Hello, just a short review of my new laptop that arrived today after a 13day wait. Have to say I have been very impressed with the service that Pc Specialist has had to offer from ordering, speaking to people on the online customer service chat, the forums and everything else.
Here is the laptop I went for. It was the Optimus that is in the review section for £879. Although I was able to make some changes to it which can been seen below the original specification.
Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
6x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
OPTIMUS SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology
FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1
Changed :2nd Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
to - 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
I also changed the warranty to the silver package for an extra £5.
I was very impressed with the packaging of the laptop. This was a concern of mine initially as it was a lot of money that I felt could be damaged in transit but I was highly impressed.
The laptop itself is great. Everything that I could have asked for. The larger 17.3 screen is incredible and I am very happy with how it looks and feels. I was worried that the 17.3 would be too much of a step up from my current Toshiba Satelite but I am glad I chose this model in the end.
Having read some other reviews before purchasing I will comment on a few aspects that were concerns of mine before. First of all the fans. I have not had any problems with these at all. Work fine, very quite, in the 7hours+ that I have had the laptop on I have heard them power on once. Secondly, I read a few complaints about the mouse track pad. However although it does feel a little bit rough, especially compare to the smooth one of my old laptop, it is not a problem and I am already used to it. They keyboard is also fantastic.
I have to say as of yet I have not really noticed the SSD. But having said that, everything does seem faster but my old laptop was very very slow. I have been multi tasking a lot, with multiple windows open with two web browsers, music, my work software and on split screen and it has handled it a breeze. My old laptop would only handle the work software with one browser and would freeze constantly. I know this it not a real test but I will have to wait till Christmas to try out any games!!
One thing I have noticed which I am not that concerned about is the wifi. In the last 2 hours it has dropped signal randomly twice. I have been able to reconnect it instantly but obviously for anyone wanting to use it a lot connected to wifi this could become a problem. Luckily I plan to be wired in by Ethernet the majority of the time.
As I said, I still need to test out other aspects of the laptop, and will be connecting my external hard drive later to see how it handles transferring files etc and running and playing HD videos off XBMC but I am confident it will be a breeze.
All in all I am very very happy with my purchase. I know it can do a lot more than what I have used it for so far. I will post more updates as I have tested it further but all in all i would say 10/10!!
If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
J
Here is the laptop I went for. It was the Optimus that is in the review section for £879. Although I was able to make some changes to it which can been seen below the original specification.
Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
6x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
OPTIMUS SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology
FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1
Changed :2nd Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
to - 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
I also changed the warranty to the silver package for an extra £5.
I was very impressed with the packaging of the laptop. This was a concern of mine initially as it was a lot of money that I felt could be damaged in transit but I was highly impressed.
The laptop itself is great. Everything that I could have asked for. The larger 17.3 screen is incredible and I am very happy with how it looks and feels. I was worried that the 17.3 would be too much of a step up from my current Toshiba Satelite but I am glad I chose this model in the end.
Having read some other reviews before purchasing I will comment on a few aspects that were concerns of mine before. First of all the fans. I have not had any problems with these at all. Work fine, very quite, in the 7hours+ that I have had the laptop on I have heard them power on once. Secondly, I read a few complaints about the mouse track pad. However although it does feel a little bit rough, especially compare to the smooth one of my old laptop, it is not a problem and I am already used to it. They keyboard is also fantastic.
I have to say as of yet I have not really noticed the SSD. But having said that, everything does seem faster but my old laptop was very very slow. I have been multi tasking a lot, with multiple windows open with two web browsers, music, my work software and on split screen and it has handled it a breeze. My old laptop would only handle the work software with one browser and would freeze constantly. I know this it not a real test but I will have to wait till Christmas to try out any games!!
One thing I have noticed which I am not that concerned about is the wifi. In the last 2 hours it has dropped signal randomly twice. I have been able to reconnect it instantly but obviously for anyone wanting to use it a lot connected to wifi this could become a problem. Luckily I plan to be wired in by Ethernet the majority of the time.
As I said, I still need to test out other aspects of the laptop, and will be connecting my external hard drive later to see how it handles transferring files etc and running and playing HD videos off XBMC but I am confident it will be a breeze.
All in all I am very very happy with my purchase. I know it can do a lot more than what I have used it for so far. I will post more updates as I have tested it further but all in all i would say 10/10!!
If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
J
