Posting a review of my 15.6" Octane VI Laptop which I received from PCS a couple of months ago. This is the 4th laptop I have purchased from PCS over the last 10 years or so, so I will also include my experience of the company generally....
Specification purchased:
Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD 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
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Firstly - delivery: I must say that in my experience the updated average dispatch times by PCS on their website would appear to be wildly optimistic. Every single one of my laptops has taken a fair bit longer than the quoted time to dispatch (barring perhaps the first one I ordered in 2009!). Just to give an idea, the production times for the 4 laptops have been 7 working days, 15 working days, 9 working days and for this laptop 13 working days. Don't forget that's working days so 15 days is 3 weeks - then you have to allow for delivery. When I ordered this laptop I think the dispatch estimate for laptops was showing as 5-7 days so 13 days was quite a bit over. Perhaps I have just been unlucky (4 times?). Having experienced this numerous times, now when I order a laptop from PCS, I get into the mindset - "it will arrive when it arrives". It is not going to be quick! Unless you pay extra of course or go for a pre-built system.
Overall, the main issue I have encountered with my orders has been one of poor quality control. I think 3 out of the 4 machines have had issues on delivery that should have been picked up before being sent out if the quality control was half-decent. All have been resolved by PCS satisfactorily and their service in this area is good - but it's frustrating when receiving a new machine which you then can't use because either it has to go back to PCS or they have to send you a replacement part. They make use of "advanced-replacement" which is a good service as it means they will send out a new component and collect the faulty one at the same time so it saves time. Although it does require you to be fairly technically competent yourself in order to be able to fit parts etc.
For this laptop specifically - it was apparent quite quickly that there was a fault with the speakers - the sound just sounded "off" and "tinny" - almost rattly. I did all the usual stuff to make sure it wasn't a driver issue and through some testing determined that it was the right speaker at fault - a hardware issue. Another thing that is good about PCS is that they offer an "open-case" warranty - so they allow you to open up the laptop and change parts yourself without affecting your warranty. I am fairly technically minded myself and have taken laptops apart myself before so decided to open up the laptop and get access to the speaker to see if it was a minor issue such as the connection was loose or the speaker wasn't seated correctly. I must stress that this is not for someone who does not know what they are doing! The speakers themselves are not easy to get to. It involves disassembling virtually the entire chassis and keyboard and removing the heatsink (which therefore then requires repasting and refitting) and quite a number of ribbon cables attached to the motherboard that you have to be very careful with. Managed to get to the speakers and couldn't see anything obvious so I disconnected them from the motherboard and cleaned the connections and attached them back again. Reversed the entire process to put the laptop back together and turned it on and - the issue was still there. So contacted PCS to explain and technical support were very good (as they always have been in my experience). They asked me to send a recording/video of the issue and they agreed to send me some replacement speakers to fit. This I did and the speakers arrived I think 2 days later. So took the entire laptop apart (again!) to refit them only to discover the speakers that had been sent were the incorrect ones. They looked quite similar but did not quite fit the chassis. So back in touch with PCS (who were very understanding and knowledgeable again) who said they would arrange for the correct ones to be sent out. Unfortunately by this time, coronavirus had arrived so getting the correct set of speakers sent out took over a week. During this time I did not want the hassle of reassembling and disassembling the laptop again so left it fully disassembled and therefore did not have use of it. Eventually the speakers arrived and hurrah! they were the correct ones so I fitted them and turned it on and hurrah! it fixed the issue! back to good sound quality! On that note the sound quality is very good in this laptop in my opinion. Was the same on my previous Octane laptop also (I think the previous was Octane IV). When removing the old speakers I noticed the plastic coating on the (very delicate) wires which connect the speakers to the motherboard had been damaged so the underlying cable had probably also been damaged which was causing the issue. This probably occured during installation and manufacture of the laptop but unsure if this bit is done by Clevo/PCS.
Of course I could have just sent the laptop back to PCS for an RMA but from previous experience this is a minimum 2 week turnaround which I was trying to avoid. In the end it took around 2 weeks to get resolved anyway and had to do all the work myself.
Anyway - now I have been using the laptop for a couple of weeks it is just as I expected - the specification speaks for itself I think. As I mentioned, this is my 4th laptop from PCS all have been Clevo and the last 2 have been Octane so I have a fair idea of the product. For me, these Clevo models from PCS are unrivalled in terms of functionality/power/price on the market. They are very capable machines. Mine is not absolutely top spec but is amazingly powerful for a £1600 laptop and will run anything I throw at it. I use mine both for gaming and as a desktop replacement. I travel a lot also. They are huge, bulky, heavy machines so they are not ideal for travel but as I want the performance that is the compromise I make. On that note - the power brick is HUMONGOUS! My previous Octane machine had a huge power brick but this one dwarfs it both in size and weight. It is literally about the size and weight of your average builders brick. Not sure why as the old one was 230W too so not sure why it is now so much bigger? As I say - NOT good for travel but I make do. Attached a picture next to a dvd case for comparison.....
But that aside I am now very happy with my new machine and it is running well. I have done some benchmarks and yes the 9700K does get hot (repasted with arctic MX4) and with fans on max but I found that was only during benchmarking. Temperature during games has been acceptable (max about 80C).
So on the whole I would say my experience with PCS is positive with the caveat of some gripes. I keep coming back to purchase my laptops here and will continue to do so if they keep offering the same service/price/features. Their after sales service is good and the people on the phone have always been knowledgeable in my experience which is a huge plus. Not sure whether that is down to their training or maybe I have just been lucky? There is nothing worse than speaking to technical support who don't have a clue themselves or are not knowledgeable.
Specification purchased:
Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD 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
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Firstly - delivery: I must say that in my experience the updated average dispatch times by PCS on their website would appear to be wildly optimistic. Every single one of my laptops has taken a fair bit longer than the quoted time to dispatch (barring perhaps the first one I ordered in 2009!). Just to give an idea, the production times for the 4 laptops have been 7 working days, 15 working days, 9 working days and for this laptop 13 working days. Don't forget that's working days so 15 days is 3 weeks - then you have to allow for delivery. When I ordered this laptop I think the dispatch estimate for laptops was showing as 5-7 days so 13 days was quite a bit over. Perhaps I have just been unlucky (4 times?). Having experienced this numerous times, now when I order a laptop from PCS, I get into the mindset - "it will arrive when it arrives". It is not going to be quick! Unless you pay extra of course or go for a pre-built system.
Overall, the main issue I have encountered with my orders has been one of poor quality control. I think 3 out of the 4 machines have had issues on delivery that should have been picked up before being sent out if the quality control was half-decent. All have been resolved by PCS satisfactorily and their service in this area is good - but it's frustrating when receiving a new machine which you then can't use because either it has to go back to PCS or they have to send you a replacement part. They make use of "advanced-replacement" which is a good service as it means they will send out a new component and collect the faulty one at the same time so it saves time. Although it does require you to be fairly technically competent yourself in order to be able to fit parts etc.
For this laptop specifically - it was apparent quite quickly that there was a fault with the speakers - the sound just sounded "off" and "tinny" - almost rattly. I did all the usual stuff to make sure it wasn't a driver issue and through some testing determined that it was the right speaker at fault - a hardware issue. Another thing that is good about PCS is that they offer an "open-case" warranty - so they allow you to open up the laptop and change parts yourself without affecting your warranty. I am fairly technically minded myself and have taken laptops apart myself before so decided to open up the laptop and get access to the speaker to see if it was a minor issue such as the connection was loose or the speaker wasn't seated correctly. I must stress that this is not for someone who does not know what they are doing! The speakers themselves are not easy to get to. It involves disassembling virtually the entire chassis and keyboard and removing the heatsink (which therefore then requires repasting and refitting) and quite a number of ribbon cables attached to the motherboard that you have to be very careful with. Managed to get to the speakers and couldn't see anything obvious so I disconnected them from the motherboard and cleaned the connections and attached them back again. Reversed the entire process to put the laptop back together and turned it on and - the issue was still there. So contacted PCS to explain and technical support were very good (as they always have been in my experience). They asked me to send a recording/video of the issue and they agreed to send me some replacement speakers to fit. This I did and the speakers arrived I think 2 days later. So took the entire laptop apart (again!) to refit them only to discover the speakers that had been sent were the incorrect ones. They looked quite similar but did not quite fit the chassis. So back in touch with PCS (who were very understanding and knowledgeable again) who said they would arrange for the correct ones to be sent out. Unfortunately by this time, coronavirus had arrived so getting the correct set of speakers sent out took over a week. During this time I did not want the hassle of reassembling and disassembling the laptop again so left it fully disassembled and therefore did not have use of it. Eventually the speakers arrived and hurrah! they were the correct ones so I fitted them and turned it on and hurrah! it fixed the issue! back to good sound quality! On that note the sound quality is very good in this laptop in my opinion. Was the same on my previous Octane laptop also (I think the previous was Octane IV). When removing the old speakers I noticed the plastic coating on the (very delicate) wires which connect the speakers to the motherboard had been damaged so the underlying cable had probably also been damaged which was causing the issue. This probably occured during installation and manufacture of the laptop but unsure if this bit is done by Clevo/PCS.
Of course I could have just sent the laptop back to PCS for an RMA but from previous experience this is a minimum 2 week turnaround which I was trying to avoid. In the end it took around 2 weeks to get resolved anyway and had to do all the work myself.
Anyway - now I have been using the laptop for a couple of weeks it is just as I expected - the specification speaks for itself I think. As I mentioned, this is my 4th laptop from PCS all have been Clevo and the last 2 have been Octane so I have a fair idea of the product. For me, these Clevo models from PCS are unrivalled in terms of functionality/power/price on the market. They are very capable machines. Mine is not absolutely top spec but is amazingly powerful for a £1600 laptop and will run anything I throw at it. I use mine both for gaming and as a desktop replacement. I travel a lot also. They are huge, bulky, heavy machines so they are not ideal for travel but as I want the performance that is the compromise I make. On that note - the power brick is HUMONGOUS! My previous Octane machine had a huge power brick but this one dwarfs it both in size and weight. It is literally about the size and weight of your average builders brick. Not sure why as the old one was 230W too so not sure why it is now so much bigger? As I say - NOT good for travel but I make do. Attached a picture next to a dvd case for comparison.....
But that aside I am now very happy with my new machine and it is running well. I have done some benchmarks and yes the 9700K does get hot (repasted with arctic MX4) and with fans on max but I found that was only during benchmarking. Temperature during games has been acceptable (max about 80C).
So on the whole I would say my experience with PCS is positive with the caveat of some gripes. I keep coming back to purchase my laptops here and will continue to do so if they keep offering the same service/price/features. Their after sales service is good and the people on the phone have always been knowledgeable in my experience which is a huge plus. Not sure whether that is down to their training or maybe I have just been lucky? There is nothing worse than speaking to technical support who don't have a clue themselves or are not knowledgeable.
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