Ready to buy - quick spec sanity check and a couple of questions

[mountainwalker]

Hi All

Well my hunt for a new laptop has ended with the following spec being the most likely unless anyone thinks I have royally messed up somewhere. Having never used PCS before and always used Novatech in the past I have been more than happy with responses to emails and telephone calls, more so that similar ones to Novatech.

Below is the spec I am waiting to order (why does pay day take so long - roll on the 23rd). I think this will be fine for me, I am not a big gamer so the games that I do have will not make use of more than a couple of cores at the most. I do have one question regarding the screen, I have never had a laptop before with a Matte screen having always had Glossy.

I do websites which have a large number of photographs etc so I am thinking Matte is the best option for me, but is there really enough of a difference between the two Matte screens (i.e. could I save myself £79 without compremising too much)

Many thanks

Paul

Chassis & Display: Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3360M (2.80GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM): 16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk: 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 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: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card: Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless: GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-2230 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
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 Lead & Adaptor: 1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System: NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software: NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus: NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language: INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook 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)
Dead Pixel Guarantee: 1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
Delivery: STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time: Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity: 1
Price: £1,225.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[AzY]

This explains the difference between the two screen types. V

"Matte screens don't get glare or reflections on them; however, the same rough surface (polarizer) that reduces the intensity of reflected light results in less contrast and brightness since the light from the LCD screen has to pass through it."
"Glossy screens have vibrant colors and high contrast and brightness because they have a smooth, high-gloss surface. As a result, it is often the choice for movies or gaming. ", but in strong lighting conditions can be very reflective and hard to see.

I would also go with the Core™i7-3610QM, it is cheaper by £20, and is a better card

You could go with the less superior matte screen and save £79 if you dont want the better auo matte screen.

 

[mountainwalker]

This explains the difference between the two screen types. V


I would also go with the Core™i7-3610QM, it is cheaper by £20, and is a better card

You could go with the less superior matte screen and save £79 if you dont want the better auo matte screen.

Thanks, I did consider the i7-3610QM but then thought as the majority of applications I have and will be using will not use the full number of cores it would be better to get a faster dual core chip for those apps that will only use one maybe two cores.

 

[QuickstepKing]

If you're not doing heavy gaming, why the Vortex III? I would probably go for the Optimus III with the NVidia GT650, its less power-hungry but has good capabilities, the laptop is a bit lighter, and the power-pack would be smaller. Also I would go for the core i7-3610QM as mountainwalker says.

 

[mountainwalker]

Thanks, will take a look at the Optimus III. I am guessing that both laptops come with a caddy if needed to secure a second hard drive internally? Are there any links to internal images of them both? Also does anyone know what the Clevo chassis number is of the Optimus III?

Thanks

 

[QuickstepKing]

I pretty sure the Optimus III comes with the capability to host two hard drives AND an optical drive (just play around with the configurator), though of course that will make it a wee bit heavier.

I think the chassis is a Clevo W170ER (1GB GT-650M).

I can't see any obvious pictures of the internals but you can probably find some on the web if people have done a strip down of a Clevo W170ER (though it may be called something else by other manufacturers such as Xotic, or Sager)

 

[mountainwalker]

Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I have just placed the order and now join the queue of people waiting for the i7-3610qm to arrive. This will be my first laptop from PCS so really looking forward to receiving it after all the reviews that I have read.

Chassis & Display: Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i7 Dual Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM): 8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk: 320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 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: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card: Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless: GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-2230 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
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 Lead & Adaptor: 1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System: NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software: NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus: NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands: Zalman ZM-NC3000S Ultimate Cooler, 220mm fan, upto 17.3inch (£35)
Keyboard Language: INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook 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)
Dead Pixel Guarantee: 1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
Delivery: STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time: Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity: 1
Price: £1,170.00 including VAT and delivery.