**OFFICIAL Sager NP5125/Sager NP5135/Clevo B5130M Owner's Lounge**

I checked the Sager website and this is the latest video driver for the NP5125
"Video Windows/Vista Video drivers for Windows 7 and Vista 32 BIT / 64 BIT 8.15.10.1968/NV 8.16.11.8975 22-Jul-10 321463 KB"

How does this relate to the newest 330M driver on the Nvidia site? Is this that driver just certified by Sager? Also would you happen to know if these are the same version of the drivers that were released to buyers on the bundled driver cd?

 

As for what I have briefly seen i think there only some minor differences in the control panel between the drivers. This driver is what Sager/Clevo have certified for the machine. From what I recall this is the same driver on the driver CD.

 

I thought laptops with optimus were recently being given the latest and greatest nvidia verde drivers? What makes the 5125 so special? Does this apply to a barebones clevo 5100m as well?

I'm also thinking it may just come down to inf modding, I really thought for sure the big deal about optimus with switchable graphics was the verde support.

edit: assuming somehow this is never resolved and we are only to use sager's drivers, are they historically as bad as lenovo and dell about updating their switchable drivers? Although I suppose right now im using newer ati drivers instead of lenovo's so i guess lenovo is better. Dell with the m11x was bad for a while though.

 

so once i get the NP5125, should i use the driver CD or just download all the drivers off the Sager site or is the driver CD with this laptop all the exact same as the ones on the site? (drivers all say July 22nd on Sager)

just curious if the CD one would be older or the same?

 

I got this

"Hello,

Sager has contacted us to let us know there has been a slight delay on the order production for your order. We apologize for this delay and any inconvenience. Your order production is expected to be completed mid-late next week. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance. If you have any questions or concerns, please email [email protected]

Thanks
Xotic PC"

I'm guessing that I was lucky enough to just have a little delay and they will be able to ship it mid-late next week but you are actually just going to start going through the production process starting mid next week so they wont ship it until like the week after next week for you? I could be wrong but both of our emails sound a little bit different and I did order mine a day or two before you did so idk.

 

i just got that email as well delayed till approx. late august it says. i really hope it arrives by september.

 

show me the email message please? Because I think i was one of the first to order the 7110.. and mine just says its delayed and will be shipped next week.. not late august..? Mind showing the email you got please so we can compare n try n figure out what is actually going on? /:

 

i didnt order the 7110, i probly shouldve clarified, i ordered the 5125 and got that email about that

 

Oh okay, good. Yeah.. I know that they are having a problem with a low supply of the FHD screens or whatever with the 5125.. as far as i know, the 7110 isn't having any problems besides a small delay supposedly, nothing serious

 

from what i hear, the regular HD screens are also on back order now for the 5125 (which is the screen i chose) i just hope it gets here by september, that is my biggest concern...

 

Wow, this makes me sigh in relief that I ordered mine early. I leave next week, so that would have been bad.

 

[2]

 

ye i worded that a bit weird, basically are the drivers that come on the CD the same as the drivers currently on the Sager site which are dated as July 22nd?

 

I'm downloading them to be safe.

 

Well they are already lagging behind because the Driver shipped is 189.75 and this is a slight issue because I am near positive the current version includes a nice new system tray app that lets you see what exactly is keeping your discrete graphics on and some better support for managing the application list for automatic driver switching. Not to mention the fact that they keep that auto-list updated through those updates.

Let us not forget the just plain improvement of the driver through updates. This laptop should have no reason to not use the Verde drivers straight from nVIDIA. However some of that is going to be on nVIDIA getting the optimus driver these used merged into the mainstream mobile driver.

That control panel is pretty important and makes the system more manageable.

In any matter I still have yet to get the manual switch to work. It switches it for just a second and then a popup comes up and says something about restarting 3d apps and then it switches off.

 

The exact same thing was happening to me. Let us know if you figure something out.

 

I just got mine yesterday and so far love it. I'm trying to get used to the 1080 screen still. Can anyone offer me some suggestions how to increase the size of icons and font sizes? The notification area especially I'd like to make bigger.

 

Type "increase" into the Start search box and select the "Make text and other items larger or smaller." Still get the benefits of a higher res but you also can see text and such from farther away.

 

For anyone reading this thread I would suggest holding off on purchasing this laptop...

I would suggest waiting until there is some response about the video driver issues because nVIDIA is having enough trouble making these compatible with all games with out having to wait who knows how long for Clevo to decide to actually make the update available to work on the notebook.

I knew the problems with Optimus and gaming going into it but I am certainly surprised and very frustrated with the fact that even when nVIDIA does fix the issues I won't be allowed to update the drivers in a timely manner.

 

I'm sorry I'm a bit lost on what's going on with the drivers......could you explain it in to me in simple terms what is the problem ?

 

The only video driver that will install is
NVIDIA Optimus Driver Version: 189.75 Release Date: ??
The newest driver in that same line is
NVIDIA Optimus Driver Version: 189.79 Release Date: 2010.04.29

Which the newest one is already 4 months old and won't install.

While the normal nVIDIA 330m Driver which supports Optimus (however does appear to have a support exception for this notebook's technology)
Verde Notebook Release 256 Version: 258.96 WHQL Release Date: 2010.07.19

We are at least missing out on a much improved Control Panel that shows you exactly what is using the Discrete GPU and includes a function to update the automatic GPU switcher list. Also some game compatibility updates.

On top of this the manual gpu switch button doesn't even work.

To amplify the importance of this issue is the fact that the Optimus drivers are still a work in progress and a lot of the Verde drivers updates are to improve compatibility for the Optimus portion.

This means that nVIDIA will be releasing updates that will make our experience better and yet we can not even update our drivers until Clevo decides they want to. Or until someone figures out how to hack the driver so it will install. There is absolutely no reason that the newest Optimus driver shouldn't work... The Verde drivers may simply still being integrated so that eventually the Optimus driver will disappear and everything will install using their normal driver. Still we will likely have to wait for Clevo to decide when we can update..

 

I got my laptop with no O/S. I installed a retail copy of Win 7 professional that I have. After installing all the Sager drivers from the included CD, I have no unaccounted for devices without drivers. However, my webcam was never detected and simply shows as not really being there. Was it never connected?

 

Did you hit FN+f10 to turn it on?

You may also be missing your Bluetooth whch you need to turn on which is fn+f12.

 

Oh man I hope it's nothing that stupid on my part... :|

Ok yep it was.

 

Since drivers seem to be a hot topic as of late: Does the touchpad support multitouch with the drivers on Sager's website or do you need the synaptics or something like that?

 

Multi-touch works pretty well with the drivers from the CD that came with it.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/509602-sager-np5125-video-driver-fixes.html

Fix for the video driver. Confirmed at this point as I just played some Fallout 3 at ultra high settings at 1920x1080 resolution with out skipping a beat. A feat prior to getting that driver installed that was impossible.

*Direct Link* But be sure to go to the other thread to thank the contributor
Modding 101 - Missing Optimus Device IDs - LaptopVideo2Go Forums


Still no fix in sight for the manual switch. It appears to be an intel thing though or atleast the popup is.

 

Wow, that is impressive performance for this graphic card. What was your average fps?
It should run Aion on highest and 1920x1080 with no problem.

 

Several people seem to have received their unit!
Can anyone do a review ?

I am particularly interested in heat, fan noise and battery life! And also does the laptop feel cheap with a lot of flex? How good is the build quality in comparison with a MacBook or an HP envy?

Thank you guys and enjoy your new laptop

 

Heat)
When playing WoW on max video settings and resolution I get no extra feel of hotness on the top and the bottom heats up just a bit. Really doesn't throw out much heat out the vent beyond normal.

When doing Fallout 3 (which for the person that asked I will do a post with FPS from a few games. I didn't have fraps installed at the time) there was more heat being pushed out the vent but no real heat up from anywhere else.

I have a metal HP thumb drive 16gb that gets a bit hot on it's own and I am fearful to do too much with it by the USB near the vents but using the USB3 slot I have had no fears.

Battery Life)
3 Hours straight up with internet downloading etc on wireless. Medium screen brightness. No optimizations really just used power saver. You could squeeze 3:30 with out much work probably.

Fan Noise)
What fan noise...

Quality)
High quality keyboard but a bit weird at first the arrow keys are annoyingly placed.
It is good plastic looks nice and is clean. It is not to the style level of MBP/Air or the Envys. With the Video Driver fixed though there is only 1 remaining issue with the manual switch of gpu... So this puts it above the highly buggy envy. The superior hardware and price point blows apple up.
The touch pad is annoying as all hell.. I put Cocoa Butter lotion on it.. rubbed it in and it's like a completely new silky touch pad. I am not sure why they would make it textured like that.

I would suggest getting some graphics on the lid to spruce it up some but meh, it is still really nice looking.

All and all very solid it would be a top tier contender for style with a bit of polish and a few wiser decisions on hardware like slot load optical etc.

 

Does the lid snap off?

 

Touchpad is really annoyingly like hell?
Peoples will need to rub Cocoa Butter on it?

Warm regards,

 

If we don't see an official fix coming down in a week or so, Evan (one of the co-owners of DARK along with myself) will be seeing if he can code a fix for this.

 

@Neuntoter

Thanks for this mini review, this laptop looks really nice! I am a bit surprise we don't see much reviews on Internet!

With the current bios, is it possible to boot from a USB key? I am planning on replacing the CD drive with an hard drive.

 

best post in this thread

 

I totally agree 100% haha

 

Can anyone tell me how the lid stays closed? Is it held by magnets like the macs do or is it a latch like some other companies have?

 

No latch, I dont know about magnets though. It just stays closed until you want to open it

 

The touchpad is a huge miss for me.. It is tectured at first. Through normal use it probably would get better over time.. I am impatient.
Maybe someone else can comment about it and how fast until it goes to a more smooth feeling. To be fair though I have never had a non-silk finish touch pad, this is likely normal. It is near perfect now to alleviate any fears.

Thank you that would be awesome. I am a coder too but don't have the will power to go on a crusade to fix this thing.

If no one comes forward with a complete opinion review I will run through everything and give my FPS findings and other snag ups. To add to the review after getting the nVIDIA Verde driver running this thing is all pro.

Yes, I installed windows from a thumb drive. F1 is the boot menu at the start though it doesn't show it.

I think it does, in fact I am near positive it does, Shane from DARKPCs can field this one as I know they do the graphics stuff. Now how you do it I am not sure about.

Haha thanks I think ;p I get pretty emotional over screen resolution I guess but it is the most important thing to me and losing 1920x1200 is already noticeable and annoying. Technology advancement dictates things get better not worse. Ohwell.

I can't tell if it has magnets either but it just works. It is "MAGIC".
Really though unless you are swinging the thing around it isn't coming open.

 

would that little fix offered by DarkPC if the issue is not resolved before them with graphic switching be available for everyone? or would it be purely for DarkPC customers?

 

It would just be for DARK customers if we're able to do it...Evan will be looking into it soon to see if it's something he can handle.

I believe it does, but I haven't had a reason to try it (I'll let you know on Monday when I'm back in the office and have access to a machine). Clevo has a customization technology called MOFA for replaceable A panels, but I have no idea how to get those made through them without paying boatloads of money. When we customize we just custom paint the laptop, but the MOFA process supposedly creates a custom-printed back panel. However, I'm not sure if these replace the stock back panel or just snap on over it somehow.

Well, if it's outside of Evan's skill level maybe we'd be able to reimburse you for creating such a fix

 

@Neuntoter


Are you talking about Sager NP5125 touchpad or other?
Because I saw a lot of Screens-Shots and Videos about the NP5125, and all these midias has included the touchpad.
The touchpad really seems very smooth to me.

 

It's textured.

 

I could try but I am not sure where it is buried.. Seems like it is coming from the intel driver as the popup happens whether the nVIDIA drivers are installed or not. I am not sure why that would be... I am really confused as to what exactly is picking this thing up being why would the intel driver even know about it..
Maybe it is the hotkey program from clevo too.. Really the whole thing is confusing..I would think it would just deal with nVIDIA but I see no manual switch support for Optimus.

It is not visibly textured.. It is hard to explain when I first started using it the touchpad was rough.. It started to get better after awhile of use but still not fast enough so I put the lotion on it. It is now perfect though and I would assume that it is just a natural thing as you use it it gets better.

------------------------------------------------------
Fallout 3 - Ultra High Settings maxed resolution
Minimum FPS = 16
Average FPS = 32
Maximum FPS = 60

One note to these is though that during hand to hand combat with multiple enemies there is a lot of lag... Few scenes would be when you start a fight for Amata with Butch and his gang in Vault 101.. Another one I noticed a lot of problems with was starting a fight inside Megaton period.
I never had a problem anywhere else though.

 

not bad! Thanks a lot.

Is anyone here using an SSD? I need step-by-step instructions because it's my first time. Is this correct?

1. Install SSD
2. Switch to AHCI
3. Install Windows 7
4. Install chipset driver
5. Install Intel rapid storage driver
6. Tweak Windows 7 to prolong SSD life

Thanks.

 

So was getting the VERDE drivers up and running difficult? I will read through that Modding 101 post once my machine comes back. And do the verde drivers give us that new control panel?

 

has anyone tried playing bad company 2 with this system yet? im interested in how it performs and what settings and graphics setting u would use?

 

"Unfortunately Sager sent us an update on 8/10 saying that they are backordered on the Sager np7110. The next shipment will arrive on 08/18/10 and we’ll send your order for immediate production at that time."

Ughh this is killing me! Wellllllllllllll College starts the 25th and i was really hoping to get it before then so i could install all of the programs i needed n everything but any idea if they ship it to me soon after they get it? like a day or two after? or do they have to test it for like 3 or 4 days? I just want kind of a estimate of when itll arrive

 

shane so your refering to a fix for the graphics driver, im going to try the fix posted before, but it would really only be for dark pc? im sure if you can get a driver fix plenty of us would be willing to put out a few bucks for it.

 

Yeah.. I feel that is kind of unfair in a sense but at the same time completely not.. I didn't even know of DarkPC until after ordering the laptop elsewhere and it just kinda stinks that if someone finds a fix to the problem, they will only let those who bought from them to get the fix. I mean we are spending close to $1,500 on a laptop... Normally when you pay for that much you expect everything to be working how it is supposed to be. I mean DarkPC has all the right to only give it to those who bought it from them but at the same time its almost unfair that i had no idea of darkPC until after i ordered anyways.. Not that im complaining about XoticPC or anything.. They have done nothing but been great to me, answering my questions, talking to the owner and im glad I went with them. But at the same time, DarkPC if you guys even try and fix and end up fixing it.. it would be nice to get that too or if we would have to pay for it because i mean whats a few extra $ when you already spent over $1,000 on a laptop.