Lafite II early thoughts

[azzy]

I like it very much! I love my gadgets but am not overly good with/into PC architecture. I was pointed to PCS by a colleague who has used them in the past and heard me bemoaning the torrid time I had in PC World looking for a new laptop. I wanted a Macbook, but pound for pound, unless you're a creative I think they're bad value (I say this as someone who owns an iPhone, iPad and Apple TV). He suggested I check the site out and pointed out the Lafite II as a good match for what I was after.

I ordered on December 15th (i5, 8GB, 500GB Samsung 850 Evo) and it arrived on New Year's Eve.

It absolutely flies - super fast and it'll be absolutely perfect for what I want it for over the next few years. I don't game, process video or code (although I may learn a bit as it's a good compliment for my day job in marketing) and it's a joy to use. The matt IPS is lovely, I adore having a backlit keyboard and I don't find the trackpad or fan overly annoying - although my points of comparison are my old Samsung laptop and my Dell XPS 13 i7 at work which sounds like a jumbo get taking off sometimes.

Anyhow - enough rambling from me - time for some pictures. I've outfitted it with a Simon's Cat sticker as while I enjoy the plain look, it was almost too plain for me. I'm still worried about scratching it (and scraping off the decal now), so if anyone knows of a polycarbonate case that fits, or of some sort of suitable plastic protective film, I'd be pleased to hear about it!

 

[Laron]

Nice little overview, pics really show how attractive the Lafité can look.

and I don't find the trackpad or fan overly annoying

Does the fan turn on/switch speeds often while performing certain tasks?

 

[azzy]

Nice little overview, pics really show how attractive the Lafité can look.


Does the fan turn on/switch speeds often while performing certain tasks?

If I have a LOT of tabs open in Chrome (15+) and then start watching a film or downloading a large file, the fans do start up, but not loudly or for very long. When the fans are running, I've checked the control centre and the fans have never gotten above half speed - which I'm taking as a good omen so far. I'm sure if I start doing anything more intensive, they'll need to put forth a little more effort.

 

[anlygi]

Nice. Ordered the i7 version myself yesterday, now just waiting! I'd thought about doing something similar with a decal, though something like Star Wars or Fallout I imagine.

The location of the power button worries me so I think I'll disable it in Windows and shut down manually.

I was almost drawn to making a return to PC gaming after 10 years out, but I need an Ultrabook and got what I came for . Great site and I might just return to spec a rig before the year's out!

 

[azzy]

Nice. Ordered the i7 version myself yesterday, now just waiting! I'd thought about doing something similar with a decal, though something like Star Wars or Fallout I imagine.

The location of the power button worries me so I think I'll disable it in Windows and shut down manually.

I was almost drawn to making a return to PC gaming after 10 years out, but I need an Ultrabook and got what I came for . Great site and I might just return to spec a rig before the year's out!

On the topic of the power button, I've tried hitting it a few times and it doesn't actually turn the laptop off. On my machine at least, it appears to be an on-only type of deal - which is pretty good.

I've never really tried PC gaming - we've owned and currently own a console and I've downloaded Steam onto the Lafite in case I want to pick up one or two non-intensive games. If/when we move somewhere bigger we'll definitely consider giving it a go though and then I'll be back to spec a rig too

Hope yours arrives swiftly! I nearly went with i7, but they were unavailable till January and I didn't fancy waiting. Plus it's probably a bit more power than I need so I spent the money on a bigger HDD and an external 2TB drive instead

 

[Laron]

I was almost drawn to making a return to PC gaming after 10 years out, but I need an Ultrabook and got what I came for . Great site and I might just return to spec a rig before the year's out!

Same here.. really need the ultrabook format right now, but at the same time I'd love to do some PC gaming again. What bothers me about the Lafité is how severely limited it is because of single-channel memory.

The HD 520 graphics are quite capable even at 15W, but lacking dual-channel configurations just absolutely kills the iGPU performance.

 

[anlygi]

On the topic of the power button, I've tried hitting it a few times and it doesn't actually turn the laptop off. On my machine at least, it appears to be an on-only type of deal - which is pretty good.

I've never really tried PC gaming - we've owned and currently own a console and I've downloaded Steam onto the Lafite in case I want to pick up one or two non-intensive games. If/when we move somewhere bigger we'll definitely consider giving it a go though and then I'll be back to spec a rig too

Hope yours arrives swiftly! I nearly went with i7, but they were unavailable till January and I didn't fancy waiting. Plus it's probably a bit more power than I need so I spent the money on a bigger HDD and an external 2TB drive instead

PCS maybe disable it or the default setting in Windows 10 power settings is to do nothing when it's pressed.

I doubt there is a great difference between the two CPUs. I wouldn't even class it as a proper i7 as it's only slightly faster clock speed and larger cache than the i5 that I probably won't even notice 99% of the time. I was planning on getting the i5, I only went for the i7 as I followed a review link to a specification that could not be changed and it was actually £9 less than the same spec with the i5 when doing it myself, result! Only has the 250gb Samsung Evo but I can add an M2 drive in future if I need more storage.

Same here.. really need the ultrabook format right now, but at the same time I'd love to do some PC gaming again. What bothers me about the Lafité is how severely limited it is because of single-channel memory.

The HD 520 graphics are quite capable even at 15W, but lacking dual-channel configurations just absolutely kills the iGPU performance.

I was reading that myself about memory being limited as I would have opted for 16GB if it was possible. A compromise I was willing to make though given the price/performance of the Lafite compared to other ultrabooks. Mine will be used for Komodo and Netbeans most of the time.

Last gaming system I built was for Half Life 2!

 

[[email protected]]

Hi I have just received the Lafite II myself but I have an issue with the touchpad. There is a lot of rattling and it feels very loose. Also the clicks are a bit off and the touchpad pushes right down into the body as if it hasn't been fitted correctly. I would have though it should be solid. Can you tell me how it is for you? Thanks.

 

[azzy]

Hi I have just received the Lafite II myself but I have an issue with the touchpad. There is a lot of rattling and it feels very loose. Also the clicks are a bit off and the touchpad pushes right down into the body as if it hasn't been fitted correctly. I would have though it should be solid. Can you tell me how it is for you? Thanks.

Hi Louis - I don't have any real trouble with my touchpad at all - I'll take some pictures and post them when I get home.

 

[azzy]

Hi I have just received the Lafite II myself but I have an issue with the touchpad. There is a lot of rattling and it feels very loose. Also the clicks are a bit off and the touchpad pushes right down into the body as if it hasn't been fitted correctly. I would have though it should be solid. Can you tell me how it is for you? Thanks.

Hi Louis

My touchpad feels very firm and secure although a click does result in a fair amount of downward movement - but nothing that worried me overly much I don't know if this is normal for trackpads with integrated buttons? I know some people have seen visual flaws with the fitting of the trackpad, but mine appears to have no issue:



The only problem I did have was that the multi-touch gestures weren't working, but a driver update/restart allowed me to activate those.

Have you contacted PCS?

 

[synthet1k]

Hi I have just received the Lafite II myself but I have an issue with the touchpad. There is a lot of rattling and it feels very loose. Also the clicks are a bit off and the touchpad pushes right down into the body as if it hasn't been fitted correctly. I would have though it should be solid. Can you tell me how it is for you? Thanks.

I highly doubt the touchpad should move whatsoever. I would suggest giving PCS a phone tomorrow. Had quite a few laptops over the years and the touchpad should definitely not move or push into the body.

 

[[email protected]]

Hi Louis

My touchpad feels very firm and secure although a click does result in a fair amount of downward movement - but nothing that worried me overly much I don't know if this is normal for trackpads with integrated buttons? I know some people have seen visual flaws with the fitting of the trackpad, but mine appears to have no issue:

View attachment 7728

The only problem I did have was that the multi-touch gestures weren't working, but a driver update/restart allowed me to activate those.

Have you contacted PCS?

The problem with mine, which is difficult to explain without seeing it yourself in person, is that if I tapped the touchpad (as if I wanted to click with a tap rather than Physically push the pad down) then it rattled a lot as if it wasn't secured properly. I would think that the pad should only move/push down is when you click it in, but when you release it, it should stay solid. But mine however, after a solid click down, came back up and became loose again. Hard to explain without seeing it, but I sent it straight back to PC Specialist so they can fix the issue. Great laptop though otherwise.

 

[anlygi]

Some of these issues with build quality have me slightly worried for my Lafite's arrival.

 

[[email protected]]

Some of these issues with build quality have me slightly worried for my Lafite's arrival.

I wouldn't be worried if I was you, in sure they're build quality is superb, I just think I got unlucky. Maybe mine was damaged during delivery, I'm not sure. This won't put me off PC Specialist, just a bit annoying it happened to me.

 

[burkejw]

Hi Louis,
Just wondering if you could let me know whether you got anywhere with this issue? My laptop appears to have developed the same fault - after about 5 days' use the touchpad started to rattle when I tap it and I can push it down into the body a little bit before I push hard enough for a proper click. I'm pretty frustrated that I sent it back to PC Specialist as a RMA but they did nothing and told me it was how it was designed! Given everyone else's positive comments about their Lafite touchpads on this thread I can hardly believe this is the case! What did they tell you?
Has anyone else had this issue develop?
Would really appreciate any help as I'm trying to work out what to do. Thanks

 

[[email protected]]

Hi Louis,
Just wondering if you could let me know whether you got anywhere with this issue? My laptop appears to have developed the same fault - after about 5 days' use the touchpad started to rattle when I tap it and I can push it down into the body a little bit before I push hard enough for a proper click. I'm pretty frustrated that I sent it back to PC Specialist as a RMA but they did nothing and told me it was how it was designed! Given everyone else's positive comments about their Lafite touchpads on this thread I can hardly believe this is the case! What did they tell you?
Has anyone else had this issue develop?
Would really appreciate any help as I'm trying to work out what to do. Thanks

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I ended up sending mine back as an RMA too and they told me the same thing that the design is meant to be like that but I got a refund under their 14 day policy as I knew that the touchpad should just not be like that, even though they say that's how the design is for that laptop. I ended up buying a MacBook Pro in the end! I think you should try for a refund if you still can because as you said, you can hardly believe that the touchpad should be like that! Hope you manage to sort it.

 

[anlygi]

If it's meant to rattle then mine's going back as faulty because there's no rattle whatsoever!