Shurko
New member
My PC Specialist Review - Enigma III
REVIEWER
Lo all. My name irl is John and I feel the need to provide a thorough and comprehensive review of my new laptop bought from PC Specialist.My objective is to help you choose a good system and also to assist PC Specialist improve their products. I am 25 years old and hold degrees in Multimedia and Software Development. Also I have post-grad in Ass-Kickery. This is my first hardware review, so please feel free to ask questions and comment as you wish. What did I buy this laptop? Well now, I use my computers mainly for media (video editing, document processiing, mid to high level gaming and some amateur music production). I wanted to be able to play current game releases whilst keeping to a tight budget of <=£600. I travel alot and so portability and performance in sometimes tricky environments is high on my agenda.
MY LAPTOP SPEC
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Glossy FHD LED (1920x1080)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2430M (2.40GHz) 3MB CACHE
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio
INTRODUCTION
I upgraded the following components from the stock Enigma and I would recommend taking time to consider what you really want from the machine. Firstly, I channged 4GB RAM to 8GB RAM at a cost of just £13.33 pus VAT. Having upgraded my RAM I also got Windows 7 64 Bit for free. I opted to upgrade from an i3 chip to i5 with a 1MB larger CACHE and also faster 2.4GHz. I then changed the Hard Drive to 500GB. Both the processor and hard drive upgrades cost me £39.00 in total. So I basically double the RAM and Hard Drive for next to nothing. I have owned a few laptops most recently Dell XPS 1340, Alienware M17x and a Sony VAIO. Desktop wise I have an i7 XPS running 8GB RAM and two ATI HD 6770 graphic cards. For the record I would not get a Dell again their Customer Service is as useful as a fart in a jacuzzi.
MY PURCHASE around £525.00 exc VAT
Ordered 03/12/11
Finance Complete 05/12/11
Build Start 06/12/11
Build End 07/12/11
Delivered 08/12/11
USAGE
The first thing I noticed was how fast it booted - around 48secs. The technician had already installed my operating system however I needed to activate. I had a blonde moment where I couldn't find the serial on the Windows case. Stupidly I didn't check the case. The techy had stuck it to the bottom. lol. Anywho, I got it up and running and downloaded Steam, Open Office, WoW, Avast!, IOBit software, Windows updates etc. My thing I tried was Skyrim and WoW. I was impressed when Skyrim auto detected my system and adjusted settings to high. Played for 8 hours and left on charge overnight. I would suggest doing this to preserve the battery. The DC input itself is one of the better ones. It sits in the docket flush with the chassis and is solid. The jack seems quite robust. Remember to switch the wireless switch to the On position! On another note I prefer to use a USB rodent to integrate touchpad types. Satisfied with the gaming side of things I moved onto multimedia.
I watched Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas in HD and could maintain a clear view with the screen at multiple angles. The sound was slightly too quiet for my liking. Then I connected my trusty graphics tablet and sketched a few manga scenes on Manga Studio. The system could handle my (rather crude) drawing whilst also playing music via Winamp. Then I hooked up my Yamaha Audiogram interface and Midi Keyboard. Running Cubase SX 3 I made a few tracks. Again no speed issues and CPU usage was amazingly low considering the plug-ins are intensive.
So far then a great experience. I decided to push my luck. I installed Battlefield 3 and tried to run it. I got a moody message saying that I could not it in the current settings. The framerate was very low and was not really playable as I had the same result with Just Cause 2. It is consumate at mid settings but do not expect extreme gaming. And if you want to avoid second degree burns I suggest wearing a thick trouser as it can run hot when gaming. The vent is located at the left hand side FYI.
BENCHMARKS LOW MED HIGH
Skyrim 60 40 30
Modern Warfare 3 60 35 20
World of Warcraft 60 60 40
Fallout: New Vegas 60 55 40
Assassins Creed III 50 40 18
Deus Ex: Human Rev 45 25 12
Starcraft II 60 45 28
*** Average Framrate whilst in-game captured by Fraps.
*** Please Note I used IOBit's Game Booster and Advanced System Care to boost my performance
PROS
*Affordability
*Excellent Build Time (less than 100 hours from order to receipt)
*Very light weight
*Superb Styling
*Neatly layed out construction
*Great customer service
*Flexible Finance
CONS
*Glossy finish does smudge/smear easily
*Some minor chassis changes needed (SEE BELOW)
*Lack of graphics card options for this model
RATINGS (0.0 TO 5.0)
BUILD QUALITY 4.0
PERFORMANCE 4.0
FEATURES 4.5
VALUE 4.5
SERVICE 5.0
THINGS I WOULD CHANGE
1) The USB Ports are quite close together, meaning you cannot connect say a broadband dongle and a USB mouse at the same time. If they were moved say 2mm to 3mm further apart this would enable much more connectivity.
2) The Keyboard keys can be a bit squeeky especially if using WASD for gaming. Would also benefit from being backlit for better usage in poor lighting.
3) The lack of media keys and/or hot keys for volume can be troublesome. There is space on the chassis for these and can be very effective (see a Dell XPS 1340)
4) Go for a matt finish so you are not constantly having to wipe over the glossy chassis
5) Go for a faster processor I regret not selecting the i7
6) Add a simple switch to turn off the integrated mouse when using a USB mouse instead.
7) Pehaps a different DVD Drive would be better (for Blu Ray and to prevent damage from tray open/close system currently fitted)
8) Maybe offering images of the build would be great (be nice to the progress and components and really see the art that is computer building) Also this would give customers an update and nice to have for a memento.
CONCLUSIONS
Buying a laptop should be an experience that is enjoyable. For me this was the best computer buying experience of my life. I have tried to be impartial with my views. I am independent and happy to discuss any of my points email me at [email protected]. The product could be improved and I hope PC Specialist take som of my suggestions seriously. Think long and hard before buying a laptop and try to read as many reviews and wikis on components as possible. Most importantly contribute to the community and share your views!
You may flame now if you wish
REVIEWER
Lo all. My name irl is John and I feel the need to provide a thorough and comprehensive review of my new laptop bought from PC Specialist.My objective is to help you choose a good system and also to assist PC Specialist improve their products. I am 25 years old and hold degrees in Multimedia and Software Development. Also I have post-grad in Ass-Kickery. This is my first hardware review, so please feel free to ask questions and comment as you wish. What did I buy this laptop? Well now, I use my computers mainly for media (video editing, document processiing, mid to high level gaming and some amateur music production). I wanted to be able to play current game releases whilst keeping to a tight budget of <=£600. I travel alot and so portability and performance in sometimes tricky environments is high on my agenda.
MY LAPTOP SPEC
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Glossy FHD LED (1920x1080)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2430M (2.40GHz) 3MB CACHE
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio
INTRODUCTION
I upgraded the following components from the stock Enigma and I would recommend taking time to consider what you really want from the machine. Firstly, I channged 4GB RAM to 8GB RAM at a cost of just £13.33 pus VAT. Having upgraded my RAM I also got Windows 7 64 Bit for free. I opted to upgrade from an i3 chip to i5 with a 1MB larger CACHE and also faster 2.4GHz. I then changed the Hard Drive to 500GB. Both the processor and hard drive upgrades cost me £39.00 in total. So I basically double the RAM and Hard Drive for next to nothing. I have owned a few laptops most recently Dell XPS 1340, Alienware M17x and a Sony VAIO. Desktop wise I have an i7 XPS running 8GB RAM and two ATI HD 6770 graphic cards. For the record I would not get a Dell again their Customer Service is as useful as a fart in a jacuzzi.
MY PURCHASE around £525.00 exc VAT
Ordered 03/12/11
Finance Complete 05/12/11
Build Start 06/12/11
Build End 07/12/11
Delivered 08/12/11
USAGE
The first thing I noticed was how fast it booted - around 48secs. The technician had already installed my operating system however I needed to activate. I had a blonde moment where I couldn't find the serial on the Windows case. Stupidly I didn't check the case. The techy had stuck it to the bottom. lol. Anywho, I got it up and running and downloaded Steam, Open Office, WoW, Avast!, IOBit software, Windows updates etc. My thing I tried was Skyrim and WoW. I was impressed when Skyrim auto detected my system and adjusted settings to high. Played for 8 hours and left on charge overnight. I would suggest doing this to preserve the battery. The DC input itself is one of the better ones. It sits in the docket flush with the chassis and is solid. The jack seems quite robust. Remember to switch the wireless switch to the On position! On another note I prefer to use a USB rodent to integrate touchpad types. Satisfied with the gaming side of things I moved onto multimedia.
I watched Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas in HD and could maintain a clear view with the screen at multiple angles. The sound was slightly too quiet for my liking. Then I connected my trusty graphics tablet and sketched a few manga scenes on Manga Studio. The system could handle my (rather crude) drawing whilst also playing music via Winamp. Then I hooked up my Yamaha Audiogram interface and Midi Keyboard. Running Cubase SX 3 I made a few tracks. Again no speed issues and CPU usage was amazingly low considering the plug-ins are intensive.
So far then a great experience. I decided to push my luck. I installed Battlefield 3 and tried to run it. I got a moody message saying that I could not it in the current settings. The framerate was very low and was not really playable as I had the same result with Just Cause 2. It is consumate at mid settings but do not expect extreme gaming. And if you want to avoid second degree burns I suggest wearing a thick trouser as it can run hot when gaming. The vent is located at the left hand side FYI.
BENCHMARKS LOW MED HIGH
Skyrim 60 40 30
Modern Warfare 3 60 35 20
World of Warcraft 60 60 40
Fallout: New Vegas 60 55 40
Assassins Creed III 50 40 18
Deus Ex: Human Rev 45 25 12
Starcraft II 60 45 28
*** Average Framrate whilst in-game captured by Fraps.
*** Please Note I used IOBit's Game Booster and Advanced System Care to boost my performance
PROS
*Affordability
*Excellent Build Time (less than 100 hours from order to receipt)
*Very light weight
*Superb Styling
*Neatly layed out construction
*Great customer service
*Flexible Finance
CONS
*Glossy finish does smudge/smear easily
*Some minor chassis changes needed (SEE BELOW)
*Lack of graphics card options for this model
RATINGS (0.0 TO 5.0)
BUILD QUALITY 4.0
PERFORMANCE 4.0
FEATURES 4.5
VALUE 4.5
SERVICE 5.0
THINGS I WOULD CHANGE
1) The USB Ports are quite close together, meaning you cannot connect say a broadband dongle and a USB mouse at the same time. If they were moved say 2mm to 3mm further apart this would enable much more connectivity.
2) The Keyboard keys can be a bit squeeky especially if using WASD for gaming. Would also benefit from being backlit for better usage in poor lighting.
3) The lack of media keys and/or hot keys for volume can be troublesome. There is space on the chassis for these and can be very effective (see a Dell XPS 1340)
4) Go for a matt finish so you are not constantly having to wipe over the glossy chassis
5) Go for a faster processor I regret not selecting the i7
6) Add a simple switch to turn off the integrated mouse when using a USB mouse instead.
7) Pehaps a different DVD Drive would be better (for Blu Ray and to prevent damage from tray open/close system currently fitted)
8) Maybe offering images of the build would be great (be nice to the progress and components and really see the art that is computer building) Also this would give customers an update and nice to have for a memento.
CONCLUSIONS
Buying a laptop should be an experience that is enjoyable. For me this was the best computer buying experience of my life. I have tried to be impartial with my views. I am independent and happy to discuss any of my points email me at [email protected]. The product could be improved and I hope PC Specialist take som of my suggestions seriously. Think long and hard before buying a laptop and try to read as many reviews and wikis on components as possible. Most importantly contribute to the community and share your views!
You may flame now if you wish