HTWingNut's Review of Sager NP2840 / Clevo W840SU-T with Touch Screen!

INTRODUCTION
. Specifications

SYSTEM OVERVIEW
. Inside the Laptop
. LCD
. Keyboard
. Touchpad
. Speakers and Audio
. CPU, GPU, RAM
. Storage
. Software and Drivers

PERFORMANCE
. CPU
. GPU
. Power, Heat, and Noise
. Battery Life

CONCLUSION


intro INTRODUCTION:

Sager notebooks (based on Clevo barebones) are most notable in the consumer world for their powerful components with a large and heavy chassis sine they offer impressive gaming and general computing performance in a portable form factor at an affordable cost. This year Clevo offers some smaller, thinner, and lighter options to cater to the traditional laptop user. The Sager NP2840 based on the Clevo W840SU-T is their latest "thin and light" offering in a 14" form factor. Many thanks to LPC-Digital who has provided a sample laptop for me to review and evaluate and share my thoughts.

If you are looking for a gaming notebook, this isn't it. It lacks a dedicated GPU, but it does offer a lot of nice features for someone looking for a sleek, affordable, and solidly built chassis, more geared towards the mobile professional. It contains a Haswell Intel dual core i5 or i7 ULV CPU to help reduce power consumption, yet should offer solid performance for daily tasks on demand. The most prominant feature of this laptop is that it offers a touch screen LCD. With Windows 8 this is obviously a nice feature to have.

This laptop will be evaluated for your traditional desktop and gaming peformance with associated heat and power draw, battery life, and general hardware overview and use. It will be compared with Sager's own NP7330 13" notebook which comes with a dedicated GPU, but primarily the Intel GPU's and integrated GPU's will be compared.


specs Specifications:
The system speciications for the review unit are as shown:

Sager NP2840 (Clevo W840SU-T)
14" Full HD (1920x1080) Multi-Touch Glossy LCD
Intel i7-4500U Dual Core 15W ULV CPU 1.8GHz boost to 3.0GHz
- integrated HD 4400 GPU
Crucial M500 240GB SATA III SSD
2x8GB DDR3 1600
Intel Dual Band Wireless N 7260 802.11AC with Bluetooth 4.0
Battery: 45WHr
Dimensions: 13.4" x 9.5" x 0.9"
Weight: 4.4 lbs


system SYSTEM OVERVIEW

You can see a video overview on YouTube Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAcTbVTsHOE

Picking up the Sager NP2840, it has a very solid feel, has noticeable weight to it, but the thinness of it is readily apparent compared with all the other Sager notebooks I've owned and evaluated, even the Sager NP7330. The surface of the lid and bezel surrounding the keyboard is a bluish hue brushed aluminum. It has a deep grain that is felt when one strokes their hand over the surface. This same brushed aluminum pattern is carried over to the touchpad. There are two independent smooth metal mouse buttons, however. The keyboard is a standard chiclet keyboard and is not backlit. Above the keyboard is the power button on the left, with a speaker bar across the top.

Ports around the laptop are a bit sparse but adequate for that tasks you'll be performing on such a laptop. Starting from the left side at the back, there is a Kensington lock port, microphone in jack and a headphone jack and the CPU fan vent port is foward of those. On the front left face of the laptop are the indicator lights and nothing else along the front. Over on the right from the back to the front are the power jack, ethernet port (with bottom of port opening that flips down when cable is attached), full size HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, and a card reader. On the back of the laptop is just the battery.

Underneath the laptop are two removable panels both held in place by two philips head scres. The battery is also easily removable using traditional slide locks.








NOTE: I made it a point to use this laptop with the included Windows 8 Pro, and use it as my primary machine for a week or so to properly evaluate the touch screen. Also, against my personal angst, I purposely did NOT use a mouse or even any third party Start menu because I wanted to force myself to use the Windows 8 GUI as intended to give the touch screen a fair evaluation.



inside Inside the Laptop

In normal Clevo fashion, the bottom panels remove easily, and offer straight forward access to the primary changeable components: CPU heatsink, one SSD/HDD, one mSATA SSD, Wi-Fi card, RAM. The CPU is nestled in the middle-rear of the laptop with a single wide heatpipe attached to the CPU heatsink and runs to the fan on the right side (when sitting face up). This same motherboard has pads for a dedicated GPU with vRAM, and apparently it shares the same chassis with another Clevo laptop offered with a similar configuration but with a GT 745m. It is also curious to note the inclusion of a spot that looks like it could accommodate another mSATA SSD, and even includes the screw boss and screw, but there is no connector on the mainboard to accommodate one.





lcd LCD

The LCD itself is identified as an AUO 113D which is the model number B140HAN01.1. Specs for this can be found at the Panelook website: AUO B140HAN01.1 Overview - Panelook.com

Of note are the following specs: 14.0 inch 1080p AHVA TFT, 300 cd/m^2 brightness, 700:1 contrast ratio, 89/89/89/89 viewing angles, 2 lane eDP

One unique feature of this laptop compared with other Sager notebooks is the touch screen. As with most touch screens, it has a glossy finish. The glass carries all the way to the edge of the lid where it's finished off by a lip off the top of the lid. Brightness and contrast seem to measure up to the specs, as it is quite bright at full brightness with rich contrast. Dark scenes offer plenty of contrast so the rest of the image or sequence does not appear dark as would occasionally be the case with the LCD in the NP7330. On the other hand, this screen does suffer from considerable backlight bleed noticeable at high brightnss (~ 70% or higher) on dark images around the edge of the screen.

Screen viewing angles are actually quite good, and specs indicate an 89 degree viewing angle in all directions. While a shift in brightness and contrast is noticed past about 45 degrees in any direction, there is no color shift.







Utilizing the touch screen was a pleasant experience. The lid hinge is noticeably rigid and touching for interaction only requires a light touch. Windows 8 scrolling, zooming, and other actions were never an issue, and found myself reaching for the screen more often than the touchpad for many actions. I don't know if this is more a testament for Windows 8 as a touch UI or for this laptop touchscreen. Windows 8 native apps were no issue and made the OS more bearable using the touchscreen than not.

I even ran a handful of touch games like Angry Birds, Halo, and the touch enabled version of Civilization V, all without any issue with the touch screen.

Surprisingly there weren't as many smudges as I expected there to be from using the touch screen. I would find myself wiping it off on a daily basis however every time I shut down. Not a bad idea to keep a micro fiber cloth with you if you are to use a touch screen. On that note, it would be a nice touch for Sager to include a micro fiber cloth with the laptop considering the touch screen.


keyboard Keyboard

User sensitivity to keyboards can vary greatly, as can minor differences between keyboards, so please keep this in mind when reading my input on this keyboard. The keyboard itself is not backlit, and is solid with no noticeable flex with regular typing, although a firm pressure on the keyboard can cause some flex. This entire review was written using the NP2840, and while there were no missed keys, the space bar required a little extra pressure to activate especially when tapped on the sides. Key travel is short, and very quiet. Ghosting is same as other Clevo keyboards, but in general not an issue.

When compared with the NP7330 I would have to say I find the NP7330 keyboard higher quality and more enjoyable to type on, but overall the keyboard on this review unit is above average compared with other laptops I've used. And while a nitpick, I think that a backlit keyboard makes the machine more elegant, but is not available for the NP2840. I even own a $280 AMD 11.6" Acer touchscreen laptop and it includes a backlit keyboard.


touchpad Touchpad

This time around I used the touchpad a lot more than I typically do since I decided to refrain from using a mouse input so that I could utilize the touchscreen and touchpad interface. In addition to the one finger traditional touchpad options of tap to click, drag and rop, edge scroll and swipe, the Elan touchpad also offers two finger zooming, scrolling, rotation and three finger swipe.

With default settings, the palm tracking option would cause occasional mouse jumps and accidental highlights and deletes. But cranking it up all the way seemed to eliminate most issues with erratic mouse movement due to touchpad sensitivity, but still existed. The touchpad is plenty large and even though the brushed aluminum grain pattern carries over onto the touch pad, there is a small raised lip on the armrest for a clear tactile limit for the edge of the touchpad. The pattern however is a horizontal grain, making horizontal movement slick with less pressure required than moving up and down having to cross the raised grain pattern.

Having two independent mouse buttons is a nice touch (pun intended). There is a firm tacticle feel when clicked, with a slightly audible sound. It is nothing loud or noticeable in a quiet environment.


speakers Speakers and Audio

There is no advertising for speakers or special audio software like Onkyo or Sound Blaster with this machine, but remarkably the speakers offer pleasant audio. With stereo speakers placed directly above the keyboard, they are placed in a sensible position for best sound displacement. Music was rich and full, although does not get real loud. Bass is obviously non-existant, but songs like U2's Love and Peace or Else, The White Stripes Seven Nation Army, and even What does the Fox Say? sounded clear and full and not tinny like I expected. Movies and games also were perfectly enjoyable using the system speakers even with a steady background noise.


cpugpuram CPU, Integrated GPU, and RAM

Intel just recently released their Haswell ULV dual core CPU's, and two of the variations are offered with the NP2840. This sample laptop includes the upgraded CPU i7-4500U although the i5-4200U is part of the stock configuration. The i7-4500U has a stock speed of 1.8GHz, but is suupposed to boost up to 3.0GHz with a single core and 2.8GHz with dual core. It is has a core voltage of 0.895v and has a 15W TDP rating.

Of interest on this chip is the PCH or southbridge chipset integrated on the CPU PCB. This puts Intel one step closer to a true system on a chip, allowing for less power consumption, smaller packages, and resulting in overall thinner and lighter systems

Low voltage RAM is required on such a system so 1.35V chips are provided. A maximum of two sticks of RAM can be installed and 2x8GB DDR3-1600 help provide best performance for this system including the integrated HD 4400 GPU. While it is not necessarily a gaming GPU, the HD 4400 is capable of pushing reasonable performance for older titles at 720p, and has full DirectX 11 feature support.

Intel's Extreme Tuning Utility offers a few tuning features with this CPU and integrated GPU. While clock speeds can't be adjusted, the CPU voltage and boost TDP power can be. The IGP can also be undervolted or overvolted if desired.


storage Storage

The two storage options in this laptop support one full 9.5mm height 2.5" (laptop form factor) SSD or hard drive, as well as a single mSATA drive. Both ports support SATA III data rates. The SSD in this machine is a Crucial M500 240GB. I also threw in a Plextor M5M 128GB mSATA SSD to evaluate for system performance. You can see the Crystal Disk Mark results below.

Crucial M500 240GB SATA III SSD Performance in NP2840


Plextor M5M 128GB mSATA III SSD Performance in NP2840



software Software and Drivers

There is no software that comes bundled with this laptop other than system drivers and Clevo Control Center. So the pre-load will come essentially the same as a Windows clean install. This system shipped with Windows 8 and there were no driver issues that I noticed. The laptop was updated to 8.1 and only the "airplane mode" driver seemed to be missing, although does not adversely affect the system.

The BIOS is as sparse as typical Sager notebooks, so don't expect anything except for the basics.


performance PERFORMANCE

cpu CPU
The i7-4500U was tested with a few CPU benchmarks and compared with the i5-4200M 35W Haswell CPU for comparison. As noted earlier, the i7-4500U in this test machine is a dual core with hyper threading with 15W TDP with speeds from 1.8GHz to 3.0GHz with HD 4400 IGP. The i5-4200M is a 35W TDP dual core with hyper threading chip and 2.5GHz stock speed with boost to 3.1GHz, with HD 4600 IGP.

The comparison system is a Sager NP7330 which includes the i5-4200M CPU listed above as well as having 16GB of DDR3-1866 1.35V.

Despite the rated 3.0GHz rated peak turbo speed, under stress in with both cores stressed the CPU speed was pegged at 2.7GHz, and 2.8GHz with single threaded apps. Performance was quite admirable, however, when compared with the 35W counterpart.

i7-4500U CPU with packaged PCH:


CPU-Z Comparison





CPU Benchmarks:






gpu GPU
Even though this is more of a business machine, I'm sure there is still a desire for gaming. While I know this will manage any browser games with ease, I decided to throw some of the later games at it to see how it managed. I compare the HD 4400 with the HD 4600.
















power POWER and HEAT and noise

Peak power consumption runs at about 40W when fully loaded. Compare that with the i5-4200m at full load with iGPU active running about 80W+.

Power consumption and heat were also compared between the two systems.







CPU temps were also monitored and compared:







As far as fan noise, and general system noise, it is very quiet with a no fan noise with regular tasks. As the system takes on a load the fan ramps up accordingly, and even at full load is not very loud. Compared with the W230ST I would say it is half the noise at full load.


battery Battery Life and Power Supply

Battery life is pretty good considering the small 45W battery capacity, and exceeds most other Sager notebooks while running unplugged. Overall power consumption is low enough to use a small power adapter as well, and keeps fan noise unnoticeable except when stressed significantly, even then it is a light hum.

A light web browser test was run. System was set to power saver mode, 20% brightness, four Firefox tabs refreshed from every 5 to 10 minutes.

Battery life result: 5 hrs 45 mins



The power supply is rated at 65W and is very small and light which helps keep the overall weight of the laptop package down for portability. It runs on 19V and has the traditional 5.5mm/2.5mm OD/ID barrel connector.

Battery and power supply ratings:





conclusion CONCLUSION

The Sager NP2840 offers a nice package of components if you're looking for long battery life, touch screen interface, and basic computing performance. The firm hinge and light touch interaction of the touch screen is a great addition that compliments Windows 8 very nicely. The screen is bright with good contrast and wide viewing angles. There is noticeable backlight bleed around the edges, however, but only noticeable with high screen brightness and a black background.

Overall performance is very snappy, and can manage heavy workloads if needed. The CPU performance isn't much behind that of Intel's 35W counterpart, while using nearly half the power. Gaming is even possible with several of the latest titles if you're willing to compromise resolution an details. On the downside, the keyboard is good except for the occasional missed space bar keystroke, and the touchpad sensitivity can cause some irratic movement of the mouse cursor.

The system as a whole is thin, light, and quiet and packs plenty of power for your daily Windows tasks and even some gaming and more CPU intensive jobs like video editing and encoding. It's a new feature for Clevo to integrate a touch screen. I believe they covered all the bases with this laptop and should be a pleasure to use especially if you enjoy Windows 8 with a touch screen.