My Humble W110ER Review

HTWingNut has already done a wonderful and thorough job of a review, so I'll try not to be redundant, but I thought I'd leave another opinion here for variety's sake!

I got my Clevo "Lotus" W110ER from MALIBAL and they were a pleasure to deal with. They were friendly, responded quickly to my e-mails at all times of the day, and they got me a great deal on the computer. There's been a little controversy on NBR about them lately and, though I was a little concerned at first, they proved any doubts I had about them wrong. I also bought a Bigfoot Killer 1102 wireless card from MYTHLOGIC that is on its way. They were also a pleasure to do business with and were very good and informative with their communication.

Specs:
Intel i7-3610QM
8GB RAM 1600MHz GDDR3
nVidia GT 650M 2GB GDDR3
512GB Crucial M4 SSD
IC-Diamond 7
Windows Home Premium

Gameplay Performance
Everything I've tested so far was in 1366x768 besides for the 3DMark benchmarks. So far, this has been a great gaming machine. It plays almost everything I throw at it reliably and gracefully. I say almost everything because there was just one monster of a game that gave the W110ER some trouble. That was The Witcher 2.

I did some benchmarks of TW2 using Fraps in 1366x768 and am posting average fps for each test. I did one "Opening" test which included the opening cinematic with Geralt running through the forest and ending up in prison and one "Gameplay" test which consisted of me walking around the Act I town and then walking outside and doing some combat. I took the same path everytime.

The Witcher 2
Ultra w/ Ubersampling:
Opening: 11.4 fps
Gameplay: 12.4 fps

Ultra w/o Ubersampling:
Opening: 26.5 fps
Gameplay: 29 fps

High:
Opening: 31.8 fps
Gameplay: 29.8 fps

Medium:
Opening: 35 fps
Gameplay: 34.5 fps

The Ultra w/ Ubersampling test was pretty predictable and not very playable. That setting is something that brings even desktop computers to their knees. Without ubersampling on Ultra, the game becomes almost playable (depending on your sensibilities) averaging at about 29 fps. I got a slight improvement on High settings and then better ones on Medium settings. From my point of view, playing the game at ~29 fps on Ultra/High was acceptable and I didn't feel my gameplay suffer. Even still, the game looked great on medium.

Diablo III:
Diablo III ran perfectly at all settings with at least 90 average fps each time. My test here consisted of running from New Tristram to Whimsyshire and then clearing mobs for about 2 minutes.

Default Settings (Medium/High): 120.2 fps
High: 130.6 fps
High w/ AA: 93.8 fps

It's strange that the Default settings scored a little lower than High settings. I ran the tests again just to confirm, but I got similar results. *shrug*

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
For this test, I used the game's default "Ultra High" setting, which is every setting up to max including the longest view distances and 8x AA. My game is unmodded and my methodology was to walk around Whiterun and then engage in a city-wide murder spree/melee with the guards.

Ultra High: 37 fps

This was very playable. Because it was so smooth, I didn't bother testing on lower settings.

Mass Effect 3:
There was only one graphics option I knew of when I was playing the game, which was everything maxed including AA except for Anisotropic Filtering, which was set at 2x instead of the maximum 16x. I didn't discover the ME3Configurator until recently, so I haven't tested it at 16x. I tested with both the intro cinematic and gameplay and got similar numbers.

High: 58 fps

3DMark06 (default settings):
13837

3DMark11 (default settings):
P-Score: 2431
Graphics: 2266

Heat, Noise, and Battery Life:
The W110ER is a very quiet computer. At idle, it's dead silent. As someone who cares quite a bit about the noise my computer makes, this was amazing to me. I took some readings of the noise levels, although I did it with a smartphone, so take that for what you will.

Idle: 24-25 dB
Light Load: 29-32 dB
Heavy Load: 40-44 dB
Maximum Speaker Noise: ~77 dB

"Light Load" was measured whenever the fan started whirring as I was browsing, installing drivers, etc. I have an SSD, so there was no hard drive noise there. "Heavy Load" was measured during my tests of The Witcher 2 and during 3DMark11. Even as I type this with four tabs open, several small programs, and a game download, the computer is completely silent at Idle dB range. Once in a while, the fans will whir up to the low 30 dB's but they shut off very quickly. It actually sounds a little strange.

The computer does get warm though. The CPU idles at about ~60 degrees Celsius. The chassis does get lukewarm during even light use. I can feel heat when I type and rest my palms on the computer. The left side of the W110ER where the vents are get especially warm. The bottom of the computer gets warm too, even on light loads, and you can feel it on your lap or bed. I haven't had the case yet where anything reached uncomfortable levels and was actually impressed that the computer didn't feel significantly warmer as I was going through The Witcher 2 tests followed by 3DMark11, but then again, I haven't gamed for hours yet. For what it's worth, the max temp I saw so far was 75 degrees in the CPU.

Battery life isn't one of my top issues, so I didn't do very many tests on it here. I did one "Normal Usage" test where I had my brightness set to 40%, was actively browsing with at least three tabs open, game downloads going on, photo uploads, and small programs up like Windows Explorer, Speedfan, and Notepad. At one point, I had my phone plugged in for about 5 minutes. The computer shuts off at about 5% battery which took about 175 minutes or just under 3 hours.

Unboxing Pictures:

Spoiler

The box:


The box within the box:


What's in the box. Note that there wasn't a carrying case included like in the larger models.


W110ER opened for the first time, battery unattached:


There wasn't any bloatware except one program called "Keepsafe" which I couldn't identify.

Pictures of the W110ER:

Spoiler

Top view, unbranded. I'm curious as to how it would have looked with the MALIBAL branding.


Keyboard


Left side, excuse the crappy lighting and old receipts:


Right side:

Comparison to P151EM:
I know there's quite a few people who are trying to decide between the W110ER model and one of the P15xEM models. I have some pictures and made a video comparing the sizes of the two to help anyone trying to decide.

W110ER Pros:
- Very Portable
- Cheaper
- Quieter

P15xEM Pros:
- More powerful
- Runs cooler
- Better screen options
- More hard drive bays

Pictures of W110ER and P151EM:

Spoiler

Side-by-side:


On top:


Thickness:

In my experience, the P151EM ran cool to the touch, even when gaming. The fans were also much more consistently loud than the W110ER. You would think the W110ER would have better battery life, but they are about even. I have not done a battery test on the P151EM, but from what I've heard from others and my brother (who owns the computer), it may even have a longer battery life than the W110ER. But the main reason to get the W110ER is portability and this one is a no-brainer. The W110ER is very small and light. You can put it in your bag and almost forget about it. It wil fit on desks in lecture halls and is grippable with one hand. The P151EM is just on the border of portability. It's smaller than most gaming computers, but it's still heavy. You could carry it to class if you wanted to, but it's something you would rather not do since it's weight is definitely noticeable. Both computers would fit on a desk, but the W110ER does it much better.

YouTube Videos:
Clevo W110ER Screen and Fan Noise Perspective - YouTube
Short Clevo W110ER / P151EM Comparison - YouTube

Miscellaneous Things and Subjective Thoughts:
I'm no expert on screen quality, so I can't comment much on that unfortunately. I have no complaints about it other than that it can attract some significant glare and is harder to see outdoors. A matte screen would definitely be the preferable choice here. An 11.6" screen can definitely take some getting used to if you're accustomed to much larger screens. I think the way you use the computer will impact how you feel about the screen as well. It's a perfect size for when I'm lounging around on a couch or a bed, but when I put it on my desk and it's further away, it becomes more of a problem. I do sit pretty far away from my desk though because my crappy chair is too tall to roll under it.

The build quality seems solid. The hinge looks and feels very durable. No flex on the keyboard. Most of the W110ER has this bumpy, texturized material, even the trackpad. The mouse buttons by the trackpad are louder than my other laptops, but that's a nitpicky thing. The W110ER certainly isn't much of a looker. I got it unbranded and it's got a pretty plain design. I don't actually care much for aesthetics and actually find the "undercover supercomputer" thing kinda cool, but this could matter to other people.

With the Crucial M4 SSD, I measured boot times to be around 19-21 seconds.

I would absolutely recommend this computer for any students out there. Portability is such a big deal on campus and this computer is your one-size-fits-all, portable academic and gaming machine. You can throw it in your bag where the weight is no problem, take notes in class, do your homework in the library, and then play your favorite video games later all without any need for that fractured desktop/notebook/netbook/tablet environment.

I will probably wait a little while longer before reaching a final verdict on this computer. I don't want any initial emotions clouding my thoughts! Here's a Pros and Cons list before I go though.

Pros:
- Powerful gaming computer, especially considering the size
- Very portable
- Good build quality
- Good value
Cons:
- Plain aesthetic
- Heat
- Battery life
- Not many screen options

 

Awesome review! I also ordered from Malibal and hope to get my W110ER next week. I went with the i5 2450 to manage heat and battery life while hopefully not cutting gaming performance too much.

Have you experienced the fan in the unit behaving strangely at all? Ive seen some reports on that anyway.

 

OMG!!! Thanks...was waiting for benchmarks for The Witcher 2!!!. Now I don''t have buyers remorse.... waiting for LPC digital to send me confirmation!

 

Nice review

The W110ER is a little bit thicker than the 150EM, right?

Mr. Mysterious

 

Actually, yes. I always just assumed the W110ER had to be thinner and I said that in the video, but it's actually the thicker one. Not by any significant margin though, thankfully.

Hmm in what way? The fans are not even on most of the time and it's dead silent. If there was strange behavior, it would be that once in a while the fan whips up noticeably for about a second and then stops again.

 

Good review.

I am waiting my NP6110, come here in 2 weeks +-, day 11 week.

Is goot read reviews in this time of waiting hehehehe

BR

 

Great review, thanks matey, pictures are always appreciated

 

Well done, congrats! Good review. +1

 

Just bought one myself! Your review on the Witcher 2 cemented it for me! I figure it's about time for me to get a small laptop that can handle every game at high settings for once. Why compromise!

 

Because of heat It's a killer. Plus, how much detail can the human eye truly see on a 11.6" screen?

Mr. Mysterious

 

Heat really isn't that bad. If it idled at 35C nobody would say anything. Sandy Bridge chips can run upwards of 90C even. After longer idle sessions, my 3610QM is actually idling at about 42-45C

 

Your avatar kills me! Anyway, I am not too worried about heat because I do not play it on my lap. As long as it plays for hours without melting anything or degrading internal parts, I'm fine. Besides, I also connect it to my TV at times or a monitor to play, so the extra power will come in handy. Will future slimmer, lighter ultraportables have this much power (Quad CPU and discete GPU) or is this most likely the most powerful you will get for this type of package? I'm not talking about a year or two out when they develop smaller chips and gpus - I'm talking about now.

 

can you made if you have time a video with the notebook booting, runing some like 3d mark, showing the leds and the notebook working ?

Tkz

 

So I tested running Diablo 3 at high settings and high performance on battery with my m11x R3 and got about 65 minutes before I received a warning that I had 8 minutes left. The fan was blowing the entire time as loud as a hair dryer. How does the NP6110 compare playing Diablo 3 on discrete graphics and high settings?

 

Sincerely doubt it. The W110ER is already an impressive feat for today's technology. It's as powerful or more powerful than even current 15.6" computers and Sager/Clevo is usually at the top of the performance game along with Alienware. Perhaps we'll see 13" and 14" computers soon that will match this power, but we have no evidence of anything like that so far, at least not on this side of the planet.

I actually timed the boot times as I made the initial review and forgot to post them up. It was usually around 19-21 seconds from the time the computer turned on (as opposed to at the Windows logo that others test with). I made a video where the computer is running 3DMark06 here:

Clevo W110ER Screen and Fan Noise Perspective - YouTube

I haven't gamed on battery yet. I can't actually imagine ever doing so since I always have a power outlet by me and, if I don't, I probably don't have an external mouse. Playing during class might be interesting, but the fans are just a little too loud for class. The newest video I posted should give you a sense of how loud the fans get. I did try Diablo III and the fan was blowing the entire time, but I'm not sure how loud "hair dryer" is, because it certainly wasn't as loud as any hair dryers I've heard To be honest, the fan noise bothers me when I don't have any headphones/speaker noise going on, but I come from a very "quiet computer" background. When I do have headphones on, I can't hear them anymore.

I notice when I alt+tab out of the game, the fan dies down again.

 

Does the fan gradually increase speed or does it only have a low and high setting like the R3?

 

There seems to be at least three levels. On idle and light, it's nearly completely silent. During load, there seems to be at least a low, medium, and high thing going on. So it sounds more gradual than the R3, but it's not a smooth gradient.

 

tkz for the video.

the fan work well.

for the size of this notebook I believe it is normal a little noise when the CPU is used in hard tasks.

BR

[]'s

 

Oh I assumed they went full power when during even the slightest load..
hmm ty

 

WCFire, do you think I'll be impressed with the graphic performance coming from a m11x R3? I remember coming from a MacBook air to the m11x and being amazed on how much better the graphics were and how smooth and playable games were in comparison.

 

No way, that would be annoying It's usually dead silent, but when I'm multitasking pretty heavily (not gaming) the fans spin at a low power. When you're gaming, it doesn't feel as gradual and it ramps up pretty quickly.

It's hard to say since I've never had an M11x. The W110ER is a lot more powerful than the M11x R3. In 3DMark11, its score is more than double the M11x's. Furthermore, the W110ER can play almost every current game at highest and ultra settings, whereas the M11x is likely running on medium to high. No question about it, the W110ER trumps the M11x in performance.

But I think the jump would be less significant than the MBA -> M11x. That's the difference betwen an integrated and discrete graphics card. I bet you'd be much more impressed waiting a year or so for the next 11" ultraportable gamer. I'm curious as to how happy you are with the M11x now?


In other news, I played the Sims 3 today on this machine. Katy Perry edition, obviously. California girls in glorious 56 fps. I'm sure you were all waiting for this news. Now you know you can go get your kids this computer. Build quality is solid, so don't worry about them breaking it. Unless of course, they're the types who recklessly try swapping out their stock screens for matte ones

 

Great review. + rep
The more I use mine the more impressed I am, very happy with my system, my only wish is a backlit keyboard and hopefully that will be addressed with next gen's model.

 

Same here. I'm using my machine quite a bit. It's very capable and actually the battery life is livable for me. So I'm a happy camper. Let's hope they listen or use some sense to improve on this great little machine like a high quality matte (eDP) screen, backlit edge to edge keyboard for full size arrows and right shift, and work out battery life issues as well as offer a bigger battery.

 

Well, I was pretty happy with the m11x r3 until they discontinued it with no hope of the R4. When I saw this one, I couldn't believe they would put a Quad Core CPU (not the ULV version) in a smaller package. I think the Clevo 11" is only 4 lbs compared to the m11x at 4.5 lbs. I figured that the next 50 ultraportables coming out with Ivy bridge will be the ULV kind, so to get a full blown Quad Core seems to have some legs for a good while. Am I wrong?

 

Even the lowest rated IVB Quad matched with the 650M is a very potent package, I don't see any games it cannot handle at ULTRA or HIGH settings and should still be pretty capable even 2-3 years down the road.

 

Any one know why this machine use PCIex8 instead PCIex16 for the VGA ?

BR

 

Because PCI-E 3.0 x8 is 8GB/sec which is equal to PCI-E 2.x at 16x. And the GT 650m can come no where near 8GB/sec transfer rate.

 

Not this week, next week maybe I am with mine here

the time is slow in this situations.

we guys take out the stamps glued in the case ? thx, optimus, nvidia ? it is hard to take out or easy ?

 

I haven't actually tried to take them off. You can try to peel them off yourself. If that don't work, a neat trick is to use a hair dryer to help peel off the sticker.

http://lifehacker.com/5482887/remove-stubborn-stickers-with-a-hair-dryer

 

I just hold an alcohol soaked paper towel over the sticker for 60 seconds with some pressure, and then let the paper towel sit to let more alcohol soak into the adhesive for another few minutes. Then usually I can pry it up and off easily. There's usually some adhesive stuck to the laptop, but some more soaking with alcohol takes care of it. I'd just be leary of getting that much heat on the plastic / rubber part of the laptop.

 

Same here, isopropyl alcohol works wonders to remove glue from those pesky stickers.

 

Great review +1 rep. Glad to know this laptop can run witcher 2 with med/high settings Thanks!

 

How long was the turn around at Malibal from order to shipping? Thanks for the review!

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

 

Nice


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 6165 or a 6110 as soon as i see reviews when playing games!

 

I was contemplating buying this in July ...can someone comment on the i5 3210 version ....cause I am a little low with cash these days and every 100$ spent would be a lot ...
Just gonna be my gaming laptop since I already have a quad i7 mbp

Also has anyone Bern able to get discounts on this machine...please pm me

 

PM lpc-digital here at NBR. He's been good about giving discounts. Haven't seen any reports with the i5-3210 version, but should be adequate for 99% of the games out there.

 

Placed order on 5/14, shipped on 5/29. It seems all the Clevo retailers were backed up at the time because of new models, Ivy Bridge, and the 7970M.

 

how do i PM lpc-digital....it says no user with the same name on the list and i looked up the user list coudlnt find the user....can you please guide me as to how i can contact them.

 

His name here at NBR is babyhemi.

 

Nope, he changed it. Sorry though, it's Larry@LPC-Digital not just LPC-Digital.

 

I didn't realize he changed it, haven't noticed him post in a while.

 

He had such a nice name before

 

this guy made videos on youtube showing details about the clevos.

[]'s

 

Please run benchmark on battlefield 3

I seen people doing videos on youtube but they only show 1-2 sec of the gameplay which means noting .


Which SSD is good for this W110ER ? intel 520 or M4

 

BF3 has zero issues. Running 60+ FPS.

 

use a OCZ vertex 3 or a corsair GT

BR

 

I use a 480 GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD and I think it's quite good

 

Hi Guys,

I'm about to bite the bullet on one of these machines

However just another question about the charger unit - some vendors sell a 90w power supply and some a 120w power supply.

Why the difference?

Is there any significance in regards to the charger being a larger 120w or will it be fine having a 90w power supply? Should I be getting one over the other etc?

Specs I'll be going for are

i7-3720QM
16GB 1600MHZ RAM
512GB Crucial M4
Killer Wireless/Intel Advanced 6235

 

You need the 120W power supply for the quad core i7 CPUs (45 Watt). The i5 processors only need the 90W power supply as they draw less power (35W).

 

Hey WCFire, thanks for posting this review, it is a good one!