[Review] HTWingNut Review of Sager NP8268 / Clevo P150SM-A

Moving my 880M reply to this discussion:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-gtx-880m-test-run-review-24.html#post9637103

 

Awesome review. I'm torn between this model (aesthetics) and the P157SM-A (storage power). Much appreciated.

 

I bought this with the
880m,
32gigs ram
4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4910MQ Processor (8MB L3 Cache, 2.90GHz)
480GB Crucial M5 Series mSATA3 SSD
1TB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
95% matte gamut screen

I am really happy with this laptop. I had a sager laptop before, and you can definitely see that this one is better in design than the other ones. You may think the specs are overkill, but I had to go all out with this one for work (I do a lot of coding/big numbers) and for play.


I read some of the other comments of pro/con and here are my opinions/replies:

1. I don't understand what one of the users problems with the dvd/bluray burner bezel is, but I see no problem there.

2. The fans are MUCH quieter and smarter than my old Sager notebook. They know when to turn on when the CPU is working hard and know when to turn off right as the CPU usage drops.

Maybe it is louder than some loser MacBook Pro, but hey, this thing has some SERIOUS ventilation on the back. I love the huge vents that push all that hot air out (which you can feel is indeed warm/hot). Cooling in a laptop is SO important. One of the main reasons I picked this laptop was because of it's sexy a$$ . Baby got back!

3. The entire laptop has this like semi-rubbery finish to it which just feels great, looks great and just looks like an expensive laptop.

4. This is a pretty heavy laptop. The AC adapter is also really big. The biggest I have seen on a laptop that is for sure! But hey, this thing is packing some serious power and hardware. I don't mind that one bit. Again, if you are looking for a light laptop to surf on facebook go buy a MacBook Pro or some garbage.

5. I recommend you get Windows 8 Pro, NOT home edition. The pro version comes with gpedit.msc which allows you to change the default lock screen picture for the system. I mention this because I got the home edition and I don't know if it is a bug or what, but some ugly lockscreen flashes right before the one I selected. I looked all over for a solution and it all came down to me shelling out an extra $100 bucks to get the Windows 8 Pro. But it fixed the problem and I am glad I did it.

6. That brings me to the next point. The SSD makes this sucker start up and shutdown really fast. I love it.

7. The keyboard is really good. The lights are awesome and the feel and responsiveness is terrific.

8. You will have to fiddle with some graphics settings to make everything the right size. I think this is just all laptops in general but it took me a little hunting to get everything the right size. I got it to what I want and it's nice now.



Now for what I don't like about the laptop:

1. This is a dumb one I haven't figured out yet but I do not like the BioExcess fingerprint reader software. It shows a little fingerprint icon on the lockscreen which gives away the fact that I have a fingerprint reader! I don't want people to know it exists lol.Anyone try uninstalling the BioExcess software yet? I notice that in Windows 8 Sign in options it should say "fingerprint enrollment" or something like that, but mine is missing! I wonder if the BioExcess software removes it.

2. The right shift key is small. Yes. But that is so you can have fullsize arrow keys for video games. I got used to it, it doesn't bother me anymore. Plus, go look at any other pictures of new Asus or MSI laptops and you will find that they also have the reduced right shift key. I think this is so you can easily swap keyboards between systems and what not. Or if yours breaks. If your keyboard breaks it is easier to replace it with another manufacturer probably, than having some custom special one only Sager can provide you with.

3. Not really sure what else I don't like... It was a pain to figure out all the graphics stuff at first but after some reading and whatnot online I figured it all out and now it is perfect. I love the look, the power and everything about this laptop.

4. Oh, minor point. The Intel Inside i7 sticker was sliiiiiiightly crooked on mine lol.

That is all. If anyone has any info on that BioExcess software I would appreciate it.

 

@CyborgLizard - Where did you get your rig that actually has one of the 95% matte gamut screens?

 

I uninstalled the BioExcess software on my NP8278. Actually it was removed by a reformat. I haven't missed it.

Sent with love from my Galaxy S4

 

When you go to sign-in options in windows 8, does it show "register fingerprints" or anything like that? Mine is missing the option so I think BioExcess removed it.

 

Straight from sagernotebook.com. Although, as I look now, they do not have that screen for sale anymore: custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks

On a side note, what is the difference between a 95% matte gamut vs the 15.6" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080) that they have no available? Anyone know?

 

I am running Win7 Pro. I do not have any type of "register fingerprints" option. I still have the Egis Tec ES603 secure biometrics device showing in Device Manager.

Sent with love from my Galaxy S4

 

If you just want to simply disable the fingerprint reader, uninstall the software and disable it in device manager. This worked for my AuthenTec fingerprint reader on my P370SM. Also using Win7.

 

The standard screens are typically a 60% color gamut. So the 95% can display much more colors of the NTSC color profile resulting it more accurate colors.

 

With propper calibration of course. It's mostly for image professionals who will now be moving to machines with IPS displays so the production of the 95% panels is of course coming to an end as the TN panels move down the food chain.

 

Hey all,

Just wanted to say thanks for the fantastic information & review in this thread! Sold my motorcycle last night, thus giving me the funds to finally replace my 4 year old Sager. The NP8690's still rock solid, but the vid card aging has pushed me to get something new.

Pretty much settled on the NP8268 with the 870m, extra RAM, and 2 SSDs - I'm a SQL Server developer & will be using this as a workstation as well. Already reached out to XoticPC, hoping for a good NBR discount, and if all goes well, will get the ball rolling today!

Yay!

 

Thanks for all the details in your review and contributions in this thread HTWingNut. I find it all very informative.

I officially ordered the 870m through LPC (currently in testing before shipment woo hoo!)

I figure if I need a boost in GPU down the road I can "hopefully" upgrade to an 880m maxwell and satisfy my concerns over the power consumption and thermal output

 

Let's just hope mobile Maxwell sticks to MXM 3.0b and Prema works his magic.

 

Thanks for the review. Helped me pull the trigger. Wonder how far the 870m can be over clocked. I read a thread before where someone brought the 860m near 780m levels

Sent from my LG-D802T using Tapatalk

 

Uninstalled BioExcess but windows8 still does not show "fingerprint" in the sign-in options... =(

What is weird is that on my lockscreen if I swipe the fingerprint reader it slides the lockscreen away and shows the place where you can put in your windows 8 password. And the device is definitely there in device manager in biometrics, so the computer knows its there. It just doesn't show up in the windows 8 sign-in menu.

And now I can't reinstall BioExcess lol I don't think it is on any disk that came with the Sager. Tried to rollback but some files were missing so it couldn't reinstall BioExcess. Doh.

Anyone deal with this?

 

It is on the disk I got for my NP8278.

Look in the folder: Options>02Finger

There is also a 348 page user manual on the disk. I skimmed it and It looks to be pretty decent.

 

The 870m should reach similar clocks to all the other gk104 chips.

 

Still waiting on my 8268-s from xotic. Pretty excited!

 

Thanks. Please indicate the level of setting for company of heroes 2.

 

Yes a maxwell that can be pushed to the limits will be perfect for the 180W psu. There is a thread on the capabilities of the GTX 860m maxwell with some impressive overclocking performance and barely any increase in TDP and reasonable power consumption (potential for the future maxwell to perform similar to 880m without the high power draw??)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/751352-860m-beast.html

 

Thanks man that worked great. I installed it and then it appeared in the sign-in options in windows 8. I don't understand why it wasn't installed in the first place when I got my computer... lol

 

Every newer real generation provides more fps per Watt.

 

just got a np8268-s
windows audio service will be stopped after install realtek hd audio driver 6.0.1.7156
the sound is worked without realtek driver
any idea to fix it? or my sound chip damage ?

 

New here, in fact created an account specifically to post here.

I got my laptop from Xotic about a week ago now and I am absolutely loving it. In august last year I bought a Latitude e6540 and fought with it to make it a even semi-capable machine. It never worked and continued to throttle the i7-4800mq back to 800MHz under any load and completely turn off the AMD HD 8790M. So I fought with dell to get a refund for a few weeks and with that money back I bought this machine which, pre-warranty, was A LOT, cheaper for an equivalent machine. Pretty much anything I'm going to say is going to echo what people have said so far but more input is always better to see.


Anyways my specs are:
i7-4810mq
16GB of RAM
NVIDIA 870m GTX
120GB Crucial SSD
1TB 7200rpm SATAIII (Free upgrade because I had purchased the 95 gamut screen and they no longer had that.)

It is a solid laptop so far. I have put it through it paces with stress tests of my own though I know xotic does their own. Highest I was able to get the CPU was about 91 and the GPU for me hasn't risen above 85. I have been able to play metro last light on Very High setting for a couple hours with no sign in performance loss during this period. The boot time with the SSD is around 12 seconds and any operating system operation I need it to do is lightning quick. With gaming the HDD is still incredibly quick about bringing up whats needed. The fans can be loud when they are at maximum but on automatic I have barely found them to be noticeable when i am really in to what I'm doing and during general browsing I can't actually hear mine. The on board sound is above average for a laptop but it is nothing that can really blow someone out of their seat; however, when connected to an actual stereo setup via the headphone jack it can become quite impressive. I don't have a headset to test this but I'm going to guess that it is the bees knees on this machine.

Overall I have found this laptop to be a beast at any task I have thrown at it yet. The only complaint I have isn't even with the machine it is with xotic. I purchased the 3-year warranty because I work a lot around caustic chemicals and felt it necessary. However when it came all that was included was a certificate for the 1-year Sager default warranty. I don't know if this means I have it and that's the only certificate that comes or if i do not in fact have it, still waiting to hear back from their service department on that.

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying the machine! As far as the warranty card, that's just to provide you with the warranty details. The 3 year part is on record with Sager and if you wanted to email our service team or theirs with your serial number and ask how long of a warranty they show as being reflected, they'll be able to confirm that 3 years.

 

I know they updated the existing Hotkey program (Profile program: Quiet, Performance, ETC) with the new P150sm-a, but I was wondering if I could use the old Hotkey program that came with the previous model P150sm?

 

Has anyone had much opportunity to run VM's off this or attach multiple monitors? I do rather extensive VM and admin work from my workstation and am looking at running one of these to replace my current workstation, the problem is I can't find a lot of solid information on how well these things handle this type of workload.

 

Sometimes when I put some DVD's into the DVD drive I feel like it reads it forever. I can hear the thing moving back and forth inside. Put in the Drivers CD and it may do it too.

Anyone know what this is about?

 

Possibly dirty lens, dirty DVD, or scratched DVD. Have you tried a fresh clean DVD and see what it does? By you saying sometimes I assume it's not on every disk.

 

Hi, Im new member in here, nice to meet you all.
I had some concern about most of newest laptop with nvidia optimus technology

Im planning to get gaming laptop for oculus rift, but the thing is, I heard that most new laptop using optimus tech will always forced intel HD card when outputting through HDMI (oculus is using HDMI port), this will make the performance of rift app suffer from low fps, which practically make oculus rift useless.

my question is :
1. does this laptop had some setting on its bios to turn off optimus
2. which VGA is used when outputting using HDMI does it use intel VGA or dedicated nvidia ?

thanks alot.
Hope i had some answer before deciding to buy this model.

 

1. No switch. No need to turn it off anyways.
2. It uses Intel for normal apps and nvidia for 3D apps. It's seamless. Although some apps you may have to go into the settings and tell it which graphics to use. That is true regardless of internal/external display.

My setup is 880M with optimus. I run all my games and benchmarks through HDMI no problem.

Sent with love from my Galaxy S4

 

ALL outputs on this machines go through the intel IGP.

So if you have a program that fights with optimus then there is no avoiding it.

 

Gotta love optimus.

 

On the whole it is positive, it's bad for the edge cases however.

 

Finally found a relevent thread ...
Is sager np8268s 's build quality better than y50? I mean if I buy it, can it make it to like 4 years without any problem? Reason y I am asking is I have a sincere desire of getting a sager, but I live in india, and sager services and parts arent available here... so if I buy a machine , it has to last... on the other hand, if I get a y50, I get warranty available here too... but if sagers last long without problems , I definetly would prefer em.....

Sent from my telephone using dailer keys


Sent from my telephone using dailer keys

 

If the machine is important make sure you have the ability to have it serviced, no machine has 100% reliability.

 

I'm really tempted to get this model since I loved the 680m 150EM model I got 2 yrs ago but the weight just kills it. I know 1-2 lbs isn't much but it does add up long term when commuting by train and walking a lot. Nice review HTWing as usual.

 

As always machines are a balance, if you need a smaller/lighter machine then there are other options. So it would be more accurate to say the weight kills it for you.

 

Of course I know there are other options and I looked at other Sager models which none of them fit what I'm looking for. I just wished they made something like this in a slimmer form factor. TBH, I prefer Sager since I previously owned one but I have to look at other brands due to them not having what Im looking for.

 

If it were slimmer it would need to make sacrifices and would be a different machine, the W series with 860M for example.

 

I'm nearly in the exact same position as you are.
I still can't decide whether I want the Y50 or the NP8268. Never tried either brand before,
so I'm still really skeptical before dropping $1300 CAD on either of these.

The main thing preventing me from buying is doubts about build quality and life span. I really don't want to end up regretting what I bought.

My only option in Canada for the NP8268 is the lowest base model (GTX 860m, 750GB HDD) for around $1300 from reflexnotebook.

The y50 model I wanted was similar in price as well, but no longer available on Lenovo Canada's website.

Is there anyone else here who bought the NP8268 (other than HTWingNut) and are happy with it? Would you seriously recommend buying it, or should I stick to the Y50?

 

Yes, sacrifice would have to be made and I did look at the W. If only it had an option for a 870-880m. Maybe one day Sager/Clevo would make a nice thin (5 - 5.5lb) laptop with an option to get a high end GFX card.

 

We will see if those machines actually work. The 7338 without 2.5" drive could work with a 870m class gpu but it would be expensive.

 

A bud on nbr suggested me asus g750js for 1400 on costco.... although a good deal but I actly have cant spend more than 1300 right now... although if I cud, still the machine is way too bulky.... but as the latest reviews of 860m say... if overclocked properly with a good thermal paste, it can outperform 870m and almost match 880m in performance (*check 860m is a beast thread*) so I guess I ll go with y50 only....

 

I ordered an 8268-S from Xotic as a desktop replacement, so while I'm not worried about the size I am curious to see how it is. It's hard to judge from the images I have seen online, I was looking at the MSI thin laptops at the beginning of my search and ended up moving away from them as I was able to double the ram and put a 500GB SSD in for less than the stock GS60 Pro in Canada. My only real concerns right now after reading WingNuts review is the fact that I had to order cross border and I've had no experience with Sager in the past. I plan to run a lot of VMs on it though so it's a risk I'm willing to take.

From my perspective the 8268 is a potentially very powerful desktop replacement, not a light carry around everywhere laptop. The MSI Ghost and Stealth machines are almost half the weight if that matters to you, but I don't imagine you will find anything lightweight and powerful for $1300.

 

The main thing that worries me about the Y50 is the cooling, some audio issues, and wireless issues. The worst part is that there are only two Y50 models available in Canada at the moment which both suck (I don't want to buy from a US seller, mainly because of brokerage fees and anything that could stack on top). A Lenovo rep told me that they will have newer models come in by the end of next week, but I can't take their word for it

Y50 is lightweight and powerful, but quality wise? I don't know. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on it instead of the Sager just because of the slight difference in price ($1200 total vs $1500 total).

I also haven't really ever been fond of MSI after seeing people deal with incredibly loud fans that would get the attention of everyone in a room.

Really wish this thread wasn't so dead. I would've been a sign that people are actually going out and buying the NP8268 a lot more, which would've somewhat assured me that it's worth the $1500. Nonetheless, I'm still considering and looking around.

 

The 860m can't outperform a 870m and certainly not match a 880m. I know, first posts of this thread seem so, but in real gaming benchmarks kindly done by HTWingNut on his W230SS here, he got a noticeable rise in performance, but still not matching a 870m, but the gap between those two cards gets quite small though...
Additionally always be aware of different quality of every individual chip. So in my opinion you should consider, if you're satisfied with stock performance and rather see OCing as a nice bonus...

 

Yeah true that.... also the screen of y50 isnt that awesome... so now I am still confused... though I am 70% set on sager now... because usually, sagers tend to last if taken good care of... and in case of any problem, I can always get the particular part shipped....

 

QFT. My 880Ms have zero room for core overclocking because one of them can't undervolt at all and they are already pushing TDP limits when heavily loaded with their stock boost clocks.

Never buy any computer part with the expectation of being able to overclock it. My desktop 4770K that I wanted to get 4.2GHz on? Stable at 1.31v for 4.2GHz but the temperatures are insane, even with my Corsair H100i so I had to put it back to 3.5GHz and I have ordered a Devil's Canyon chip that does 4.4GHz out of the box.

I haven't won the silicon lottery once yet this year.

As for Lenovo vs Sager... Lenovo laptops can go either way. Either they are really awesome or they are REALLY bad. At least with Sager/Clevo, pretty much anything that goes wrong you can find parts for and repair it yourself. They are the only laptop manufacturer that I know of that is like this. You can even buy parts directly from some resellers without much of a mark up (compare part prices with what you will get charged to order from Dell or HP and you will almost universally find that the parts are cheaper). Lots of resellers offer a Canada shipping option for warranty service that can be added on to your order.

I would get a Sager/Clevo over Lenovo any day. And MSI is the absolute worst high performance laptop manufacturer with ASUS right behind them - they both are very difficult to repair and have significantly high failure rates.

Clevo bulkiness is a plus in a high performance situation... More space to move air. They tend to make some poor design decisions at times that can impact cooling negatively but NOTHING like what you get with MSI machines.