HIdevolution and LPCDigital

I would like to buy a P650RS-G laptop with the following configuration:

QFHD 4K display, thermal paste upgrade, 30 day pixel warranty, i7-6820HK, 16GB ram, 500GB EVO 850 SSD, 1TB HD, Intel 8260 wifi, Windows 10, 2 Year Warranty.

LPC Digital does not provide the liquid metal thermal paste upgrade or the Prema Custom (v)BIOS, but they do come in about 10% cheaper ($247) with the same configuration. I've contacted Donald at HIdevolution and I accept his explanation for the ways that HIdevolution adds value through providing high quality custom builds, early access to the Prema BIOS and a high level of customer support. However the price difference is quite significant.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what I might expect if I go the cheaper route with LPCDigital? I'm fairly competent technically (well, I've built a few systems), but I would pay more to avoid endless hair pulling.

 

They both have great customer service. But it comes down to what you want from your system. Bear in mind that the extra money HIDevolution asks you is fair as they are giving you their own warranty now and have to bear the risk since the machine is running a non-standard BIOS and thus, if any component goes bad due to overclocking or wrong settings, they will have to honor the warranty regardless if the manufacturer accepts the claim or not (say Clevo or Intel or nVIDIA)

Benefits of Prema BIOS:

• The ability to disable other drives connected to your system without physically removing them from your laptop, this comes in handy when installing Windows as you never want to have more than one drive connected at the time you are installing Windows otherwise the Windows setup will place the boot files on the 2nd drive it sees which hurts performance and makes it a headache when creating system images or restoring since the boot files are not on the main drive.
• The ability to overclock, increase Turbo Power Limits and System IA/Core Current Limits
• The ability to enable Intel Speed Shift Technology (it is disabled in the stock BIOS)
• The ability to run RAM with speeds higher than the standard 2133 MHz. I am not talking about overclocking here, I am talking about actual RAM sticks that are rated to run at 2800 MHz for example like the G.Skill 64GB 2800 MHz kit I have. With the stock BIOS, they will not run above 2400 MHz. In the case of the P870DM3, the stock BIOS now supports up to 2666 MHz. I believe but not more, so the Prema BIOS is a must again
• The ability to enable CSM for those who want to install other OSes like Windows 7
• The ability to undervolt the CPU as the stock voltage is way too high which causes the CPU to overheat much quicker and thus throttle under load.
• The ability to enable or disable CPU AES instructions or Virtualization
• The ability to disable hibernation from the BIOS

Benefits of Prema VBIOS:

• Power throttle disabled
• Over-voltage slider enabled and adjusted (up to a maximum of 1.2v)
• Activated and adjusted thermal slider (to keep it cooler if desired)
• Core overclock slider limit raised
• Power consumption meter activated
• Fixed 3D voltage base-line in order to stabilize OCs and voltage-match both cards in SLI systems (based on average ASIC)
• Thermal protection @ 92c (once*91c are breached the system throttles volts and clocks in order to protect it)
• Protection against Furmark and Kombustor GPU burnout (AVOID those software even with stock vBIOS)!

 

Hi Pheonix, I'm in the same boat as OP. I'm trying to justify the purchase from HIDevolution due to their attention to detail and quality control before shipping (gathering that from the most of the experiences posted). The only issue I have is that the option to change keyboard to UK puts me out of my already tight budget. Won't I be able to install the Prema BIOS and vBIOS myself or does HIDevolution do something special with theirs?

Side note; reckon you could point me in the right direction for someone I can contact or should I just drop an e-mail into their "Contact Us" section.

 

1) you can install the Prema BIOS/VBIOS yourself but the main question is, who is going to provide you with the files? There is no way of getting them unless it comes from your reseller, thus, you want to ensure you order from a Prema Partner otherwise your machine's full potential will be locked down.

2) Regarding the budget, contact [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] and tell them you are an NBR member, they will give you a small discount if you have enough forum posts, try to be more active on the forums please as you need some more posts.

3) always go for quality over price. You pay a bit more for excellent warranty support, superb customer service, and the best in terms of specs/configuration

please read this to the dot:
HIDevolution - The Best Company I ever dealt with

 

I did, which was why I'd really love to purchase from them. What's the post requirement? I'll build it over the next while, planning on purchasing it in October.

 

I don't work for them so I wouldn't know the post count requirement. Please ask them.

What I can tell you though is you can create an account with them, configure your system to your liking and add it to the cart but don't checkout. That's how they are able to apply the discount for you.

Also make sure to email them telling them to ensure to conduct extensive testing to ensure the screen has no back light bleeding. All the laptops I received from them had 0 backlight bleeding. Pitch dark black colors on dark screens (like in movies and whatnot)

 

Oh if they do that then that's great! I read a while ago some post from an XMG representative that backlight bleeding is common/normal for IPS screens. Idk if true.

 

very true, it's a draw of the luck. That's why I tell them in the order notes to check for it and I've always gotten a perfect screen

 

IMO, Prema BIOS is not needed by everyone.. I personally tbh don't require the BIOS but the vBIOS helps..

If your getting a P650, you will be fine without it... You can still OC etc.. And I'm sure a few months down the road, you can make a small donation to Prema and get it from him directly...

I don't care what Hide says but $240 more a BIOS is a rip off.. Sure their CS is great but even LPC is just as good from what I've read.. You will get faster warranty repair but a few moire days is fine if your saving that much when buying from LPC..

Most of the quirks of the new P650 have been fixed, the new BIOS on the machines is preventing throttling etc.... I would just go with LPC..

Also this post sums up why I'd be reluctant to make a big purchase with Hide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...i-ever-dealt-with.787085/page-6#post-10337283

 

I'm interested in the configs you guys are doing, the difference between my LPC and HID spec outs was only like 60 bucks, and that was worth the bios to me, though yeah I get that its not for everyone. But I never order drives or Oses and the costs get much closer together.

 

I ordered my P775DM3-G from HID with the i7 6700K, 16 GB RAM, GTX 1080, 128 GB M.2 SSD (to keep as a backup), and 3-year parts warranty.

HID's pricing was more or less the same as it would have been from Mythlogic or LPC. We're talking a difference of less than $50. One advantage to HID, and Mythlogic for that matter, is that any servicing is done in-house, rather than needing the extra step of having to get Sager involved. The fact that HID is stepping up to provide Prema a system with which to craft his next-generation BIOS and the excellent service I've received from Donald, both past and present, tipped the scale in their favor.

At the same time, you wouldn't go wrong ordering from LPC either, if their configuration is more in-line with your budget.

 

This is a good point. I might be able to shave down the cost by buying my own parts with a HID build. I don't know how this impacts the HID warranty.

After reading a bit about the liquid metal thermal paste, I think I'm going to pass on it. The reward/risk ratio is too low for me, though frankly opting for this paste would be a good reason to have the HID warranty (i.e. if they apply the paste!).

I'm leaning towards going with LPC possibly with the "diamond" thermal paste (which I may need to re-do).

I appreciate that the fundamental difference between LPC and HID is the difference between a Sager reseller and a Clevo system builder. There are pros and cons to each. I think I'm "hands on" enough to make up for the difference, but it is a risk.

 

There isn't really a risk if they are doing the liquid ultra... Hence the whole point, when it gets to you its done and finished.

 

Yes, this is what I meant about the difference between going with a builder and a reseller. The builder is taking the responsibility for doing things like using liquid metal thermal paste. I certainly agree that there is a real added value to this service if liquid metal is what you really want.

LPCs price for components is actually not bad. The nice things is that if there is a problem with any of them I can send it back under warranty. I'll try to compare more closely.

 

So here's the config I'm thinking about getting from LPC Digital which comes in under $2200:

QFHD 4K display, IC Diamond paste, 30 day pixel warranty, i7-6820HK, 16GB ram, 1TB SanDisk M.2 SSD, Intel 8260 wifi, Windows 10 home, 2 Year Warranty.

LPC's prices for parts (Windows OS, RAM and 1T SSD) are actually pretty good from doing a little shopping around.

I would not mind upgrading to a 3 year warranty but that really blows my budget (another $179). I might change my mind, but right now it seems like a lot (brings the build to over $2300).

A similar config from HIdevolution comes to under $2400 which in the scheme of things is not crazy and makes sense depending on what you put the most value on.

 

It's still a good $200 more and only with 1 year warranty I guess? Not worth it IMO...

LPC's warranty is 2 years correct? I would get 2 years warranty at least since it's BGA and if anything fails, the motherboard replacement is basically going to cost you as much as a new laptop... 2 years gives you enough cover.. In my experience, people who had 1 year had some nasty surprised when the predecessor 8652 model failed just a few months after the 1st year? Personally, talk to Larry and see if he can get the price down slightly for the 3 year warranty... More the better when getting BGA laptop..

 

Yeah that's clearly a weakness. I paid extra for a longer warranty.

Edit: I paid 1990 for this from HID:
6820HK
1070
16GB 2400 DDR4
4K display
30 day dead pixel warranty
liquid ultra cooling blah blah
No OS
no Drives
2 year warranty

Then I snagged a 1TB ssd on sale for 160 bring it to like 2140.

I did have multiple discounts though (student + cash)

Your price is still better with OS included and I imagine its hard to find a 1TB that cheap.

Edit: whoops! That's with a 70 dollar laser engraving as well! @Phoenix I went for it.

 

Actually if I can pay in cash that might make it possible to get the 3 year warranty. That should be better than Visa extended warranty anyway.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

Cash is seldom a good idea when it comes to high value purchases, since you have have zero recourse if/ when things go south. Credit card extended warranties are actually quite useful, but it depends on the policy. I've used the one attached to my American Express on a busted TV from Costco (2 year costco, 3rd year from Amex) and the policy for my card was along the lines of "full repair by original equipment manufacturer/ vendor or full replacement" (in my case, they gave me the full amount back and told me to go buy a new TV). Although to be fair, my Amex was not the standard Costco one and it does have a yearly fee, but that fee pays for itself in less than a couple of months into the year.

 

Yes, I actually agree. Since posting this I reconsidered. In fact the Visa card I would likely use has an extended warranty of up to one year (max 3) so I could use that instead of purchasing the third year from the reseller (I'm pretty sure the reseller is selling the three year coverage from Sager).

At first I was wondering if this was reasonable three year coverage, but now I think it is. You just have to be careful with paperwork and probably have to be very persistent to get the coverage.

EDIT: BTW, I just put in my order with LPC for the config I've been itching for. Comes to under $2100 all things told. Put on my Visa to get a third year warranty coverage.