My new Vortex II - with pics

[venomco]

Where do I start? This thing is off the chain! PCS I LOVE YOU!

I'll write a more detailed review once I've used it for a week or so, just to become better acquainted with the machine.

There were a couple of things that I was worried about before it arrived;

- The Build Quality
No idea why I was worried; I've come from a high end Sony Vaio F series, and the quality is on par, no obvious keyboard wobble, everything fits tightly, and I really like the 'brushed aluminium' style finish.

- The Keyboard... is actually very similar to the Sony, a nice layout with enough feedback to make it feel fairly robust. Although I've only had it a few days, I've already typed up a chapter for my dissertation (around 3000 words or so) - so far, I've not had any problems.

Some may find the lack of a dedicated home button slightly annoying, but you soon get used to the Fn combo, or simply turn off the numeric pad. Actually, the numeric pad is the only thing I'm still getting used to, it's slightly smaller than the average pad, and some of the keys have been relocated. I see no problem with this, though it may take some getting used to.

- The Screen - brilliant, I went for the Matte version, good colour reproduction - maybe not the best at stock, but with a bit of messing around I've got the colours matching my prints - So I'm happy.

- The Touchpad: Although slightly textured, I have to say that it's probably the nicest I've used personally - though I like the mild friction for precision. It's a Marmite touchpad...

______________________________________

I'm not going to give benchmarks etc, though I am getting 7.6 on the Windows Experience Index.

GTA IV runs beautifully maxed out with 4xAA, even with mods and IcEnhancer enabled. Dead Space 2 runs at full whack, as do many other games... I'm not really into fps counting, but it's smoother than the Xbox 360 if that helps anyone haha.


Oh, one last thing, the SSD - WOW! That is all.


Anyway.. to the good stuff...


Here's the Spec:

Chassis & Display
Vortex II:17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£69)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2.0GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
Memory - 2nd Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT, SATA 3 G/bs, 7200rpm, 32 MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£79)
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
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
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
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days

Trackpad

Numeric

WASD

Mouse

ZALMAN

 

[MadMan]

plus rep+. enjoy

 

[Corfate]

Are you a photographer by any chance? +rep, beautiful pictures

 

[tom_gr7]

Yeah excellent mate! Fantastic pics mate! has some rep for ya trouble

if you create a thread for ya pics here, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[venomco]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

I can't believe I've been brand blind for so long!

Tom - done buddy!

 

[tom_gr7]

Thanks! looks ace! you must have a amazing camera!

 

[vmagic]

awesome pics man, specs of the laptop seem awesome also - GTX580M, wonderful mobile card!

 

[Tez77]

+Rep very nice

 

[chlple]

Absolutely looovely, great pictures too! Enjoy Venomco

 

[grizzlybear]

what cooling stand is this?

 

[venomco]

Hi Grizzly - it's a Zalman NC 2000. Which I thoroughly recommend. Beautiful bit of kit and keeps the laptop about 5-12 degrees cooler than without.

Thanks all.

 

[Tom DWC]

Some fantastic pictures and a very thorough review! +Rep.

 

[IcEtEa^]

Nice pics, I liked it that much i ordered me one, heres my spec really looking forward to benchmarking this.

Chassis & Display Vortex II: 17.3" 120 Hz Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card 1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex 3D)
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk 500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
RAID NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive SONY BD-5750H 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£79)
Memory Card Reader Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

 

[grizzlybear]

Hi Grizzly - it's a Zalman NC 2000. Which I thoroughly recommend. Beautiful bit of kit and keeps the laptop about 5-12 degrees cooler than without.

Thanks all.

Thank you, i thought it might be but i wasn't too sure cause it looks as if it fits perfectly and i know the Zalman NC 2000 is 20", i have a few questions, does it still run effectively when on your lap? and do you have an option of what colour you want it to be?

 

[KrisDouglas]

Considering a machine like this is considered a third party OEM chassis, this walks all over similarly priced Dells, HP, etc..
Very very nice machine but ever so well portrayed in those photographs. I am planning to order one of these myself.
May I ask specifically which adjustments you made to the colour on the unit to get the matte display to look a little more photo-realistic?

 

[ObserverJLin]

If possible please run Crysis 2 in High and Ultra with DX11 & High Res Tex Pack enabled and tell me what Frames Per Second you get with the two settings.
Thx in advance

 

[ObserverJLin]

Hi. Great pictures. Could you please upload more pictures of the screen quality and viewing angles?
If you could upload videos of this system on YouTube that would be even better

Kind regards
J