Recoil II RTX - The gaming laptop that can look like a regular laptop

[8beat]

Hey guys!

Looks like we’re quite numerous having ordered and received a Recoil II RTX recently!
Here are the specs for the one I received a few weeks ago (I’ll just delete all the “non-relevant”, meaning standard, information as this is fully detailed, as usual; also sorry for the Spanish words here and there):

Chassis & Display
Serie Recoil: pantalla panorámica de 17,3" Mate Full HD LED NTSC 72%, 144 Hz (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Procesador seis núcleos Intel® Core™ i7 8750H (2,2 GHz, 4,1 GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32 GB Corsair 2666 MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16 GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6,0 GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512 GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (hasta 3230 MB/sR | 1625 MB/sW)
Thermal Paste
COMPUESTO TÉRMICO COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER

Price 1.901,00 € including VAT and Delivery

I read a lot about the chassis before ordering, as Clevo is more well-known on the market. Special thanks to all the passionate people on these forums for going into such details on every topic; it helps a lot making one’s mind. I’m not disappointed one bit by this Tongfang chassis!

I will try to keep this short, as I think there already are excellent reviews by people way more “experienced” than I am (example: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/recoil-ii-rtx-review.62622/)

+++
• Props to PC Specialist before anything! Great configuration wizard, comprehensive view on what’s happening with your order, reduced building time and quick delivery.
Kudos on the “no bloatware” Win10 install they do: just Windows, the GeForce drivers and Tongfang’s Gaming Center.
• Great chassis. A few centimeters shorter than my old Acer (17.3” screen too – see pictures); especially enjoying the narrow screen design
And let’s not forget: a laptop with the potential of a gaming laptop that you can make look not like a gaming laptop! Just turn off the rainbow LEDs and there you have it (and yes this is on the plus side for me ).
• Power adapter: slim design
• Very good ventilation so far: office tasks, browsing the web and so on → I can’t even hear the fans. The best idea Tongfang had are those little rubber “feet” under the chassis (see pictures): the chassis itself is never in direct contact with the table/desk, making a difference regarding the overall temperature of the laptop
• It’s light (and thin too)! Once again my reference point is my old Acer Aspire, but I find the Recoil pretty light for a 17” laptop that is not full plastic
• Performance-wise I guess it’s too soon to give any review; I’m eager to start some heavy video editing to test those 32gb of RAM (yep that’s about the only use they will have; you might even say that that is still overkill). Also eager to benchmark the RTX 2060.

-
• Still impossible to control the LED strip with the Gaming Center, even though I updated it to v2.0.1.1 (when I try to turn “Image Projection” off, nothing happens) Fixed after contacting PCS support
• The infamous keyboard! Not that bad to be honest, but subjectively a good ol’ chiclet still does the trick for me (I’ve never really used any mechanical keyboard)
• Touchpad is OK, but hard to “calibrate” with Windows settings (so you don’t get erroneous clicking or zooming)


That’s about it so far. I’ll keep on reading the forums so I can check other people’s reviews and advice (I will keep on reading about undervolting especially; never heard of that before and it looks quite promising performance-wise).


P.S.: Please someone explains to me what the stuff on last picture purpose is (came with the power adapter)...

 

[SpyderTracks]

Great review, many thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Regarding the LED bar, do get in contact with PCS about that, I believe there have been others with the same issue and PCS have sent them some kind of .exe file which has brought back full LED control.

What are your uses out of interest (purely wondering about the 32Gb RAM)?

Regarding that last picture, I have absolutely no idea. Almost looks like some kind of wall mount for the power brick? Never seen anything like it before

 

[8beat]

Regarding the LED bar, do get in contact with PCS about that, I believe there have been others with the same issue and PCS have sent them some kind of .exe file which has brought back full LED control.

Thanks for the advice, will do then

What are your uses out of interest (purely wondering about the 32Gb RAM)?

I'm a bit shameful but it's an ego thing actually 😔... My old laptop already had 16gb RAM (DDR3 though, way behind DDR4 performance), and still I experienced hiccups with Premiere Pro more recent versions (switched to Sony Vegas for some time, which helped). As video editing is my "main hobby" before video games (and my personal preference being for Premiere over Vegas), I convinced myself that 32gb would help on my next laptop.

Overall I still think it's overkill, as 32gb won't make this build any more futureproof... but eh, we'll see!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for the advice, will do then



I'm a bit shameful but it's an ego thing actually 😔... My old laptop already had 16gb RAM (DDR3 though, way behind DDR4 performance), and still I experienced hiccups with Premiere Pro more recent versions (switched to Sony Vegas for some time, which helped). As video editing is my "main hobby" before video games (and my personal preference being for Premiere over Vegas), I convinced myself that 32gb would help on my next laptop.

Overall I still think it's overkill, as 32gb won't make this build any more futureproof... but eh, we'll see!

Ah, no, if you're using Premiere Pro, then you will definitely benefit from 32Gb, that makes a lot of sense.

All the best with it, do let us know how you get on with PCS support.

 

[TheUberMedic]

The last picture is for mounting a 2.5inch drive since you didnt order one. IMO you shouldnt install one and instead buy the bigger battery upgrade (upgrades from the low 40whr to a 64whr battery )
[removed link]

 

[8beat]

The last picture is for mounting a 2.5inch drive since you didnt order one. IMO you shouldnt install one and instead buy the bigger battery upgrade (upgrades from the low 40whr to a 64whr battery )
[removed link]

Thanks a lot for enlightening me!
Wow you can buy a battery with a longer duration? That's awesome, I'll definitely look into that! (Can it be bought through PCS though? I've seen your link has been removed)

Regarding the LED bar, do get in contact with PCS about that, I believe there have been others with the same issue and PCS have sent them some kind of .exe file which has brought back full LED control.

They've sent me the little EXE to fix it indeed, worked like a charm (will edit my original post right away)!
I'll ask them if I can put a link to it here, so it can serve as a reference for future buyers (it could also be included in the Guides and/or Technical Support section(s) of the forum)

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks a lot for enlightening me!
Wow you can buy a battery with a longer duration? That's awesome, I'll definitely look into that! (Can it be bought through PCS though? I've seen your link has been removed)

Unfortunately PCS don’t sell it, may be worth contacting them to see if they would if they get enough interest.

Great news on the exe file, glad that’s working. And yes, hosting it on the main PCS downloads would make the most sense.

 

[8beat]

Support just gave me their green light to share the link to the fix, here it is:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z6oefu3iswtf486/Lightbar.7z?dl=0

Moderators/Admins, feel free to make a sticky post with this link.

 

[Oussebon]

Can you upload to the forum's new resources feature I wonder?

 

[TheUberMedic]

Thanks a lot for enlightening me!
Wow you can buy a battery with a longer duration? That's awesome, I'll definitely look into that! (Can it be bought through PCS though? I've seen your link has been removed)

Unfortunately not, really wish they did. I'll PM you the link

 

[8beat]

Can you upload to the forum's new resources feature I wonder?

Sure where can I do that please?

Unfortunately not, really wish they did. I'll PM you the link

Thanks, I'll definitely check that out.


A quick heads-up 3 months after: the screen just detached itself from the chassis!
No idea how this happened, I've really handled the laptop with care so far (never fell, never even left the very same room I first put it in actually).
Maybe it was not glued "enough" during assembling...

Anyway I've pretty quickly got an RMA number to return it for repair, but the delivery guy that should have shown up today to get it never came... well that's a day wasted. I guess the delivery company isn't up to PC Specialist standards...

I'll keep you posted as this moves on.

 

[8beat]

Quick update: still no pickup from the company supposed to pick my laptop up to send it to PC Specialist...
Planned 5 times (2 different addresses, trying to solve the "issue"). Took 2 days off for nothing... The pickup guy never came. Not even once.

My appreciation for PC Specialist is decreasing day after day, as their only answer is "let's re-plan the pickup tomorrow". Zero flexibility on the way to send the broken laptop.

It's a nightmare...

 

[8beat]

Final update just to confirm that we finally sorted it out. Main problem was the company responsible for picking up the laptop as you might have understand from my previous posts. Hopefully once PCSpecialist received my laptop things went smoother and faster, including delivery.