MALIBAL VEDA Series (Clevo X8100) Review Discussion

The MALIBAL Veda Series notebook is an high-performance gaming machine built from the Clevo X8100. Offering an Intel Core i7 processor, dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M graphics cards in SLI, up to three internal hard drives, and a gorgeous 18.4" 1080P display this notebook is built for one thing ... speed. In this review we see how well it stacks up against the competition and if it is worth the steep pricetag.

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I would call it a hefty hunk of goodness

 

That is perhaps the most powerful laptop I've ever seen... but with the 12+ lb weight it is not going to be very portable and the price is extreme. I'm kind of curious what the purpose of this thing would be. Unless you're both big and strong, it will not be comfortable to lug around and even if you are, the battery life is predictably pitiful. It seems to be almost exclusively a desktop replacement, but for that kind of money, one can easily build 2 desktops with far superior performance, perhaps even 3 (one for every place I can think of where I might want to have a machine like this).

 

Perfect system for someone who lives their life on the road basically hotel to hotel or a lot of LAN gaming parties. I'd rather take this beauty than like we did back in the day lugging our entire PC setups to cons and such.

When you do a lot of traveling for vacation and business, it is nice to have a decently powered system that mimics your home system as much as possible (and in some cases, replaces it).

I can't tell you how many times it was nice when you're staying here and there to be able to "set up shop," and have a decently powered system at your disposal for whatever.

 

Dang that thing is huge, but the hardware inside, as well as the amount of HDD's, makes it an ideal machine for heavy gaming or tasks of any sort.

 

Kevin O'Brien. Re Audio (this is based on the M980NU so may or may not work dependent on the audio drivers and chip) -

Switch the realtek audio to 5.1 using the realtek control software, but switch off all speakers except the sub.
Do not tick swap sub/centre or bass management options.
Exit the realtek software.

Now go into the windows audio properties (playback devices), right click speakers (realtek audio) and go to properties.

Switch to the Dolby tab. Tick 'Natural Bass' and set the slider to 5/6 out of 6.


Providing all the above steps can be followed...it sounds...well, a LOT better in the mids department, if works properly there should be an immediate, noticable improvement. Even if its not up there with a proper sound system.

If you can try these steps, let us know what you think Kevin!

 

The W90 only got 13.5k 3DMark? I thought it broke 20k?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=218157

And even at stock clocks I don't see how it only has 13.5k?

 

Okay, I'll say it.

What is the point of this when you can build a Mini-ITX real system in a small HTPC case and bring it on the road with you with a slim LCD and get better performance for 1/4 of the price?

Who actually buys these things?

 

People who have a heck of a lot more disposable income than me!

I honestly have a hard time justifying any notebook purchase beyond the $1,000 price range nowadays unless you're talking about a fully rugged notebook for extreme work environments that require extremely durable machines.

Yes, $4,000 gaming notebooks can run anything you can imagine, but they are prohibitively expensive compared to an equally capable gaming desktop ... which can be upgraded every year unlike a notebook.

Don't get me wrong. There are certainly people out there who buy machines like this ... but it's a niche market.

Still, I have to tip my hat to those handful of people who can afford such expensive toys in this economy. I envy your bank accounts.

 

Tbh I would rather have an 18,4'' laptop for lans then a small portable desktop, mainly having the screen not seperated. Had the Asus W90VP before, probably buying this one if they offer it with a better GPU after Cebit. I should mention I get my laptop about half the price (about 45% discount), got to love taking of the VAT and taxes. D:

 

This laptop is a freaking beast. But it should have come with USB 3.0 with that price. Nevertheless, buy this and I don't think you'll need another laptop for at least another 7 years or so.

 

The price is not that bad if you take out the SSD's and maybe lower the cpu by one grade.

 

Nice hardware inside, but I'm amazed Clevo still hasn't figured out after all these years how to put a proper 4-column number pad on a keyboard. They seriously need to take a look at an old HP zd7000 and copy that keyboard layout. Even the more recent Toshiba Qosmio X305 had a proper keyboard layout.

 

Whoa. Seriously ... whoa. That is quite a machine!

Impressed with the temp control too....

 

NBR doesnt exactly do enthusiast benchmarking and do not have the systems long enough to get extremely high benchmarks. The W90 hit 20k on a custom BIOS, the M17x broke the W90's 3dmark 06 record with 22k I believe a few weeks ago.


All that aside glad to see some true competition coming Alienwares way...its been nothing but M17x users vs M17x users for the top spots in synthetic benchmarking which the top 10 benches are completely M17x...little drab.

 

Wow that HD tune pic... *jaw falls off*

 

Did you guys test the HDMI input? Just kind of wondering how that works.

 

500MB+? Geeze.

I wonder how much more I'd notice the weight than just my current laptop.

Hopefully the future of laptops isn't mirror surfaces though, I think that would suck.

 

I tested it but could not get it functioning on the review model. It is almost certainly caused by software/driver issues since other forum users have gotten it to work. With different inputs (Xbox, WD TV, another computer) it recognized the resolution but the screen stayed black and kind of flickered. Driver support for the HDMI-in application was missing on the Clevo support website. All three links either timed out or threw a missing file error.

 

LOL. Enthusiast gamers will realize that the GPUs in this thing are gonna be junk in, like, 2 years.

 

I hope you mean MicroATX system. Mini-ITX systems for the most part don't have dedicated PCIe x16 slots.

Really though if you tend to fly a lot this is a lot more convenient to pack away and move then a whole large desktop set. A desktop set requires lots more shipping materials and protection, and there's more of a risk of something coming lose during transit.

Granted a desktop system less than half the price could beat this, but there is still a viable market (I think).

 

Amen to that.....am surprised though the audio system isn't quite up to par with the rest....

Nevertheless, being 18.4", this thing reminds me of a Borg Cube......can almost here whispers of "Resistence is futile...." echoing out from within the chasis.....

 

From what I know the M980NU has the same audio system and a lot of people were complaining about it, but if you did some easy fixes it was suppose to get a lot better. Think someone posted about it earlier.

 

Yep, the 'sub' is basically disabled by default, you need to force it back into use. Sounds substantially better with the sub taking on the lower mids and upper bass, because the rest of the speakers can't do it.

 

I will try that out when I am back in the office and see if it improves.

 

Did you use a single GPU M17x with a Celeron processor (special Malibal edition)? Because otherwise those benchmark numbers are way off.

P.S. I get ~19k in 3dmark06 at stock settings. Not that 3dmark06 means anything these days but figured I'd throw that out there anyway.

 

Those M17x numbers are from the review of the original R1 model with GTX 280M SLI...NBR hasn't reviewed the Mob. HD4850+ or i7 models.

 

The NBR reviewing staff is pretty competent

Watch your words and read a little more, it would take you very far

 

Came into the office early, wiped the notebook, reinstalled Windows 7, and got all the original drivers loaded. Tonight when I get home I will retest the audio with a movie and test the HDMI input again with my Xbox and PS3 to see if it works this time.

 

IMO , the GTX285M is junk... rebranded junk that is... DirectX 10.1 and not 11 ... so i would nver buy this... unless it came with dual 5870s...

 

it doesn't have 10.1, its stuck with 10 since its G92

only high end card with 10.1 is the ATI 4870m

 

I must agree, the GTX 285M is not good enough, hopefully after Cebit it will be shipped with crossfire HD5870s and/or SLI GTX 380M D:

 

Really impressive HDD marks. 500 MB/s - wow. I have to agree though, this isn't the time to be buying GTX 285's. Mobility Radeon 5870's would make a lot more sense at this juncture. 285 isn't junk, but it's not the ideal choice.

And Hobo, there won't be a 380M. The 300 series is now just rebranded 200 series with marginally higher clocks (4-5%), except the 335, so you could call them "junk" for their lack of added value. In several desktop variants, the GeForce 300 even lost DX 10.1 support that the corresponding GeForce 200 models had. nVIDIA's skipping to 400-series for their new chips to avoid the tarnished reputation of the 300 series.

 

Yeah Apollo13, it seems like there will be no 380M Bah, I don't want to wait until the end of the year to get this laptop... I really hope something happens regarding the GPUs, but I guess I have to wait for mobile fermi (as it seems like Clevo will not get CF HD 5870 for a while)

 

Were you able to improve the sound quality with some tweaks?