MALIBAL Satori P170HM - 120Hz 3D Matte - i7 2760QM 3,5Ghz - 8GB RAM- GTX 560M - Intel 510 SSD

Using a screen without calibrating it properly is just a waste of that screen

however, you can find some nice color profiles here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/621032-need-calibration-profile-120hz-3d-lgd02c5.html

so you don't need to buy the calibration profile

 

I still don't understand what exactly Spyder Elite does to your screen. It made your screen look blue?

 

Your whole settings on the screen are fu***** without a calibration. Blue,Red,Green,Brightness,Contrast,Gamma,... everything looks weird and no matter how much you try to move the sliders around, you won't get the real colours you need unless your calibrate it with smth like Spyder Elite OR download a calibrated color profile for the same screen as you have.

 

Thank you, zakazak, for a great review and follow-up posts. I believe a P170HM is in my future!

 

I think you can't do much wrong with that choice

 

Zakazak, I just ordered my Satori P170HM (with the Spyder Elite calibration) today. I chose the cheapest hard drive on it since I plan to use the SSD I have now.
However, I want to upgrade to a very top of the line 6Gb/s SSD very shortly, hopefully after next payday. I worked both holidays this year so my check shall be pretty nice. Malibal and other resellers offer the usual Intel 320/510 series solid state drives. But is there an even better choice than those that would work exceptionally well with the P170HM?

 

Intel is typically recommended for stability and reliability reasons, but pretty much any SSD should work. There were issues with Sandforce SSD's a few months back, but newer firmware revisions have allowed most to work without incident.

 

I agree. I would always go for Intel 510 series.. 120GB or more.

 

Thanks for a well-written review!

Quick question - do you know if your 3D glasses (and screen) are from the 2nd generation of 3D Vision?

Here is a link for reference:
NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 ? Full HD Stereoscopic 3D glasses for your PC

Cheers!

 

Thanks guys. I shall purchase an Intel 510 SSD then.

 

Uhm no idea tbh. I guess it's 2nd generation. I don't even have the glasses Just wanted the 120Hz screen.

 

~3 Months later I still love my laptop.

I wonder if the ATI 6990 would have been a better choice.. yes performance/price ratio is better but somewhere I always prefered NVIDIA.. at the same time I'm not that much of a "big gamer" anymore.

I still wished there was a switchable gfx for more battery saving :/

 

But the ATI 6990 would not have worked with your 120hz screen right?

 

That's correct. The 120hz was/is limited to the Nvidia cards due to the way it's wired in.

 

Ah thanks, I have been wondering about this, but glad to hear it from the horse's mouth.

 

Oh well then I don't regret it at all... 120Hz is a must for me.. the difference in gaming is incredible.

Thanks for pointing that out.. now I'm even more happier with my choice ;D

 

And thanks for the review. I'm thinking of getting one of these as well.

 

Awesome review thanks so much, im hoping this will be my next computer. Just got a couple of questions. Does the battery time only last 3 hours even without gaming etc...? for example web browsing. How are is the keyboad holding up after theses 3 months? any downfall since the beggining of your review? thanks!

 

Hmm it depends on what you are doing.. I think 3 hours of browsing + office stuff + music/video is a fair time.. Also depends on how much contrast you put on.

And no.. everything is built really well. Nothing falling apart

 

ok great thanks, Id like to know if its possible to compare a laptop like this to an alienware? i imaging the alienware might be a tad more expensive, but is it comparable to the Satori shell etcc.?

thanks again

 

If you like lots of blink blink lights then take Alienware.. else this Satori isn't any worse than any Alienware. Maybe even better than Alienware.

 

Awesome!! alrightyy, now i just gotta wait for the new graphics cards and its a gogo

 

What do I get for the 120Hz screen? What/why is it better? And, it seems that the 3D screen still looks ok without using the glasses? I am probably aging myself, but I remember not too long ago if you were watching something that was meant to be 3D w/o the glasses, everything looked funky and a bit blurred

 

Can you compare keyboard experience to that of a Thinkpad?
Thanks! IF not, it seems your experience is that the keyboard is quite solid... no flex.

 

Games will feel much much much much more smoother with 120Hz.. it is a completely different feeling.

And the keyboard is fine. I have some old Thinkpad t40 which is just the same or maybe worse.

 

Recommendations: HD+ for standard applications, including: internet browsing, playing MP3's, word processing & watching DVDs. FHD for 3D gaming, model rendering, video editing, graphic artists & AutoCAD Specialists.

Make A Selection
17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit Glossy Display

17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Chimei N173HGE-L11 72% NTSC Matte Display

17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B173HW01 V.4 90% NTSC Glossy Display

These seem to be the 170EM screen options. I do not see 120Hz 3D screen. Also, I have read some very poor reviews of the Chimei screen.

I didn't see a 170HM choice

 

@tony487 the EM is the follow up to the HM line. The HM didn't have a 3d version right away, and right now the best guess for when the 3D version of the EM will come out is "summer 2012". I guess to co-incide with the 680M.

Also confirming that the HM's 3D technology is nvidia's first gen. The second gen has bigger glasses lenses with better ambient light blocking, and screens are brighter. I hope the EM's 3D will use that but when my HM screen is in 3D mode and the glasses are on, let's just say the screen doesn't appear very bright and the glasses don't do much for blocking ambient light.

 

You can use gen2 glasses on HM, many resellers sold them once old stock was finished...I won't bet on EM using a lightboost panel either, the 3D P270WM demo units had the same panel as the HM.
I think Alienware also uses the same old panel on the 17xR4, too.

EDIT: The R4 has a lightboost panel (Samsung SEC5044-173HT02-T01).

Wonder if that works in my HM3.