Xotic NP8298 Experience

Background:

I decided that I needed a new computer in case I leave my job to become independent contractor. After some thought, a 17"+ laptop seemed the way to go as it could used as a desktop replacement of a CAD/Engineering workstation and also be taken to business trips/travels. For weeks I was looking at Dell Precision M6800 reviews (I was close to buy one) until I stumbled into a "best laptops for engineers" article that featured a Sager NP9570. I really liked it, inmediately started viewing different resellers/builders plus their offered models and upgrades. Finally, I decided for a customized NP8298 from Xotic PC.

Purchased Specs:

Sager NP8298 (Clevo P177SM-A)
MONSTER BACK-2-SCHOOL Specials - Manufacturer Exclusives FREE WiFi Upgrade - Intel® Dual Band AC 7260 802.11 A/AC/B/G/N 2.4/5.0GHz + Bluetooth™ 4.0
Display 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen (1920x1080)
Processor Sager - 4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4810MQ
Thermal Compound - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
Graphics Video Card NVIDIA® Quadro™ K1100M (2.0GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11
Extra Cooling Copper Heatsinks Applied to the Heatsink/Heatpipes
Ram 8GB DDR3 1600MHz [1x8GB] Dual Channel Memory
Exterior Finish - Graphic & Textured WrapsCustom Graphic Wrap [A+B+C Surface]
Exterior Finish - XOTIC PC Laser-Sketch™Laptop Personalization Text Etching
Primary Hard Drive 256GB Crucial MX100 Series SSD
Second Hard Drive 256GB Crucial MX100 Series SSD
Raid 0 Stripe Enabledr
Optical Drive Bay6X Blu-Ray Reader + 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
Operating System ~Windows 8.1 Professional - 64-Bit (64-Bit CD Included) + MS Office 2013 Trial

In hindsight, as the laptop is mostly for work purposes (with the occasional gaming), a Raid 1 would have been preferable so I wouldn't have to worry much work being lost in case of hard drive failure. Note that the graphics card is a Quadro K1100M; that is because I will do mostly 2D CAD.

Events:

15 - 08 Order placed. Payment option was wire transfer (don't live inside the US) with delivery to a courier service that handles international shipping.
18 - 08 Order status set to phase 0. Contacted by a sales representative that gave me SWIFT info.
19 - 08 Wire transfer sent.
20 - 08 Order status set to phase 1. Contacted by same representative telling me the graphics card was unavailable with a "expected" ETA of 3 weeks.
21 - 08 Decided is not worth to wait and upgrade to a Quadro K3100M (better for gaming too). Sent a payment throught Paypal to cover the difference.
21 - 08 Payment refunded because I didn't include and address (Come on, is not like the graphics card is going to be shipped separately). Had to sent another payment "with an address".
27 - 08 Order status set to phase 3 and shipped from Sager to Xotic.
02 - 09 Order status set to phase 3 (I assume this day it arrived at Xotic).
03 - 09 Contacted by someone from the production team to confirm the selected artwork.

Experience:

So far it has been a good experience, albeight a very minor issue with the first Paypal payment. I think it could have been handled by just asking for clarification instead of outright refunding the payment and then notifying. Other than that the service has been excellent.

I have my fingers crossed that the laptop ships by the end of this week. I have to travel abroad on the 21st of this month, and if it arrives at the courier by the 17th or earlier, I could take it to the trip with me.

Will keep posting as the order status progresses.

 

Thanks for the feedback and progress so far. That second phase three update you got was indeed us receiving and getting assigned to a tech to do your customizations.

For the PayPal payment issue, just as an FYI, we do that as it's a method to protect from fraud and PayPal requires it for us to qualify for Seller protection. We'd rather not have those policies as well to make it safe and easy for everyone but unfortunately with the way fraud is right now we don't have much choice and neither does PayPal. I'm glad it got taken care of quick though and I'm sure we'll have you shipping soon.

 

Looks like we'll be shipping today!

If you like I can post up some pics of the wrap finished.

 

Here's the events update:

10 - 09 Order status set to phase 4.
11 - 09 Order status set to phase 5. A couple of hours later order status set to phase 6. Finally 3 hours afterwards order was set to phase 7 and shipped.

Wow, the order progressed faster than expected since phase 3. According to UPS tracking, it should arrive on the 17th, just in time to arrive before the trip.
Overall, it has been a great service and the staff did respond in a timely manner to my emails. 10/10 would buy again.

Oh and Derek, thanks for the pictures. The wrap sure looks great. You can post the pictures here.

 

Talk about overheating!

 

Xotic PC: Where nothing is too cheesy