Experience with XoticPC and Sager NP9150

On the tenth of May, I ordered a Sager NP9150 from XoticPC to replace my aging Macbook Pro as my primary workhorse for graphic design and arts coursework, etc. I had been saving money for a while (years, actually, because the rest of my income went to college-related expenses) and decided to invest more in the Sager, so I upgraded the screen to one with a 95% color gamut, the memory to 16GB, the hard drive to 750GB, and added an 80GB mSATA to serve as the boot drive along with White Glove Premium Packaging.

I chose to wire my payment, and XoticPC sent me detailed instructions on how to do so. The email that contained the instructions seemed, however, a bit confusing because the portion regarding the wire transfer was preceded by a number of disclaimers regarding shipping that spanned three large and several small paragraphs (including a line stating that White Glove Premium Packaging would add 4-7 days to shipping). It might be easier to read if XoticPC separates the wiring instructions from the shipping-related information.

Still, the wire went through okay. Then I ran into a snag: I had to go out of town the weekend after the 8th of June, and the laptop had not reached the shipping phase yet. An XoticPC customer service representative helped me with this (he did everything efficiently and quickly called me when he found that the laptop would likely not ship in time) and gave me two options: pay the sales tax to “avoid shipping it to NE” or change my shipping address. I opted for the second and emailed him the address for where I would be after the 8th. I was also told to add an “alternative shipping address” to the bank that did the wire transfer. Strangely, the bank associate met me with a blank stare when I told her what I needed to do and said that she could only change the checking mailing address. I agreed to temporarily change the checking mailing address, but to this day I still cannot understand why the associate refused to add an alternative address (maybe an alternative address wasn’t necessary for wire transfers?)

I got a email invoice on June 12 telling me that the laptop was “scheduled to ship today.” It arrived six days later, and initial impressions were good; the NP9150 was significantly faster than my old Macbook Pro (which ran Windows on Bootcamp), stayed cool during load, and, though it was louder than the Macbook (and the fans would really kick in when I paint on Photoshop), was quiet enough to not be distracting. I was, however, disappointed by the vertical viewing angle on the laptop monitor; for example, I would paint in a light skin tone, then -- after straightening my back -- realize that I had been giving my character a weird tan. It wasn’t much of a problem, but I emailed the XoticPC rep who helped me with the shipping for information about the panel so that I could set up more accurate color profiles. Though the rep promptly forwarded my questions to the service dept, I got no reply for at least a week until -- on asking the rep -- I found that my email account had been bouncing emails back to the sender.

I found it strange that a Gmail account would bounce emails back, but before I could deal with it, I found a troubling problem with the laptop: audio through the headphone jack had weak bass and quality. Come the Fall and Spring semesters I would need good audio for my editing classes, so I definitely felt worried when I plugged in my headphones and found that music on the Sager sounded worse than music on my Macbook; most music sounded like it came from a box or a tape recorder, and some music (like those with electronic drum beats) were accompanied by a low garbling noise throughout. Audio driver reinstalls and complete OS and driver reinstalls did not fix the problem.

I sent an email directly to the service department, but after a period without reply I (thinking that my Gmail might be bouncing messages again) called XoticPC’s technical support line, which redirected me to Sager’s technical support. The Sager rep simply told me to contact XoticPC for help, and that the audio for NP9150 fits “gaming” needs; he then told me that if I was unsatisfied I could return the laptop.

So I called XoticPC’s customer service line, where a rep confirmed that my Gmail was indeed sending the service dept’s messages back to them. I was directed to request an RMA for repair, which I did. However, at that point I realized that my 30-day satisfaction guarantee was almost up; I looked at my disappointment with the laptop screen, considered the headphone jack problem, and thought about the Sager rep’s comment about the NP9150’s audio, and I wondered if I really am unsatisfied with the laptop. I messaged the service department to change my RMA to return under the 30-day satisfaction guarantee and am currently waiting on the status of the RMA request.

Overall, I am impressed with XoticPC’s quality of service. The rep who dealt with the shipping issue was helpful and prompt. The service rep (when not bounced by Gmail) responded to email questions within hours and sometimes in less than an hour (even though XoticPC is only obligated to respond within 24 hours); this was in regards to whether or not to request an RMA for a return before my 30-day guarantee ended, and I’m glad that the service rep was willing to reply to each of my many (around ten in the span of three days) messages. I also want to thank the rep who at my request searched for some of my messages to confirm that they reached the service dept. To me, XoticPC proved itself in sales, shipping, and service; all that is left is customer satisfaction with the end product, whether it be satisfaction with the laptop itself or the comfort in knowing that you don’t have to force yourself to be satisfied.

 

Wow viett thank you for taking the time to write that all out. Sorry to hear the computer didnt work out for you. They are great for gaming but the audio doenst get the best reviews. While they did upgrade from the previous NP81XX models, the audio still could use a boost.
Glad to hear you've been taken care of by the rep who was helping you and our service department. Let any of us know if anything else does come up. If you're looking for something else to go with let us know.

 

Hutsady, it's nice that you guys are so active on these forums. I appreciate your concern, and I, too, hope that things turn out well.

For now, I'll continue to post updates on the RMA process.

 

just curious, but did u install the thx software? From what i had been reading, that was the cause of the prob with the audio system.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/675744-audio-quality.html#post8686628 <--- take a look

 

@xxpawnerzxx: Though the laptop came with THX TruStudio preinstalled, I did get a chance to test the headphone audio without THX during my OS and driver reinstalls. Unfortunately, there was no difference in audio quality.

And thanks for the link to the thread about Sager's audio. From the looks of the posts there, Sager seems to supply laptops with below-average audio.

Update on the RMA: It's now exactly one month from the shipping date. I was told that as long as I request an RMA for return within the 30-day mark, I should be eligible for a full refund under the policy. But, the service rep noted that if shipping goes past the "extra 5 days" Sager will have “the right to assign a restock fee.” I don't know whether this means that the laptop will have reach Sager in a total of 35 days or that I will have to get the laptop to a shipping center in 5 days, so I sent a message asking for clarification. I also haven't received word on the RMA yet.

 

The person that can approve the RMA for refund, at Sager, was not there in when I submitted it yesterday (wednesday). I received email last night telling me that I should have an RMA today, but none so for. I have contacted Sager again for an RMA. Ill check my email through the evening tonight in case they send it to me.

CAS

 

This is why I like dealing with XoticPC. If you never have a problem most resellers would be the same. However it is when the $%^ hits the fan that XoticPC proves it worth.

 

@Cedric: Thanks for the update.

@clintre: That's the reason why I chose to buy from XoticPC, which has a good track record when it comes to helping customers with problems.

 

I got my RMA, but it turns out that returns for a full refund have to arrive at Sager within 35 days (which is composed of the 30 days guaranteed by the satisfaction policy and an extra 5 days) of the original shipping date, otherwise Sager can charge a 15% restocking fee or turn down the refund. Because that would cost me three hundred dollars (and I’m already on my 32nd day from the original shipping date), I decided to cut my risks by keeping the laptop and buying an external sound card (which would cost around twenty to thirty USD) -- a solution that I’ve been hearing about in regards to weak headphone audio.

I hold no grudges toward XoticPC (the refunds are conducted by Sager, after all, and 30 plus 5 days is more than reasonable for a satisfaction guarantee). In fact, I’m pleased that XoticPC was willing to go through so much trouble to set things right.

For the time being, I’ll hope that the external sound card can deal with the audio and wait for some more information regarding the monitor to construct my color profiles.

 

Hope it all works out for you. Did you try reinstalling the audio drivers?

 

Oops, just saw you said you did. Sorry, and Good luck with your laptop.