*** Official Sager NP8150/Clevo P150HM Owners Lounge ***

Hmm, that is a good question. I know the monitor needs to be 120Hz, but I think the hardware just needs to be able to drive the display with 3D, and not sure if the nVidia will do that.

 

Yup, all you need is a 120Hz monitor / lcd panel and a glasses kit (usually comes with a transmitter) and basically any nVIDIA GPU these days will drive it in 3D.

 

Thanks, that's what I thought although I'm going to have a chat with an nVidia rep when they open today just to be certain.
I know the screen in the Sager can't do 3D, but if the 460M has a dual DVI then a 3D monitor shoudl work just fine.... I hope.

 

3D will cut the framerates in half...

Best to go with the best of cards, the 485m!

 

Sound advice. That is the thing, if you want to run 3D you need a powerful GPU becuase it will cut your normal frame rates in half becuase it has to render two full scense to display at the same time. So if you're only getting 30-40fps in a game normally, expect 15-20.

This is why I wonder a bit why they're implementing 3D in some laptops because it takes a very powerful GPU to crank out 50-60fps in most games. Especially if it's a 1080p screen.

 

I called up nVidia today and they gave me a list of 3D supported cards the 460M,470M and the 485M are not supported.
3D Vision Requirements

The above link lists everything that supports 3D. apparantly alienware has a special deal with them so their laptop will play 3D if you get the optional 3D package. But the graphics cards don't support 3D.
Ah well it was a good try anyway.

 

Take another look at that list. The GTX 460M and GTX 470M are both on it. The GTX 485 probably isn't only because they haven't updated the list.

The key is the 120Hz screen and the glasses. So if you have an external 120Hz and the stereoscopic glasses 3D will work on any laptop with those video cards.

 

Mine just arrived yesterday, I spent the better part of the evening loading up all my stuff.

I am really impressed with the screen and the performance so far is amazing.

I think I will add another 8gb of RAM though just because I like running multiple VMs for customer demos and 8gb isn't enough to run 2x Windows 2008, a Nexenta appliance, Ubuntu & Open Solaris at the same time without swapping.

Otherwise this thing is amazing and I am very very happy with it.

 

Although I got my 16GB of RAM, I don't know what I'll be using it for...

Maybe I should start running like 100+ tabs in FF just for the heck of it...

 

Does anyone know how hard it is to add additional memory to these? Is it a user upgradeable thing? I'm not going to void my warranty am I?

 

3D on laptop=Nvidia Nvision 3D Kit+120hz panel. You use the HDMI out or DVI out to a capable monitor and you are golden. I am baffled why Nvidia says it does not work because it clearly does on mine. I am using beta drivers from a well-known site (just google nvidia beta drivers.)

I use this with an Optoma HD66 but the cheaper alternative is the Acer 5360. I have owned both (and own the Optoma) and they are similar in every aspect except price and contrast ratio.

Hope this helps because once you go 3D gaming, there is no going back

 

You aren't going to void your warranty, don't worry.

It is easy to replace RAM, or add RAM, because Sager installed the RAM to the harder-accessible slots.

 

Its really simple.. just take the screws out of the bottom cover, slide it off, then the two open RAM slots will be right there..

Easily accessible, takes just a few mins, doesn't void warranty I'll be doing the same when I get mine.. Although I'll probably just have 12gb sine it comes with 8 and my cousin is giving me 4 since he upgraded his ram on his m17x r3 to 8gb to the 1600mhz or 1666mhz or whatever the faster speed is

 

I got mine Tueday, but was out of town, so I opened it only today! Dang I like the SSD! It boot so fast!!

Eric

 

Hopefully by the time I need a new laptop, these SSD's will be standard or at reasonable price/GB.

ps Grats on your new laptop.

 

I spoke directly to nVidia tech support, they only support the desktop versions of their cards not the M cards. This isn't random guessing. This info was directly from nVidia who was very specific that the 460/470/485M cards are NOT supported by nVidia.
I can provide you with their phone number if you'd like to call them up and ask them yourself?

 

Yeah that's what I thought but nVidia says there are no drivers for the M cads just the desktop cards. The monitor they list as working apparantly won't work with their card only with a desktop graphics card. If this was just posted by someone in a forum I'd have reason to doubt it. But I have no idea why teh company themselves would lie or get this wrong.

 

You have no idea how often CSRs get stuff wrong.

 

**cough**DELL**cough**

 

gonna be hooking my laptop up to my 37" 120hz LED tv in my dorm.. should be pretty sweet

in case anyone's wondering, xotic sells the optical bay hd caddy's on their site for 40$

 

hi, so I guess there are no more of these laptops available now that the Sandy bridge has been recalled?

 

You can still continue placing orders for them. They will just take longer to ship.

 

speaking of which, anyone place an order recently? get an estimated ship date? or are we still in limbo if we order now..?

 

I placed an order on 23 Jan, but did not get a hard estimate (<- that sounds like an oxymoron), since this was backordered. And now, with the SB issue, well, I'm sure you can guess.

I am just hoping for mid to late Mar.

 

yeah, i'm about to place my order too, was just wondering if anyone had an eta.. who'd you end up ordering with?

 

Anxiously waiting as well...

 

I went with LPC-Digital. Larry lives up to Meraki's and Forerunner's praises!

 

To be honest, all resellers offer great services, but Larry and his "quote prices" are the one that lured me first..

Then I bugged him on and on and on and on and on and on and asked him like 10 quotes... He did get some mixed up but he always has this at the end of every PM and he was very delightful to deal with..

I would recommend him any day.

 

I know it's been discussed, but is $190 worth the upgrade from the 2720 to the 2820? Isn't there only like a .1ghz and 2mb cache difference? Or am I missing something

 

Yes that is the difference between the 2720QM and the 2820QM.

Probably not worth it, but I just went for the heck of it.

What can you go wrong with extra 2MB of cache?

 

Im gonna go with xotic.. I talked with some great reps from lpc and pnb, but in the end xotic was who inwent to first and the rep there has invested a bunch of time with me.. Maybe a bit more expensive by a few bucks, but I'm thinkin it's worth it in the long run

 

As I said, all resellers are great! They are all helpful, willing to go through troubles for us to get perfect machines to our liking..

I really like this forum

 

Yeah. Props to all the resellers! They're all great

 

I don't mean to beat a dead horse Steve, but the person you talked to is just wrong, and I don't want to leave bad information on this forum.

Not only are the M cards on the list to which you linked, but the ASUS G73JW-3DE is just one of several models that uses the nVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M w/1.5GB GDDR5 for their 3D laptop. They all have 120Hz screens and come with stereoscopic glasses.

So, even if the laptop doesn't have a 120Hz screen, if you have one of the M cards on the list (or the nVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M w/2.0GB GDDR5 that is not yet on the list) and you connect to an external 120Hz 3D capable monitor or TV, and you have stereoscopic glasses, you will be able to watch 3D movies and play 3D games in 3D.

 

Does anyone else feel that while $2000 is a justifiable price for one of these awesome, prime-technology laptops right now, it seems a bit less justified to pay it and then receive it 2 months later? Isn't part of the point in paying high prices for tech getting said tech early? With SB being pushed back by 2 months, will Intel be pushing IB back 2 months as well? Or is this mistake ultimately shaving 2 months off the life of our high-priced tech? Based on the prices of last year's models, I doubt any discounts will occur...

 

I agree but sh$& happens. Im sure the resellers themselves did not want this. And i believe intel themselves did nit want this either. Either way i still feel that 2000usd is a fair price to pay for the amount of performance youre getting. A few years back top of the line laptops were 4000usd so count your blessings. If waiting 2 months is too long then im sure you can ask for a refund from your reseller and order it again when it does come out.

 

I was planning to pick up one of the P150HM's since my other laptop died but with the waiting I might have to look at temporary alternatives as I would prefer to buy when they are in stock and not buy 2 month old technology. Maybe just a 2nd small budget notebook for travel that I can use anyway when I get my new one.

 

I had not a lot of time to 'play' with it, but yesterday I wanted to watch a blu-ray movie, I can tell the image is incredible, I mean outstanding! So much details/clarity! Battery was at 60% after one hour.

I watched the movie in my bed with the laptop where it should be : on my 'lap' and my legs stayed cool all the time, never felt any uncorfortable heat (a first for me), I just let the rear of the computer breathe (unblocked) and all was perfect.

The speakers are ok, not incredible, but ok.

It's my fisrt SSD and so far I see no reason not to get one (except if you need huge storage capacity), I do not want to go back to a HDD on any future computer.

Only downside. I have a pixel glowing red instead of black at the top right!

Eric

 

The person I spoke with was Nvidia tech support and there isn't one "M" listed on that page they said they do not support the M versions of the graphics cards for 3D. I was very specific with them. They said they do not have driver support for those graphics cards. But I will call them again today and ask them again based on what you have said.
They were very specific the first time however.
I'm just thinking that nVidia should know what graphics cards they do and do not support. I was hoping their answer would be different.
Certain laptops they had said from certain manufacturers are certified or whatever to do 3D and those are on the list.
nVidia sure doesn't make it easy....

 

Since those laptops (Alienware) are using the same cards, I'm pretty sure that guy is just pulling it out of his... Also, I'm pretty sure that its a matter of official support since your actually driving an external monitor not the one on your laptop...

I can tell you that the new porsche you bought can only officially go the speed of the limiter, but unofficially its got another 50mpH on top of that!

 

Just because something is not officially supported doesn't mean it won't work. Officially supported means that they release WHQL drivers for it and provide tech support when you have problems. If it is not supported, you may need to find/mod your own drivers and you may not have tech support. I think the fact that several people here have it working, and several laptops are officially released with 3D capable hardware proves that it works - even if it mght not be supported by nVidia.

 

The list on that Nvidia website seems to be incomplete... Search "Notebook" on that page. You will get a partial list of notebooks LCD's and cards that support 3D.

Also note that the Sager 8150 comes with HDMI 1.4 that supports 3D output.

 

Steve no disrespect here but that is incorrect on Nvidia's behalf. I had an Asus G53 with a 460M and it did 3D as well. In fact, Asus has one with a special 120hz panel on it although the res is extremely low. Whomever gave you that info at Nvidia is just flat out wrong but that isn't your fault so we appreciate you at least calling them.

If anyone wants pics to shows it works I will be more then happy to show the Nvidia setup screen that displays what the res/gpu is.

 

Might as well at this point.. Clear things up

 

You could be right, I called them up again today and spoke to a woman this time. She's not as certain as the guy was and it's going to take her a few hours to check it out. I don't see why a Dual DVI output to an external monitor won't work. Sadly the tech number is in India, so you know how that is.
My wife worked at a call center in the Philippines and the standard they have for english there is 100 times higher than in India. in the Philippines if you have too strong an accent you won't get the job.
In India you just need to have relatives that have an "in" with the boss.

 

I'm sure you do but yours is supported by nVidia it's even listed on their page under supported laptops. here is teh list

Notebook LCD

Product Name Resolution Works with Blu-ray 3D* HDMI 1.4 3D Vision Support
Acer Aspire 5745DG 1366x768 Y N/A
Alienware M17x-r3 1920x1080 Y N/A
Asus G73JW 1920x1080 Y N/A
Asus G53JW 1366x768 Y N/A
Asus G51Jx-3D 1366x768 Y N/A
Asus G51Jx-EE 1366x768 Y N/A
Asus G51J-3D 1366x768 N N/A
Clevo W860CU 1366x768 Y N/A
CyberPower Xplorer 3D-X6 1366x768 N N/A
iBuyPower Battalion 101 W860CU-3D 1366x768 Y N/A
Origin PC OEN15 1366x768 N N/A
Sager NP8690 1366x768 N N/A
V3 Gaming Rover 3D 1366x768 N N/A
Toshiba Satellite A660 1366x768 Y N/A
Toshiba Satellite A665 1366x768 Y N/A

 

The point is you were told by an Nvidia rep the M-chips do not support 3D and that is wrong. I am going to snap some pics tonight when it gets darker out (since I use a projector) to show 3D using the Sager and the Nvidia kit.

 

OFF TOPIC:

are there any laptops with the 485m, back lit keyboard, and dedicated touch sensitive media buttons?

 

There are only 3 notebooks with the 485M, and they're all Sagers. So that's a no to the questions you asked.

 

alright, then is there a notebook with these things that i could add a 485m to? for some reason, the lack of a backlit keyboard is killing me on the 8150.. $2500 and i cant get a little light on my keys?

although i suppose i dont exactly look at my keys that often anyways

idk.. it's worth it right? $2500 for this laptop? the only other laptop i've had was a $500 dell