Is it worth upgrading from Optimus 13.3" to the Defiance II 15.6" for £300 extra?

afia2k8

Member
Is it worth upgrading from Optimus 13.3" to the Defiance II 15.6" for £300 extra?

Hey guys so here's the deal,

I have some problems with the Optimus 13.3" laptop and can't decide whether I should just sell it and buy a 15.6" Defiance II.

Just under a year ago I bought an Optimus 13.3" from PC specialist (the 1 year parts & collect/return warranty will expire next week). I RMA it recently due to the VGA never working (screen excessively flickers) but what's weird is, it works fine under BATTERY power only. This is a really common problem with the W230SS and from what I've read, is caused by RF interference. Anyway they've replaced the motherboard and the screen significantly flickers less, but it still does flicker maybe 4 times an hour. It's quite frustrating when doing work or watching a movie (I have 2 external monitors connected it via HDMI and VGA). The other thing they said have fixed but is still there is that 1 of the USB 3.0 port on the right most closest to you doesn't work for phones (always connects/disconnects intermittently, and when using a usb headset the volume slider goes straight to 0). My phone and usb headsets are working completely fine on the other USB ports though. Not sure what else they or I can do to fix it. I've tried a clean install of Win 10 and multiple cables/monitors but still no fix. I'm not sure if I can insist upon PCS to fix it.

I am really impressed at their fast service though. They "fixed" the laptop problems and I got my laptop back in only a week. The overheating issue has been completely resolved (the fans doesn't kick in anymore when doing low tasks and I can finally use it in the library). But with the above 2 problems, I was thinking whether I should just sell this laptop on ebay for £650ish and buy a 15.6" Defiance II at a cost of £300 extra. Will it be worth the upgrade?


I already have my own Samsung Evo 840 SSD. I plan to keep the laptop for at least 5 years. Mostly used for personal/work with 2 external monitors, external keyboard and mouse with the occasional travelling. Not much gaming but rather some FX trading chart softwares and the occasional video editing.


My current Optimus 13.3" spec:
Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 13.3" Glossy QHD+ IPS LED (3200x1800)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk 500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
2kg 6.5 hours battery life

My intended 15.6" Defiance II spec:
Chassis & Display Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM) 8GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk 500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
2.5kg 4 hours battery life

It'd be good to get some of your ideas. Thanks.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Firstly, I'm sorry for the problems you've had with the Optimus, that's a real shame that it couldnt' get sorted for you.

The defiance is going to be quite a leap up from your current build both in price but more importantly in capability also. The leap from the GTX860m to the GTX970m is going to be SIGNIFICANT.

If you can sell the optimus, I'd say it would be well worth it. The defiance is another league really and you'd notice a lot of difference. It's a much more premium screen also.

I'd say go for it.
 
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