Review of Optimus VII 15.6

[ComputerMan]

Hi everyone

I needed a laptop for programming and business, and that use case doesn't cover a lot of things which others will find important (high FPS in games, sound quality), so this review may not help gamers.

That said, I was worried about a few things before puchasing - I understand delivery times can vary with PCS, as they don't keep massive stocks of components to keep costs down etc. and I also understand some people have had issues with light bleeding in the screens, as well as Windows 10 and the GTX 960M graphics card. I actually posted previously before purchasing with the reservations about Windows 10 and NVidia, as that was the biggest issue for me.

Given that the nearest competitors were either wildly more expensive, uncustomisable or didn't have the functionality I needed (e.g. DP output as I needed to plug into two Dell U2414H screens via MST daisy chaining, another worry for me as those screens have connectivity issues pertaining to exactly that), I took a punt and ordered. I'm pleased to say though that in every case the laptop, build quality, screen connectivity, delivery times all either met or exceeded expectations.

I can't comment on gaming performance, but as a laptop which is pleasant to use (screen is great quality, no bleed for me, tested in the dark, keyboard fantastic feel to the keys) and with the outputs needed to dock into my two screens, which in turn provide USB to keyboard, mouse and speakers, it is perfect for me. I can code while out and about, and dock into my screens, keyboard, mouse and speakers by plugging in three cables (MiniDP, USB for monitor's USB ports and speaker, and power).

If anyone would like to know anything specific to help them make their purchase choices, let me know by all means, though if it's fram rates etc. you need to know about, I may not be able to provide useful comments!

Thanks to the PCS team for a great job, it means a lot to me!

 

[and23]

Fan noise and battery

Hi ComputerMan,

I'm thinking about buying an Optimus VII like you did. I just wanted to ask you how is the fan noise? I also have to program and stuff probably in the university library so are the fan overly annoying during normal browsing, streaming or coding?
And another question: how is the battery life?

Thanks

 

[ComputerMan]

I'll answer these to the best of my ability, as I don't tend to pay attention to what it's doing, and I have it plugged in almost all the time.

The laptop stays very quiet most of the time, the fan only gets loud when something intensive is happening which isn't very often (browsing or coding alternate between very quiet and fairly quiet). I also just tested watching an online video for a couple of minutes and the fan comes on, but at a fairly slow speed - I'm sure in general it's by no stretch the quietest fan but I wouldn't feel bad using it in a library. I understand it would get a lot hotter and therefore louder if you used an M.2 SSD in it, but standard SSDs help the cause.

Battery life isn't amazing, but I'll get at least a couple of hours out of it. Again, my usage isn't intensive but by the sounds of things, neither would yours be. Personally, I find this thing a brilliant tool, but if battery life, weight, compactness and volume were strong factors for me, I'd look for something designed with that in mind (and probably either sacrifice specs or more money).

Hope that helps.

 

[sarftie]

How is the keyboard?

 

[ComputerMan]

Can't fault the keyboard mostly, it's got a really nice feel to it, not spongy, not too loud, is backlit for typing when dark. The layout is nice enough, and has full numpad. Only slight criticism is that the left key sits underneath the right shift key, which means at first I was pressing it instead of right control.