A Few Questions about the New Chassis

L

Looner

Bronze Level Poster
Hi!

After a somewhat long absense from the PCS website, I was happy to see you've added just I've wished for in your range of laptops (and more!). In relation to that I have a few questions relating to the specs. As there's so much (and quality) choice now I have a few questions for you educated people to advise on my best bet.

Firstly, are the new integrated graphics on 15.6" Genesis III and the 14" Xenon sufficient enough to accommodate the challenges of a high-end game like NFS World and Diablo III (coming out end of 2011, early 2012 and working with DirectX 9, for now). If not then I may need to opt for a separated graphics card like that on the Enigma II or even wait for Enigma III to come as I'm not in a rush.

Secondly, is there a big difference between the 1st Gen and 2nd Gen Intel CPUs? This is in relation to my 1st question as I may opt to go for the Enigma if there isn't.

I am looking for a mobile, long-battery-life, powerful laptop so my ideal situation is the 14" Xenon (quite powerful) but at the same time the Genesis III 15.6" also looks good as it weighs just as much. But then I would love to get the full HD res of the Enigma. Decisions, decisions :turned:.
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
Welcome back to the forums!

[I've deleted your duplicate thread, you didn't see them immediately because they got put in the moderation queue.]
 
Meds

Meds

Moderator
Moderator
1) The Integrated Graphics is for web browsing, DVDs, Photos etc - not gaming, so you can rule our the Genesis III & Xenon straight away.

If I were you, I'd wait for the Enigma III - due very soon (next 1 - 2 weeks). You'll be getting better CPU & Graphics Card for more less the same price, well worth the wait if you ask me!
 
L

Looner

Bronze Level Poster
Why, thank you, Meds, for the quick response. I run NFS World on the lowest specs (barely) on my integrated, 3.7-score W7 Intel graphics so was just wondering if it really wouldn't be better to get the smaller model. I mean my PC runs DirectX 10 without a problem. 1.7GB, even if integrated, seems quite decent to me. Of course, I may be spouting rubbish as well.

Another thing I failed to mention is that battery life would be a huge plus for me as I want to take notes in 2-hour-long lectures. So, if possible, the Xenon is the perfect option.

I am sorry about the duplicate thread (I remember posting without moderator approval before and did not read the text that popped out after the first time, and when I did read it, was too late).

P.S. Excellent news on the Enigma III. I am not in a rush anyway. Once again, cheers.
 
Last edited:
K

Koukalaka

New member
Here's some benchmarking for the Integrated Graphics GPU

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-3000.37948.0.html

Waiting for the Enigma III, might be a good idea though, I believe it is coming with a graphics card with Nvidia Optimus technology, meaning that when the GPU is not under load the computer will use the integrated graphics and therefore save battery life when not under load, which you obviously stated was an important factor.
 
L

Looner

Bronze Level Poster
^^

Thanks for the link but is there a direct comparison with some graphics cards? I am not that literate with hardware and cannot make much out of the information on there.

I think I def will wait for the Enigma III with my only regret being the keyboard. I would love to see a spaced out keyboard like the Genesis III. I mean the Enigma is meant to be a nicer model, right? I think a lot of people (mainly students and others on the move quite often who use their laptop for pretty much anything and everything, really) would prefer that option to be available.

Can someone totally confirm there's no chance of such a speaced-out keyboard appearing? Also while I am at it - can the graphics card be upgraded later on with parts not from PCS? What's the compatability of machines outside PCS.

Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Looner said:
^^Can someone totally confirm there's no chance of such a speaced-out keyboard appearing? Also while I am at it - can the graphics card be upgraded later on with parts not from PCS? What's the compatability of machines outside PCS.
Click to expand...

Here's the Enigma III:

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

4.jpg

5.jpg


Unfortunately the graphics card cannot be upgraded at a later date - either by us or anybody else.

Larger images here:

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/products/2142/1_big.jpg
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/products/2142/2_big.jpg
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/products/2142/3_big.jpg
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/products/2142/4_big.jpg
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/products/2142/5_big.jpg
 
L

Looner

Bronze Level Poster
Thanks, I saw on that Norweagian site you pointed out in the other thread. I was hoping that maybe you would have a slighly different version where the keys were spaced out as that makes it more hygienic. The other two chassis (Genesis and Optimus) seem to have so that's why I asked.

Thanks for the quick reply though.
 
Last edited:
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Looner said:
Thanks about that. Any estimates on battery life?
Click to expand...

It's subject to usage - and whether you have Nvidia Optimus technology switched on or not. I would say it's very similar to the Enigma II, which was roughly as follows:

The Enigma II:

1. With normal settings, it goes into hibernation when it is 5% left of the battery. We measured the battery life from 100% to 5% when it hibernated.
Idle (50% brightness, wlan and bluetooth on): 3h 40m

2. DVDrip on vlc (50% brightness, wlan and bluetooth off, headphones with 50% volume): 2h 40m

3. 1080p, x264, DTS-HD audio on Media Player Classic (same as above): 2h 10m

It is actually possible to watch a full 1080p movie with standard length.
 
L

Looner

Bronze Level Poster
Well, that's light years better than anything my Dell Inspiron 1525 was able to do even at the beginning. Definitely excited about this. All I need now is for the pay cheques to come faster :D.

MAJOR EDIT:

I had a look at the offered spec and was disappointed to find there was only 1 i5 processor on offer for the HD res enigma. Is that here to stay? It seems there's a lot more i5's offered on other chassis? Is this intentional? From what I've been researching dual core is the best for running single applications like HD video and newest games. I don't really want to spend more money on a quad core processor with lower clock speed and get worse performance out of it.

My last question is about the integrated bluetooth. Does that come on and off together with wifi. I have this in my current laptop and I would prefer to keep Bluetooth switched off but wifi on. It seems it's going to save me battery life as well.

Can anyone confirm my thinking is not hugely incorrect on these issues?
 
Last edited:
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Because this configurator had been prepared before the new processors were launched, they weren't added. The remaining Core 15 processors have been added now. :)

The Bluetooth and wireless adapters are now combined into one single adapter, but you can still enable/disable the functioning independently.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top