Vortex IV, 1st impressions

[IAmMikowski]

Hi! So a few months ago I decided it was time to start thinking about replacing my ageing warhorse of a laptop. I very quickly settled on PCSpecialist as they just seemed to offer such value for money and the right spec. I originally had a £2000 budget (same I paid for the old laptop) but was happily able to whittle it down to roughly £1700.

My old laptop had been great but was showing signs of age, but more importantly it was too big and heavy and as such I'd not been using it so much (and I don't have a desktop PC).

Now to cut a long story short, I finally settled on the spec, sorted out my finances and put my order in. I'm glad I went for the fast track, as I ordered it on the Friday and it arrived the Thursday after - incredible service from PCSpecialist! I plunged for a Vortex IV 15.6 of sheer awesomeness; will post the full spec further down but here are the bits I think potential buyers will be most interested in:

• i7-4800MQ (2.70Ghz) 6MB
• 16GB Kingston Hyper-X Genesis
• NVidia GTX 780M
• 240GB Kingston Hyper X SSD
• 1TB Seagate Hybrid Gen3 SSHD
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit
• Arctic Thermal Paste

Now, I was expecting great performance from this laptop, but boy oh boy does this baby fly! I've been blown away by its boot speed via the SSD, and simply stunned by the gaming performance - albeit I've only briefly tested BF3, Just Cause 2 (that used to hammer my old laptop!), Skyrim a couple of other games. I'm currently trying to decide on a brand new game to maybe give it a sterner test - any recommendations?

But for me, the biggest shock was just how lovely the laptop looks (simple, stylised, understated - sexiest keyboard ever, ohhhh pretty lights!) and more importantly how light and quiet it is. Maybe this is more down to my old laptop weighing more than my car (and arguably with a noisier engine!) but honestly, this is truly portable and comfortable on my lap via a laptop stand/pad.

So there you go, hopefully this comes across as a glowing review and if anyone is interested I would be quite happy to post updates as I put the Vortex IV through its paces (I work in 3D graphics so I'll be dabbling in some Maya fluids at some point).

Full spec as promised:

Chassis & Display

Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4800MQ (2.70GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)

16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - 1st Hard Disk

240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk

1TB SEAGATE HYBRID GEN3 SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive

2nd/3rd 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

Sound Card

Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Wireless/Wired Networking

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)

Power Cable

1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

DVD Recovery Media

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve

Office Software

NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus

NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2013 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC *SPECIAL*

Keyboard Language

INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Mouse

INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam

INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Dead Pixel Guarantee

30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs

Insurance

1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery

STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time

FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH

Quantity

1

 

[IAmMikowski]

Well I've had my laptop for a week now so I figured I would post an update. I've used it for at least a couple of hours daily and my opinion remains the same - this thing is incredible! Its true portability, ie not too big or heavy to carry around - within reason of course - the speed with which it boots up and down (my work PC feels like it takes an AGE to boot now) and the relative quietness and coolness even when I'm gaming - yes the fans kick in, but they're not too bad at all volume-wise; perhaps my cooling stand and the thermal paste are helping more than I realised they would?

So yes, early days admittedly but I highly recommend the Vortex IV 15.6 if you're looking for a laptop with more bang for your buck!

 

[Niem]

Glad it's all working great, Happy gaming

 

[Cricky]

Good post. I'm about to order a Vortex myself (a 17 and not as high spec as yours) but it's always nice to see feedback like this to reassure me before I buy.