What makes PC specialist laptops special?

[Pegasus91]

First time (potential) buyer here!

First off, i'm sorry if i have posted this in the wrong thread, or addressed a topic already addressed elsewhere.. i know these are contentious issues in internet forums..

I've had 2 gaming laptops to date, an MSI with a 970 and a Gigabyte with a 1070. I'm looking to upgrade to a 3070, and have been considering PC specialist for a while. They seem to be able to match the specs of 'branded' laptops for around £400-£500 less, with equal or better warranty. My question is, what is the trade off? Reviews are (generally) very good, but the internet severely lacks detailed PC specialist reviews from 'professional reviews' who walk the consumer through everything from battery life, screen flex, backlight bleed and thermal performance. Ultimately, with a £1800 budget, the internet lacks the details reviews which one would usually exhaust before choosing a buy.

I know there isnt really a specific question in here, but anybody willing to share thoughts, experiences (expecially those who have owned PC specialist and other branded laptops and so can make a comparison) with a sceptical buyer, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ubuysa]

First off, welcome to the forums!

So this is a 'why should I buy from PCS?' question.

Several reasons....

1. Their build quality is excellent. Sure, there are one or two screw-ups and you'll find all those on these forums. Most people get an excellent build and never post on here (remember PCS are shipping thousands of units a week).

2. You can buy without Windows if you already have your own copy you can install - and save the license fee.

3. They have an open case policy. You can add your own hardware - and do your own troubleshooting if needs be without voiding the warranty. The only restrictions are if you break anything or if you change the CPU or flash the BIOS without PCS approval.

4. Their after sales service is superb. They don't quibble, unless you've been negligent, and if you buy the Silver warranty (for £5) then return to factory is paid for for a year as well.

5. These forums are populated by PCS customers. PCS staff rarely visit here. We have a massive array of experience between us all that covers pretty much any questions you may have pre-ordering and any problems you may have after delivery.

6. Most of us have bought more than one PC/laptop from PCS over the years and you can't have a better recommendation than that!

 

[Bhuna50]

I agree with everything @ubuysa says and unfortunately I can’t find it at the moment but there was a picture recently posted but taken a while ago which shows you a picture of PCS in the early years to PCS now.

Early years looked like a small unit/garage with a couple of PCs set up being worked on to ship out.

15/16 years later picture shows a massive warehouse of PCs / laptops in rows and rows of testing / building etc.

A company would not have grown this big in a relatively short period of time if it wasn’t good and wasn’t getting return custom. I’m on my second laptop there and would still return.

Being objective as I am, yes unfortunately there are the odd hiccups such as at the moment in recent months phone calls, emails and returns are frustratingly taking longer than customers would want but this is due to increases in demand (with a lot of people working from home etc), stock issues caused by worldwide shortages of computer components and generally having to work in COVID safe environment (ie less staff in same area - that does not mean less staff but having to change work patterns and staff working from home etc).

However PCS are aware of this and even admit themselves they are not happy with that at the moment and are trying to do something about it by recruiting and training more staff currently.

Overall, you are likely to see more negative reviews if you dig but sadly that’s the world we live in at the moment - people are quick to complain publicly but rarely post if everything is ok. PCS ship over 200 machines a day I believe so based on that and the fact you can’t find much, I’d say they are good.


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[Stephen M]

Agree with above posts. Have been using PCS since 2013 when I switched to Linux. Being able to save close on £100 by not having to pay for a Windows licence gave more cash for useful things like RAM.

For myself and friends have bought eight machines through PCS, one desktop the rest laptops and not had any hardware problems with any of them.

My 2013 machine, a low specced Voyager is still working, the battery eventually died but that is to be expected, apart from that it is still useful, admittedly only used offline as it runs XP now but is great for the only game I play which needs a low res screen.

All the others are still fully functional. The help from others on these fora is invaluable and has helped many of us save money when speccing machines, it is very easy to go OTT with specs then realise you have a load of RAM or a GPU you are not fully using.

PCS do not offer Linux support but that is understandable, with more than 100 different distros to cover they would be forced to employ a mass of people like me who most of the time would be sat around drinking coffee and geeking. That said, there are a good few Linux users on here and the self help community usually gets things sorted.

The only Linux problem beyond us was down to a locked BIOS and PCS were quick to look into that.

While my needs are very specific I note from regularly reading these fora there is a mass of help in all areas and the back up from PCS staff when they are contacted is very good.

You will see negative reviews but the majority at the moment are from people who seem to think Covid-19 and Brexit has not impacted the computer industry.

I would always recommend PCS to someone needing a rig for specific purposes. If all you need is a machine for net surfing and a bit of word processing then a high street vendor may be cheaper but for all else a custom machine is a no brainer.

A big plus for me is their open case policy, allowing us to work on machines and add hardware. If on a tight budget you can skimp on RAM and storage first up as they are easy to add when more cash is available.

 

[Bhuna50]

It should be noted though that for laptops you should buy the best GPU you can afford and probably best CPU too. The chassis comes with GPU soldered on so can’t upgrade that after.


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