Found the BEST deal on a gaming laptop in europe

sqwarez · 23-11-2011 08:03PM #1

So, I found a lot of people looking for gaming laptops here, and paying close to 1000 euro for a Nvidia gt 555m which I think is ridiculous, even for europe (I'm from the USA).

For those of you who have not heard of Clevo / Sager, they are a boutique manufacturer who has a slightly different selling process than other manufacturers like Wistron, Quanta, Inventec and Compal (the big guys who make Dells, HP etc secretly).

Clevo makes different types of contracts with people called "system builders" and other resellers. These companies rebrand the Clevo notebooks with their own logos. But, they are the same Clevo notebooks and its pretty easy to tell most of the time.

Anyway, there are a ton of Clevo resellers in Europe... and I found one selling refurb models, with 1st gen i7... and options for high end graphics, ALL options are better than the gt 555m and amd 6720 I see commonly on consumer notebooks.

They like to give you the option to upgrade yourself, so it starts with a very low i3 config, but STILL more powerful then those cheap 555m and 540m cards. And the price, only 499$ with tax

http://www.notebookguru.de/en/Notebooks/Guru-FIRE-i7.html

Here you can see a ranking of laptop graphics cards:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

OK, so maybe with the 260m its only ranked at 61 3 above the 555m at 64. But, for 550 you can get the 5870m, ranked 40th among all laptop graphics cards (out of 350+).
You just can't find a better deal then that.

They are refurbished models, but again for +50 you can get a new model, probably with USB 3.0 (might want to ask them).

This is definitely the best option especially if you have ANY computer parts lying around like 2gb ddr3, an i7-720qm, hard drive etc. or an Windows 7 install CD and some computer knowledge.

P. S.
They wont scam you, I don't work for Clevo or Notebookguru, not spamming here.

Jaafa · 23-11-2011 09:51PM

Ok so I configured one of the laptops.

It had i5-480m,GTX 260m,4GB ram, 320GB HDD, and OS, english keyboard wireless card etc (yes you have to add those).
Still it comes out to 720 euro delivered which if your primary function for your laptop is gaming, then its a very good price.

You can even get the same specs but in a brand new chassis for 770 delivered.

EDIT: One more thing. On that particular model (Guru fire) it said delivery time would be over 2 weeks. Others were around 3 days.

sqwarez · 23-11-2011 10:37PM

Yes, thats because they build it for you.... I've looked at a few other sites, turns out the reviews for notebookguru are not so good.

This is the same laptop, with a 285m, i5-480m and 6gb RAM, also 1080p screen definitely a better deal:
http://www.chiligreen.com/shop/configurator.asp?serie=411&id=11070

But I dont think they ship outside of germany and austria.

This is the same laptop also, and has a lot more options for configuration. You can save 108 euro just by going from 1080p to 900p LCD! :O

http://web.eurocom.com/EC/ec_model_config1(1,210,0)

But the prices don't include tax.
This is the sandy bridge model and comes in at only 850 with gtx 560m, 4gb, matte screen and the lowest config i5.

http://web.eurocom.com/EC/ec_model_config1(1,219,0)

Anyway I think all of these are much better options than the 900-1000 euro models with just gt 555m unless you're looking for a lot of battery life.

beanzoo · 08-01-2012 06:47PM

got myself a clevo a few months back love it, playin bf3 on a mix of high and ultra settings

Spec i7 2720, gtx 485 and 8 gig ram and 95% colour gamut glossy screen

price is comparable to a mid range dell laptop

( battery life is any were fron 2.5 to 4 hours which is not great but was not a big problem for me

Jaafa · 08-01-2012 07:02PM

beanzoo wrote: »

got myself a clevo a few months back love it, playin bf3 on a mix of high and ultra settings

Spec i7 2720, gtx 485 and 8 gig ram and 95% colour gamut glossy screen

price is comparable to a mid range dell laptop

( battery life is any were fron 2.5 to 4 hours which is not great but was not a big problem for me

Where did you get yours?

beanzoo · 08-01-2012 08:43PM

I was in Australia last year and got it there it is sold and re branded as metabox but there is no branding on the laptop.

This is where I purchased it
http://www.affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/d6_metabox-clevo-laptop-notebook.html

There are different places to buy then this a english company and they brand them as Vortex
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexII-15/

_AVALANCHE_ · 08-01-2012 09:22PM

Anyone buy from one of the places in Europe?

_AVALANCHE_ · 08-01-2012 09:29PM

Good review for PCspecialist here and here.

They do voucher codes aswell.

Jaafa · 08-01-2012 09:36PM

Yeah, a shame that a decent spec one of those would be way above budget for me.

_AVALANCHE_ · 08-01-2012 09:38PM

Chassis & Display
Vortex II: 15.6" Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2450M (2.50GHz) 3MB

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M - DirectX® 11 (15.6" Vortex II)

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

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)

Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (£19)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity 1

Other Features Included As Standard...
Software CD/DVD/BLURAY viewing & authoring software is included with all DVD Writers/BD Drives.
Memory Our memory comes with a 100% tested lifetime warranty!
Support We offer lifetime hardware technical support during normal office hours.
Cables & Manuals A power cable & transformer, and all drivers & manuals are included with every order.
Service Our laptops come fully assembled & thoroughly tested. We are so confident in the quality of our laptops that we offer a free collection and re-delivery service* should you ever have a problem with your laptop.
Installation If you order an operating system it will come fully installed with the CD and licence key.
Low Total Cost of Ownership Taking into consideration our low cost telephone support, free collection warranty service* and our strive to use energy efficient components where possible, the total cost of owning a pcspecialist laptop is reduced as much as possible.
And Finally If you are lucky enough to have seen a cheaper quote, click here.

Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter includes reduced-functionality versions of Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel that include advertising. It does not include Microsoft® PowerPoint or Microsoft® Outlook. If you would like to have the full version of any Microsoft® Office 2010 product, you will need to purchase an Office 2010 product key, which will enable you to activate the full version of the software on your computer.

Please note the following points about Microsoft® Office Starter 2010:

Limited-functionality versions of Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel.
No Microsoft® PowerPoint, Microsoft® Outlook, or Microsoft® OneNote.
Includes advertising.
Product key required to activate full-featured Office software. You can call us at any time if you wish to purchase this.

You can learn all about the different versions of Microsoft® Office 2010 available here.

Price for this Laptop:

Price for this Laptop:

£930.00 ex VAT.

£1116 inc VAT and Delivery.

I don't know....it's not a great price is it???

Jaafa · 08-01-2012 09:40PM

It is, but you do realize thats 1300 euro? Not exactly in budget for most these days.:p

_AVALANCHE_ · 08-01-2012 09:49PM

Jaafa wrote: »

It is, but you do realize thats 1300 euro? Not exactly in budget for most these days.:p

Start saving Jaafa.:D

I'll look around the normal sellers later and see what the nearest comparison model costs.....outta curiosity.

beanzoo · 08-01-2012 11:45PM

Yea if it is out of your price range that's is understandable there not cheep but they are much better value than the main sellers.

just consider that clevo are probably the one of the best laptops makers when it comes to user upgrades they even provide the manuals i hope to have enough money to get a ssd drive soon (not sure if it is worth it though)

I'm not sure but when I was researching my laptop I found a German reseller that was better value than PC specialist so look around before you totally right them off.

_AVALANCHE_ · 09-01-2012 03:54AM

Better Processor, Double the RAM, same size and speed HDD, same GPU but with Double the memory at 3GB which I think at this spec is all usable, Full HD screen and all for less than €50 more. €1398

The example above is €1355 converted.

Those other websites above are all TOTAL RIP OFFs.

ASUS

Edit:Only 1 left in stock so I took a print screen as proof. I'll upload it tomorrow if it's gone.

Jaafa · 09-01-2012 12:12PM

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

Better Processor, Double the RAM, same size and speed HDD, same GPU but with Double the memory at 3GB which I think at this spec is all usable, Full HD screen and all for less than €50 more. €1398

The example above is €1355 converted.

Those other websites above are all TOTAL RIP OFFs.

ASUS

Edit:Only 1 left in stock so I took a print screen as proof. I'll upload it tomorrow if it's gone.

In fairness though the other one is 15 inch which are generally more expensive than comparable 17 inch laptops. Example: http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/02_NOTEBOO/21_15/productdetails/80003598/Asus_15_6_G53SX_S1217V_i7_2670_8GB_1TB%2b8_GB_SSD/90N7CL453H34D3VL333Y/default.aspx

The screen on the Asus matte?

Jarren · 09-01-2012 12:53PM

If only I had the money:(

Module Description Show Details
Base Alienware M17x Stealth Black
Microsoft Operating System English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Memory 4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Video Card 2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 6990M
Hard Drive 750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Optical Devices DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)
Speakers No speakers required
Wireless Networking Dell Wireless 1501 wireless-N - EUR
Cables UK 2M 250V Power Cord
Shipping Documents English Documentation
Gedis Bundle Reference N11W7V01
Standard Warranty 1 year Next Business Day Hardware Support included with your PC
Enhanced Service Packs 1 year Next Business Day hardware Support included with your PC
Bluetooth Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Card - EUR
Order Information Alienware M17x R3 Order - UK
Primary Battery Primary 9 cell Li-Ion Default Base Battery
Carrying Cases No Carrying Case
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2670QM (2.20Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
Dell System Media Kit Alienware Resource DVD
Camera Integrated 3.0 Mega Pixel HD Camera
Avatar Alienware Logo
TimeZone (GMT + 00.00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
Accidental Damage Support No Accidental Damage Protection
Call Dell Experts One free Dell Expert call to help with your PC queries within 60 days of purchase
Pre Installed Software Steam® Client and Portal™ Game - Factory Installed
LCD 44cm (17.3") WideHD+ (1600 x 900) WLED LCD
Hidden NamePlate Engraving Generic Name Plate Engraving
Protect your new PC No Antivirus Software
Power Supply 240W AC Adaptor
TOTAL :£1,223.14

http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/basket.aspx?itemtype=CFG&s=dhs&l=en&cs=ukdhs1&c=uk&&details=false

_AVALANCHE_ · 09-01-2012 10:16PM

Jaafa wrote: »

In fairness though the other one is 15 inch which are generally more expensive than comparable 17 inch laptops. Example: http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/02_NOTEBOO/21_15/productdetails/80003598/Asus_15_6_G53SX_S1217V_i7_2670_8GB_1TB%2b8_GB_SSD/90N7CL453H34D3VL333Y/default.aspx

SSD and bigger HDD in that.

Fairer comparison
Asus 15 (more RAM even)
Asus 17

17inch is more expensive for same spec I find.

Jaafa wrote: »

The screen on the Asus matte?

Doesn't say but I doubt it, but I think it's dependent on the User whether they are better or not.

Either way, I'd never spend this kind of money on a Laptop, if someone is looking for a gaming machine then get a desktop with a top spec Mobo and PSU so it's easily upgradeable in 3/4 years....or a PS3.

Found the *BEST* deal on a gaming laptop in europe

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Found the BEST deal on a gaming laptop in europe