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PC Specialist ship the Vortex III HD7S protected underneath various protective sheets.
These cover the lid, screen and various parts of the chassis. It actually took several minutes to carefully remove all of these. It is always a great first impression to notice that the company spent some time ensuring that none of the surfaces would be subjected to minor surface scratches during potentially rough shipping.
The Vortex III HD7S is not going to win any awards for radical styling although I like the functional, clean lines and businesslike appearance. I do admire some of the more flamboyant designs such as the Alienware M17X or M18X, however my personal desires would be more suited to the Dell Precision range. I think this Clevo chassis is very similar to a Dell Precision design, which is a plus point in my opinion.
Our sample was shipped with a glossy LED screen which delivered fantastic results. Colours are well saturated and fine text is accurately rendered. At full brightness the display is visible outdoors, although not in direct sunlight. Indoors it is perfectly usable around half brightness, improving battery life.
The panel delivered great results with high definition movies and when playing games, but I did find it highly reflective with even moderate ambient back lighting in the room. PC Specialist are aware that the glossy screen might not suit everyone and they offer a Matte screen for an extra £79.00.
The PC Specialist Vortex III HD7S is nicely finished although I found it was prone to attracting fingerprints. The image above right highlights the lovely textured surface visible only under direct light.
The left side of the laptop has 2 USB 3.0 ports, and an eSATA/USB combo port. Next to these is a IEEE 1394 port, GB LAN and multi card reader. The right side of the laptop has the optical drive, a single USB 2.0 port, and audio out connectors alongside a microphone port.
The rear of the machine is home to the power connector. Next to these are a full sized DVI port, HDMI port and DisplayPort. These cover all digital bases. On either side of these ports are two large cooling vents.
There are no cooling vents under the machine, so we can ascertain from the chassis design that warm air will be expelled out of the rear of the machine. This can be a beneficial design decision as it can reduce heat when the machine is positioned on a lap.
This Clevo chassis uses Onkyo speakers visible in various positions across the chassis. The onboard sound is actually very good with even a hint of bass response, although it goes without saying that dedicated standalone speakers are the best way to enjoy movies and games.
The machine uses a full sized keyboard with numpad on the right. It doesn't quite meet the same grade as the class leading keyboard on the Lenovo Thinkpad X1, but it is certainly above average.
is the link working, cant see it for sale?
I like the appearance, i must be one of the few people who hate that Dell star trek keyboard font. its hard to read.
Good specifications, but id prefer this in 15.6 inch as they are more portable and tend to have better battery life.
is it possible to put the 7970m in a 15 inch chassis though? might not g et enough airflow. GTX680 seems better for heat.
Is this a limited ‘offer’ for kitguru readers? I cant afford a new machine just yet, but will do in the next couple of months. Ive marked this machine down as the price seems good.
Yes, the link should be working. This model is available to purchase here – http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/reviews/.
The HD7970M is available in the 15.6″ Vortex III, along with the GTX670M & GTX675M.
This model will be available to buy at this price as long as we have the parts in stock. As they’re all new, it should be for quite a while 😀
Great looking machine, much nicer than that flashy Alienware bollocks.
Priced well too. im tempted, but dont tell the missus.
Good range of systems they have too, never heard of them.
@John.
thank you for the feedback.
I know you probably wont have the information at hand, but how does the 7970m handle in a smaller chassis? it seems to demand a lot of power and generate a lot of heat/fan noise. not exclusive to your system as all of them have a problem cooling it.
Have you any ideas how it runs in the 15.6 inch machine as I just dont like 17 inch laptops, they are too big.
Can I confirm the keyboard backlight is purple? why purple? thats a pretty difficult colour to deal with. Can it be changed?
We need a few more good system builders in Holland lately, i bought an Acer in January and its just away for repair.
Id be concerned with this machine however long term as the HD7970m is g etting a lot of negative press in forums for heat. I can predict failures if the the cooling system starts to weaken over the year with dust etc.
It is good to see another 17″ with a numer pad squashed in. The design looks very professional and my P100 17″ also has a brick for a power adapter.
How thick is it? I sometimes have to take my P100 out on plane rides to fit my bag on board. As nice as this is, I have my eye set on the MSI GE70 although MSI is very rare in NZ.
@Harry
“Can I confirm the keyboard backlight is purple? why purple? thats a pretty difficult colour to deal with. Can it be changed?”
I read in another review that the backlight colour can be adjusted, and it looks blue on Zardon’s pics.
I would just like to say that I bought a high end gaming laptop from here the The Vortex III HD7S 17.3 inch which was fully spec’d and it is the best thing I ever did! It wasn’t cheap, but the quality is amazing and the follow up from pcspecialist has been impressive. I am future proof for a few years now, but i will not hesitate to go back to this company for my next gaming laptop. Brilliant!!
excellent good to hear our review helped!
Just to say that I’ve been umming and ahing about buying this laptop and this review has definitely swung my opinion in favour of purchasing. So thanks very much!
I’ve got this and they’re right it’s awesome! It’s a fair point they make about the fans being loud when the system is pushed, however I don’t even notice it anymore as I’m enjoying myself too much!