Clevo M770CUH!

Hi,

Here is my review of the Clevo M770CUH that I bought from rjtech.com.

http://rjtech.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29841

The reason I bought this particular model is because not many people have it, it's a bargain, barebone, and 17".

I will post pictures as soon as I get the chance.

My specs

Intel Core-I7 620m processor
Patriot 1333 DDR3 2x2gb 4gb memory
Seagate Momentus 500GB Sata 7200rpm hard drive
Realtek 8192se internal wireless B/G/N
Stock optical DVD-RW drive

Windows 7 x64 Professional
Ubuntu Linux 9.10

Pricing:

First of all, buying from rjtech.com was a pretty good experience. The price was what really got me attention. For a 17" barebone notebook, $519 is a good deal, only $20 more that W765CUH which is essentially the same as the M770CUH but with a 15.6" screen. Anyways, living in the US, I couldn't find any dealers that sell the M770CUH for a good price, barebone, and nearby. Also, you can bargain with rjtech.com to match competitors prices, etc. I bought the cpu from rjtech as well, since I know of no other way to obtain a mobile processor. Memory and hard drive I bought from Frys and Microcenter at a good price as well.



Looks, fit, and finish:

First of all, mine came with a clear plastic screen shield, clear plastic panel cover and unclear back panel cover. I like that so I kept it on. The laptop is impressively big but not too heavy. I like the white keyboard, the silver on the sides of the keyboard. The white panels are nice and white, very unique I think. The back has no logo on it and is plain but nice. The build quality is solid the lid is a good fit but watch when opening it-there is no latch for the lid and if you open the lid just an inch don't let go as the lid can shut by itself very fast. At least mine does. Also when opening watch out don't press on the top middle of the lid as the eyeshot camera is there. The screen is large and wide and comes with a plastic shield. I prefer a non wide screen but that is okay. The keyboard is a full size and feels nice when you type. The touchpad is smooth and comes with a fingerprint sensor (very cool) but the buttons could have been placed back a little more (I keep pressing behind them). The wireless can only be turned on with the FN and F11 keys pushed together, I prefer a manual switch on the front where the leds are. When it comes to the indicator led lights which can be orange or green, are kind of tiny and hard to remember if you don't know what they are for. The icons are slightly underneath the laptop below the icons are very hard to see, they aren't painted or light up. I don't like the fact that the bluetooth led is mixed up with the wireless led. So I think you can't turn both of them on at the same time. The bottom is constructed nicely, painted black and have large rectangular rubber feet for good clearance and sturdiness. Basically though I am pleased with the overall look, fit and finish.

Features:

Lots of features on this laptop, bluetooth, 2.0mb eyeshot camera, fingerprint sensor on touchpad, Hot Keys for E-Mail ,Web Browser, and silent fan mode,

HDMI output Port
1 CRT output Port
3 USB 2.0 Ports
1 eSATA Port
1 Headphone Jack
1 Microphone Jack
1 S/PDIF output Jack
1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000Mbps)
1 RJ-11 Modem

Built-in High Definition audio
3D Stereo Enhanced Sound System
Sound-Blaster PRO™ Compatible
S/PDIF Digital output 7.1CH
1 Built-in Microphone
2 Built-in Speakers
Headphone and microphone port

1 Express Card 34 / 54 Slot
7-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD)
Kensington® Lock

Even comes with some sim card slot thing but it isn't usable in the USA.

I like the silver finish on the audio ports. I do wish there were more usb ports though they have got a lot of space in the back.


Installation:

I was able to install the processor (cpu), memory, and hard drive without too much difficulty. If you have experience building desktops, it should be not too difficult but it isn't the same. Installing the cpu into the slot was as simple as placing it there and carefully and dropping right into place. The heatsink was a little harder, because you have to slid one part of the heatsink into place (where the heatsink meets the vent of the notebook) and then place the other side with the thermal paste on top of the cpu. Memory was easy just pop into place as it is with 90% of laptops. Hard Drive was easy as well, only if you don't know how to get it into the sata port, it will confuse you because directions are unclear. Here is how I did it, my laptop came with this plastic sticky cover with a tab you place it on the top of the hard drive (whichever side it is supposed to be on according to the manual) and stick that plastic sticky cover with the tab as shown in the picture of the manual onto the hard drive and slide in the hard drive into the sata port and push into the connector. You use the plastic sticky cover tab to help take out the hard drive as well. I kept mine on, you need to save in case of replacing your hard drive.

Screen and sound

The screen is is max 1440x900 and is glassview lcd. The ATi Mobility Radeon HD4570 does a good job of displaying bright colors. I wish it could display 1280x1024 but it can't oh well. So basically the screen is awesome. The sound which are placed on the front of the computer slighty underneath are clear and precise but with not much bass even with the realtek software configured for bass. There are only two and no subwoofer built in. If you want bass you should attach external speakers or use the built in S/PDIF Digital output 7.1CH port. Overall the speakers are just fine.

Battery Performance:

Battery life is fine, certainly isn't the best but I don't use the battery that often so for me I isn't any issues at all. Comes with a 6cell battery by the way.

Processor performance:

Chose a Intel Core-I7 620 processor-2.66GHz, (32nm, 4MB L3 cache, FSB 1333MHz, mPGA-989) I guess because of the intel turbo boost, when I ran the intel processor identification utility, it got up to 3.05ghz, cool.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=7838&ProdId=3168&lang=eng

Performance is very fast with this processor in this notebook, the fact that you could choose this processor in this bargain barebone notebook is unique. I am glad I chose this processor for this notebook as it really gives it a performance boost. Runs pretty quietly not too hot and there is a silent mode button which keeps the fan running all the time but at a certain quiet speed. I use a laptop cooling pad anyways though. For this I chose a Coolermaster Notepal Color Infinite which barely fits this huge laptop. By the way you can get a bezel sticker from intel for your cpu mine didn't come with one but here is how.

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-030118.htm

Memory performance:

I've got Patriot 1333 DDR3 2x2gb 4gb memory which is more than sufficient enough for good performance. No problems here running anything related to memory performance.

Hard Drive performance:

Got a Seagate momentus 7200 rpm 500gb sata hard drive. Chose this because I need storage and the extra speed than a 5400rpm drive. Didn't choose an SSD Drive because they are still too expensive and the capacity isn't high enough yet. Drive is quiet, runs cool, lightweight, reliable, and fast.

Video Card Performance:

Laptop comes with ATi Mobility Radeon HD4570-ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4570 Graphics with 512MB GDDR2 Video Memory
Support PCI-Express™ 2.0 X8
Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Compatible
HDCP supported

Read review on the graphic card and they are mixed about the performance. What do I say, it is more than enough to play my games, videos, etc. in good quality. Highest resolution is 1440x900 at 60hz. Some games I play are Drift City, Dark Void, Americas Army 2, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory all are at highest performance settings and play smoothly. I watch a lot of videos and playback is smooth as well. I wouldn't mine a better video card and a Nvidia one at least but I'm just saying that specification wise, not by overall actual performance for this card is just fine. The HDMI works well I hooked it up to my plasma tv and got brilliant performance. with a $2.75 hdmi 6ft cable. I've asked rjtech.com if the videocard could be changed but at this point no.

Wireless performance:

I chose the stock internal realtek wireless rtl8192se B/G/N I think that is what it is. Connected to a wireless n router the wireless performance got full bars and is very fast.

Eyeshot Camera Performance:

Works fine but needs more testing.

DVD Drive Performance:

Stock optical DVD±R/RW Combo drive
Fast but not too quiet, but runs fine.

Overall performance:

Using Windows 7 Professional x64, everything runs fast and smooth. I've installed Ubuntu Linux 9.10 and although there aren't any drivers yet from Clevo, most things work I'm not totally sure though yet. For the processor though, the fan sometimes comes on high at various times for some reason until I push the silent mode hotkey.

Overall impression:

If you want a barebone do it yourself notebook at a bargain price with a 17" screen, lots of features, I definitely recommend the Clevo M770CUH. If you are a casual gamer this is for you as well. If you want better video card performance you probably should get something else. Still with all the features. performance, low price, and available options, most people should be pleased with the Clevo M770CUH.

Hope you like my review and I will post pictures of my laptop as soon as I can.

 

Nice to read about it. Good review.

 

Thanks, I will try to post some pictures soon.

 

Great review.
Nice and thorough, RJTech is great to by barebones from.

 

What sucks is that Clevo is using GDDR2 for the video card. They should have went with GDDR3, it would have given a noticeable boost in performance.

 

Yep. Weak sauce for sure.

Great review BTW and also RJTech has been nothing short of outstanding for me so far.

 

Milardo,
Thanks for the info! Did you have the CPU from rjtech? I do not see anywhere to purchase core i5 mobile procs.

the assembly wasn't tough? I built a desktop a couple years back, so...
also, it seems you 3rd partied the HDD and RAM. What else did you get from rjtech? 3rd party?
Thanks!
Tony

 

Hi,

Yes, I did order the core-i7 cpu from rjtech. It might be possible to order the i5 from them but I'm not sure. You'd probably should give them a call or chat online with them to see if it is possible.

Here is the link for the manual, provides no instruction for installing cpu but instructions for optical drive, hard drive, and memory.

http://www.pro-star.com/drivers/W765CUH/W7xCUH_Manual.pdf

To access the memory and cpu you have to unscrew the cover and pull out the cpu fan connector.

The assembly for the cpu took a little time, but only because there are no clear instructions to be found. But basically, you drop in the cpu like you would a desktop cpu, then for the heatsink, you kind of have to slide the part in where it meets vent area, and the part with the thermal paste just drops on top of the cpu and you have to put some screws back in to secure cpu at least that is what I remember. It took some time to study how it goes in but I followed a little bit some instructions from rjtech. The picture in the manual above shows how it eventually fits yeah.

http://www.rjtech.com/installation_guide.htm

If you have installed memory into a laptop before that is also simple but if you haven't it might give a little trouble but instructions provided should be make it easy I think.

The hard drive isn't too hard now that i figured out how to do it. You have to stick on a plastic cover that has a tab onto the side where shown in picture in manual (or whatever side will be facing up when you match up the connectors with the sata ports) That plastic cover with the tab helps to install and remove the hard drive, you should probably keep it on I did.

I didn't install an optical drive or wireless adapter because the stock ones are just fine for me but I think the optical drive shouldn't be too hard not sure about the wireless adapter.

Yes, I purchased the hard drive (microcenter), memory from Frys Electronics because I got a cheaper price. By the way, so I just purchased the cpu, laptop from rjtech. The M770CUH comes with a nice carrying bag a phone line cord, manual and cd manual, cyberlink dvd suite with power to go 6 and powerdvd7, some screen cleaning cloth, that plastic hard drive cover, yeah. Also, i got a cooling pad from frys, I chose the coolermaster notepal color infinite, most notebook cooling pads will not fit and this barely does but it fits! Works well, quiet, usb powered, 3 stage cooling speeds, and got a good price and there is a $10 rebate right now. About 34.99 before rebate. I also purchased a $2.74 hdmi cable which works good. Hope that helps please reply if you got more questions.

 

Masterful review, Milardo. It's been quite a while since I read a good review. 8/10 and a +1 rep.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Some pictures hope this okay posting. Don't pay attention to the blue tape i just used that so I can hold the plastic screen cover and plastic backing and keyboard plastic surrounding in place!

 

Milardo,

I'm considering an m771 (there's an option at Eurocom with matte screen). I'm not a gamer, but I need a video card with excellent 2D graphics processing for Photoshop. Have you used Photoshop on your m770, and how do you rate the experience?

Thanks,
Mae

 

Hi,

Sorry I but don't use Photoshop. I also don't do a lot of photo editing however I think photos look great on the M770cuh anyways. I've noticed that depending on what driver you install you can get some options in the ATi Catalyst Control Center that really bring out the color in photos. Regarding processing power that shouldn't be any problems either. I've got the core-i7 620m processor, 4gb 1333mhz memory, 7200rpm 500gb sata hd and using the ATi mobility radeon hd4570 everything works out great. Hope that answers some part of your question.

 

Hi again,
Just updating my post with how my Clevo M770CUH is working and some other things that could be helpful to other owners of this great laptop. Anyways, been about a year since I got my notebook and I have to say its been great. I'm having fun playing Need For Speed Shift at highest settings no problem there.
For anybody who is interested in updating the ec and bios of their m770cuh here is the link for the latest versions.

From user pkhetan last post regarding the m770cuh ec/bios:

For all W76xCUH / M77xCUH :

Last EC is 1.00.06

ftp://usftp.clevo.com.tw/ALLBIOS/WM7xxCUH/FW0906.zip (use only the EC from here)

Last BIOS is 1.00.11

ftp://cftp.clevo.com.tw/ALLBIOS/WM7xxCUH/BIOS_11.zip

Here is the link on how you update the ec and bios. Please read carefully so you don't make a mistake and mess your notebook up!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/416916-clevo-bios-thread.html

Some things I notice from the updates were a couple of options added to the bios menu. Video card bios was updated as well.

Regarding drivers I use the updated ones from clevo mainsite.

CLEVO - Download

Except for the camera and videocard. I use the prostar ones, i had trouble with the clevo camera trouble but not the prostar one. Also, for the videocard the driver from prostar has saturation option that brings out the colors in the screen.

Best Gaming Computer | Best Gaming Laptop | Cheap Gaming Laptop Computers | Gaming Notebook | Pro-Star.com

Also, for the videocard after installing the prostar version, I installed the latest version from ati/amd and have kept that up everytime a new version comes out to get the latest features/updates.

Graphics Drivers & Software

If hydravision and ati avivo converter don't install by default., you have to go the where the files of each package was extracted and look for something like hydravision.exe or .msi and avivo64.exe or something like and manually install it. That just helps to bring out the full potential of the hd4570 video card.

That is all for now if I have anything to add/update I will thanks for reading.