Where / How to buy high end laptops

TestLink

I am thinking about buying a high end ASUS laptop (ASUS TUF Gaming A17 Grey FA706QM-HX001T 17.3") priced at £1,299.99.

https://uk.store.asus.com/laptops/gaming-series/asus-tuf-gaming-17-grey-fa706qm-hx001t-17-3-full-hd-144hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-5800h-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-6gb-gddr6-dedicated-graphics-backlit-keyboard-fp-windows-10.html

I was told by ASUS sales that they wouldnt be able to ship to Ireland due to Brexit.

I have an addresspal account, but would I need to pay customs duty / VAT when the laptop arrives Ireland? If yes, how much it would be?

Where else from an EU online store, can I buy high end laptops of the above type, without much difference in price?

TestLink

corkie wrote: »

Is this a similar model to the version your looking at?
^^^ Not available till March



A properly packaged laptop maybe on the oversized for address pal?
https://addresspal.anpost.ie/pricing-sizing

If your order from the UK Site to AP, you would pay UK Duties & VAT first and then charged Irish Vat & Duties on top of that figure.

Processor and Graphics card are way better for the laptop I mentioned.

TestLink

corkie wrote: »

Maybe contact the store and see if they will import the model your looking for?

Oh, Would they do custom purchases?

May be I can order it on a friend's UK address and go to UK via Ryan air to collect it. Cheapest option !

Davauer

All good lap tops are coming out in march

TestLink

Davauer wrote: »

All good lap tops are coming out in march

Any alternative to Amazon.co.uk? Amazon EU websites?

TestLink

I heard that Amazon is going to build a new ware house in Dublin.

So would there be an amazon.ie website?

Given that there are only 15 Amazon national sites in the world. the chances of Ireland getting one....

NO

werehouse is for distribution only

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/irish-amazon-customers-to-bypass-brexit-barriers-as-it-plans-dublin-distribution-centre-1.4470470

if you're actually ever going to buy a laptop

xmg germany do them in Europe - when they have the 30 series gpus on sale

or other vendors mentioned on this page should do also
https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops/comments/himoym/all_of_the_vendors_that_are_offering_the_tongfang/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA95G-sc-TU

TestLink

XMG has some good reviews. But the support section for downloading drivers, firmware etc look not that good compared to laptops made by HP, ASUS etc.

Also any h/w issues during the warranty period, it has to be send to Germany rather than local repair.
Are SCHENKER & XMG different brands under the same company? XMG laptops seems to have more fire power.

Any one here currently using / ever used, a XMG laptop before?

TestLink

TestLink wrote: »

XMG has some good reviews. But the support section for downloading drivers, firmware etc look not that good compared to laptops made by HP, ASUS etc.

Also any h/w issues during the warranty period, it has to be send to Germany rather than local repair.
there is no real local repair in many cases- e.g. pcworld will send it off to the Uk if you have an issue, same with Dell goes abroad


Are SCHENKER & XMG different brands under the same company? XMG laptops seems to have more fire power.

Any one here currently using / ever used, a XMG laptop before?

...

TestLink

TestLink wrote: »

XMG has some good reviews. But the support section for downloading drivers, firmware etc look not that good compared to laptops made by HP, ASUS etc.

Also any h/w issues during the warranty period, it has to be send to Germany rather than local repair.
Are SCHENKER & XMG different brands under the same company? XMG laptops seems to have more fire power.

Any one here currently using / ever used, a XMG laptop before?

deal on XMG 17 laptops. refresh 2060 card (high wattage)

very good price and then another 150 off with code.

expires today or tomorrow

https://bestware.com/en/xmg-core-17-amd.html#product.info.configuration

TestLink

glasso wrote: »

deal on XMG 17 laptops. refresh 2060 card (high wattage)

very good price and then another 150 off with code.

expires today or tomorrow

https://bestware.com/en/xmg-core-17-amd.html#product.info.configuration

Can you please share the code? Thanks...

on the homepage and here

https://bestware.com/en/96-hours

you have until 10am!!!! (9am Irish time!)

TestLink

Fan of ASUS and have this beauty in my mind - ASUS TUF Gaming A17 Grey FA706QM-HX001T 17.3" Thin Bezel Full HD 144Hz Display

https://uk.store.asus.com/laptops/gaming-series/asus-tuf-gaming-17-grey-fa706qm-hx001t-17-3-full-hd-144hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-5800h-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-6gb-gddr6-dedicated-graphics-backlit-keyboard-fp-windows-10.html

AMD Ryzen R7 5800H / 3.2GHz Max Turbo Speed 4.4GHz Octa-Core Processor
16GB RAM, 1TB PCIE-SSD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6 Dedicated Graphics
17.3" Thin Bezel Full HD 144Hz Refresh Rate Display (1920 x 1080) Resolution
Windows 10 Home

Considering specs I think it is well priced. But unable to buy it directly from ASUS due to customs and VAT implications ! Would wait till it comes up on one of the EU Amazon sites.

Similar priced XMG would be very pricey. The price shown on bestware is for 8 Gb RAM, 250 Gb SSD, NO Operating system etc. Adding / upgrading components would addup to the base price exponentially !

I'm not sure that you'll ever buy something tbh

the xmg 17 deal is a bargain and probably all you need

think that I specced one with 4800h, 2060 refresh, 16gb ram, 1tb ssd for less than 1150 euro delivered

windows 10 is free to download and install and at worst you have a watermark on the screen

that asus is over 1500 euros at current exchange rates, has "estimated" delivery in April and you can't buy it anyways as you'd have to pay Irish Vat on top of that price

there is a huge shortage on RTX 3 series laptops as the crypto miners are buying up everything still.

plus the fact that those XMG/ Tongfang laptops have class-leading thermal performance whereas Asus gaming laptops have very spotty histories (including latest models) in this regard

also Amazon UK does not have a wide choice of gaming laptops for sale in my experience, particularly at 17 inch size.

Then you have to consider this also...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhQzCayvfZ8

J_R

TestLink wrote: »

Oh, Would they do custom purchases?

May be I can order it on a friend's UK address and go to UK via Ryan air to collect it. Cheapest option !

Hi,

have you tried GAMING PCS FROM PCSPECIALIST

I know nothing about gaming machines, but configured and purchased a laptop from them five years ago and found them OK.

am considering purchasing again and queried them re. import duty etc, their reply "If you process your order through www.pcspecialist.ie then all taxes and fees are included."

TestLink

J_R wrote: »

Hi,

have you tried GAMING PCS FROM PCSPECIALIST

I know nothing about gaming machines, but configured and purchased a laptop from them five years ago and found them OK.

am considering purchasing again and queried them re. import duty etc, their reply "If you process your order through www.pcspecialist.ie then all taxes and fees are included."

How good was the laptop performance and build quality? Never used their products before.

J_R

TestLink wrote: »

How good was the laptop performance and build quality? Never used their products before.

Hi

Very good, no problems. No hesitation dealing with them again. Reason buying again. The hinge broke on my present laptop a few days ago - after 5 years. Perhaps gluing a WD passport hard drive and multi port USB to the lid cover may not have been such a great idea. And it was also subjected to a lot of traveling.

When purchasing last time I found communications with them first class. However when I emailed them this time received an auto reply:-

"We have recently received a high volume of orders as a result of COVID-19. Due to this, we are experiencing a high volume of customers enquiring about their recent/new purchase. We currently have long wait times on our Phones and Live Chat support. Every enquiry will receive a response and we appreciate your patience and understanding."

Five days after my query received the human reply quoted in my previous post.
Check out their forum https://www.pcspecialist.ie/forums/

Gonzo

I've no interest in buying a gaming laptop but I've used PC Specialist before and their machines are very good. I bought a gaming pc off them over 5 years ago and it is still going strong to this day and will be going to pc specialist again within the next year to buy a new machine.

for gaming laptops their best ones are the Tongfang-based ones (similar to XMG above)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops/comments/himoym/all_of_the_vendors_that_are_offering_the_

TestLink

glasso wrote: »

for gaming laptops their best ones are the Tongfang-based ones (similar to XMG above)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops/comments/himoym/all_of_the_vendors_that_are_offering_the_

UK PCSpecialist Optimus Pro 15 PCSpecialist
UK PCSpecialist Optimus XI 17 PCSpecialist
UK PCSpecialist Optimus Pro XI 17 PCSpecialist

I could see PC Specialist laptops also in the Tongfang list. No wonder why they are of good quality.

not all their laptops may be Tongfang ODM-origin and not every Tongfang laptop may be great.

need to research what is what

Mike Litoris

TestLink wrote: »

How good was the laptop performance and build quality? Never used their products before.

I'd vouch for them.

I bought a top end one about 7 years ago and I'm still using it now. As laptops go with mobile hardware, a 780m+i7 4910mq it was decent enough at the time. It was the best gfx card and maybe the 3rd ranked CPU for a laptop at the time. It struggled with the newest games maxed out but was happy enough at medium/high for a couple of years. I think the tech has improved a fair bit these days when compared to desktops so a similarly higher end machine might fair better with the newest games. Any opinions on this Glasso et al?

It's a big aul heavy beast of a thing and the screen hinges totally gave up the ghost about 2 years ago having been dodgy for a couple of years before that and I have it held open with a feckin shelf bracket and gorilla tape! Thats pretty much been the only real weakness.

It's a noisy fecker too under load but regularly cleaning and oiling the fans keeps it tolerable. They're dead easy to get at too.

It still plays modern games with medium/low settings no issue. For general use it's still nippy and feels snappier than modern mid range low tdp laptops.

sheesh

another recommendation for pc specialist
have a PC for the last 6/7 years still going strong

2 friends swear by them too both of them on their second PCs one is a very serious gamer

would do a bit of gaming kerbal space program, and Fallout 4 (not cutting edge I know)

TestLink

At last I got the ASUS laptop I wished for - https://uk.store.asus.com/90nr05z4-m00330-asus-tuf.html
So far happy with the machine.

Bought it from www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk. They didnt take the UK VAT, but paid the IRL VAT directly via a DHL courier link.

Any one interested in a bit scaled down version for £999? - Currently out of stock, but keep an eye on the website.
https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/ASUS-ROG-Zephyrus-S17-GX701LV-HG016T-Gaming-Laptop
17.3" - FHD (1920x1080) - 300Hz - IPS-Level
Intel® Core™ i7-10750H Processor
16GB DDR4 Memory
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 6GB
1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 3.0 Performance SSD
Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)

BestWare base config price might seem attractive, but have to add more RAM (Default is 8 Gb), OS, etc. This would substancially increase the price. ASUS comes with Win 10 Home X64 version.