15.6" Vortex IV LE - REVIEW

Fourteenth

Active member
Chassis & Display Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/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
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 Cable 1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Insurance 1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days


Order price: £945

After now owning the laptop for over a week, I thought i'd write a review on the product, was my first time buying from PC Specialist, and I am overall happy with the quality of the product, and the time it took to build. At first, I was a little unsure about buying a laptop off the internet, as I've never done it before, But I must admit, It's the best choice I could have made, as the value for money is far better than retailers, plus I noticed in most shops these days, they no longer sell windows 7, which of course I wanted on my laptop.

I'll start with the build time & Dates:
Processed Date 01-08-2013
Pre-Production Date 06-08-2013
Build Date 20-08-2013
Test Date 27-08-2013
Awaiting Dispatch Date 27-08-2013
Dispatch Date 28-08-2013


I Then got it delivered on the 29th, so overall, I was waiting around 29 days for my laptop.

When it got delivered, the packaging was very good, was well wrapped.

Moving onto the actual laptop itself, The keyboard and touch pad is very nice to use, and has a real nice feel to them, the buttons don't feel cheap and tacky like a lot of laptops.
in regards to the screen, I did ideally want a glossy screen, but the Vortex IV LE didn't allow this option, But having received the matte screen, I am very happy with it, the colours are of good quality, and are very vibrant when the laptop is running on full power.

In terms of run speed, my laptop powers up in the matter of 5-8 seconds, with only a load time of around 1-2 seconds once password has been typed in, I ordered a SSD instead of a HDD, as I wanted programs etc to load quicker, and I feel this was a very good choice, The only downside to my decision is that I regret not adding a bigger SSD, I've found with 120GB, I am going to be very limited to what I will be able to download and install, but I guess I always have the option to upgrade it on a later date.

For gaming, this laptop seems very ideal, although I haven't played on any high spec needed games as of yet, I feel it should quite smoothly run them, I've been playing a few games like path of exile etc, and it runs no problem on max graphic settings.

Up to now, had no real problems with the laptop itself, and hopefully It will continue to work without any issues, but if not, I decided to take out the silver warranty, but not 100% sure what that covers me for, Thanks PC Specialist! Will definitely recommend the site to friends and family.

I Hope my review is of use, below are some images of the actual laptop.

IMG00626-20130906-1658.jpgIMG00627-20130906-1659.jpgIMG00628-20130906-1659.jpgIMG00629-20130906-1701.jpg
 

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Nice review and pics + rep.
Silver warranty /1 year free collection and return/1 year parts/3 year labour.
 

Fourteenth

Active member
Thanks :), Yeahh I see, But I'm a little confused what that means, does it mean if I have a problem with the laptop, I've got 3 years of free labour on the laptop etc?
Thanks alot :)
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Thanks :), Yeahh I see, But I'm a little confused what that means, does it mean if I have a problem with the laptop, I've got 3 years of free labour on the laptop etc?
Thanks alot :)

Yes but parts (e.g. faulty gpu or ssd) only 1 year from PCS however the manufacturer warranty will still be active.
 

rav007

Enthusiast
The only downside to my decision is that I regret not adding a bigger SSD, I've found with 120GB, I am going to be very limited to what I will be able to download and install, but I guess I always have the option to upgrade it on a later date.

I was surprised you went for a 120gb alone, not sure how much the OS takes up but I couldn't make that work myself I always end up with too much on my computer. However, I would recommend looking into Plextor msata SSD's, they do a 128gb one for about 90 quid on amazon and Plextor have fantastic reviews because they have a good testing process, only the flawless chips leave the factory. I enquired at PCS and they told me this laptop has 2 msata slots too. I think it is a good shout going SSD especially for games because load screens in games like modern warfare 3 and skyrim for me went from 1 to 2 minutes on HDD to 15-30 seconds on an SSD!

What is the overall feel of the product/material? It is so difficult to find anything on this one under its clevo or other names but nevertheless, I bought one just yesterday on a fast track because I am too impatient. I am going to have to find some way of filling the time over the next week before it arrives!
 
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