Sager introduces new Montevina notebooks

Sager Computer recently introduced several new notebook computers based on the newly-available Intel 'Montevina' platform. The Montevina platform includes the new Intel PM45 chipset and ICH9M core logic, along with updated Core 2 processors and the new Intel 5300 wireless card.

Sager notebooks are built-on Clevo and Compal notebooks. Sager notebooks are only available in the United States, however they can be found under different designations worldwide. For information on resellers and the company in general, please see the Clevo Guide.

The following new Sager models have been introduced:

• NP8660 - 15.4" high-end gaming, available for pre-order. ETA early August
• NP7680/NP7660- 15.4" mainstream, available now
• NP7220 - 12", available now
• NP5796 - 17" high-end gaming, available now
• NP2096 - 15.4" gaming, shipping Late July

All new models are available with the Montevina Core 2 Duo processors, which have clock speeds ranging from 2.26 - 2.8GHz, with a 1066MHz FSB and 3MB or 6MB of L2 cache. "P" processors have a 25W TDP, and "T" processors a 35W.

All models also include the following:

• 2GB Intel Turbo Memory (Robson) available
• Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• Integrated 2.0 MP camera
• Built-in Fingerprint reader
• Windows XP or Windows Vista available

Some details regarding Turbo Memory:

Turbo Memory 1GB (Ver. 1.0) was on the original Centrino systems, and was divided into 2x 512MB, 512MB to Vista Ready Drive, and 512MB to Vista Ready Boost. It had its minor boosts under Windows Vista if it was used to Windows Vista specifications.

With the launch of Intel Centrino 2, Turbo Memory got upgraded from Ver. 1.0 to Ver. 2.0 (2GB/4GB). However only the 2GB module with driver version 1.6.1.1004 has been released. At this time when the 2GB module is paired with the 1.6.1.1004 driver will not show much of improvement as it is being utilized just as turbo memory ver. 1.0 was. (512MB to ready drive / 1.5GB to ready Boost).

The true turbo memory ver. 2.0 requires a driver software update that will be released by Intel, with the rough ETA of sometime in Q3 08 or Soon. Once this driver update is released you will then have the option to select how the 1.5GB of space should be used between the following 2 options, Vista Ready Boost or Intel Pinning.

What Intel Pinning does is you will be given a dashboard that will allow you to drag and drop your most used applications or files into the turbo memory module (it is smart enough to not duplicate files already pinned. The whole Office 2k7 suit will only take up about 600mb) and it will remain in the module, until removed from the dashboard by the user.

This will make the 1.5GB space a mini SSD for your most used applications and from internal testing this has shown a great performance boost in the application load time for the applications that has been pinned.

Turbo Memory 2.0 is quite a great alternate Mini SSD drive for the cost. Intel needs to finalize the new driver and makes a public release.

NP8660

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The NP8660 is a powerful 15.4" gaming notebook. It starts at $1,542 and the following specifications:

• 15.4" WSXGA+ glossy or WUXGA matte widescreen display
• Graphics options:
  • ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 512MB (standard)
  • Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GTS
  • Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GT
• DDR3-1066 RAM (4GB max.)
• Blu-ray drive available
• 8-cell Li-ion battery
• 7.1 lb including battery, 2 - 2.5 hours battery life

The ETA for the NP8660 is expected for early August. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is expected to be available at the end of August.

NP2096

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The NP2096 is a 15.4" gaming notebook with pricing around $1,000. It has the following specifications:

• 15.4" WXGA or WSXGA+ glossy widescreen displays
• Nvidia GeForce 9600M-GT 512MB
• DDR2-800 RAM (4GB max.)
• Blu-ray drive available
• 9-cell 7200 mAh Li-ion battery, 3.5+ hours life
• 6.5 lb including battery

The NP2096 will start shipping in late July.

NP5796

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The NP5796 is a refreshed version of the previous NP5793, which we reviewed here. It is a 17" high-end gaming notebook starting at less than $2,000.

• 17" WSXGA+ or WUXGA glossy widescreen displays
• Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 3.16GHz overclockable dual-core processor available
• Graphics options:
  • Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GT 512MB (standard)
  • Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GTX 1024MB
• DDR3-1066 RAM (4GB max.)
• Blu-ray drive available
• Built-in digital/analog multi-region TV tuner with remote available
• 8-cell battery

Notice the NP5796 is available with the Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 3.16GHz processor, which is overclockable in the BIOS. The NP5796 is available now.

NP7680/NP7660

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The NP7680 and NP7660 are 15.4" notebooks targeted at the non-gaming mainstream customers. It features the latest technology and value price points. The NP7680 starts at slightly over $900 and the NP7660 less than $800. The only differences between the two are that the NP7680 features Nvidia GeForce 9300M-GS 256MB dedicated graphics and an available WSXGA+ resolution display, while the NP7660 features Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics and a WXGA resolution display.

• 15.4" WXGA or WSXGA+ glossy widescreen display (NP7680 only)
• Graphics options:
  • Nvidia GeForce 9300M-GS 256MB (NP7680)
  • Intel GMA X4500 (NP7660)
• DDR2-800 RAM (4GB max.)
• 6-cell battery; 2.5+ hours life

Both the NP7680 and NP7660 are available now.

NP7220

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The NP7220 is the most portable notebook Sager offers. It has a 12" display and weighs 4.1 pounds with battery. It starts at less than $850.

• 12" WXGA glossy widescreen display
• Intel GMA X4500 graphics
• DDR2-800 RAM (4GB max.)
• 4-cell battery; 1 - 1.5 hours life; optional 8-cell has 2+ hours

Other News

The NP9262 desktop replacement has been updated with more advanced specifications.

• 8GB DDR2-667 RAM now available, or 4GB of DDR2-800
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz processor now available and is the base processor
• Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GT now available in single GPU/SLI options
• Single 9800M-GTX 1024MB available; No ETA on SLI, the motherboard may need to be updated to handle two cards

We reviewed the NP9262 here.

And finally, 320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drives and 128GB OCZ Core Series Solid State Disks (SSDs) are now available.

 

Chaz,

Thanks for the post.

there are minor corrections.

For memory:
the Montevina systems are supposed to be using DDR 3-800/1066

For videocard:
9800M GTX has 1024MB GDDR3 (description on the 5796 says 512MB)

Again. Thanks for the great work.

 

Wow the NP8660 looks sweet!

 

Yup.

No doubt in my mind to say that its the new "bang for the buck" gaming notebook for a $1500+ budget.

 

that NP8660 is nice !!! i wouldnt even want a 9800 i would go for the 3870 !!

 

The NP8660 might "be" sweet but I prefer the "look" of the NP7680.

 

Thanks for the info, I made the changes save for the DDR3 part. PowerNotebooks/Xotic PC are listing the NP2096 and some others with DDR2-800. Are you sure it is DDR3?

 

You're right Chaz. The Compal JHL90 is still using DDR2.

The Clevo Montevina's are using DDR3.

 

Dang.. correction again.

Only the Clevo M860TU and M570TU has DDR3-1066.

So the others are still DDR2 667/800.

 

^--^
Correct...

 

Alrighty then, I changed the NP5796 to have DDR3-1066. Thanks for the clarifications.

A comment on the new Sager notebooks - the pricing is really great, especially the NP2096 with the 9600M-GT 512MB. The card is one of the newer 9-series and should be a great performer with 32 processors. On Nvidia's site, it is placed in the higher-end of the performance card segment. I estimate it is faster than a Radeon HD 3650 but am not sure.

 

Battery life for NP7220 seems really low, despite having integrated graphics...

 

Its expected since it has a standard 4-cell. 2-3 hours is not bad for that small of a battery.

 

I put up an order for the NP7220 before I read this article, so I got a bit worried when I saw that the 4 cell has 1-1.5 hours of life. Is the 2-3 hours on the 8 cell? I ordered the spare 8-cell anyways, so I don't think I have to worry. Otherwise I may jump on the NP2096.

 

how is 3750 in M860TU?like 8800gts?

 

the ATI 3870 is expected to perform better than the 8800M GTS.

not sure if its going to surpass the 9800M GTS or GT yet.

 

i m so eager to read Chaz`s reviews

 

I am still surprised on the pricing of the new units.

I am seriously wanting to get a 9800M Clevo... now that my 7800GTX is two generations behind.

 

No big difference between 8800M and 9800M so it's as good as you're one gen behind. You might as well wait for Nehalem mobile quads and GTX280 or above equivalent mobile GPUs

 

I am probably not going to get a mobile platform.

I like my desktop platform D900K... if I were to wait, I would wait for the successor of the D901C.

Desktop platform notebooks are cheaper to upgrade (ie. quad-core prices are cheaper for desktops than the upcomign mobile quads)

 

Good to see both ATI and Nvidia on the systems, I'm hoping the HD 3870 to perform as well as the 9800GT. Losing faith in Nvidia....

 

wow good pricing on these although i don't think sager does canada for cheap if i can remember correctly.

 

There are Canadian Clevo vendors, most of which get their barebones from www.eurocom.com

But a number of members here that live in Canada have order their systems from US vendors (like XoticPC or PCMicroworks) and ship it to Canada.... and still saving them more money than if they were to purchase it through a Canadian vendor.

 

so does montivina support 8gb or ram or no?

 

yes, Montevina should support 8GB... if the memory is available that is (talking about DDR3).

 

chaz: any idea when you might get an np8660 to review?

 

I'm starting to enter that time period where I know a major purchase of technology, probably a new computer, is on the horizon. However, I'm not buying yet. I do like that Sager/Clevo is including ATi. I really hope that they find a way to work in the multi-core GPU's, particularly those from ATi, in the future or in refreshes of these models. Due to the balance of performance, price, and design, at this point I'm strongly suspecting a Sager will replace this aging Dell.

I'm also kind of surprised I don't see anything with quad cores. Maybe next time. The more GPU and CPU cores, the better.

 

The Clevo D901C (aka. Sager 9262) is still the world's first and only quad-core notebook.

Mobile quad-cores are not expected to Q4 2008 or Q1 2009, even when they do come out, they would run about $1000 each.... ouch.

Might as well get the D901C that uses desktop quad-cores that are much faster and cheaper.

 

I'll definitely be getting one to review, probably once they start shipping. I wasn't given an exact time though. Stay tuned. Feel free to bug me from time to time about upcoming reviews.

 

Wow! Sager's really pushing the price/performance edge. And their styling and feature set's come up too.

And still no bloatware. Gotta appreciate that!

 

the NP2096 really looks like the perfect computer for me, the batterytime is enough, the graphic performance should be enough for starcraft 2 and it is exactly in my pricerange. I have one question though, how is the build quality on the Sagers? And the support? I am looking also at the HP dv5t, it looks better imho but it is a little bit more expensive and I have heard a lot of negative things about HP...

And do you think I can get a better price if I order over the phone?
Do you think I should wait until it is start to ship or order it directly?

And finaly, is sagers own website the best place to buy it from? If I can buy it from a store around the NY area I could perhaps spend some extra just to be able to touch it before I buy it, anyone knows if such store exist?

 

Surprise!!!!
No news about new 13" popular portable line in notebook world!!!
Laptops now either powerfull gaming or light thin portable!!!

 

read these threads that were just created:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273483

and

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273374

 

Thx for the links!

 

I was just reading on nvidia's webpage...Hybrid graphics with the new card? How much longer battery life are we talking about? Specifically with the 9600m GT.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_9600m_gt.html

 

Hybrid graphics requires the nVIDIA IPD (chipset/motherboard) with both integrated and discrete graphics cards. It is not supported by Intel based motherboards.

 

Gotcha... I need to research more...

 

I just realised the NP2096 comes with 9600m GT DDR2 memory. Is it correct?

 

yes, its performance is between a 8600m gt gddr3 and a 8700m gt if im not mistaken.

 

i meant the video memory is ddr2

 

Yes, the video memory in the NP2096 is GDDR2.

However we will be launching, in about a week, new 15.4" and 17" Centrino 2 PowerPro models with the nVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT w/512MB GDDR3.

 

fantastic line-up by Sager and Clevo. But I really want to see the manufactures stuff a 9600GT into a 13 inch chassis. If they can stuff a 9800GT in a 15.4inch, the 9600GT is do able. I find myself gaming less and less. I love my 1330, but I want a bit more power like the 9600GT 512MB GDDR3 card. Just enought to handle WoW, D3, and SC 2. What can I say, I am blizzard whore.

 

Hey chaz, noticed a lot of the games you do for benchmarks use UT3. If you use that game as a benchmark this time can you possibly do a review showing how the nvidia physics driver compared to being enabled and disabled?

 

Why are the low-end Sagers so expensive? It's like $800 for a budget 15.4" w/ integrated graphics....you can get a much better one for the same price at Best Buy or something

 

Compare all the specs...including all the I/O and you won't find anything like that at BestBuy...

But, let's say you could get close, if BestBuy support is what you are after...go for it

 

any of them come with an option for LED backlit screen?

 

No LED backlit screens yet, and we don't see them on the roadmap either, so it may be a while.

 

any dates for when a review for the NP7220 (12inch) will come out? does anyone know about build quality of these laptops? i.e. long term durability?

thanks! great work

 

The NP7220 is shipping now.

Sager build quality and durability is almost legendary, just read some of the threads and reviews in this forum (particularly in the Sager and Reviews sections).

 

Does anyone know the actual ship date of the Sager NP2096?