NP5165 Unboxing & First Impressions

First off I wanted to thank XoticPC for an incredibly fast and easy transaction. There were a few hiccups with my shipping/billing address that led to multiple emails/calls back and forth yet total turnaround was 3 days from order to shipping.

System specs:

Sager NP5165 / Clevo W150HR
- Display: 15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glare Type Screen
- Processor: i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GT 555M 2048MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology
- Ram: ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)
- 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Intel® Advanced-N 6230 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module + Bluetooth

OUT OF THE BOX:
First impression, solid. The packaging was very plain, no markings, generic box. Projected ~.5 pound lighter than my HP DV6604 but definitely doesn't feel it. Not heavy in a bad way, but definitely a solid feel. Noticeable difference between this and my GFs 14" Asus .





AESTHETICS:
Very impressed here as well. I am very much function over form and the machine matches that perfectly. The lid has a glossy texture with small gradient squares. I requested and got the machine without a Sager logo on it. This is my first chichlet keyboard and is comfortable. Keyboard layout could be better but nothing I wont get used to. Flex seems minimal.

The touchpad as stated by others has a rough texture, the left/right mouse buttons are solid and feel good. The keyboard/inside has a graphite colored brushed texture that is very "edgy". Again, very utilitarian, which is what I prefer.













DISPLAY:
The lid opens with a decent amount of force and the hinges dont seem to have any play. There is a little flex in the screen/lid but nothing alarming. The interior has a reflective/glossy coating as opposed to the rest of the inside being matte/brushed.

I got the stock 1080p glossy panel (non 95% gamut) and couldn't be happier. Im not a graphics designer by any means, but its definitely a huge upgrade from my 1200x800 screen in the HP. The glossy screen hasn't bothered me at all but I haven't gotten it out of the office yet. I had originally intended to pick up a matte 95% screen in the future but after seeing this one I don't see the need.

POWER BRICK:
One word, beastly.

I know a lot of you guys have asked about its size so I took a couple pics of it w/ my Droid X.... It dwarfs it, seriously. Its definitely not small but any means.





PERFORMANCE:
Coming from a dual core AMD TK-55 there's no other option but blazing fast for this machine. I had Windows 7 up and running in 30/45mins w/ all the drivers from the CD installed. Right now I've only had a chance to get core utils installed but will update later with 3DMark scores.

Temps are running ~48deg with minimal load. I haven't used the speakers yet either as Im still at the office. Will test loads later tonight when I get home, along with a benchmarks and some more comments.

 

Well done. Do you game at all?

How is the glossy screen in terms of reflection? Do you see things behind you at the very edge of the monitor? That drives me mad.

 

power brick's not THAT bad. My C2D HP (with 9600m GT) has about the same size.

can't wait for mine to come!

 

What's the weigt on the brick + cable?

 

What about the laptop speakers as compared to HP's beats and Dell's JBL sound quality ?

 

nice purchase!

 

Beautiful machine.

I'm interested in more temp readings. It seems to be running a little bit warmer than my 5160. Mine runs in the low 40's at minimum load, but a lot of that can do with the room temperature. I know mine has gotten to high 40's also.

If you do game, I would suggest adjust the CPU so turbo boost doesn't kick on unless you really need that extra processing power. I turned it off and played Starcraft just fine. To turn it off its in the advanced settings of power management profiles. Just reduce Max CPU from 100% to 99%.

 

Damn right...I want that graphite finish!

Mr. Mysterious

 

Yeah i luv the finish

 

Could you play some games, to show the performance of the GT555?
Thanks.

 

yep, grey is the new 'hot'

 

I haven't gamed in quite a while but purchased this machine specifically to pick up SCII and try it out. Ill post FPS and screenshots w/ the 555M this weekend.

The brick is 6.5"L x 2.5"W x 1.5"T and weighs 1lb 15oz w/ cord.

Still haven't used the speakers yet or stressed it too much other than insalling core apps. Ill have some time to play with it this afternoon though and will update.

For you guys with Sagers already, can you elaborate on the VGA button. The machine powers on with it orange, when pressed it goes green and the popup comes up regarding the 3D. Is green w/ Optimus on/orange Off or vice versa? More info or a link would be appreciated. Also what do you guys want stats in, 3dMark06 or what else?

 

thanks for the review, its very informative.

I have a question regarding the premium screen option (95% gamut) that xoticpc offers on many sager laptops.

Is the screen really that much better than the regular one ?

I am coming from the envy 14's radiance and I really love that screen contrast and brightness. So I got really spoiled with it and I cant look at average screens anymore xD

 

Is that power brick a 90w or a 120w?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-between-different-screen-options-photos.html

That thread should give you a good comparison between stock and upgrade.

 

Please use vantage or 3DMark11 for running the tests.

 

The power brick is 120w.

I updated to 270.61 drivers for the 555M

3DMark06: 10460
3DMarkVantage GPU: 4753

Both seem close to the others tested on notebookcheck.

The laptop seems to be running quite warm now. Not sure what I did, but it went from averaging 48-50deg a couple days ago to now averaging 58-60deg. When running 3DMark it tops out at 90deg.

Would changing drivers or anything make this much of a difference? Up until yesterday it seemed to stay in the low 50/high 40s with minimal load; now, with none, it doesn't even touch 40s.

 

Whoa, how did you update to 270.61? My installer says "This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware." :/

 

275.27 beta is actually supported as per other forum users, it just takes some tweaking.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/564375-atmosks-nvidia-clevo-support-modded-infs-7.html

As far as I know, the most recent supported driver without changing the INF is the included one on disk.

 

Yeah I got the modified INF from Atmosk's thread above, then downloaded the 270.61 driver from NVIDIA here:

NVIDIA DRIVERS 270.61 WHQL

I had 275.27 installed but kept getting force closes on the NVIDIA control panel. After going back everything is running smooth.

MALIBAL, are there drivers for the stock LCD panel itself? In my settings/devices it just comes up as Generic PnP Monitor. Other than Windows color config w/ the sliders, any other ways to calibrate the display (without pro hardware to do it)?

Thanks

 

Cool, I'll look into that. NVIDIA will eventually release one that will work without needing to mod anything right?

 

They should, just not sure how long behind the curve they are.

Catan what are you averaging on your Windows Index score with that 2720 and higher RAM?

 

I'm getting 5.8, limiting factor is 'primary hard disk' and 'Graphics'. This is using the stock NVIDIA driver on the CD (v266.40)
Will update on all the subscores once I have access to my lappy again

 

What are you getting for your other scores? Im pulling a 5.9 right now, limiting factors:

Memory (RAM) - Memory operations per second - 5.9
Primary Hard Disk - Disk data transfer rate - 5.9

 

Ok, here's the breakdown:

Processor: 7.5
Memory: 7.6
Graphics (Desktop performance for Windows Aero): 5.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.8
Primary hard disk: 5.8

hecka powerful processor

 

Thanks that was very informative, the difference is pretty drastic.
Most likely worth the extra $$.

 

Yeah I just placed my order at powernotebooks.com and am pretty excited. I saw that you requested to have the Sager logo removed. Hopefully they'll do the same for me.

As for the display, I opted for the 95% gamut matte. I wouldn't worry too much about the temps you're seeing. Looks pretty normal. So how are those speakers? Also, is there any metal on the laptop or is it all plastic?

 

Your gonna love it. I've had to turn down the brightness on mine but I have had zero problems with glare.