Dr_Jameo
Active member
Good afternoon PCS, mods and members.
The structure:
Introduction > specs > analysis > conclusion > pics.
Introduction
I wanted a behemoth of a machine that was compact and easily transportable, due to university coming up this September for LAN parties and whatnot. The solution - Vortex III Elite! I considered a mini PC, but I didn't want to sacrifice monitor size for mobility, and a full-sized desktop would be too large for my room. A laptop was ideal.
Disclaimer: I have never owned a monster like this before, so I apologise in advance if my descriptions are that of a child in a sweet shop. :whistling:
I have owned this machine for a few days now (could be a week; my sense of time is pretty bad), and felt I have experienced it enough to write a review.
Specs
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM (Special Offer)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st 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 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Elite 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,800 mAh/89.21WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 300W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC11 Ultra-Quiet Laptop Cooler, upto 17.3 inch (£25)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
CM Storm Xornet Gaming Mouse (£19)
Gaming Mouse Pad
SteelSeries QcK Gaming Mouse Pad (£9)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets
LOGITECH® GAMING HEADSET G35 - 7.1 SURROUND SOUND (£98)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1
It's pretty beefy. I enjoyed spending every pound out of the £2209 total.
Analysis
I'll try to keep this tidy and on-topic, but my writing skills have dulled over the years :tt2:
The craftsmanship of this machine is fantastic. I enjoy the smoothness of the chassis, with a slight matte rubber feel to it. The keyboard doesn't flex at all, which is helpful for my heavy-handed index fingers. Minor gripes with the enter key being smaller than usual keys, but nothing a conscientious effort can't fix. Little things like the hinges and power socket are very sturdy - another sign of good design. The trackpad is big and fast. As the finger glides across, there's a slight stubble of resistance, but it feels more a sign of high quality building than a negative point. However, due to the size of the trackpad, I had to adapt my typing style to prevent random clicks. Again, nothing a conscientious effort can't fix. I use my mouse, but it needed to be included.
The screen is bright, crisp and most importantly huge. Having used 15" screens all my life, this is a welcome upgrade! Everything looks spot on. High quality component - nothing else to say.
Location of the ports are well thought through. Three USB 3.0s to the right help for the mouse, my G35 headset, and another interchangeable peripheral (none of my connections require 3.0 really). Being right-handed, this is a blessing for me in terms of the location of the mouse (lefties would need a wireless mouse imo). There is a SATA connection to the right as well that I am yet to try out. At the back, there is another USB port. This is convenient for my USB-powered cooling stand - another point for the intelligent design of this kit! Left-hand ethernet port, headphone and mic jacks are standard.
The Onkyo speakers often receive mixed reviews, to say the least. I have found that they are adequate for gaming (my main objective with this machine), and have clear distinctions between each sound. When using them for music, I found them to be below average (tested music being Insomnium - Across the Dark, and other assorted metal bands. A small sample, I admit, however I have used the G35 headset for 90% of the time), feeling muffled, flat and dull. I conclude that these speakers have their pros and cons in their respective areas. It wouldn't be fair to write them off as generally bad, however they could be better on the music front.
I haven't tested the battery life, however this is not of any concern as it will sit on my desk until it dies. This is the case with the portability factor as well - apart from the packing into a case for a LAN party (but then it'll be on a desk anyway). However, everyone is aware of the inherent bulk of this machine. It's certainly not an ultrabook
The performance is obvious. I max everything. Bootups and shutdowns take no time at all. Apologies for no stats here. I might edit this post in the future with some stats. No benchmark stats either... Either way, it should be obvious this thing flies.
Whilst the peripherals aren't directly affected by PCS, they deserve a brief mention.
The mouse is fine, the mousemat is fine, the headset is brilliant. Any questions?
Conclusion
I have grown up as a console gamer since the age of 4. Having gathered some savings from my gap year working, I treated myself and morphed into a PC gamer with 4 months of Summer before I start university. The process of configuring, ordering and tracking the kit has been a pleasure at every step of the way. Updates came regularly.
Processed Date 11-05-2013
Pre-Production Date 14-05-2013
Build Date 16-05-2013
Test Date 21-05-2013
Awaiting Dispatch Date 22-05-2013
Dispatch Date 22-05-2013
I think I fell into the 8 working day band. Many thanks to the top-notch staff at PCS who made my baby! DPD were fantastic as usual.
Final note - I would like to thank the community for helping me configure the machine. The wisdom, knowledge and insight that can be drawn on here is second to none. You all helped me spend my money far more wisely than I could have originally.
Here are some pics. Apologies for only having four - I got very excited when I unpacked it...
http://imgur.com/BWxmXv3,oxeF5B0,ChOk0eF,GFL6O5x#0
The structure:
Introduction > specs > analysis > conclusion > pics.
Introduction
I wanted a behemoth of a machine that was compact and easily transportable, due to university coming up this September for LAN parties and whatnot. The solution - Vortex III Elite! I considered a mini PC, but I didn't want to sacrifice monitor size for mobility, and a full-sized desktop would be too large for my room. A laptop was ideal.
Disclaimer: I have never owned a monster like this before, so I apologise in advance if my descriptions are that of a child in a sweet shop. :whistling:
I have owned this machine for a few days now (could be a week; my sense of time is pretty bad), and felt I have experienced it enough to write a review.
Specs
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM (Special Offer)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st 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 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Elite 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,800 mAh/89.21WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 300W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC11 Ultra-Quiet Laptop Cooler, upto 17.3 inch (£25)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
CM Storm Xornet Gaming Mouse (£19)
Gaming Mouse Pad
SteelSeries QcK Gaming Mouse Pad (£9)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets
LOGITECH® GAMING HEADSET G35 - 7.1 SURROUND SOUND (£98)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1
It's pretty beefy. I enjoyed spending every pound out of the £2209 total.
Analysis
I'll try to keep this tidy and on-topic, but my writing skills have dulled over the years :tt2:
The craftsmanship of this machine is fantastic. I enjoy the smoothness of the chassis, with a slight matte rubber feel to it. The keyboard doesn't flex at all, which is helpful for my heavy-handed index fingers. Minor gripes with the enter key being smaller than usual keys, but nothing a conscientious effort can't fix. Little things like the hinges and power socket are very sturdy - another sign of good design. The trackpad is big and fast. As the finger glides across, there's a slight stubble of resistance, but it feels more a sign of high quality building than a negative point. However, due to the size of the trackpad, I had to adapt my typing style to prevent random clicks. Again, nothing a conscientious effort can't fix. I use my mouse, but it needed to be included.
The screen is bright, crisp and most importantly huge. Having used 15" screens all my life, this is a welcome upgrade! Everything looks spot on. High quality component - nothing else to say.
Location of the ports are well thought through. Three USB 3.0s to the right help for the mouse, my G35 headset, and another interchangeable peripheral (none of my connections require 3.0 really). Being right-handed, this is a blessing for me in terms of the location of the mouse (lefties would need a wireless mouse imo). There is a SATA connection to the right as well that I am yet to try out. At the back, there is another USB port. This is convenient for my USB-powered cooling stand - another point for the intelligent design of this kit! Left-hand ethernet port, headphone and mic jacks are standard.
The Onkyo speakers often receive mixed reviews, to say the least. I have found that they are adequate for gaming (my main objective with this machine), and have clear distinctions between each sound. When using them for music, I found them to be below average (tested music being Insomnium - Across the Dark, and other assorted metal bands. A small sample, I admit, however I have used the G35 headset for 90% of the time), feeling muffled, flat and dull. I conclude that these speakers have their pros and cons in their respective areas. It wouldn't be fair to write them off as generally bad, however they could be better on the music front.
I haven't tested the battery life, however this is not of any concern as it will sit on my desk until it dies. This is the case with the portability factor as well - apart from the packing into a case for a LAN party (but then it'll be on a desk anyway). However, everyone is aware of the inherent bulk of this machine. It's certainly not an ultrabook
The performance is obvious. I max everything. Bootups and shutdowns take no time at all. Apologies for no stats here. I might edit this post in the future with some stats. No benchmark stats either... Either way, it should be obvious this thing flies.
Whilst the peripherals aren't directly affected by PCS, they deserve a brief mention.
The mouse is fine, the mousemat is fine, the headset is brilliant. Any questions?
Conclusion
I have grown up as a console gamer since the age of 4. Having gathered some savings from my gap year working, I treated myself and morphed into a PC gamer with 4 months of Summer before I start university. The process of configuring, ordering and tracking the kit has been a pleasure at every step of the way. Updates came regularly.
Processed Date 11-05-2013
Pre-Production Date 14-05-2013
Build Date 16-05-2013
Test Date 21-05-2013
Awaiting Dispatch Date 22-05-2013
Dispatch Date 22-05-2013
I think I fell into the 8 working day band. Many thanks to the top-notch staff at PCS who made my baby! DPD were fantastic as usual.
Final note - I would like to thank the community for helping me configure the machine. The wisdom, knowledge and insight that can be drawn on here is second to none. You all helped me spend my money far more wisely than I could have originally.
Here are some pics. Apologies for only having four - I got very excited when I unpacked it...
http://imgur.com/BWxmXv3,oxeF5B0,ChOk0eF,GFL6O5x#0
