Clevo M590KE 20.1" Widescreen SLI Notebook Packs a Punch this Holiday

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A new extreme laptop is coming to town this holiday season in the form of the Clevo M590KE 20.1” Widescreen SLI notebook computer.  It can be configured with single or dual core AMD Turion processor and up to two gaming or workstation graphics cards in SLI configuration for up to 1GB of graphics memory.

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Clevo is a leading ODM that supplies other boutique PC sellers such as Alienware, Rock PC, and Sager who re-brand the notebook and sell it as a part of their lineups.  Clevo manufactures high-quality PCs of all sizes and types and market their products in over 50 countries.

With a reported arrival for December 2006, this notebook will debut in the form of the ]Rock PC Xtreme SL Pro, ]Widow PC String 919, and the rumored Sager NP 5960V.

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The technical specifications of the notebook are as follows:

• 20.1” Glossy WSXGA+ LCD (1680 x 1050)
• Up to AMD Turion X2 TL-60
• Up to 2.8 GB DDR2-667 RAM (Only at Rock PC, other resellers advertise 2.0 GB DDR2-667 RAM)
• 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner
• Up to 2x SATA HDDs in RAID 0 or RAID 1
• Microsoft XP Home, MCE ,or Professional
• Up to Twin NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX 512 MB or Quadro FX Go 2500M 512MB graphics cards in SLI.
• Hybrid Digital/Analog TV Tuner for HDTV capability
• 5.1 Surround Sound HD Audio Out
• 802.11a/b/g &amp; Bluetooth Technology
• 5x USB 2.0 Ports &amp; Firewire
• DVI-Out &amp; S-Video Out
• 4-in-1 Card Reader
• Serial Port, Headphone, and Microphone Jacks
• 1 S/PDIF &amp; 1 Line-In
• 56K Modem and 10/100/1000 Ethernet Jacks
• 1.3 MegaPixel Webcam with Video Recording
• 3 Yr. Warranty
• Dimensions: 18.7” x 13.5” x 1.85”
• Weight: 15.2 lbs

According to Engadget, the notebook also comes equipped with a 12-cell battery capable of powering this 1.85” thick behemoth for about 30 minutes.  Needless to say, please do not plan on carrying this notebook around without the AC adapter.  As a matter of fact, do not plan on carrying this notebook around at all.  It is called a desktop replacement for a reason.

With a wallet-demolishing starting price of $3,795.00 at Widow PC (Turion ML-44, 40GB HDD, 512MB RAM, CD-RW, 7800GTX 512MB SLI, and 1 Year Warranty), and a configuration that tops out at over $6,395 (as shown in the specs), this notebook is exclusively for those who crave the ultimate performance title and are willing to burn the cash.

 

There's some discussion of this beast going on here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=88783

That Widow PC has been available for about a month now apparently, according to Gophn. Some insane prices there, at that price point and this weight, I'd start to wonder why not just get a desktop?

 

Is that 30 minutes of gaming time? Or 30 minutes of battery life = 15 minutes of gaming on battery LOL.

Still, an impressive technological feat in itself.

 

If your not going to be able to carry it around, let alone use it for only 30 mins, why not just get a desktop and 20"+ lcd monitor? It would be cheaper!

 

Some people prefer the simplicity of a notebook. One plug, no connecting wires, etc. And others will need to move it around from time to time, but really want the big screen. And then those who will buy this beast just want to be able to say they have the most powerful gaming notebook available .

 

I wonder why use a remarkably low-res of 1680x1050 for a 20,1" screen while others (such as Dell) offer 1920x1200 for their 17" and even 15,4" screened models ?
I think 1920x1200 would be better off since this is an SLI system after all. The Dell XPS M1710 with 1920x1200 res and 7900GTX, which I have used for an hour or so for testing, ate up everything I threw at it even at the aforementioned res with only ONE 7900GTX

 

yeah its kinda like cars, you could buy a tank and say that you have the biggest strongest car out there but its really not practical and too big for the roads.

 

Wasn't the M590 declared some 2 months ago ?

What I like about DTRs is that they take less space then a desktop , less wires , you can move them easily from room to room and still put them on your lap as well as carry them around .

With this you can't do the later 2 and is so expensive you'd want to insure it first .

Last , the 20" screen requires some distance from the laptop so how are you supposed to use the keyboard , this is the BIGGEST con , pun intended .

 

Great system, great specs, nice design, bad CPU, bad LCD, and absurd price. With the life expectancy of many computers I wouldn't pay in excess of $2,700 for one. They'd have to offer some pretty intense promotions for me to want to buy one of these. Hopefully they'll come up with just the right combination of specs in time for my next computer purchase (which is going to be 2 more years yet).

 

I wouldn't buy I computer for gaming at all these days, go with Xbox360, PS3 or Wii for gaming instead.

 

The M590 series has been out for a while now; versions are still sold with a single-core AMD Turion 64 processor.

Although I think this is a great machine, it is not very practical. For $5k+, you can get an incredible gaming desktop and a slick ultraportable or thin-and-light on the side. Or, you can simply opt for the Clevo M570U (Sager NP5760, WidowPC Sting 517D, etc).
The WSXGA+ resolution is disappointing, I agree, especially on a 20.1" display. Even with AA/AF, the dual Go7950GTX's are going to have no problem at all running with a buttery-smooth framerate. WSXGA+ is the minimum resolution to start taking advantage of an SLI rig. WUXGA and higher is ideal.

I know that a lot of people say "finally, dual core is available on an SLI notebook" - it is a good thing for sure, but won't help in the vast majority of games, since most games are single-threaded. A Turion X2 is two unchanged single-core Turion 64's stuck together, so in reality this machine is no better off at gaming than the single-core Turion M590. The processor is still without a doubt, the bottleneck.
I would actually prefer to go with a single-core Turion 64, since they go up to 2.4GHz (ML-44); the dual-core X2's only go up to 2.0GHz (TL-60). Of course, the X2's have a DDR2 memory controller vs. the single-core Turion 64's DDR, but I do not think the marginal performance boost DDR2 provides will be enough to make up for the difference in processing power.

 

You would have to be nuts to pay Widowpc that much for it. Much better prices many places on the web. Sager, GEN-X-PC or Discount Laptops.

 

1680x1050 isn't low for a 20.1 inch widescreen, 1920x1200 on a 17" looks retarted. and hardly any laptop is powerful enough to play games at that resolution.

you are staring at text for a much longer time on a computer than anything else.

 

the screen is the most ridiculous
the 2 most powerful GPUs are supposed to help play games at highest settings and highest resolution possible, so i think it's stupid and waste of money. Only one GPU would do

 

i would love to have this laptop with me

 

Circa - I'm on the doorstep of getting a Clevo M570U and can't decide about the resolution. Like you said, I will spend far more time reading and writing then actually playing games. Why do you say that "1920x1200 on a 17" looks retarded"?

Do you or anyone else have experience with 1680x1050 vs. 1920x1200 on the M570U? It's not about the money for me, it's about the ability to read the screen without having to squint -- while also getting the most from my games.

thanks!