Hey,
No pictures for this review. The reason for that is the while I ordered my VortexII laptop a while ago, I've only opened it once or twice to install all the right stuff and see it works - I don't actually need it for a little while longer, and only got it as it would run out of stock, so it currently sits, pristine and glimmering, in pretty much all the original packaging. Maybe that's a bit of a waste to you, but when I start using it properly, I want it to be box-fresh =P. This review is basically my experience with the process, products and practicality provided by PC Specialists.
Chapter 1 - A New Dawn
I know a bit about computers. Above the norm, I guess. I could tell you all the parts of my desktop, what they're for, and which ones are the best. But beyond that, it's all a bit of a mess - a dark, tangled web of sexily-titled motherboards, PCI-E vs PCI cards and the terrifying, pregnant spider of whatever the hell a 2.5 GB cache means. I'll stick with my homemade league-table of CPUs and GPUs - the bigger the number, the better it is. So, when it dawned on me that some sort of portable computer device was integral to my future, I was hurled headlong into the dank, abstract universe of 'laptop buying'. I was one of those people now - one of those guys who'd surf shady websites that look like they'd fallen off the back of some sort of internet van, glazing over Alienware this and custom-built that
Then I found PCS. Clean layout. Big-ass buttons. No emboldened text screaming 'Guaranteed legality! You buy now no fuss lapingtops!'. This was the place for me.
Chapter 2 - Stalker
Whatever people tell you, the truth is that they don't like choice. Choice means you'll make a mistake. Choice means you'll pick the wrong one. Choice is just self-inflicted failure in drag. So when 20 or more boxes popped up when I first checked out the specs of a VortexII laptop, I got worried - The 555M or the 560M? A good i5 GPU or a low-end i7? Is RAM necessary? What the hell is RAID? I don't want to get raided; who's the hell's raiding me?! But, like a nerdy Bambi, I had to man up and take my first faltering steps. Passmark.com was an invaluable site for simple charts to show just how great my laptop could have been if I were rich, but I got a feel for which GPU/CPU was in my ball park. But what of HDDs, 4GB v 8GB RAM, or 52-in-1 card readers (who the hell has 52 types of cards? Is there some sort of Hardware Poker Championship I'm not invited to?)? I have to say, as a man who's dwelled and lurked in his fair share of cavernous forums, you guys are special. A cosy but bulky community of people who genuinely know what they're talking about, and are more than happy to help others out. No one laughed at my specs, or called me a noob for my basic knowledge, or patronised me with their immense intellect - I wanted a question answered, and everyone who replied was friendly, affable, and more importantly, right. Not only that, but I was amazed at the hands-on approach of the staff themselves -'PCS' keeps everyone updated on stock levels and new arrivals, while various moderators and admins swoop in to have the last word on all things helpful. Having customer service like that is quite a rarity in these cost-cutting days, and I genuinely felt like I wasn't just 'buying a laptop from some business' - I was paying for the artistry and services of talented, passionate people.
Chapter 3 - Money
And it was through this customer-owner communication I discovered that the VortexII I had my eye on for the past month was going like electric hotcakes. Not only did one user inform me I was getting a laptop that cost him well into the thousands only a year or two before, but every similar spec I looked at in pre-built systems elsewhere cost half a leg and a slice of left testicle. All in all, alongside the £20 charge for paying with credit card, my i7-2670/560M/8GB RAM/500GB 7,2000 RPM beast came to £966. To use the correct economic terminology - I was balls deep in consumer surplus.
Chapter 4 - 1984
I must have scanned over my final build 100 times before finally clicking to order. The interwebs worked its magic, and I was now kindly informed that the little Lapland elves would work night and day to craft my purchase. Well - here comes the waiting.
Except - hang on? What's this? I've got a detailed chart of the order and delivery process? Do mine eyes deceive me, or is that the option to check how far along your build is, who it's built by, and what notes they're making as they go? I felt like I'd found the magical peephole into the ladies changing rooms* - if the ladies in question were made out of laptop components. I could see everything - Carl testing my laptop for a day. My Intel processor drying off after a shower. The 560M GPU and 8GB RAM having a towel-flicking fight. My hard drive comparing breasts with the thermal paste's. And finally, my laptop being shipped off complete with DPD tracking number. It was like I was Big Brother. All in all, it took about 4 days for my creative vision to come true, and 5 days from the first working day after ordering to it landing on my doorstep. I even got a text giving the exact hour-long time window of delivery. It was terrifyingly accurate.
Chapter 5 - Deliverance
A bloody love it. The VortexII is smooth, classic, unpretentious and powerful as the Hulk on 'roids. Windows 7 was installed already, so it was just a case of booting up and setting up. The PCS manual gives the basics while the specific manual goes into all the technical goriness. I got a free copy of Nero Essentials I never even asked for, as well as the Windows 7 disc and driver disc. Honestly - the driver bit was the one non-perfect thing about this whole experience. I didn't know whether you guys had installed all the optional drivers, or just the Fingersprint scanner, or a selection - it was a bit of confusing trial-and-error to see what needed installs and what didn't. The bad side is that I've installed a THX sound thing that I can't use. But c'mon - in the grant scheme of things, that's nothing, and was mostly likely down to my own stupidity. My lesson learned - don't get hot and bothered about optional drivers.
#FirstWorldProblems.
So, it's come to this. A few months after deciding to get a laptop, a month after finding PCS, and a week after ordering, I've got my custom, hand-picked machine for under a grand. The service was impeccable, the product range vast, the website swish, and the order updates a spark of genius. I'm a born-again believer; PCS have turned the once-horrific experience of buying computers into something so simple, even I could do it. Brilliant.
*I don't do that. No way. Who told you that?
No pictures for this review. The reason for that is the while I ordered my VortexII laptop a while ago, I've only opened it once or twice to install all the right stuff and see it works - I don't actually need it for a little while longer, and only got it as it would run out of stock, so it currently sits, pristine and glimmering, in pretty much all the original packaging. Maybe that's a bit of a waste to you, but when I start using it properly, I want it to be box-fresh =P. This review is basically my experience with the process, products and practicality provided by PC Specialists.
Chapter 1 - A New Dawn
I know a bit about computers. Above the norm, I guess. I could tell you all the parts of my desktop, what they're for, and which ones are the best. But beyond that, it's all a bit of a mess - a dark, tangled web of sexily-titled motherboards, PCI-E vs PCI cards and the terrifying, pregnant spider of whatever the hell a 2.5 GB cache means. I'll stick with my homemade league-table of CPUs and GPUs - the bigger the number, the better it is. So, when it dawned on me that some sort of portable computer device was integral to my future, I was hurled headlong into the dank, abstract universe of 'laptop buying'. I was one of those people now - one of those guys who'd surf shady websites that look like they'd fallen off the back of some sort of internet van, glazing over Alienware this and custom-built that
Then I found PCS. Clean layout. Big-ass buttons. No emboldened text screaming 'Guaranteed legality! You buy now no fuss lapingtops!'. This was the place for me.
Chapter 2 - Stalker
Whatever people tell you, the truth is that they don't like choice. Choice means you'll make a mistake. Choice means you'll pick the wrong one. Choice is just self-inflicted failure in drag. So when 20 or more boxes popped up when I first checked out the specs of a VortexII laptop, I got worried - The 555M or the 560M? A good i5 GPU or a low-end i7? Is RAM necessary? What the hell is RAID? I don't want to get raided; who's the hell's raiding me?! But, like a nerdy Bambi, I had to man up and take my first faltering steps. Passmark.com was an invaluable site for simple charts to show just how great my laptop could have been if I were rich, but I got a feel for which GPU/CPU was in my ball park. But what of HDDs, 4GB v 8GB RAM, or 52-in-1 card readers (who the hell has 52 types of cards? Is there some sort of Hardware Poker Championship I'm not invited to?)? I have to say, as a man who's dwelled and lurked in his fair share of cavernous forums, you guys are special. A cosy but bulky community of people who genuinely know what they're talking about, and are more than happy to help others out. No one laughed at my specs, or called me a noob for my basic knowledge, or patronised me with their immense intellect - I wanted a question answered, and everyone who replied was friendly, affable, and more importantly, right. Not only that, but I was amazed at the hands-on approach of the staff themselves -'PCS' keeps everyone updated on stock levels and new arrivals, while various moderators and admins swoop in to have the last word on all things helpful. Having customer service like that is quite a rarity in these cost-cutting days, and I genuinely felt like I wasn't just 'buying a laptop from some business' - I was paying for the artistry and services of talented, passionate people.
Chapter 3 - Money
And it was through this customer-owner communication I discovered that the VortexII I had my eye on for the past month was going like electric hotcakes. Not only did one user inform me I was getting a laptop that cost him well into the thousands only a year or two before, but every similar spec I looked at in pre-built systems elsewhere cost half a leg and a slice of left testicle. All in all, alongside the £20 charge for paying with credit card, my i7-2670/560M/8GB RAM/500GB 7,2000 RPM beast came to £966. To use the correct economic terminology - I was balls deep in consumer surplus.
Chapter 4 - 1984
I must have scanned over my final build 100 times before finally clicking to order. The interwebs worked its magic, and I was now kindly informed that the little Lapland elves would work night and day to craft my purchase. Well - here comes the waiting.
Except - hang on? What's this? I've got a detailed chart of the order and delivery process? Do mine eyes deceive me, or is that the option to check how far along your build is, who it's built by, and what notes they're making as they go? I felt like I'd found the magical peephole into the ladies changing rooms* - if the ladies in question were made out of laptop components. I could see everything - Carl testing my laptop for a day. My Intel processor drying off after a shower. The 560M GPU and 8GB RAM having a towel-flicking fight. My hard drive comparing breasts with the thermal paste's. And finally, my laptop being shipped off complete with DPD tracking number. It was like I was Big Brother. All in all, it took about 4 days for my creative vision to come true, and 5 days from the first working day after ordering to it landing on my doorstep. I even got a text giving the exact hour-long time window of delivery. It was terrifyingly accurate.
Chapter 5 - Deliverance
A bloody love it. The VortexII is smooth, classic, unpretentious and powerful as the Hulk on 'roids. Windows 7 was installed already, so it was just a case of booting up and setting up. The PCS manual gives the basics while the specific manual goes into all the technical goriness. I got a free copy of Nero Essentials I never even asked for, as well as the Windows 7 disc and driver disc. Honestly - the driver bit was the one non-perfect thing about this whole experience. I didn't know whether you guys had installed all the optional drivers, or just the Fingersprint scanner, or a selection - it was a bit of confusing trial-and-error to see what needed installs and what didn't. The bad side is that I've installed a THX sound thing that I can't use. But c'mon - in the grant scheme of things, that's nothing, and was mostly likely down to my own stupidity. My lesson learned - don't get hot and bothered about optional drivers.
#FirstWorldProblems.
So, it's come to this. A few months after deciding to get a laptop, a month after finding PCS, and a week after ordering, I've got my custom, hand-picked machine for under a grand. The service was impeccable, the product range vast, the website swish, and the order updates a spark of genius. I'm a born-again believer; PCS have turned the once-horrific experience of buying computers into something so simple, even I could do it. Brilliant.
*I don't do that. No way. Who told you that?
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