I've only had the computer for a couple of days, but wow! It has the stereotypical red and black "gamer" look. Would I prefer something a little more neutral? Yeah but at this price point(I got this when it was on sale for $1,099 and then Honey took off another $90 or so), beggers can't be choosers.
If you have the extra cash, you could get a better design in something like Razer, but why would you? For the exact same specs and great graphics card, the Razer Blade Pro 17 inch model goes for $2,300, with the lowest I've seen down to $1,800 with the only difference is an extra 2TB HDD while cutting your SSD in half to 256GB. I see this as more as a disadvantage, however. 2TB of HDD is pretty cheap nowadays and SSD is worth a LOT more. It definitely isn't worth a $700-$1,200 difference.
Unless if you're simply a brand snob, this is obviously the superior choice with a large 144Hz display that looks magnificent, crushing speeds that are only bested if you want to spend a lot more, and a rugged design that as a father I greatly appreciate.
Pros:
-Wicked fast. I routinely get above 60 fps on max settings for most games.
-Great 144Hz display
-Military grade certified ruggedness, little to no give when you put pressure on the top and bottom of the frame or the keyboard. This thing is built to last.
-Having an SSD instead of an HDD or hybrid memory adds to it's longevity and the overall ruggedness of the device. I've repaired several laptops in the past where the device is jarred or dropped from a few inches from the ground and the hard drive is shot. Everything on the computer is likely lost at this point. You don't have that problem here with an SSD.
-Light for a 17 inch device.
-Feels great. Brushed finish makes you think the materials are better quality than MTD plastic.
-THAT PRICE. Most rigs from HP and Dell with these specs start off around $1300-$1400. Quite a bit more if you want "gamer" brands like Razer or MSI.
Cons:
-"Gamer" look with a lot of red. You can turn off the red keyboard backlights, but that means no keyboard backlights at all.
-Not the most premium materials with no metal or aluminum in frame.
-THICC. It's not terrible but even without the red, it's easy to tell it's a gaming laptop at a glance.
-Not the best keyboard layout. The directional keys are a lower and further to the right than I'd prefer and for some strange reason they elongated the other Control key to replace where it normally resides. It throws me off in a few of my games. It also halves the width of the 0 key, which does affect me when I work or do schoolwork.
-The mouse is something you can tell they had to settle with to cut costs. It's plastic instead of glass and I'm fairly sure it lacks Windows Precision. This is an understandable cost cutting method several gaming companies use as they know most gamers are going to prefer a nicer external mouse rather than the pad. I personally am glad they did it, but I felt it needed to be mentioned.
I can't comment on battery life yet as I haven't tested it, but from most reviews I've seen it's not great. This is meant to be an at home gaming rig. If you take it out for classes or for work, expect to need your charger.
So overall I think it does AMAZING for what it's targeted demographic calls for. It's meant for a younger audience being first exposed into PC gaming or for gamers who want great performance but don't want to spend an arm and a leg for brand namesake. Parents can be reassured that this thing is built like a tank while giving you the necessary speeds needed for any game with a great frame rate. My kids aren't old enough to use it but as you parents know kids can and will get to ANYTHING and my four year old has already accidentally knocked it over without a scratch.
I would recommend this laptop to anyone unless they in all seriousness want the best of the best no matter the cost.
Update 7/14/2019
It's been several months and this machine is still kicking ass and taking names!
The only concern I've seen so far is that very occasionally I'll see the hard drive spike up to 100 percent in Task Manager even though nothing is running and I've maybe used 100GB up. This is usually indicative that the hard drive is going out. So I'll keep everyone up to date if it becomes an issue.
| Standing screen display size | 11.6 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1366 x 768 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1366 x 768 Pixels |
| Processor | 2.8 GHz celeron |
| RAM | DDR4 |
| Hard Drive | 128 GB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 3 |
