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Horize W550EU Ultranote 3rd Gen i5/128SSD/8GB RAM/1920x1080/ 8 Cell Battery- $828.95 (Delivered)

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Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3360m 2.8Ghz - 3.5Ghz Turbo Processor
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz System Memory
Hard Drive: 128GB Plextor M5M mSATA, 2nd HDD Kit, Internal DVD+/-RW Burner
Screen Size: 15.6-inch IPS FULL-HD LED MATTE BACKLIT (1920x1080)
Graphics Card: Intel HD4000 Graphics
Networking: 802.11b/g/n WLAN, 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth
Operating System: Ubuntu 12.10
Special Feature: 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA. Surround Sound via Realtek. 2.0mp Webcam, Full Size Keyboard with Number Pad.
Condition: Brand New in Box with 8 Cell Battery [7 Hour Battery]
Weight: 1.95kg
Warranty: 1 year return to base warranty including full parts and labor + 90 Day 100% Pixel Guarantee

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closed Comments

  • +15

    What actually is the deal here? Unless something changed recently in the specs that I have missed it has been that price for a while now and thus is just normal price.

    • you are right, sorry i should have took that into consideration

    • True that, other thing I disagree with is the operating system is the up side :-P Steam is now on Ubuntu and a laptop that has Linux HCL is great!

      • +1

        I'd be hard pressed to find a laptop that doesn't have Linux/Ubuntu hardware compatibility. I know this use to be very much the opposite about 5-10 years ago but things have changed.

  • +2

    HD4000?!

    • +5

      firstly it says ultranote. secondly if we move into brand names, i would rather anything than an acer due to the fact i have returned an s3 i3 ($500 cashback harveynorman sale) twice due to it being so faulty and have returned e-machine a number of times that i bought a few years ago.

      • +14

        this one is all over Whirlpool. Its a fantastic unit.

        I rate it well over Acer/Asus because it has a 128Gb msata + FHD screen + the cpu and ram burns any laptop up to $1,000

        sure its a Clevo

        sure its HD4000

        sure it has no o/s

        sure you have to rely on LBO in Brisbane for any warranty work however saying that, can you rely on Acer and Asus for any warranty work thats not going to leave you without a laptop for weeks and weeks on end?

        i rate this above any laptop i've seen recently however this is an ordinary price so not a bargain per se

        i also would not recommend you buy this laptop if you dont know how to install your own o/s and know how to source drivers from Clevo

        if you're someone who cries to a tech support line for any 'support' well buy something else

        • "can you rely on Acer and Asus for any warranty work thats not going to leave you with a laptop for weeks and weeks on end?"

          Can you rely on this to not have your laptop for weeks and weeks on end?… What does that even mean, it's not like everyone has the same problems that require the same waiting period.

          But with that all said and done, Asus has a repair centre that's a 15 minute tram ride from the Melbourne CBD. Now even if you had to wait weeks upon weeks, they aren't going to dodge you because you know where they are and can hassle the crap out of them.

        • +1

          easy as hell to answer

          Asus have a flexible rubber band turnaround time… right now its between 7 to 10 working days once its assigned to a technician… that means they can sit on a unit for 2 weeks without doing anything thats assuming its been assigned to someone

          if it hasnt been assigned to anyone its sits in a queue until the next tech is free… and they have no penalties if they blow that SLA

          acer is even worse… they have no commitment to fix your laptop on any timeline

          i agree i do not like the fact that LBO only have one branch in Bris. - if you live in Bris this is not a problem.

          Any other questions you want answered?

        • You'll be waiting 2 weeks with this anyway, if you weren't living in Brisbane.

          It takes around 4 days on average to mail it, say 2 days to repair it, and then another 4 days to mail it. And that assumes it takes them 2 days to repair it.

          But I'm not bothered by waiting periods, as long as they are fixing it, what bothers me is actually sending the machine, as their website specifies they only cover 'return mailing costs'. That means you have to pay $20-25 registered post.

        • again, i agree with you

          i'm not 100% happy with their warranty where any fault occurs you have to send it back to Brisbane at your expense.

          however its a judgement call… if you can live with it, fine

          if you can't, don't - its a free country

          what you see is why I havent bought one yet

          i myself, can fix laptops so i dont have an issue supporting it

          if they had an office where i am and i could drop it off, i would have one

          but seeing the other laptops out there with MUCH worse specs and similarly unspectacular support still makes me gravitate towards this unit

        • It comes with an OS: Ubuntu 12.10. That may not be an important distinction to someone who likes Windows, but Linux users are used to either settling for a Windows laptop that may not fully support Linux or paying through the nose for an officially Linux supported laptop.

          I bought a Windows laptop after checking that each component supported Linux. After I bought the laptop I reread the review of one of the components and discovered that by "work" they meant that they had got it to partially sortof work for an hour or so before crashing. This laptop is now supported by Linux, but brand new laptops often aren't.

          tl;dr: For a Linux user any modern supported Linux laptop that is consumer priced is a bargain.

        • -1

          Tech support isn't there for just people who want to cry for any support, they are there for you to cry to when your graphics card gets fried or when your computer continues to freeze due to bad RAM.

          I would rate a Dell over any laptop if you want service.
          Bought laptop in Australia.
          I remember going to rural China and laptop broke due to heat or something. They sent somebody on the train out to where I am to fix it up free of charge.

          Had a friend who also had one break on him when he was in some obscure part of India, they came out and fixed the machine on site free of charge.

          Out of all the laptop companies I've dealt with, Dell must be the only one which does this. HP is starting to do it, but they charge you extra at time of purchase.

          Apple also does good warranty but they sometimes do take your laptop away, and they don't do on site as far as I know.

          Also the Linux laptop comment, hmmm doesn't Dell sell laptops with linux options? (They don't charge through the nose for it, in fact they charge you less! since they don't charge you anything for linux and take off an extra $100 or something for removing windows due to no need for a licence)

        • +3

          Ultranote is just their name for a laptop that is like the Ultrabook spec but doesnt 100% comply with it.

          HP have their own line called Sleekbook.

          AMD have their own line called Ultrathins.

          They are legitimate products and legitimate brands.

          If I had to choose one laptop I wouldnt choose a Clevo but I wouldnt put my faith in an Asus or Acer either.

          Brand names mean little these days. I used to trust Lenovo Thinkpads. With their current support problems, would i trust them now? No.

          I have my own legit copies of Windows so I can support myself. Again if you need support, go elsewhere, its not for you.

        • I agree with you on the Acer note, but what's wrong with Asus? Asus are generally a pretty good brand with quality products..

      • my 2009 dual core 5200 acer pc vista with their oem software and their upgrade disk whto win 7 which still gave me BSODs was fixed after finally complaining to fair trading only;

        now my own tech support told me the hardware needs fixing still! they just could not fix the daily BSODs which acer claimed to have fixed and said nothing wrong with hardware.

        wrote to acer. no reply again; now out of warranty. will have to complain to fair trading nsw again. some things never change.

    • the only support they have seems to be email and phone.

      Product page for the W550EU:
      http://www.horize.com/index.php/catalog/product/custom/id/28…

    • +2

      Are you serious? I would buy one of these over any OEM manufactured notebook. Asus, Dell, HP, Sony, whatever. They are reliable, have great specs, great warranty options and service and you will have a difficult time finding a Portable Machine with the same specs for the same price.

      • +3

        they also have a service manual that is trivial to find

        if you're an enthusiast you already know the ins and outs and you know this is a good unit

        the other thing i would say is that the base wlan card isnt very good… its a junky N150

        and the upgrade prices offered are too high but that isnt a problem for someone who can do their own upgrades

        i would buy one of these, in fact i probably will later in the year after Haswell

        and lol @ people who recommend Acer/Asus… like really? show me one that has FHD + msata + 8Gb with a good cpu for $799?

    • The laptop is actually a Clevo of which is very popular brand among mainly gamers. I tend to think of Clevos like the "custom PC" of laptops.
      Yes, there is support - if you need any help with it you could always contact Jack from LBO and he should be able to help you out.
      Driver support is on the Clevo website.
      Yes you can get a branded laptop for the same price but they would be lacking a dedicated SSD and a Full HD IPS display to say the least.

    • +5

      First, it is not ultrabook, second, Horize? what brand is that? any support? how about driver support update?

      Horize = Clevo = Metabox = Sager = Origin & 20 other different brand names
      They're all based off of Clevo barebone systems. Clevo is the ODM, Horize is the system builder/reseller.

      If you weren't aware, the old legacy Alienware systems were Clevo barebones before Dell bought them.

      Have a read of this for a quick overview of ODM's and Clevo:
      http://www.xoticpc.com/who-really-makes-laptops-the-industri…

      As for Horize support & drivers, I can't really say since I haven't owned one myself but they do have a 1 year return to base warranty with all costs covered including shipping.

      • I could remember owning an old Clevo laptop (P4 or PM?)
        that thing is very well built at its time, survive a few drops and still running!!
        it's bulky, fat & ugly ass, but I got it close to nothing so I was using it as spare,
        the point is: for it's age(the time I got it was C2D releases so it's old), it's a very good quality unit!

  • +1

    +1 for me.

    Good quality units, the service from LBO is decent, the fact that you can upgrade bits at a decent price is also fantastic.

    One of the best BFYB laptops currently on the market.

  • +1

    Not a bargain, just the regular price.
    It's an okay laptop but for what it is it's way too big and heavy and the customization options are far too limited.
    But then again everyone has different needs.

    • +1

      big = yes, its a 15.6" but i havent seen a cheap FHD 14" yet, have you?

      heavy = 1.95kg, i reckon thats ok for the performance

      customisation = expensive for what it is

      with all the downsides, i'd still get one

      if it had a GPU i'd have one like yesterday

      • Personally I think they could have some more CPU options, ssd options, maybe a option to not have a DVD and at least 2 screen options :)

        • +1

          you realise not even dell or lenovo have much in the way of customisation options anyway

          and you're complaining that a store with >ONE< shop doesnt have any?

        • -1

          Well others in the range have those options, This is one of the few that dont, probably because its close to the ultrabook specs.

        • Dell and Lenovo are a bit of a joke when it comes to it all.
          I'm just picky, I figure if you're going to offer these options why be so limited.

        • I share your attitude about Dell and Lenovo but however the industry has long moved to 'one size fits all'

          i do agree about optical drives… i'd get rid of them all

          you have to take LBO for what they are… a small shop who sell a generic unit from Taiwan

          i wouldnt take any of their options and just modify to my needs

        • SSD?(get an Samsung 840 PRO) not to have DVD?(pull the DVD out and put in a 2nd HDD)
          wireless card?(put in a better card!) CPU?(replace it when you feel that it's not enough!)

          I rather upgrade all the "optional" myself! than paying Dell/Lenovo/HP big $$$$$!
          only thing I would consider is the GPU but I don't play much games……..

      • mmmmmm I know Linux has steam but all of it's games still don't require that much graphics performance. Unless you're planning on installing Windows, are going to be using this as a media transcoding hub or expect to use this in a year or two for gaming for top end games on Linux then it doesn't really matter unless of course you're going to be putting Windows on it straight away but then it would probably be better to get a machine that already comes licensed.

  • Bought one a few weeks ago.

    For the specs, it is really a great money-for-value laptop. Screen is awesome 1080p matte IPS, and is quite powerful (i5). Great customer service by LBO and Jack as well; the chocolate is a nice touch.

    The negatives would probably be the aesthetics and feel of the case. The horize logo looks bad to me, and the plastic case means that the back area is really flexible. It also gets hot to the left of the touchpad, while remaining always cool on the right of it, which is slightly annoying. You also need to hold the bottom down to open the screen (no one-handed open)

    Still really happy with the purchase - always this price however

    • +1

      I've had one for a month now.
      Everything is great about it except the keyboard.

      And it's bigger than what I thought it'd be.
      In hindsight, for my needs, I should have gone with
      a 13.3".

      • Can you tell us about the perceived deficiencies of the keyboard? - thinking of getting one for my pop.

        • Some people mention the keyboard here too…

          http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1999448

          As per the comment in the link, it does have very little travel.
          And I am making a lot of typing mistakes on it.

          But I mostly use an external keyboard anyways (regardless of
          how good the laptop keyboard is), but nevertheless, I think
          the keyboard lets it down.

  • lol wow don't think that back logo could be any uglier… can it be debadged?

    • yes the logo is horrible

      if it was blank it'd be better

  • +2

    when i beafed it up to i7, quad core , 16gb ram 256ssd, a second hhd and better wifi card, it still came to a reasonable $1550 odd. thats alot of kit for a decent amount of money, amazing what you can get now days!

    1xHorize W550EU…$1,574.00
    Intel Ivy Bridge i7-3630QM 2.4-3.4Ghz Turbo, 16GB 1600Mhz RAM, Crucial 256GB mSATA 500/260 Mbs Read/Write, 750GB 7200rpm Hard Disk Drive, DVD+/-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner, Ubuntu Linux 12.10, Bigfoot Killer N 1103 Wireless Card (No Bluetooth), 15.6" 1920x1080 LG IPS Display, 1 Year RTB Warranty + 90 Day 100% Pixel Guarantee, 65 Watt Genuine Power Supply , 8 Cell Battery,
    Shipping$29.95
    Total $1,603.95

    • +4

      If you don't do some of that via their website, you can considerably bring it down:
      Don't do the following:
      RAM Upgrade
      HDD Upgrade
      Wireless Upgrade

      Laptop Comes to: $1,097.00

      Do the upgrades manually:
      RAM Upgrade (16GB): 2x 8GB Patriot $49 x 2 (Only need 1 stick if they already stick in 1x 8GB)
      HDD Upgrade: WD 7200rpm 750GB for $82.00.
      Wireless Upgrade: $80 off eBay for 'Bigfoot Killer N 1103 Wireless Card'.

  • +2

    A GPU upgrade would be nice. That FHD screen would go a good ways towards gaming.

    Any idea how long it would take for delivery?

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