Info Vorke 15 Notebook

[maje90]

Hi all!

I've just bought a new laptop, a "Vorke 15 Notebook". Did buy it for 406€ ...
As it seems a good machine, for me, so I wanted to make a small "review" about it.

General datas:

• 15 inch FullHD IPS display thin borders , views angles not bad. Not perfect but really usable from any angle) halway gloss-shiny treatment.
• i7 2core/4thread or i5 4core/8thread CPU. I ordered i5 and received a 8350U instead 8250U ... lucky me!
• 2280 M2 256GB SSD
• 8GB RAM, remove-able (see photos)
• 2x USB3 Type A + 2x USB2 Type A + 1x USB3.1 Type C (probably no charging or video output)
• SD card reader
• HDMI port
• Audio jack port
• Full keyboard with numpad (i love it), international layout (see pic), backlight with 3 levels (off, 1, 2)
• large trackpad
• webcam on screen bottom
• bluetooth, wifi ac (2.4/5 GHz)
• there is an empty free slot for a 2.5 inch drive (really nice bonus!)

Physical datas:

• full metal body
• 360x238x25 mm (height including rubber feets)
• 1810 grams

The SSD was already partitioned with a 100GB partition with a folder with all the drives. Nice things as most people will re-install the pc with windows in different language.
(I can upload the drivers as well as DoubleDriver backup, if needed)
With Windows 10, after a clean reinstallation, cold boot or reboot is under 15 seconds.
It play 60fps UHD ("4k") videos from youtube (from chrome) without any stuttering, under wifi.

I haven't tested deeply the battery yet. It seems that the laptop can make 3-4 hours of "intense" use, at least.
I used the pc on youtube for FullHD videos on wifi for 1 hour, then watched a FullHD movie of 2h 10min and I still have 30% battery ....

Downsides:

• official VORKE website seems to not know they even have a laptop (only mini pc there)
• its a chinese product, bought from geekbuying ... so warrany is a guess (at least for me)
• ... only international layout(?)
• I'll let you know if i find more...

If you have any question, feel free to ask!

Some photos: (full gallery here View: https://imgur.com/gallery/oWjyKby )

(it seems there could have been a dedicated GPU with its GDDR RAM soldered directly on the mobo, heatpipe passing there...)

Included in the (very minimal and anonymous) box there were a couple of metal brackets with screws to put a 2.5 inch drive)

 

[Alabalcho]

The problem with these unknown brands is the same as with $50 Android tablets - they are good on paper, and probably work well, until they don't. You won't get any BIOS update (if necessary), and pray to electronic Gods it wont fail.

 

[maje90]

The problem with these unknown brands is the same as with $50 Android tablets - they are good on paper, and probably work well, until they don't. You won't get any BIOS update (if necessary), and pray to electronic Gods it wont fail.

I know.
In fact, as you can see in the photos, I've already replaced the thermal paste with one of a good quality I have...
I always do the same thing, also with good brands PCs: total windows re-install and thermal paste replacing ... I turn them on once only to copy the drivers.

I have bought loads of hardware stuff during my life (like, really a lot) ... never once needed the warranty, even on china stuff (a lot).
Maybe it's all about how one treat stuff...

 

[Alabalcho]

Without any connection with your post - why is that obsession (I think, mostly in Europe) about "replacing thermal paste"? I read couple of European computer-related forums, and every second post is either for someone who did it, or recommendation to do it ASAP.

I am using (work-related) plenty of laptops (some are 10+ years old), and never ever opened them apart from adding memory / SSD, and that's it. Never had a thermal-related problem.

 

[maje90]

As said, I never had really any problem with hardware in general.

If you opened old PC and didn't need to clean them up... you were lucky.
Most of time i find a complete "wall" of dust in front of the heat dissipator.
And if you check, most of time, when that happened, probably the extra-heat (non-dissipated) literally cooked the thermal paste, making it dry and less conductive.
If you don't clean like this, an old pc (or one that lived in a dusty environment) might often reach throttling.
You might not notice well on old laptops... but it happens easily in reality.

Often I have to fix the pc/laptop of my friends/collegues/customers ... most of time what I do is: replace HDD with SSD, fresh W10 installation, a good cleaning inside (dusting), and thermal paste replacement.

As said, most of time I find the thermal paste really dried up, and some time even "cooked" ...
Manufacturers use very low quality thermal paste and in the wrong quantity (too much).
I can tall you this by direct experience. Almost every time is like this... hell, even inside (literally) intel's CPU there was low quality thermal paste... (up to some years ago, when AMD made intel "wake up", and now they solder everything as AMD) ...

There is nothing wrong, even better, there is only useful to replace the thermal paste with a good quality one and in the proper amount.

I've clearly seen laptops dissipate heat better, fans do work more linearly (not with crazy spikes over time) and I never needed to re-change the thermal paste of one of the PC I did put my hands on...
(I actually own even a laptop from 2007: with an SSD works great for almost anything up to today, with W10)

Back to the Vorke 15, as you can see in the linked gallery, they used clearly too much thermal paste... and probably of low quality... I replaced it, and now I have no fears about heating.

 

[Samarpana]

I just bought a Vorke 15 i7 too, got it yesterday, and the touchpad is raised up in the bottom middle so that there's a space of air underneath, but the bottom ends are more flush against the base...Does yours do this...?...It looks and feels like a defect, because it is very difficult to push it down, and it's very stiff because it's metal...and I dread using the laptop because of this...I also find the touchpad be be a bit "draggy" like hard to move the cursor around because of the material they used for the touchpad...and using two fingers on the touchpad, if and when I need to highlight or move up and down, is near impossible...

Also the battery only lasts about 3 hours, and that is barely using the laptop...but it is advertised as an "all-Day" battery...If the battery is supposed to last not that long, then they shouldn't advertise it that way...

I find the sound to be very very low, even with earbuds, but especially just with the speakers, I would always need an external speaker...About 10 minutes ago, the sound gave out completely, but when i restarted it, it came back...so i'm a bit concerned about using this laptop...i read that the warrant at Geekbuying is a year, i think...

Overall, i like the laptop enough...it boots up so fast, as well as turning off fast...The keyboard keys feel very nice and springy even though i only type with one finger...i just wish it didn't have this particular touchpad, which i think is defective, unless they designed it this way...Your pics don't look like they have that going on...And i wish it had a longer battery, as they advertised...

 

[maje90]

The touchpad have a protective plastic/adhesive film, remove it. Be careful to not damage the pad...
( it is strongly attached, so keep the pad "down" while pulling up the film, otherwise you might seriously damage the pad)

Also the battery seemed low initially but lately became better (whatever it means).

I did a compete and clean reinstall of Windows 10, no idea of how that is related to .. Anything... Everything is working fine to me.

Anyway, if you find a physical defect you should promptly send a photo to the seller and ask for refund/replace...

 

[Samarpana]

The touchpad have a protective plastic/adhesive film, remove it. Be careful to not damage the pad...
( it is strongly attached, so keep the pad "down" while pulling up the film, otherwise you might seriously damage the pad)

Also the battery seemed low initially but lately became better (whatever it means).

I did a compete and clean reinstall of Windows 10, no idea of how that is related to .. Anything... Everything is working fine to me.

Anyway, if you find a physical defect you should promptly send a photo to the seller and ask for refund/replace...

Thank you...

So your touchpad does not stick up, as if it is not secured down all the way...?...In other words, it's normal...?...I don't have a camera unfortunately, so not sure what I can do......Thanks ahead of time...

 

[Samarpana]

The touchpad have a protective plastic/adhesive film, remove it. Be careful to not damage the pad...
( it is strongly attached, so keep the pad "down" while pulling up the film, otherwise you might seriously damage the pad)

Also the battery seemed low initially but lately became better (whatever it means).

I did a compete and clean reinstall of Windows 10, no idea of how that is related to .. Anything... Everything is working fine to me.

Anyway, if you find a physical defect you should promptly send a photo to the seller and ask for refund/replace...

Also, how is the volume on yours...?...My settings are maxed and it's very low, especially with laptop speakers......

 

[maje90]

Thank you...

So your touchpad does not stick up, as if it is not secured down all the way...?...In other words, it's normal...?...I don't have a camera unfortunately, so not sure what I can do......Thanks ahead of time...

My touchpad is flat, completely flat, all aligned with the rest of the aluminium case surface....
I have a camera on the bottom of the screen... You don't? (Try to open Windows camera app...)
Can you upload some photo of your pc? details of the pad and generally... I'm curious...

 

[Samarpana]

My touchpad is flat, completely flat, all aligned with the rest of the aluminium case surface....
I have a camera on the bottom of the screen... You don't? (Try to open Windows camera app...)
Can you upload some photo of your pc? details of the pad and generally... I'm curious...

i have a webcam on the laptop, i just don't have a smartphone or camera to take a pic of the touchpad...but i did take a not too good pic with an old Macbook, but i don't know how to upload it in this thread...it's not a very good pic though...Just one last Q...How is your volume level with the laptop speakers...?...Thanks...

 

[maje90]

...How is your volume level with the laptop speakers...?...

Not "great" but also not bad.... i'd say "as i expected from this level of product"...

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Looks quite thin for the decent hardware inside and upgrade ability.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I am using (work-related) plenty of laptops (some are 10+ years old), and never ever opened them apart from adding memory / SSD, and that's it. Never had a thermal-related problem.

No clue how you have gotten by with this.

Maybe its where i live or the animals i have, but dust plagues most of my older systems.

I took an old I5 laptop and with the old paste it didnt have overheating, but it had pretty high noise levels. I replaced the paste with toothpaste and even that dropped temps 10c. Actual paste later on furthered this.

 

[Samarpana]

Not "great" but also not bad.... i'd say "as i expected from this level of product"...

Can I ask you, does your volume all of a sudden, go off intermittently...Mine has gone off at least 4 times already...nothing plays with the headphobes or speakers, and nothing is muted...The only way I can get the volume on again is if I restart the laptop...I guess you don't have this issue...?..thanks...

 

[maje90]

Can I ask you, does your volume all of a sudden, go off intermittently...Mine has gone off at least 4 times already...nothing plays with the headphobes or speakers, and nothing is muted...The only way I can get the volume on again is if I restart the laptop...I guess you don't have this issue...?..thanks...

My vorke is working flawlessly.
For all the problems you are having, i guess your pc was kicked around to your house during transport.
Bent pad, hardware failing... just make a reclaim and ask for refound or replace.