Review: Aftershock Titan

Review: Aftershock Titan

The Aftershock Titan is a 17.3-inch gaming laptop with two Nvidia GeForce GTX 780M graphics chips. In this round-up, only the Alienware 18 offers a similar level of graphics performance. But unlike its flashy competitor, the Titan can be as plain, or as extravagant-looking as you like.

Aftershock PC's advantage over the established brands is the amount of hardware customisation available to its customers. This is true for the Titan, which starts at around $3,600 for a very basic configuration - it includes the two Nvidia graphics cards but has no operating system.

The local company is now also offering custom skin modifications that include paint jobs and even carbon-fibre finishes. The basic ones are generally free, but the more complex modifications are not.

The Aftershock Titan is one of the few Windows laptops to have a Thunderbolt port. Those who are into video production may appreciate this extremely fast (and relatively expensive) interface usually found on Apple computers. However, I did not like that some of the ports were located at the rear of the machine.

The full high-definition matte display on the Titan offers good viewing angles. But I prefer the glossy screen on the Alienware 18, which appears to have better viewing angles.

Where the Titan trumps the Alienware 18 is the storage configuration. The Titan has a 128GB Samsung solid-state drive supplemented by a 750GB hard drive. This is likely the reason for its narrow win over Alienware in the gaming benchmarks.

Other features on the Alienware18, such as a Blu-ray drive and a 802.11ac Wi-Fi adaptor, can be added to the Titan at additional cost. The good news is that the final bill for the Titan will probably be less than the Alienware.

Rich customisation options and first-class performance make the Titan a top choice for gaming enthusiasts.

TECH SPECS

Price: $4,133 (or the cost of the recommended configuration)

Processor: Intel Core i7-4700MQ (2.4GHz)

Graphics: Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5

RAM: 8GB (expandable to 32GB)

Screen size: 17.3 inches, 1,920 x 1,080 pixels

Connectivity: HDMI, 4 x USB 3.0, USB/e-Sata combo, Thunderbolt port, SD card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, microphone and headphone jacks

Weight: 4.1kg

RATING

Features: 8/10

Design: 6/10

Performance: 10/10

Value for money: 8/10

Overall: 8/10


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