iBuyPower's Valkyrie CZ-17 Rides In
by Dustin Sklavos on June 18, 2012 10:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Gaming
- iBuyPower
- Ivy Bridge
- geforce 600M
- Notebooks
Ordinarily we try to avoid posting announcements of every new notebook system from individual boutique vendors since most of the time what they're really announcing is that they're carrying the latest notebook from Clevo or Compal. Today's announcement from iBuyPower is slightly out of the ordinary, though: their new 17" gaming notebook, the Valkyrie CZ-17, appears to be using an MSI design.
Spec-wise, most of the Valkyrie CZ-17 is par for the course for a 17" notebook. It includes Intel's Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors (no i3 or i5) and quad cores only as befitting a gaming machine. Handling graphics duties is NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 670M with 1.5GB of GDDR5, a rebranded GTX 570M with slightly higher clocks. In their press release iBuyPower advertises the CZ-17 being available with the GTX 675M, but that part doesn't appear to be available as an option yet. Hopefully we'll see it updated to a GTX 680M or AMD Radeon HD 7970M at some point in the future, though, as the chip behind the GTX 670M is getting a little long in the tooth.
Rounding it out, the CZ-17 sports two 2.5" drive bays, an optical bay that can be configured with a blu-ray writer, and four SO-DIMM slots for up to 32GB of DDR3. The screen offers a full 1080p resolution, and the keyboard is backlit. iBuyPower's big claim to fame is inclusion of Killer LAN E2200 gigabit wired ethernet connection, though we'd really be more impressed if they also offered the Killer Wireless-n module.
What actually is impressive is the comparatively low 6.85lb. body weight for a 17" gaming notebook; Alienware's M17x R3/R4 weighs a good two pounds more.
The iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17 is available now starting at a reasonable $1,299.
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rvagg - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Not Clevo or Compal but MSIhttp://www.msi.com/product/nb/GT783-GT783R-.html
http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GT780DX-GT780DXR-.ht...
JarredWalton - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
Yup, you're right. I noticed the same thing and have edited Dustin's article to reflect this fact.madoka - Thursday, June 21, 2012 - link
Part of buying a computer is knowing how the manufacturer will stand by the product. I recently learned that ibuypower will not stand behind theirs.They sent out a batch of defective computers. When I tried to cancel my order, my customer service rep begged me to keep it saying that when they had a fix, they would call me and repair it. I never received that call.
When I drove it into their business, the customer service supervisor, Steven Wong, initially acknowledged the fact that they sent out defective computers, but said that the service rep did not work there any more so he couldn't verify my story. After repeatedly telling me how they would never fix my computer, he changed his story and claimed they would never send out a defective computer. When I told him to look on their own forums where others have complained and the company acknowledged the problem, he said it didn't matter since he wasn't going to do anything about it. Not only did he get caught in this lie, he then had the nerve to accuse me of lying about the promises the customer service rep gave me. This is the head of the customer service department folks. This is who you will have to deal with when you have a problem with their products.
When I asked to talk to his supervisor, he said only the president of the company is above him and the president refuses to EVER meet with a customer. How's that for customer service? If a computer assembler / manufacturer refuses to fix their products, you might as well make it yourself.
randinspace - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
どどどどうするきなんだ、鮎川さん!! *ahem (Kimagure Orange Road/Ayukawa Madoka flashback, sorry)Seriously speaking I think a lot of us can relate with the sentiment: "If a computer assembler / manufacturer refuses to fix their products, you might as well make it yourself." Next only to price in some scenarios (I'm sure we're all familiar with the "I specced the same system for $x less on Newegg" comments ubiquitous to AT reviews) I think this fear/unfortunate reality is the biggest motivation for DIY PC building/assembling, beyond even performance.
That said I'm sorry to hear iBuypower took advantage of you like that, but thanks for sharing your story. I'm sure that given the chance to do over you'd go back and cut into your work/personal time (so many people lose track of the fact that the theoretical goal of assembling a PC is to use it for things that are even more awesome than trolling message boards) to the degree necessary to spec, test, overclock, and test some more yourself, but hopefully your speaking out has inspired others to do so.
So remember kids, friends don't let friends iBuyPower and drive.
ec0dy - Friday, January 3, 2014 - link
I had a similar VERY BAD experience with IBUYPOWER. I bought this laptop and had issues with the power connector in the back. One month out of warranty the power connector on the MOBO started arching and shorting out. I spoke with several customer service people and nobody would help. They wanted $700 to make the repairs and they would not just sell me a new MOBO. I am sharing my story wherever I can and am creating negative reviews for every product of theirs I find on the internet. I have already created about 35 negative reviews online. I hope that I can turn enough people off from the brand to overcome the cost for them to warranty the shotty computer that they sold me. BE WARE PEOPLE - DO NOT BUY THIS BRAND COMPUTER - THEY DO NOT STAND BEHIND THE PRODUCT!!!Drittz121 - Friday, February 28, 2014 - link
Just do yourself a favor. STAY AWAY from this company. Yes they look good. But when it breaks and it WILL. All they do is give you the run around. They have had my system for over 2 months trying to fix the garbage they sell. Worse company out there for support. DONT BUY