thinking about purchasing from XoticPC

hello guys. originally purchased the lenovo y510p. returned that POS and decided i needed to spend some real money on a real laptop.

looking at xoticpc.com. are they reputable? and what's the deal with their cash discount? seems kind of fishy to me.

 

You can try GentechPC. Ken provides great service, and have sold tons of notebooks to members of this forum. He even writes in this forum from time to time to offer help.

Highly recommended.

XoticPC is also reputable. They been around for quite some time too.

 

just checked gentec. i think they are in CA because they are charging me tax? xoticpc is not apparently.

 

Yeah they are located in California.
XoticPC is in Nebraska I think

 

MSI prices, from what I see, are equal at all places. Check who gives you free stuff (IC Diamond paste) or 1 RAM stick.

 

xoticpc has a barebones GT70 with GTX 780M for 1635.00 it's pretty tempting. only has single color keyboard and 1 year warranty

 

And not that glowing MSI logo on the lid

 

would the GT70 be a good purchase? i don't know much about MSI. need a good laptop for work, school and of course gaming.

 

Best there is. Depends what GPU you pick though. GTX 780M will max everything

PS: The new GT70 models is very quiet when not gaming. So ideal for work/school

 

looking at the GT60 model barebones. just about the same price. not sure about the 17 inch. i need to haul this bad boy around from work to school to home almost everyday.

what do you guys think? 15 or 17?

 

I would recommend Gentechpc. Mine is from them, it's still on the way however. They are highly reputable and provide top-notch customer service. In terms of price, MSI resellers are price-matching so all of them are the same but Gentech is probably the only one that offers IC diamond for free. I am not saying Xoticpc is not good. Xoticpc is also a reputable reseller, if what you are looking for is a clevo, it does not matter from whom you buy. However, when it comes to MSI, Gentechpc would be a better choice, since, from my personal perspective of view, so far xoticpc has not showed as much enthusiasm on MSI as they showed on Clevo. They have several sales reps active on Clevo forum, but up to now I guess none of them has ever showed up on MSI forum, whereas Ken is always an active member here. Besides, you may ask yourself, whether you want to deal with the boss himself, which would be the case if you buy from gentech, or you want to deal with a sales rep from xoticpc.

 

the barebones i got, IC diamond was offered for free.

here are the specs -

SUMMER SAVINGS!: SUMMER SAVINGS - SAVE $50.00 (My order is over $1500.00, excludes taxes and shipping)
- Free Shipping: FREE!!! – U.S. UPS GROUND SHIPPING (Use Coupon Code "FREESHIP" in Checkout) [U.S. Lower 48 ONLY / Restrictions Apply]
- Current Promotion: FREE!!! - FIREFALL Exclusive BETA Key w/ Purchase! [limited time offer / while supplies last]
- Display: 15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Matte Type Screen (SKU - X1R354)
- Dead Pixel Warranty: FREE!!! - 30 Day "No Dead Pixel" Guarantee! (Limited Time Only / XPC Service)
- Monitor Calibration: NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Processor: 4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4700MQ (2.4GHz - 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache) - IN STOCK! (SKU – X2X913)
- Thermal Compound: FREE!!! - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU (Cools better than all Compounds) (XPC Service)
- Graphics Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 780M 4,096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 w/ Optimus™ Technology
- Copper Cooling Upgrade: No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- External Display Video Adapters: No Video Adapter
- External Mobile Display: No External Mobile Display
- Ram: 12GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-434BP] (Dual Channel Memory (3x4GB SODIMMS))
- Exterior Finish - Skins & Wraps: Standard Laptop Finish
- Exterior Finish - XOTIC PC Laser-Sketch™: No Laptop Laser-Sketch™
- mSATA SSD Drive - Configuration Option: Independant Confirguration of mSATA's in Primary HDD Bay (If selecting mSATA Options these will replace primary hard drive with mSATA’s selected below)
- mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 1 ): No mSATA SSD - [ mSATA Caddy = 2 x mSATA In Primary Hard Drive ] (if selected, no primary hard drive below)
- mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 2 ): No mSATA SSD - [ mSATA Caddy = 2 x mSATA In Primary Hard Drive ] (if selected, no primary hard drive below)
- mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 3 ): No mSATA SSD - [ MSI Super RAID 2 mSATA Caddy = 3 x mSATA In Primary Hard Drive ] (if selected, no primary hard drive below)
- Primary Hard Drive: 500GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default (SKU - X5R202)
- Second Hard Drive: No Second Hard Drive (Primary Hard Drive Required When Adding a Secondary Hard Drive) (SKU - X6R953)
- Raid: HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- Optical Drive Bay: Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (SKU - X7R451)
- Optical Drive Bay Hard Drive Caddy: No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- External Hard Drive (Back Up): No Back Up Hard Drive
- External USB Optical Drive: NO External USB Optical Drive
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth Included *With select wireless cards only* (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Wireless Network: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Dual Band Wireless-N 1202 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module + Bluetooth 4.0 | Up to 300Mbps (2x2) - Default (SKU – X8R117)
- Wireless Network Accessories: No Network Accessory
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Camera: Integrated Digital Video Camera

 

Besides, if you are still hesitating whether to buy an MSI, you actually do not have to. When you start to look for a gaming laptop, you always have four choices, Alienware, Clevo, Asus and MSI. Alienware is pricey, and their exterior finish(model design, lights on the top lid, etc) may not meet everybody's taste. Clevo is good, although fan noise has always been a problem. But...just look at the new models they are using on 157/177SM, they are so cute, I have to say. Asus provides top-notch design, workmanship and cooling, but the new G750 is highly integrated, if you want to get access to its fans to clean the fan dust you will almost have to tear it to pieces, so I would not buy a G750, but it is only me, if you do not care then G750 is also a good choice. Well, lastly, MSI. I cannot find a reason why not to choose MSI. Eyes-attracting model, steel-series keyboard, decent audio, nice cooling, relatively low noise, easy to maintenance...MSI has been making laptops for maybe ten years? They have really improved a lot. So do not hesitate anymore.

 

i have decided on a bare bones GT60 with GTX 780M. total came to 1670.00

 

Is the IC Diamond paste recommended? Does doing that invalidate the MSI warranty?

I'm looking to order a GT70 soon and was curious about the GenTechPC site, as I've never used them before.

 

Both Gentechpc and Xoticpc are reputable and you can't go wrong. Get it from Xoticpc if you are near the eastcoast or Midwest and grab it from Gentech if you are near the west coast. Also grab it from Xotic if you are from Cali so you don't get charged Tax and grab it from Gentech if you are from Nebraska.

 

yeah i went with xoticpc. no tax and free shipping. saved 50 bucks on the order too.

 

Awesome purchase man MSI laptops are awesome! 780m is trully a beast of a card.

 

purely a matter of opinion really ..

 

So is the idea behind getting a barebones laptop so that you can buy parts cheaper on your own? I ask because I've been thinking about doing the exact same thing with a GT60 or GT70 780m barebones..

 

Hauling a 17.3" gaming notebook around is no fun but it's a great size for gaming.

Maybe an inexpensive tablet to carry to class in addition to the gaming notebook?

This is the gaming notebook I've been looking at but without an ODD and any hard drives.I have my own OS and SSDs
Gaming Laptops - GenTech PC - Gaming Notebooks - Custom Laptops - Custom Notebooks - Customize System

 

What is a good ssd? If I have more money tucked in later I think I would like to have an ssd big enough for windows 8 and maybe Microsoft office suite.

 

I personally go for big SSDs rather than the top performers. That's because I use them for gaming and general use, instead of actual hardcore loads like a server. Thus! I often make the jump and buy stuff like the Crucial 960GB SSDs, or my previous ones, dual 512GB SSDs. Back them I got them cheap, but SSD prices raised slightly. Right now the best is probably a Samsung 840 pro.

 

yeah 1670.00 is a great deal for a laptop with a 780m and a haswell processor. Since there is an extra sata slot you can either put a SSD there, or put an msata adapter and put up to three msata ssds there.

 

is that something easy to do? never pretty touched a laptop before

 

SSD removes a major bottleneck in today's computers, so yes, OS on SSD is pretty much a must. MSI laptops are easy to customize. Just open your bottom panel and you will have access to majority of internal components including heatpipes and fans.

If I have a choice of SSD + 770m or 5400rpm HDD + 780m, I will choose SSD + 770m in a heartbeat. Once you go SSD, you will never look back.

So, unless it is your destiny to destroy your laptop, nothing should happen as long as you follow common sense.

 

i already got the 780m and hdd. but i would probably want to add a SSD later along with the hdd. are the price for ssd coming up? they actually seem to be going up...

 

Just get a cheap 128gb msata SSD and install your OS on it. High grade or low grade, you won't notice any difference with your eyes. You will see plenty of differences if you run benchmarks though.

128gb SSD is like 100 bucks. For the performance or rather sharpness it gives, it's a steal. Besides, your laptop has got s***load of msata slots. Use it.

 

so in order to install hdd and ssd i would need an adapter right? can someone help me find this adapter? sorry i'm new to all this stuff...

 

Huh? No, you don't need an adapter. If your laptop is MSI GT70, it already has whooping 3 msata slots once you open your bottom panel. You just stick it in and bolt in down, go into your BIOS and resort your boot order accordingly, pop in your win disk or win usb disk and go.

Install will finish in 10 ~ 15 min and you will be good to go.

 

no i got the GT60 barebones...

 

Still should have same amount of msata slots. Just google msata slot and see how it looks like. It's not that hard.

 

You should open up the bottom cover of your laptop so you can see your HDD slots normal 2.5 inch HDDs fit on the bottom slot and depending on your model, the upper slot uses mSata or another 2.5 inch slot.

 

so basically all ssd would work right?

 

It either has one msata slot or zero, all of the non barebones msi gt70s and 60s with ssds come with an msata adapter that has room for up to 3 mSata ssds.

 

Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme, OCZ Vector, Samsung 840 Pro, or Corsair Neutron GTX for ssd?

 

There seems to be a lot of love available for Samsung's Pro line. I have only used Crucial, Sandisk and Intel.

 

my buddy says that the samsung ssd breaks down a lot. not sure if this is true and i haven't really read a lot of people with problems with the samsung.

i just like their prices.

 

I haven't heard anything like that. Try googling sites that review SSds. Anecdotal evidence is hardly good when it comes to purchasing something Make sure you get lots of info! All I have heard are prices for the samsung pro line.

 

From what I've determined from my own research with the barebone 780m machines, you will not have the mSATA adapter by default unless you have a reseller install it for you, so yes, you need to stick with regular 2.5" SSD... I had great luck with the Samsung 840 PRO and would definitely buy again... but any good brand SSD will be a great drive for you.

I so far have not been able to find an mSATA adapter for the barebones and is one of the reasons I haven't ordered yet, simply because I'd like to use a Crucial mSATA drive I've already got sitting around.

Let us know how you like the laptop and how long it takes to get shipped out! I'm very tempted to buy the exact same machine. Have fun!

 

Is there a msata adapter for 2.5 inch harddrive that can hold 2 msata? I am not looking to raid them or anything. I just want more logical drives.

 

There's nothing wrong with going Samsung. Some problems may arise from using their firmware which isn't necessary to run.

I would go with Samsung 840 PRO. I installed a 830 in my GT70 which runs great (sans firmware).

I hope you have better experience with XOTIC than I did.

 

just read the whole 3 pages. i'm having my fingers crossed...

 

wow i can't believe i just did this.

i didn't want to wait for the barebones.

so i upgraded to MSI GT60 2OD-026US. i figure its probably going to save me money anyways. because i'm going to want a ssd later and i need to get windows on the barebones. so for extra 329 i would get all that plus more ram and a blu ray drive and 2 yr plus 1 yr accidental warranty and quite possibly a better keyboard and speakers.

 

My experience with Xotpic wasn't positive, either.

As for SSDs, I prefer Intel SSD over others.

 

what happened with order?

 

They process orders manually, and my credit card order kept getting postponed due to human errors on their part (Wrong cc related info). The most annoying part was they would contact me near end of a business day, resulting each of their mistakes cost me a full day.

After 4 days of nothing but frustrations, I cancelled that order and ordered it from somewhere else and got my order processed in less than few hours. So, I never actually got past their verification phase, so I didn't make a big deal about my experience on the forums.

 

i didn't experience any issues with the verification process. but now i'm just waiting for the laptop. for them to do the lcd check for dead pixels, it will take maybe 5-12 business days. such a bummer when i heard that

 

They make the deadline longer in case some customers bug them. In reality, they tend to ship a lot faster than that. 5 ~ 12 business days is the worst case scenario, I bet. You should have put in rush order which then you could have your laptop shipped as early as 1 business day.

 

Mine took two weeks to receive after ordering.

I had also thought they had price matched (bit of devious tactics to purchase) AND give NBR customers preferential treatment.

Another disgruntled customer's opinion.

Yet another.