PBTECH sale on Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501VI only $4,312.50, the best gaming laptop IMO, thin and light

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Forums › Bargains and Deals › PBTECH sale on Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501VI only $4,312.50, the best gaming laptop IMO, thin and light

TeaLeaf

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#230427 23-Feb-2018 11:59

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKASU501011/ASUS-ROG-Zephyrus-GX501VI-Ultra-Slim-GTX1080-Top-G?type=ex-demo

If you are not familiar with the Zephyrus, its basically a thin and light gaming notebook with a gtx1080 max q.

It weighs 2.1KG. So you are probably thinking, heat/noise beast. NO, thats what makes this the best gaming notebook available in my opinion.

Review from Liza Gade (well known Tech journalist)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdAowd5_fgI

Ben Lee (one of the leading youtube reviewers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHKqhRjRkbE

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#1962924 23-Feb-2018 12:06

Brb, selling my left kidney...

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xpd

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#1962949 23-Feb-2018 13:17

And in 6 months time its out of date ;)

A lot of the gaming spec laptops are damn nice units, but Ive never touched one because of how fast the gaming "min specs" can change - sure, that one would do me for years (Police Quest runs on ANYTHING ;) ) but for someone keeping up with latest games, it'd bug them after a year.

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TeaLeaf

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#1962959 23-Feb-2018 13:26

xpd:

And in 6 months time its out of date ;)

A lot of the gaming spec laptops are damn nice units, but Ive never touched one because of how fast the gaming "min specs" can change - sure, that one would do me for years (Police Quest runs on ANYTHING ;) ) but for someone keeping up with latest games, it'd bug them after a year.

Huh? Its running a GTX1080, are you saying it will not run on utra in 1 year? If so you are wrong.

I doubt this will be out of date at ultra in 2 years, i think in 6 years still running everything on high.

Considering some gaming notebooks are $7-10k this is one situation where the hardware warrants the $4300, which really isnt that much for this level of hardware and design.

TeaLeaf

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#1962960 23-Feb-2018 13:28

xpd:

And in 6 months time its out of date ;)

Ok is that a troll or you just dont own gaming notebooks? Id guesstimate it 3 years at the top, 8 years on high and after that it will still run most games on medium. The Graphics card is $1400 by itself.

Its running top of the line hardware and its industrial design is supreme.

TeaLeaf

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#1962961 23-Feb-2018 13:31

This is acers attempt to try and copy the design. $6300.

So for $2000 less and its design is far superior to anything else, its a bargain.

https://www.playtech.co.nz/acer-predator-triton-700-15-6-fhd-i7-7700hq-32gb-2x-512gb-ssd-gtx1080-w10-home-pt715-51-71g0.html?fee=24&fep=10993&utm_source=PriceSpy&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PriceSpy

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#1962973 23-Feb-2018 13:48

TeaLeaf:

xpd:

And in 6 months time its out of date ;)

Ok is that a troll or you just dont own gaming notebooks? Id guesstimate it 3 years at the top, 8 years on high and after that it will still run most games on medium. The Graphics card is $1400 by itself.

Its running top of the line hardware and its industrial design is supreme.

It was a smart alec comment ;) And no, never owned a gaming laptop, never been able to justify the price.

Its just that I know quite a few people who go out and buy the latest gear because the latest games just don't run their best on the year old $3k system that they had the year before. Probably part of it too is these things are advertised as being the latest and greatest, and yet, a year later it dosent seem that great because the latest games don't run on high settings that well. It happens with all PC's, desktop or laptop, but at least desktop you can swap out parts to give it a kick for a while whereas a laptop, youre restricted.

Just my 2c.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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TeaLeaf

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#1963026 23-Feb-2018 15:09

xpd:

Just my 2c.

Thats fine, notebooks arent a priority to everybody. But if you are videographer, photographer, web developer, media content creator of any sort this notebook is a bargain, of course along with gamers, especially with it being so ultraportable. If you earn $200k a year from this, a $4k notebook is really not going to make you blink.

Much like a builder and his tools etc etc.

Yes games use to be that way. I guess in some ways that was a problem with game optimisation. But most games use the same engines from previous games now. They just optimise them. Not saying a gtx1080 will be running games on HIGH in 10 years time, but price wise, its not actually even expensive for a normal notebook. Most quality notebooks are $3k minimum. Gosh fit out a Macbook Pro 13 which has a 15w Dual Core CPU not a thumping 45w Quad, and it has NO dGPU and it will set you back $4200.

So a limp MBP13 for $4200 or cutting edge technology and a powerhouse for $4200, I think I know which one is a better buy regardless of whether you game or not.

You also have different tech now, like some guys want 4k HDR monitors running at 120FPS. So its not the games themselves. IMO its a waste of money at the viewing distance 4k, HDR is good though, 120FPS, meh, I cant see passed 50 personally. Each to their own.

You would only be saving $800 max building this notebook as a PC by the way. And given its thin and light and doesnt overheat, its a content creators dream and its portability is incredible as seen below with an equivalent spec MSI weighing 5.5kg.

This is the real bad boy of gaming which PBtech have on sale too saving nearly $1250.

Only $8500 now. Its what Lisa Gade who I said is a well know tech journalist owns and uses for her own gaming. I own an MSI myself. Hardcore machines.

But it runs a gtx1080 as well, its twice the price as the asus and it weighs 5.5KG not 2.1KG. That alone shows the industrial prowess of the Zypherus. Of course the Titan is an 18.4" monitor.

$8500 usually around $10k

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKMSI26152/MSI-Titan-SLI-GT83VR-7RF-Extream-Dual-GTX1080-Gami

BTR

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#1970503 7-Mar-2018 11:35

TeaLeaf:

This is acers attempt to try and copy the design. $6300.

So for $2000 less and its design is far superior to anything else, its a bargain.

https://www.playtech.co.nz/acer-predator-triton-700-15-6-fhd-i7-7700hq-32gb-2x-512gb-ssd-gtx1080-w10-home-pt715-51-71g0.html?fee=24&fep=10993&utm_source=PriceSpy&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PriceSpy

Your forgetting its an Acer........

TeaLeaf

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#1971287 8-Mar-2018 15:53

BTR:

Your forgetting its an Acer........

Acer>Apple 99/100 Quality Control. I bought multiple MBPs for my company, I didnt have a single unit without some form of quality control issues requiring attention. And then there is the fact apple dont do industrial design, they use 10 years old Aesthetics and ask their industrial designers to jam technology inside, which isnt hard now. But lets not forget the magsafe lawsuit, staingate and the absolute joke that was known as thermal design in the MBP13 :-).

If Lisa Gade dumped her MBP in favour of an MSI and gives the predator glowing reviews, I think ill take hr Tech Journalism over anybody elses opinion. And lets not mention the very Fan Boi laptop review site called LaptopMag giving the predator the thumbs up and editors choice award. https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/acer-predator-helios-300

Public reviews of the predators are a lot higher than that of Macbooks (its a bit insulting to professionals, to call them Pros)

This predator is $3200, good buy even if gtx1070.

https://www.playtech.co.nz/acer-predator-17-3-inch-full-hd-ips-1920x1080-i7-7700hq-ddr4-16gb-ram-256gb-ssd-2tb-hdd-gtx1070-8gb-gddr5-gaming-notebook-windows-10.html?fee=24&fep=7703&utm_source=PriceSpy&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PriceSpy

Whilst Ill stand by saying the ROG is better engineering I am not bias to agree the predator is bad quality, especially in comparison to 10 year old pieces of fruit.

Have you noticed how all Sci Fi shows are now starting to use Surface Books and Surface Studio? There is a reason, even though they have to price themselves high to avoid OEM fall out, they are still better value and far ahead of the game in both UX and Industrial design that they have basically made Apple PCs redundant (AGAIN)

Amosnz

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#1978537 16-Mar-2018 11:26

PB have a gaming laptop sale tomorrow.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/promotions/170318-gaming-laptop-sale

Anyone have a good strategy of getting approval from the missus?

Speedtest

TeaLeaf

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#1978555 16-Mar-2018 11:51

Amosnz:

PB have a gaming laptop sale tomorrow.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/promotions/170318-gaming-laptop-sale

Anyone have a good strategy of getting approval from the missus?

Yep, dont ask :-).

Again though, the sales are like 15% max, a discount you can achieve by shopping elsewhere or asking for a discount.

Which machine are you interested in.

For me at the moment the AW13 2018 model with the EDR being applied to the OLED 1440p screen with the GTX 1060 is one of the most interesting laptops. By far and away the best screen in any form of gaming by a very long shot makes it luxurious in media consumption but also in gaming. I spoke to dell and got the following;

i7 7700hq
16GB (8GB upgrade)
512GB NVME (256GB upgrade)
gtx1060
13.3 inch QHD (2560 x 1440) OLED 400-nits Display with Touch Technology

I think it came to $3500, but I got them down to $3000.

I just love the accuracy of the CNC'd thermals in the AW13, its one cool puppy. Ok the machine is more like a 14.5" machine with a 13.3" screen, but its well worth it imo. And Im not even into gaming that much. Id likely play RTS and maybe PUBG on it, Witcher 3 would just be epic, aside from that it would be heavily used for media consumption, which is now largely coming out in 4k HDR, HDR being more of a visual WoW factor than 4k. I think getting 1440p is spot on and if that includes EDR/HDR on top of a freaking OLED, it must be a gorgeous experience for a small space. Its the only way I can afford to get into OLED HDR at this point outside an OLED HDR10 phone like a G6, v30, Galaxy S8 etc.

Still thinking it over :-)

It suprises me the amount of GTX9 series notebooks still out there and how they are not being aggressively sold to make way for what must be stock backing up, considering the 11 series is just around the corner. Id still consider a gtx980m in a used machine. I just sold my 970m which is somewhere between a 1050ti and 1060, closer to the ti. So for me gtx960m systems should be half the price they are being sold at, nobody wants them unless they are just used for every day computing.

Personally id not buy a gaming notebook from PBtech unless it was a specific sale and clearly well under what others are offering it for, www.pricepsy.co.nz

Some of the higher end models arent badly priced. The GTX1070 models, some tough choices there between the acer and asus, personally Id go Asus, but the predator got good reviews, so Id be getting the model numbers and reviewing them in both notebookcheck and laptopmag, look for screen colour accuracy and nits/cdm.

Amosnz

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#1978583 16-Mar-2018 12:30

Lol, that is one option i'm considering.

I'm pondering the ASUS ROG Strix GL503VS-EI042T. I'd love a Zephyrus but they are a fair jump up again.

15.6" screen is ideal size for me, definately after a 106x GPU min, prefer a 107x. The thermals of the 10xx over the 9xx series make it much more suitable for laptops. The 144hz GSync screen is a bonus.

The rest of the specs are pretty standard, i7 7700hq, 16GB, NVME SSD.

I tend to compare prices to Melb as I go there a couple times a year for work, so can buy it retail and claim the GST back when I come home, but at the sale price its not really worth doing.

Speedtest

TeaLeaf

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#1978850 16-Mar-2018 20:28

Just read the reviews mate, thats the best advice I can give you. 9/10 I sayd RoG but in this one on my little knolwedge it might be the predator. Dont forget easter sales are just around the corner

Amosnz

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#1978863 16-Mar-2018 21:32

I thought friends don't let friends buy Acer? I've never been a fan of Acer in general and I've seen (possibly even on here) a couple of bad stories with predators so they haven't really been on my radar.

I looked at the specs and the Predator 15 at 3.7kg vs the RoG at 2.5kg is enough to put me off that model. My current 8yo 15" laptop is 2.5kg which is manageable.

Why they think this is a good idea I don't know: 512 GB SSD (2x 256GB RAID). In real world its hard to saturate 1x PCIE SSD, so raiding them unnecessarily sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Speedtest

lNomNoml

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#1978887 16-Mar-2018 22:40

TeaLeaf:

xpd:

And in 6 months time its out of date ;)

A lot of the gaming spec laptops are damn nice units, but Ive never touched one because of how fast the gaming "min specs" can change - sure, that one would do me for years (Police Quest runs on ANYTHING ;) ) but for someone keeping up with latest games, it'd bug them after a year.

Huh? Its running a GTX1080, are you saying it will not run on utra in 1 year? If so you are wrong.

I doubt this will be out of date at ultra in 2 years, i think in 6 years still running everything on high.

Considering some gaming notebooks are $7-10k this is one situation where the hardware warrants the $4300, which really isnt that much for this level of hardware and design.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic haha, it may run at ultra in a year but definitely not comfortable framerate. This will easily be obsolete in 2 years’ time.

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