About to buy NP8657-S from XoticPC, have some questions

I'm in the market for a moderately capable gaming laptop. I've pretty much narrowed down to the NP8657-S from XoticPC, but please let me know if you have other suggestions. Below are some questions I have about this specific model:

(A) How good is the basic screen? Is the IPS G-Sync worth $80? I don't care for G-Sync, but since the screen on a laptop can't be upgraded I want to make sure it's decent.

(B) What's the "dead pixel" warranty? If you don't have this warranty and there are dead pixels, are you screwed?

(C) Shipping warranty for $50? What is this? Is buyer responsible for damage during shipping without this warranty???

(D) How hot does the laptop get during intense gaming with stock cooling? There is a thermal paste upgrade for $35 and copper headsink upgrade for $80. I'm not a temp maniac, as long as the laptop won't throttle under load with stock cooling I'm fine. I will be using it mainly on a desk.

(E) There are two Intel wireless adapter offerred: Intel AC3165 vs Intel AC8260 ($25). They both support 802.11 A/AC/B/G/N + Bluetooth, so I'm not sure what's the difference and why the 8260 is $25 more. Can anyone let me know.

(D) I will be traveling from time to time with the laptop, how bulky is it? Can it be easily used on those trays on airplanes? Can you suggest another retail model that's similar in size/bulkiness/build so I can go check it out in a store?

Below are my answer to standard questions re: laptop purchase:

1) What is your budget? $1500-2000

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen or Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen, not too bulky

3) Where will you buying this notebook? USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
open to all options (except Apple)

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? No

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? Gaming, office work (PDF, Word, Outlook), internet browsing, video watching, some photo editing

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? Both

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Yes, strategy or simulation games (Civ, Total War, SimCity, Cities Skylines, Euro Truck Simulator, Flight Sim, etc)

9) How many hours of battery life do you need? 2+ hours

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? Yes

11) What OS do you prefer? None, will install myself

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? 1080p, not 4K

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Matte

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Yes, must be plain looking, no LED lights, weird immature designs or strange patterns/colors

15) When are you buying this laptop? 2-3 weeks

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
Needs to be primary gaming rig for 1-2 years, then just office work for as long as it lasts

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need? Do you want a SSD drive? 1TB HD and 256gb or more SSD

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner? No optical drive

 

Sounds like an awesome build!

Basic screen is a pretty good TN type screen, the IPS screen gets a lot of good reviews so i do think it's worth the money.

Dead pixels aren't covered under the standard warranty as 1 dead pixel is just considered part of the manufacturing process.

The shipping warranty is for shipment to and from Canada to be covered, inside the US they are already covered

The ICD is typically worth it as it is a better compound than the default one, and a fairly cheap upgrade. The Copper cooling does help, you may check out the cooling package. I would really recommend the ICD.

It's only about an inch thick so it's not to bad for size, i'm not sure how wide those airplane trays are though, i'd think you would be fine with it on that.

 

What exactly does the copper cooling upgrade consist of?

 

I assume it uses a copper heatsink for CPU and GPU instead standard aluminum.

 

We add additional Copper heat sinks on the heatpipes.

Here's a good thread about it http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/xoticpc-copper-cooling-upgrade.676546/page-7

 

Is there any benchmark showing stock GPU/CPU temp vs thermal paste + copper

 

Through that thread some of the guys talk about their differences that they see.

it's not going to be a lot, it really helps to cool it down faster when it does get hot.