New 17" laptops

Bhuna50

Bhuna50

Author Level
Just seen 15.6" also available - Elimina Pro includes a 1440p screen too in the 15.6 inch but not the 17.
 
T

Thegrey

Member
Does anyone know is these new laptops can be upgraded? Cpu gpu? I'm looking to buy one with full desktop cpu and mxm video card, but I can't find information at all about these new series. Old series was upgradable you could pick from the list cpu and gpu, but these new series comes with one standard Intel cpu.

Thank you
 
Macco26

Macco26

Expert
No, those laptops are definitely with CPU and GPU and VRAM soldered on the motherboard.
Only things you can upgrade are SSD and DDR4 RAM.
Those are not with MXM modules anymore.
 
T

Thegrey

Member
That is a shame, do you know will they do in near future with MXM module laptops or not anymore? I send them an email but been a week no reply yet I know they are busy.
 
Macco26

Macco26

Expert
Clevo will offer for sure DTR chassis with Intel Rocket Lake S and AMD AM4 sockets along the year. Not now though, more later. Those should come with MXM cards AFAIK, at least the RL-S for sure. If PCS actually sells them, I don't know.
 
FerrariVie

FerrariVie

Super Star
Macco26 said:
Clevo will offer for sure DTR chassis with Intel Rocket Lake S and AMD AM4 sockets along the year. Not now though, more later. Those should come with MXM cards AFAIK, at least the RL-S for sure. If PCS actually sells them, I don't know.
Click to expand...
2020's AMD DTRs did not have MXM cards, the GPU is indeed soldered. But I'm not sure about Intel's.

Anyway, the major problem about MXMs was the price. Most of the time, upgrading would cost the same as a new laptop altogether and that would already come with better RAM and CPU. So maybe the only advantage was in case your GPU got broken after 1 year or so? But you can still select 2 years of full warranty and get a new motherboard from PCS, in case that happens.
 
Macco26

Macco26

Expert
FerrariVie said:
2020's AMD DTRs did not have MXM cards, the GPU is indeed soldered. But I'm not sure about Intel's.

Anyway, the major problem about MXMs was the price. Most of the time, upgrading would cost the same as a new laptop altogether and that would already come with better RAM and CPU. So maybe the only advantage was in case your GPU got broken after 1 year or so? But you can still select 2 years of full warranty and get a new motherboard from PCS, in case that happens.
Click to expand...
Coming from a Clevo DTR with MXM module which broke 4 times.. I agree with you. Brand new MXM GTX970M was 500 eur only for parts, refurbished 250. It's not cheap by any means.
 
T

Thegrey

Member
FerrariVie said:
2020's AMD DTRs did not have MXM cards, the GPU is indeed soldered. But I'm not sure about Intel's.

Anyway, the major problem about MXMs was the price. Most of the time, upgrading would cost the same as a new laptop altogether and that would already come with better RAM and CPU. So maybe the only advantage was in case your GPU got broken after 1 year or so? But you can still select 2 years of full warranty and get a new motherboard from PCS, in case that happens.
Click to expand...
Doesn't mxm card perform better then a soldered one?
 
Macco26

Macco26

Expert
No. Their strength is they can be replaced to higher tiers, in the futre, if possible. GPU die is exactly the same. AFAIK only some DTRs form factor from Clevo continues with this MXM trend, pretty much every other OEM extinguished this.
 
T

Thegrey

Member
Macco26 said:
No. Their strength is they can be replaced to higher tiers, in the futre, if possible. GPU die is exactly the same. AFAIK only some DTRs form factor from Clevo continues with this MXM trend, pretty much every other OEM extinguished this.
Click to expand...
Well I might then consider to buy a soldered one, I looked at eurocom for video cards and is true for the price you could buy a new laptop with newest gpu or cpu. I was looking laptop with mxm card not because of replacement but because of performance
 
T

Thegrey

Member
Does pc specialist laptops is reliable? I'm looking to invest in laptop which last for me at least 4 5 year?
 
Macco26

Macco26

Expert
Frankly I don't know if they are, first time picking from them, however keep in mind they offer basically Clevo or Tongfang chassis. You should check in the Internet (reddit, yt) the reliability of those machines, even though the reliability of 2021 machines is unknown yet, of course.
Personally I've pre-ordered from them a couple of weeks ago, hope to get my hands with the product be end of this month more or less.

Anyway I'd sugest you to increase the warranty type. That's the best you can do to have no major issue for at least the first 3 years or so, I guess.
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Thegrey said:
Does pc specialist laptops is reliable? I'm looking to invest in laptop which last for me at least 4 5 year?
Click to expand...
Either for myself or friends I have sorted eight PCS laptops and all are still working. The oldest is from 2013, battery died but it still works with mains power, others are working fine.
 
FerrariVie

FerrariVie

Super Star
Thegrey said:
Does pc specialist laptops is reliable? I'm looking to invest in laptop which last for me at least 4 5 year?
Click to expand...
This is my first laptop from PCS (Clevo manufacturer) and I chose to opt for the 2 years warranty, just in case. Still didn't need to send it back for repairs, all the issues I had were software-based and I was able to solve with the help of ppl here on the forum.

I would not recommend chassis from the TongFang manufacturer, as it seems that most of the hardware or BIOS complaints (harder to solve) here on the forum were from owners of TongFang chassis. If you have doubts whether a specific chassis is tongfang or clevo, just post here and we can help you to find out.
 
Last edited:
barlew

barlew

Godlike
Thegrey said:
Does pc specialist laptops is reliable? I'm looking to invest in laptop which last for me at least 4 5 year?
Click to expand...
I have been a customer since 2012 and I have had 4 different chassis both Clevo and Tong Fang. My biggest piece of advice to you would be to take the Silver warranty at a minimum but if you can stretch to the Gold do it. I have had to send every laptop back multiple times for a variety of faults, from broken fans to failed motherboards.

This is extremely rare I have never seen anyone else on this forum with the same track record as me. What I will say is I have never had to pay for a repair and the Gold warranty has saved me a huge amount of money on more than one occasion.
 
Last edited:
T

Thegrey

Member
FerrariVie said:
This is my first laptop from PCS (Clevo manufacturer) and I chose to opt for the 2 years warranty, just in case. Still didn't need to send it back for repairs, all the issues I had were software-based and I was able to solve with the help of ppl here on the forum.

I would not recommend chassis from the TongFang manufacturer, as it seems that most of the hardware or BIOS complaints (harder to solve) here on the forum were from owners of TongFang chassis. If you have doubts whether a specific chassis is tongfang or clevo, just post here and we can help you to find out.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help. I'm looking for 17" laptops only and in my mind is these ones: 17.3" Defiance® VII, 17.3" Defiance, 17.3" Ionico.
 
T

Thegrey

Member
barlew said:
I have been a customer since 2012 and I have had 4 different chassis both Clevo and Tong Fang. My biggest piece of advice to you would be to take the Silver warranty at a minimum but if you can stretch to the Gold do it. I have had to send every laptop back multiple times for a variety of faults, from broken fans to failed motherboards.

This is extremely rare I have never seen anyone else on this forum with the same track record as me. What I will say is I have never had to pay for a repair and
Click to expand...
I will definitely take silver warranty for sure, if needs maybe gold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top