Official Laptops Review Thread

[stokieben]

GS 70 2PE Review - Super slim gaming laptop at a trade off
-Brand: MSI
-Model: GS70 2PE
-Bought From/Price: Laptops Direct - £1249
-OS: Windows 8.1
-CPU: i7 4710HQ
-GPU: 870M
-Resolution: 19208*1080p
-RAM: 16GB
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Gaming, internet and Microsoft office.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Gaming 1hour30 and general use 3-5 Hours
-Your Rating (out of 10): 7.5/10 – After a few months of use as my main machine

Low Quality Obligatory Picture Hearthstone On Screen

Introduction
The GS70 2PE Stealth Pro from MSI is an extremely slim gaming laptop, sporting top of the range components brought together in an elegant and compact chassis which wouldn’t look too out of place in a work or office environment. The GS series of gaming laptops from MSI are known for housing some of the most powerful components in the most slim line of chassis, this is no exception with an i7 4710HQ and a NVidia 870m graphics card it doesn’t compromise. There are however a few drawbacks and minor problems in this iteration of the laptop which I’ll cover.

Chassis and Features
The chassis is in my opinion one the major selling points for this machine, it doesn’t have the typical “gaming” look but instead a very refined look in line with an Ultrabook style. The brushed aluminium on the lid is a nice finish too, the MSI gaming dragon is also makes an appearance on this laptop too which lights up when the laptop is in use. Having two side exhausts for heat one for the GPU and the other for the CPU does a good job at cooling however I really do feel the addition of some rear exhausts if possible would of helped this laptop as spoiler, it does get very hot during load and even uncomfortable for some in the highest demanding games to have on your lap.

The power brick that comes with the laptop is a good size, it is slim and lightweight fitting into a small compartment of my backpack very easily. The sleeve that comes with the laptop is a very nice addition and in the sleeve it did fit into my Swiss gear Pegasus just about. I used this laptop for university and although on the larger size compared to its GS60 counterpart is didn’t find it being too heavy, being only 2.6kg compared to the GS60 at 2kg.

Moving on from the elegant design the GS70 uses a 2.1 Audio system with a subwoofer and two speakers, although I’m not too into Audio to me this sounds great and although very subjective is a step above some other on-board laptop sound solutions I’ve seen and used.

The keyboard is branded by SteelSeries and the feedback feels really good in use probably one of the best I’ve used on a laptop, they do not bend or move when pressing them and for somebody with large hands are not too small either. You also have the option with SteelSeries software to alter the backlight as you desire and set profiles for macro keys which gamers alike will enjoy as well as backlight profiles. This addition of a backlit keyboard is very practical in dim lit or dark environments and also makes the laptop look very nice in the dark.

The display is a 17.3inch, 1920*1080p antiglare and LED backlit display is as expected, the viewing angles are good not losing too much colour and the antiglare will be appreciated by professionals if any who chose to use this laptop.

The touchpad is something that in future iterations could be improved on as MSI seem committed to their GS series. The lack of a dedicated left and right click buttons instead opting for a click pad design, the fact it also many times failed to detect and reject my palm was also very annoying. However I do understand nearly all gamers will use an external mouse so a bad trackpad isn’t the end of the world however I would recommend carrying around a mouse, even if you don’t intend to game as even in general use the trackpad is just frustrating.

Graphics and performance
The raw power of the machine is very impressive for such a slim machine, you can expect to play current and future games at around high settings with more than a playable framerate. The GS70 in the time I’ve used it hasn’t at all experienced throttling of the GPU despite high temperatures which is very pleasing. Even under heavy load and more intensive games such as battlefield 4, Thief and Sleeping dogs for extended periods (1 hour sessions plus) the GS70 had very stable performance. The GPU runs at around 89 Degrees under full load which is on the knife-edge of getting throttled however I haven’t ran into throttling yet, the fans however are something to be improved on. If you’re going to be gaming where there is other people such as family members this may not be suitable. The fans run extremely load under intensive games that need to cool the GPU, although throttling is avoided the trade-off is a very loud gaming laptop. Although this wasn’t a problem for me as it is practically silent when using it for anything other than gaming, it might be off-putting along with the immense heat output.

Verdict
The GS70 2pe is a great machine if you’re looking for something stylish that has the power to compete with some of the larger and “gamer” looking laptops. The size and weight is astonishing for a 17.3” laptop and wasn’t too much of a struggle to carry around with me, however if you’re going to using this at work or school most days of the week a GS60 is probably more suited to you. The GS70 does get very hot in load however, the never 970m/980m iterations are more efficient and in turn more cool and quiet. There is a trade-off for a machine this slim to have such a power but I would defiantly recommend this laptop to somebody who wants a stylish and competent gaming laptop which does not look out of place too much at work or school.

 

[virginie27]

Thanks. They are the informations very useful for me.

 

[BillKHoskins]

Brand: HP
-Bought From/PriceC-World / £549
-OS: Windows 7
-CPU: Intel Core i5-2350m
-GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT630m
-Resolution: 1366 x 768 LED
-RAM: 4GB
-Usage Internet, Music. Will do gaming, just need games.
-Real World Battery Life : 7 hours? I don't know but it sure is hell long
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9


This is an amazing laptop. I would recommend it to anyone who cannot afford a high end laptop.

The Screen is amazing, bright and colors

The Speed is great. I haven't had much time but its bonded.

The webcam can do nice pics and videos.

 

[Chrisg34]

If you are purchased laptop, mail things is processor should be good quiltly, ram should be 8gb above and also hard-dick should be 1000 mb maximum.

 

[Roko4u]

I consider battery, RAM and display as the most imp feature when it comes to my dream laptop... and yeah, graphic card too

 

[GPUs4CommonMan]

-Brand: Lenovo
-Model: Y580
-Bought From/Price: Lenovo official site/ $1200 during Christmas sale. Took over a month to arrive. Had me longing for it. Otherwise the exact model goes for $1750
-OS: Win 8 stock upgraded to 8.1 and later win10
-CPU: Intel Core i7 3630/Ivy bridge
-GPU: Nvidia GTX 660M
-Resolution:1920 x 1080
-RAM: 8 GB (2 4GB sticks) replaced with 2 8GB (16 GB total). No clue about speed
-Usage: Gaming, streaming DLNA, editing videos, FL Studio, HiFi playback, going searching on the inter net! HDMI and a little bit of everthing else.
-Real World Battery Life: Shuts down quicker than new laptops/esp. when travelling but still better than older laptops
-Your Rating (out of 10): 7.5

Don't buy this laptop if you wanna be automatically limited to integrated video card. It's a 2012 model. The NVIDIA GPU shuts down by itself every now and then now....I guess it's dying. I tried reviving it but still keeps doing its thing. When I got it, I overclocked it and did a bunch of stuff with it. Took off the SSD cache and set it to NTFS for game storage. I had disassembled the whole thing. etc...I won't recommend this laptop anymore. It's way outdated now that I think about it. It all feels like yesterday when I got it. The HD4000 integrated card is the worst offender of gaming performance. Intel needs to chill. Stop making integrated GPUs so we can hold real GPU makers accountable for their faulty hardware when the whole system goes haywire. I'm gonna try everything on the GTX 660 once again and I'm gonna overclock the heck out of it. It's a surprising kind of laptop. It does everything a high end PC would do but when it comes to reliability, you must have the patience to troubleshoot it yourself. If I were any younger, I would have modded the heck out of this PC.

 

[velo3100]

Brand: Asus
-Model: N56VX
-Bought From/Price: simplyasus / £800 in April 2013 I think
-OS: Window 8 64 bit when bought, now windows 10 insider preview version 1511, OS build 14342.1001
-CPU: intel i7 - 3630QM @ 2.4GHz - 3.4GHz
-GPU: Nividia gt 650m/intel 4000
-Resolution: 1080p
-RAM: 8 gigs in dual channel
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Variety of things, see below.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): N/A see below to see why
-Your Rating (out of 10): 7

Hi all as most of you know, I am velo and I have been a member of this forum for nearly 2 years and I would like to share my experiences with my laptop that I have had for 3 years.

Overview

I originally got my laptop for a games course which taught me everything that I needed to know how to make games. This ranges from programming in various IDEs to 3D modelling to image and video editing. So far I have been happy with it as it serves me very well as multimedia laptop and I would recommend it to anyone that is considering games design or development. It can also good for digital media students.

Now I will try and break this review into the different sections so you can skip to the area you are most interested in unless you want to read my whole review which I would be very happy if you did.

Stability

The chassis has endured a lot since I have first got the laptop. This ranges from high ambient temps (25 degrees Celsius +) to freezing temps during the snow days in England to me actually beating and shaking the laptop when the laptop won't load a program fast enough. So for normal use it is excellent and will endure pretty much anything unless you go to the extreme like breaking it with a hammer. The only weak area that I can feel is the base near the SD card and the screen will flex if you press it hard but it should be no problem if you are thinking of using this in a bag.

Display quality

This is one of the best laptop I have used. There are better on the market in 2016 but if you are satisfied with 1080p and a TN 15.6 inch screen then it is brilliant. The backlight is not strong enough to combat direct sunlight but it is good if angle the screen so that the sunlight hit the screen rather than the reflective keyboard base. As for viewing angles, it can't compete against a IPS but should beat low cost TN panels.

Input devices
The trackpad has a very smooth surface which makes it very easy to glide. This made the laptop very good for the windows 8 gestures, sometimes a bit too sensitive. The trackpad is underneath the spacebar and is also a bit too big for me. I will say that when you are using the right button, you have to put more pressure than the left. I still would recommend media professionals and gamers to use an external mouse though.

Note:
This had changed a lot since windows 8. It performs a lot more reliably when I got windows 10 and as I have the insider preview, it actually performs better than it did in windows 10.

The keyboard I like very much. I have used this for everything from playing tera rising which involves a lot of key combinations to writing a 100+ reports for my assignments. If you are used to keyboards from lenovo t series then you may not like it as your fingers don't get as much support but if you are used to keyboards like a macbook then it should be very good. Some people may find that the spacebar maybe too big. Also if you use a number pad it is there for you along.

Storage
The laptop came with a hard drive which was 1TB in size. For me that was fine as I am used to hard drives but people who are used to SSD may find loading times of programs and the OS slow.

Performance
For its intended purpose which is multimedia it is very good. To be clear what I mean by multimedia I mean:

General surfing the web
Video and image editing
Listening to music
Watching videos

It is able to suitable for people that want to do programming as I have used Microsoft visual studio 2013, eclipse and mattlab. It is also good for people thinking of learning 3D modelling and rendering. This will be basic models though as the gt 650m is not a CAD specific gpu.

For people thinking of gaming, it can play games but I would not advise to unless you are willing to clean the fans and internals as it is hard to perform maintenance due to a lack of a maintenance hatch. But like I have said, when it was new it could handle AC BF, BF hardline, FF14 a realm unborn, far cry 3, obviously tera and similar games. The 3D performance now it struggles with those games due to dust built up.

Note:
The performance will be worse on battery but I am sure not many people will be playing far cry 3 on this laptop on battery due to the battery life.

Sound
This will be difficult due to the fact that everyone's ears are different but I will say that is is still a good laptop for listening to music compared to more ultrabooks due to the size.

Battery life
When I first got the laptop it was able to last for 1.5 hours of normal use sometime 2. That is not surprising due to the cpu being very power hungry. When gaming I used to get 30 mins I think. But as the years have gone, the battery took its toll and now I only use it on the mains. Still performs very well and shows no sighs of dying.

Noise
Now this will depend on how noise tolerant you are. I use headphone for everything. This can be for playing a game to watching a movie. I would recommend that you do put headphones on if you plan on using this intensively like playing games or programming as the fans are very strong and will come on if you push it. Normally when 3D use, it will spin around 4000 rpm. If you push it like I did it can spin up to 12500 rpm if I remember correctly but it will cool the laptop.

Temps
This is very good I would say. During normal use it is cool assuming there is no dust build up. When 3D usage like 3D modelling it will still be cool to the touch and only when you play games it will spike. The temps will vary depending on what game you play. Just to give you an idea, when playing league of legends at max settings at 1080p it is around 40 degrees Celsius if I remember correctly. The highest I have had the machine go is 100 but the fans activate and cool it down to 78 very quickly.

If anyone has any questions private message me and I will answer it.

 

[nolimits76]

-Brand: Apple
-Model: Macbook Pro, Late 2011, 13.3"
-Bought From/Price: Apple Education Store, $949
-OS: Mac OS X, El Capitan (10.11.6)
-CPU: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
-GPU: Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB
-Resolution: 1280x800
-RAM: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 (utilizing 2x4gb sticks)
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Mainly Office Apps, Internet, Work
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): It has weakened a little over the years, but still very good. Currently getting somewhere between 6-8 hours actual use, depending on what I am doing.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.5/10

Overall, I have been very pleased with this laptop and would purchase again if faced with the same decision. To help better understand this laptop I will break down my review in a few categories:

Initial Purchase
Unfortunately you won't be picking up a Mac product for a few hundred bucks, unless it's stolen or there is another issue or special condition. So the upfront sticker price is a deterrent to many potential owners. I saved about $150 using my education discount, but I was still in for almost a grand. That said, compare the processor, screen type, etc. to the competition and you will quickly see a comparable PC with same/similar specs is within a few hundred bucks or maybe less.

Build Quality
Amazing! I've owned a few different laptops in the past (Dell, HP, etc) and none are even close. Love the aluminum body and overall looks, thinness and lightweight. The sad part is now my laptop is considered "fat". But it's just not design. It takes a beating too. I've toted this thing everywhere, dropped it, threw it, etc. It has held up very well. Another great feature is the "mag safe power cord". One of the reasons I had to ditch my Dell was because the power port had physically started ripping away from the motherboard making it impossible to power up/charge my old laptop. This was because the cord put too much strain on the port. I duct taped the crap out of mine, but finally lost the war. Anyhow, with the Apple, their power cords are magnetized so if it stresses too much it just pops off and you don't have this issue. Very small, but brilliant idea.

Performance
Excellent. Sure, I've had a few speed bumps here and there, but nothing major. Over the past 5 years I have upgraded my ram from 4gb (original) to 8gb. Also, originally my MBP shipped with OS X Lion. I've upgraded to the different versions...Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite and now (numerous versions of) El Capitan. Features have been added, etc and overall performance has been similar to the original OS. I do wish I had previous data points to compare scientific data, but I don't. I do know it feels like El Capitan is slower than previous OS versions. Not to the point I want to rip my hair out and set myself on fire, but I do know my hardware is working harder. As a fix I am considering an upgrade to 16gb RAM (max for my machine) and 750gb SSD. In the beginning I would have said a 9/10. Today I would say a 7.8/10. With the upgrades I may intend, I suspect that will get me back to a 9/10. Alternatively I have considered downgrading my OS to a previous version such as Lion or even Leopard. I might note the various OS issues are not a laptop issue, but more of a software issue and one I bore on myself. It's not reasonable to think a 5+ year old laptop will perform exactly as original when I have pushed it to do more than it was designed for originally.

Upgrades
I know I mentioned several possible upgrades in the above paragraph, but it's worth noting that my MBP is one of the few left that can accept USER upgrades. For me, this is important. I don't like the fact Apple or any manufacturer is going the way of soldered in RAM, etc. and making a computer a one and done purchase. While it's still possible to purchase one of these "legacy" MBP's from Apple, they tend to be ditching the model as a whole and soon it will fade out. Also, I might note this model still has a superdrive (DVD burner).

Things I Wish Was Better
Even on a 13.3" screen, I want more resolution. 1280x800 is okay, but I really wish it could go higher to 1920x1080 and a few clicks in between. The shiny screen is a blessing and curse. Love the overall looks compared to matte, but depending on specifics the glare can be annoying. Like many people, I use MS Office products on my Mac. I just have the Mac version. In contrast, at work I use a Windows machine and the Windows version of MS Office. Load times to open the Mac version of Office applications take longer. The layouts/menus/options aren't identical. I've used both Mac 2011 and Mac 2016 Office, along with multiple versions of Windows Office. My opinion is they continue to work better and faster on Windows machines. That said, I haven't found a better alternate office suite product I like better, and at the end of the day this is a software issue and more of a Mac vs Windows issue vs a true indicator of this particular laptop.

Re-Sale
You won't find this too often on PC reviews. You are lucky to pick up a few hundred bucks for a used PC laptop, depending what it is exactly. I could easily sell my MBP for $500+ as it sits today and have a good crowd of people trying to purchase. This could potentially reduce my total cost of ownership to less than $500 total. In 5 years, that is about $100 year to use what I consider excellent hardware and a better OS experience.

Conclusion
So in the end, buy one of these. They are great. I have recommended to numerous family & friends. Even bought my wife the newer version of a "legacy" MBP last year. It is faster than mine, but very similar. We can still upgrade, etc. and for the price point we are very happy. When it comes time to retire my MBP, I will be at a loss of what to purchase as I am not sure there is a replacement to my beloved MBP.

 

[ragnarok94]

-Brand: Asus
-Model: ASUSPro (notebook), Model # P550CA-XH51, 15.6"
-Bought From/Price: Newegg.com, ~$560 (March 2015)
-OS: Windows 7 Pro x64 bit with free 8 upgrade opt
-CPU: 1.8 GHz Intel Core i5-3337U (integrated)
-GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB
-Resolution: 1368 x 768 max
-RAM: OEM Hyndix 4GB (integrated into mobo, DDR3?) + Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SODIMM 4GB=8GB total
-Usage (low res Gaming, Internet, memes and photoshop, low res video editing, school work)
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Was at about 3 hours new, barely one hour now on battery saving mode. Usually keep it plugged in for high performance while editing/gaming.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 6.5/10

First look: bought this when my Acer Aspire (Pentium, 15.6", win 7 home, 250Gb hdd) starting constantly blue screening and getting slow (had that one for 3 years and dropped twice, replaced the screen once. not a bad laptop for durability).
Expected a laptop I could edit and game with (i knew very little compared to now). I found this. within the first month it black screened 3 times. After that, it wasn't too bad, for what it was.

Upgrades (spring 2016):
-upgraded OEM HGST 5400 rpm 500GB hdd to 1TB nanotype-A (generic white label) SSHD (supposedly 7200 RPm, 16GB NAND)
-Added Corsair Vengeance 4GB RAM stick for laptops alongside OEM built-in ram
-starts a little faster, slightly less lag.

Pros:
-designed for school & office
-not too bad photo editing and video streaming with good internet.
-plays DVD's without a hitch
-HDMI port allows easy hookup to HD tvs for streaming and dvd viewing
-SD card reader
-Win 7 Professional x64


Cons:
-horrible wifi detection
-weak cpu and integrated graphics*
-*customized for asus, not updateable, no new drivers from asus after 2013!
-definitely not for gaming with a lot of graphic dependence (have to restart before playing warthunder to get max (15-25) FPS in ultra low res).
-only 2 USb ports, 1x2.0 and 1x3.0, both on the same (left) side
-1x combination headphones/mic jack, cannot be used with a two-end headset (cell phone headsets work but thats all)
-speakers are weak
-Asus block charger (lost, replaced with Inergie universal unit)
-No longer alerts me when battery is critically low
-weird clamp-down LAN port (easy to break cable snap-ins)
-as with gaming, not really for heavy video editing ( max 1080 compressed or 720p, forget 4K. takes hours to render)


Other thoughts
I badly needed a new laptop when i bought it, and it fit my budget. It can play CS:GO, TF2, Borderlands 2 (with dropped frames) and Warthunder (on super low res). I have edited 1080 AVCHD files on it but only out of necessity. Not recommended.

Re-sale
This particular model is getting rare. I think it was a new old model when i bought it, hence the price. This thing is obviously 2011-2013 tech at best. free 8 upgrade is there but never used.
These things are nearly impossible to find info on. Even directly from asus.
No longer stocked on most sites.

Conclusion
I ONLY recommend this laptop if you need a beater for school work and netflix, with maybe just CS:Go/TF2/Warthunder on ultra low.
If you're a serious gamer or video editor, spend the extra money for a true 4 core laptop with Iris or a dedicated graphics card.
Also, make sure you have a decent wifi router or lan cable for any gaming or streaming, as this thing barely picks it up from across my tiny house. That is, if you can actually find one.

 

[velo3100]

Brand: 3XS
Model: LG17 Carbon G-Sync
Bought from: Scan PC: https/www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/gsync-gaming-laptop-geforce-intel-skylake-17in
Price: Around £1500
OS: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
CPU: Intel I7 - 6700K
GPU: GTX 970m
Screen size: 17 inches
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Ram: 16 gigs, ddr4
Storage: 1tb HDD 7200 RPM
Usage: Mostly gaming plus web surfing
Rating: 9 out 10

I bought this laptop for my birthday around 5 months ago which is why it has the 970m rather than a 10 series gpu. This is my first desktop replacement. I have so far played most of the latest games from 2015 - 16.

But I did have some issue with it when I got it. There were a lot of blue screens of death and a date and time bug. These bugs have been fixed and I am sure I got a model which was not set up properly. Luckily these issues were software based and the support was great. The g - sync makes a lot of difference in games.

The noise is generally quiet unless the hdd gets used a lot. Temps are low. I have not seen it go to 90 yet.

The other thing is the laptop picks up fingerprint very easily. The other thing I didn't like is the charger as it can fall out easily when you move the laptop.

Apart from that the laptop is great for anyone that is looking to play the latest games at 1080p or higher, 4K maybe a stretch as the highest gpu you can get is the 1070 and doesn't worry about battery life which is ok at around 4 hours of video in edge and around 7 hours I think or more of normal browsing, bear in mind that this laptop's battery is huge compared to other laptops.

If anyone wants to know more, private message me.

 

[velo3100]

Brand: Acer
-Model: CB3 - 431
-Bought From/Price: Currys PC world Brighton Store
-OS: Chrome
-CPU: Celeron - Not sure what model
-GPU: Intel HD graphics I think
-Resolution: 1366 * 768
-RAM: 2
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Surfing the web and watching videos
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Around 14 hours
-Price: £199
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9

I have been using this laptop for about a 3 weeks I think and so far it is a pleasant experience.

Boot

The boot time on this is very good and it beats my windows laptop with a HDD.

Internet experience

Webpages load fairly quickly depending on how many adds there are or what elements there are. Also if you have a lot of tabs open or have a lot of syncing, the laptop will slow down but this is to be expected from a laptop in this price range.

The screen

The screen is good for the price and I don't really have much issue with it, I know some people will complain the res is low for a 14 inch laptop but to me it ok. The viewing angle obviously cannot compete with an ips screen and colour shifting is noticeable is you view images. Videos and webpages on the other hand are look good.

Sound

The speakers are downward firing and is focused on the highs and mids with no bass. This is not surprising due to how slim the laptop is. Headphone audio is much better.

The keyboard

It is the normal low travel keyboard and it is usable. You may need to get used to the travel if you are coming from a desktop replacement or mechanical keyboard. Ultrabook users shouldn't have much problems. Finally, it is not backlit which is normal in this price range,

Touchpad

Wonderful would be the best way to describe it. Gestures are performed reliably and it is much better than my desktop replacement which is only good for basic mouse input.

Case

It is made out of metal and is normally very cool to the touch.

 

[overclockingrocks]

-Brand: Asus
-Model: GL-551VW
-Bought From/Price: Canada Computers $899
-OS: Windows 10 HP
-CPU: i5 6300HQ
-GPU: 960m
-Resolution: 1080p
-RAM: 8GB
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): gaming,internet browsing, photo editing and schoolwork
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 2.5-3 hours
-Your Rating (out of 10): 6.5 for build quality and QC issues with 2 machines before getting a 3rd unit that seems to work perfectly (for now)

Great machine IF you get one that has no issues which seems to be hit or miss. Personally I bought one on the Saturday of Black Friday. The following week 2 keys (F7 and F8) Just pop right off literally pressed them once to turn on a function in an CAD program and the tabs that hold them to the scissor mechanism just snapped in half. Back to Canada Computers where I get an exchange for a whole new unit (which was easy and painless). Get the new unit home and...... NO VIDEO! DOA out of the box. I was fast losing faith in Asus. Back for round 3. So far from this third laptop no issues but then again I've only had it for 4 days now. I will say that for my usage it performs well (when you get one that works flawlessly) the 960m crushes any game you throw at it. I just can't say that if I had to choose again that I would buy an ROG laptop. I don't think I would recommend it to friends or family either. It's just not a brand that I see as reliable anymore.

I thought about just getting my money back and going to a different brand but anything with similar specs,because I bought on BF, was at least $150-300 more. I think if I had to do it all over again I'd go with a Lenovo Ideapad with a 950m for $50 less or spend the extra and buy an MSI Leopard. Maybe Canada Computers just got a bad run but it still sours me on Asus as a brand

 

[mpc007]

-Brand: Lenovo
-Model: Flex 2 14D
-Bought From/Price: Cyberport.de (Germany) for €450 shipping included
-OS: Win 8.1
-CPU: AMD A8 6410 (Beema APU)
-GPU: AMD R5 Integrated + AMD R5 M230 discrete
-Resolution: 1366x768 (hdready)
-RAM: 4 gb ddr3 1600 (single channel)
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Internet, Office, occasional light gaming
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): ~4 hours w/ wifi on, brightness at 30 percent
-Your Rating (out of 10): 7/10

Good:
- Packs more graphics power than similar priced Intel HD graphics solutions
- Has USB3.0 ports
- Decent battery life
- Quiet and not very hot
- Screen hinge allows 'tent mode'
- SSHD for fast booting
- One of few average powerful 14 inch notebooks with a friendly price tag (yeah, you cant manage that, ultrabooks)

Bad:
- cpu power lags behind recent core i3 performance
- discrete gpu only a bit faster than integrated part so added value is fairly limited (only in gaming there is advantage due to dedicated vram)
- screen is a low-res TN-panel with bad contrast and viewing angles. its also gloss but has okay brightness
- only one dimm available so upgrading means discarding the incumbent stick
- casing all plastics with quite some flex in the keyboard and palm rests

Would I recommend it? Yes, it simply packs a lot of punch for the money compared to its competitors.

Successor? Another 14 incher but with a more mature AMD APU like the FX8800p (Carrizo) or FX9800p (Bristol Ridge). If a part like that comes available for ~500 USD/EUR there is a new winner when it comes to the best price/performance relation.

 

[overclockingrocks]

-Brand: Asus
-Model: ROG GL-551VW
-Bought From/Price: Canada Computers $899 CDN
-OS: Win 10 HP
-CPU: i5 6300HQ
-GPU: 960m 2GB
-Resolution: 1920x1080
-RAM: 8GB
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): gaming and schoolwork along with some photography editing
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 4 hours or so with battery saver turned on
-Your Rating (out of 10): 7

I purchased this laptop on black friday of 2016. Had it for 2 weeks and then I go to press F6 one day to do something (I don't remember what exactly) and the key just pops off along with F7. The little clips that hold the key to the scissor mechaism just shattered. So with it being Canada Computers I took it back since that's clearly a defect and they offer 30 days direct exchange. 2nd machine I get it home go to power up and it's DOA no video out of the box. Back for round 3 and I finally have a machine that's been working fine with absolutely no issues for 2 months now. Been carting it back and forth to college for the last 4 weeks 5 days a week too.

Plays games amazingly well. Pretty much everything I'm playing is at high or ultra settings the skylake i5 smokes the sandy bridge i7 machine it replaced and the battery life for a gaming laptop is excellent. The machine itself (aside from noted issues I honestly think I just got 2 lemons) is quite well constructed and I don't think you'd find a better machine for $899 any time soon. With that said given the issues I had the first 2 times around that put some hesitation in my mind. I bought it based on the experience I had with an RMA for a defective screen on an Asus netbook about 5 years ago which was quick and painless. This time around Asus' solution to my keyboard issues (instead of sending me replacement keycaps which they could have) was to RMA the entire machine which for a machine that new is unacceptable.

I like the machine but given the 2 machines I had to exchange in such a quick time frame to get a working one I don't think I'd buy another ROG machine in the future. The MSI Leopard series gaming laptops were a couple hundred dollars more for the same specs and now I can see why. They seem to have better build quality (and better chat CS from what I've heard as well) (not that Asus's buiild quality is bad just their QC for some stuff seems to suck lately).

Overall if you can get a working one and not have the run around I did I'd say go for it. With that in mind if you can spring for a little more money I'd go MSI over this.

 

[Guest]

Brand: Dell
-Model: Vostro 3300
-Bought From/Price: Dell.com/$856
-OS: windows 7 profesional K
-CPU: i5 520M (overclockable)
-GPU: Geforce 310m
-Resolution: 1366x768
-RAM:4gb ddrl3
-Usage: Light Gaming, Internet, Office Apps.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 4 hours.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 8/10

My dad has gave me this laptop, an this is my first laptop ever. It is the lightest laptop for its size i have ever seen. It boasts an i5 dual core arandale cpu, which virtually has 4 cores thanks to hyperthreading, and can play games like cs:go on the high settings at 54-58 fps. Its downside: cooling, and battery life. It has only one fan which cools both gpu cpu AND the motherboard. Phew. But surprizingly, it never goes above 80 degrees if i use a laptop cooler. I thought my laptop was dead, but after updating it to its latest drivers and using iobit system care PRO, it turned from an old frail man, to a old Beefy man. Over all i would reccomend a use of this beauty to keep it cool, and keep it updated.

 

[noyaus]

Brand: Microsoft
-Model: Surface Pro 4, 128GB
-Bought From/Price: Domayne - AUD$1399 (including Type Cover)
-OS: Windows 10
-CPU: Core m3
-GPU: Intel HD graphics 515
-Resolution: 11.50 inches by 7.50 inches
-RAM: 4GB RAM
-Usage: School Work, OneNote, Movies
-Real World Battery Life: 4-5 Hours
-Your Rating (out of 10): 8/10

This laptop I got for my school work. It's light and easy to carry around and works well with my school's WiFi. The startup time is really good, The battery feels like it runs quick, (maybe it's school)! Cortana works well. All the apps open quick. The speed is unbelievable. It is much easier to take notes and do videos with rather than a NoteBook.

 

[vincenmathew]

Brand: DELL
Model: INSPIRON 15 R N5010R
Bought From/Price: Computer world/ $615
OS: Preloaded with DOS, Windows 7 ultimate installed
CPU: Intel i3
GPU: ATI RADEON HD 5650 series (1 GB)
Resolution: 1280 x 720(WXGA)
RAM: 2 GB
Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office apps etc): Gaming being the major priorities, internet, official documentation.
Sound Quality: The sound quality of the speakers is crystal clear even at high volumes.
Real world battery life: 2 hours up to 1year, post 1 year battery service decreases drastically.
Your rating (out of 10): 7.5/10

I bought the Dell Inspiron 15R N5010R which was my first laptop bought during the college days. I bought the laptop for working but eventually turned up playing computer games, internet surfing, watching movies and sometimes work a little bit.
As I am very fond of computer games, I bought this laptop due to its 15.6’’ HD display and the ATI RADEON graphics which fulfilled my personal gaming requirements. I installed FIFA12, Age of Empires, Need for speed most wanted 2012 Black Edition, Counter Strike 1.6,Rise of nations to list a few has been working effectively. The Hard disk memory of 500GB exquisitely complimented to my needs of the gaming and performance requirements.
Things went on fine for a year and a half then issues started to build up. After a year or so the battery backup decreased effectively as the time passed by. While playing FIFA12 and Most Wanted for a longer period of time continuously the laptop started heating up drastically bringing the system to an abrupt shutdown. I uninstalled many of the games but the issue still persisted to continue. Suddenly one day while playing, the system appeared with a blue screen and then the system shut down and resisted to start further. Finally, I reached up to the service center where they reported after inspection that the hard disk had crashed due to the issues regarding the heat outlet. They replaced the hard disk and returned it to me within a week.
They prescribed me to use a cooling pad so as to prevent further damage; as if this issue persists it may hamper the motherboard, bringing it to a stop. Using the cooling pad I am enjoying the same gaming experience as ever before. So according to me up to 1 year the laptop is very good and would continue to work effectively is the cooling pad is used from the onset which would not have damaged the heating outlet.

 

[kalford4891]

-Brand: MSI
-Model: GT72S 6QE Dominator Pro G
-Bought From/Price: £1699.00 (at April 2016)
-OS: Windows 10 Home
-CPU: Core i7 6820HK
-GPU: NVidia GTX 980M 8GB
-Resolution: 1920x1080
-RAM: 16GB DDR4 - 2133mhz
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Gaming, listening to music, general document creation and internet browsing
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Unknown - only used corded
-Your Rating (out of 10): 8/10

I've had this laptop for just over a year now and it's been great. The IPS panel is nice and wide viewing angles are fantastic, although colours aren't as vibrant as they should be. Sound is the best I've heard on a laptop, but still doesn't compare to plugging decent quality speakers in. Gaming performance isn't amazing but is good enough for a laptop - I think the 980M is the very least you should aim for if you want to game properly on a laptop, although it is starting to fall behind a bit for the latest titles if you want to play with high quality settings. Blu-ray drive seems to work fine - MSI seem to have removed it from all their newer models with series 10 NVidia cards, apart from their SLI laptops which is really disappointing. Backlighting is ok. The keyboard is the main thing I don't really like - it's ok for a laptop and the keystrokes aren't toooo shallow, but I personally really don't like the layout. Trying to get used to a single row enter key is tricky, the space bar can be a bit temperamental at times and several other keys on a normal full keyboard are in a completely different position. Touchpad is ok but I barely use it as I tend to always have a mouse plugged in and I'd really prefer to have a solution like MSI's SLI Titan laptops where the touchpad is to the side so you don't have any risk of your hand rubbing it while you type. Haven't really tested gaming much when not plugged in to the power cord, but performance seems to severely drop when unplugged the brief once or twice I've done it. Also haven't tested the webcam much as I have my own external one. Haven't really had any long-term stability issues with this model, just the odd hiccup in installing the right drivers etc originally - other than that it's been pretty stable with the latest bios and drivers. Looks-wise the laptop is fine - people who've seen it at my place say it looks cool but I'm not very fussed myself, I care more about how it performs. The laptop is fairly weighty compared to older models I've used but I guess that's to be expected when you've got a lot of power under the hood and decent cooling solutions.

Reason for 8 out of 10 scoring - keyboard layout and quality, sound quality and monitor colour reproduction could all be better for the price.

 

[Annsegers87]

-Brand: Dell
-Model: Inspiron 15 7000
-Bought From/Price: $419.99
-OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit English, 3-cell 43WHr Battery, Black
-CPU: Intel Core i3-6100U Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.30 GHz)
-GPU:
-Resolution: 1920 x 1080
-RAM: 4GB Single Channel DDR3L 1600MHz
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Office, Home and games, movies.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 4 hours
-Your Rating (out of 10): 10

Dell is always awesome. I am using Dell's Laptops since 2005 and they are amazing, never got me into any problem. Right now i am using ''DELL INSPIRON 15 7000 2-IN-1 CONVERTIBLE LAPTOP / TABLET, 15.6-INCH'' I even bought a used one from [url removed], it's been more that 9 months and it's working perfectly fine. I would suggest everyone to go for Dell!

 

[Yuka]

-Brand: Sager
-Model: NP9150T (15.4")
-Bought From/Price: www.sagernotebook.com / USD$1437 + tax
-OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
-CPU: Intel Core i7 3630QM
-GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT675M
-Resolution: 1920x1080 LED
-RAM: 2x4GB DDR3 1600
-Usage : PC like tasks: gaming, programming and whatever I need to do.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Not fully tested, but I'd say like 3 to 4 hours.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.5

I'd give it a perfect 10 if it not were for the glossy screen as default and tougher panels for the LED screen. They should use the mate one as default.

I ordered this notebook with an HDD bay instead of the ODD (BD ROM by default, I think) plus a second 500GB 7200 RPM slim HDD in it (main unit is the same, you can put an SSD and other cool stuff for the Intel storage thingy). It also came with a LED keyboard (numpad included) as default and with Onkyo speakers (integrated) that sound quite nice. Finger print reader, integrated web cam and regular multi touch mouse pad, plus stickers.

The body work of the notebook is quite nice as well. It's a matte finish across the whole body and doesn't weight a ton, but the power brick is quite big, it-s like 1/3 of the notebooks weight, haha.

The best of the notebook, by far, is that Sager is quite un-beatable in the price / perf ratio.

These are some pictures of it:

Spoiler

EDIT: Some Windows scores

EDIT2: New Windows score after the SSD upgrade:

Cheers!

5 years have passed and a new laptop has arrived to my hands to replace the Sager. Mind you, the Sager is still fully 100% functional with everything in/on it intact. Not a single dent on it.

So, this is how it goes:

-Brand: Asus
-Model: GL502VS - FY385T ROG
-Bought From/Price: Amazon.co.uk / £1350 (Black Friday - original price was/is £1850)
-OS: Windows 10 Home
-CPU: i7 7700HQ
-GPU: GTX 1070 8GB
-Resolution: 15.4" - 1920x1080@60Hz + GSync
-RAM: 16GB
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Same as previous: Gaming, Programming and whatever else I can imagine.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Not tested.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.0
-Link: https/www.asus.com/us/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-GL502VS/specifications/

Same as the Sager, given the wonderful price it has (given the specs), it doesn't feel as sturdy as it could be; glossy screen as default or only option and plastic casing with brushed metal finish for the screen (which gives it a nice feel to it). It's slightly wider and just a tad heavier than the Sager. Not a deal breaker at all, since it's also slimmer. I would imagine the cooling is a tad better, hence the bit of extra weight.

Other things the Asus doesn't have I wish it did compared to the Sager: it doesn't come with the finger print reader. I've come to love it's simple functionality to secure things quickly without the need to type anything. It doesn't have the same speakers as the Sager (THX certified), but it doesn't really affect me. It comes with a generic sound card and the one inside the Sager is miles better for HTPC duties, but I have an external SB something-something FX for driving the Monitor Speakers I have, so not a biggie. The Asus comes with the annoying 2in1 jack and the Sager comes with 4 jacks, including dedicated SPDIF. The power button is in a very annoying position (mixed with the num-pad of all places!) and I can see how it can be a problem using the num-pad keys to type. It doesn't come with a lot of screen connection options like the Sager did either. It only comes with HDMI, but I would imagine it has a port somewhere that can double for DP or something; I haven't checked. The Sager comes with DVI, HDMI and DP (full size).

It delivers (maybe even over delivers) in terms of performance and portability (I don't think the 4 cell battery will give it much time, but I haven't tested that). So, with good care (I have already proven myself that with the Sager travelling around the world and still intact) it will be a solid 10, even with all the "minuses" compared to the Sager.

Runs everything I throw at it very well; all feels and plays smooth. Even faster than my PC (somewhere in my profile?) in most games, or close to surpassing it when CPU is of no concern. I still haven't put it through programming hurdles, but since the Sager never gave me an issue, I expect this one to be as smooth or even better than it.

And watch this space for pictures of it... If I find a way to host them somewhere XD

Cheers!

EDIT: Added info. EDIT2: More info.