Who has the Gigabyte P35K-CF4?

[Ricochet J]

To me this seems like a well rounded, light weight powerful laptop. Given the Christmas offer I'm tempted to buy one.

But the lack of reviews really put me off. Who owns one? What do you think?

Thank you.

 

[kevpuk]

I bought one a couple of weeks back, when it was on special offer for the day (but not quite as good as the current price )

So far, so good - really excellent laptop - very quick in everything I have used it for, and very happy with the build quality etc. I spent some time umming and ahhing over one of these, given the quality issues that some had experienced. In the end, pulled thi trigger and no regrets.

Only real issue I have is the wifi card - it is an Intel Centrino-N 2230, and I have suffered a bit with disconnection from my home wireless. After reading up, it seems that I am by no means alone with this, the card has a poor reputation with many. That said, after tinkering with various drivers and setups, I seem to have found a stable solution - not 100% what it is, but connectivity has been fine for the last few days

The laptop is nicely made, IMHO, and a very decent spec. Fans do come on a bit, even under quite light use, but I think this is perfectly acceptable from such components in as slim a chassis - in any case, I have never found the fan noise distracting/annoying.
Not a lot of bloat installed, either, which is good, and the screen is really very decent - especially after rafts of previous machines using relatively cheap TN panels.....

To my mind, it is an excellent laptop - high spec, decent performance and solid build - all for a currently very attractive price

 

[Ricochet J]

I've heard about the wireless dropping. That really concerns me tbh. I don't want to mess about with settings. I want a complete product out from the box.

It's one of the things which is stopping me from clicking "buy now"!

 

[kevpuk]

I've heard about the wireless dropping. That really concerns me tbh. I don't want to mess about with settings. I want a complete product out from the box.

It's one of the things which is stopping me from clicking "buy now"!

Was mildly frustrating in the first few days.....mainly as I was migrating a few hundred MBs of media files from the desktop to the P35K. In the end, I just connected via Ethernet, which was also a load faster

Your mileage may vary on wireless issues, of course - if the Intel card is totally borked, then it is unlikely to be in continuing use. My thoughts are that it is flaky with certain kit/driver combinations, perhaps, and that can exasperate. Mind you, has given me the thought of upgrading to a newer shinier router - my DIR-655 is prett decent, but some of the AC ones out there look great - Asus AC68U is my current leaning.....but then I would feel the need to change the wireless card in the P35K......

I would have to define as mildly frustrating, rather than broken on the whole, and now (much crossing of fingers!) resolved for me.....

 

[Ricochet J]

Was mildly frustrating in the first few days.....mainly as I was migrating a few hundred MBs of media files from the desktop to the P35K.

I don't think this is for me then. As well as a few games I'm going to be working from home. I need the ability to remote into my work PC and transfer large files. If the Wi Fi is going to drop every five minutes then I'll rather give it a miss.

 

[nath222]

I've actually just ordered one, as i really couldn't resist the price.
I believe i read about someone fixing the wifi issues, but i couldn't find the correct post about this. I've been searching some forums i read for the past half hour trying to find the post, but i can't. If i do find the post, i'll link it.

This is a question for kevpuk, do you have any issues with flexing with your p35k cf4?

 

[Ricochet J]

I was dead set on the P35K until I heard about wifi issues. I'm really thinking about the new Dell XPS 15 which is very similarly specced.

 

[nath222]

I had my heart set on the dell XPS 15, but it also had huge wifi issues at launch. Also it struggled with throttling. The previous xps 15 also struggled with wifi issues, so it came as a shock that they would release the new one, with the same issues! However i have ceased to read (http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/735403-xps-15-haswell-owners-lounge.html) now. So these issues could be non-existent!
It seemed that there was no high end windows laptop that was worth going for, as they all seemed to be plagued with issues. But now i am in need, so have had to make a purchase.

 

[Ricochet J]

Hi nath,

I'm in the same boat. I need a laptop quick. I need to make a choice quick. I know I said earlier that I'd give this Gigabyte laptop a miss, however I keep going back and thinking about it.

I'd be interested in hearing your views when you take delivery.

For me it's basically between the Gigabyte P35K or the Dell XPS 15.

 

[nath222]

Well the laptop is sitting in my parents house, in Yorkshire, waiting patiently. I'm making my way up north over the next few days but I will arrive on Monday, so will definitely post my review of it. Hoping there are no flexing issues. And I'll also check the wifi out. For £1400 it should be a quilty piece of kit.

 

[Ricochet J]

Well the laptop is sitting in my parents house, in Yorkshire, waiting patiently. I'm making my way up north over the next few days but I will arrive on Monday, so will definitely post my review of it. Hoping there are no flexing issues. And I'll also check the wifi out. For £1400 it should be a quilty piece of kit.

I'm in Leeds and can go to your parents house for tea and to check the laptop out

 

[hp01jpc]

I recently got one of these (the lower specced version). I haven't had an issue with the wireless at all. When I got it, I updated Windows and got all the latest drivers for all the internals. There is a utility that comes pre-installed which I used to do all the updates; BIOS, graphics, wireless card, pretty much everything.

So I'm not sure if one of these drivers might have been the issue with the wireless but I've downloaded gigs of game files on Steam and I haven't noticed it drop once.

I researched this thoroughly before I bought it. You're probably aware but there is a huge thread on this machine here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gigabyte/720395-new-gigabyte-p35k.html

I found most of the testimonials and anecdotes on this thread to be accurate. The fans do get rather loud, the trackpad is pretty abysmal and no matter what Gigabyte say there is a fundamental issue with the structure of the laptop near the front. Mine is nowhere near as bad as some of the pictures and horror stories but it's not perfect, so if you're wanting Apple quality finish then you better look elsewhere!

In my opinion, with a few caveats, it's a terrific machine. Given the weight and profile, the performance is great and the screen is fantastic. Post-purchase-justification aside, I would recommend it!

 

[adrianyoung]

I had that problem with the Wi-Fi too. I've upgraded the drivers with the ones from the Intel website (to version 15.10.5.1) and it works fine now. The Gigabyte update software still recommends a much older version.

 

[kevpuk]

<snip>I haven't had an issue with the wireless at all.<snip>

Which wireless driver have you got running?

I had that problem with the Wi-Fi too. I've upgraded the drivers with the ones from the Intel website (to version 15.10.5.1) and it works fine now. The Gigabyte update software still recommends a much older version.

Good to know.....

My wifi has been markedly improved, after removing the Intel Wireset or whatever software and driver, then re-installing driver. That said, I have still had the occasional drop-off.....will check what driver I am currently running and perhaps install the version mentioned above - I think that this is newer than I currently have installed.
To be on the safe side, I thought I would upgrade my router too - have been running a DIR-655 for years, but have a shiny RT-AC68U arriving from OcUK today

FWIW, I have no idea how to get at the wireless card.....it is not readily accessible from the hatch on the underside, so I suspect the whole base has to come off.....