ShutterBug365
Bronze Level Poster
Review: Optimus X 17.3”
Order Number 1:
Chassis: Optimus Series: 17.3"
Display: Matte Full HD 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU): i7 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 - 4.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM
M.2 SSD Drive: 500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe
Order Number 2:
Chassis: Optimus Series: 17.3"
Display: Matte Full HD 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU): i7 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM
M.2 SSD Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe
This process started out with requiring a new laptop for one family member (mother) whose laptop had finally given up working. (Order 1). A couple of weeks after arrival I was told to spec another laptop for my father as his was getting to the stage of him loosing more and more games when playing. (Order 2).
Order Number 1:
PCS
Having used PCS way back in 2012 to build my own laptop a Vortex 17.3” laptop it seemed obvious to return to PCS again when my mother needed a new laptop. The Vortex 7 years later is still going strong, with just the odd little niggle.
Pre-sales with them was just as I remembered from 2012, nothing too much trouble and always with a warm and friendly tone.
During the build process I did ring to find out why it was in testing for longer than it really should be and had a familiar conversation with a young lady there who having not found any notes on the system telephoned the testing department to a) have words and b) find out why. Cheerfully coming back to me to say it would be dispatched that day and it had indeed failed testing due to a webcam fault that needed the webcam replacing. What other PC manufacturer would give out this information and give it out willingly and what other manufacturer would actually be allowed to speak to the testing department….
Delivery
Delivery by DPD on a Saturday, upgraded on the Friday when the lady at PCS advised it would be dispatched that day. I was getting earache and it was far more convenient for me to do all the setup at the weekend than on a Monday night. Packaging was excellent with the laptop box arriving well-padded inside the larger transport box, no complaints whatsoever.
Laptop
The laptop looks and feels sleek, well made and solid whilst not being too heavy. The screen is firm to open without being a struggle, it can be done with one hand without any problems and without any bending of the screen. The keyboard is smooth, responsive and comfortable to use with a backlight that can be varied in colour via onboard software.
Screen quality looks good, it seems very sharp with zero dead pixels on arrival which is good. Time will tell and I will get around to calibrating it at some point (Photoshop) so that it produces good and accurate results. But it looks well balanced at first glance.
Temperatures wise it is in the 40’s for CPU occasionally peeking into the 50’s during installations etc. It is sat on a cooler, Havit from Amazon with 3 fans hitting the vents etc.
Nothing seems to phase it as you would expect, taking a RAW photography file into Photoshop, then on into the NIK Collection before adding a treatment and then back to Photoshop was completed in under 1 minute. Ok, would never be this in reality but I wanted to just test the physical in and out processing speed.
My mother seems very happy with it, the machine she came from was 10 years old and barely hanging in there and would not even do Photoshop -> NIK Collection and back out again in under 5 minutes and then would more than often crash instead.
EDIT: 3 Weeks later.
Verdict is still 100% recommended, have calibrated the screen now with the XRite i1 Display System and was able to set the brightness at 122 candella (recommended is 120) and the colour reproduction is simply stunning. The screen was pretty accurate before I calibrated it and afterwards having been refined is highly recommended. Having done some Photoshop training with my mother on it there is nothing bad to say, Photoshop performs flawlessly and without hesitation. Transfers into the Nik Collection are speedy and without any lag. Likewise the transfer back is smooth and quick.
Order Number 2:
I did not think reinventing the wheel so to speak was worth it so essentially picked up the same chassis as before and maxed it out with the RTX 2060.
My father is not a massive AAA gamer but unlike my mother will play simulator games. (Euro Truck, American Truck, Farming Sim, Civilisation etc etc) and like any laptop I wanted to get the best bang or buck and this spec seemed to fit the bill nicely.
Like Order Number 1 it arrived having initially failing testing, PCS were not happy with the temperatures being seen in testing so did a repaste and retest and it was promptly sent out the door for delivery. Temperature wise here in normal usage I am not worried in the slightest, they did not touch 60 degrees for either CPU or GPU after 30 minutes of Truck Sim (either of them, on Ultra) - well I had to test his new laptop properly in the name of getting a base line to support it going forward.... well thats my excuse and I am sticking to it.
As expected the delivery and packaging was the same as previous and it was unpacked and checked within a few minutes of arrival.
Having already purchased again a Havit cooler for the laptop it was setup and software installed and tested. I only installed Steam and the two truck simulators but they as expected worked smoothly on Ultra settings. I say expected as they work on Ultra on my 7 year old Geforce 970 in my Vortex laptop. The picture quality was pin sharp and vastly superior to mine, more on that later, the travel was smooth and free flowing. Ok, the fans are on constant during play but that is to be expected I guess although it would be nice if they were a little quieter but give them time to blend in and the family get used to hearing them.
Everything worked out the box, I did install the Samsung software and drivers for the SSD but have not noticed much difference in performance. Yes the drive shipped with 12Tb of usage on it already but then it is blooming fast and can write data quickly so when PCS are doing testing and a timed write test for burn in and temperature checks it is going to creep up from what I have been told.
Visually you cannot tell them apart which being the same chassis is to be expected the only difference being the Nvidia sticker near the keyboard.
At somepoint when I can get to it I will get the screen calibrated in the same way as my mothers.
Overall
Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 17” Photo Editing laptop or even a mid-range gaming laptop with the RTX2060 installed.
Both laptops feel solid and well built and they are performing flawlessly right out the box as you would expect but don’t always get with many manufacturers. With PCS we have now had 3 laptops that have been A1 from the beginning and I expect these two to last many years from now, so probably not the best customers for PCS in the fact that we don’t change very often.
Both laptops are scheduled when I am off work over Christmas to be cleaned inside, we live in the coutryside so alot of dust in the air at times so I tend to whip the bottom cover off mine every 6 months and also do a repaste when I see temps are not holding anymore or every 2 years. Must be doing something right as my 7 year old i7 Vortex gets hammered and it is running cool as the day I got it.
I mentioned early about the picture quality and whilst my own laptop will do 100% sRGB the same as these two I cannot get close to the 120 candellas wanted for photo editing. I can either get 70 (too dark) or 135 (bit too bright) so although mine had some niggles that I could live with I am now a little more grumpy about having the slowest and oldest laptop in the house. Whilst I do not like to replace a perfectly working laptop I can feel the itch getting stronger to simply place another order.
What would I get, well essentially the same as Order Number 2 but with 32Gb Ram. I am studying Computer Science at University as a mature student and along with games, photography I also do programming and use Virtual Machines. The question is will I hold out until the end of October and my birthday or not.....
Either way if this is not a good recommendation for PCS I do not know what is.... long may PCS continue.
Order Number 1:
Chassis: Optimus Series: 17.3"
Display: Matte Full HD 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU): i7 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 - 4.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM
M.2 SSD Drive: 500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe
Order Number 2:
Chassis: Optimus Series: 17.3"
Display: Matte Full HD 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU): i7 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM
M.2 SSD Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe
This process started out with requiring a new laptop for one family member (mother) whose laptop had finally given up working. (Order 1). A couple of weeks after arrival I was told to spec another laptop for my father as his was getting to the stage of him loosing more and more games when playing. (Order 2).
Order Number 1:
PCS
Having used PCS way back in 2012 to build my own laptop a Vortex 17.3” laptop it seemed obvious to return to PCS again when my mother needed a new laptop. The Vortex 7 years later is still going strong, with just the odd little niggle.
Pre-sales with them was just as I remembered from 2012, nothing too much trouble and always with a warm and friendly tone.
During the build process I did ring to find out why it was in testing for longer than it really should be and had a familiar conversation with a young lady there who having not found any notes on the system telephoned the testing department to a) have words and b) find out why. Cheerfully coming back to me to say it would be dispatched that day and it had indeed failed testing due to a webcam fault that needed the webcam replacing. What other PC manufacturer would give out this information and give it out willingly and what other manufacturer would actually be allowed to speak to the testing department….
Delivery
Delivery by DPD on a Saturday, upgraded on the Friday when the lady at PCS advised it would be dispatched that day. I was getting earache and it was far more convenient for me to do all the setup at the weekend than on a Monday night. Packaging was excellent with the laptop box arriving well-padded inside the larger transport box, no complaints whatsoever.
Laptop
The laptop looks and feels sleek, well made and solid whilst not being too heavy. The screen is firm to open without being a struggle, it can be done with one hand without any problems and without any bending of the screen. The keyboard is smooth, responsive and comfortable to use with a backlight that can be varied in colour via onboard software.
Screen quality looks good, it seems very sharp with zero dead pixels on arrival which is good. Time will tell and I will get around to calibrating it at some point (Photoshop) so that it produces good and accurate results. But it looks well balanced at first glance.
Temperatures wise it is in the 40’s for CPU occasionally peeking into the 50’s during installations etc. It is sat on a cooler, Havit from Amazon with 3 fans hitting the vents etc.
Nothing seems to phase it as you would expect, taking a RAW photography file into Photoshop, then on into the NIK Collection before adding a treatment and then back to Photoshop was completed in under 1 minute. Ok, would never be this in reality but I wanted to just test the physical in and out processing speed.
My mother seems very happy with it, the machine she came from was 10 years old and barely hanging in there and would not even do Photoshop -> NIK Collection and back out again in under 5 minutes and then would more than often crash instead.
EDIT: 3 Weeks later.
Verdict is still 100% recommended, have calibrated the screen now with the XRite i1 Display System and was able to set the brightness at 122 candella (recommended is 120) and the colour reproduction is simply stunning. The screen was pretty accurate before I calibrated it and afterwards having been refined is highly recommended. Having done some Photoshop training with my mother on it there is nothing bad to say, Photoshop performs flawlessly and without hesitation. Transfers into the Nik Collection are speedy and without any lag. Likewise the transfer back is smooth and quick.
Order Number 2:
I did not think reinventing the wheel so to speak was worth it so essentially picked up the same chassis as before and maxed it out with the RTX 2060.
My father is not a massive AAA gamer but unlike my mother will play simulator games. (Euro Truck, American Truck, Farming Sim, Civilisation etc etc) and like any laptop I wanted to get the best bang or buck and this spec seemed to fit the bill nicely.
Like Order Number 1 it arrived having initially failing testing, PCS were not happy with the temperatures being seen in testing so did a repaste and retest and it was promptly sent out the door for delivery. Temperature wise here in normal usage I am not worried in the slightest, they did not touch 60 degrees for either CPU or GPU after 30 minutes of Truck Sim (either of them, on Ultra) - well I had to test his new laptop properly in the name of getting a base line to support it going forward.... well thats my excuse and I am sticking to it.
As expected the delivery and packaging was the same as previous and it was unpacked and checked within a few minutes of arrival.
Having already purchased again a Havit cooler for the laptop it was setup and software installed and tested. I only installed Steam and the two truck simulators but they as expected worked smoothly on Ultra settings. I say expected as they work on Ultra on my 7 year old Geforce 970 in my Vortex laptop. The picture quality was pin sharp and vastly superior to mine, more on that later, the travel was smooth and free flowing. Ok, the fans are on constant during play but that is to be expected I guess although it would be nice if they were a little quieter but give them time to blend in and the family get used to hearing them.
Everything worked out the box, I did install the Samsung software and drivers for the SSD but have not noticed much difference in performance. Yes the drive shipped with 12Tb of usage on it already but then it is blooming fast and can write data quickly so when PCS are doing testing and a timed write test for burn in and temperature checks it is going to creep up from what I have been told.
Visually you cannot tell them apart which being the same chassis is to be expected the only difference being the Nvidia sticker near the keyboard.
At somepoint when I can get to it I will get the screen calibrated in the same way as my mothers.
Overall
Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 17” Photo Editing laptop or even a mid-range gaming laptop with the RTX2060 installed.
Both laptops feel solid and well built and they are performing flawlessly right out the box as you would expect but don’t always get with many manufacturers. With PCS we have now had 3 laptops that have been A1 from the beginning and I expect these two to last many years from now, so probably not the best customers for PCS in the fact that we don’t change very often.
Both laptops are scheduled when I am off work over Christmas to be cleaned inside, we live in the coutryside so alot of dust in the air at times so I tend to whip the bottom cover off mine every 6 months and also do a repaste when I see temps are not holding anymore or every 2 years. Must be doing something right as my 7 year old i7 Vortex gets hammered and it is running cool as the day I got it.
I mentioned early about the picture quality and whilst my own laptop will do 100% sRGB the same as these two I cannot get close to the 120 candellas wanted for photo editing. I can either get 70 (too dark) or 135 (bit too bright) so although mine had some niggles that I could live with I am now a little more grumpy about having the slowest and oldest laptop in the house. Whilst I do not like to replace a perfectly working laptop I can feel the itch getting stronger to simply place another order.
What would I get, well essentially the same as Order Number 2 but with 32Gb Ram. I am studying Computer Science at University as a mature student and along with games, photography I also do programming and use Virtual Machines. The question is will I hold out until the end of October and my birthday or not.....
Either way if this is not a good recommendation for PCS I do not know what is.... long may PCS continue.
