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We liked
The P37X offers fantastic performance thanks to its beefy specification. All of the benchmarks were run at 1080p in maximum detail, and it coped just fine – most impressive for a portable system. There's loads of memory, a fast quad-core CPU and a highly powerful GPU.
Aside from the trackpad being slightly generic, the build quality is excellent. The screen looks great, the chassis feels solid and the keys are perfect for typing. The storage is fast and there's plenty of internal capacity spread over the two SSDs and hard disk. For a gaming laptop with a 17-inch screen, it's not especially thick or heavy either.
With plenty of external connectivity, straightforward upgradability, an included optical drive and Ethernet port, with a no-nonsense look about it, the P37X is just what a gaming laptop should be. All the performance and expandability, with none of the fluff.
Finally the battery life is pretty good, at least compared to other gaming laptops.
We disliked
The fans are quite noisy when running at full speed. While this is a subjective opinion, since everyone's tolerance levels are different, I was most pleased to turn it off after running the benchmarks. It really lets down what is otherwise an excellent product.
The frame rate is severely capped at lower fan speeds, although 30 fps is still more than playable for most games.
A select few elements of the build, such as the trackpad, could be more befitting of a laptop which is nearly two grand.
Final verdict
The issue of the noisy fans put me off awarding the P37X a higher score. Although other gaming laptops are also noisy, in this case it could really get in the way of the enjoyment of your games, undermining the otherwise excellent experience made possible by the powerful hardware.
With the frame rate capped at 30 fps, you might find performance struggles sometimes if you quieten the fans, leaving all that gaming potential untapped.
That's a decision best left to the buyer. If you buy a P37X, you won't have any problems running games, but it's worth choosing a retailer with a good returns policy, since the noise may or may not be a distraction too far. The only way to find out is to try it first.
