd keys... and the fancy coloured splits between parts of the keyboard. Would have been nice to have features like the G110 gaming keyboard from Logi, but I can't say that I'm terribly disappointed with it.

 

[rickne]

2 things are the biggest annoyance. Im gonna have to disable the mouse pad in system as having to swith it off each time i reboot using the fn keys is a pain in the backside. Also the shift key so close to the up cursor. The rest i can deal with .

 

[brukin]

2 things are the biggest annoyance. Im gonna have to disable the mouse pad in system as having to swith it off each time i reboot using the fn keys is a pain in the backside. Also the shift key so close to the up cursor. The rest i can deal with .

Don't think I've used the right shift key often. Things I've noticed is hitting the / key instead of the space bar with my right thumb, and the lack of the left windows key (but most gaming laptops have disable switches or software so you don't hit it during gaming and return to desktop). Might have to disable the trackpad too, usefully the Acer Aspire I had before had a button beside the trackpad to enable or disable it and it seemed to store the setting.

I have to say at the price of the laptop compared to some others (Macbook prices, Alienware/MSI/Asus) I think the Clevo is the best bang for the buck. But like anything when you aren't buying the more expensive brand there are usually a few things that aren't as polished. I mean this thing is twice the value of the Acer I had before, but most of that value is in the internal hardware and not the design aesthetics and useful functions.

 

[rickne]

Totally understand the overall performance of this computer outweighs significantly these noted niggles, but a bit of constructive feedback can't help. Other wise these niggles may always be there.

 

[brukin]

One other niggle. I thought one of the USB 3.0 ports was meant to be "always powered" as long as the laptop was plugged in (even when switched off). But found my Logitech Performance MX doesn't charge from either of them when the laptop is off. Or maybe I missed a driver install that allows that to function?

Other nice touch for the future from Clevo could be to make the system lights which are blue, changable as well. I think it looks a bit wrong having a red or yellow keyboard with little blue lights along side.

 

[rickne]

The USB 3 ports are the ones on the left right? I dont have mine right now.

 

[brukin]

Yup, with the one I'm trying to charge from being the closest to the ethernet port. It's marked with a USB symbol and a little battery icon with a thunderbolt on it. To be fair it doesn't seem to be mentioned on the PCS specs. I think I read it on a review of another resellers Clevo 150EM. Although I'd have thought it would have been a chipset feature and not something custom done by the reseller.

The powered USB 3.0 port can supply power (for charging devices
only, not for operating devices) when the system is off but still powered by the AC/DC adapter
plugged into a working outlet, or powered by the battery with a capacity level above 20% (this may not
work with certain devices - see page 8 - 13). Toggle power to this port by using Fn + power button.

I press FN power and the computer goes to sleep. Hmm.

 

[brukin]

Kingston V200 became undetected in the laptop, switched it out for Seagate Momentus XT and laptop is working fine. V200 detected properly on my desktop machine. More investigation to be conducted.

 

[AJ_]

I press FN power and the computer goes to sleep. Hmm.

it works once the computer is off or asleep. just hold Fn and press the power button once and your device should start charging

 

[brukin]

it works once the computer is off or asleep. just hold Fn and press the power button once and your device should start charging

AHA! so obvious once someone's pointed it out to me Thanks AJ_

 

[brukin]

Sound is lacking in bass regardless of what you do with THX settings and windows OS sound settings. Ended up doing what most others seem to do and bought an Asus U3 USB sound card, much better sound from it than the laptops output. Just about the only disappointing thing about the Vortex III.

 

[brukin]

Now retrofitted with 256GB Crucial M4, plug and play. No problem with fitting other than having to take a larger base plate off to get to the slot. Recognised as SATA3 port with 1 and 2 being HD and Optical, and detected by Windows without any problem. Next will be 3rd install of Windows and games etc. to the mSata (now done 128GB SSD that came with the machine, replacement 500GB Momentus XT and now this.... *yawn*).