*** Official Clevo P157SM-P150SM / Sager NP8250 Owner's Lounge ***

am i the only one here who liks the 157 trackpad light.. lol

 

HTWingNut posted a guide on how to disable the backlit touch pad on the P157SM. You can find it here -> http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/721727-guide-how-disable-touchpad-backlight-p157sm-np8250.html

^ This is great news! At least they will let you disable and enable as you please without having to open up the notebook to manually disconnect it.

The P150SM also has a backlit keyboard just like the P157SM, can have it's colour's changed as well just like the P157SM. It's the P151SM that does not have a backlit keyboard.

 

Not sure how I missed that but those options are amazing!
I see you have the low voltage RAM any benifits from the 1600/1866 RAM besides the timing and running faster? Does it save any signifivan power?

 

A little bit of power, or run them at 1.5V for some overclocking

 

Sounds like it, but I'm in the just plain meh camp about. i.e. I see no real functionality in it, although I've only used mine so far in daylight/bright areas and it just really wasn't noticeable/distracting. (Still getting mine setup(came in latish afternoon yesterday NP8250-S), and need to check a few more things.

The lit trackpad MIGHT be a little distracting in the dark, but I haven't mucked around with specific features yet(e.g. kb backlight) as I'm still setiing up the OSes(see above).

So, as of now, to me it's just there and doesn't seem like it adds anything while OTOH it also seems like it doesn't really detract. Might just be one of those things that over time I come to appreciate or despise.

 

As meaker said, it saves a little power, causes the memory controller to work a little less on the CPU which reduces its heat a touch as well. So its not significant, but it certainly isn't HURTING the battery cause

 

Did they finally upgrade the soundcard and speaker to a much better one now or still retains that crappy sound from the EM/HM models? Did they move the microphone away from the touchpad and keyboard and finally put it where the webcam is now like other gaming laptops?

 

Hello.
i am searching for ways to improve cooling for the laptop. what do you guys think about this idea.

i can buy copper wires ( Amazon.com: OOK 50162 20 Gauge, 50ft Copper Hobby Wire: Home Improvement). and connect them from the gpu and cpu heat sink to the fan heat mesh . i think this will increase heat transfare from gpu and cpu to the heat mesh for the fan to blow out. at least this is what i think. now please hit me with what you think about this . should i try it. it is cheap anyways .
thanks.

 

I'm trying to compare this and the new MSI GT60 - anyone have any thoughts? I've never owned a laptop from either company so I don't really have a preference one way or another, I'm just looking for a laptop with the 780M and these two seem like the best option.

 

MSI Pros are better keyboard (Steelseries) and better sound (Dyna Audio)
Sager Pros daul fan exaust and better build quality.
There are also other differences but those are the main ones I point out.

 

always go with the better build quality. after all you don't want to pay this much money for a low build quality laptop that will shorten your laptop life span. go with sager.

 

MSI v. Sager build quality:
Based on comparison so far between my trusty old GT725 and the recently acquired NP8250-S I'd have to say that build quality is a complete tossup.

The LCD backing and parts of the front facing/kb area are aluminum on the GT725 while the NP8250 is ALL plastic, but beyond that they each feel solid enough. (Remember this is a comparison of a 4y old MSI v. a current Sager so things may have changed in MSI build quality.)

The kb on the GT725 is ssssoooo much better than the Sager's. (I'm still kind of finding it sort of awful ATM, but am hoping to get used to it eventually.)
[EDIT]
Using the 8250 a bit more today, and the kb is starting to not feel quite so awful beyond the imbecilic Fn key placement... The MSI kb is still better though overall.
[/EDIT]

Cooling: GT725 (P8600 @ 2.4GHz + ATI 4850 mobility(identical to desktop 4850 excepting slightly lower core and mem clocks)) was kept well withing tolerances under 100% load for extended durations. I only know this because I was trying to determine why the GPU subsystem would hard lock is VERY specific instances so I was looking for overheating which I didn't find even under severed conditions. (Additionally later I was able to reproduce the hardlocking behavior(under windows AND ubuntu) from a dead cold start -> hw bug/driver bug/combo was never fixed by ATI(along with a ton of other defects that they chose to ignore for 4y and counting). Catalyst is just plain awful, and I am finally escaping catalyst hell. (Oh and video still tears like an SOB with catalyst. In fact it actually got worse after their attempts to "fix" it.))

Sager: Can't comment on that one ATM as I haven't even tried running anything horribly stressful on it yet, but I'll try to remember to pull out furmark and some of the unigine(sp?) "demos" later(probably tomorrow or monday, new mt bike is in today).

 

I´m really considering purchasing the sager np8230 from xotic as well. I´m curious though....somebody recomended to me that I should buy the 8250 version, because if I want to updgrade the GPU for example in the future they said and I quote:

¨ 8230 has its max power rating cut down on the MXM port, meaning you should not be able to use a 100W card on the NP8230, and also they have cut out some other features on the NP8230 which I cannot recall out of my head, but if you want proper power I'd go for the NP8250¨

Any comments anybody...?

Is it really worth it either way....upgrading a GPU for a laptop is very expensive....maybe I should just go with the np7370, or is it really worth another minimum $200usd to go from the GTX 765m to the GTX 770m?

 

Could any of you np8250 owners tell me what your battery life is on normal usage (internet browsing or any other simple task) and while gaming?

 

You'll probably also want them to let you know their drive setup, OS, CPU option, wifi card, etc., e.g. SSD/SSD/SSD, SSD/hdd, etc.

I haven't really timed mine fully but just browsing various tech news sites and other things over a couple of days, backlight <50%, wifi(default IIRC bigfoot wifi n since at the time no ac cards available as an option) I was over 2h w/32% or so batt remaining. (win7 x64, 4800MQ, 16GB, 750G hdd(default 7200RPM version plan to add possible SATA SSD or mSATA + 2nd hdd later)"power saver" mode(mostly, had it in balanced for about 40m before I remembered to switch it to power saver)).

 

Decided I would join the chat :]. I recently bought a NP8250 from xotic which is being shipped tomorrow. I've been reading the talk about the drivers for windows 7 being in development which is nice to know. I don't remember which thread exactly , but I believe someone mentioned that they were finished. I then went onto the sager site and for whatever reason couldn't find the drivers for the NP8250 (P157sm). Could anyone possibly create a link if they are up somewhere. I'm hoping I can finish all the set up tomorrow and start testing battery life, etc...

 

Hello everybody.

As "Lost yak", I'm also very interested to get more informations about Windows 7 drivers for the new Clevo P150SM. I'm really interested to buy it, but there's not way for me to spend that much money on a laptop without appropriate drivers for windows 7. (and if I can avoid to spend 100€ for an W8 licence, that'd be great...)

Still nothing on clevo.com.tw...

 

I called around and talked with xotic and sager. The word on the drivers is that they are finished, but will be available in 3 days so around Wednesday or Thursday on Sager's site.
First Impressions of the NP8250- Great durable build, responsive keyboard, very quiet when I was installing windows.

 

Hoping they do get the 7 drivers up soon, and the 8 drivers posted as well. Once they are ready to post they'll be available on Sagers site directly.

 

My sager is coming soon at last orderd it from xoticpc. Cant w8..

I have a question . Now that i orderd it without a windows and planing to install windows 7 . So when the laptop arraives what drivers will come with it ? Thanks

 

Well, I received several driver disks with mine but didn't bother to check as I ordered mine w/win7 which came installed. i.e. I haven't bothered to look at them yet as I've decided to just install a 2nd hdd in bay #2.

Also turned up a 6.8mm drive on newegg in a quick glance this morning
Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000LPVT 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive - Newegg.com
(500GB 5400RPM WD "blue", well: Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000LPVT 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive $60)

[EDIT]
Found an HGST drive as well w/32M cache and 7200RPM... *snicker* also found the same blue with height listed in inches for $10 more. I guess that it cost them $10 to convert 6.8mm -> 0.28" . (relatively loose approx was free apparently, or maybe it was half the cost to sort of round up...)
[/EDIT]

 

They do include a Windows 8 disc, if you're going to put 7 on there you'll have to get the drivers from Sager's site as soon as they are posted.

 

Clevo P1xxSM drivers have had some driver updates as of yesterday the 18th of June 2013. Since the launch of the 2013 P1xxSM Clevo Laptops, their initial drivers were released on 21-April-2013.

List of updated drivers as of 18-June-2013 on www.clevo.com.tw:

Intel VGA v9.18.10.3131
nVIDIA Quadro K3000M VGA v9.18.13.1154
AMD HD8970M VGA v12.103.0.0
Hotkey AP v8.0114
Intel Rapid Start Technology v2.1.0.1002
Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 driver v1.00.03 (P150SM and P151SM1)
Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 driver v1.00.03 (P157SM)
Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 driver v1.00.03 (P170SM)
Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 driver v1.00.03 (P177SM)

 

Put in my order for a P150SM yesterday with PWNPCS.

Specs:

1080p Matte
4700MQ
Nvidia 780m 4GB
8GB RAM
No HDD
No DVD Drive (Optical Drive Caddy instead)

Already have my own 256GB Samsung 830 SSD that I'll be putting on there, with our MSDN Windows 7 or 8. Undecided.

Going to be playing Planetside 2, Guild Wars 2, FFXIV ARR, GRID2, Fifa13, BF3 etc...

Hoping it will be able to max out those games, from reviews, it seems likely!

The long wait begins.

 

I picked mine up from PCSpecialist in Leeds a few weeks or more ago, I can confirm that it hammers through BF3 on 1920x1080 with everything on ultra, full AA, full AF, HBAO the works - flawless. Also I've now got XTU installed and running the 4700mq at 3.4Ghz on all 4 cores during BF3, as it was smooth before, it doesn't feel any different but if I get a minute I'll lay down some quick fraps min/max/avg for the carrier/aeroplane lead up scene stock vs. OC just to give you an idea.

Remembering that BF3 is very good at using multiple cores so the clock may have a greater impact in other games.


A few points worth making as I read through the thread

Difference between the P150 & P157... yes the obvious cosmetics of the touch pad, but also the case on the P157SM is a bit deeper and thicker but not as wide (by just 1mm)

The P157SM is

12mm deeper (front to back), 2mm thicker and 200g heavier but is not as wide (1mm - if you count that)

I was hoping the P157 might offer improved ventilation, but having studied the case pictures on the P157 and P177 there seems to be a very restrictive grill over the exhausts - where as the P150SM is more free flowing. I would rip that crap straight out if it's possible to let it breath a little more!

 

What restrictive grill are you referring to?

Sent from a Galaxy far far away

 

The Grill that covers the GPU and CPU exhaust. ** here is one side the others the same of course



You can clearly see right in to the P1*0SM, you can see the copper and everything, on the P1*7SM it looks like the overall mm² of exhaust is smaller and the hole itself is covered with the grill so you can't even see inside, this must be restrictive...

 

Has anyone got time to run the FFXIV Benchmark for me please with 780m

FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Benchmark - EXPLORATION

Put everything to Max and let me know the results?

 

I saw you ask in another thread, when I saw FF meant final fantasy I cancelled the download LOL

I'll run it for you, check back in 3 hours or so

FYI my system is running some retarded RAM until my 30nm samsung chips land next week so bench marks will probably be better if you have better RAM, then I'll be hoping to leap from 8gb @ 1600 CL9 to 16GB @ 2133Mhz CL11 fingers crossed for good chips (worst case, 2133 @ CL12?)

 

Haha, I'm a big Final Fantasy fan and went with the 780m so I could hopefully max it out

Thanks for downloading, hopefully get a nice result with your setup.

 

i see what you mean. also the 150sm grills 'seem' to cover a wider area of the heatsink. a thermal comparison between the two really is in order.

 

It's also important to monitor noise and/or fan speed they might both be the same temperature but one might be quieter?

FFXIV benchmark results



Stock CPU & GPU
6975

OC CPU
6999

OC CPU & GPU (+135core +500 RAM)
7821



As I said, I'm running some dodgy RAM so no doubt these figures will go up once I've got some better performing RAM in there!

Also I'm still running old Nvidia drivers (311.27) as there aren't any newer ones out yet - I see they released drivers for the 8970m and quadro so hopefully they'll come back around and start working on the 780m updated drivers

 

Great stuff Calibre.
Really pleased with those results.

Thanks again. + rep coming your way

 

Christ! Do NOT install ANY "optional" windows "upgrades".

I did and it totally cocked up networking, so I had to "rollback" OTOH win7 home prem -> pro went fine(so far, yeh I f'ed up when ordering the nb). [EDIT] wireless networking, got it to complain about conflicting IPs at one point, yet my router insisted nope, evarbuddies got their own IP/MAC addy... I suppose time to wade through the 40 "optionals" and find the problem child... BTW did they ever release the win7 drivers for this? When I checked this morning nutting... [/EDIT]

Found another 7mm mech hdd that WD just released, blue 1TB 5400rpm, but the TWO etailers that are listed as "in stock" by the WD direct site say "call" for availability when you actually look at their sites.

BTW whomever decided that the Fn key need to be place in such a sh!t location almost needs to be fired, while moving the ENTIRELY USELESS windows key to where it SHOULD have been.

[EDIT2]
...and still no drivers at all, let alone win7... still haven't waded through the 40 optional "upgrades" to find which caused networking to go nuts... it actually behaved like it was broadcasting or hopping from IP to IP as it was knocking every other comp(and itself) on the network off which was making it difficult to determine what was really happening... I just took the easy way out and rolled it back to the last know properfly behaving state...

I haven't gotten around to installing linux yet, as ideally I'd like to get my hands on that new 1TB WD 7mm drive and carve out space on there for linux. Not sure if it'll be Ubuntu(or derivative), RH or what yet...
[/EDIT2]

 

I'd fight a wild bison for this information.

I had convinced myself that the p157 would be the quieter unit, due to its (apparently) better intake placement and 'slightly' bigger chassis. But what you said about the exhaust also rings absolutely true.
If there is a difference, I'm sure it would be close. Although sometimes all it takes is a slight deviation in temp for the next level of fan to kick in ><

 

I'm horrible at waiting. The new drivers for win7 are suppose to be posted online today sometime. Lets just hope they don't push it back. I've been itching to finally get my new pc going.

 

Well that's great I just checked my email... Something next week. Just my luck I hope I have my pc setup in time before I head out to college.

 

That's odd mine came with drivers for both windows 7 64 and windows 8. My machine was delivered yesterday.

 

I ordered my NP8250 before the windows 7 drivers were put onto the drivers and utility disk. I ended up emailing Sager enough that they are mailing me a new disk with win7 drivers. I'm glad so I can get this puppy running before I leave for college.

 

Did someone miss it...


WINDOWS 7 Drivers

 

O hell yeah. Pays off emailing Sager a crap ton ��

 

Do the Sager Win7 Drivers work in every P150SM / P157SM Clevo book? I'm from germany and ordered my from a supplier who does not provide Win7 Drivers.

Thx.

 

These drivers are not avaiable on clevo website. Can i use them on my clevo or only on a sager?

 

Same thing, CLEVO and SAGER are the same just rebranded.

 

Just received my P150SM from PWNPCs (Great Service). Will do a review/report after I've installed Win7 and the relevant drivers.

 

Oh, in case anyone else was interested in the 7mm 1T WD, the part # is: WD10SPCX
(SATA III/5400RPM 3 of the 4 etailers listed in their where to buy have it for c. $120, while there is one outlier @ $140. 2 are "out of stock", 2 are "in stock" but not really as looking on their actual sites results in a call for "availability"...)

Nice about the drivers. They weren't there yesterday morning, but were this morning when I checked.

Odd thing though: the gfx drivers have a win 7 Radeon 7970(? don't recall which as I will NEVER EVER enter catalyst hell again, nor do I care much for their 3y support window in drivers) driver, but none for win8(just Intel & nVidia, not that I care as M$ couldn't bribe me enough to use that steaming pile, and I gave ATI their 2nd chance and they utterly phail, at least as far as the sw side goes)...

 

Are the fans always audible? Even when idle.
Feel like they are a little loud compared to my old Vaio.

 

For the hardware inside, I'd consider idle pretty quiet all considering. It's not as silent as those ultrabooks or lesser powered machines due to that fact that they don't have comparable hardware to cool, but idle is definitely not what I'd consider to be loud.

 

got my np8250 today, and they werent joking about how bad the audio is, there is no low end whatsoever , even though it advertises, that an "sub woofer" is installed

 

I just noticed that Mythlogic is showing 3 2.5" HD slots available in addition to the 2 mSata slots, whereas the Sager resellers are only showing 2 2.5" HD slots. I know they're using the same Clevo chassis as Sager, so I'm wondering, is Sager just not using one of the 2.5" HD slots, or is Mythlogic modding the chassis somehow to fit another HD in?

Do the Sager resellers plan on offering an 802.11ac wifi option any time soon?