Comparing Optimus VIII 15.6" vs. Defiance III 15.6"

[TeamDixon2016]

Hi all,

I was hoping someone would be able to tell me the main differences between the Optimus VIII 15.6" laptop and the Defiance III 15.6" laptop.

Using the configurator I have listed two specs below, which to me, look fairly similar on paper, but come with a price difference of £342.

Firstly, the Optimus VIII 15.6"

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM) 8GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
Memory Hard Disk 500GB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive 256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
AC Adaptor1 x 120W
AC Adaptor Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema 3
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1535 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 4.1
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee 1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc.

Total Price £1105

Then the Defiance III 15.6"

Chassis & Display Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM) 8GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
Hard Disk 500GB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive 256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
Memory Card Reader Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor 1 x 230W
AC AdaptorPower Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1535 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 4.1
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee 1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc.

Total Cost £1447

I realise the graphics card in the Defiance is greater than in the Optimus. But I wouldn't be needing to challenge the card with the latest AAA titles on Ultra. I think the 4GB would suffice me.

There are some port differences between the two laptops as well. The Optimus has only 1 USB Type C 3.0 port. (Is that 3.1?), and 2 USB 3.0 ports.
The Defiance has 3 Type A ports and 2 Type C. This makes me feel the Defiance is the more modern recent chassis.

The screens seem to be the same, the processor appear to be the same, I've configured both with the same SSD and HDD, same Warranty cover and Dead Pixel Coverage, same Wireless card.

The sound card in the Defiance seems to be better as standard.

The Defiance has the potential to add 2 further storage drives at a later date, does that expandability add to part of the price difference ? (I wouldn't necessarily need the extra storage).
So I suppose the question is, are you purchasing £342 worth of "better" laptop with the Defiance over the Optimus?
Does anyone have any opinions on the battery qualities from both laptops ?
For £1405 you could increase the RAM to 16GB on the Optimus, plus add a 500GB WD Blue SSD and improve the M.2 drive to the 512GB Samsung SM961.
I have been reading as many reviews of both laptops as I can find on these forums, youtube and other googled sites. People generally seem to be very complimentary of the build quality of both laptops.

If you had to part with £1450 of your own money, I would be very interested to know which laptop you would choose?

Thank you,
Greg

 

[Oussebon]

If you had to part with £1450 of your own money, I would be very interested to know which laptop you would choose?

That's a question I actually hope to be facing soon.

The first thing to say is that that comparison isn't necessarily the best one to make. This is because the i7 7700HQ adds £89 to the Defiance III compared to the 6700HQ it ships with.

It depends what you're using the laptop for besides gaming, but for many uses you may not see much or any difference between the two. There would likely be little difference in most gaming.

So that reduces the cost gap to £253 for the better GPU. The GTX 1060 is apparently:

40% stronger or better. So that's ~40% more performance for 23% extra cost.

You might not want to push ultra in AAA titles. However, with a laptop you're stuck with the GPU you buy (no upgrades), so a 1060 would quite likely keep powering demanding titles on medium/high settings for a good long while more than the GTX 1050 ti.

If you only dabble in gaming and may get yourself a powerful gaming desktop in a few years then maybe it's not worth the expense - I can see it both ways there. If you are planning to keep the laptop for gaming for 5 years, the 1060 well may be more desirable.

===
On a different note I would probably go for a 1TB HDD as it's not much extra for double the storage and more cache.

 

[Oussebon]

There's also the 3rd way - the Proteus:

Chassis & Display
Proteus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x Proteus Series 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Battery
Proteus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200mAh)
Keyboard Language
PROTEUS SERIES 15.6" BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,326.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/proteusIV-15/vVheg6tYmH/

Which gives you the 1060 and the 7700HQ for a bit less.

And on the subject of 1TB HDDs, the Proteus can also take the WD Black, which is faster than regular HDDs and unlike the desktop counterpart isn't too expensive.

 

[TeamDixon2016]

Thank you Oussebon, Ive had a look at the Proteus, it seems to be the chunkier of the 3 discussed.
I will be giving PCS a call in the next few days hopefully!