*** Official Sager NP8170/Clevo P170HM Owners Lounge ***

Hey guys, i am currently awaiting my order of NP8170. Based on the German review posted earlier in this thread, the P170HM(Correct me if im wrong) had the screen not bright enough and the sound system drivers not fully compatible yet. I'd like to know if this is to be expected through all of the P170HM clevo models? Or will sager present their own fixes to these on their own laptops? Thanks in advance guys!

 

I hope so -_-

 

There are excellent matte screens (the best screen in any laptop is the HP dreamcolor and it's a matte one) and bad ones as there are excellent Glossy screens and bad ones, thing is for the same screen quality the glossy one will appear more vibrant but much more reflective.

 

Those are great shots...Thanks for the clear pics where you can actually see the surface of the machine. Would it be too much trouble to do a few shots next to the 8150?

Wish this machine had a backlit keyboard. I just picked up the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard and really loving it...

 

I'll have to look more into it. And Ibanez is definitely refering to the guitar company!

 

Yeah, backlit would definitely be nice. Not sure why they haven't considered it. It would be nice if it could be a future swap out, but unless there's a USB header or somewhere to draw power, I doubt it.

 

Too bad Sager doesn't offer a competitor to the HP Dreamcolor screen.

 

Sager doesn't... We do

I can either get a LG panel that has 72% color gamut (The BEST 17.3" matte LCD for color gamut that is manufactured still, lots of 17"'s and 17.1"'s have better specs, but they won't fit this 17.3" chassis)

OR

A AUO Glossy panel that does 95% color gamut.

Could get my hands on that same panel HP is using, just wouldn't fit unfortunately nice panel though.

 

Review by powernotebooks.com
YouTube - Sager NP8170 Gaming Laptop Review from PowerNotebooks.com

 

@Cheeses: having a hybrid SSD as scond HDD wil not help your VM's very much i'm afraid. The SSD part of the hybrid is only 4 GB and most of my VM's are 8 GB or more. I just hope that the hybrid SSD cacjhing doesn't screw up every time i load a VM... Will tell you once I got my laptop, should be in Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

 

I'm ordering an NP8170 with the 470M graphics card soon. One option is the Cooler Master Notebook cooler for $50. Is that one any good? Another site has good reviews for the Thermaltake Notebook cooler CLN0008 for about the same price. Thanks!

 

You won't need a notebook cooler- Sager models have very good cooling systems. I speak as an owner of an NP8690. The system for the NP8170 is almost exactly the same.

I could play Starcraft II on full settings and still not even temp past 75 degrees for both the CPU and GPU.

 

@bl00py
Clevo already has posted a BIOS at their website. i will check the version of my new laptop (MySn XMG P701) once it is in and see if there is a change.

update: I didn't download the BIOS from the Clevo website but from the German MySN website instead. The BIOS for the XMG P701 PRO (supposedly equivalent to Clevo P170HM) has version 2.02, dated December 24, 2010. I have uploaded the file here.

By the way, the Clevo website has a lot of drivers available too (but no BIOS update).

 

Someone from Clevo said that backlit kb is coming in Q4.

 

Powernotebooks.com has a video review of this system here!

I was wondering how high you can overclock a 470M in this specific model, I looked around this thread but I haven't seen much talk of the 470M. Any suggestions?

 

Check out this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/531695-gtx-470m-benchmarks-sager-np8690-clevo-w860cu.html

 

If thats the case, can the people who will receive their laptop before Sager implements the backlit keyboard get it done once the option becomes available??

 

This would be great if existing systems could upgrade...Q4 is pretty far out to wait and next intel chip cycle would be around the corner by then.

 

Yup, I agree. I'm not going to wait almost a year for backlit keyboard. lol Then again, it would be nice to type with the lights off.

 

I'm a touch typist so it doesn't matter so much, but there are plenty of times when I need to press a specific key for whatever reason. The backlit keyboard on my M11x is very nice. It would be nice if they had a way to update existing machines. But it would need power from somewhere and unless there's a spare open USB header somewhere probably not gonna happen.

 

Well the chipset does support 14 USB 2.0 ports, so it isn't a stretch to have one close to the keyboard port on the motherboard.

 

I've been debating all this over and over and I really am having trouble coming to grips with a 17.3" laptop. I mean for the money I can buy a really decent external monitor for a Sager 8150 and all I'd be giving up is the bigger screen and an additional HDD. So for my desk a 23-24" would be a no brainer and 15.6" is way more portable. I'm sure an external monitor is plug & play too.
Decisions, decisions....

 

Then get a 15.6, we have matte 95% color gamut screens for our 15.6's too. Get the best of both worlds =)

 

I watched the review and he pointed out two speakers. From what I have read there should be 5 speakers + 1 subwoofer. Does anyone know where the others speakers are located and what kind of speakers does clevo use? Thank you in advance.

 

I believe three speakers are near the lid/lcd hinge point, above the keyboard, two more are underneath near the opposite edge of the lcd, and subwoofer, no idea.

 

There are 2 stereo speakers as pointed out in the review on top, and the Sub-woofer as pointed out on the bottom. The other 3 are on the bottom at the front left and right. While not pointed out, you can see the speaker grilles in the pictures.

Sager does not fall for the "branded" speakers marketing fluff like some of your national brands. Internal laptop speakers are mediocre at best, regardless of what brand may be associated with them.

If you are an audiophile you will want to use the 4 audio out ports for connection to a high quality 7.1 Surround Sound external speaker system, or connect a high quality headset.

 

I got my 8170 yesterday from Powernotebooks (thanks Donald!)...and I gotta say this thing is incredible! I know I'm kinda picky but I'm glad they left off the stupid back flap that the old NP8760 had.

I got the 470M, in the hopes that MXM will live long enough so I can swap a 500M series card in the future...who knows. But still, combine that with a 2720QM processor and it's handing Final Fantasy XIV just fine...which is what I play most of the time!

And as for the speakers, I can vouch for it sounding much better than most notebook speakers...no 'tinny' sound here!

 

Does Malibal have a current estimated shipping for people that ordered on 1/14? On that note, waiting is the hardest part. I think I might have ordered late and will be waiting until mid February at this point though.

 

I'd say mid to late febuary.

 

How loud are the fans, and hows the cooling?

 

If you ordered the P170HM on the 14th, your order should be shipping by Wednesday.

 

I'm sorta leaning the other way...I am using an old 20" monitor now and was originally planning to go for the 8150, but figured the 8170 at $80 more base config would be nicer for trips (AFTER I get there of course). It's a bigger hassle to move around daily, but if that wasn't needed, for me, the extra screen real estate is worth the extra 2 lbs (1.77 diff + 0.3 lbs (power brick)).

Does the 8150 and 8170 have comparable screens?

The main problem is of course the bulkiness of moving and carrying it by hand...but after plopping it in a backpack and moving it on a desk (assuming it's not those round coffee tables), you're good to go.

That and I have trouble looking at my current 15.6" laptop screen at 1680 x 1050 already so I figure 1920 x 1080 would be even more annoying for my old failing eyes.

 

sorry if this question has been asked a million times, but i really cant find it anywhere in the forums, when you buy a sager notebook from resellers, who checks them and ships them out? sager itself? or it goes through the resellers first?
shed some light anyone?

 

Hi, all Sager branded notebooks are built and shipped by Sager, regardless if you buy direct or from a reseller.

 

@maLIBAL when will the supply or stock will get stable? lets say in march if i place the order will it ship within that week? whats the price for p170hm barebone?

 

The fans are pretty quiet, even in-game they are not "screeching" at all. Temps for me in-game don't go higher than 75 degrees.

 

Check your PMs!

 

Yeah that's the issue for me, I figure buy a decent 23" monitor for when i'm at home and then when I travel just use the smaller screen.
Airlines are really cracking down on everything and I still have all my cameras to carry on as well. They weigh all the bags now too. So you can't sneak an extra pound on. The big laptops are pretty darn big. Yes I'm older and my eyes prefer a larget screen but if I have to put the laptop in check in or my cameras. I'd be out a LOT f money and the chances they will be stolen or damaged is like 99% or higher in some countries.

 

Ah excellent, my NP8690 had fairly loud fans. And I'm glad that your thermal paste was properly applied!

 

Thanks for the heads up. Will look forward to your review on the subject when you get your laptop.

 

Can you resellers look into this? Intel recalling Sandy Bridge CPU's.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/551892-intel-recall-sandy-bridge-cpus.html

 

We need to wait for direction from Intel. This news is too fresh right now, and unconfirmed. We will report back once we have more info.

 

So what now? Do we just wait for the new processors or do we have to cancel our orders? I don't mind if Malibal puts my order to the side for the wait.

 

Please see this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/551892-intel-recall-sandy-bridge-cpus-2.html#post7112914

We will have to wait for Clevo/Sager to give everyone guidance on how they will handle this issue.

 

So resellers don't have to spread themselves thin, answering questions across every owner's lounge, I made a General recall questions thread.

 

As some of you may have heard, Intel has recently announced a halt to shipments of 6 Series chipsets due to a quality concern. Sager has been working with Intel and Clevo to determine details and the timeline for a resolution of this problem. While we continue to do everything in our power to understand this issue, we have made a decision to halt shipments of 8130, 8150 and 8170 systems until we have a full grasp of the issue and a timeline for resolution. We realize this may be an inconvenience to some of our customers, but we feel it is important that we have full confidence in the product before shipping. We thank you in advance for your patience.

 

your link doesn't work, but yea, a general thread would be nice cause this topic was posted on asus threads like 3 times already xD edit - maybe a sticky in each thread to which it may concern.

 

Another vote for sticky until this thing gets resolved.

 

I've had my eye on this thread for some time, as I'm considering getting an 8170.

Just wanted to say that from a few different pages I've read about the recall, it appears to be Sandy Bridge chipsets, not CPUs. I think I would have preferred that it were the CPU, to be honest.

 

From Sager:

"As some of you may have heard, Intel has recently announced a halt to shipments of 6 Series chipsets due to a quality concern. Sager has been working with Intel and Clevo to determine details and the timeline for a resolution of this problem. For those of you with units containing these chips (8130, 8150 and 8170 systems), we want to insure you that we are endeavoring to reach a resolution quickly. We will keep you informed of developments as we learn more. We thank you in advance for your patience."