Who's your favourite Clevo reseller (UK mainly)?

Hey there, everyone!

I'm currently in the process of buying a Clevo laptop { Thread here, in case you're wondering}. At the moment, I'm considering either HIDEvolution (US-based but I've heard and read A LOT of good things about them), and PCSpecialist (who are apparently the cheapest Clevo re-seller in the UK and one of the cheapest in the EU. Please correct me if I'm wrong).

However I'm also looking out for other companies to have more options (despite the fact that I'll probably end up ordering from PCS, unless I really want that EVOC BIOS).

So, what was your experience & who did you buy your Clevo(s) from? I'm mainly targeting people who've bought Clevo's from within the UK, but if you're nearby in the EU, go ahead and share your story as well!

P.S. I know about the EU reseller mega-thread, and I've went through it just for the UK ones. PCS & XMG seem to be the most attractive out of the two, and they have most options that I'd like, but I haven't heard a lot of in-depth reviews from PCS customers here or anywhere really, whereas I've heard a few good things about XMG, but not recently.

 

Mysn (XMG) is who I got my p771dm-g (u706) and I've been very happy with there customer support.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

I'd get the EVOC from HIDevolution and opt for the global warranty which covers shipping costs both ways should anything go wrong with your system.

You want cheap or you want the best? The Prema BIOS unleashes these beasts to their maximum potential and I wouldn't consider owning any Clevo without it.

Mind you, as an NBR member, you can get a discount if you email them

If you want stock then you can go with XMG I guess but it's up to you

also note that HIDevolution has much faster RAM options and the latest SSDs like the 960 Pro and Silicon Lottery CPUs and a CPU delidding service without voiding your warranty since it's done inhouse. CPU delidding bring down the temps by around 10C (this is for desktop class CPUs though)

Benefits of Prema BIOS:

• The ability to disable other drives connected to your system without physically removing them from your laptop, this comes in handy when installing Windows as you never want to have more than one drive connected at the time you are installing Windows otherwise the Windows setup will place the boot files on the 2nd drive it sees which hurts performance and makes it a headache when creating system images or restoring since the boot files are not on the main drive.
• The ability to overclock, increase Turbo Power Limits and System IA/Core Current Limits
• The ability to enable Intel Speed Shift Technology (it is disabled in the stock BIOS)
• The ability to run RAM with speeds higher than the standard 2133 MHz. I am not talking about overclocking here, I am talking about actual RAM sticks that are rated to run at 2800 MHz for example like the G.Skill 64GB 2800 MHz kit I have. With the stock BIOS, they will not run above 2400 MHz. In the case of the P870DM3, the stock BIOS now supports up to 2666 MHz. I believe but not more, so the Prema BIOS is a must again
• The ability to enable CSM for those who want to install other OSes like Windows 7
• The ability to undervolt the CPU as the stock voltage is way too high which causes the CPU to overheat much quicker and thus throttle under load.
• The ability to enable or disable CPU AES instructions or Virtualization
• The ability to disable hibernation from the BIOS

Benefits of Prema VBIOS:

• Power throttle disabled
• Over-voltage slider enabled and adjusted (up to a maximum of 1.2v)
• Activated and adjusted thermal slider (to keep it cooler if desired)
• Core overclock slider limit raised
• Power consumption meter activated
• Fixed 3D voltage base-line in order to stabilize OCs and voltage-match both cards in SLI systems (based on average ASIC)
• Thermal protection @ 92c (once*91c are breached the system throttles volts and clocks in order to protect it)
• Protection against Furmark and Kombustor GPU burnout (AVOID those software even with stock vBIOS)!

 

I bought from Eurocom to ship to the UK. With the GBP strength at the time it made sense then, maybe not to much now but I wanted a prema partner and MySn just didn't have the configurations I was looking for at the time. All in all it worked out a £200 - £300 cheaper to buy from Eurocom. When I had to RMA the machine while I was in Austria I paid to send it to an authorised Clevo repair team in Germany, and after the laptop was repaired under warranty it was returned to me in Austria free of charge. It's my understanding that most companies have some form of international warranty.

I can't say I have any experience with them myself but I will make you aware of Wired2Fire.co.uk. Price-wise they certainly seem competitive and typically I'd rather support small businesses. They seem enthusiastic though I'm not sure why they don't try and give themselves more of a presence here.

I had bought from PCS about 8 years ago, as a company they did okay. There were some short comings, when a warranty repaired was needed the courier they had arranged lost the item and it took a few months to get everything rectified in the end. They made everything somewhat good and they no longer use that courier to my knowledge but nonetheless it could have been handled better and they were happy to authorise an advance RMA on a couple of components.

With hindsight I would have looked much more at HIDevolution. The fact they don't offer a shipping option with VAT pre-paid put me off at the time, though had I know the lengths of their international warranty and the various services they offer I would have had a much tougher choice on my hands.