REVIEW: Vortex III LE (Clevo P151EM1)
SUPER LONG REVIEW. I apologise for the length - I just like to be thorough
Also available (with pictures) on my website: http://nedwards.org/2013/03/19/hardware-review-vortex-iii-le/
A few months ago I decided it was finally time to upgrade my laptop, given that its battery had given up on life and the chassis was slowly breaking apart in a rather alarming fashion. Weeks of research (and a lifetime of bad experience) drove me to the conclusion that large brand names didn't necessarily mean a quality, robust laptop. With that in mind, I turned to a lesser-known company who deal primarily in customised hardware: pcspecialist. Another week of pain-staking research and I had finally reached a decision on splashing out for a high-end laptop, the Vortex III LE:
Chassis & Display Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670MX - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 2nd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY
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
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire 1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
PRICE inc VAT: £952.68
Dealing with pcspecialist
One of the primary reasons I looked into pcspecialist was my frustration in other websites' lack of search functions (save for a very few good examples, like dabs.com). This is compounded by the fact that most hardware websites seem to think they're doing the customer a favour when search functions are stripped away and laptops are thrown into useless arbitrary categories such as "Business", "Media", "Gaming" and "Personal" without any indication as to what that might entail. What if I want a personal high-end laptop capable of media entertainment and gaming, but also suitable for business? In the end I decided that a fully-customised laptop, with a reasonable price, would save me from that frustration.
What struck me with pcspecialist was the ample choice in selecting a laptop; each model is displayed clearly with the minimum price and "important" specifications - in most cases, the processor, graphics and resolution. The customisation for each laptop updates the price in real-time, while allowing the user to save customisations in a printer-friendly format. The website also encourages users to use the forums to discuss laptop options, which I personally found pretty useful. The ordering and tracking experience was also very smooth, with a detailed and graphic description of the entire process from placing the order to dispatching. Logging into your account will also allow you to check the progress of your order (the longest of which is 'pre-processing' while you wait in the build queue).
The first hitch came a few days after I had placed my order, when it turned out there had been a delay in the shipment of the chassis required for my laptop. The result was that I had to wait nearly thirty days to move out of the dreaded pre-processing zone. While some might find this acceptable, I was patient enough to wait, especially since they had bothered to email me to explain the situation. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when the shipment of chassis finally arrived, my laptop was fast-tracked and dispatched with next-day delivery, bringing the actual build/test time to a matter of days.
The icing on the cake was receiving texts as well as emails whenever my laptop order entered the next phase, all the way up to an extremely accurate estimation of delivery time.
Unpacking the Laptop
I was pleased to see the laptop was safely packaged, as expected. Anyone watching me from afar would've been forgiven for thinking I was handling my own new-born child. It was nice to see a distinct lack of junk in the contents - only the laptop, power supply, manuals (one from pcspecialist and one for the Clevo model) and driver disks.
My first thought on the laptop was how thick and heavy it was; not being one for unnecessary aesthetics, this simply equated to being a laptop that is substantially more powerful than my desktop computer. There is also a distinct lack of logos or odd decorations plastered on the chassis, which I personally find to be a big positive. While it is indeed a gaming laptop at heart, it doesn't look like it was pulled out of Roswell, meaning you could use it at work without looking stupid. If you're that bothered about decorations, you could always chuck some stickers on it.
When ordering, I decided to ditch the DVD drive and go for a secondary HDD caddy instead, wanting to use a smaller solid-state drive for my operating system. With the secondary HDD caddy I have the option to use a larger drive for any non-essential programs and data. With this in mind, I was alarmed at first to see what I thought was a DVD drive in the side of the laptop. Fortunately, it turned out to be simply a fake cover for the secondary HDD caddy, which was a little bizarre but otherwise fine by me.
Since I had opted to install my own operating system, my initial assumption was that the HDD would come formatted. Luckily, this was not the case as an unregistered copy of Windows 8 came pre-installed, which allowed me to quickly check the laptop was functioning correctly.
The package also came with disks containing all essential drivers and software, one of which was exclusively for Windows 8. The disks even give the order in which each driver should be installed. Massive kudos to pcspecialist for this, since most people abhor the usual bloatware found pre-installed on laptops, none of which were to be found on the disks.
My only gripes were two things; firstly, there were no drivers available for the wireless module I'd opted for, which meant I either had to use an ethernet cable to download the drivers, or transfer them from another computer via USB. Secondly, neither manuals provided instructions on removing the secondary HDD caddy (which was surprising given that they offered it as an option), which was not immediately obvious - luckily, this was remedied with a quick search on Google. Overall, however, these were hardly serious problems at all.
Using the Laptop
As with any computer, using a new keyboard can take some getting used to. I've found that the keys are very nicely spaced out and pleasant to use. I feel the left-side shift key could have been slightly longer, but I'm sure I'll get used it. The trackpad is also nice - I'm not a massive fan of the rough feel, but again it's something you can quickly get used to. Preferring 15.4" screens, I've found the 1920 x 1200 resolution to work very nicely, providing a very crisp quality. It's the first time I've used a matte screen, and so far I've found it much better than the glossy alternative.
With an SSD installed, I've noticed boot times and operations in Windows 7 are considerably faster than normal. When large-capacity SSD prices drop a bit more, I'll probably replace my secondary HDD with one, since the latter is a 5,200 RPM drive from my old laptop. The lack of a DVD drive hasn't bothered me at all; DVDs are fast becoming obsolete with cloud-based computing, and even when I needed to use one (as with installing Windows 7) I have a cheap USB DVD drive.
Noise-wise, this definitely isn't a silent laptop, but it's not unbearably loud either. It's something that can't really be avoided if you're stuffing a whopping GPU inside it. The quality and loudness of the speakers easily drown out the noise of the fans. There's even a sub-woofer on the underside, but don't expect too much from it.
For those worried about the temperature of a power-hungry laptop, I've not experienced anything close to overheating. GPU temperatures usually stay around 60-65C, peaking at 70C when things get a little intense. From what I've read, cooling stands do little in the way of cooling due to the design of the Clevo chassis - most of the cooling comes from creating better airflow by raising the laptop, rather than the fans themselves. In other words, don't block the laptop's underside fan.
So far I've tested the laptop on Battlefield 3 and Starcraft 2, both running on ultra graphics. The former runs between 30-60 FPS, while the latter runs at a consistent 60+ FPS. For BF3, I found that I had to lower the resolution from 1920×1200 since it was hitting the FPS a bit, so at 1366x768 (which is perfectly reasonable for a 15.4" screen) it ran exceedingly well. Given that it's far more powerful than my desktop's GPU, I can't really complain.
Conclusion
Overall I'm hugely impressed with this laptop. To me it seems to be a very powerful and reasonably priced replacement for my desktop for a good few years at least, with a chassis solid enough not to wear to breaking point before the hardware becomes outdated. To be on the safe side I'll probably invest in a laptop stand for those times I'm pushing the GPU.
Combined with pcspecialist's excellent service, and despite the bad timing with the stock, I whole-heartedly recommend this laptop from them. Go grab one now.
SUPER LONG REVIEW. I apologise for the length - I just like to be thorough
Also available (with pictures) on my website: http://nedwards.org/2013/03/19/hardware-review-vortex-iii-le/
A few months ago I decided it was finally time to upgrade my laptop, given that its battery had given up on life and the chassis was slowly breaking apart in a rather alarming fashion. Weeks of research (and a lifetime of bad experience) drove me to the conclusion that large brand names didn't necessarily mean a quality, robust laptop. With that in mind, I turned to a lesser-known company who deal primarily in customised hardware: pcspecialist. Another week of pain-staking research and I had finally reached a decision on splashing out for a high-end laptop, the Vortex III LE:
Chassis & Display Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670MX - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 2nd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY
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
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire 1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
PRICE inc VAT: £952.68
Dealing with pcspecialist
One of the primary reasons I looked into pcspecialist was my frustration in other websites' lack of search functions (save for a very few good examples, like dabs.com). This is compounded by the fact that most hardware websites seem to think they're doing the customer a favour when search functions are stripped away and laptops are thrown into useless arbitrary categories such as "Business", "Media", "Gaming" and "Personal" without any indication as to what that might entail. What if I want a personal high-end laptop capable of media entertainment and gaming, but also suitable for business? In the end I decided that a fully-customised laptop, with a reasonable price, would save me from that frustration.
What struck me with pcspecialist was the ample choice in selecting a laptop; each model is displayed clearly with the minimum price and "important" specifications - in most cases, the processor, graphics and resolution. The customisation for each laptop updates the price in real-time, while allowing the user to save customisations in a printer-friendly format. The website also encourages users to use the forums to discuss laptop options, which I personally found pretty useful. The ordering and tracking experience was also very smooth, with a detailed and graphic description of the entire process from placing the order to dispatching. Logging into your account will also allow you to check the progress of your order (the longest of which is 'pre-processing' while you wait in the build queue).
The first hitch came a few days after I had placed my order, when it turned out there had been a delay in the shipment of the chassis required for my laptop. The result was that I had to wait nearly thirty days to move out of the dreaded pre-processing zone. While some might find this acceptable, I was patient enough to wait, especially since they had bothered to email me to explain the situation. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when the shipment of chassis finally arrived, my laptop was fast-tracked and dispatched with next-day delivery, bringing the actual build/test time to a matter of days.
The icing on the cake was receiving texts as well as emails whenever my laptop order entered the next phase, all the way up to an extremely accurate estimation of delivery time.
Unpacking the Laptop
I was pleased to see the laptop was safely packaged, as expected. Anyone watching me from afar would've been forgiven for thinking I was handling my own new-born child. It was nice to see a distinct lack of junk in the contents - only the laptop, power supply, manuals (one from pcspecialist and one for the Clevo model) and driver disks.
My first thought on the laptop was how thick and heavy it was; not being one for unnecessary aesthetics, this simply equated to being a laptop that is substantially more powerful than my desktop computer. There is also a distinct lack of logos or odd decorations plastered on the chassis, which I personally find to be a big positive. While it is indeed a gaming laptop at heart, it doesn't look like it was pulled out of Roswell, meaning you could use it at work without looking stupid. If you're that bothered about decorations, you could always chuck some stickers on it.
When ordering, I decided to ditch the DVD drive and go for a secondary HDD caddy instead, wanting to use a smaller solid-state drive for my operating system. With the secondary HDD caddy I have the option to use a larger drive for any non-essential programs and data. With this in mind, I was alarmed at first to see what I thought was a DVD drive in the side of the laptop. Fortunately, it turned out to be simply a fake cover for the secondary HDD caddy, which was a little bizarre but otherwise fine by me.
Since I had opted to install my own operating system, my initial assumption was that the HDD would come formatted. Luckily, this was not the case as an unregistered copy of Windows 8 came pre-installed, which allowed me to quickly check the laptop was functioning correctly.
The package also came with disks containing all essential drivers and software, one of which was exclusively for Windows 8. The disks even give the order in which each driver should be installed. Massive kudos to pcspecialist for this, since most people abhor the usual bloatware found pre-installed on laptops, none of which were to be found on the disks.
My only gripes were two things; firstly, there were no drivers available for the wireless module I'd opted for, which meant I either had to use an ethernet cable to download the drivers, or transfer them from another computer via USB. Secondly, neither manuals provided instructions on removing the secondary HDD caddy (which was surprising given that they offered it as an option), which was not immediately obvious - luckily, this was remedied with a quick search on Google. Overall, however, these were hardly serious problems at all.
Using the Laptop
As with any computer, using a new keyboard can take some getting used to. I've found that the keys are very nicely spaced out and pleasant to use. I feel the left-side shift key could have been slightly longer, but I'm sure I'll get used it. The trackpad is also nice - I'm not a massive fan of the rough feel, but again it's something you can quickly get used to. Preferring 15.4" screens, I've found the 1920 x 1200 resolution to work very nicely, providing a very crisp quality. It's the first time I've used a matte screen, and so far I've found it much better than the glossy alternative.
With an SSD installed, I've noticed boot times and operations in Windows 7 are considerably faster than normal. When large-capacity SSD prices drop a bit more, I'll probably replace my secondary HDD with one, since the latter is a 5,200 RPM drive from my old laptop. The lack of a DVD drive hasn't bothered me at all; DVDs are fast becoming obsolete with cloud-based computing, and even when I needed to use one (as with installing Windows 7) I have a cheap USB DVD drive.
Noise-wise, this definitely isn't a silent laptop, but it's not unbearably loud either. It's something that can't really be avoided if you're stuffing a whopping GPU inside it. The quality and loudness of the speakers easily drown out the noise of the fans. There's even a sub-woofer on the underside, but don't expect too much from it.
For those worried about the temperature of a power-hungry laptop, I've not experienced anything close to overheating. GPU temperatures usually stay around 60-65C, peaking at 70C when things get a little intense. From what I've read, cooling stands do little in the way of cooling due to the design of the Clevo chassis - most of the cooling comes from creating better airflow by raising the laptop, rather than the fans themselves. In other words, don't block the laptop's underside fan.
So far I've tested the laptop on Battlefield 3 and Starcraft 2, both running on ultra graphics. The former runs between 30-60 FPS, while the latter runs at a consistent 60+ FPS. For BF3, I found that I had to lower the resolution from 1920×1200 since it was hitting the FPS a bit, so at 1366x768 (which is perfectly reasonable for a 15.4" screen) it ran exceedingly well. Given that it's far more powerful than my desktop's GPU, I can't really complain.
Conclusion
Overall I'm hugely impressed with this laptop. To me it seems to be a very powerful and reasonably priced replacement for my desktop for a good few years at least, with a chassis solid enough not to wear to breaking point before the hardware becomes outdated. To be on the safe side I'll probably invest in a laptop stand for those times I'm pushing the GPU.
Combined with pcspecialist's excellent service, and despite the bad timing with the stock, I whole-heartedly recommend this laptop from them. Go grab one now.
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