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Just Ordered: Equinox

Post Date: 2014-09-30
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Calico Jack View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote Calico Jack Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Just Ordered: Equinox
    Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 11:54am
I did my research and I think I'm going to be extremely happy with the Equinox.  I didn't want a boat anchor of a 17" gaming laptop... something more on par with the form factor of a MacBook Pro was what I was looking for.  Something I can easily move around the house and lightweight enough to conveniently use whenever I want.  It really came down to the Equinox and the Razer Blade.  So glad I discovered Digital Storm.  Looking at specs the Equinox should blow the Blade out of the water and for a good deal less money.  The only thing I'm concerned about is that I got the automated e-mail that stated that my Equinox should ship in 15 business days.  I payed the extra for the Priority Build option that states it will be built in 4.  Can anyone comment on this?  I'm hoping that is just a canned e-mail and that the laptop get to me by the end of next week.

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Equinox 15.6 Inch Laptop (Model: M:16H2)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Anti-glare) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 4700HQ (Up to 3.40Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Premium CPU and GPU Thermal Compound (Reduces Thermal & Laptop Noise)
Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
Storage Drive 1: 256GB Extreme Performance Solid State Storage (2x RAID Setup - 128GB M2 SATA)
Storage Drive 2: 1TB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s)
Optical Drive: Option Not Available
Wireless Card: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0
Graphics Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M 3GB with NVIDIA Battery Boost + NVIDIA Optimus
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office Suite: - No Thanks
Cooling Pad: - No Thanks
Extra Charger: Extra Charger for Equinox (Model: M:16H2) 
Extra Battery: - No Thanks
Carry Bag: - No Thanks
Audio: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: Please Prioritize: Ship Within Four Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed 
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)
 
Sub-Total: $2,302.00
Tax: $0.00
S&H: 3-Day Air $75.56
Grand Total: $2,377.56
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Gunlord View Drop Down
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Posts: 187 		  Quote Gunlord Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 12:12pm
Hey there, Calico Jack! Glad to see you here. In reference to the email, it is just a canned email and it should be shipped out within 4 days. However, two things. First, it says *shipped out* in 4 days, the amount of time it takes to deliver may be different. Second, they *may* run into problems on the way. I got priority build on my lance as well, but they ran out of the chassises. I found this out when I called them, and they agreed to refund the 99 dollar priority build charge. The best part was that it shipped just a day late, so they were *almost* on time anyways 8) But yes, I would recommend calling them directly to make absolutely sure everything's on schedule.

Anyways, when you do get it, post a review and tell us how it is! I was wondering how the Equinox was myself, I considered buying it rather than the Lance but figured I could use a CD drive on this machine.
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 1:56pm
Hi Calico,

Great laptop purchase! Thank you for choosing Digital Storm. The automated messages can be generic, if you ordered priority service, it will get shipped sooner. We do have plenty of stuck of this new Equinox model so it should not be an issue.

If you would like a confirmation, feel free to send our team a message here: https://www.digitalstormonline.com/request-help.asp
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 2:44pm
Congrats.

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Calico Jack View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote Calico Jack Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 3:31pm
OP here...

Got a phone call right away from Digital Storm.  My Equinox will be built and shipped by TOMORROW!!!!  I am so impressed with this company.  I'll give you the full report once I get it which should be Saturday or at latest Monday.
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 3:34pm
That's what I call, Service. Great to hear.
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Roykirk View Drop Down
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Posts: 951 		  Quote Roykirk Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Sep 2014 at 4:26pm
Looking forward to your review of the Equinox!
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Calico Jack View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote Calico Jack Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Oct 2014 at 11:18am
I received my Equinox last Friday.  Would have gotten it a day earlier but Fedex tried to deliver it during the day while I was at work.  I should have had them deliver it to a nearby Fedex Office location.

Anyway, I really love this machine!  Seems bigger than a 15" laptop.  The touchpad took a bit of getting used to but I've gotten the hang of it now.  Even if you can't see the right and the left mouse buttons at the bottom they are still there and you can click them.  The gestures, taps, and clicks are all customizable with included software.

I mostly play MMOs and they look beautiful on this rig.  World of Warcraft looks amazing with the new update and everything turned up to ultra.  Same goes for Guild Wars 2.  Can't wait to see what SWTOR looks like since my old rig could never push maximum graphics settings.

I really don't have anything but praise for this machine.  The only minor detail is that the fans obviously kick on when you are using anything that requires the graphics accelerator.  That is to be expected but the internal speakers on the laptop aren't all that loud so the fans can drown out some of the sound.  Headphones or external speakers with their own amp would be good to have for this machine.

Also, I figured out which Fn and Keyboard button to push to change colors on the keyboard but it only goes from dark blue to aqua.  I was under the impression that they could handle red (from the product page) and possibly others (I like purple myself).  I haven't seen any software installed on the machine to manipulate this and as my laptop doesn't have a CD/DVD drive if the software is on one of the CDs that were included then it doesn't do me a whole lot of good.

Still this is the perfect laptop for me.  Lightweight and convenient enough that I'll actually use it and powerful enough for anything I can throw at it.  A+ for Digital Storm.
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krappei View Drop Down
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Posts: 18 		  Quote krappei Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 17 Oct 2014 at 9:29am
How has the battery life been so far? Have you taken any benchmarks and temperature readings when playing games?
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Oct 2014 at 12:14pm
Awesome review. Can you create a new thread and post pictures as well? You are one of the first customers to post a review of the Equinox and it would be very helpful for others.
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Fatalyz View Drop Down
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Posts: 10 		  Quote Fatalyz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Oct 2014 at 5:55pm
I don't think you did your research too well. I bought mine quite recently. I have to admit, the performance is amazing. It runs games better than my desktop.

My issue with the equinox is not with performance though. After using it for a few weeks I realized something, The keyboard light color is not RED. So I talk to support and they tell me to download the steelseries engine to be able to change the back light. So I was like, cool I'll go do that. I download it with the link that they give me and which links me to the MSI website to get the correct software and drivers. It turns out that this exact laptop is in fact the GS60 Ghost Pro by MSI. I look on newegg and discover you can actually the same product with superior specs(gtx 970m vs 870M, 4710HQ i7 vs 4700HQ i7) and screen for cheaper(3k screen vs non 3k screen)! Free shipping too! The only down side to that particular build is that ssd memory only will have 128gb. all this for 200$ cheaper.

I mean fine, I buy Digital Storm for the customer service and quality but I fail to see it in the equinox. The fact that most of the drivers for the laptop were horribly out of date; it was so bad that the touchpad literally stopped working on me and I had to update the drivers, not to mention the keyboard lighting can't change(tech support doesn't even know why and I'm STILL waiting on a fix). Another nitpicky thing, none of the decals in the video ad are on my laptop. I literally just got a black laptop with 3 stickers on it.

All in all I'm pretty disappointed and regret my purchase. Of course I have to admit it was my fault that I didn't do enough research overall and feel really stupid now that I found the actual laptop I bought was not the "equinox" but the GS60 Ghost Pro by MSI.





I'm going to post an official review of it in a separate thread


Edited by Fatalyz - 22 Oct 2014 at 6:09pm
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ArkansasWoman777 View Drop Down
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Posts: 4314 		  Quote ArkansasWoman777 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Oct 2014 at 7:21pm
DS doesn't make the laptops they just build them. The laptop shells they get are from Sager, Clevo or MSI i believe and they rebrand them. Could be wrong so Alex or Nav will have to confirm.
"Captain Sirius Black"
Storm Trooper
i5 3570k

Ordered: 11-27-12
Stage 1: 11-29-12
Stage 2: 12-2-12
Stage 3: 12-2-12
Stage 4: 12-4-12
Stage 5: 12-4-12
Stage 6: 12-10-12
Stage 7: 12-12-12
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 10:19am
Correct. Going with a product from Digital Storm means that you're getting far more than just the actual components that go in, I'll explain:

1. Assembly - A laptop is put togeather by our team

2. Testing - We configure the operating system, install drivers, run our stress tests and benchmarks on the unit

3. QA - Our team does a detailed quality check on the unit.

4. Service & Support - If you run into issues, our team is here to help take care of you.

5. Warranty - You're covered by our warranty service and lifetime support.

Those items have costs, and that's what gets factored in for what you pay for.

Edited by Alex - 23 Oct 2014 at 10:20am
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 10:22am
@Fatalyz, can you send me an email directly please with your order details? My email address is "[email protected]" and I would like to help you along with our team on the keyboard light issue and anything else that needs attention.
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Fatalyz View Drop Down
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Posts: 10 		  Quote Fatalyz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 1:42pm
Originally posted by Alex

@Fatalyz, can you send me an email directly please with your order details? My email address is "[email protected]" and I would like to help you along with our team on the keyboard light issue and anything else that needs attention.


I've already talked to Mike and had him remote connect to me laptop with no luck. He said he would do some more research on this problem and hasn't gotten back to me.

Honestly, I personally thought this was something that should have been done before sending me my laptop.
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 2:28pm
I'm not sure why your lights are blue, as all factory laptops ship as red. Something must have happened that caused this. If you can get in touch with me as well, we'll be more than happy to find a solution for you.
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