Valkyrie CZ-17 Overview
As the name suggests this is a 17-inch laptop, so it is quite large. The actual dimensions are 16.9” x 11.3” x 2.2” and it weighs in at 6.9lbs with the battery attached. Being this size does not make the CZ-17 much of a looker, actually there are not many companies that have been able to make a 17-inch gaming laptop look attractive. The lid is made to look like it has a brushed black aluminum finish and there is an iBUYPOWER logo in the middle and two LED strips that go down each side.
When you open up the CZ-17 you can see the nice large 17.3-inch display, which will give you a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080. One thing that I did like to see was that this display has a matte finish rather than a glossy one. Glossy finishes are nice, but the glare you sometimes get with them can really be frustrating, especially when you are gaming and you miss that all important headshot. At the top of the display is a 3.0 megapixel camera that can be used for taking photos or skype calls.
Because of the size of the CZ-17 laptop you get a pretty full keyboard with a complete number pad. While this is a laptop keyboard the keys are spaced out pretty well, which should make this keyboard very comfortable for gaming. The keyboard is also backlit, which we will see a little later in the review.
Below the keyboard is a pretty large trackpad with left and right mouse buttons. If is placed slightly off center, which should be perfect if you actually plan on using it. Along the edge of the laptop below the trackpad are a set of activity LED’s for Bluetooth, WiFi, battery, sleep and hard drive activity. Above the keyboard you have a power button as well as a row of touch sensitive buttons that do different functions like change your power profile, brightness, turn WiFi and Bluetooth off and on etc. You have two large speakers on each side of the row of touch sensitive buttons.
Moving along to the left side of the CZ-17 you have a large ventilated cooling section, three USB 3.0 ports, SD card reader and audio connections. On the right side there is an optical drive, which in our case is a 6x Blu-ray reader and DVD+/-RW combo drive. There are also two USB 2.0 ports on the right side. On the back you have more connections, they include a lock port, power connection, ethernet, VGA out, eSATA and HDMI out.
Flipping the laptop on its back there are 4 large feet that will keep the laptop off the ground to better airflow. There is also a bottom mounted speaker. If we take off the back of the laptop we can get a closer look inside and see the cooling setup and hard drive. iBUYPOWER is using G.Skill DDR3-1333 laptop memory and a Seagate Momentus 750GB hard drive.
There is no such thing as A gaming Laptop when will people learn
LOL the video linked is the wrong video
It’s not like a laptop is a gamers first choice, but when you want to game on the go, a laptop is the only logical choice. True gamers want to game ALL the time, so a gaming laptop is a must. When will you learn 😉
thekarate-kid: how about you shut your mouth and actually buy one and learn this for yourself and yes there is such a thing as a gaming laptop meaning they are specifically built to handle process and play games you fucking dumbass
What are you talking about ? IBUYPOWER is a gaming computer company, meaning their computers are intended for gaming, so when looking at the laptop, and what the company focus’s on primarily, it is definitely a gaming laptop, so you are wrong sir, IBUYPOWER made this system specifically for gaming, so yeah there is such a thing as a gaming laptop
I bought one of these. The keyboard failed after 2 weeks. The keyboard is NOT a steelseries keyboard like they want you to think it is.. It’s a cheap hong kong knock-off. They refused to send out another keyboard. They also refused to sell me another keyboard for it. So I paid $1400 for a pc I cant even use.
orrr…. buy a usb keyboard xD
orrr…. buy a usb keyboard xD
Ignoring that the karatekid, I purchased my Valkerie after X-mas, upgrading to the gtx680 4gb and a 2.4ghz i7. I bought it as a rig I could take to someone’s house and game with them, and as insurance for if/when components in my PC quit on me. My Valkerie will run Skyrim at full-tilt graphics on my 24″ 1080p monitor, so it is indeed a desktop replacement. For less than $1600 ( 5% off for those not needing rush order, though they still got it to me in less than two weeks!).including a GTX 680 4gb GPU, that is a killer deal!
That sounds not likely. I have purchased both a Valkerie and my present PC from IBuyPower, and their service is exceptional. I know that all this guy needed to do was send it in, and I suspect he just wanted a keyboard sent to him.
Also, the keyboard can be upgraded, by the user, with a Steel Series board, though it’s a little more complex than the other upgradeable components. You’ll have to buy the keyboard from a seller rather than Steel Series themselves, because they won’t sell one piece meal like that for some, I assume warrantee, reason.
The fact that the bottom is removable and the HDD/1 RAM slot/optical drive are all within easy reach is yet another reason why I love my Valkerie! I upgraded to the GTX 680 4gb, and left the 750gb HDD in place, since I can easily install my own SSD to accompany the HDD. It’s a beauty of a monster laptop, that’s for sure!
nicccee! i’m getting one today:) i might end up upgrading to the 680 in the future as well 😀 i have my fingers crossed that the 780 fits too