*** Official Clevo P151EM1 / Sager NP9130 Owner's Lounge ***

That's actually VERY sad connectivity for a gaming laptop... pretty much the same connectivity as a ultrabook nowadays... I personally need at least 3 USB ports... keyboard, mouse and a drive, or mouse, flash drive and ext. HDD.

But yeah, I'd rather they leave off a USB3.0 port and give me an expresscard, it's much more useful.

 

The MSI GE60 can have 3 hard drives just like the np9130 or np9150. Caddy drive, main sata III drive, and the MSI has a msata III drive slot compared to the msata II the Sagers have.

 

I didn't see the mSata listed on their specification page so that's why I said what I said.
Either way this laptop has very poor connectivity which is a must for my mobile editing station.
Its not the only one that does this however, I've consistently seen Asus do the same thing by making a great laptop but robbing it of all its ports save for only 2 USB 3.0 ports.

 

Please do research before you start bashing other laptops. It has 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports. It has an msata III, sata III for the main drive and the odd can be removed for an additional sata II slot.

 

I did my research by going to the manufacturer's site and looking at their specifications page.
Don't come here and bash me because they don't have it up to date.
In this day and age you have to have all your specs up to date or else internet arguments like this start.
If anyone is offended in my misrepresentation of the MSI GE60's msata III slot then I apologize.
Either way, I am still right about the three OTHER things I said about the GE60: no firewire, no esata and only 2 USB 3.0 ports.
That is in no way "bashing" the laptop, just stating the facts and my opinions as a result of those facts.

 

I agree. Options are what make customers happy I think.

I do have a question for any Sager 9130 owners:

Since I live in Jamaica where shipping to and from the United States is costly and time consuming, does it make sense I get an extended warranty for this laptop?

I am concerned with it being
a) a waste of money or
b) voidable because I live outside of the states

What do the other international owners think?

 

My NP9130 just shipped from Las Vegas! Hopefully it won't take too long to get to Los Angeles.

 

I hardly ever post on forums but after reading a couple of posts bashing the P151em1 I thought I would add my two cents. I absolutely love this laptop. Yes, the FN keys kind of suck but other than that I really enjoy the feel of the keyboard. I have yet to play any graphically intense games because I am studying for the MCAT but the 95% gamut glare type screen I ordered is amazing. I love the feel of the laptop and I really don't consider it to be too large. However, I am coming from an old 17 inch Gateway Fx laptop and that thing was a beast. One of these days I will end up posting a review for this laptop once I have had more time with it.

P.S: The 3610QM does run a little hot for my tastes. When it maxes out it hovers around the 90degree Celsius mark which is fairly warm imo. However, it idles around 45-50degrees which is still a little warm but its not that bad.

 

Thanks for your impressions!

Did you get the IC Diamond Thermal Paste for your processor or is it stock?

 

I was highly critical of the keyboard because I came from a Vaio Z which had a really nice spacious chicklet keyboard (even now i still hit the up arrow button rather than the right shift). But wow, what do you do on your laptop to get those temps? I was just playing BF3 for 2 hours and 73C is the max on my CPU and 72C on GPU (I got IC Diamond, but tests have shown only 2-5C difference). I do have some "driver" problems, any time i alt+tab out of BF3 it crashes... but in-game, it works fine . No issues with the keyboard for BF3, and i still question why they put the sleep hotkey between the mute and volume down...

As for the screen, coming from a Vaio Z, it's comparable. But compared to my work-issued Thinkpad 420, this screen is gorgeous!

Webcam works fine and speakers are good enough for gaming, haven't tried playing music and the mic (didn't bother looking for where it is) is quite fine (at least that's what my GF said over skype).

wish they actually had a separate button for home, end, pg up, pg down... I am a Computer Science student so I do use those buttons... I might have to get used to that... Sad to say, the layout of the keyboard is seriously lacking.

 

I also love the shortcut keys in the ge60 esp the one that kicks the fan 100%. btw is there a way to kick the fans up on the 9130? I really want the 9130 because its cheaper than the ge60 and ofc, as you mentioned, you get the 670 as compared to the 660. my total for the 9130 is 1169, i just want the i7 upgrade and if i get the msi, the stock will do as it has the 3rd gen i7 already in it but with only a 660. I just want get the cheapest gaming rig and run bf3 in high/ultra in reasonable framerates

 

No way to kick the fan, that was the last gen, but get the 9130, i have no probelms with the keyboard during gaming, just sometimes the quirks get me. And this will also run cooler as there are separate HSF assemblies for both the GPU and CPU. The 9130 is a thoroughbred gaming machine and it does NOT disappoint, you can prob play at high BF3 w/ 30-40 fps, although i personally need vsync so med for me (+ a few low, but performance issues will be improved with driver updates and OC, I'm only hitting 72C on load, still a 8C leeway if you want to stay below 80C)

 

Ok so i saw a video from xoticpc 9150w670m and 3610i7 = same specs as the 9130 i want to get and saw bf3 run smoothly but they did not put what settings they had and what framerates they got. I really hope what you say is true for this rig.


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

 

Your temps should not be hitting 90 on your CPU. With the cooling system in this thing it sounds like your paste is wrong. I would buy a tube of arctic silver or IC diamond and re-paste. Mine never went about 75 on the CPU and 76 on the GPU.

And when it comes to the 660m to 670m debate the difference isn't that great you are talking maybe 10-15%. Which sounds like a lot but to the end user it really isn't. You can OC the 660m to stock 670m levels, but then of course you can still OC the 670m.

In the end the 660m uses less power is a newer design, and produces less heat. If you want to max out bf3 on ultra get a 7970 upgrade in the 9150.

 

Well the 650M in those should play BF3, if anything at low 720p. I can get BF3 on med-high at 1080p with acceptable FPS, so they should be able to hit those marks too, although they have inferior cooling than the 9130/9150's

oh... 10-15% is quite a bit... 50-55/57 FPS, or 60-66/69 FPS. For me, I can't play with < 60 frames so, it does matter. I mean most OCs only get you that much, and if the difference wasn't so "great" then people wouldn't risk the extra power draw, heat and generally reduced lifespan of the chip for it.

 

I just got my NP9130! I just replaced the drive with a 256 GB Crucial M4 SSD and i'm almost done downloading all the drivers. Off the bat I want to say:

The laptop really isn't that heavy if your used to carrying a laptop that is 6+ pounds.

In person the laptop doesn't look thick at all.

Ask any questions, I'll answer them here! I'm pretty sure I'll post a review soon.

 

The power brick is the size of a brick!!!

 

It's actually not nearly as big as I thought it would be, so i'm actually really happy with it lol. It's really not that heavy either.

 

You're out of your mind dude. All told it weights in at just under 10lbs!!!

 

Gaiden43 don't you have a 9150?
I was under the impression that the 9130 has a smaller 120W power supply compared to the bigger 180W power supply in the 9150.
So does it still weigh 10lbs total or isn't that just the 9150?
Correct me if I'm wrong?

 

Lol for me the power brick is HUGE... it's about double the size of either of my other two power bricks.

Image:

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

I need to find a smaller 120w... I was complaining that my Vaio power brick was large... The one with this thing is at least 3 times larger. And about 5 times larger than the small Lenovo one..

 

Weird, this is the power brick I got next to an xbox controller.

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

They look the same size to me.
I have the same Lenovo charger so the two images look about right.

 

I returned a np9130 and waiting on the np9150. Either way the two PSUs aren't much different in size but I do think the 180w is a little heavier.

My statement still holds true it weighs a freaken ton and is entirely too heavy and large for a laptop PSU. I actually have issues with the 180w power draw as well and might actually return my np9150 for an MSI ge60 if the draw becomes an issue. I like portability and if I can't use my laptop in the car, on an airplane, or off reduced power (generators and such) its not worth it for me.

 

I wish I could see and use it in person before I purchase it for myself.
A large PSU would not be a big factor for desktop replacements right?

 

When running 3d Mark11 the CPU temps sit around 75ish and the GPU is around 70degrees but when my CPU is under full load it hits around 90degrees. My laptop came with IC diamond but it is possible that they applied it wrong. I might just purchase some myself and reapply.

 

yours looks smaller... and much more sleek... Mines looks generic and when i first saw it it was a real bummer. I know it's a Lite-On, but geez, it made me think Sager was just trying to cut corners by buying some cheap PSU...

Here's some other images, one is next to a credit card-sized keycard:
ImageShack Album - 3 images

Yeah the powerbrick is huge... very much want to buy my own 3rd party one now...

see my image above and of course not lol. I'd mod a Seasonic Gold rated PSU to work if i never had to move it, but being a student... sadly I have to be a little mobile and since I'll for sure have 7-8 hour coding sessions for projects, i need my PSU with me

 

My PSU might be sleeker but it has a pretty hardcore fan in it lol. It doesn't get too loud however, again i'm happy with the power supply.

I was looking at some 3rd party AC adapters, there arn't too many 120 watt ones but I found this one which seems to be pretty good. I can only find australian sites selling it at the moment though.

NB Q120 PLUS | NB Q Series | Adapter | FSPLifeStyle

 

Wait, there's a fan in your power brick? that's a new one...

that NB Q120 PLUS... does it even support the clevo/sager plug? does Clevo/Sager share a power plug with anyone else?

 

Wait? A fan in a laptop PSU? No freaken way !!! take some pictures and post that!

 

I see the list of tip adapters support all the major manufacturers including Clevo. Sweet!
My only question is how much did it cost you?
Oh and where did you eventually buy it?
Their site lists Amazon as an online retailer but I can't find anything on Amazon for the NB Q120 PLUS.

 

I don't plan on buying a new adapter soon because I am actually content with the one I got. It seems like that adapter isn't being sold in the US yet, here are some sites that I found that sell it but they are based in Australia.

FSP-NB-Q120W-PLUS : FSP NB Q120 PLUS Universal Notebook Charger White : Bargain @ ddcomputer.com.au

FSP NB Q120 PLUS Universal Notebook Charger - AD-DC Adapter (NB Q120 Plus (White)) | Techbuy Australia

By the way I plan on uploading a video showing the fan in the adapter.

 

that's interesting... and you got yours from LPC-Digital or Sager for that matter? Huh... that's the first time i've ever heard of a fan in there...

In any case, yeah i can't seem to find the FSP NB Q120 on any US sites... quite amazing you Aussies got something before us Americans . I personally would be interested in one of those... mines a little too large and 2 of them are always good.

In any case, dumb question, but are these backwards compatible? (with say a 60W computer?)

 

Here is a picture of the area where the fan blows air out



here is the link the pic isn't working http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/20120702191759.jpg/

 

Wow... and you got this from LPC-Digital/Sager?

 

I'm wondering if this is something standard with all their laptops or did you have to pay something extra?

 

I ordered mines from LPC and i didn't get that...

nor is it an explicit option

 

Might be interesting to some..

 

I got mine from LPC-Digital. I didn't make any special requests for the charger it is just the one that was shipped to me.

 

That is really interesting... I mean that laptop was probably shipped straight from Sager (mines was) so it was a Sager power adapter... I haven't heard of ANYONE getting one of those lol... that's cool.

In any case, I just got my Samsung 830 256GB today, anyone know some good way to make it 9mm? I was thinking of stopping by a hardware store tmrw, and look for some thicker tape that they use in some laptops, if not, i'll just layer some electrical tape.

Also, installed the new Nvidia drivers for the 570M... and no changes in 3DMark11, nothing in the release log points to performance boost, so yeah.

 

I just threw a piece of 3mm cardboard inside under my Samsung SSD as a space. Don't need anything fancy.

 

True, but I decided to check out the local hardware store and picked up some dual-sided mounting tape, like this:

Amazon.com: 3M Scotch 114/DC Heavy Duty Mounting Tape, 1 x 50-Inch: Home Improvement

put 3 strips in and it works like a charm .

Also, I solved the "problem" of the misplaced fn+f4 sleep button, if you type into the start menu "lid" it should give you "Change what closing the lid does" and for "When i press the sleep button" choose "Do Nothing". I can't believe I missed it last time, and only after reinstalling my 830 did i notice that. At least no more accidentally sleeping my lappy while trying to mute or lower my volume.

 

I cant seem to find decent reviews of the 9130. I like the xoticpc review but areview similar to the verge on the eurocom monster/w110er would be nice. Can anybody link me to some reviews if there are any. Thanks


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

 

Sadly there doesn't seem to be many reviews of the 9130, I'm guessing most people looking at Sagers don't have a set budget and so they'd go for the more expensive brother (9150) that has more options, as you can see from the lack of activity here. In any case, feel free to ask me for pictures etc of the laptop.

p.s. I noticed your Sig seems to be copy+pasted, you can update your actual sig through usercp.

p.p.s. sorry for any weird spellings. Posted from my phone

 

Hey guys! I just received my new Sager NP9130 and the thing is a beast! I finally have a laptop that is capable of being a sidekick to my gaming PC. I do have one question, though. I'm not the most computer savvy person in the world and I'm a little confused as to how this whole Optimus technology works.

From what I understand, the GTX 670m card ONLY kicks in when the power cord is plugged in, correct? When it's not plugged in, the laptop saves power by running off the Intel onboard card. Is that a good cliff-notes version of it?

What I'm wondering is, is it possible to enable my Nvidia card while NOT plugged in, even if it's for a short amount of time since the battery would be sucked dry? I'm just curious if there's a power option somewhere that will let me do this or if I just have to make sure I carry my power adapter with me wherever I bring it in case I want to game.

Any help is appreciated! :]

 

Optimus means that you will use your Nvidia GPU when you need it and the Intel when you don't need graphics power. This can be configured within the Nvidia Control Panel to turn on the GPU while on battery and also which apps should use the Nvidia chip. Hope this helps.

 

I assume you mean the "Manage 3D settings," > "Select preferred graphics processor for this program,"> "Nvidia GPU."

And then "Power management," > "Prefer Maximum performance"

I've done this for the Global Settings and as an individual setting for Diablo 3 but it still ends up running off the Intel onboard card and becomes very stuttery. Unless there's another option I'm not seeing it seems as though the 670m can't be used when it's not plugged in.

 

I guess until now optimus optimus still has some issues.


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 9130 or a 6110.

A gameplay video of the laptop would be nice though. I see alot of value though on this laptop gtx670 i7qm for a total of 1204$. Which is quite reasonable, but is making me ask myself why the small userbase/owners lounge?maybe the laptop isnt that great. I noticed also noticed people saying the edges of the laptop is kinda sharp and feels somewhat uncomfortable, in any case is it true? Can you rate the audio,keyboard in the scale of 1-10, would really help.
Initially my mind was made up with the w110er but adding 200$ for an 15inch instead of a 11'6 and a 670 instead of a 650 is great value and seeing that i wont get anew laptop in 2-3 years time, i have to make a smart decision.


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 9130 or a 6110.

 

Go Manage 3D settings -> Program Settings(tab) -> select program to customize (go find and add: Diablo III (diablo iii.exe)) -> select High-Performance NVIDIA processor

Gameplay... hmm, I can try that out maybe tomorrow.

Like i said, the reason no one is getting this one is because most people getting a Sager don't have a budget. And as such, they won't go for the budget-conscious value that is the 9130, although if i had a greater need for a more powerful laptop (I don't because i have my desktop), i'd grab a 9150 for the backlit keyboard + 7970m because that's crazy value. I was also set on the 11.6", but the res was the deal-breaker for me.

Audio: like many have said before, lacking deeps/bass, but good for gaming (not many deep booms in gaming... that are important at least).

Keyboard: Oh where to start...
Pros: chicklet. hotkeys for turning off touchpad, volume control, wireless control, etc (placement is to be desired).

Cons: no backlight, fn+F4 is sleep... which is between mute (fn + F3) and volume down (fn+f5) but I offered the fix earlier in this thread, right shift button shorter... AND where the rest of it used to be is the up button so i always go up a line when i shift and start typing there (annoying as heck, but i'm getting used to it), as I'm typing the entire assembly sounds/feels loose as if I'm banging on a loose metal mesh, home/pg down/pg up/end don't have their own dedicated keys (fn + dir buttons). Numpad <-- subjective as I don't ever use one (even on my desktop, I have a Sidewinder X6 and take off the numpad attachment) but it caused the rest of the keys to be squished in. No real media control keys, only play/pause function key.

As you can tell I'm not a GREAT fan of the keyboard, but NO problems while gaming (the left side of the keyboard is normal) It's the day to day stuff that makes me worry (and any coding i will do later).

Touchpad: GREAT! but the buttons suck, they're sunken into the laptop and is not right at the edge, so it's hard to find them or even rest your fingers on them... It's a weird design, luckily I know tons of keyboard shortcuts. Two finger scroll works well + my 3rd party app for TwoFingerScroll (search for that on google code) the two finger tap from that for middle click is awesome for surfing the net. Never used fingerprint scanner so I can't comment on that.

The rest of the laptop is fine. I LOVE and absolutely love the material of the laptop, it's awesome. Accessing the RAM/Heatsinks, HDD is a cinch (unlike my old Vaio Z... literally 8 screws vs 20+). TONS of ports/connectivity although NO thunderbolt OR Expresscard slot (shame on you Clevo! there's an empty space on the left hand side... my Vaio Z 13" had a expresscard slot!)

 

Thanks. The video will really help. Btw i heard you cant kick your fans to100% anymore right?or is there a way to do it?


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 9130 or a 6110.