Been Itching to Get This
I ordered this laptop back in November 2020 but took me a while to get it since I live outside the US but the time Eluktronics took to get it to the shipping company warehouse I use, it was quite timely. Picking it up for the first time i found it a little on the heavy side but this is my first gaming laptop so I didn't make too big a fuss about it. Loved the display right out the gate and the performance during general use is great. As much as I prefer mechanical keyboards, the laptop keyboard is actually pretty good in my opinion. Onto gaming reviews. It is a great machine when it comes to gaming. So far the only demanding game I have tested it with is Monster Hunter World which gives me a steady 79 fps on High Settings which I may still look into. The laptop itself stays relatively cool even under the load of gaming and it's heat dissipation has been great in my opinion (although, I do have a cooling pad so that may be helping out as well). The fans are quiet in office mode but very audible in game and beast modes which I honestly don't mind especially during gameplay since it's pretty drowned out by the gameplay sounds. As I haven't had it for a long time as yet, I will tone my review down a little bit to be somewhat more objective but so far I am loving this laptop. Well worth the wait and I was even more impressed with the complementary headset, mouse, mousepad and HDMI cable that arrived in the box ^^.
Not Really Sure What To Think
I got the 32gb ram, (2) 2TB hard drive option for my laptop.
I received my laptop in the middle of December 2020, and to be honest I have a love/hate relationship with it. Some times I find myself going "Man! I love this friggin thing!" while other times I'm so frustrated with it I want to throw it out a window. Let's go over it:
*Heat Control: Games run around 70-80c for CPU and 60-75c for GPU even with a laptop fan pad underneath, so "meh" but not the worst.
*Basic Performance: Smoothest computer I've ever used as far as basic operations go.
*Gaming Performance: So far this has been solid, however, there have already been multiple times where I will download a game on Steam and right after I install the game and run it/change resolution settings in game it will Black-Screen crash the whole laptop and I have to force restart it as it no longer recognizes any of my displays including the laptop screen. This has made me extremely worrisome and question whether this thing was rushed to be put together, or if the Ryzen 7 processor and GTX 2060 just don't work well together.
-As a matter of fact every time a game bugs out on this laptop it has Black-Screen crashed the whole laptop making me force restart. I've always been taught that force restarting any computer is bad for it, so considering I've had to do it over 20 times in less than a month, I'm starting to think my money would have been better spent piecing a desktop pc together.
-On the other side of the bullshit I've had to deal with thus far, when games do run, they run fantastically and the power boost mode with fan boost options is great for getting that extra boost you need for very demanding games.
-I haven't tested any VR on it but something tells me VR would run VERY hot on this thing.
*Keyboard Backlighting: Nothing special as far as color animation features, and It's a little buggy. Seems to work fine 80% of the time, but the other 20% the lights won't come on upon startup and toggling the switch in the Electronics app the laptop comes with doesn't do anything. Another thing that makes me think my product was rushed due to the christmas season.
I think that's about all I have to say. I wanted to get this laptop because I needed something portable that would handle games tremendously and not overheat, and for a few weeks I thought I had found the ultimate laptop. Now I'm just not so sure. I'm going to go back and forth with Eluktronics customer service to see if there are fixes to my gaming issues, but If nothing comes of it i'll see if I can tap into this things warranty and get a refund. Hopefully they're honorable when it comes to that because $1600+ dollars for a laptop that doesn't reach expectations just simply isn't acceptable.
Great Laptop
I've owned several gaming laptops in the past, mostly ASUS ROGs. They've always been bulky and heavy, which has never really bothered me, because performance was always a priority. But the RP-17 really surprised me with its lightweight chassis, and how easy it was to handle when on the move.
Performance-wise, I can't really compare to my previous ASUS, because it was 6+ years old. But my RP-17 has exceeded my expectations in terms of performance. So far I've had no problems running all my games on max settings while running Eluktronics' overclocked Gaming Mode. And for the first time ever, I finally have a laptop that is bloatware free. But since this is a review, I'm going to nitpick a little and list a couple of things that I've noticed.
The RP-17 fans are definitely louder that my 6 year old ASUS ROG's, but then again, the RP-17 is probably 20x more powerful, thus, generates more heat. I wouldn't have mentioned this if the fans stayed at a constant speed, but in Gaming Mode, fan speed is constantly adjusted, which may get a little annoying for certain people. It doesn't bother me, because I usually have a headset on when gaming. However, in Office Mode, the laptop is as quiet as can be.
I've also found myself searching for the power and mode selection button in the dark, because they're not illuminated like the keyboard. So, I'd definitely appreciate backlit power and mode selection buttons ion the future.
And finally, I would have preferred two USB ports on the left side of the laptop, instead of one, because once I plug in my headset, I have to plug my mouse into the USB ports found on the right side of the laptop, which sometimes gets in the way of my mouse.
Overall, I highly recommend the RP-17 for any gamer that is looking for a laptop, or someone who's looking for a well-rounded, well-valued performance laptop that is not too flashy. The wait for the build was well worth it, and I'm looking forward to using my RP-17 for 6+ years!
RP-17
No complaints at all, works just like it should right out of the box!
I was worried that this would have a cheap feel to it being plastic and all but honestly I'm quite satisfied and impressed. Yes you can hear the fans but hey, it is a laptop not an iPad.
I did have to wait two months for it but times being what they are.....well sometimes you just got to go with the flow. The Eluktronics people were fast answering my emails and it was delivered the day they said it would be.
Kudos for a nice product at a reasonable price
Keep up the good work!
RP-17 All Around School/Gaming laptop
The RP-17 is a well-rounded Gaming laptop that delivers speed and great gaming performance that is built to last. I purchased this laptop back at the end of August and it arrived near the end of October. I added my own ram and storage and found the process of adding these components easy and quick. This machine boots fast and play every game I have thrown at it. Chernolyte, Vigil the longest night, Resident Evil 3 are a few examples. I am happy with my purchase and plan on keeping this laptop for a long time as. The Ryzen 4800h is more than enough for my school work and the gaming I do.
Good laptop for the price.
I do like the laptop but I do have some concerns with it so this review is going to be a pros and cons type of thing as I think I might be able to lay that out a little bit cleaner.
Pros:
Nice size
Nice weight
The keyboard feels nice especially compared to other laptops I've used.
The touchpad is also the best one I have used
The Eluktronics control center is a nice feature(took longer then I'd like to admit to find out you could change the color)
I love the fact it has an AMD processor in it
The graphics card seems to have no issues running the various games I like to play.
Cons:
It gets loud and hot. The fans ramp up rather loudly when just looking at a site like gamefaqs, and just installing a game yesterday the processor got over 85 degrees(the idle temp is usually in the high 30's-mid 40's). I also had it get hot enough to where HWINFO64 said that it throttled(I didn't see a decline in performance, but the fans were the loudest I have heard them, and they didn't slow down until I exited the game) on me when playing the Fairy Tail game for about 15 minutes. I had the option to have a different thermal compound put on when I ordered it, and I went with the Coolermaster Master Gel. I don't know if it didn't set right, if maybe that compound isn't actually that good, or something else.
The build quality is a concern for me. The hinges make more noise then I would expect so I'm a little worried about how long it will last.
Another issue with the hinge is that unless the laptop is on a table it sounds like it catches. So for instance if the laptop is resting on my hand or forearm and I open it. The hinge makes a popping sound like it is catching on something. I don't see anything catching, but I do hear it, and I can feel it in the hand that is under the computer. So just make sure it is on a table when you open it.
(I should note that the RP-15 doesn't have that issue with the hinges or the catching, and it seems to run quieter for me)
Other:
I did have a blue screen the second time I turned the laptop on, and that made the computer not able to find my second SSD. However I was able to fix that issue rather easily, and I'm not counting that under the cons since I believe it was a Windows issue.
Overall
Since the majority of the issues(aside from the potential hinge issue) can be remedied, or at least lessened. I don't want this review to sound like I don't like the computer, or to deter people from purchasing one, but there are some potential issues(at least with the one I have) that I thought I should point out. For the most part I do like the laptop, and I would recommend to people that need an affordable but fast laptop.
Nearly a perfect experience
This laptop does basically everything right for a gaming laptop. The specs available are great for the price and the form factor, the battery life is above average for a gaming laptop, the keyboard and front camera is great, storage and memory is fast, and unless you're gaming or editing the device is completely silent. My only issues I had with this device were the speakers and the raid setup for the drives. The speakers will work fine, but they hardly get loud at all. They still sound good at that volume which is nice, just not that loud. My other issue is that I ordered it without windows installed, and I suspect that was the reason why the two drives that were in the laptop weren't configured in a raid setup. I couldn't manage to get them set up in raid to install windows on myself, but these two issues don't bring it down to a 4 star in my opinion.
RP 17 excellent value / performance laptop
After waiting almost 2 months to received the laptop (which I know the Eluktronics team has been very busy working on all the requests) I can say I am satisfied with it, I ordered the laptop without SSD and RAM, installed 2 samsung evo 970 M.2 and 32G Crucial 3200 ram, the laptop works with no issues at all.
One thing that I like about eluktronics is the support and fast response, they even upgraded the laptop battery to the new one without any cost!!!
One thing that it would be good to have in the future is the option to select a different thermal compound (the only option available is the standard one, which is the one from the fabric / manufacturer).
The laptop is loud when in office mode (but it is not a deal breaker for me) I prefer to have the laptop cool to the touch and not getting to high temps than having problems with games and content creation stuff
The screen color accuracy is pretty good for SRGB which for me is enough to work with videos and photos, also the brightness levels are fine (still not tested outdoors yet) but indoors is good
Keyboard travel distance is good and nice RGB colors! but it does not have zone RGB which for some people is a deal breaker
Still working on testing VR with the RTX 2060, which is fine for the work, will wait to get the HP reverb g2 headset to test it at half ress, like to have not only 1 but 2 display ports in the back of the machine!
Touch pad is good I prefer the one from the dell xps laptops, but it does have multi touch and you can also disable it in case you will be using an external mouse
Happy with my RP 17 and recommended to all that want a budget but POWERFULL machine for gaming and content creation
L.
Excellent Product
I really like everything about this product, the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 brings out the excellent performance. The 144Hz IPS screen is amazing and the battery life is also good, this being a gaming laptop.
Looks and performs amazing
I haven't gotten any problems with my laptop, it runs pretty smooth, ive played some of my favorite games and overall everything is fine.
Great machine, but loud
It becomes loud even when I run powerpoint in office mode. My wife also recognized this laptop is loud. Is something wrong with my laptop? Except this, everything is great.
Great machine, but loud
So far, RP-17 is really great. Build is very nice and display is very clear. Most of all, it runs fast. I read that the other review says that it is not loud, but mine is not. Mine is quite loud. Even in office mode, fans sometimes become loud especially when I run powerpoint. Although I haven't tested beast mode by running game, I am quite sure that it will get very loud. Is something wrong with my RP-17? Except noisy fans, I'm satisfied with this laptop.
Woah, fast machine and delivery not affected by shortages
I've been using and building computers for several decades and this one will renew your faith. It's fast, bloatware-free, and runs surprisingly cool. Watch out for Microsoft updates messing with your drivers. I used intel's driver to fix the wireless after a Windows update broke it.
RP-17 Review
Awesome machine so far. I got the mid tier thermal compound when it was offered. I haven’t done any stress tests but what I will say is that so far I haven’t seen any throttling and my temps haven’t gone above 80. This thing is fast and honestly the fans are not very loud. Impressed so far!!
Seriosuly Impressed
Let me start by saying that I admittedly am really hard to please. My biggest flaw as a human is that I nitpick and dissect everything about a product/service/etc. It is VERY rare for me to buy something and be totally happy with it. With all that being said, damn near everything about this laptop is amazing. I don't use this laptop for gaming so all of the settings are switched from "gaming optimization" to "creative optimization" and I am incredibly impressed by this budget-friendly bad boys performance as a work machine instead of a gaming machine. The speed while rendering 4k video, editing in Photoshop, etc are astounding. Not only the speeds are impressive but the cooling is insane. I did pay extra to upgrade all cooling options to the best that Eluktronics offers but I was seriously shocked at how this thing rendered a 90-minute 4k video and didn't even raise in temp. Then I figured I would do another little test so I live-streamed for 8 hours straight and it didn't raise temp then either. Since then I have been pretty sure Eluktronics uses magic to build the machines sell. The only, and I mean ONLY thing about this laptop that could use a little extra love is the speakers. They aren't the best built-in laptop speakers. I do imagine most people using this laptop won't really be using the built-in speakers and will more than likely be using a headset so I doubt that will be an issue for most people reading reviews. Seriously though, for the price you're paying for this build you are making out like an actual bandit.
Great Laptop For The $$$
I got the RP-17 with the best Thermal sulotion when it was available. With that said I've had it for over a week and installed windows myself. The thing gets around the same fps as my desktop (R5 3600x and gtx 1080) however my desktop has a 1440p screen. Its crazy this thing beats my desktop processor in multicore performance with a score in R20 of 4542, all while staying below 80c and around 75c with max fans. While gaming the cpu gets to about 82c and the GPU hits around 74c max although if I set the fans to max I bet they would be a few c lower. So far only 1 small complaint. I had one blue screen while using the controler software the first day. However I was installing drivers and windows updates and programs very quickly. All around the best Laptop for the money as of now. Should last 2-3 years especially if DSS 2 is supported in the new games.
Awesome Laptop
I probably got one of the first ones shipped as I've had mine for about a month now. I've run a lot of benchmarks comparing it to my Ryzen 2700X desktop computer. Note that my desktop computer is a home built gaming computer. It has a MSI X470 M7 AC motherboard, a GTX 1070 video card, and only 16 GB G.Skill FlareX 14-14-14-34 RAM, and a Samsung 960 EVO nvme SSD 1024 GB drive. My Eluktronics RP-17 has a RTX 1060 video card, 32 GB 22-22-22-52 RAM, and what appears to be a Phison PRO-Xnvme SSD, 1024 GB drive.
Not to bore everyone with all the details, but the Eluktronics RP-17 was faster at CPU heavy tasks and benchmarks. It was about even at most GPU heavy tasks and benchmarks. It really depended on the benchmark as to if it won by a little or lost by a little. Overall I would say it's about even to my desktop gaming computer.. To me that's AMAZING considering the lower power use of the laptop. My desktop probably pulls about 400 Watts or more during heavy gaming, whereas the laptop pulls around 100 Watts for the same average performance. It also stays nice and cool, around 40 - 70 C under gaming. If pushed to the limit in Beast Mode, it will get up to 90 C on rare occasion with a stress test specifically targeted at punishing the system.
The monitor is also AMAZING. The color and response is wonderful. The keyboard is great. The track-pad is also good. The speakers are good for downward firing speakers, I usually wear earbuds or headphones.
To wrap things up, I HIGHLY recommend the Eluktronics RP-17. It is a great laptop!.
Beast Laptop
I'm loving this laptop! I've been waiting for this bad boy for months to arrive and I have to say that the wait was worth it. I currently use my RP-17 for editing videos, photos, and some slight gaming, which is very smooth. I haven't had any issues with it either. Battery life doesn't bother me as I work from home or in my office so I always have access to a power outlet. Customer service is great as well. I'm just currently waiting for the Dbrand sticker to come in and I don't mind waiting because what matters is that I got this beast machine by my side!
Powerful and Well Priced
I've had this RP-17 for almost a week and it's been the best laptop I've ever owned. With the upgraded thermal options, it has been running very cool (low 40C's idle and not more than low/mid 70C's under load in gaming mode). The keys have nice depth, the processor is powerful, the screen is very nice, and the overall feel is very well made. Extra features such as configurable keyboard backlight color, switchable performance mode (office/gaming/beast), and ability to temporarily disable the trackpad via function key, just add to the value. It was definitely worth the wait and very nice being able to bring some of my own components (NVME SSD drive, memory, and operating system).
