iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-28 (laptop) review

[theroflcopta]

Alright so I'm deciding to do a review of my laptop. Few things number one there isn't a unboxing since I've had this for about 2 months now, and it might be a bit scuffed some places but yeah i've been using it a lot for 2 months so that's to be expected. Also it's my first like lengthy review and it's about 4 in the morning so it'll be bad

 

 

The Valkyrie CZ-28 is a 17" laptop and I went with the all Radeon variant

 

Quick spec list

CPU:A10-5870m processor clocked at 2.5ghz 

 

GPU: 8970m 2gb vRAM 

 

Memory: 16gbs DDR3 

 

HDD: 750GB 

 

I purchased this laptop for 1200usd on sale. On newegg it hovers around 1400usd but goes on sale often. I bought it for school aswell as crashing at my friends since I was sick of lugging my rig everywhere. Although it doesn't have an SSD it is still pretty quick from sleep and never feels sluggish though this may change as I load up the HDD over time. It is fairly quiet all the time even in gaming situations. Although the fans ramp up A LOT when you turn it on or wake it from sleep than slowly goes back to normal after a good 6 seconds, which gets annoying. It also weighs around 4-8 pounds I don't have a scale to check right now but it has a bit of heft to it. 

 

The physical shell is an all plastic construction while it isn't the most durable it still feels solid and has had some big bumps and falls and nothing to show for it which is nice. But I'd still be careful with it. The top cover has a nice brushed aluminum look to it that looks pretty nice combined with the LED decals on the back. 

 

 

While I do find decals like these a little obnoxious on laptops since you might use it for things other than sitting at your house gaming. Such as school, work or traveling and might appreciate something more discrete or nothing at all. It isn't a company name or something which is nice and it doesn't look terrible. But still I wish they'd stop putting giant flashy lights on laptops when you might be using it to take notes in class.

 

 

The keyboard is blue LED backlit but only has an on/off setting no brightness adjustments aswell as no color variation. It has chiclet keys and feels very nice to type on. The key strokes are very quiet but have a nice deep sound when you mash them kinda like tapping a hardwood desk. The layout is okayish my major gripe is the right shift button was shortened so they could fits the arrow keys and while it isn't awful it does take a little of time getting used to. A function key augmenter is how you operate the media keys. The volume and screen brightness controls are mapped to the arrow keys which means you need to use 2 hands to alter those setting, which is a little annoying as I'd much rather have the function key on the right and the windows key on the left than I would only need to use one hand. There are also Touch buttons near the base of the screen control things like keyboard LED on/off, airplane mode, turbo fan etc etc...

 

 

The screen is 1080p and from what I can tell is TN. Although it isnt awful viewing angles are actually quite good. They arent as good as IPS for example but I'd say its a good 140 degrees horizontal before you start seeing any changes in colors. Vertical is not great to be honest just keep it pointed straight at you and you will be fine.

 

Game performance is damn good though. Now I'm sure most of you know this but when gaming on a laptop you will get worse performance when you are not plugged in so I will try to give two settings lists for the games im going to list.

 

First off crysis 2 which is probably the most demanding game I own. 

 

Plugged in: Was running at second to highest settings at 1080p averaging around 35-50 fps constantly which is more than acceptable for me felt perfectly smooth the whole time no weird lag or stuttering.

 

On battery: I had to run at lowest settings at 900p to attain a constant 40+ experience and still had some dips into the low 30s

 

Borderlands 2

 

Plugged in: Again maxed setting NO FILTERS 1080p staying above 35 fps constantly again very smooth very consistent

 

On battery: Pretty bad, 900p and mostly low setting medium textures getting about 35 again but occasionally dipping down to the mid 20s in high intensity situations which is unplayable for me.

 

So it goes without saying, like most laptops if you want to do any heavy duty gaming keep it plugged in.  

 

Battery life is nothing special. Browsing the web taking notes etc it's about 4 hours give or take. Gaming you are looking at about 60-80 minutes max but again. This is just average.

 

Now for heat it actually doesnt get that toasty. Intakes are in the back left and back center of the bottom. And the exhaust is in the back left side but it never gets unbearable. Now on your lap it will heat up but not to the point of being uncomfortable, i've used this in bed buried in a blanket and it never gets that hot our loud so it's actually quite good when it comes to that. 

 

The speakers are also pretty nice. They can get really loud which is nice especially when i'm trying to watch/listen to something and there is alot of ambient noise around me. Although the on bourd audio for earphones and headphones is just average.

 

But yeah the CZ-28, it comes with windows 8 and not a lot of bloatware which was nice. Handles games very respectively especially for the price. Which I got mine for 1200USD on sale on newegg. The normal price is 1400USD but seems to go on sale quite a bit. 

 

So in conclusion it's a nice all rounder that performs great in games doesn't get too loud doesn't get too hot doesn't hurt your eyes with bad viewing angles and doesn't hurt your wallet if you can find it on sale. If you buy it at retail price there may be some competitive choices but I have seen it go on sale often and sometimes for very deep discounts and at that point this is a no brainier over anything at those price points.

 

 

7/10    

[theroflcopta]

one sec gonna replace these images with imgur links

[thomas66]

Great Review

[brownninja97]

is it proper brushed aluminum or is it just one of them crappy plastic fake things

[legopc]

is it me or is that thing ugly 

[YouRezz]

is it me or is that thing ugly 

Its not ugly, its just not very good looking as that is what we've come to expect from laptops in this kind of price range

(i hate the iBUYPOWER logo at the front, it looks like something that would have come out of poundland)

[theroflcopta]

is it proper brushed aluminum or is it just one of them crappy plastic fake things

its a full plastic shell, but honestly I'd prefer fake brushed aluminum on the back of a laptop since it wont stain and get fingerprints as bad as actual brushed aluminum.

[theroflcopta]

is it me or is that thing ugly 

yeah it's kinda bleh. Like I said I wish people who made gaming oriented laptops would just stop with the branding on the back. I don't want a company name or logo plastered on the back where people look at  it most. I want just a nice clean black cause if people care enough to ask what kind of laptop or brand it is I'm more than happy to tell them :I

[theroflcopta]

Great Review

Thanks : )

[brownninja97]

its a full plastic shell, but honestly I'd prefer fake brushed aluminum on the back of a laptop since it wont stain and get fingerprints as bad as actual brushed aluminum.

brushed aluminum for everyone and everything, my child will be brushed

[Lil Chillbil]

yeah it's kinda bleh. Like I said I wish people who made gaming oriented laptops would just stop with the branding on the back. I don't want a company name or logo plastered on the back where people look at  it most. I want just a nice clean black cause if people care enough to ask what kind of laptop or brand it is I'm more than happy to tell them :I

 

good review but laptop is mehhh