EDIT: I had a very good impression of the computer after puchase. However, I have found that the charging circuit has failed twice within 9 months of purchase. This is not an acceptable level of reliability for me and is very dissapointing. What is more, repairs take forever; the first instance it took almost a month for the repair, the second is still in progress and it has been 13 days since they received my computer and have not even completed assessment on the machine. I have almost no faith left in the service of PC specialist and so I am highly unlikely to buy again from PC specialist due to the poor speed of repairs and commitment to customers.
The original review
I bought my new computer about a month ago, and after some heavy use I thought I would submit a review for the laptop.
ULTRANOTE 15.6
Chassis & Display UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3632QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card Intel® HD Graphics 4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive Ultra Slim 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 STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-2230 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Operating System Genuine Windows 8 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Before I start the review, I thought I would give a bit of background to the purchase.
I am a student, and therefore need the computer primarily for working and researching, but I also do a lot of work with Photoshop, Lightroom, and other high power software so I needed a reasonable grunt in terms of power and RAM. Before considering buying from PCSpecialist, I actually bought a Samsung series 7 Intel Core i5 off Amazon for around £650, a good screen being a major criterion, hoping for good quality you would expect from a 'reputable' manufacturer. On the contrary, from the outset it was buggy and crashed regularly, with regular appearances of the BSOD, and after 15 days it gave up completely and I had to send it back for a refund. Although this debacle was relatively stressful, it did give me time to realise that a Core i5 processor was not fast enough and 6 GB of Ram was not enough.
Looking for a replacement for the dead Samsung laptop, I searched Google for laptops with good screens and reasonable specifications, and none really matched my demands. I found somewhere a suggestion to try PC Specialist. I was immediately cautious about buying from a company who I had never heard of, but the ability to completely customise the specifications was actually quite exciting. After much deliberation over whether I should 'risk it' buying such a high value item from an unknown (to me) company, I did in the end go ahead with the purchase.
I go through the need for certain specification within the main review.
Ordering 10/10
The ability to customize the specification so much is a real joy. This whole process is very easy of course through the website, but I did make a couple of phone-calls to the PCSpecialist team for a bit of advice on various things, and they were very helpful, and knowledgeable, which definitely boosted my confidence in PCSpecialist as a well-run and reputable business.
Production and Delivery: 8/10
Overall, the production took 11 days to process, and two days to ship, which was pretty reasonable. Not quite Amazon next day delivery, but such is the price of getting a fully customised laptop.
Chassis 8/10
The overall build quality is good, with the frame being relatively study despite being plastic. The screen backing and the keyboard tray both have a metallic finished plastic which is quite nice, and the rest is a functional black plastic. The only problem with the chassis is the sharp edges of the keyboard tray, which make it slightly less comfortable than it would otherwise be when typing and using the track pad, but not really an issue. It’s not MacBook Pro brushed aluminium, but chassis is functional and suits purpose well. The hinge is nice and stiff, and although the lid does not clip shut, the hinges are stiff enough to keep it closed well enough. The ports are easily accessible, and are tight fitting, especially the USBs, which do a good job and preventing accidental disconnections.
Keyboard 9/10
The keyboard is actually very nice to use, with a good bounce, and is not too dissimilar from a MacBook pro keyboard. And it is well spaced. The only problem with it is sometimes when selecting many items using control and click, not holding down control enough results in it not registering, a slight pain, but I am getting used to it.
Track pad 7/10
The track pad is quite good, though not very big, but of reasonable size. It is relatively responsive, though occasions I find it registering swipes from the edges, which Windows 8 interprets as opening the charms menu, which is moderately annoying. The bundled driver is reliable has good range of multitouch gesture options.
Screen 9/10
I said earlier that one of my main requirements was for a good screen, and this does not disappoint. The matte finish is excellent at preventing glare, and the viewing angles are good. Colour reproductions aren’t stellar, but I don't mind not having strong colour saturation as I find it quite harsh. The matte screen does mean more dust collects than on a gloss screen, but a simple wipe with a cloth fixes that. The only other niggle with it is slight bleed at the edges of the screen, but I don't really see this as an issue.
Performance 9/10
The performance is very good, as is substantially faster than any other computer I have used before. The trio of a faster 7200 rpm drive, an i7 quad core processor, and a good 8GB chunk of ram have meant for speedy computing, especially noticeable in file browsing and transfer, boot, and in graphics programs such as Lightroom and Photoshop. (I have found Lightroom to be quite a resource hog in the past, so to say it does not affect performance whilst running it is a real complement). The only problem is the natural consequence of a powerful computer; heating. I find the fan on hard quite a lot, and the machine getting quite hot. I would therefore recommend that anybody with this processor choose the better thermal paste (Arctic mx-4). I also get a loud regular bleep (albeit only twice), apparentlyfrom the BIOS, which may be due to overheating though I am not sure. It is easily fixed by a shut-down and leaving for 10 mins Apart from that, a blazingly fast machine.
Sound and Webcam 5/10
The speakers are situated not on the keyboard tray as is most common these days in laptops but underneath the front of the laptop. The sound is OK, but I would not recommend this laptop for those wanting to blast music across rooms. The headphone jack is ok, except it outputs a fair amount of electromagnetic noise, especially when using on the computer such as the keyboard and track-pad. For any audiophiles out there, get an upgraded sound card. Otherwise, the bundled driver (VIA) is good with excellent customisation settings. The microphone is ok; though need to be on the most sensitive settings for best results. Webcam is functional, but isn't much more than that.
Overall 8.5/10
The bottom line: a well built, fast laptop with a super screen at a competitive price. There are no major sticking points for me, and I would highly recommend using PCSpecialist to anyone, whether they know anything about computers or not.
Before I end, I'd like to mention Windows 8. People say that windows 8 is the new windows vista, in that it is a flop of an OS. I strongly disagree. Whilst there is a fair amount to learn about coming from Windows 7, you can do everything you can in windows 7 on windows 8, and a lot more, and some features such as the snap feature are amazingly useful, as especially with the nice high resolution screen, I can snap my mail, for example, next to Chrome and work on both without having to mess around with positioning windows. I would recommend Windows 8 even if you aren't a big fan of the Modern UI.
I'll be coming back to PCSpecialist for my next machine without hesitation.
The original review
I bought my new computer about a month ago, and after some heavy use I thought I would submit a review for the laptop.
ULTRANOTE 15.6
Chassis & Display UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3632QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card Intel® HD Graphics 4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive Ultra Slim 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 STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-2230 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Operating System Genuine Windows 8 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Before I start the review, I thought I would give a bit of background to the purchase.
I am a student, and therefore need the computer primarily for working and researching, but I also do a lot of work with Photoshop, Lightroom, and other high power software so I needed a reasonable grunt in terms of power and RAM. Before considering buying from PCSpecialist, I actually bought a Samsung series 7 Intel Core i5 off Amazon for around £650, a good screen being a major criterion, hoping for good quality you would expect from a 'reputable' manufacturer. On the contrary, from the outset it was buggy and crashed regularly, with regular appearances of the BSOD, and after 15 days it gave up completely and I had to send it back for a refund. Although this debacle was relatively stressful, it did give me time to realise that a Core i5 processor was not fast enough and 6 GB of Ram was not enough.
Looking for a replacement for the dead Samsung laptop, I searched Google for laptops with good screens and reasonable specifications, and none really matched my demands. I found somewhere a suggestion to try PC Specialist. I was immediately cautious about buying from a company who I had never heard of, but the ability to completely customise the specifications was actually quite exciting. After much deliberation over whether I should 'risk it' buying such a high value item from an unknown (to me) company, I did in the end go ahead with the purchase.
I go through the need for certain specification within the main review.
Ordering 10/10
The ability to customize the specification so much is a real joy. This whole process is very easy of course through the website, but I did make a couple of phone-calls to the PCSpecialist team for a bit of advice on various things, and they were very helpful, and knowledgeable, which definitely boosted my confidence in PCSpecialist as a well-run and reputable business.
Production and Delivery: 8/10
Overall, the production took 11 days to process, and two days to ship, which was pretty reasonable. Not quite Amazon next day delivery, but such is the price of getting a fully customised laptop.
Chassis 8/10
The overall build quality is good, with the frame being relatively study despite being plastic. The screen backing and the keyboard tray both have a metallic finished plastic which is quite nice, and the rest is a functional black plastic. The only problem with the chassis is the sharp edges of the keyboard tray, which make it slightly less comfortable than it would otherwise be when typing and using the track pad, but not really an issue. It’s not MacBook Pro brushed aluminium, but chassis is functional and suits purpose well. The hinge is nice and stiff, and although the lid does not clip shut, the hinges are stiff enough to keep it closed well enough. The ports are easily accessible, and are tight fitting, especially the USBs, which do a good job and preventing accidental disconnections.
Keyboard 9/10
The keyboard is actually very nice to use, with a good bounce, and is not too dissimilar from a MacBook pro keyboard. And it is well spaced. The only problem with it is sometimes when selecting many items using control and click, not holding down control enough results in it not registering, a slight pain, but I am getting used to it.
Track pad 7/10
The track pad is quite good, though not very big, but of reasonable size. It is relatively responsive, though occasions I find it registering swipes from the edges, which Windows 8 interprets as opening the charms menu, which is moderately annoying. The bundled driver is reliable has good range of multitouch gesture options.
Screen 9/10
I said earlier that one of my main requirements was for a good screen, and this does not disappoint. The matte finish is excellent at preventing glare, and the viewing angles are good. Colour reproductions aren’t stellar, but I don't mind not having strong colour saturation as I find it quite harsh. The matte screen does mean more dust collects than on a gloss screen, but a simple wipe with a cloth fixes that. The only other niggle with it is slight bleed at the edges of the screen, but I don't really see this as an issue.
Performance 9/10
The performance is very good, as is substantially faster than any other computer I have used before. The trio of a faster 7200 rpm drive, an i7 quad core processor, and a good 8GB chunk of ram have meant for speedy computing, especially noticeable in file browsing and transfer, boot, and in graphics programs such as Lightroom and Photoshop. (I have found Lightroom to be quite a resource hog in the past, so to say it does not affect performance whilst running it is a real complement). The only problem is the natural consequence of a powerful computer; heating. I find the fan on hard quite a lot, and the machine getting quite hot. I would therefore recommend that anybody with this processor choose the better thermal paste (Arctic mx-4). I also get a loud regular bleep (albeit only twice), apparentlyfrom the BIOS, which may be due to overheating though I am not sure. It is easily fixed by a shut-down and leaving for 10 mins Apart from that, a blazingly fast machine.
Sound and Webcam 5/10
The speakers are situated not on the keyboard tray as is most common these days in laptops but underneath the front of the laptop. The sound is OK, but I would not recommend this laptop for those wanting to blast music across rooms. The headphone jack is ok, except it outputs a fair amount of electromagnetic noise, especially when using on the computer such as the keyboard and track-pad. For any audiophiles out there, get an upgraded sound card. Otherwise, the bundled driver (VIA) is good with excellent customisation settings. The microphone is ok; though need to be on the most sensitive settings for best results. Webcam is functional, but isn't much more than that.
Overall 8.5/10
The bottom line: a well built, fast laptop with a super screen at a competitive price. There are no major sticking points for me, and I would highly recommend using PCSpecialist to anyone, whether they know anything about computers or not.
Before I end, I'd like to mention Windows 8. People say that windows 8 is the new windows vista, in that it is a flop of an OS. I strongly disagree. Whilst there is a fair amount to learn about coming from Windows 7, you can do everything you can in windows 7 on windows 8, and a lot more, and some features such as the snap feature are amazingly useful, as especially with the nice high resolution screen, I can snap my mail, for example, next to Chrome and work on both without having to mess around with positioning windows. I would recommend Windows 8 even if you aren't a big fan of the Modern UI.
I'll be coming back to PCSpecialist for my next machine without hesitation.
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