A site to build laptops

J

Jaybay797

Active Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
64
Reaction score
2
Location
CT/JHB
I'm looking for a site similar to 'rebeltech.co.za' or 'pcint.co.za' that would allow me to spec and build my own LAPTOP. I know what I want and pre-built laptops don't seem to have the specifications that I am looking for.

Any help would be appreciated.

If I can't find a solution, I'll just have to to go to PCint and order the parts myself.

Thanks guys.
 
I'm also looking for a local site to build a laptop.

I've looked at laptopdirect in the past. They only have Mecer barebone units and most of their resolutions aren't great (1366*768). They also don't have the option of replacing the optical drive for another HDD (for SSD / HDD combo)
 
The Mecer units are Clevo & Mecer don't seem to resell many of the current models here.
This place was running a special of only AUD$50 shipping to here - whether it still stands i dunno.
Horize - is another branding of Clevo - but with the normal choice of config options, unlike here.
http://www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/index.php

I bought from there - You can take off 10% because you don't pay GST shipping it to here.
But you need to add 14% VAT that you will pay bringing it in.
There's no Duty payable

The P150EM/P170EM have a GPU you can change later(MXM),alot of the other models have fixed GPU,like the W370ET you see here.
All panels should be FHD that i know of.

Jaybay797 said:
If I can't find a solution, I'll just have to to go to PCint and order the parts myself.
Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

Laptops aren't the same as PC's - best you'll find is config options like the Clevo's offer.
 
Last edited:
Tun@ said:
Laptops aren't the same as PC's - best you'll find is config options like the Clevo's offer.
Click to expand...

This I understand but there is no reason why they shouldn't be.

Laptops should be as easily customized as PCs if not more because it is more of a 'lifestyle' computer.

Thanks for the help though. :D
 
Tun@ said:
The Mecer units are Clevo & Mecer don't seem to resell many of the current models here.
This place was running a special of only AUD$50 shipping to here - whether it still stands i dunno.
Horize - is another branding of Clevo - but with the normal choice of config options, unlike here.
http://www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/index.php

I bought from there - You can take off 10% because you don't pay GST shipping it to here.
But you need to add 14% VAT that you will pay bringing it in.
There's no Duty payable

The P150EM/P170EM have a GPU you can change later(MXM),alot of the other models have fixed GPU,like the W370ET you see here.
All panels should be FHD that i know of.



Laptops aren't the same as PC's - best you'll find is config options like the Clevo's offer.
Click to expand...

I'm very interested in the Mecer (Clevo) W370ET with 2 year warranty. I was quite surprised that XMG (Schenker Notebooks) also resell this model (XMG sponsor a lot of gaming tournaments/streams where I found out about them).

I read a long thread about these laptops where it did well in performance and heat tests.

Your thoughts? I don't think non-MXM would be an issue for me.
 
PostmanPot said:
I'm very interested in the Mecer (Clevo) W370ET with 2 year warranty. I was quite surprised that XMG (Schenker Notebooks) also resell this model (XMG sponsor a lot of gaming tournaments/streams where I found out about them).

I read a long thread about these laptops where it did well in performance and heat tests.

Your thoughts? I don't think non-MXM would be an issue for me.
Click to expand...

Hi PP,
Yes also Sager/Eurocom/Horize & others.......Locally i think Proline also does them but their website doesn't like business/doesn't work on the laptop section.
ComX/Laptop Direct has got 1 2012 model there they call a P150E - there should be others - all the rest are old & it doesn't give any config options either.
There's a business waiting to happen to locally support what overseas can offer.

I got the P150EM - i7 3630QM/GTX680 - read of too much issues with the AMD 7970 or i would have taken that.
Performance: Nothing has stopped it yet, it just flies - totally happy - Pulls 20k 3dMarkVantage & 6k 3dMark11.
Heat: Was IC diamond paste used & i haven't seen over 75 yet,so all seems fine in that dept.
Fan noise - nothing more than you would expect,its silent browsing & doesn't sound like it wants to lift off the desk gaming.

Re the W370ET - fixed GTX 660M ....I never researched it much as i wanted 15.6inch vrs 17.3 but i'm sure its fine if your happy being locked into that GPU......if your not in a hurry i would wait a bit,The 2013 models are probably not too far off announcement,how long that will take to filter over here might be another story tho.I was wondering if something might get announced at CES but haven't seen anything yet.

PS - Clevo seem to limit the BIOS support for GPU update's so even with the MXM type GPU i'm not going to be able to upgrade forever anyway but it should be good for 1 or 2 steps provided the standard doesn't change.
If i didn't want 15 inch lappy i would have grabbed that W370 myself - seems pretty good value for money with decent CPU/panel & GPU - I'm nothing but happy with this one tho.
 
There's also AKill, another local rebranding/reselling setup like Mecer, but more focused on gaming than anything else. Better value than Alienware, too, though its still a little pricey.

http://www.akill.net/

There's also Dell's local Alienware site, but you don't want to go there just yet, its waaaay overpriced considering what we used to pay before they landed here.
 
PP if you happen to look in -
Noises about the 2013 Clevo models

P150SM/P170SM/P370SM/P151SM: This is a refresh to the EM series which will be current up till around mid April 2013. The only major changes here will be with new Intel processor and chipset. An extra mSATA bay and later on there will be new graphics updates as well. The models we will have will still look the same as current, but there will be an optional 'flashier' (read: alienware-esque) model but IMO it is not very attractive.

W370ST: This is an update to the ever popular W370ET model. This will feature a new smaller and slimmer power adapter for portability and now will sport an mSATA drive and refreshed nVidia graphics. ETA April.
Click to expand...
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2043121
 
Tun@ said:
I got the P150EM - i7 3630QM/GTX680 - read of too much issues with the AMD 7970 or i would have taken that.
Performance: Nothing has stopped it yet, it just flies - totally happy - Pulls 20k 3dMarkVantage & 6k 3dMark11.
Heat: Was IC diamond paste used & i haven't seen over 75 yet,so all seems fine in that dept.
Fan noise - nothing more than you would expect,its silent browsing & doesn't sound like it wants to lift off the desk gaming.
Click to expand...

Hi Tun@

What SSD/HDD set up have you got? I can't decide between a 512GB SSD and no HDD, or leaving the HDD in and getting a big mSSD.
Also, what about repair and warranty issues with an imported laptop?

I'm considering just getting the Proline P150EM, which is basically the same machine, except no choice in the set up. Again though, I'm not sure how good/reliable Proline is.

Thanks :)
 
Hi,
I got no spinners - i got a 512GB SSD + a 128GB mSATA SSD.
Warranty with imported i guess its a risk you take but if your half handy with dealing with the problem & a decent supplier you bought off then i'm sure it's not that often that the whole laptop would need shipping back.

Proline i guess is the same as what i got here but badged differant & i've had no issues or anything i'm not happy about, just be wary if your going AMD for GPU tho,their not so smooth sailing.I haven't followed up lately but there were problems back when i was looking to buy.
Just to note also, even tho it may not make too much differance the mSata SSD slot is SATA II whereas the normal HDD slot is SATA III.
New SM models should'nt be too far out now i would expect the price of the EM's should start to back off soon.

*Edit*
looking at LBO & Comx now ,one of their prices has shifted or the fx rate has swung the import advantage away.
If you did i7 3630/670MX/128GB mSATA SSD/8GB ram/no HDD/No OS from LBO
by the time you get it here & pay VAT that's going to end up at R14500 the way the AUD/ZAR fx rate is.
Not worth it anymore.
 
Last edited:
Hey

I've got a quote from Computer mania for a

P150E-3610-W7HP Premiere P150
15.6" FHD/i7-3610QM/16GB DDR3 (1333Mhz)/1TB HDD/GTX 675M, 2GB DDR5/Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit/DVD-RW

for R14300. I'm also pretty sure there is a 32GB mSATA installed. Which looks pretty good. Maybe I'll wait a bit for the SM models to come out, but this price looks pretty good.
Thanks, I've read about a few issues with the AMD, so I'm going to stick with Nvidia, I also plan to do some CUDA programming at some stage. The SATA issue is what I'm worred about with drives, so I'm planning on putting a big SSD in the main slot and running my OS off there, but that's more expensive than running it of a mSATA. Do you think there is much difference between running the OS of the mSATA (SATA 2) or a SSD in the SATA 3 bay?

I also checked out LBO and the fx rates have shifted quite, a bit I think, it's cheaper to get it locally. But then there is no configurability so I'm stuck with a 1TB HDD and a tiny 32GB mSATA.

Thanks
 
Tun@ said:
Hi PP,
Yes also Sager/Eurocom/Horize & others.......Locally i think Proline also does them but their website doesn't like business/doesn't work on the laptop section.
ComX/Laptop Direct has got 1 2012 model there they call a P150E - there should be others - all the rest are old & it doesn't give any config options either.
There's a business waiting to happen to locally support what overseas can offer.

I got the P150EM - i7 3630QM/GTX680 - read of too much issues with the AMD 7970 or i would have taken that.
Performance: Nothing has stopped it yet, it just flies - totally happy - Pulls 20k 3dMarkVantage & 6k 3dMark11.
Heat: Was IC diamond paste used & i haven't seen over 75 yet,so all seems fine in that dept.
Fan noise - nothing more than you would expect,its silent browsing & doesn't sound like it wants to lift off the desk gaming.

Re the W370ET - fixed GTX 660M ....I never researched it much as i wanted 15.6inch vrs 17.3 but i'm sure its fine if your happy being locked into that GPU......if your not in a hurry i would wait a bit,The 2013 models are probably not too far off announcement,how long that will take to filter over here might be another story tho.I was wondering if something might get announced at CES but haven't seen anything yet.

PS - Clevo seem to limit the BIOS support for GPU update's so even with the MXM type GPU i'm not going to be able to upgrade forever anyway but it should be good for 1 or 2 steps provided the standard doesn't change.
If i didn't want 15 inch lappy i would have grabbed that W370 myself - seems pretty good value for money with decent CPU/panel & GPU - I'm nothing but happy with this one tho.
Click to expand...

I see that one can order these from ComX or TheLaptopMan even without OS so Linux users may like it. I am not sure about Mecer reliability as I gained all I know in the world of excelllent IBM Thinkpads, one Dell Vostro and a horrid HP NX9010.
 
Zer0Fit3 said:
Do you think there is much difference between running the OS of the mSATA (SATA 2) or a SSD in the SATA 3 bay?
Click to expand...

I don't think there would be alot of noticable differance but i chose to keep my OS on the Sata3 bay drive also.
One day when i feel rich i'll probably step into a 512GB mSATA & use it to backup the other one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X