Optimus 13.3"

CEUOTC

Enthusiast
So it has been a while since l posted on the forum, my trusty "old" P170EM is still blasting along nicely these days, running Ubuntu 14.04 exclusively will put windows back on it when l can be bothered, still a beast.

Well l picked up a barebones W110ER a while back and after 16 months went U/S.

I love having a small run about laptop so have went for:

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 13.3" Glossy QHD+ IPS LED (3200x1800) (Special Offer)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 2GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1333MHz (1 x 2GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 2TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 HMC (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery 13.3" Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language 13.3" OPTIMUS SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
DVD Recovery Media NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Stuck in a 2TB storage drive and l have a couple of mSATA SSD ready to go as well as some RAM, will be loading Ubuntu on one of the SSD's and W8.1 on the other.

C.

Noticed this little laptop needs DDR3L so have amended the order to include a single stick of 8gb DDR3L.
 
Last edited:

Rixly239

Member
I'm struggling to choose between the Optimus 13 and Skyfire 14. Posted for comments but got no replies. Would be interested to hear ur thoughts on Linux with this build. Do u always run Ubuntu or do u play with other distros? I change quite a bit, always Debian flavoured, currently running SolydXK which I'd highly recommend ;-)

Question: shud I go Optimus for the simple reason of the QHD?
 

CEUOTC

Enthusiast
I'm struggling to choose between the Optimus 13 and Skyfire 14. Posted for comments but got no replies. Would be interested to hear ur thoughts on Linux with this build. Do u always run Ubuntu or do u play with other distros? I change quite a bit, always Debian flavoured, currently running SolydXK which I'd highly recommend ;-)

Question: shud I go Optimus for the simple reason of the QHD?

Sorry buddy just seen, well the QHD screen l will have to get back to you an as it is my first leap in that direction with a laptop, l run Ubuntu 14.04 on my laptops as it is my goto "Boring" distro, gaming wise Ubuntu covers all my needs for light gaming such as X3: Terran Conflict, Albion Prelude, Kerbal Space Program, Planetary Annihilation, Portal, Portal 2, CS:GO etc, L4D2, however for any heavy gaming l use my desktops for games such as Arma3, BF4 etc

Both laptops will be great for linux imo, however l went for the Optimus 13 due to its relatively small size and the storage it will give me, as l "should" be able to fit 2xmSATA SSD for my OS's and the 2TB for storage, 128gb ssd is large enought for Ubuntu and the games l have in my linux steam library, and l will be using a 256gb ssd for either W7 or W8.1. The Skyfire 14 looks good, as it seems you are able to fit 2x2TB drives as well as 2xmSATA drives, however don't quote me on that, the GTX 850M also looks to be a strong GPU and should also run well in Linux as both the GTX 850M/860M are pretty close to a GTX 750 Ti, which l have owned and is a great desktop GPU. the GTX 860M keeps up well with my GTX 680M according to some benchmarks.

I also run Ubuntu on my "small" Desktop PC with an i5 + GTX 780 SLi (SLI a little fininky and needs some work), gaming wise l see no real difference between my P170EM and my Intel+Nvidia desktop.

The larger desktop runs a puppy distro and works well, just the audio via DP is awful and l use headphones to sort that out as AMD audio does not play well atm.

Hope this helps.
 

obbiie

Member
How are you finding the QHD display in Ubuntu so far?, does it handle scaling well enough for general use?

Kevin
 

Nedkelly

Member
I will tell you how the laptop is going, i should receive it today or tommorow. ^^

Choosen this one, because is not that expensive, but offers relatively same power as the other laptops.

@edit
Ok i received my laptop already.

You need a cooling pad under it if you are playing games. It is heating while playing some games on high details, but not that much i would say, heating at tolerable level. Heating during normal using (net browsing, watching film etc) does not exist.
Screen quality is really nice (i have cheaper matte screen), colors are deep, the things on it are small, but overall great screen, better than in previous laptop i had (lenovo u410).
Sound speakers are ok pretty loudy, headphones sound is great, but you need to install some drivers https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...-quot-clevo-W230SS-quot-V-13-3-Audio-solution

Camera resolution is ok, react fast to any moves and shows smooth move.
Performance of this laptop is really great, i could play any MMO/online game on high details with good amount of fps.
Windows loading time is optimal with basic hd, but i would suggest to you to install ssd disk into it.
And the laptop looks cool, screen background is covered with nice to touch material.

Good quality for this price i think.

Oh and also i recommend to put in the lan & killer wireless card. The ping/latency, being connected to the standard talktalk router is the biggest positive i noticed during playing games. The internet is working like it would be plugged with cable. I have my router 5 meters away from me, and could walk around the house without caring about disconnect.
 
Last edited:

CEUOTC

Enthusiast
So came home last night and the little beastie was in:

As this is my second laptop from PCS, l felt more than happy dealing with them, PCS service for me is top notch and CS if required gets the job done without any dramas.

So impressions so far.

Laptop turned up well packaged and protected and after only ordering it on the 29th the service was super quick as l opted for the 3 day build time.

The 3200x1800 Screen is outstanding! looks great in either Windows 8.1 Pro or Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS and no dead/stuck pixels.

It is dual booting using 2xmSATA 256gb SSD's and using a single 2TB 2.5" HDD as storage.

Initially had a single stick of 8gb DDR3L 1600 Kingston, have added a second stick of Kingston DDR3L to give a total of 16gb.

Also swapped out the Wifi card for a Intel AC card all good so far.

Every thing runs out of the box in Windows and Ubuntu, a quick update of the PPA and the latest Nvidia drivers are also installed in Ubuntu with Prime allowing me to swap between iGPU and dGPU.

Not had a real play with it yet, however all is looking good, just need to install my app's/Steam etc on both Win and Ubuntu.

The finish is great even if it is plastic, feels sturdy with only the lid/screen feeling a little "thin" but no dramas.

Getting into the laptop via the maint hatch is a cake walk, and adding changing components is a breeze, even for the novice.

Cooling fan: Has a slight annoying buzz as it where, not a deal breaker and from what l understand a small magnet will sort this out. Only apparent at low RPM.

Will update after a few weeks use.

Wrt speakers and heat again will update once l have taxed the system as at the moment just transferring files to the storage drive and updating games in Ubuntu.
 

grofit

Active member
Hey,

I am looking at the optimus at the moment and cannot find any info on the refresh rate, could you possibly tell me what it is set to on yours? i.e Is the screen locked at 48hz or is it 60hz?

To see this:
Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display -> Adjust Resolution -> Advance Settings -> Monitor and see what the refresh rate is.
 

leof240

Active member
Getting mine tomorrow ...

I'm looking forward to see it and use it ... I'll watch out for the drivers, since I need to install Win8.1 from scratch.

maybe in a couple of days I'll buy even a big monitor :)
 

leof240

Active member
I can honestly say, it's a beast. rather small but powerful. I'm still trying to figure out a way to go into the BIOS, without going through Windows, but I love it.

The 1920x1080 screen is amazing. It's fast and smooth. The 7260 WiFi is perfect with Intel drivers. I have no problem with the Audio for now. I installed all the drivers for that and it's fine.

I'm used to a 17" 1600x900, Asus N71JQ, which is 5 years old, so maybe that's why I love my new Optimus so much
 
Hi all,

My first post on the forums. :)

I am very close to ordering a 13.3" Optimus V because I like smaller machines and with the huge amount of power available it ticks all the boxes of what I am looking for.

However is anyone to tell me how they find the reliability of the touchpad? My current laptop that I am replacing has an absolutely awful touchpad (Sentelic) which is practically unusable without an external mouse.

To be honest I would be using an external mouse with it most of the time, but it would be nice to have a usable touchpad option if I am out and about.

Thanks.
 

leof240

Active member
Well, the touchpad is good, but not amazing. I personally use an external mouse. When I'll move around I'll have to use it, but I think I can manage even if it's not the best, yet still good.

For the Audio, you need to install
Audio drivers
SoundBlaster drivers
HotKey Drivers

in that order.
 
Thanks for the info.

I'm not looking for fancy gestures or anything, just something thats not going to jump all over the place like my current laptop! :)

Cheers.
 
Top