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

What about edge AA? I think there's something like that in the game to improve the foliage and stuff.

 

I was wondering about that. So everyone reporting temps near 90C need to check that they have enabled the max fan speed.

only that it won't look as good under naative res, and the framerate increases as the resolution lowers.

 

Wait, so you have to manually enable the fans to max speed when gaming?

Shouldn't they properly adjust their speed based on whatever it is that you're doing?

 

Anyone else notice the 16G 1600 RAM in Drek Alots build? I thought 8G was the max 1600 RAM that the 8170 could run.

 

Hey decayed matter....now that you've gotten a chance to play around with your PC, could you give us your overall impressions please?

Mr. Mysterious

 

I think there's a foliage AA that's added automatically at one of the very high settings....possibly post processing. The normal AA setting just affects everything that isn't foliage.

 

I'm loving it, i edited those game videos using Virtualdub and they rendered super fast. Normally a 10 minute hd video would take like 2-3 hours to render on my old 2004 desktop, here it takes 6-15 minutes.

I love the way the thing looks, very sleek and simple. At first i was a little turned off by the keyboard with the crunched layout but after a week i am definitely used to it.

The touchpad is nice enough but i will definitely geta mouse. I adjusted some settings with the mouse such as increasing the sensitivity, adding the momentum option, and widening the scroll bar location.

The default screen blows, no other way to describe it. You can mak it look passable by adjusting the nvidia control panel brightness and saturation options a bit, but even then....unless you are at the optimal view angle (which is very small), you will always have part of the screen looking washed out. I definitely wish i would've waited another month to order it with the 90% gamut screen, but meh...i'll deal with it until i can upgrade the screen myself.

Whatever default wifi card i got with it is kinda meh...it stays connected fine 2 room lengths away from my router but it seems really slow when trying to stream a 720p YT video.

Another disappointing thing is the fact you can't get 5.1 game audio through the spdif port, as the drivers don't include Dolby Digital Live or DTS decoders....there might be a software solution out there but i couldn't find one. I ordered the X-fi pro usb sound card from amazon for $65 free shipping, much cheaper than the price Xotic PC charges for it buying it through them. Hopefully that will be my gaming 5.1 sound solution i need.

Other than that, nothing much to say, its super awesome with gaming. Anything that isn't Crysis or Metro 2033 seems to run 60 fps maxed out at 1080p. Any game that comes along as demanding as Metro or Crysis you can compensate by overclocking or lowering the resolution...personally i think 900p looks great and hardly different from 1080p.

Just do yourself a favor and save up for the 90% gamut screen. When i first got this laptop and saw the washed out screen before adjusting the birghtness settings....i literally frowned

 

woohoo! My laptop is in Orlando. So close now!

 

Having said that, surely the system should keep itself cool without us having to set it on a constant max fan speed. As it stands, the max fan speed only kicks in once you go over 90C. Also, if those who say they got 75C during gameplay did so while their fan was not set to max then it suggests something is not right.

 

wow! initial impressions of my laptop that just arrived. Screen is gorgeous, I love the keyboard, bluetooth does not start at startup, sound is amazing! More later

 

Yes, it should.

Sounds like a good suggestion, for a BIOS update. Maximum fan should kick in around 80C.

 

I noticed it... lol. We'll see if it's recognized. I know the 2820QM's support the 1600Mhz speeds but as for memory cap I am not sure. I bought the 16GB as an upgrade for an AW that I canceled. So instead of letting it go to waste I sent it on to my builder.

I'll let you guys know if works.

 

I wonder if some people have different Bios versions than others. My laptop for example, when set on the standard fan speed is near silent during gaming until it reaches near its thermal limits. However, I have heard others complain about fan noise during gaming which suggests they have a different Bios that kicks in much earlier resulting in a cooler system but more noise.

Edit:

I think the key is having the option of user configurable fans. Sure I can manually put the fan on higher or leave it on for a cooler gaming experience but if I allow it to cool itself when it reaches near the thermal limit, I am looking at a nearly silent gaming experience. I almost prefer a higher temp than the loud noise which leads me back to the user configurable fans. We will keep on repeating this until Sager listens, at least they could provide some Bios options at our own risk or something.

If we could do this ourselves then we could strike a perfect balance and not risk dangerous Bios updates. I have already seen one user who bricked their laptop from doing a Bios update. Of course sometimes it is caused by user error but how many of you are perfectly relaxed about a bios update even when you know you have done everything 100% correctly

 

Hi guys! I'm from singapore and I have just ordered my NP8170 laptop from my local reseller. However, so far you guys have had more or less negative reviews on the stock screen and I'm starting to get worried. Anyway my local reseller does not provide any screen upgrading services so I'd like to know what my options are? Can I get the screen from a third party? If I can could you recommend me some good screen models?. Or does xotic pc sell their 90% gamut screen by itself? Thanks in advance!

 

I just checked Clevo's site and it says that the P170HM supports 4GB*4 which according to my math is 16GB:

CLEVO - Products

 

He meant that it says it can support 1600 speeds with only 8GB, not 1600 and 16GB.

I have the same Kingston HyperX memory and can confirm that just like in any other computer, as long as it is the same architecture you can always put faster memory in... it just defaults to the lower speed (in this case being 1333). I bought the Kingston because it was hardly more expensive and i have been burned in the past with shoddy memory sticks.

I'd like to add that the 2720 also supports the 1600 as well.

I ordered my P170HM from RJTech.com and they are great. I ordered mine on Feb 28th in the middle of the Sandy Bridge snafu and there were able to ship mine on the 14th of March, almost immediately after they received their new fixed batch of boards. I can't recommend them enough.



Clevo P170HM:
Intel Core i7-2720QM
16GB Kingston HyperX 1600
nVidia GTX 485M
Stock screen (which isn't too bad really, just vert view angles suck)
OCZ Vertex 3 240GB SSD (not installed yet, waiting for delivery. Crap drive currently in place)
Intel 6230 WiFi

 

Try messing around with SpeedFan.

 

question for the GTX 485 M users, what drivers do you use? I use the drivers downloaded from the Clevo site version 265.77.

 

I've had my Mythlogic Nyx 1711 Since April 4. Came 5 days before my birthday, and is the best present I ever gave myself.

Seriously, I love this machine.

The upgraded screen is sheer beauty, and viewing angles seem to be no problem at all. (I usually sit in a lazy-boy with my laptop on a board that spans the arms of the chair... and people can look around the edge, over the top, or over my shoulder and see the screen fine. Not scientific, but real-world convincing.) I have found that a lot of the color reproduction on my old HP dv8000 was pretty bad; even my daily web-comics are more vibrant and the colors are crisper. I'll be working on some modeling and rendering this coming week, so I will post my experiences afterward.

Out of the box, I ran Windows Experience and got this:


Mythlogic also had a nice folder on the desktop with lots of benchmarking and thermal logs. Overall, a nice set of (large, thin) mousepad and CD binder, along with printed CD Key and machine information and the install discs came with it. Lots of empty sleeves in the CD Case, so I could put my application and game DVDs in there, too.

I did go with a SLAPPA Kicken Shoulder Bag, because it fits within the restrictions of the airline I use most for carry-ons. I just took the bag (and the laptop) on a maiden voyage, a quick three day car trip. I've used a roller-style bag (monstrously big) for my HP, so I was worried that the shoulder bag would be clumsy or too heavy. Not so. I love the bag, and it has enough "extra" space that I didn't need another overnight bag for the short trip. Very solid construction, and accommodated all the extras I travel with (USB sheet/photo scanner, External HDD, Digital Camera, Headset, smart phone accessories, Diabetes blood monitoring kit) just fine, with no sagging or bulging. It has a nice padded pocket that fits my new Logitech Precision MX wireless mouse and accessories well.

I'd like to thank the guys at Mythlogic publicly, for making my shopping and purchasing experience so pleasurable. Josh, especially... If I ever get to Ann Arbor, the pizza and beer are on me! I ordered the machine during the Sandy Bridge recall, about February 5. I got constant updates from Josh, and he also let me know when the upgrade screens came available, as he knew I was into graphics work from our conversations. He even talked me out of one upgrade I thought I wanted, based on my typical use patterns and the kinds of games and apps I run. Combined with Mythlogic's four-year warranty and Phoenix Upgrade Plan, I felt very comfortable with my choice of vendor. I had heard that Mythlogic may be a bit more expensive than typical Sager dealers, but that isn't my experience. The price was very much in line with what I could find using configurators on other websites.

As for the hardware, I'll leave it to others to review the benchmarks and stuff... suffice it to say that this laptop is very solid, well built, and robust. I'll just go on record here as saying that from my end-user experience, it's a great machine, and Mythlogic is a terrific vendor. Not knocking the other fine folks who participate here, I just have first-hand impressions of the customer service and quality of the Mythlogic process.

I still get giggly when I cold-boot to a useable desktop in about 25 seconds, including my fingerprint swipe.

 

Edit:

All temps are perfectly stable now at the standard fan speed setting and during hours of GTA IV gaming, the highest temp I have seen is around 86C but today it is maxing out at 76C. I no longer get any temps of 90C. Speedfan is not running and I tested with my cooling pad fans disabled.

My reseller suggests that this was due to my thermal paste bedding. I do find even better temps by a few C when my laptop is placed on the Zalman NC3000S though, even with the fans disabled. I think it has to do with how the pad slightly elevates the back end of the laptop.

 

Here ya go: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/563089-clevo-driver-266-40-mobile-485m-480m-470m-460m-supported.html

 

has the shipment reached a saturation point? or is it still delayed? if i order now will the build date be 7 days + 2 days for shipping lets say total 10 days?

 

I order from xotic. phase 2 started on April 5. I was told estimated 6-12 business days to build. Im still waiting for status update...

 

Very excited - I ordered from XoticPC on April 6th and entered Phase 2 on the 11th (issues with my bank). My status update states that current build times are estimated at 10-15 days (not sure if that takes into account the added time for the screen upgrade):

- Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (Will add 4-7 business days to build time
- Dead Pixel Warranty: 30 Day No Dead Pixel Guarantee - Special (On any screen)
- Processor: -2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM, 2.3-3.4GHz, (32nm, 8MB L3 cache)
- Thermal Compound: - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- Graphics Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)
- External Display Video Adapters: No Video Adapter
- Ram: ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Exterior Finish: Standard Finish
- Optical Drive: ~ 6X Blue-Ray Burner/Reader / 8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- Primary Hard Drive: ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Second Hard Drive: ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Raid: HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- Additional Hard Drive in Optical Drive Bay: No Additional Hard Drive in ODD Bay - When Selecting, Optical Drive is NOT Included
- External Hard Drive (Back Up): No Back Up Hard Drive
- External USB Optical Drive: NO External USB Optical Drive
- Back Up Software: No Back Up Software
- Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Bluetooth: None Standard--
- Wireless Network: Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- Wireless Network Accessories: No Network Accessory
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- TV Tuner: No TV Tuner
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Car Adapter: No Car Adapter
- Spare AC Adapter: None Standard*
- Port Replicator / Dock / Adapters: No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Mouse / Keyboard Accessories: No External Keyboard or Mouse
- Notebook Cooler: No Notebook Cooler
- XOTIC PC Redline Boost™ Extreme Performance: No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- Operating System: No Operating System Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
- Microsoft Office Software: No Office Software
- Software Bundle (Not Installed): No Software Bundle
- Warranty: 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs
- Xotic Gear: No Xotic PC Gear

I already have a 160GB Intel 320 Series SSD and a 500GB 7200rpm Seagate hybrid drive I'll be throwing in there as soon as I get it. It's going to be quite an upgrade from my 3790...

 

Yes these have been shippng from 6-10 business days and sometimes faster if you ordered with the AMD 6970M...
_

 

Ahhh mine is set to arrive on Monday! This weekend will be sooo long. I guess I am going to get all my HW out of the way over the weekend and then just game all week.

 

Orderswith the 6970M seem to be shipping immediately. The 460M or 485M will take longer.

 

Has anyone ordered the 8170 from Xotic with the matte screen option? I'd like to know how the quality of that is.

 

My np8170 just died. Completely. No lights, no response, nothing. Out of nowhere, the thing just shut down and that was it.

Until I found some help through Google. I don't know how common this is or how widely known the solution is but I figured I'd post it just in case. The solution was the following:

1. Remove power supply
2. Remove main battery
3. Hold power button for 30 seconds
4. Reconnect power supply
5. Attempt to start
6. Reconnect main battery
7. Start!

I don't know if any of those steps were non-factors but that is what I did and it worked. If anyone has a clue as to why this happened I'd appreciate it.

EDIT: It appears that my AC adapter is dead (well hopefully). The computer works but it won't charge. Anyone have any tips for dealing with the battery beyond getting a new one?

EDIT2: Larry (babyhemi) with LPC has been emailing me back and forth while consulting with his tech. It sucks my computer isn't working right now but they are responding very well.

EDIT3: Discovered the problem, and thankfully it is with the adapter and not the computer/battery. For some reason it is barely putting out any voltage, so LPC is taking care of it. Apparently this isn't very common, just bad luck on my part.

 

Find out the ID of the screen, and I'll be able to tell you.

 

See if maybe there's a faulty connection in the laptop, where you plug in the power. I once had this problem with another laptop and bought a new adapter, only to find out it was a loose wire in the laptop itself.. It was easily fixed with some soldering.

If that's not it, get a new adapter.

 

For what it's worth, the Mythologic upgrade is to the LP173WF1-TLB1. The xoticpc upgrade is probably the same.

 

Yeah, I'm just wondering, because there's a small chance that they may have the B173HW01 V.5 Matte.

If it's the LP173WF1-TLB1, I say go with the default and buy the V.5 on your own.

 

Remember the B173HW01 V5 isn't just a V4 in matte clothing, its a totally different screen =)

 

Just ordered my NP8170 from Xotic PC, I'm excited!

just FYI, as of yesterday, due to a surplus Xotic PC is offering a free upgrade to 6 GB or 8 GB RAM!

 

Oh really. I guess I missed out on that nugget.

 

Just put order in to XoticPC delivery date 5/20
PS got the free 8Gb RAM upgrade

 

Wow, 35 days for delivery. Why so long?

 

According to them the NP8170 just went on Backorders again as of yesterday

 

Oh thought I would post a few thoughts on the 8170.

My spec was as follows : i7-2620, 8Gb, Nvidia 485m, 80Gb Intel SSD, 500Gb HDD2.

1. It starts and gets on the internet in less than a minute, about ~55 seconds from being powering on to browsing.

2. I haven't had a single problem with running any game at max settings. I've mostly played Bad Company 2 but I've run Just Cause 2, Oblivion, Assassins Creed, Crysis, CoH, DA:O, Mass Effect 2, and Red Faction without a single problem.

3. The screen is just fine, yes there can be some wash out at certain angles but what do you expect? It has never been enough to ruin the experience, if I change angles it takes 2 seconds to make an adjustment if needed.

4. No real complaints, beyond a freak AC adapter issue the 8170 has been awesome. The keys were a bit odd to get used to at first but that happens anytime you switch keyboards after using the same one for a few years.

 

55 seconds to boot on a SSD is odd unless you have a ton of stuff at startup but still it shouldn't be that long.

 

Interesting, I ordered mine 2 days ago and my order status has since changed to "Phase 2 (Sent for Custom Building / Testing / Burn In & Final QA)". They haven't given me a date to expect other than saying "Thank you for sending your payment. Your order is now approved for production at Sager. Current production times are estimated at 10-15 business days." Do you guys think that means I for sure got my order in before the back orders started?

 

Will the P170 get free multi for 2920XM like old 17" flagships?

 

I contacted XoticPC. Since they have my machine in shop, for the screen update, I am also eligible for the free 8GB Ram upgrade.

Good timing.

It's 26 30QM.

 

Wow, good deal and timing for you

 

Really? That's 55 from pushing the power button to clicking on links in Chrome. Minus the time it took me to type in my windows password.

 

I was ready to order today but Xoticpc told me about the Sager backorder and that the 90% gamut optional screen can't be covered under the 30 days no dead pixels warranty.

I asked why and they told me they only had a few screens left and some had like 1 dead pixel so they couldn't cover it if I ordered it because they're technically not perfect.

Deal breaker for me. I'm not paying extra for a screen that is not flawless especially since I'm in Canada and ordering it from the US.



In the end Mythlogic got my business and worked with me.

 

Congrats! Finally coming your way! Woot!

Just in time for me to send mine back. Grrr.

 

I have a stuck pixel, what was program to "massage" it?

 

5 Ways To Fix A Stuck Pixel On Your Screen