Thanks, MALIBAL...

I ordered my P150HM on November 25, it was sent on December 21 and arrived on December 29. As there was a frenzied purchase spree then, along with Xmas, I expected the delay. The extra delay after it was sent was due to my local courier service being closed for a week at Xmas. During that time, all MALIBAL inquiries were handled professionally and on-line chat was immediate. I am quite confident that any warranty work will be handled the same way, which is a peace of mind for three years.

The laptop arrived, as I assume everyone else's was, in a box within a box with minimal protection, but it wasn't damaged in transit. Nothing extraordinary regarding the accessories. Came with an ICM DVD and tote bag (which I will upgrade...after all, this is a $2000.00+ machine I am protecting).

After spending a lot of pre-purchase time on NBR, I had many concerns - the rubberized finish, screen quality, video card etc. which I will address below:

The main concern that I had was the screen condition, as my #1 custom priority was that it had to be a quality matte screen with no defects.The screen was perfect with no pixel problems...a relief that I didn't have to use the dead pixel warranty. Perhaps I was overly reading the NBR concerns regarding red shift on the 95% gamut screens - I don't have that problem, in fact I didn't use the ICM calibration that was sent along. The colors are vibrant with quite an adjustable range (I like high saturation and low gamma) - no need to max or minimize out any setting. So with vibrant colors equal to a glossy screen and the reduced eyestrain, I would never trade off for a glossy. I have a 24" led external HD monitor (expected to use it with the laptop) but the clarity and crispness of this screen blows it away and I don't use it at all.

Another concern was the rubber finish, but there was no choice with an upgraded GPU. I expected a fairly thick coating, as some members were talking about bump protection. It is actually a thousandths of an inch coating that really offers no serious protection other than wear protection. It is a charcoal color and in my opinion, gives a classy professional look to the notebook - along with the MALIBAL branding. Speaking of professional, I am not impressed with an arcade light show...I don't need a distraction from the monitor screen. Also, I use an external mouse, so I can't comment on the tactile quality of the touch pad and this is also my first laptop after 20 years of desktops, so I can't rate its stickiness to other brands.

Again, a long time NVidia fan, but I couldn't resist the free upgrade to the Radeon 6970. A little learning curve on a Linux system, but with Google things are coming together - I've had many years to iron out the NVidia's. I'm not a gamer, but the card is quite adjustable and responsive using the latest drivers with no visual problems. As for CPU/GPU temperatures, they average around 50c with watching videos, surfing the Internet and work-related chores (with ICD7 paste). Don't know if this is normal temps, but might give me an excuse to play around with the paste if not. The fan noise is definitely not a problem in a quiet environment and stays constant with no surging. I have tried Fn +1 and full fan would be distracting, but if you are gaming you would most likely be using headphones anyway.

As for the keyboard, it is a quality treat after years of crappy desktop keyboards. As with anything different, there is a familiarization period and it is comfortable now. Again, no other laptops to compare, but it has a solid feel to it. Anyway, I use a wireless mouse most of the time and IMO, lighted keys would be distracting and not needed if you watch what you doing on the screen instead of your hands .

One tough decision was the choice between 15.6" and 17.3" - larger real estate, no loss of DVD player with two hard drives, better cooling(??). In the end, weight and portability won out. Everything I do is flash drive and the 15.6" screen is quite big enough with the same resolution.

The sound is....utilitarian....and I don't expect to improve it with software in Linux. It sounds good with Bose headphones and will invest in a DAC if I want better. I don't see how any laptop with its limited space would have great sound that would please any audiophile.

I ordered it with a caddy instead of a DVD drive, installed a Crucial SSD in the primary then switched the hard drive to the caddy. Installation was extremely easy and everything works as it should.

So, although I am extremely pleased with the purchase up to now, it was an uneventful event. Everything that I normally use works to expectations...haven't tried the fingerprint reader or the web cam as they don't interest me. Thanks MALIBAL, for an excellent machine and thanks to the NBR forum members who helped with my buying choices...I think I am hooked on custom-built Clevos.

 

You're welcome... thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying your notebook.

 

Oh dude, dude, dude! Who isn't? Congratulations with your mean machine-