*** Official Clevo W230SS/Sager NP7338 Owner's Lounge ***

Running battery test tonight (finally). Sorry, just been so busy with other stuff. Been on the go from 5am to 11pm every day, and will probably have to work through the Easter weekend too. No down time.

 

I have not done any full on battery tests. But simple browsing, screen maxed and on balanced I was around 3 to 3.5 hours and it was still on 24% when I plugged it in. I know it's far from exact numbers, but thats all I have. As far as the fan, while browsing, my fan rarely comes on and when it does it's just at the lowest level. Not invasive at all. If you require a little horsepower for a minute or two it will rack up the RPM's and it's definitely blowing. It doesn't last long unless you put it in a high load continually. Then it revs up to the middle setting and bumps up to full speed as it needs for a time. It does that while I was on some games today and without headphones it is certainly loud enough that you wish you had some. It's a fair trade off as this little laptop behaves itself just fine when you are doing the easy stuff.

 

FRom what I have heard the paint on the touchpad rubs off on these. Has anyone tried putting a cell phone screen protector over the touchpad?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

Just received my W230SS ... can't close the backplate with my M4 256GB in, it's too thick ... :*(.

 

If I ever end up buying this laptop, I am going to do the community a favor and make a bad review video on YouTube. If anybody else wants to do this, be my guest <3

 

I ordered but have not funded the 7338 from powernotebook.

I got the standard i7-4700mq cpu and did not opt for the thermal paste upgrade. Was that a wise decision? if not, I could always buy cheaper thermal paste myself and apply it manually, right? Or should I have upgraded through the reseller?

 

Ok i did my own battery test on this laptop which prettymuch consists of real world usage. How i set it up.
Sager menu to power saver.
Screen at 80% brightness (comfortable to me)
keyboard backlight @ 50% (low)
Bluetooth off
Wifi on and connected
Windows 7
4810mq 16gb ram 2.5" samsung 840 pro 512. No msata drives
Usb mouse plugged in.
System run time was 4 hours 25 minutes till 5% on battery. I ended it there cause it dimmed the screen enough that I would plug it in normally.
My usage consisted of web browsing sites researching fence companies, some YouTube videos, and a 2.5 hour movie being watched off the hard drive (no cd-rom connected). All in all I'm very happy with this machine. Cool and quiet with great battery life for daily use and monster performance when needed . Speakers are it's only weak spot. They are clear with no bass and loud enough to hear in all but the noisiest of environments. From what i can see they are only half inch drivers so that's fairly impressive. An extended battery for people who want more juice would make this machine a home run for most. I'll have to plug in my head phones next and see how some good music sounds. With the powered headphone jack I'm betting it'll sound fine.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

As long as your comfortable with being able to repaste it shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure you check you temps really well when you get it to make sure it is inline with what everyone else is seeing. With the shared heat sink its important to have a good thermal connection to the chips.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

Holy cow. Light web browsing test get 5:52, that's five hours and fifty two minutes! And I realized I forgot to turn off the backlit keyboard too!

edit: Ah wait, stupid me. I started it just before I went to bed. When I booted up this morning, I realized that "airplane mode" was somehow activated. I know the pages were refreshing, but I believe I set the Clevo Control Center to "power saver" or whatever after I got everything set up and that may have activated airplane mode. I had Windows "power saver" activated, but just before I went to bed, I double checked Clevo Control Center and it still said "Performance", so I just clicked "power saver" not realizing that turned on airplane mode. Shoot. Usually I check on it every once in a while to make sure there's no issue. But this time I just set it and forget it. I'll retest again today, once the battery charges. I'll be sure to turn off backlight, and make sure airplane mode is NOT enabled. Sorry guys. So 5:52 is basically an idle test with backlit keyboard on. LOL. Not real useful information. Sorry guys.

 

Not necessarily. When i put mine in power saver mode using the sager's control panel the. airplane light was on but it never shut off my wireless. I was surfing the whole time. You also reminded me. I forgot to mention i had the keyboard backlight on low for my test. I'll edit it that in. Your numbers might be correct.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

Well when I turned on "performance" mode then back to "power saver" the airplane mode icon showed up in the lower right corner of the task bar, and my wireless was turned off. I'll verify it. Would be nice to have a realistic 5.5 to 6 hrs run time.

Also, so far performance in general, the 860m is ~ 30% faster with FPS in games than the 765m at 1080p. That's pretty significant.

 

Did you really buy the w230ss although you already own the w230st?? In your sig is not the w230ss yet...

Speaking of "airplane"
What about the fan noise of the w230ss? I guess there's no difference to the w230st?
What's your personal opinion while gaming (without headphones), photo or videoediting, browsing ...?

Here's a great video a guy made to demonstrate the fan noise of a p150sm.
Can you recognize your w230ss in one of the fan stages while gaming from the video or after all in general? (I hope not like the "ready for take off"-noise starting at 2:48)

 

Sorry if this has been asked before, is this an IPS screen or TPS or what?

 

According to mySN (for instance), the 1920x1080 (matte) and 3200x1800 (glossy) panels are IPS... No idea about 2560x1440 as they don't list it, but I'd say we can safely surmise it will be IPS as well (really no clue about it being glossy or matte, though).

 

Thanks HT and the others for the battery update. Keep us updated on that battery HT when you got time for real usage instead of idle.

 

The M4 is only a 7mm drive. It should fit with no problem. My M500 fit's just fine and it's the same dimensions as an M4.

 

There is a 9mm version and a 7mm version of the M4

 

Uh, this laptop fits 9mm drives no problem? I had to put in a spacer for my 7mm 840 pro

 

This time 5hrs 58mins from 100% to 5%.

Power Saver mode
Keyboard backlight off
Screen @ 20% (plenty for mildly lit room really)
wi-fi on, four browser tabs with light flash on them (i.e. msnbc, nhl.com,...), refreshing randomly 1-5 minutes.

BatteryBar was indicating a power draw of only 9-10W at any given time.

So you should easily be able to exceed 5 hrs with a reasonably heavy browsing and work session.

 

I was wondering if the screen was an IPS display or a TN panel.

 

IPS. Chi Mei

 

I'm getting pretty much the same battery results as HT.
Battery- 5:50 hrs
Balanced- 4:35 hrs
Gaming- 2:35 hrs

 

You just made my day. I am going with the NP7338 instead of the NP7358 as I will be carrying it with me throughout the college campus. Might also look for an external Blu-Ray player as I don't want to rely on iTunes anymore (especially on a Windows platform). I am going to hold on to my MacBook Pro until I receive the item and I have enough time to tinker with it.

 

Yeah, even if you take the ext optical drive with you it's a smaller package. Certainly for class I think the 7338 is the right choice.

 

Firefox and Steam running, Internet on, TurboBoost disabled.
Jesus I love this thing.

 

When can we expect a video review, HT? :3

 

Now if someone would just make that 9 cell battery we want we would be looking at 8+ hours. Now that would be awesome.

 

I remember you got 3hrs30min on the w230st, if you're getting 5+ hours now with the same usage conditions then that's a good improvement on the battery! :thumbsup:

 

I'd like to know why the big increase in battery life. Web surfing etc is not using the nvidia chips in either machine so they should be in their sleep state. I know the 860m is supposed to have a better sleep state, but can it really make that much of a difference? I figure it's more of a matured bios revision on the ss over the st that's making such a big difference. I remember reading the 230st had problems with the 765m not staying asleep when not being used. Anyone know if the cpu clock speeds on battery are limited to the same speed on the two models? My ss on battery doesn't go above 1.7ghz

 

My M4 is the 9.5mm version. I bought a new 480GB M5 that's 7mm and it fitted perfectly without any spacers or anything so I'm guessing the limit is 7mm on the W230SS.

Really? Are you sure? I've caused many scratches on my M4 from trying to force the backplate close with it in ...and my 7mm drive does not need any spacer to fit (it doesn't fit if I add the spacer), I'm confused.

EDIT:

Anybody else found that the shell integration from both Intel and NVIDIA cause a large delay when right clicking (desktop and icon respectively)? It seems that the process/service has to start up each time you right click. I fixed both issues but that means I lose the "run with process" option when right clicking stuff.

Also, is there any ways to make the laptop run at full power when on battery? I checked both the power settings and Optimus but to no avail. I can decode with Jinc (3 taps, AR) fine plugged-in but cannot on battery.

Hopefully Prema will be done with the BIOS soon .

 

[removed] .
http://forum.notebookreview.com/mar...les-regulations-must-read-before-posting.html

 

Right clicking icons for me is instantaneous, right clicking desktop shows the loading icon for split second then shows the menu. Neither seem to be an issue for me on windows 7.

 

The 2.5" SATA slot is supposed to handle both 9.5mm and 7mm drives, as per Clevo's product page and comments in this very thread.

Maybe for some reason the 9.5mm version of the M4 (CTxxxM4SSD 2) is a teeny bit too thick ?
Unless you find someone to trade it for a "safer" 7mm version (CTxxxM4SSD 1), it looks like you'll have to stick with your M5

 

Yeah if you rotate the connector the right way you can make a slot support both thicknesses.

 

Wondering about the 3G-module, on Clevos homepage it says:
" (Factory Option)3rd for UMTS/HSPA+Full size Mini Card with USB interface"

Now as I understand it if you don't configure the laptop with this when you order it you can't add it later?
I.e. you slot the simcard in from the side of the chassi and if you don't configure it with the 3G-module then there won't be any space for such a card on the laptop (an empty place on the side laptop)?

But I guess since its HSPA+ and not LTE the point is moot, here in Sweden anyway we have good coverage in terms of LTE so either way the best bet will be to use a dongle. Damn. Thats a shame.

 

I have not seen any vendor selling the laptop with the 3G option. It's as fabled as the 1440p display, and almost as much as the 1800p.

 

Hi everybody,

I didn't receive my w230ss yet (i'm in france), but I hesitate to change my 3k screen for the 1080p mat. I'm waiting for the call of the reseller to confirm if the 3k screen is mat or glossy

I saw this video on youtube. My english is bad, can you confirm that this man say that this is the 3200x1800 screen ? And what do you think about the screen surface ? Is it mat or glossy for you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sn601jDTjs

Thank you for your answers and sorry for my bad english (Im working on it )

 

The W230ST (earlier model) had the Huawei EM820W 3G module and in the manual (W230ST) they say:
"If your purchase option includes both Wireless LAN and 3G modules, then the appropriate antennas will be installed."

So I'm gussing that I have to install the antenna myself and that means dismantling the chassi next to the screen and run an extra antenna (together with the WiFi/BT-antenna that is already there)?

The W230ST seemed to have the SIM-card underneath the battery (please see attached pic below), can any owner of the W230SS check if there is an empty space etc. for a SIM-card at the same place as on the W230ST? Meaning that every computer has that hole pre-drilled and you can at your own leisure install a 3G-module (as long as you run an antenna for it).

I can confirm he says that the screen is 3200x1600 and not 3200x1800, that is at around 01:00 but when you configure it you can (at least here) only chose 3200x1800. So he must have made a mistake. He seems nervous and stutters quite a lot so he might just have gotten his facts wrong.

Your english is (for at least for someone who is not a native englishperson himself) fine The only way to improve something is to use it (i.e. read,write,speak when it comes to languages) so dont let it hold you back. If someone were to give you a hard time you can always ask them how well they speak french

As for the 3k screen vs FHD, I'm 28 and I admit I have somewhat bad eyesight (don't wear glasses but contacts sometimes, I have poor vision when it comes to seeing things far away) and I think even FHD on 13,3" is sometimes too small. I can't imagine what 3k would feel like. You won't run any games at native (3200x1800) at least if we are talking about decent quality and well, I just can't see the advantage of having a 3k display on a 13,3" laptop?

If we talk 17,3" or even 15,6" then sure. I might be missing something here though, I am no expert and its only my own subjective views.

 

Thx Indeed he made a mistake. And what do you think about the screen on the video ? Is it mat or glossy or something between for you ?

 

Def. matte.On MYSN (EU) it only says "glare" on the 3200x1800 display option which I guess means or is a sort of "matte" display.
I would prefer matte over glossy but then it depends on where and how you are going to use the laptop.

 

It looks matte to me. I have had glossy and matte screens and this looks no where near as reflective as my glossy screen.

 

My w230ss has has the sim card slot behind the battery. I just looked. Not sure if the guts are there when it's opened up though or if it's just a common feature of the cases.

 

Today it's not a problem, W8 can adapt itself to a huge resolution and you can also do it manually with W7. I want a 3k display because I want the max quality screen, And i'm going to run heavy game in 1600x900 without interpolation and play 2D game (like rayman origin) OR soft 3D game (like LoL) at 3200x1800. Also, the 3200x1800 screen is a RGBW screen, so it consumns less energy than the basic one.

Do you really think that it's a problem to have a 3k screen on a 13,3" display ? I mean for my eyes. I'm studying computer science and programming

 

Thanks for checking!


According to the picture above (for W230SS) you can almost see the place for the SIM-card at the most righthand side of the battery although nothing seems to be able to "meet" the SIM-card? The nearest thing would be the mSATA-port to the right (see picture) but the 3G-module is mPCIE which I guess is not exactly the same thing? Even so the SIM-card only seems to be injected into "thin air" and not an actual component (i.e. 3G-module).

"
 Three Mini Card slot
- 1st for WLAN Combo Half size Mini Card with PCIe and USB interface
- 2nd for mSATA SSD Full size Mini Card with SATA interface
- 3rd for mSATA SSD Full size Mini Card with SATA interface
(Factory Option)3rd for UMTS/HSPA+Full size Mini Card with USB interface"

This is from Clevos homepage so I guess there is another motherboard with instead of having a third mSATA port it is a third mPCIE port which is located somewhat differently then the third mSATA port?

 

I took the back panel off to see if I could see the 'guts' of the sim card slot. It's in the hidden side of the motherboard so I was unable to see anything. I grabbed a sim card I had laying around and it did click into a sim card socket that is on the motherboard vs just falling into the abyss between the keyboard and motherboard. So something is on the motherboard as far as a socket goes, but how it is implemented on models with it activated and ones, like mine, that do not, I wouldn't have the slightest clue.

 

Very interesting and a big thank you for trying that!
Hm, anyone know how good Clevo are to answer questions?
I.e. talking to Clevo directly instead of MYSN or some other store that sells Clevo under their own brandname?

Would be nice to see both front AND back of the motherboard, will try to Google it and see if I can find anything out.
So far - no luck, not for the W230ST or the W230SS. So the questions is if there is another version of the motherboard that supports another ("3d") mPCIE slot or if that specific version even swaps an mSATA slot for an mPCIE slot.
You have been more then helpful but if you can see what the motherboard is called (via CPU-Z or something like that) it would be very appreciated.

A totally different question, will be running PREMA BIOS (you do great work man, keep it up. more then willing to help if/when I get a 3G-version of the W230SS) but when we talk "original" versions of the BIOS I can't seem to find any on Clevos homepage? It might of course be because its a new model and nothing has been released yet but when you select "All" after choosing the model then the BIOS should be there right? (If it's available that is).

 

CPU-z wasn't much help. It did not give any useful info in the mainboard.

 

I popped a cap wit muh gat gat blat on this laptop today with a 4810MQ in it. Going to be putting a Crucial MSATA M500 and Intel 335 SSD in it for 500 gigs of SSD storage. Linux review forthcoming.

 

Thanks for trying and your help so far.
Emailed Clevo and going to email MYSN as well and see if they have anymore info.

Weird, since 13,3" is the perfect size for roadwarriors who might benefit and want mobile broadband, I don't count myself as such but instead of having to run my phone as a WiFi-hotspot it would be much more easier to have a 3G-module (4G) in the computer.

 

i found this "service manual" in prema mod



Service Manual Complete

 

I didn't even notice the possibility of mobile broadband before I ordered mine. It would definitely be a worthwhile option if it's ever made available in the US. I have always used my mobile hotspot on my phone but for the extra $10 to add my laptop to my phone contract, it would be something I would consider.