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

htwingnut -> Im planning to order from XoticPC, Sager NP8170 and i have a question to you about shipping. As you mentioned you live in Egypt. My situation is that i live in Europe(Poland) and i want to ask about taxes. What was the cost of yours ordering laptop and how much you paid for extra costs like shipping via UPS, taxes and etc. If you will be so kind to write details about it i'll be glad Becouse im just one step before to order this laptop from XoticPC.

P.S One more thing can you explain in some words about fans installed in this Sager. I know that you wrote before that they are quite quiet but i will be some times working on some animation/3d rendering at night and i don't want to wake my wife when she is sleeping

Thx in advance and thanks for great review and photos.

 

Lol, I am pretty sure he was joking when he said he lived in Egypt.

And the fans are fine as long as you don't enable the fans on full speed with the fn combo.

 

So if htwingnut is from USA maybe nobody knows some details about shipping (including taxes, etc.) to another continent like Europe ?
On XoticPC website I customized NP8170 and UPS International cost is 249$ question is what it include also VAT or only shipping :/ ?

 

LightningPL, when your package arrives you should pay 23% (current VAT in Poland) of your 'laptop + shipping' total cost. And of course there might be some other duties and fees.

Check FAQ at xoticpc website for more information.

 

Thx letmeknov for explanation. Maybe ill try find some friends in USA and they can figure out something, or some friends in my country travelling sometimes to USA. I'll not pay more than 1/5 price of laptop to my government for sure. For sure I need to talk with XoticPC on livechat :/

 

Dont worry TearTaker, the whole palmrest/touchpad is brushed aluminum. There is no rubberized finish on the P170. It is on of the biggest reasons I like this machine so much.

 

Yes, all brushed aluminum. The rubber coating is throughout the NP8150 15" laptop.

Sorry, yeah I was kidding because someone said they wanted to ninja (take) my laptop, so I just made up some place furthest from my home, and Egypt was top of mind because of all the shenanigans going on there.

I have the GTX 485m, so not sure if fans will run as frequently or as hard as with a lesser video card, but in idle my fans rev up and down periodically but it's not too loud, but would be noticeable in a quiet environment, although not that loud that it would wake someone.

 

Ah, good. Thanks for the confirmation, Marvin and wingnut.

 

I just realized there are no dedicated volume/mute buttons. This really bums me out. Are any of those function keys "mute"?

 

Fn + F3 = Mute
Fn + F5 = Vol Down
Fn + F6 = Vol Up

What I don't like is Fn + F4 is sleep, and if you're just wanting to hit mute or volume down you can accidentally hit the sleep key.

 

I think what he means is that you might accidentally hit Alt+F4

 

Is there a way to reverse these functions in the BIOS? To make the Fn keys dedicated to media functions?

I know that on HPs people hated that the Fn buttons had media functions so they made it back to Fn functions (when you changed volume on the Fn keys, if anything was fullscreen, like a game, it would be minimized).

 

There is a freeware app called KeyTweak i used on my Sager 8760 that lets you remap keys so i remapped the Volume Up and Down to the +/- keys on the numpad and it worked great ..

Runs at startup as well so its there all the time..

The whole function key thing was terrible for controlling the volume and i had the exact same problem of accidentally hitting the wrong key and putting my machine to sleep..

 

Nope, the fn+f4 is the sleep key.

fn+f1 - touchpad on/off
fn+f2 - LCD Display on/off
fn+f3 - mute/unmute
fn+f4 - sleep mode
fn+f5 - volume down
fn+f6 - volume up
fn+f7 - display toggle(external)
fn+f8 - brightness down
fn+f9 - brightness up
fn+f10 - webcam
fn+f11 - wifi
fn+f12 - BT

 

It's weird that they separated the volume keys like that.

 

Don't forget Fn + 1 (the number one "1" above "Q" and *NOT* F1) will turn fans on full blast.

No way to change media keys to default in the BIOS either. Which is odd, because on my Dell Mini it defaults to media keys but you can change that in the BIOS.

 

re the Fn+F4 thing, if you don't use the sleep function, just set the sleep button to 'do nothing' in windows power options...It'll still go to sleep if you shut the lid.

 

Yep that was a must have back in the Days when i had my 870CU that app makes my life easier

 

I was sooo close to buying a 7280 this weekend because I don't want to wait another two months for this thing to get here, but I couldn't do it. I guess I just want the 8170 too much.

 

Thanks, that is information that I was looking for everywhere. I almost bought the Asus G73 as I have heard that it was relatively quiet. But then I read about the NP8170 and got interested. I would have ordered it already, but I was worried about the fan noise. So, from what I understand that even on idle the fan would not be constant (which could add to annoyance). Is there are means to control that?
I know it is highly subjective but does the noise have a rather high frequency (which I find more annoying), or is it more low pitched?
Also another stupid question, if I ordered one with only one HDD would it come with another HDD bracket to allow manual installation of another harddrive? I am pretty sure I read that somewhere, but am unable to dig up the post again.
And finally, is there any difference between the resellers? In this forum I read mostly positive things about XoticPC, Gentech, Malibal and Powernotebooks. They appear to all sell basically at the same price range.

Thanks for putting up with all those question!

 

From what I've seen, the price doesn't vary much wherever you go (if any). I think that certain items (like replacing your LCD with a better matte or glossy version) may be cheaper at different resellers, but not normal Sager options. I have had a wonderful experience with XoticPC, but others on here have bought from mythlogic, MALIBAL, PNB and LPC-Digital, pretty much all with positive experiences.

 

Yes, if you only purchase one hard drive in the 8170 / P170HM you will get the bracket for the 2nd Hard Drive.

 

Hi,
I've a little question about this computer.
I've read that there was no optimus technology but could I desactive the Geforce card to use only the integrated intel graphic chipset on battery to have a better autonomy?
Thanks !

 

As far as I know this isn't possible. I believe that there are no connections between the IGP and the screen, etc... If this was possible there would be a lot more discussion about it and so far nothing.

 

Not possible, IGP is not activated on these models.

 

If both laptops were available right now, the one you would buy is the one you should be getting in my opinion. I was also tempted to buy the 7280 but realised it was only about my impatience. Also we would miss out on longer battery times, a lighter weight and all of the other improvements the next gen brings with it.

 

Yeah, I am looking forward to those improvements, which I think is why I waited. Battery life and weight, while awesome on this machine, aren't TOO important to me, although they do matter. Honestly, I think it was the fact that performance on the 8170 is going to be right around what I would get with the 7280, but the 8170 is so much cheaper AND has everything you were talking about. If the 7280 was a whole lot better performance wise I might have done it. However, after reading all the benchmarks and reviews, they aren't that far apart (or apart at all, depending on what processor you get in the 7280). I would want to shoot myself in two months knowing that I could have the performance of the 7280 in something that is much smaller, has a MUCH smaller brick, has better battery life, runs cooler, is WAY cheaper, etc. Also (and this may be unfounded) getting the desktop processor, desktop memory, etc in a mobile form factor scares me. I would be afraid that it wouldn't last as long.

 

Any news on when the resellers are going to get the new chips and start sending them out?

 

The information below is still on track...

"We estimate that we will resume limited quantity shipment of Sager models NP5160, NP5170, NP8130, NP8150, and NP8170 in the middle of March 2011. Stabilization of shipment for all models should occur by the end of April 2011."
_

 

Although I have a 8170 right now, my question to resellers is should I wait for the 6970m to upgrade or should I pull the trigger on a 485m upgrade? It's been bugging me for awhile

 

If you pull the trigger now on the nVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M w/2.0GB GDDR5, and later you find out you would have rather gone for the 6970M, how will that make you feel?

 

Lol, paladin the pshychologist!
Very sound question as that is why I am waiting for everything to release so I don't feel bad if something better happens to come out.

 

It's the "catch 22" for the next three months of my life... >.<

 

Put it aside, and go study. No anxiety attacks are allowed

 

I will be ordering this in May from XOTICPC:

Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM
- No Xotic PC Gear
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
- YES - Redline Boost™ Overclock
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Intel® Advanced-N 6230 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module + Blueooth
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader
- 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD
- 8,192MB DDR3 1333MHz
- nVidia GeForce GTX 470M 1,536MB
- IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM, 2.2-3.3GHz
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare

Used for 3D graphics, video transcoding, photography and F1 2010!

All for $2352 out the door. If anyone knows a cheaper place than XOTICPC, I would like to know. No California places as then I would be paying taxes.

I am soooo excited!!

 

Does anyone know the actual dimensions of the power brick, I am trying to fit the whole beast above in my favorite leather laptop case

 

I have a ASUS G73JH and I can't fit it in the leather case above. Its a great laptop, the quietest I have ever had. My wife is going to inherit it. She is using my old Toshiba P25-S609 ... 6years old!!

 

I will miss the fn+f5 key on my ASUS G73 that turns off the display completely when I want it off for the night and it is rendering complex 3D picture

 

Has this too

 

DAMN! If i only learned how to read

 

To answer your other question, rsdunphy, if the G73 brick doesn't fit, neither will this one. Sorry.

 

Here you go: 8170 / P170HM - 4 x 8.5 x 19.5 (CM) 2.16 LB

 

Awesome, thanks for the info

 

And also,
Awesome, thanks for the info

 

Sweet, the power brick will fit! It is 190mm vs 160 for the G73 brick. same width and height. Now I can have the new Sager in the coolest laptop bag. I will now not look "geek", however, I WILL be packin "geek"

 

Origin PC has the 6970M listed in the tech specs for their new eon 15-s and eon 17-s (you can't yet configure that option) hopefully it is a sign that the card will be widely available soon!

 

I just read that Eurocom will release a new notebook "panther 2.0" feature a GTX570m.
BTO europe will also offer gtx570m cards with the Clevo p170hm.
you guy's know any more about this card?

 

So after flipping between all of the different laptops I am now on this one. I want something upgradeable in the future, not flashy yet with great performance. I really am not sure on teh 80% screen but I have a macbook pro 17" from 2009 and love it and I would hate to lose that quality. I was wondering how this 90% screen matches up. I think I am going to do the 2630 cpu and the 470 w/ the 220 glossy 90%. I just want to make sure this will last me for some time in the gaming world. (I am still using a xps410 desktop w/ a 9800 GT to game on right now). Then again drop the screen and upgrade to the 485....I will 99% of the time game on this so I need some help.

 

Depends on what's most important to you. You always have the option to upgrade your CPU and GPU later fairly easily. You can even update the LCD later if needed, it's not that hard.

For the time being the 2630QM and 470m will be adequate for current release titles. Newer games in the future, of course we don't know for certain, may require dropping detail or resolution to get decent framerates. If you want to maintain resolution and quality, get the 485m.

Or better yet wait on the 6970m from AMD as it will most likely be about $200 cheaper than the 485m and be similar performance, then you can get best of both worlds!

 

Check the screen thread in the main forums. I posed up some pictures of the screens, and some stats.