**Official Sager NP5170 / Clevo W170HN Owners' Lounge**

Here are two -

Mythlogic
LPC-Digital

and of course there's Sager.

 

Could anyone confirm for me if the 5170 does have different cooling than the 5160?

Mr. Mysterious

 

first time posting an image here so hope this works. this should show the matte black finish of the exterior top


I don't know why the image is not visible. perhaps the image size is too large to display. here is the link to the image I tried to include above.
http://img836.imageshack.us/i/img4598q.jpg/

and here are some other images of my NP5170
http://img291.imageshack.us/i/img4597w.jpg/
http://img849.imageshack.us/i/img4596.jpg/
http://img12.imageshack.us/i/img4595zd.jpg/
http://img838.imageshack.us/i/img4594w.jpg/
http://img138.imageshack.us/i/img4593m.jpg/

I tried to show the glossy screen reflections and viewing angles, as well as to give a look at the hinges. I would have preferred that the headphone and mike jacks come out the front, but otherwise I really like the port placement on this lappy.

if someone wants to give a photo posting noob some guidance on how to include images in a post on this forum, feel free. I am sure there must be a sticky somewhere explaining, but the one about attaching photos did me no good because the images are too large to upload to this site.

in the background of shot 4596 above, you can see my laptop stand, a Keynamics Aviator laptop stand, which you can find here:
http://www.amazon.com/Keynamics-AVIATOR-Laptop-Stand-Notebook/dp/B000ZCYJVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300929303&sr=8-1

Using that stand, I was able to get lower average 5-10 degrees lower on both CPU and GPU

 

Dude, that looks almost...metallic! @_@ As if it's covered in black aluminum...

Mr. Mysterious

 

yes that is a fair description. I really like it. Oddly I hear that the NP5160 has a glossy finish on the screen exterior and a matte finish on the rest of it. I think I like matte all over better than half glossy finish.

 

Thanks for posting those pics erisalit, but you don't need help with including images, you need help with taking images, lol!

Are those the mic and headphone jacks coming out the right side?

(BTW, just having fun with you, no offense intended).

 

He's mocking you! Seize him!

Back on topic, I think that's kinda amazing to have the brushed metallic look which is OH SO desirable for laptops these days. I'm jealous Enjoy your PC man.

Mr. Mysterious

 

yes that is a fair criticism (no offense taken). my wife is the skilled photographer, not me. happy to take tips or suggestions on better pictures too. Yes the mike and headphone jacks are coming out the right side, which I am not thrilled about. I prefer few jacks on the right because I like to keep that side clear for mousing while using my laptop on a lap desk. I had a nicer bigger lapdesk until my wife stole it and I got stuck with hers--part of the deal for her to take my old lappy and me to get this spiffy new one. Hence the baby blue lapdesk for now, until I get a new one. Not my style! Notice also the LAN PARTY coaster in the background of some of the photos also. I had those custom made for a lan party a year or so ago.

 

I'm with you about the jacks on the right side, they would interfere with me as well. Fortunately I don't use either too often, but I am used to them being in the front.

It is a good looking machine!

 

Thanks for the pics, erisalit. I was just thinking of harassing you for them earlier today but decided to be patient after all you have a new machine to play with. It looks pretty slick, the brushed metal look classes it up a bit without going overboard. It's strange that the 5160 differs in appearance so much, when they share so many traits. Weirdly enough the vertical viewing angles of the screen look better than the horizontal ones from your pics, most laptop screens are the opposite in my experience. Is that what you perceive in person? I would have liked to see a few without the flash on, but otherwise good job. I don't want to be seized after all!

How's the heat on this thing? I've been seeing a lot of people on the 5160 thread talking about close to 100C temps at load. Does it feel hot when you're typing, on your lap? I use a cooling pad on my current one, but it still gets my hands a little sweaty once in a while if I'm taxing it. I'm getting antsy holding off on buying this thing, but I wanted a few first hand accounts before I unloaded $12-1500 on this thing (I still haven't decided about a screen upgrade and a blu-ray burner).

 

i am seeing temps maxing up to 93 C on both CPU and GPU when playing 4v4 SC2 on medium settings. my fps tend to be 30+ but sometimes randomly dip into the teens (only rarely). This GPU is barely sufficient for my gaming needs. fortunately for me, the only game I plan to play for the next couple of years at least is SC2. will try to post some no flash photos also at some point.

 

I suppose if one has the stock OEM thermal compound the temps can go higher?

Can you comment on battery life?

I wonder if the text read ok ( FHD on a 17.3" screen)?

If GPU is not good enough then the next upgrade would be the NP 8130 and i am afraid the text would be too small for the eyes (FHD on a 15.6")?

 

the text looks fine on fhd. I have the IC diamond thermal compound on mine which came free from XoticPC. I was able to play SC for a little over an hour and the battery went down to 11% in that amount of time. That is not bad battery life for gaming. I have not tested the supposed 5 plus hours I can expect with the GPU disabled. hope that is true. I don't know about fhd on 15.6 inch screen. that does sound pretty cramped but you can always adjust things to make the text bigger etc.

 

Sager.com just shipped my NP5170. My budget was limited to $1350 so the only upgrades I got were
120GB Intel 510 Series SATA3 Solid State Disk Drive
6 GB Ram and i7-2630QM Processor

The SSD drive was very costly but hopefully the speed will be worth it.

 

erisalit, thank you for photos. Looks clear and solid. But unfortunately I'm afraid the GPU it has will not satisfy my requirements.

 

Just ordered mine today from Xiotic PC:

Have some extra ram laying around so when it gets here I'm going to up it from 4gb to 8gb and have 1TB external HDD so didn't need more than the 320gb internal.

Pretty pumped this will be my first Sager purchase

- Warranty: 3 Year Labor 1 Year Parts, Lifetime Toll Free Tech Support
- Operating System: ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Wireless Network: Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS)
- Primary Hard Drive: ~ 320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) - Default
- Optical Drive: ~ 6X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive-
- Ram: ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)
- Graphics Video Card: nVidia GT 540M 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology
- Processor: - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen (1920x1080)

 

Thirdcoastx, you mght want to go over to the Networking and Wireless forum. There's some good info there on wireless cards. In particular look for posts by member "downloads". Here is one you might find informative -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/net...ntrino-wireless-n-1030-advanced-n-6230-a.html

 

I agree with NoSpinZone, you may want to look into upgrading your wifi to the 6230 being as it is only $25 more. However if you only have a G network then the benefits may not be as great to you. You might want to go with the IC Diamond Thermal Compound for extra cooling too, but again an extra $25. An extra 50 bucks may break your budget, so obviously go with what you are comfortable with.

 

Yeah this one kinda maxxed the budget for the current purchase haha. Amazing what a discount you get going Sager instead of paying $1000+ more for an alienware with the same internal components.

6-12 day wait time in production is killing me though!! haha

Only downside I have to say is I really wish the Sager came with a backlit keyboard... I'm curious though if a third party will ever make one, or if a major company with the same chassis would fit as laptop keyboards normally aren't too bad to replace.

 

I really don't think, for the vast majority of people, having a 6230 will be worth it. And a more expensive thermal compound would be even less worth it. Save the extra cash and get something with tangible benefits. Like putting the money toward a SSD, say.

 

I just found this video showcasing the exterior of a Prostar W170HN/NP5170. I didn't find it to be of too much use, but figured someone else might find it useful. Here's a link to the W150HNQ/NP5160, since I've seen a few people in both forums.

 

ignore this

 

I just saw in the 5160 thread that there was a new Clevo W150HRQ/HRM with the GT 555m in it, so that got me thinking there might be a 17" equivalent with the 555m as well. It's the W170HR, here's the specs. It looks basically the same as the W170HN except for the GT 555m in it and the 1600mhz memory doesn't look limited to 2GB. Who knows if Sager will pick these shells up, but I thought I might let potential buyers of the 5170 (like me ) know. Any resellers know any info on if Sager will be using this shell in the near future?

 

I just got notice that my 5170 shipped from XoticPC, finally. It took a bit longer because it had to go form Sager to XoticPC for the screen upgrade. I went with the 90% color gamut screen since I do a lot of image editing. So the extra wait will be worth it hopefully.

Derek

 

Ignore my last post. I was really tired and only realized after installing linux that my windows disk had been erased! I have no idea how, but I re-burned it and all is working fine now.

So some impressions.

The system as a whole seems really solid. There's attention to detail such as the fact that much of the unit is covered by grooved material (plastic? Aluminum? no idea) but on the hand rest it functions to keep your hands from sliding up and down. Unfortunately the blu-ray drive is really flimsy, I could probably break it to pieces with one hand. The plastic part covering the outside of the drive keeps popping off with no effort at all (it was delivered popped-off)

Windows experience index was great for three scores but 5.6/7.9 for some graphics test and 5.9 for hard drive read and write speed. Both pretty disappointing for a hot off the line machine.

Touchpad and driver are astounding, you can do anything you want with it, or only the very basics (which I am leaning towards as some of these things are very confusing or made it harder to use). Right now I have only one touch, scroll bars on the side and bottom (does not work at the very edge of the pad which is unfortunate), and pinch zoom. Still sometimes I'm moving the mouse across the screen, and it will stop and change to an icon. I haven't figured out what I'm doing to cause this or how to stop it.

The keyboard is smaller than I'm used to, and the right shift key is shortened, and to the right of it (where I usually hit shift) is now an up arrow! There is about 2 inches of space on either side of the keyboard so it is unfortunate they were too lazy to spread it out a bit. It will just take some getting used to.

VGA button is confusing and the manual doesnt really help. Orange is the nvidia graphics card (just "optimus" in the manual) and Green is the crappy built in one? What no one seems to realize is a lot of people are colorblind and these colors look very close together to me. The green one is the dimmer color right? "orange" looks like yellow. They just made this unnecessarily confusing.

Blu-ray playback with cyberlink's program is poor. Can't use the mouse in menus, when you unpause the movie continues playing but with no video and distorted sound for a few seconds. So then I have to go back a few seconds. Any better programs? (I wish VLC worked)

It may be the screen or it may be cyberlink but i was underimpressed with blu-ray quality. It looked more like a 720p rip blown up to full screen. Could be my imagination.

Sound quality from the speakers is really good, unfortunately the placement is even weirder than I thought. I like to use my laptop on my lap so the sound is going directly into my legs. I can't get this thing to output loud enough sound, and it's worst in powerdvd. I have no chance at all of hearing my blu-ray through the speakers, and I can just barely hear it in my earbuds! I've looked everywhere, I can't find out how to make this louder. I understand that the speakers aren't powerful but earbuds take a very small amount of power to make them sound ear splittingly loud.

Other than all that I love it, it's amazing to have all this space on the screen!

 

Thanks for your replies. I've been using it on my lap and it's not even close to as warm as my old one. Steady airflow out the left side. It's probably less hot than the 15 inch model. I also plan on using it down to about 30 percent fairly often. Plugged in when I'm in bed or at a desk but battery when moving around the house or out somewhere. I'm really happy with the case I got with it, that was totally unexpected.

erisalit - your link does not work.

 

Thanks for tha write up Sea!

I'm pretty sure I read that the orange light is the one you want. I tried finding the reference. I think it might have been in a review of the 8170, but I'm sure it applies to this model.

Enjoy and keep us posted!

 

Ah, here you go Sea. I knew I read it somewhere.

 

this should work
# Make a Portable Cardboard Laptop Stand [DIY] Within 2 Mins.

also, the actual stand I have is this one:

Amazon.com: Keynamics AVIATOR Laptop Stand - Notebook stand: Electronics
a keynamics aviator

I find when I use it, my temps stay under 80C for both the CPU and the GPU. without it, sometimes when I play SC2 the temps can go over 90C, especially on the GPU. the extra airflow allowed for by the stand must make for better cooling. I am comparing it to having it on a flat table with no stand, but otherwise having nothing blocking the vents. I am curious for actual temp comparisons for those who went the powered cooler route.

 

Does this just affect Blu-Ray (and DVD) playback? If so, that's because movies tend to be mixed at lower levels (volume) compared to popular music and most other sounds. Unlike popular music, the "loudness war", or the practice of mixing audio so "hot" that there's no margin for error, has so far not come to movies. The benefit of mixing quiet is that, with the headroom, a movie can deliver speech at one level and explosions at a much louder level. Otherwise, everything would be at the same level and lack impact.

Unfortunately for you, laptops tend to lack the amplification resources sound engineers assume is generally available. A solution is to look for an automatic gain control in PowerDVD and/or to max out every applicable volume slider. There may be third party plugins that do this.

 

I have a NP5170 on order but I am able to cancel the order up until the time that it ships.

I am concerned about the quality of the keyboard and the display. I've found some information on reviews about other Sager/Clevo models that indicate the quality is not great but have not read anything about the NP5170.

What sort of impression do people have of the keyboard and display?

 

OK, I just amended my order to get the 300GB 320 Series SSD!

 

The keyboard is not the greatest, but it's not horrible either. The 17" screen is pretty bad, in my opinion. I edit video and I cannot get accurate color temps on anything. I've recalibrated the colors over and over and have gotten no satisfaction. The problem may lie in the graphics drivers though ...not sure. I have a problem getting Flash videos (youtube, vimeo, etc) to show up correctly. They are completely discolored - faces are green and everything else is purple. Sager said there is an update for the nVidia drivers coming soon. Maybe that will help, but so far I'm very underwhelmed with this laptop.

 

Thanks... I think I will choose to be not underwhelmed. I see Dell has just made 1920x1080 available on the non 3D XPS-17. I'll probably go for that.

 

Marpo, do you have the stock screen or did you upgrade? Do you think it could be a defect, or just poor quality?

 

In doing research for a new laptop all things pointed to Sager/Clevo and then further to this model to suit my needs.

After reading some of the feedback here, I guess you could say that I'm not so sure anymore if this is the one for me.

Since I'm not ready to purchase right now, I'll continue to look around to see what is out there.

 

Ha,

I just did that exact thing after sending back my new NP5170. It cost at least $65 in non-refundable shipping both ways to discover it did not meet my requirements. Unfortunately it became glaringly obvious pretty quickly after receiving it and loading on all the software. I found the touchpad and especially the mouse buttons to be unusable. Keyboard was just ok. Sound is horrible, the absolute worst I've ever heard from any laptop. My upgraded screen had some funky colors as mentioned and a red hot pixel in the upper center. Though I didn't calibrate it which probably would help some with the colors. Build was pretty similar to my wife's old, cheap HP laptop. Overall I was very dissapointed in this low end Sager model. After spending $1300 it was a downgrade from my current Inspiron in many ways.

Dell's XPS 17 3D only screen was one of things that pushed me to try this Sager model. Now with the non 3D 1080p option and $400 in current discounts and free shipping I've placed my order. It has the same feature set (CPU, GPU, memory, etc...) and ended up costing $200 less.

The other competition in this category I was considering is the new Asus N73SV-A1. Build quality is much better than this Sager. But there is no 1080p screen upgrade option. Though the rest looks pretty good.

Derek

 

Derek and Lorne, please let us know your comparitive impressions of the Dell XPS 17 once you recieve them. Any specific build quality issues you noticed with the np5170 Derek? My impression of my np5170 was solid build quality. I look at things like solid feel, hinge quality, power connection quality, etc.

 

erisalit, glad to provide some feedback. Everyone I think has a bit different expecations when it comes to a system's overall build and design. To me some parts look acceptable like the hinges while other things like the CD/DVD player seemed very cheap/flimsy. I think it was the accessory parts like this and the built-in speakers/sound system that are the lowest end possible. Do ppl like decent sound for games, video, movies, etc...? I do, at least not the cheapest tin can type sound. I'm also not confident that if dropped from a very short distance like a couch the thin screen or shell wouldn't break/snap/fracture. By contrast I've accidentally dropped my Dell Inspiron onto a carpeted floor with a loud thud and it's still solid.

I've owned quite a few laptops (Dell, HP, IBM, etc...) over the years for both work and pleasure. So I am comparing this to those and especially my current Inspiron 1720. For me it is inferior in quite a few ways (fit, finish, speakers, touchpad, lack of multi-media buttons, etc...). Though if cared for and never dropped/mishandled it would probably be fine for some. Its a bare bones, spartan case with some great internals. But I expect a little more for overall daily enjoyment and use. I couldn't see myself giving my kids my current Inspiron and using this which for me would be a downgrade in a number of areas.

I'll comment more on the XPS17 once it arrives. I'm not looking for perfection, just something that meets my performance needs relatively well with no glaring deficiencies.

my 2c YMMV,

Derek

 

I went ahead and bought the XPS 17 (1080, non-3D) and I'll be sure to post my impressions once it arrives; it will be a few weeks yet though. It came out less than the Sager and appears to be better in every regard.

 

When I price the Dell XPS 17 identical to my 5170 it totals $2124 vs. $1783 for the Sager. Actually its not even identical because the Dell SSD is only 256GB vs. 300GB for the 5170. Plus the SSD in my current Dell is a Samsung and I much rather have the Intel.

 

It was more initially and only had the 1080p 3D screen option. However like Dell normally does, the price has dropped plus there are coupons discounts for $400 off along with free shipping. I saved over $200 compared to the same Sager NP5170 I bought for $1,337. They also have a new 1080p screen w/out 3D. My XPS17 order cost $1090 with the new 1080p screen, 8 gigs ram and same i7 processor after discounts.

As far as hard drives go, a lot of ppl upgrade to SSDs after market for greater savings. I went with the 640GB/7200 RPM for now. If I need an SSD I'll get it later as a second drive.

Derek

 

Can someone help me please? I have custom non-brand laptop based on Clevo W170H with specs:
Core i5-2410m
2x4GB DDR3-1333
500GB HDD Seagate
GT 540M 1GB DDR3
...

I want to know what version is the HDMI Port on the laptop?
Does someone successfully bit-streamed HD Audio to A/V receiver?

 

HDMI 1.4 and yes it can bit-stream

 

delete... found a different link

 

Found this extensive review about this laptop...

Review Schenker XMG A701 Advanced (SSD) Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

It is the Schenker XMG A701, which is the german reseller's version of the Clevo W170HN.

It looks like a great laptop, if you look at the price.

I am stuck between the W150 and W170. But will try and wait for the ones with the GT555 and see what it costs.


Just a few questions to those who bought this laptop... How thick is it compared to other modern laptops, as I see Toshiba laptops are really thin?

How strong does the hinges feel of the screen, and how much flex does the exterior of the display have?

Thanks

 

Thank you, I've bit-streamed to my Onkyo 608, but it uses the INTEL HDMI Audio
Is there a way to use the GT 540M for HD Audio Bit-Stream, because movies are choppy via Intel GPU.

 

Good find on this review! It's surprising accurate. Then again Notebookheck puts out some of the best notebook reviews. Note that a score of 78% is on their low side.

The chasis is a real mixed bag with the lid casing being its weakest, most fragile part. It's very thin, somewhat flexible plastic which doesn't look like it could handle any kind of short fall or strong bump/bang without something breaking, cracking, etc... The hinges are ok, not loose. But when opening the lid and moving it around, one is not inspired with any sense of confidence or strength. This is a budget, barebones case pure and simple.

This combined with other things mentioned in the review such as terrible sound and poor touchpad led me to returning it. Mine also had a stuck, hot pixel in the center of the 'upgraded' screen. It was underwelming to say the least.

I have since ordered the XPS17 which has more favorable reviews so far with better sound, build, touchpad, etc... being reported. It ended up costing less as well.

Derek

 

It's surprising[sic] accurate.

And you are surprised because ......................... ????????????????????

 

They came to basically the same conclusion I did. So I'm not surprised about that at all. But I also thought they might have given it a little higher rating for the rest of the notebook (e.g. its internals). Though a quality notebook is made up of much more than the sum of its internal parts - CPU, GPU, HD, motherboard, etc...

Either way potential owners now have much more information to base their decision on. And that's what really is important isn't it?

Derek