17.3" Optimus IV Waiting on Advice before order :)

[Kyzer]

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLUE WD7500BPVT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 8MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
2nd 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® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + 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 European Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2013 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC (£9) *SPECIAL*
Keyboard & Mouse
OPTIMUS SERIES SCANDINAVIAN 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) (£5)
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

So this is the spec that i have plumped for after looking around.. Read a Review on this laptop on this forum which made my mind up for me.

I have a question before i order.. I have decided to go for 120g ssd, i will be using this pretty much solely for the operating system. I have put this in as the secondary drive, as i read that the ventilation is not so good for the secondary and did not want my main hardrive to get too warm..

I am not that knowledgeable when it some to this so was wondering if this was a good idea?

Also, i have ordered the scandinavian keyboard, i live in Norway but will be studying in England.. Does anyone know what a scandinavian keyboard is? My current macbook has a norwegian keyboard (extra letters å,ø,æ) And this is what i was looking for.

One more, i have gone for the 8gb ram (1x8gb) is this better then the 2x4gb? I went for 1x8gb as i thought it would be easier to upgrade my RAM in future.

For the money this has fantastic specs, as i am a graphic/media student it ticks all the boxes for me.

If someone would let me know on the above it would be very much appreciated.

 

[Phil]

If you got 2 x 4gb sticks of RAM you would get better performance through dual channel support

 

[Kyzer]

If you got 2 x 4gb sticks of RAM you would get better performance through dual channel support

How noticeable is the performance increase? And i guessin that as this laptop comes with 3 spaces i could just add another 4gb of ram after?

 

[Kyzer]

If i have posted this in the wrong section could a mod please move it to the correct section?

 

[vanthus]

Nice build,best make the SSD your first drive,this is where the OS ewill be installed,can't say I've heard of any overheating problems with that set up.
Nowadays,with DDR3 it probably wont make any difference with 1 x8GB or 2 x 4GB ram,having said that I would get 2 X 4GB as it's cheaper and you probably wont need more than 8GB anyway,but you could always add another 4GB in future if necessary.

 

[Kyzer]

Nice build,best make the SSD your first drive,this is where the OS ewill be installed,can't say I've heard of any overheating problems with that set up.
Nowadays,with DDR3 it probably wont make any difference with 1 x8GB or 2 x 4GB ram,having said that I would get 2 X 4GB as it's cheaper and you probably wont need more than 8GB anyway,but you could always add another 4GB in future if necessary.

Thanks for the reply.. That said i will change my spec to 2x4gb ram.

in regards to the overheating, I think i read it on a review or 2 on this site. plus i have seen a few people say they are going to do this..

if anyone else has some feedback on that it would be great

 

[Kyzer]

anyone around to answer my other quieries for me so i can get this ordered tonight.. kind of in limbo

 

[steaky360]

I can't be sure but a Scandinavian keyboard should have the letters you are looking for on it. Google shows some pics but its not the Optimus laptop itself, maybe searching for clever and Scandinavian keyboard will help?

 

[moorw003]

Hi Kyzer

I think it's important to note the reason for less ventilation in that area of the laptop is because there doesn't need to be. Hard-drives can operate at pretty high temperatures without suffering any problems.

Secondly, a hard drive is only going to get hot if it's in constant use. It's true that SSDs don't reach the same temps as HDD, but a HDD that isn't the main drive won't suffer too much anyway because you'd be relying on drive one to do many of the day to day chores. And the SSD, although afflicted less by heat is the drive you'd want performing at optimum anyway. Add to the fact you'll want Windows installed on it and it really should be the primary drive.

Obviously any heat, whilst not a health problem might be more of an annoyance if creating heat hotspots, but it really isn't anything to worry about if it's just for storage and major programs are on the SSD anyway. I amended my laptop to have an SSD and had absolutely no hesitation in putting it in No.1 slot. But if you are in any doubt, invest a little bit in a nice cooling pad.

 

[Keithg]

I have had my optimus for about a month, I have a 160GB intel SSD as my main in the primary drive and a scorpion black 750GB in the second drive.
I mostly game and have the OS on the SSD and game files on the second drive so both get a full workout. I can catagorically state that I have had no heat issues from either drive, with the ssd being under the trackpad it is good not to feel the HDD spinning.

 

[Kyzer]

thank you for the replies guys, ended up swapping the hard drives around from the previous specs. I know have the ssd as my primary drive. I also swapped out the Samsung ram for the kingston 2x4gb.

Very much looking forward to taking delivery of this.

Although not so much looking forward to using windows after a 6 year exile (current apple lover ). Financial needs a must and the macbook pro is just far too expensive.

 

[Pagey]

If this is your first foray into Windows for a few years then your choice of Windows 7 is an excellent place to start.