Hi Guys,
Bit of a review and pics of my new gaming laptop.
Specs:
Chassis & Display
Vortex II-17: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6970 - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
2nd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
80GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 90MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
RAID
NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ HD - Audiophile-Grade Notebook Sound (£79)
Change to: Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS upto 450Mbps
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
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) (£5)
Change to: 3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Production Dates
Processed Date
22-06-2011
Pre-Production Date
28-06-2011
Build Date
12-07-2011
Test Date
13-07-2011
Awaiting Dispatch Date
13-07-2011
Dispatch Date
13-07-2011
Who Worked on This Order?
Built By
Carl Auckland
Tested By
Carl Auckland
QC'd By
Carl Auckland
Packed By
Anthony Cunliffe
I came to PCS on the back of a 3 month nightmare with a rival company (beginning with K and ending with T) in which I was consistantly ignored and lied to and which ended in me having to make threats to get my refund.
I can't stress how different the 2 ordering experiences have been. I have been met with nothing but professionalism & courteousness from everyone I have dealt with at PCS and I actually felt like a customer who has just paid out a lot of money.
I ordered the upgrade for the soundcard and it was this that wasn't in stock and was holding my order up, through the live support I chose to cancel the soundcard and used the funds to upgrade to the gold warranty, all this was done for me by the operative and the difference was refunded to me immediately.
The laptop arrived with me 20 hours after I got the message saying it had gone out for dispatch!! which is pretty amazing. Also everything went kind of mad (speed wise) within a couple of days, build date, test date and dispatch was all within a couple of days and then it was here.
I have posted a few pictures of the packaging so you can see how well it was done (delivery driver proof) and even once I got her out of the boxes there was still plenty of protective plastics everywhere.
One thing I did notice was that the second hard drive (500gb) wasn't showing in 'my computer' - A quick call to tech support (was on phone for 10 mins max) and I was sorted out by 'Matt' within a couple of minutes, again I was dealt with in a professional manner.
Initial performance looks awesome, I have tried Need for Speed Hot Pursuit and Dirt 3 so far and both play on the highest settings and are as smooth as I have ever seen.
Everything else works as it should, everything is lightning quick thanks to the SSD and the HD6970 seems to be eating everything up that I throw at it.
I'll post more pictures and benchmark results later (after I stop smiling so much and stroking the laptop)
Ratings
Customer Service: 10/10
I never got dealt with in any other way than professionally and all my queries were answered and problems sorted immediately.
Build Quality: 10/10
Laptop is a beast, all parts are quality and the thing just oozes class.
Packaging: 10/10
A box within a box and plenty of protection after that, this thing was never getting damaged in transit.
Delivery: 10/10
Heard a few bad things on here about yodel/dhl etc but delivery in under 20 hours from dispatch message gets them a 10 from me.
Thanks for reading and any questions you have just ask away
Chris
Photo's
Bit of a review and pics of my new gaming laptop.
Specs:
Chassis & Display
Vortex II-17: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6970 - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
2nd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
80GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 90MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
RAID
NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ HD - Audiophile-Grade Notebook Sound (£79)
Change to: Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS upto 450Mbps
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
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) (£5)
Change to: 3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Production Dates
Processed Date
22-06-2011
Pre-Production Date
28-06-2011
Build Date
12-07-2011
Test Date
13-07-2011
Awaiting Dispatch Date
13-07-2011
Dispatch Date
13-07-2011
Who Worked on This Order?
Built By
Carl Auckland
Tested By
Carl Auckland
QC'd By
Carl Auckland
Packed By
Anthony Cunliffe
I came to PCS on the back of a 3 month nightmare with a rival company (beginning with K and ending with T) in which I was consistantly ignored and lied to and which ended in me having to make threats to get my refund.
I can't stress how different the 2 ordering experiences have been. I have been met with nothing but professionalism & courteousness from everyone I have dealt with at PCS and I actually felt like a customer who has just paid out a lot of money.
I ordered the upgrade for the soundcard and it was this that wasn't in stock and was holding my order up, through the live support I chose to cancel the soundcard and used the funds to upgrade to the gold warranty, all this was done for me by the operative and the difference was refunded to me immediately.
The laptop arrived with me 20 hours after I got the message saying it had gone out for dispatch!! which is pretty amazing. Also everything went kind of mad (speed wise) within a couple of days, build date, test date and dispatch was all within a couple of days and then it was here.
I have posted a few pictures of the packaging so you can see how well it was done (delivery driver proof) and even once I got her out of the boxes there was still plenty of protective plastics everywhere.
One thing I did notice was that the second hard drive (500gb) wasn't showing in 'my computer' - A quick call to tech support (was on phone for 10 mins max) and I was sorted out by 'Matt' within a couple of minutes, again I was dealt with in a professional manner.
Initial performance looks awesome, I have tried Need for Speed Hot Pursuit and Dirt 3 so far and both play on the highest settings and are as smooth as I have ever seen.
Everything else works as it should, everything is lightning quick thanks to the SSD and the HD6970 seems to be eating everything up that I throw at it.
I'll post more pictures and benchmark results later (after I stop smiling so much and stroking the laptop)
Ratings
Customer Service: 10/10
I never got dealt with in any other way than professionally and all my queries were answered and problems sorted immediately.
Build Quality: 10/10
Laptop is a beast, all parts are quality and the thing just oozes class.
Packaging: 10/10
A box within a box and plenty of protection after that, this thing was never getting damaged in transit.
Delivery: 10/10
Heard a few bad things on here about yodel/dhl etc but delivery in under 20 hours from dispatch message gets them a 10 from me.
Thanks for reading and any questions you have just ask away
Chris
Photo's
