SSD's

[njmarkham]

My Optimus II notebook arrived today and I'm very impressed, thank you so much PC Specialist. I've had a bit of an issue with Yodel delivery but I'm hopeful PCS will resolve. The notebook is fantastic and I would really recommend it and PCS as a company.

One thing I would like to query though is how expensive the SSD's are. I paid around 850 for my config and spent an extra 120ish on an SSD that I sourced and fitted myself. I got a 120gb Force 3 6gb/s SSD scoring 7.9 in Windows Experience Index. However this same config through here for the same spec ssd cost over 1300. That's a massive difference, are the Intel SSD's really that much better?

 

[PCS]

Thanks for the positive comments and we're gald you're happy with your new laptop.

Our 120GB Intel 320 SSDs cost around £160 and the 510 series are around £220. I'm not sure how you managed to get the price to over £1,300 but I've checked our configurator and it's all working fine...

What brand of SSD did you purchase? The reason why we only sell Intel and Kingston is because they're the most stable. OCZ drives have issues where they stop working intermittently and Corsair had to recall theirs: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/corsair-recalls-its-120gb-force-3-ssd-due-to-stability-issues/

 

[njmarkham]

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
250GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
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

Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days

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Comes to 862 inc vat.

Apologies I was comparing the 240gb and not the 120gb. Although add in the 120gb and this comes to £1090, an extra £230, this is still £100 more than OCZ and corsairs offerings. I think Corsair have resolved there issues now and also slightly faster read/write speed. I am no SSD expert but this is what swayed me to do this myself.


Still, I am a very happy customer

 

[PCS]

I agree that the Intel models are expensive given their stated read/write times, but they have the highest quality and stability rate.

For future reference we can offer a Kingston model: 120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW) - we will consider listing these as an option.

 

[njmarkham]

I agree that the Intel models are expensive given their stated read/write times, but they have the highest quality and stability rate.

For future reference we can offer a Kingston model: 120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW) - we will consider listing these as an option.

More options for customers sounds good.

 

[InfernalBadger]

For future reference we can offer a Kingston model: 120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW) - we will consider listing these as an option.

Sorry for the thread hijack but I've currently got an order in the processed stage with an Intel 510 120gb drive, would it be possible to swap that for a 120GB Kingston HYPERX drive instead? If this can be done, what would the price difference be and would it affect delivery times?

 

[InfernalBadger]

Ignore that question, just noticed it on the configuration screen