Recoil 17" laptop - happy with the laptop, not happy with liquid cooling, still unsure about customer support

[64ormore]

I bought a Recoil 17" laptop with a i9 24 Core CPU, 64GB RAM and GeForce 4700 8GB over a month ago.
Laptop works very well, apps and games run fast.
I had a few issues with the GPU initially (was overheating on some games, even on low settings), but setting max FPS solved all of them and it is stable now.
Built-in keyboard is very comfortable, which is rare in laptops, but the chassis is hard to clean from fingerprints, which is a bit of a shame.

The only real issue is the liquid cooling, which doesn't seem to work for me - I received a replacement unit already, but it's still not able to connect to Bluetooth or via the Control Center application, so I suspect the issue is the drivers/software/windows.
The support team has not been very helpful in this area so far, though they are nice and patient, so it's not all bad.
It doesn't help that every message I send or call I make is directed to a different person, so I have to repeat myself a lot and their suggestions are usually quite similar too and (so far) ineffective.
The cooling unit also lacks any user guide (the one I received is for an older model, so I don't think that counts, especially that it's not accurate and not very detailed either, no mention of maintenance, troubleshooting or configuration options), which is makes a very unprofessional impression.
So far it's been a waste of time and money, but I still have hope (not a lot though) that the problem will be diagnosed and fixed.

Apart from the liquid cooling it's really good though.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Did you order with or without windows?

 

[64ormore]

With Windows 11

 

[FrenzyGr]

I bought a Recoil 17" laptop with a i9 24 Core CPU, 64GB RAM and GeForce 4700 8GB over a month ago.
Laptop works very well, apps and games run fast.
I had a few issues with the GPU initially (was overheating on some games, even on low settings), but setting max FPS solved all of them and it is stable now.
Built-in keyboard is very comfortable, which is rare in laptops, but the chassis is hard to clean from fingerprints, which is a bit of a shame.

The only real issue is the liquid cooling, which doesn't seem to work for me - I received a replacement unit already, but it's still not able to connect to Bluetooth or via the Control Center application, so I suspect the issue is the drivers/software/windows.
The support team has not been very helpful in this area so far, though they are nice and patient, so it's not all bad.
It doesn't help that every message I send or call I make is directed to a different person, so I have to repeat myself a lot and their suggestions are usually quite similar too and (so far) ineffective.
The cooling unit also lacks any user guide (the one I received is for an older model, so I don't think that counts, especially that it's not accurate and not very detailed either, no mention of maintenance, troubleshooting or configuration options), which is makes a very unprofessional impression.
So far it's been a waste of time and money, but I still have hope (not a lot though) that the problem will be diagnosed and fixed.

Apart from the liquid cooling it's really good though.

I followed this for the cooling setup as the manual they sent was outdated/for a different model
How is the speaker quality for you btw?

 

[64ormore]

Thanks for this extremely useful link.

I tried following XMG's user guide (PC Specialist don't even want to confirm it's an XMG, when asked and only give you their own user guide, which is crap), but couldn't get it to work. Now with this video I finally managed it to work now. Thanks a lot.

I use external speakers or headphones and there's no issues with those, but can't really comment on the built-in speaker.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for this extremely useful link.

I tried following XMG's user guide (PC Specialist don't even want to confirm it's an XMG, when asked and only give you their own user guide, which is crap), but couldn't get it to work. Now with this video I finally managed it to work now. Thanks a lot.

I use external speakers or headphones and there's no issues with those, but can't really comment on the built-in speaker.

It’s not an XMG, XMG are the same as PCS, they’re just a system integrator, pretty much all SI's around the world use the same manufacturers bare bones chassis, namely Clevo and TongFang, they assemble bare bones systems with custom components. The manufacturer is TongFang. You shouldn’t use XMG drivers or software as they may well be for different BIOS as SIs can custom tailor the BIOSes.

We've had it in the past with people trying to use the XMG control center which has led to completely corrupting windows and because it adjusts PL values in the BIOS, the BIOS had to be reflashed as well.

It's also likely if you flash an XMG bios without PCS approval (as they will know if it's compatible or not) it will fully brick the system.

 

[64ormore]

Ok, thanks, good to know.

Any ideas where I can get the latest firmware for the cooling unit?
Would that be different for PCS and XMG too?

I've been testing it the last few hours and since Control Center was showing me a message that there is a firmware upgrade available I decided to install it.
When I clicked to install, a folder opened with LCT21001_DFU-AP_v1.0.1.3.zip file, which I installed, but after that the unit started making buzzing noise, which it wasn't doing before (not to confuse with the noise of flowing water).
Also, after checking, the version I had previously was 1.0.1.7, which was actually higher than the installed 1.0.1.3.
I'd like to come back to 1.0.1.7 or maybe a newer version if it's available.
Any ideas where to get it from?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Any ideas where I can get the latest firmware for the cooling unit?
Would that be different for PCS and XMG too?

Yes, they’re are different models of the cooler as you’ll likely notice from the manual. The manual is just a generic one issued by Tong Fang, they tend to be “catch all” rather than bespoke to the model you may have.

You’d need to contact PCS for any firmware or drivers. TongFang don’t hold a public repository so the only place to get them is for your particular SI

But you should have all drivers available at build time in your main PCS account, control center will be in there.

 

[64ormore]

Yes, I have the control center installer, but if I'm not mistaked the firmware would be installed on the cooling unit itself and I don't think I have that. I'll check with PCS.