spookypeanut
Member
I got myself a 14" laptop (details below) for less that £500, with a spec that I didn't think was possible for that price.
The buying process was easy enough: it takes a while to build, but they kept me updated the whole time and once it was built I got it very quickly. The delivery company was great too, I could see the gps location of the delivery driver on their tracking page so I had a really good idea of when he'd get to me! I'd had pcspecialist recommended to me by a friend for being incredibly good at support. I have to say, I didn't really find that before hand: I did an online chat with someone, and they seemed to disappear while I was still talking to them.
But in all, I'm very happy with it. It is *very* fast (in particular compared to my old one). I would recommend an SSD to anyone: my machine virtually never waits for disk data anymore. I have to really concentrate to see the splash screen of the OS, it goes by so quickly. I've installed Xubuntu on it: the only minor problem was that wifi kept dropping out. I sorted that out by turning off power management on the wifi, which unfortunately means the battery drains quickly (http://askubuntu.com/questions/541639/xubuntu-14-10-wifi-dropping-out). I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the wifi driver gets fixed though.
There are a couple of things I would change about it: it has a VGA port which feels like a real relic from the past. It also has an internal dvd drive: while occasionally useful, I'd rather have a smaller laptop without one and plug in a USB one when needed. I'd much rather have a smaller chassis, but I would have had to pay £300 more for the same spec with the options that PCS had available.
Chassis & Display UltraNote: 14" Glossy HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4210M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk NONE
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive UltraNote Series: 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
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
DVD Recovery Media NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Carry Case NONE
Laptop Cooling Stands NONE
Stand-Alone Monitor NONE
Additional Keyboard NONE
Notebook Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad NONE
External Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee 30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Insurance NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 14 working days
The buying process was easy enough: it takes a while to build, but they kept me updated the whole time and once it was built I got it very quickly. The delivery company was great too, I could see the gps location of the delivery driver on their tracking page so I had a really good idea of when he'd get to me! I'd had pcspecialist recommended to me by a friend for being incredibly good at support. I have to say, I didn't really find that before hand: I did an online chat with someone, and they seemed to disappear while I was still talking to them.
But in all, I'm very happy with it. It is *very* fast (in particular compared to my old one). I would recommend an SSD to anyone: my machine virtually never waits for disk data anymore. I have to really concentrate to see the splash screen of the OS, it goes by so quickly. I've installed Xubuntu on it: the only minor problem was that wifi kept dropping out. I sorted that out by turning off power management on the wifi, which unfortunately means the battery drains quickly (http://askubuntu.com/questions/541639/xubuntu-14-10-wifi-dropping-out). I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the wifi driver gets fixed though.
There are a couple of things I would change about it: it has a VGA port which feels like a real relic from the past. It also has an internal dvd drive: while occasionally useful, I'd rather have a smaller laptop without one and plug in a USB one when needed. I'd much rather have a smaller chassis, but I would have had to pay £300 more for the same spec with the options that PCS had available.
Chassis & Display UltraNote: 14" Glossy HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4210M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk NONE
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive UltraNote Series: 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
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
DVD Recovery Media NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Carry Case NONE
Laptop Cooling Stands NONE
Stand-Alone Monitor NONE
Additional Keyboard NONE
Notebook Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad NONE
External Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee 30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Insurance NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 14 working days