jenanimating
New member
For full transparency, I am writing this review because a warranty extension is on offer for writing a review, but I am more than happy to write a positive review, as this is exactly the machine I wanted. The build is:
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte, Full HD, 144Hz, Pantone Validated 72% NTSC, LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 11800H (2.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3080 Max-Q - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Defiance Series Integrated 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (73WH)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 4 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
17" DEFIANCE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Carry Case
Tech Air 17.3" Classic Backpack
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
I bought this laptop for 3D modelling and animation, that's my field, and render times is the name of the game. Using the gpu in this laptop, even though it's the max q variant which I was warned about, has cut my render times from 2 days to a couple of hours for the heaviest of scenes and I can render most scenes in a matter of a minute or two where it used to take me the guts of a day. For any other artists who work in 3D or maybe video editing and want something portable and lightweight and quiet that is still capable of serving as a powerful workstation, I can definitely recommend this laptop. I've also used it to play a few games, including a demo that isn't optimised yet at all, at full graphics, and it ran everything perfectly.
Also the screen is beautiful, the speakers are decent (a little tinny but good and loud), the keyboard is lovely to type on, the trackpad is as good as I need a trackpad to be, and I think it looks really nice. It's quite heavy but for a 17inch laptop with the premium metal feel to the casing, I don't think it could be much lighter. The fans come on a lot, even when it's sitting on a desk and doesn't seem to be doing anything taxing, but they really are quiet by gaming laptop standards so it's not a problem in my experience. The webcam is a bit poor but it's no worse than any other laptop webcam I've used and I don't know if anyone expects them to be beautiful so I don't see it as a problem either. I can't really speak on the battery life because I haven't actually used it on battery at all yet because of the intensity of the work I do. That metal casing is an absolute fingerprint magnet though. The photos I've included I took as I set the laptop up, having only just unpacked it (and I had just washed my hands after handling the box because of covid lol) and already you see some fingerprints.
I'm really happy though, I'd highly recommend this build.
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte, Full HD, 144Hz, Pantone Validated 72% NTSC, LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 11800H (2.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3080 Max-Q - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Defiance Series Integrated 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (73WH)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 4 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
17" DEFIANCE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Carry Case
Tech Air 17.3" Classic Backpack
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
I bought this laptop for 3D modelling and animation, that's my field, and render times is the name of the game. Using the gpu in this laptop, even though it's the max q variant which I was warned about, has cut my render times from 2 days to a couple of hours for the heaviest of scenes and I can render most scenes in a matter of a minute or two where it used to take me the guts of a day. For any other artists who work in 3D or maybe video editing and want something portable and lightweight and quiet that is still capable of serving as a powerful workstation, I can definitely recommend this laptop. I've also used it to play a few games, including a demo that isn't optimised yet at all, at full graphics, and it ran everything perfectly.
Also the screen is beautiful, the speakers are decent (a little tinny but good and loud), the keyboard is lovely to type on, the trackpad is as good as I need a trackpad to be, and I think it looks really nice. It's quite heavy but for a 17inch laptop with the premium metal feel to the casing, I don't think it could be much lighter. The fans come on a lot, even when it's sitting on a desk and doesn't seem to be doing anything taxing, but they really are quiet by gaming laptop standards so it's not a problem in my experience. The webcam is a bit poor but it's no worse than any other laptop webcam I've used and I don't know if anyone expects them to be beautiful so I don't see it as a problem either. I can't really speak on the battery life because I haven't actually used it on battery at all yet because of the intensity of the work I do. That metal casing is an absolute fingerprint magnet though. The photos I've included I took as I set the laptop up, having only just unpacked it (and I had just washed my hands after handling the box because of covid lol) and already you see some fingerprints.
I'm really happy though, I'd highly recommend this build.