XoticPC ordered 7/10

I'll be doing this liveblogish style.

8/16:
After much correspondence with Xotic about doing an RMA for the SteelSeries keyboard I decided I'd try to put forth some additional effort in trying to fix it (despite finding next to nothing online about how to remove SteelSeries chiclet keys). I opened up the front end of the laptop in effort to remove the keyboard, originally to see if I could get a better view and see if something was causing that key in particular to function unlike the others. When I got the keyboard out the issue seemed to be resolved. I am thinking the cause for the problem is how the keyboard is fit into the laptop. As it isn't exactly a perfect fit, my guess is if the keyboard is slightly bent too much that will cause, in my experience the + key to not function as desired. After slightly adjusting / testing while adjusting to make sure that the keys were still functioning as desired, I placed the keyboard into the laptop and put everything back together. Problem solved!

TL;DR: If your + key on your numpad is not working quite right, take out your keyboard and see if it still has the same problem. If it doesn't place it in carefully and put it in a situation in which it does not have that problem. In my case, the screws are also a little less tight.

8/10:
Package arrived. There are some things that I contacted XoticPC about. As far as the laptop is concerned, my biggest gripe is with the SteelSeries keyboard. While it was pretty much known that the Fn keys were not going to be mapped, that's fine. The problem I have is the + sign on the numpad doesn't work quite right. What i mean is when you press the left side of the key it won't register. However, that side of the key will be depressed. If you press the left side, it will register but it will rub/click against something and so there is a bit of an unusual friction for that key versus the rest of the keys on the keyboard. I haven't found anyone else with this issue after briefly looking. So I will assume it's an isolated issue. I think the other keys have been fine.

I am still running tests as far as performance / temperatures but from what I've done so far, it seems solid. Max temp I got was 90 degrees. Games seem to top out at 70 degrees or so which is great. I am a little unsure about utilization though. I have't been able to break 85% or so GPU utilization.

At the end of the day, the computer can do what it was meant to do, which is to say provide a playable experience on several games at max settings (GW2 beta and SC2).

8/3:
Moved into Phase 4 today.

7/24:
Moved into Phase 3. Spoke with Hutsady again as I was feeling a little worried about when my order would arrive. He reassured me that it would be as I expected. Hope to see it soon!

7/17:
I spoke with Hutsady about my order, for some reason the NBR discount $50 off 1500 was not applied. Hopefully that gets resolved soon. Also spoke to him about the referral and volume order discount since I planned to order with a friend but he has been late to order.

PRO TIP FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE CONSIDERING VOLUME/REFERRAL ORDERS
Volume discounts are for ordering multiple laptops, if you order within minutes of your friend, you can apply this discount on two separate orders. It cannot be retroactively applied per policy (which I think is understandable, but I think should be at CSR discretion).

Referral discount is similar to volume discount. If the orders are also done within minutes, you can refer each other. If it is past a certain time, then you cannot retroactively apply referral discounts and the person who referred you will get NO discount even if you listed them as the person that referred you. I spoke with Hutsady to see if he could flow this up and change the policy so that the referring person also gets a discount when they convince other people to use XoticPC. Hopefully he follows up with me to see what came up out of that discussion.

TL;DR about referral/volume discounts - If you plan to order multiple laptops with a friend, do it at the same time and apply the referral or volume discounts (the discount is the same if you do it at the same time). If you complete your orders more than 24hrs apart you may be out of luck (if you ordered first because you won't get either of the discounts).

7/16:
Got an email telling me I am in Phase 2. I got an email the previous week requesting more information about my order, basically to double confirm what I've already confirmed when I ordered, and to respond via email to a lady named Alison. I responded to the only email address in the email that was typed incorrectly (xotipc.com vs xoticpc.com) and so I was not able to get from phase 1 to phase 2 in the normal 24-48 hour time frame. I am hoping that this does not impact my delivery date too much.

7/11:
Got an email telling me I am in Phase 1.

7/10:
Ordered a Sager NP9170 today about an hour or two ago from XoticPC.

I've had my eye on them since before Ivy Bridge and Kelper chips were released. After a good amount of research I decided to take the plunge and order with the following adjustments:

• 7970m - card seems to be the best bang for your buck, which is what I'm all about. I am still a little worried about heat/drivers/longevity.
• IC Diamond - worried about heat issues with the GPU and didn't want to bother applying the paste myself
• 16GB 1333mhz RAM - It seemed that 16gb would give me the most cost efficient benefit, which is why I didn't get higher mhz.
• the most basic Ivy Bridge CPU - I waited specifically for the performance benefit of Ivy Bridge
• SteelSeries keyboard - I've seen some reviews which call out the poor Fn button placement, where mute/sleep/volume adjustment are all next to each other. I think the $90 upgrade is worth not hitting sleep when trying to mute or adjust the volume and/or going through the troubleshooting to remap the Fn keys and/or chiclet!

Specs:

Spoiler

1 x Sager NP9170 / Clevo P170EM () = $1,754.01
Free Shipping FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
Current Promotion TRIBES ASCEND PROMO PACK - FREE! ($60 Value) - with the Purchase of Any SAGER 9130, 9150, or 9170 (One per customer / While supplies last)
Display 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Matte Screen (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R401)
Monitor Calibration NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
Dead Pixel Warranty Standard Dead Pixel Policy
Processor Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz - 3.3GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
Thermal Compound - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
Graphics Video Card AMD Radeon HD 7970M (2048MB) GDDR5 DX11 [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R155)
External Display Video Adapters No Video Adapter
External Mobile Display No External Mobile Display
Ram 16GB - DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4R368)
Branding Remove All Branding
Exterior Finish Standard Finish
mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 1 ) No mSATA SSD
Primary Hard Drive 500gb 7200rpm (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) - Default (SKU - S5R207)
Second Hard Drive None Standard
Raid HDD Raid Settings - OFF
Optical Drive Bay Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included) (SKU - S7R455)
Optical Drive Bay Hard Drive Caddy No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
External Hard Drive (Back Up) No Back Up Hard Drive
External USB Optical Drive NO External USB Optical Drive
Memory Card Reader Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
Back Up Software No Back Up Software
Bluetooth Bluetooth Included (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
Wireless Network Sager - Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth™ v3.0 (SKU - S8R110)
Wireless Network Accessories No Network Accessory
Camera Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
TV Tuner No TV Tuner
Sound Card Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
Case No Carrying Case
Battery Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
Car Adapter No Car Adapter
Spare AC Adapter No Spare AC Adapter
Port Replicator / Dock / Adapters No Dock/Hub/Adapter
Fingerprint Reader Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Headsets No Headset
Keyboard (External) No External Keyboard
Keyboard (Internal - Laptop) Steelseries™ Chiclet Backlit Keyboard (adds 4-7 business days)
Mouse Accessories No External Mouse
Notebook Cooler No Notebook Cooler
XOTIC PC Redline Boost™ Extreme Performance No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
OS Redline Boost No Operating System Redline Boost
Operating System No Operating System Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
Antivirus Software No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
Microsoft Office Software No Office Software
Software Bundle (Not Installed) No Software Bundle
Warranty LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Telephone Support (Labor through XPC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Parts Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
White Glove Premium Packaging No thanks, standard double boxed packaging is okay with my order
Outside of U.S. Shipping Coverage No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
Xotic Gear No Xotic PC Gear

I think I would've purchased on July 4th to take advantage of the 32GB pen deal, but for whatever reason, I decided I should buy today. I did ask the sales reps Hatsady and Michael S about when I would receive the laptop if I ordered and the estimates were about a month. If I planned it accurately, the laptop should get to my doorstep with a week to spare before Guild Wars 2 is released.

Looking forward to getting my new laptop. We'll see how it goes.

 

hi anjo,
Congrats on the order!
I would actually suggest going with less, faster RAM as long as you have enough RAM. While its nice to have 16GB of RAM the larger amount only helps when you use that much. Its better to have less faster RAM as long as you have enough RAM.
For example if you're using 4GB of RAM which is typcial for daily use including gaming, the extra 12GB there isnt doing you any good. The 4GB being used is running at 1333mhz. Now if you had 8GB of 1600mhz and doing the same stuff using 4GB it would be running at 1600mhz so over all system performance would be slightly better. In the end its up to you and how much RAM you need but its always best to go with faster RAM as long as you have enough RAM.

 

seems to me that 16gb ram is a overkill for you, but thats just my opinion.

 

Oh I always have a ton of windows open, photoshop, games, etc. It's kind of a bad habit, but it is what it is. I'm loosely future proofing (although I admit I'd rather not do it with a laptop).

 

Delivered 8/10

 

Congrats on delivery!

From your previous comment, you will be surprised to see your ram usage go up to 8gb even with Photoshop and web browsing. But awesome anyways! I have 24gb of ram just for kicks because I got 2 sticks of 8gb so-dimm for fixing a laptop Even with a virtualbox going, eclipse, gimp, seamonkey, and Firefox going, I usually get to 7-8gb ram usage tops, with another 5-6gb used as cache. The crazy amount of ram we have these days however can be utilized via ramdisks. The trouble is worth it if you are looking for highest performance, also if you are careful to set up cron jobs with rsync you should be safe. Anyways, this is on Linux and so your usage with ramdisks may differ in Windows. I've read that Windows 7 memory management is pretty advanced though .

Ramble over. Have fun!

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