Buying the M860TU in the UK

Hey all. I'm going to be getting the M860TU in a month or so, and I'm wondering about where to get it from in the UK. So far it seems my best options are either Kobalt or OverclockersUK who both supply this laptop. But, it seems Kobalt is alot more expensive than OverclockersUK. Look here:

Kobalt Nexus
Intel C2D P9500 2.53Ghz
4Gb OCZ DDR3 1066Mhz Ram
nVidia 9800M GT 512Mb
250Gb 7,200Rpm HDD
£1537

OR

OCUk Ultima Mobile
Intel C2D P9500 2.53Ghz
4Gb OCZ DDR3 1066Mhz Ram
nVidia 9800M GTS 512Mb
320Gb 5,400Rpm HDD
£1225

So you see they're fairly similar, just the OCUk has a bigger HDD (can make it a 7,200Rpm drive for an extra £17) but it only has the 9800M GTS and id actually prefer to have the 9800M GT, but i've read that the performance difference between the two is fairly small. But yeah, why's the OCUk one £300 cheaper? Am i missing something??

 

... and if you ask, OCUK also offer a 500GB HDD too.

From what I've read from other customers, both offer great customer service and have friendly forums if you need a helping hand.

Considering you can get a good HDD upgrade from quite a few places the bottom line comes down to whether £300 is worth the upgrade to a GT. Better make your mind up soon though as GT models are starting to sell like hotcakes as NVidia are discontinuing the line with the M860TU.

 

Thanks Oiad. But do you guys think the GT/Getting it from Kobalt is worth an extra £300? Im still unsure, mainly because i've heard bad things about OCUk in the past. Maybe they're different now.

Also yeah i read about the GT being discontinued. Im guessing they wont still be around when i get around to buying this then? Will there be a card that is taking the GT's place?

 

Once the GT is out of stock, Kobalt, like anyone else will be offering only the GTS with the model.

What kinda things have you heard that make you reluctant to go with OCUK?

 

Well... for those prices I guess it's really not a difficult decision.
I highly recommend Kobalt as they are great and you feel you get a very personalized treatment, but £250 pounds difference is quite a lot (if you take the £53 that upgrading from GTS to GT costs in Kobalt).
More... if I'm not mistaken, you get 2 years of warranty with OCUK, no?

I would still go with Kobalt though... they inspire me more confidence.

 

So there's nothing replacing the GT? And well just issues with getting faulty stuff replaced. And also I bought an ATI X1950XT from them ages ago, and the bracket was pretty beat up/bent. So makes me worry what kind of state the laptop would arrive in.

It's still a £300ish difference. And I know it seems obvious to go with OCUk but, I guess I'd just feel better getting it from Kobalt. And hmmm, haven't read anything about the warranty with OCUk. I'll most likely get it from OCUk.

Also, another reason I'd hesitate to get it from OCUk is becuase they dont offer a zero dead pixel guarentee like Kobalt. And seriously, I HATE dead/stuck pixels. I really cant stand them.

 

Go for Kobalt... it's the best!
Become part of the family...

 

that is a good price youve quoated above.
i know nothing about ocuk so cant really give any advice on using them and saving some money.
just depends how bad you want the GT card and the reliability from kobalt as quite a few of us are Nexus owners now.

 

Yeah it's a tough choice whether or not to pay an extra £300 on the Kobalt service and a GT. Hmmm

 

Does Kobalt include a 3 year warranty or something? That would account for the difference in price (plus the extra cost of the 9800GT, which is like $80-100 US).

The nexus systems run pretty cool (esp hard drives) - do they do anything different there?

 

Mmm, I'm still wanting to know where this bad rep is coming from concerning OCUK. None has been put forward yet and I'm quite interested in knowing as I'm considering the Ultima myself.

The only thing that makes anyone slighty weary is that after selling desktops for a while they've only just started selling customised laptops whereas Kobalt have been doing so for a while and thus have a lot more experience in the area.

As for the GT versus GTS debate, it depends if having a few frames max, give or take, is worth it to you. Both cards are likely to max most, current game settings out.
Another way of thinking about it is if the money isn't the hassle for you. If you have the extra money then go for it and get the GT and be secure that you have the best GPU in a 15" laptop at present. If you're on a budget, rest assured that the slower card is only slower by a whisker at most in a race and even a dead draw in a few.

Kobalt's 3 year warranty costs £70 extra. 1 year is the standard they offer with the Nexus in addition to the cost already quoted. I haven't heard of the abnormal temp readings from buyers of either Kobalt or OCUK M860TU buyers so far.

 

the warranty at Kobalt is £40 for 2 years and £70 for 3 years
collect & return email telephone and website/forum support.

 

The bad rep for OCUk comes from numerous computer forums ive been with for the past 2 years. But as i said, i havent heard anything bad about the recently. But also the issue about the state my ATI X1950XT arrived to me from OCUk is slightly worrying.

Ive emailed OCUk asking about possibility of a 9800M GT, and the zero dead pixel guarentee. Will most likely hear from them tomorrow and ill get back to you guys with the info.

Seems you're also considering the laptop Oiad, is there anything else you want me to ask them?

That's exactly why I'd prefer to get it from Kobalt, but is it REALLY worth an extra £300?

 

£300 is a lot but how much is piece of mind worth?
i cant see how they are doing it so cheap.
have you been to kobalt website and done a config yet.is that were you get the 300 quid difference.

 

Well, I know I'm in quite a tight situation at the moment, so OCUK makes more sense to choose if I were to pick right now. Besides, I'm not a hardcore gamer who needs the best. And despite any enthusiasts pleas otherwise I don't see any reasons why I should go with a GT other than to be the best.

I would probably choose Kobalt if I knew that I wouldn't be making any other big purchases this month as a lot more people have bought from them and have been just as happy with the service as an average. I've read from fewer people who have bought Ultimas but they tend to be just as happy with the results.

 

You should also take a look at these websites. They both can be customised and have the same specs but cheaper! And mycizmo uses Euros which are weaker than the Pound so you should be paying even less and maybe be able to get a better configuration!

http://www.rockdirect.com/
http://www.mycizmo.com/

 

Did you check the price before posting the link?
MyCizmo is very expensive it is without the VAT so add to 19% to the final price!
For Rock, it also expensive and from what I saw on this forum, they aren't the best place to buy for the moment.

 

Both those places are even more expensive for the same spec.


I wish Kobalt could drop their prices just a slice. I'd definately have no problem paying an extra £100-£150, but £300 is just abit much.

 

Please whatever you do don't consider Rock Direct. I am going through a right ordeal at the moment trying to get my laptop fixed (it is now in for the 5th repair since i bought it two years ago)! When they take your laptop in for repair, if your lucky and it doesn't get stolen by City Link, they either don't fix the problem, or they fix the problem and cause others and damage the laptop.

I wouldn't go for My Cizmo personally as it is based in Gemrany so could become a little tricky with VAT and warranty...

If I was buying the M860TU, I would either buy it from Kobalt as mentioned before or get it from Novatech. I have just bought a M570RU from Novatech and their support is simply fantastic (similar to Kobalt) and it comes in a shade cheaper aswell. I believe the X70 MV Pro is what you are looking for (I believe it does come with 4GB of ram as standard and it is just a typo on that page but it might be worth checking if you decide to go for this.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/extras.html?t=nb&c=all&r=X70&s=NNB-670&v=1

For information, I was in contact with someone at Novatech about the X70 and the next lot through will have the 9800M GTS rather than the GT, so if you want a GT sooner rather than later might be better

Hope This Helps!

 

just looked at the novatech website.
only 1 year return to base warranty. while your checking on the ram ask about how much is 3 year warranty. also ask aboud dead pixel policy and system recovery dvd. these will all cost extra.

 

I have the OCUK Ultima mobile. I was also considering kobalt but the price difference swayed it.

So far no problems, they kept me informed on the forums as I pre-ordered and I was one of the first to receive it in the UK.

I am more than happy with the GTS. I get 9000 3dmark06 points at 1280x1024 with my P8600 and the gts stock with vista 64.
I mostly play strategy games but I can always put up WIC, COH and SC bemchmarks if you want to compare

 

Personally if I was going to buy this laptop which I considered but decided not to because I wanted a 17inch, I would definitely buy from Kobalt. I did at least a month of research before realising that Kobalt had the best service and was the most reliable. They offer more customization and their customer support is very good. My advice is to buy it from Kobalt!

 

What was the condition like of the laptop when it arrived to you? Any dead pixels? Do you know if OCUk offer a zero dead pixel guarentee?

And if you could throw up some benchmarks so we can compare it to the 9800M GT that'd be awesome

I think I may get it from OCUk. Also, alot of people on this other computer forum I go on are telling me NOT to get a gaming laptop. They says its a waste of money and I should just get an eeePC or MSI Wind and use the rest of the money to upgrade my desktop.

Btw the specs of my desktop are:

Intel C2D E6420 @ 3Ghz
2Gb DDR2 800Mhz
ATI X1950XT
200Gb HDD

With this laptop I'll be taking it to college to play games, and use 3DS Max, Mudbox and Photoshop. < MSI Wind or eeePC cant do that (atleast not very well). Am I right in thinking this laptop would perform a fair bit better than my desktop? It gets 6.2k in 3DMark06.

What do you guys think?

 

on my nexus im geting 9238 3Dmark06 and thats with the 9800GT

you can view everyones scores here clikety click

 

I second this comment. I had a 17" top-of-the-range gaming spec from ROCK (in my actual possession for just a total of 9 days due to them having it in twice to fix things that were wrong from the outset). Every time I got it back they had either not fixed the issue or created another problem... even when I gave them a detailed breakdown of the problems and they promised to fix them!!!
And further to this... they even had the AUDACITY to want to charge me a restocking fee because I had it in my possession for more than 7 days whn I decided to return it!!! They STILL owe me £150 for the Blu-Ray drive that I had purchased out of my own money that was installed in my laptop after taking out a V12 finance agreement for the laptop. I've not chased this up due to them having wanted to charge me a restocking fee anyway. I should really chase this up because £150 is a lot of money. But I think that telling everyone just how BAD they are to purchase from is payback in itself.

 

as far as i know its illegal to charge a restocking fee in the uk.

 

Yeah, i wasnt even considering to get it from Rock, they're too expensive.

Also why can't i register on the Kobalt forums? And also I tried registering on the OCUk forums but i've been in the 'moderation queue' for 2 days now...

 

the kobalt forum was attacked last week so they have closed it to new members for a few days. it will be back up very soon.
on behalf of Kobalt they are sorry for the inconvenience.

 

Ah right, any idea about the OCUk forums?

 

no idea,never been there,sorry.
if youve been in the moderator Q for 2 days it shows they are not taking much notice of the forum.


i will contact kobalt to find out roughly how long it will be until its up and running again.

 

aw alrighty. They havent even replied to my enquiry about the 9800M GT/Zero dead pixel guarentee.... real promising.. /sarcasm

 

the GT (as far as i know) is still in stock at kobalt.
i didnt take out the dead pixel gaurantee and i have had no problems with not one dead pixel.

ps. ive pm'd andrew at kobalt on your behalf about membership.

 

The first screen I got on my Nexus had 3, which the guys at Kobalt took back and fixed really fast - unfortunately the new screen has a dead pixel on it (just my luck). I got the dead pixel guarantee, but waiting to hear back from the guys how they want to handle the second screen...

Petrov.

 

Thanks MrDJ, much appreciated.

And Petrov, ****, i hate dead pixels, i truly hope when i get mine it doesn't have any on ):

 

Hey Oxig3n,

I too have been deliberating as to where I should get my M860TU, having looked at Novatech, OCUK and Kobalt. I also heard of the bad reports of OCUK and this discouraged me from buying from them, however when I called sales, the person was quite friendly, although not all too knowledgeable :s
In regards to Kobalt I haven't heard any bad reports about them and this really encouraged me, however I e-mailed them quite a few days back and they have yet to reply, I also e-mailed Andrew from Kobalt, but no response either
When I joined the OCUK forums I was in the queue for a day or two as well, but be patient and it will probably be okay tomorrow or something.
So yeah i'm stuck in the same boat too, OCUK vs Kobalt.......
Oh and Novatech...well they've had mixed reviews, but I haven't researched too much into them. But let me know what you decide ^__^

 

Firstly - sorry about the forum! As MrDJ said we had 800 people trying to join our forum at 3am Saturday morning, luckily a few of them tried to do the same (and posting spam) on Friday afternoon and I disabled new members then. Otherwise it'd take ages to clean the forum up, do people have nothing better to do ?

Also we had to close for Thursday and Friday as Andrew caught flu and passed it on to the rest of us so that's the only reason emails might not have been replied to.


I have had a look at the pricing discussed and it seems that our price is pretty much bang on what it should be. I know that it will be revised this week though as the Dollar is moving all over the place atm and that's what we all buy (ultimately) components and chassis in. If you look at the original spec (in the first post) and include Vista HP 32 in each company then it works out:

OCUK £1,283
Kobalt £1,537
Rock £1,654 (I took the purchase price difference between 3 year warranty and GTS to GT so same spec)


When you see that they're cheaper than even Sager/Power Notebooks/XoticPC in the States (including VAT) only OCUK could tell you how they do it......

 

I was lucky enough not to get any dead pixels. Laptop arrived in great condition. I dont think they offer a dead pixel policy though.

The sales team are usually friendly but never seem to have all the answers so I always post on the OCUK forum. All my questions were answered there.

I have run the WIC and forged alliance benchmarks so I will post them up in a bit.

 

Hey Neil, any idea what the price will be revised to? Also about the 9800M GT situation, can you give an estimate on how much longer you'll have it in stock? And also if any card is coming out soon that will take the 9800M GT's place?

I'm really swaying over to Kobalt on this...

 

As an update, i've know received contact from Kobalt who were really helpful
So I too am swaying towards Kobalt......

 

Confirmed from OCUk that they dont do a zero dead pixel guarentee! D: So I think Kolbalt has won here =]

Out of curiosity. Do Kolbalt, like OCUk, do the payment option to where you can buy now, and pay in x amount of months?

 

I don't think they do that yet, but it's probably best if you e-mail them to confirm. =)

 

Hi Oxig3n
there was another enquirey about finance a couple of weeks ago.
this was posted by Andrew:

hope this helps.

 

Ah thanks MrDJ, you've been a load of help Well I'll wait for them to get the finance options in place and then I'm ordering from Kobalt

 

good choice, you wont be dissapointed.

anything else you need to know just post away.

also as soon as i hear of the forum being fully opperational again ill let you know.

 

Just to let everyone know that we have opened our forum to new members again - we had people joining within 5 minutes this afternoon and posting spam straight away. Seems like someone really has it in for us so we will now have to verify every new member.