Optimus on the way

[digitalben]

Hi! You might remember me from such threads as light gaming / jack of all trades PC. After profound cogitation I decided that a laptop would be more practical for me at the moment (will be moving home at least once this year), and tried to come up with a build roughly comparable to the desktop I'd been looking at in the previous thread.

I've never owned a laptop before, so it's a brave new world.

Here's my final build:

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2430M (2.40GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£89)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC2000 Ultra-Quiet Cooler, upto 20 inch (£39)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)

With a discount code this came in just under 850. Progress report and pics will hopefully follow!

 

[TheKeir]

yes, I remember that thread well. It was the one which started with some horrible grammatically wrong French, if I am not mistaken

Nice spec you got there, though I'd personally get a quad core cpu. Sounds like you don't need that though so that doesn't matter

Cool stand you got aswell remember to keep us up to date with info + pics when you get it

 

[Music Guy123]

Looks good, how far have you got with your order, I would recommend dropping the cooling stand to a 17" one. Also, I do you really need the dead pixel guarantee? Still looks like a solid spec, if you can't change the things, don't worry, they are only minor things!

 

[digitalben]

It's still at the processing stage.

Everyone seems to like the Zalman 2000, so I thought it was worth the little extra.
I won't be playing Battlefield or anything (as if my GPU could support that anyway!) so I thought quad core would be overkill. Gaming-wise it's for RTS and a bit of Rainbow Six series type stuff.

@TheKeir How dare you. I'll have you know that I paid attention in quite literally several of my middle school French lessons.

 

[Music Guy123]

I'd get the quad core if you could. If not don't worry, is still a good spec. That cooler is very good, I would just get the one that fits your screen rather than the one that is a bit big but it is your choice! Looks good though, enjoy it!

 

[TheKeir]

@TheKeir How dare you. I'll have you know that I paid attention in quite literally several of my middle school French lessons.

Hehe. You said "Bonjour mon amis" at the start of it, the "mon" should be "mes" because the "amis" is plural.

 

[Music Guy123]

Haha, that is a pretty bad mistake, even my French is better than that and I seem to spend more time outside the classroom than in it! Better get back on topic now !

 

[digitalben]

Moving the discussion on from French grammar, IT'S ARRIVED.

Ordered 14/1 (weekend!)
Awaiting dispatch 18/1
Delivered 20/1 (ie, this afternoon).

Very pleased with the service speed and with the machine. More words and pics on the way.

 

[Ash]

Do you pay for faster delivery and/or build time?

 

[digitalben]

Nope, no fast-tracking or anything.

Placed the order on Saturday the 14th, and processing didn't start until the Monday. It was completed, tested, and awaiting dispatch by Wednesday night, and delivered to my doorstep Friday afternoon. I'd prepared myself to wait a fortnight or so, so I'm very pleased. Kudos to all involved!

Processed Date 14-01-2012
Pre-Production Date 17-01-2012
Build Date 18-01-2012
Test Date 18-01-2012
Awaiting Dispatch Date 18-01-2012
Dispatch Date 19-01-2012

Built By Liam Ramsden
Tested By Carl Auckland
QC'd By Carl Auckland
Packed By Anthony Cunliffe

Arrived in a mahoosive box, but that's because I ordered a cooling stand and various other bits and pieces with it. Smaller laptop box was inside. Properly packed, no movement inside when transporting the box.

First impression: it's big. 16" across and almost 10" deep. Obviously this is a desktop replacement so portability was never an issue for me - but having said that, it's not as heavy as I feared. Moving around and between rooms will be easy. The dreaded Optimus power brick wasn't as big as I feared, either! Have they switched to a different model?

The matte effect on the case is lovely, and dare I say a bit classy. I don't need a laptop whose outer case could double as a bathroom mirror.

When I took the plastic off the screen, my first thought was 'oh no, look how reflective that is, you should have shelled out for the matte display.' BUT it's actually okay - once the backlight is on there isn't a problem. Sitting under the light in a bright room and couldn't see reflections of anything.

Lovely roomy keyboard with decent key pressure - actually felt better than my current USB desktop keyboard! Might keep using an external (disposable) one for long pieces of stamina typing though. Same with the function and power buttons - good size and you know you've pressed them.

The trackpad with the rough matte effect is great too. A pleasant amount of friction and it won't show greasemarks and scuffs as easily as glossy ones. (Though I'll be using a mouse most of the time.)

Pleased I bought the surge protector because (contrary to the PCS website picture!) it's black and looks a bit like something out of Star Wars. Also gives me a little extra range from the powerpoint when plugged in.

Installed all but a couple of the recommended drivers, no problems. Looking forward to giving it a proper test with a variety of software later!

A few pics of the packaging and setup on Photobucket here:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v179/redweather/optimus/

 

[Ash]

Nope, no fast-tracking or anything.

Placed the order on Saturday the 14th, and processing didn't start until the Monday. It was completed, tested, and awaiting dispatch by Wednesday night, and delivered to my doorstep Friday afternoon. I'd prepared myself to wait a fortnight or so, so I'm very pleased. Kudos to all involved!

Processed Date 14-01-2012
Pre-Production Date 17-01-2012
Build Date 18-01-2012
Test Date 18-01-2012
Awaiting Dispatch Date 18-01-2012
Dispatch Date 19-01-2012

Built By Liam Ramsden
Tested By Carl Auckland
QC'd By Carl Auckland
Packed By Anthony Cunliffe

It seems as though some people get lucky with their orders.
I ordered mine on Monday night (16th) and it went to pre-production straight away. Still in pre-processing now. I hope it is built and arrives soon as I need it for college work.

 

[digitalben]

Hang in there my friend.

I think sometimes they go on to the next stages of the prep (building, testing, qcing etc) but forget to log the progress on the system. So it still shows up as pre-processing.