What if i dont want a 'gaming' PC?

[mum2three75]

Okay, I've got a Voyager with Ubuntu 11.10 installed without any major issues (bumblebee was a bit tricky, but probably not relevant for you anyway). I did a lot of research before settling on PCS and their custom build laptops. I didn't want a particular gaming laptop, but in the end I did go for the 520 GPU as it was around £40 or so different and for that money I felt that a low-end graphics card wasn't a waste of money. Saying that...I've played full HD video clips without the added power of the GPU and didn't experience any problems. I do have an i7 processor though.

It's a great little machine and does all that I want and I'm very happy with the purchase. I couldn't find a spec cheaper elsewhere for the build that I wanted. I am also very happy with PCS as their customer service was good, the packaging of the machine was excellent, the delivery guys rang me up to indicate the time that they would deliver and overall I would buy from them PCS again!

The only - small - issue with this laptop is the sound, any sound is basically not that good, it sounds 'tinny' / metallic in my opinion.

It's obviously up to you though and my recommendation as with others is to speak to PCS and ask their advice. My laptop (without hard drive and OS) cost around 530, but if you go for a lower spec CPU, you can probably get the laptop within budget.

 

[mum2three75]

OOOPS, Voyager spec has changed... you can't just have the integrated graphics....Sorry didn't know this. See however below for a Genesis III spec
fairly withing budget. You can play with the CPU and RAM to you own liking. I prefer 4 Gb RAM, but that would be my choice.

Chassis & Display
Genesis III: 15.6" Glossy HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2450M (2.50GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 3000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
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)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Genesis Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £432.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/GenesisIII/

 

[Music Guy123]

That spec is good but I would upgrade the HDD to at least a seagate momentus, preferably a scorpio. The other thing is, if you are going to get 4GB RAM, I would get the single 4GB stick, that way, you can add another if you want to.

 

[mum2three75]

That spec is good but I would upgrade the HDD to at least a seagate momentus, preferably a scorpio. The other thing is, if you are going to get 4GB RAM, I would get the single 4GB stick, that way, you can add another if you want to.

Fair point, I didn't check the HDD, but wanted to stay as close to the 400 mark as possible. In terms of the 4GB RAM, I thought that adding another stick, could give you some troubles as they're not necesarily compatible...??? Not too sure about that though and I'm not an IT expert on these matters. The OP can also still downgrade to an i3 CPU.

 

[Wozza63]

as long as you remember that the laptop RAM speed is 1333MHz you shouldn't have a problem, although i recommend getting the same brand at least and remember they are DDR3 laptop

 

[sg86]

Okay, I've got a Voyager with Ubuntu 11.10 installed without any major issues (bumblebee was a bit tricky, but probably not relevant for you anyway). I did a lot of research before settling on PCS and their custom build laptops. I didn't want a particular gaming laptop, but in the end I did go for the 520 GPU as it was around £40 or so different and for that money I felt that a low-end graphics card wasn't a waste of money. Saying that...I've played full HD video clips without the added power of the GPU and didn't experience any problems. I do have an i7 processor though.

It's a great little machine and does all that I want and I'm very happy with the purchase. I couldn't find a spec cheaper elsewhere for the build that I wanted. I am also very happy with PCS as their customer service was good, the packaging of the machine was excellent, the delivery guys rang me up to indicate the time that they would deliver and overall I would buy from them PCS again!

The only - small - issue with this laptop is the sound, any sound is basically not that good, it sounds 'tinny' / metallic in my opinion.

It's obviously up to you though and my recommendation as with others is to speak to PCS and ask their advice. My laptop (without hard drive and OS) cost around 530, but if you go for a lower spec CPU, you can probably get the laptop within budget.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Is it still possible to buy without a hdd? I have 4-5 around and.an older ssd that i maybe replacing in my desktop. So this would be another way to keep the cost down and spend more money on things i need

Also can a few people upload some piccys?

 

[Music Guy123]

Yes you can send in a drive to PCS and they will install it for you and test it if you want. To organise this, the easiest thing to do is to ring them.

 

[mum2three75]

If I have a bit of time today...I'll try and post some pics.

I emailed PCS on the removal of the HDD in the spec and they came back to me fairly promptly. You can sent your HDD in and they'll install it for you as well. I personally didn't do this as it was too much hassle and didn't want to take the risk of losing precious videos and photos, but I installed Ubuntu 11.10 within one hour and was up and running. Very straightforward. The only two things that I initially couldn't figure out were the webcam (Fn+F10, but you don't see a light coming on to see if it's working) and because of the seperate GPU, I neede to get bumblebee working, but there are lots of websites that give you good information on this.

 

[sg86]

If I have a bit of time today...I'll try and post some pics.

I emailed PCS on the removal of the HDD in the spec and they came back to me fairly promptly. You can sent your HDD in and they'll install it for you as well. I personally didn't do this as it was too much hassle and didn't want to take the risk of losing precious videos and photos, but I installed Ubuntu 11.10 within one hour and was up and running. Very straightforward. The only two things that I initially couldn't figure out were the webcam (Fn+F10, but you don't see a light coming on to see if it's working) and because of the seperate GPU, I neede to get bumblebee working, but there are lots of websites that give you good information on this.

pics would be great

Did you save much on removing the HDD from the spec? i would definately be wanting to ask about this, i have no issue installing parts like this myself, i really do want a barebones system