*** Official Clevo W230ST/Sager NP7330 Owner's Lounge ***

Can't wait to read your review!

 

Wingnut you seem like a pretty knowledgeable guy, sorry to bombard you with questions but as far as a laptop for college, how do you think this notebook fairs? I would love to get the gigabyte p35k, but the release date on that is uncertain and I would need it before August 22nd. Right now I've got a basically maxed out configuration coming in at $2139 for the W230ST. I really do enjoy gaming, but I've been skeptical about clevo laptops. People seem to say they are poorly constructed, have bad audio, and other general problems where I feel like the p35k wouldn't have. But since I'm in a time crunch would this purchase be a good idea? I don't need a ridiculous amount of battery life but I'm hoping for at least 3 hours.

*oh and does this laptop come with a CD drive?

 

You could always ask Mythlogic and share the results for the RAM brand here. I know the gargoyle looks imposing but they are always friendly and informative in my experience.

AC wireless band. You will need a router that is AC capable to take advantage of the speed.

Tom's Hardware did a nice router shootout with some general info on the AC band.

Gigabit Wireless? Five 802.11ac Routers, Benchmarked - 802.11ac: The Beginning

Not sure if this link is in this thread. AnandTech did a short AC review (more to follow) with an Intel 7260AC in a Mythlogic Clevo

AnandTech | The Joys of 802.11ac WiFi

 

The ram does not matter what brand it is really if the timings and voltage is good.

 

Since I don't own this laptop yet everything is speculation at the moment but based on my experience with Clevo laptops.

How did you end up wih $2139 for a configuration option? Perhaps share your config and I and others can maybe make some suggestions to improve that cost or avoid some unnecessary costs because that sounds steep for this kind of laptop.

As far as Clevo construction, no they are not poorly constructed, quite the contrary. The higher end Clevo notebooks (this is one of them) hold up very well over time, just don't drop it, like any other laptop, because it's not a Toughbook. Audio is hit or miss, but I haven't found them worse than an average laptop, but headphones are usually fine. There are no other "problems" that I can think of other than things that are just omitted like a full featured BIOS or keyboards with ghosting, which is not uncommon with most laptop keyboards.

 

I ordered mine from xoticpc.com are they supposed to ship now? I didn't get any info. Just that my order has been sent for processing.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

You mean W230ST, right?

Can't wait to hear what you have to say about it. Thanks!

 

They apparently won't start shipping until July 16, and that's only if you got your order in right away (like a week ago, and that was really more or less reserved for resellers). So it will likely be another week before yours is built and shipped, with any luck end of this week.

 

Hey, what upgrade brands were you looking for?

The Memory is either Patriot Low Voltage, Kingston 1600 (8GB SODIMMS), or Kingston HyperX Plug-N-Play

SSD's are generally marked, HDDs are either WD, Seagate, or Hitachi (1TB 7200)

 

Right I set it up through the sager website with the 4900mx processor (highest one) I think 16 gigs of ram... Two 120gb msata intel 525 series.. The diamond cooling thing.. Windows 8 professional... The standard hard drive 750 gb 7200. The highest Bigfoot killer configuration.. I'm going the the university of colorado at boulder double majoring in psychology and business and I expect this laptop to last at least 5 years. Hope that helps a little bit.

 

Hey, you really don't want that Bigfoot Killer card. It only has N and not the latest in WiFi standards, AC. AC is the future and will be several times faster than N.

 

I thought the "Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module" was like 4-5 times faster than regular wi-fi ;o?

 

Its different technology standard.
The Killer still based on N, which max 450Mbps.
Intel 7260 support AC, which max at 867Mbps (dual band).
Triple stream AC module should support until 1.3Gbps.

But of course, you need AC router.

 

You should consider the Crucial M4 or Plextor M5M. It's cheaper...

Also, for Psychology and Business, you're not going to need a 4900MQ. Now, if you said Computer Science and Engineering, then maybe, if you really need all of that power (Most likely not, and you're going to use the school labs anyways). What you're going to need is battery life. 4700MQ is enough

16GB of Ram is fine, but again, I would do that only if you're a Computer Science Major...

Windows 8 Professional? Are you really going to need that for Psychology and Business? It's more for people in the IT industry... There's practically no extra features included over Windows 8 that benefits people other than those in the IT industry. Last time I checked, Psychology and Business isn't IT...

I've noticed you said "diamond cooling thing". That only serves to show that you're a novice when dealing with computers and you have a sh!tton of cash to blow.

With your configuration, it's more expensive than my NP8250-S!

All I did was left the stock NP8250-S configuration in place and changed the CPU to the 4800MQ because I think it would benefit me in the future (as a Japanese and Computer Science Double Major because of the added vPro, VT-d, and Intel TXT), added a Bluray Burner, and changed the Killer WLAN to an Intel AC-7260.

Not included in the cost:

At home, I'm installing my own Windows 8 Professional, a Samsung 840 Pro 512GB, a 256GB Plextor M5M MSATA SSD, and monitor calibration using my Spyder4ELITE.


Again, what you're probably going to need the most is battery life. Since you got so much cash to blow, just wait until the new Macbook Pro Retina 15" refresh in Fall 2013. The battery life advertised is true.

Or maybe a Lenovo W530 refresh? I don't know the date for that though. The W530 uses a workstation GPU though...

I think a Lenovo y510p would suit you fine.

 

Yeah I saw the 510ps on xoticpc. It's funny you mention computer science. I actually really wanted to pursue computer science but the people in the CS schools were for the most part didn't really get along with those type of people. Also not a fan of calculus. You mentioned the MacBook, I am so hesitant to switch from PC I've used PC my whole life and have never been a fan of macs, idk I'm just rambling at this point.

 

Funny you mention Calculus. I'm not a fan of it either. :/

I was thinking of just getting a Macbook Air if the Sager laptop strained my back enough... It's good enough to run all of the code in a Computer Science major. But no 1080p screen... -_-"

Hope you have fun in Business Calculus!

 

Hey wish I had seen this sooner, if I had known it was hyperx I would have gone with it. My impatience got the best of me and I ordered it on HID with Corsair. I've always preferred Corsair but I really wanted that AC upgrade. The radial buttons didnt show an AC option on the HID site so I opted for Bigfoot N. If the connection truly becomes an issue in the future I can always just switch it out later. Sorry about that. You should have you designer/admin add in the brands to upgrades like that for impatient people like me lol and anyone who wants a specific brand of a certain component.

 

We keep them off some of them just so the site is easier to read / cleaner.. You can always send us an email / chat we're always pretty quick to respond =)

 

I did not ask them about that, no, because at the time I did not know there would be several different FullHD displays for the W230ST. But given their response to my other questions, I doubt they would be able to tell me. They didn't seem to know much at all. But if you ask them, please let me know what they say.

 

I am sure that the LCD is replacable and the Chemei screen only costs about $150 so if you really want it you can always just buy one on Ebay.

 

What about this Kingston 8GB SODIMMS, low voltage too? First link pdf datasheet.

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX16LS9P1K2_16.pdf

Kingston Technology Company - Kingston Memory Search - Search Results for: KHX16LS9P1K2/16

 

Good find! 1.35V CAS 9 DDR3 1600 8GB modules.

 

Amazon.com: Crucial Ballistix Sport SODIMM 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL9 @1.35V 204-Pin Memory BLS2K8G3N169ES4: Computers & Accessories

Brand new sticks, apparently posted on Amazon's site July 3, 2013.

 

We use Kingston KVR16S11/8 for the 8GB SODIMMS, its not Low Voltage, but in 8GB you want that little extra voltage for those large of SODIMMS we've found.

 

What goes wrong with 1.35v?

 

Newegg and Amazon carry the Kingston Lovo 2 x 8GB

EDIT:

The Kingston KHX16LS9P1K2/16 are 1.35V / 1,5V would that make a difference Mythlogic?

 

Every clevo has been cranky when its comes to 8GB SODIMMS, have been that way through the Sandy, Ivy, And Haswell generation.. Thats why for 8GB's we go with standard voltage, just keeps the random memory errors at bay.

 

I just bought a Mythlogic Chaos 1313 laptop.

Base configuration with no hard drives, no OS, and the low-voltage 8GB Patriot memory. This was the configuration offered on Mythlogic's website.

Will the low-voltage Patriot memory have problems in this laptop? I wonder because of what you said in a prior comment.

 

Interesting. I wonder how well my crucial ram will work as it is 1.35v. Hopefully it will be ok as it is only 1333mhz ram.

 

Couldn't you just set the voltage at 1.5/higher if needed?

 

If it was a standard desktop motherboard, yes.

Unfortunately, very few laptop motherboards allow overclocking/under/overvolting.

 

Hi guys, I'm from Singapore, just received my Clevo W230ST yesterday (branded as the Aftershock XG13 here, but curiously there isn't any Aftershock branding on my laptop).

Specs are:
i7-4700MQ
GTX 765M
8GB RAM
128GB Samsung mSATA SSD
750GB WD HDD
IC Diamond thermal compound
Intel 6235 (ordered the Bigfoot Killer 1202, but they didn't have stock and so replaced it with the Intel, they said I can go back in a week and either get the difference back, or swap it for the Bigfoot)
13.3" 1920x1080 IPS LED screen (don't know the panel, but very satisfied with it)

If you guys want to find out anything about the laptop, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Do you think I should keep the Intel 6235 and get the difference back or swap it for the Bigfoot?

By the way, it looks like there some supply problems, the staff said that this was the first batch of Clevo W230STs and they "forgot" to put in the driver CDs.

 

rlrh1996, does it uncomfortably hot on the keyboard/palm rest when doing intensive job ?

 

I'm going to try playing Battlefield 3 later, I'll post on how it feels once I have some time to try it out.
I just got it yesterday, and I'm so busy with my school work I haven't done anything much with it, but I'm really hoping I'll have some time to play with it.

 

Hi rlrh1996, congrats on your new W230ST! I also buy one from Aftershock, tomorrow I will pick mine at Serangoon. Marcus said that the display panel is Chi Mei CMN N133HSE-EA1, but I will check it again when I have my system.

 

So it looks like Asia market get Chi Mei IPS LCD, North America gets AUO. Who knows what Europe gets.

 

I wonder what caused that discrepancy.

 

Illegear from Malaysia get AUO.

 

Most likely stock lead times/supply lines.

If I had to hazard a guess, they probably bought the chimeis to get the review models out the door, before going back to AUO as a preferred supplier (though I can only comment on the W110er, that too shipped with an AUO panel, and I understand a lot of Alienwares do as well.)

 

Can you give us your opinion of the speakers? How's the audio quality? I hear a lot of people complaining about Clevo systems, and I'm hoping this one is the exception...

 

It is the same as the other Clevos meaning it isn't terrible, but it is passable. I don't understand why people care so much about audio quality from the speakers. If you have enough money for this laptop you certainly have enough to buy a decent set of speakers.

 

Is it really that easy to upgrade the speakers, or do you mean to buy a set of speakers to carry around with my "ultraportable" laptop? If the former, sure, I'd do that -- I usually think of speakers as a "fixed" component, but I'm open to buying better if that works. If the latter -- why would I buy a 13" laptop then lug around speakers (and I guess a power source?) that are at least as big? I want something I can fly with, without checking a bag, and still enjoy a movie in bed when I get to my hotel -- *without* headphones.

ETA: For reference, I'm coming from a Gateway P7811FX, which had pretty impressive audio IMHO. I use it for watching TV much more than I use my actual TV, so speaker performance is kind of important.

 

I mean that usually I don't even use the speakers when I am lugging my laptop around I just plug in some headphones, but when you are at home you might as well just have an external pair of speakers. They aren't terrible speakers by any means from what I have heard and will be fine for watching TV and stuff just not serious music listening.

 

I know one of the two suppliers in Australia got the Chi Mei IPS LCD... Unfortunately my pre-ordered mine from the other... Hope and wait.

 

Is the volume reasonable at least? Like for your average TV show are voices easily audible?

Also, I know someone asked about it on the last page, but does the wrist rest on this get uncomfortably hot while gaming? My X460DX suffered from that. I currently have a Lenovo Y410p that I am considering returning for this, and the Y410p stays nice and cool on top while gaming.

 

This sounds promising -- I am by no means an "audiophile", I just want to be able to hear my show / game. I've used laptops where the speakers were clearly being overdriven, to the point where I worried about damaging them in normal use, and I've had at least one laptop where maximum volume was barely enough to hear an average DVD in a quiet room, sitting right next to the computer.

Both of those things are unacceptable. All I ask is for "pretty good" speakers. I guess I want to know if the W230ST can at least meet *that* standard.

 

Most people use headphones, and if you're on the go likely want headphone anyhow. The speakers (at least other Clevos) are adequate for general use, just not audiophile quality.

 

Pretty much, if you want the full immersive experience then headphones or external speakers will be best but the built in ones produce enough sound if you want to watch a video in the kitchen etc.

 

Hey wingnut, i hope you receive this thing tomorrow, buddy a lot rests on your shoulders there are many of us who are looking forward to your review of this thing, so much hype has gone in to this, lets see if it lives up to it

thanks in advance :thumbsup:

 

Hey Meaker were are you buying your W230ST from, looks like we in UK are gonna be last to get a feel of this thing