What a beautiful computer
I am a graphic artist and have had only Eluktronics computers for the past four years. This is a dream computer. This computer has everything you need to get anything done. With 2 TB PCIe drives I have plenty of room for anything I want to create. It is extremely fast and responsive to everything I have thrown at it. The keyboard has a nice solid feel to it with a good variety of options to help me see the keys clearly. It is unbelievably light while still being very solid. The screen is crisp and bright. My only con for this computer is the "nose-cam" camera that sits at the bottom of the screen. It is extremely unflattering and in the day of Covid and Zoom this is real drawback. I had to buy an external camera as I looked like Jabba the Hut. This company is great to work with and I was really surprised that they let this happen but the computer is so great that I am willing to do that to keep it. I even had to exchange a previous purchase as I bought a 15 Mag and didn't realize that it didn't have a numerical keypad to the right. This company is easy to reach and very easy to work with. I will always stick with them from here on out.
Eluktronics Max-17
Pros - Size, keyboard, Windows Hello, fans, power and USB/micro SD Card slot
Mixed - Battery (could last a bit longer)
Cons - Position of camera and lack of regular SD Card slot
A good laptop but not a perfect one
I love the design, the performance, the cooling of the laptop. However, we will never have a perfect laptop. I have a few minor issues with this laptop. First of all, the keyboard would be hard to get used to. Secondly, updating the Nvidia driver cannot be done via the Nvidia experience, this is rare btw. I have to use 3rd party software in order to update it. Thirdly, I don't like the nose cams. Overall, after comparing the pros and cons, I would buy this again :D
If you plan on using the trackpad at all, don't buy.
From a technical standpoint, this laptop is really nice for its price. It handles gaming really well and it has an amazing battery.
However after just about a month of use the trackpad is close to nonfunctional. It wiggles, which is already annoying, but the wiggling has started to register as clicks so I can't even move the mouse or scroll without the chance of an accidental link click. Apparently the manufacturer considers this "not a defect." Not what I expected from a $1800+ machine. The rest of the technical specs are amazing and absolutely worth it but what's a laptop with a useless trackpad?
A really good laptop
1 month usage at the time of this review. It was a long wait to receive this laptop but it was definitely worth the wait! It is an excellent product that is customizable to suit your needs. The magnesium alloy makes a decent build quality for the laptop and the additional cooling options keeps the temperature in check while still providing excellent processor performance. The only downside is that the fans are fairly loud making it slightly annoying to play games without a headset. Moreover, it might make the built-in laptop mic ineffective and muffled. However, I think managing thermals is a bigger priority so I would gladly make that tradeoff for an otherwise amazing product.
Everything I expected.
As reference for a more accurate representation of this review:
Total prices with upgrades $2,700~ + Tax
Custom upgrades:
- 2070Super plus 240Hz monitor
- Ultimate liquid metal cooling
- 2 x 1TB m.2 NVMe
- 64 GB ram @ 2999Mhz
First of all, the star rating is reflection of the product, however I will also talk about my experience with customer service at the end of the review.
This is a great laptop. PERIOD. It has a solid construction and it feels great to hold. The keyboard feels solid and typing is easy even with it's small travel. The trackpad is a little on the fiction size for my taste but doesn't deter from a good experience when I have to use it. The disable featured on the top left is one of the best things in this laptop. Extremely convenient. The screen looks amazing and the calibration I got it with was fantastic. I have a Colormunki and ran a calibration, the profile was almost identical, but i prefer the profile from Eluktronics, great work!
About the M.2 and RAM: both are Adata, solid brand with good reputation. I just wish, for the price paid, it came with something better. Performance-wise, no major complains, except my read/write speed on the M.2 seems a little slow.
Thermals: CPU and GPU sit around 50C on mostly idle. Let me clarify that my idle consist of triple monitor setup with a bunch of software running in the background. I also have the laptop sitting on a cooling fan. I do media creation, 3d rendering and some gaming and I've yet to hit thermal throttling.
Battery life is exceptional, specially if using the MSHybrid mode. The capacity rated is 91Wh, biggest I've seen that i can carry on a plane. Excellent job!
Nuances you might want to consider:
- Only 1 Thunderbolt 3. Like I said, I use 3 monitors. One through the HDMI from the laptop and 2 from a docking station connected to the Thunderbolt 3 port. Getting them to work together was more complicated than I would have like, so just keep that in mind. I have the laptop monitor disabled by default.
I come from two ASUS, laptops the G751JY and the GL502VMK. And, while I prefer the extra connectivity those laptops have, I wouldn't look back. This laptop is thinner, lighter, more powerful, better battery, and has a better display.
Overall, after months of researching for a new laptop, I know I made the right decision. I hope that it last the 5-years I want it to last.
Note: The Max-17 works as a desktop replacement for me. So in a few weeks I will be unplugging the battery to extend its lifespan.
I would definitively recommend this particular model, and most likely would buy again from Eluktronics when I want to update this laptop.
Now, about customer service.
First the good:
I appreciate the effort put into getting my system on the time frame I requested. I couldn't speak more highly about the effort the Eluktronics team put into this.
Sales and Customer Service was always very polite and provided pin-point responses to my inquires.
The not so good:
After my initial email and message communication, which was responded in less than a day, I tried contacting them for 2 weeks (right after I purchase the laptop) without any response. Not even a blip. And, while I understand the current world situation, I find 2 weeks of wait time to be unacceptable. Made me feel like now that they had my money, they didn't care about me.
There appears to be an internal lack of communication regarding follow-ups because on their responses they (the CS team) contradict previous answers (regarding delivery time, for example), but once I got a response, the back and forth of messages was massively better.
Overall, there are things that can be improved regarding customer service, but I know they are trying their best with the resources they have and look forward to the improvements they have in the future.
Mixed feelings - but all in all I'm happy with my purchase
Intel Core i7-10875H 8-Core (2.3-5.1GHz 16MB Cache),
Graphics Card: 8GB GDDR6 NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 2070,
Display: 17.3" Full HD 144Hz IPS-Type Anti-Glare (1920 x 1080),
SSD Storage & Memory: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD + 32GB DDR4 RAM (2 Dimm) + self bought 970 Evo 2TB,
Memory Frequency: 2933MHz
Thermal Cooling Solution: Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut CPU & MasterGel Maker GPU Upgrade (ULTIMATE COOLING)
Support:
The staff was super friendly and knowledgeable. They are fantastic, but I think corona affected response times.
Shipping:
Get ready to wait. In an era where Amazon Prime has spoiled us to the inner core, I can easily say that waiting for my product to arrive for a month was nerve-racking. I felt like an addict waiting for every day for a status update or something, only to come to an empty inbox every day with no updates.
It does state on the website approximate shipping times, so I was sort of prepared for the wait, but even after the estimated time had passed I hadn't received any notification which prompted me to contact them by phone and email. The staff was super friendly and attentive though so it was more of an issue with my impatience if you are anything like me and are conditioned for instant gratification then get prepared for an emotional rollercoaster.
By the time I actually received my product all the excitement and emotion I had when I bought it was already gone.
Performance:
So far it handles anything I throw at it flawlessly. Premiere, photoshop, tons of tabs and apps open, games, you name it I have no complaints here. The fans are sometimes unbearably loud, but you can change this in the provided control panel. I'm mostly in Office or Gaming mode because I mainly bought it for video editing and light gaming, but since the fans get pretty loud it does detract from the gaming experience for me. I might just stick to my PlayStation 4 :/.
Display:
The 140Hz display is awesome! But, I'm getting some monitor light bleeding on the bottom of the panel, but it is only noticeable
when I boot up the PC or when the screen is dark though.
Keyboard:
As for the keyboard I have mixed feelings with it. For regular typing it is okay but I get lost in it sometimes.
I'm a touch-typist and I use the bumps on the keyboard to find my way around without looking at the keyboard, but the bumps are so subtle here that I get stressed when I can't find them by touch. The arrow positioning is
also very unintuitive for me so I have trouble finding the keyboard. When I play games too, I easily get lost with what keys to press, as opposed to a mechanical keyboard.
Bootup:
For a computer this powerful I was expecting lightning-fast bootups since I also added a 970 Samsung Evo purchased by me separately.
It takes my computer over 45 seconds to start. Same time as my previous Dell Latitude 5490 with a pretty average SSD and half the power of this laptop.
I looked all over in the BIOS settings and can't find a way to speed it up.
I'm just taking it like this, so I don't know if I have unreasonable expectations but I've seen other gaming PCs online with way fewer specs that boot up in 15-20 seconds. I'm also unable to update to Windows 10 2004, I don't know why. My update keeps failing.
All in all, it is a great product for the price. If you can get mentally prepared to wait for a month+ and don't mind loud fans while gaming (I can still hear them with my headset on), then go for it!
College and Gaming
Purchased the MAX-17 for my son's college needs and he enjoys gaming in his free time. The laptop set-up was very simple and the performance has been flawless. The Max-17 compares well to the gaming desktop our family uses for gaming and VR. There are no glitches and the video is impressive. The unit does get hot while running games but the fans kick up to maintain a reasonable temperature. The only complaint my son has is with the low location of the WEB CAM. On the positive side he has been able to use the WEB CAM successfully with a locked down browser that is required for tests at college that uses the WEB CAM.
We have had a positive experience purchasing the Max-17 and interacting with the staff on shipping times and getting questions answered. I plan to purchase a second laptop soon for myself.
Perfect for my needs
This computer is everything I could have asked for and then some. It has such a light and sturdy design for its size and packs a big punch compared to other 17 inch gaming laptops. This laptop will be the perfect device for my college classes as well as my gaming needs.
Perfect for its price! But with small flaws.
I have tried and bought so many laptops, from productivity beasts to thin light laptops. But this machine will definitely be one of the best I have used so far based on my daily tasks and needs, its my Swiss Army Knife in the wilderness.
This scratch the itch for people who are serious about work and in need of a powerhouse while gaming whenever a chance is given.
Tech Consulting Work: Big Screen, Portable and Stealthy, Port Valhalla
Military Work: Built tough, Quiet and Slick, 6+ battery life (Eco)
Media Consumption: Screen real-estate, IPS goodness, Immersive
Gaming: 144hz Love, Custom fan curve and thermals <3, THX (Headphones)
In-love of:
- Thunderbolt 3, RJ45 and HDMI :)
- So thin with RTX 2060 115w! What?!!
- No Thermal Throttles? Built with passion for sure
- Software customization; Office Mode is soooo good.
- An option for Liquid Metal is awesome to have
- Ease of use for upgrades is such a stress reliever
- MUX Switch should be the new standard :)
- Keyboard is good to type on, reminds me of Steelseries in MSI laptops :)
- The design is so clean and neutral :) THANK YOU !!!!
- Dedicated profile/fan control awesomeness on the fly
Compromises:
- Screen wobble each open can get annoying but I'll get over it someday
- Keyboard lay out should be a little spaced out like the Dell XPS line-up
- Numpad feels smaller and compact, at least it has arrow keys though
- Rattle on bottom section of the track-pad when being used.
- Webcam placement is a little outdated
- Windows Hello is glitchy but software updates hopefully can improve that
- Trade Sleep button with Lock (F1 - F2), I keep accidentally pressing it
Would pay more if:
-Trade the numpad for up-firing speakers and bigger function keys.
- More options in Dbrand skins
- Vapor-cooling design adopted
- In-house design ergo-lift like Asus but like a keyboard feet that you can flip; This will make you rich :)
- Webcam placement on top again with 1080p 60fps; sick of using external
- Ryzen CPUs with the same chassis and design
- Screen to body ratio updated to the small bezel trend
Also, the screw on one of the M.2 slot is riveted that I couldn't install a second SSD storage. I would have returned this to get it fixed but my deployment is coming up soon :/
The shipment was 2 weeks late, wish an email was sent saying it will be delayed but If I haven't talked to someone in support, who knows how long it would've stayed there. Shout out to one of the reps who is so diligent and professional :)
I am now watching how Eluktronics will get uber huge in the tech community. I will be one of their loyal customers if they keep bringing passion like these laptops to the market for people like us.
PERFECT LAPTOP, PERFECT PRICE.
Specs Ordered:
- 144hz, RTX 2060, No storage, No OS, No RAM, Thermal Grizzly upgrade, No skin.
Amazing
This laptop is a life savior. I am using this laptop for my Architecture class and so far it has not been a disappointment to me at all. I would recommend this laptop for anyone who needs a powerful and strong laptop.
Motion Graphics/VFX Laptop Powerhouse
I purchased the Max-17 with 2 tb’s, 32GB Ram, and the 2070 Super GPU with the 2nd thermal option and couldn’t be happier! I’m a Motion Graphics/VFX artist by profession and I do some editing if the project demands it (spoiler alert, it usually does). I needed something powerful enough to manage 3d/VFX software and large file sizes on a daily basis as well as requiring something portable to get me out of my damn office. Also, it’s important to me to get a product that is created in the USA. Now, I’m aware that they use some parts that are from overseas (when it comes to tech, it’s hard not to, hopefully that will change in the coming years?), but the fact that they are stationed in and assembled in the USA is a big plus in my mind.
I’m not so much of a gamer, though I will dabble if my friends complain enough, so it’s nice having a machine that can handle quality titles. Being that my job requires a high level of power (GPU, CPU, and otherwise), I’ve primarily used Desktop computers. I’m the type of person that researches the crap out of what he wants before he buys it, because I’ve fallen victim to bunk products in the past. This is the first laptop I have ever purchased and let me tell you, this laptop is far from bunk!
You may have read reviews by some saying that this laptop gets hot. I was concerned when it went up to almost 90* at one point, and reached out to the company to express my concern. They assured me that this was normal (I was in beast mode), and that the software included has safeguards to ramp down the wattage when necessary to reduce the heat. With a laptop with this much power, heat is inevitable. I’m happy to report that after that moment, it hasn’t reached that temperature since, and only use Beast mode when I really need it (which is rare, game mode does the job just fine). I would suggest really reading into how their software works and how to manage it. There’s even a digital fan boost button to blast the heck out of the cpu/gpu for a bit to cool it down quicker.
There have been some software issues (After effects crashes and won't complete a render sometimes), but I have to write that off as an issue with adobe since their products are prone to bugs with every update (and I tend to work with 4k+ footage).
The Bluetooth is fairly strong in my opinion. I can connect it to my speaker on the other side of the room and still sounds crystal clear with no connection issues or breaks. The Thunderbolt port in the back is awesome and super fast. I usually use it to plug my phone into while I'm working so it charges (I usually have my laptop plugged in during this), so that saves me one extra outlet. It is a bummer that you cannot charge your laptop through that port, but whatever, it’s not a deal breaker. The fact that there even IS a thunderbolt 3 port is awesome enough for my needs. This also means you can plug in an eGPU if you require another GPU!
I went back and forth on whether or not to get the included skin wrap. I originally wanted it to look clean without anything, but opted for the skin and I am happy that I did! It has an awesome honeycomb texture giving it a unique look that makes any Apple laptop look like garbage (and lets be honest, if you’re looking for a PC, you’re probably not on the Apple bandwagon anyway).
It crosses off all the boxes for my needs which are: Portability, 2070 Super GPU, Thunderbolt 3, easily upgradable (easy to remove and add more memory/SSD), good customer service, and a sexy, slim, professional look.
If I were to request 1 thing, I would say that the Eluktronics software needs an auto-update feature so we don’t have to check if there is an update by coming to your website to verify. But that’s a minor thing.
Anyone else notice how their logo looks like a Storm Troopers mask?
