I owned a Sager Np8690 (W860CU) for a year.

Something so amazing, in just this one package. Bought it off XoticPC, but I wished I hadn't bought it then, due to the release of SandyBridge along with the GTX580ms and ATi 6xxx series and its USB3.0 revisions.

But am overly joyed with what I have currently, may sell my current laptop to get the newer Sandy Bridge CPUs and GPUs; dual GPUs on a desktop replacement laptop sounds brill!

Answering some questions above.

@Skycrawler:
XoticPC is a good reseller, their dealings have been top notch. They reply quick, they take you through the process unlike robots, they deal straight with you, assigning a representative to the customer.
I did not have any trouble, except that one point where i sent too much money over...they emailed me regarding that matter

"We think you sent too much money over, what do you want us to do with it?

"Can you upgrade my order of the i7-720QM to the 820QM?"

"With pleasure"

My laptop came with the 820QM just like that, and the leftover money they Paypal'ed it to me.
When the ATi 5870m was released by XoticPC, they offered a month free upgrade to the laptops there; sadly I didn't take advantage of this offer...shipping there and back can be quite hefty.


@faehfazmi618:
No, that's partly why the 5 series are anticipated; benchmarks and reviews show that it has a lower heat and power consumption. But this assumption was based on the desktop variant not the mobile versions. Noise levels should be lower, all together bringing 20% increase in performance than of the GTX480.

source: http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-review/

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 6 2011, 02:00 PM

Yes about that amount. But if I remember correctly, you don't pay for taxes here as well...so there's no extra charges.

And yes I've seen the new Sager NP8150 and the NP8130. Will order one of them soon once I sell my laptop and salary

The NP8130 sells for $1100~ while the NP8150 amounts up to $1200-1300~ . Both with GTX 460m and the lowest grade SB processor. Notable differences are the colour of the laptops and type of screen used, e.g. The NP8130 has a black finish and Matte 1920x1080 while the NP8150 has a light-grey finish and Glossy 1920x1080.

Also 2 - 3 Hours battery life! Now that's great for a performance laptop! But apparently these do not have switchable graphics like the ones mentioned in reviews...

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 10 2011, 08:48 AM

Both are 15.6"

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8130-built-...?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150-built-...?wconfigure=yes

Probably will choose the NP8150, because it has glossy screen like my NP8690. The screen quality on mine is really really good, so I expect that the newer NP8150 will be same or better.

What do u mean by insurance? You mean warranty ?

And I'm selling my current laptop here:
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1711116

I did not apply for any because I think I'm capable of fixing my own laptop.

BUT, all Sager notebooks have 1 year parts warranty, and XoticPC covers you with a 3 year labor warranty.

Both of these came with my laptop automatically upon purchase.

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 10 2011, 02:56 PM

Yes. Back to XoticPC.

But Sager is possible too but they will charge.

Haha, there's a fee for the XoticPC .

But the Sager warranty they have free delivery.

You mean...will the warranty be valid when you change drives or anything?

Yes it will still be valid because Sager allows upgrades while maintaining your warranty. The only time the warranty is not valid is when you MODIFY the components personally.

Examples are replacing copper heatsink and modifying its size to increase heat efficiency or modifying the keyboard to add backlighting or modifying RAM chips with a coating of copper, allowing more heat disperse. Basically things you hardwire/physically change within the computer.

It's like, adding a racing side skirt kit to a car as oppose to adding a new MP3 stereo to the car. Side skirts you have to drill the skirt in, measure the sizes and cut appropriate angles, while the MP3 stereo...just take out old one and put new one right?

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 10 2011, 03:40 PM

I'm not a fan of backlight keyboard, I don't mind having it though. I have meetings that I bring my laptop around...it isn't fancy looking, no one wonders what it is you bring to meetings, no bad impression.

But even if it's the same specs, you put together with the G53JW, the Sager is superior due to the attention the company put effort into the cooling system of the laptop and the ease of maintenance. Cooling is essential for prolong life of the laptop components. You open the NP8690 up, all you see is fans, coppers, big heatsinks, ample air space. Even the HDD is covered in aluminium.

Bit unrelated but, I had an Alienware M17x, dual CrossfireX ATi 5870ms. It was fast, for a while. It stuttered many times because it was too hot and shuts down sometimes; the laptop just puts everything inside but disregards the cooling system...and it runs like an Air Asia plane that got delayed waiting to be refueled in a rush. Another friend of mine has the same issue, M15x.

Compare that to the x7200, Sager's dual GTX480m laptop, almost similar specs to M17x, stronger GPU (more heat). Runs cool in the 40C idle, and 80C load. I don't see it shutting down ANYTIME at all.

And also, not saying ASUS itself is bad, I actually really like ASUS (like my little netbook ). If Sager didn't cross my mind, I'll go for ASUS.

I am quite biased, as you can see But I have experienced many designs, and I still think Sager is worth looking at. Maybe the warranty applies to many users here, but I tend to overlook the warranty. If laptop is taken care of fine, then you don't need warranty and money is saved.

And, this saying comes to mind:

You pay for the best, they give you the best.

Oh it's flame time my lord!

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 10 2011, 04:08 PM

That is very true indeed. But the Sager/Clevo x7200 has a pretty good design compared to most Sagers, and they are stepping up with their overall business look and design now, while maintaining the efficient cooling system.

Design does not matter if the product does not work the way it suppose to. Plus AW is OVERPRICED that makes my crap spin violently in the toilet hahaha.

Rolls Royce vs Ferrari without tyres I suppose.

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 10 2011, 05:02 PM

Have you tried opening it up? It is pretty easy to do so. Turn it around backside and you will see the back faceplate that covers most of the components.



There are a number of screws you have to take out, but once it is out you'll see the insides. Cleaning is easy; see dust, kill!

Fans are a bit tricky; get some cotton ear buds, wet them slightly, then clean the fins inside both GPU and CPU fans. Be sure to use an air duster or maybe a hair dryer on cold mode to flush out the excreted dusts. Clean with dry cloth after done with everything. Also, before touching any components, please discharge or earth yourself by placing any part of your body (prefably the hands) to the ground. Prevents static occurrences towards the components.

If you can, you might want to check the heatsinks that lead out to the vents. Sometimes dust get stuck in there.

Actually, if its similar to the NP8690, 2 HDDs are possible.

If the BIOS is flashed with the 17" BIOS with the CD drive swapped with an optical HDD caddy, then a secondary drive is in effect

But then again, you lose the ability to read CDs

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 13 2011, 11:17 AM

Couple of sources I found, mostly leading to just normally flashing the NP8790 (W870CU) BIOS to the NP8690 (W860CU) BIOS. Many users have done it with success.

Both BIOSes are essentially the same, with the NP8790's having more flexibility and extra features e.g. RAID, HT disabling.

Raid 0 Sager NP8690
BIOS W860CU W870CU

This thread's for replacing the CD drive with a secondary HDD caddy:
HDD Caddy W860CU

BIOS available here:
Clevo BIOS Thread

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 13 2011, 04:01 PM

May be an owner of the NP8130 soon, if my current laptop deal goes well tomorrow If my salary comes in time, might even fork in the GTX 485m in~~ Oh my heart died just then haha

Oh don't worry about that. The BIOS for the 8150 and 8130 supports dual HDDs stated in LPC-Digital, a US reseller.



Also in XoticPC, they provide HDD caddy slots to replace the CD drives as an option during customization.

GTX 480m? You sure? Because the models i saw were the GTX 460m and the 485m.

I am pretty sure that the current NP8150 support future GPU revisions, as they are more likely to be MXM 3.0 Type B GPU slots in the Sagers. Still a hunch though.

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 19 2011, 01:37 PM

Oh scared me hahaha!

You are paying for the best out there right now if you are given the green light on the GTX 485m. This V12 engine + the Sandy Bridge 2920XM , currently tops the charts in benchmarking for the mobile industry. Just this single card and the processor, beats SLI configs in laptops, and even some desktop rigs. Check out the graph from the source below.
The test system is an NP8150 by the way.

Source: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Nvidia...rd.43872.0.html

What can compete with Sager's specifications...probably Alienware, and the latter half of consumer laptops. However since Sagers are meant to be upgradable, these models will last pretty long and I don't think anyone will topple them off anytime soon as well.

Probably to be released soon are AMD/ATi's Radeon 6970m 6950m (mid year ish) and the GTX 580m (no ETA yet). The 6970m would be sliiiightly less than the GTX485 I am presuming, but definitely higher than the GTX470m

If you have the money to spare, then yes.

But to me, even the lowest grade Sandy Bridge is able to outperform the i7 by a lot.


The designs of both are good, and durable. But you can't ONLY compare from the design itself; what do you want for your needs is the question you need to ask yourself.

Things like, do I need two/three hard disks? Do I prefer a 17" screen than a 15.6" screen?

However, in terms of temperatures, the 8170 would be superior due to its metal casing. It will definitely absorb the heat build up.


-----

And on a side note, my current NP8690 will say its goodbyes... to a new owner

Taken directly from Sager website:



That means we're not covered. However, if you buy from Mucro the postage is lower, as you're just sending it to Singapore.

And, because Sagers are amazing and durable computers, they are very much NOT prone to damage or defects unless its the user's fault (haha). In my whole year owning this NP8690, I never felt that I needed to send the laptop for repairs because it just performed so well, well beyond my expectations.

If you think about it, anyone owning an electronic item is subjected to riskiness; the way you handle and take care items will determine if you need warranties.

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 20 2011, 09:25 AM

I am based in Australia (Brisbane actually) , and I can tell you this:

DO NOT BUY IN AUSTRALIA! The only reseller there, Pioneer Computers, sell their Dreambook (Sager) laptops for ridiculous prices. The equivalent laptop to my current NP8690, the Dreambook W860CU was about $3-4K AUD, which equals to 1:1 ratio of $3-$4K USD. This was with the i5! PROCESSOR! And my XoticPC one came straight with an i7!


With that amount of money in the US or Malaysia, you can buy almost the top of the line laptop from Sager, with an SLI or CrossfireX configs. And with that in mind, I bought mine from the USA, $2K cheaper than what it is in Australia. But you get the advantage of handing them for repairs, that's it.

This post has been edited by This is a Lamp: Jan 20 2011, 10:18 AM