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

Search feature doesn't seem to find anything.

Was the fan problem ever fixed for this laptop? Where when you restart or hibernate randomly the fans will stick to 100% and fn+1 doesn't do anything.

I posted about this a few months ago and it wasn't fixed then. Not sure if anyone knows who to talk to about getting this resolved since multiple people in this thread complained about it.

 

There was a EC/Firmware update that happened at the end of October that addresses a fan issue. Do you have this latest package on your machine?

If in doubt why not ask your dealer or reseller.
_

 

I find that using "site:forum.notebookreview.com" (sans quotes) on google before typing in your keyword works very well

 

This.

And also tapatalk rocks.



Sent from my iPhone with Tapatalk

 

Hello everyone

Finally I am able to provide a full review of my very first purchase from XoticPC. My previous computer was out dated horribly and I was looking to purchase a laptop with great capabilities of running 3D and motion design software. After long extensive hours of research here on NBR, I finally decided that a Sager Notebook would best suite my needs. It's been a little over a week since I've received my NP8170. I would like to thank Michael S., Heidi L. and Justin Nolte over @XoticPC.com as well as Larry @LPC-Digital.com for being extremely helpful, making my first purchase effortless. Michael S. was my sales consultant and ordering with him was a swift and easy breeze. He provided help with any information needed and answered all questions as quick as humanly possible. Heidi provided status/phase updates whenever I’d call to check in with XoticPC. Larry @LPC-Digital and Justin Nolte @XoticPC have provided extremely useful posts and threads ranging from tips to suggestions right here on NBR! To clarify the reason why XoticPc became my first choice; it was mainly due to Justin's signature at the time, promoting NBR member exclusive discounts and I became more satisfied with their customer service after completing the sale with Michael but if by any chance the NP8170 was on backorder at XoticPC, LPC-Digital would've been my 2nd choice.
I'm glad to have become part of the Sager family here

As for order issues, the only two problems I encountered throughout the process were based on pricing. The two issues were:

1.) The initial signature under Justins profile advertised "$180" in savings for NBR members and I assumed the amount of money I was going to be saving on my order would equal "$280" but it did not add up to this amount and here is why. XoticPC's "SAGER Sale!!! - $100 OFF When you spend $1500* " is counted towards the NBR member exclusive discount. In other words, when you are customizing your Sager NP8170 or NP8150 order at XoticPC, do NOT assume that $180(NBR discount) ALONG with XoticPC's $100 Sager Sale will apply to your order. Instead, $60 will be taken off from your order as a member exclusive discount as well as around $20 for free ground shipping given if you've selected the $100 OFF Sager Sale when you customized your order, which equals the grand total of $180. I was a bit confused at first but then understood it well so I am giving a heads up on this for first time buyers.

2.) Larry @LPC-Digital made a post about SAGER's announcement of the AMD 6990M price drop to $145.00 as an upgrade (http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...evo-p150hm-owners-lounge-414.html#post8038993) and being that my order was only on Phase 3 at the time and at Xotic PC Nebraska location, It was a no brainer to call in Xoticpc's price protection guarantee on a price match since It was listed for $245 when I ordered a week 1/2 ago. So knowing that I would be paying $100 more then I should, I went with the standard procedure and called in on this matter. I spoke with the Customer Service department and checked in on the status of my order. Secondly I knew my reason for calling in was to notify them that I over paid for a component on my order. I assumed that I spoke on this issue but in reality forgot to mention it to customer service after further investigation. So on Monday I called in and explained the situation and was told that my order had already shipped and there wasn't anything they could do to help.


So lesson learned here and hopefully no one else goes through the same thing. This is to help others before it is late.



I've broken down the review into 8 segments with some parts needing help from my fellow NP8170 owners.



1. RUNDOWN

Phase 1: (Date Ordered) Wednesday October 19, 2011

Phase 2: (Sent for Custom Building / Testing / Burn In & Final QA) Wednesday October 26, 2011

Phase 3: (From Sager to Xotic PC Nebraska location) Installation of Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) Wednesday November 2, 2011

Phase 4: (Order Shipped) Friday November 4, 2011 (standard ground UPS)

Phase 5: (Delivered) Wednesday November 9, 2011 at 5:33 P.M.

(Note) I can say :Wednesday: is now my favorite day of the week.


Details:
1 x Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM () = $1,872.00
Current Promotion SAGER Sale!!! - $100 OFF When you spend $1500* or more! (*excludes accessories, shipping, non Sager items & taxes) NP8150 & NP8170 Only - Confirmation of discount will be provided after Order Processing
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) (SKU - X1R504)
NO Monitor Calibration XOTIC PC Professional Monitor Color Calibration w/ Spyder 3 Elite
nVIDIA Wireless 3D Vision Glasses (For 3D Screens) No Spare 3D Glasses
Dead Pixel Warranty Standard Dead Pixel Policy
Processor 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 2.4-3.5GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) (SKU - S2R202)
Thermal Compound -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
Graphics Video Card ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD6990 2048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (SKU - S3R151)
External Display Video Adapters No Video Adapter
Ram 8GB - DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (Not Supported by Intel i5-2410M) - Special! (SKU - S4P369)
Branding Sager Branding
Exterior Finish Standard Finish
Primary Hard Drive 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) (SKU - S5R207)
Second Hard Drive None Standard
Raid HDD Raid Settings - OFF
Optical Drive Bay Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included) (SKU - S7R455)
Optical Drive Bay Hard Drive Caddy No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
External Hard Drive (Back Up) No Back Up Hard Drive
External USB Optical Drive NO External USB Optical Drive
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)
Back Up Software No Back Up Software
Bluetooth None Standard--
Wireless Network Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth (SKU - S8R110)
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 LIFETIME Ltd 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 (SKU - X9R009)
Outside of U.S. Shipping Coverage No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
Build Time Standard Production Time
Xotic Gear No Xotic PC Gear



2. QUESTIONS :
Here I have some questions for owners of the NP8170

a) What is the difference between NP8170 and the NP8170-S1?
b) Monitor Calibration is a feature I wanted but removed it since it requires an OS and I had already purchased my OS from a retail store. Is it recommended/possible to Color Calibrate the NP8170 ourselves w/ Spyder 3 Elite added?
c) What is latest Radeon Drivers available at the moment? I've installed the 6990m NP8170 drivers from Sager's website. For some odd reason when I install the Catalyst 11.10 drivers from AMD's website, the display seems duller and lacks brightness / Sharpness. Is there a fix for this ?
d) During the boot up of my NP8170, the Sager logo flicks twice on start up. This happens every time but I would like to know if this behavior is normal or should It be a concern?
Examples:
1. Sager Flicking #1 - Youtube

2. Sager Flicking #2 - Youtube


e) I've notice that the is some crackling audio output when playing movies or music. Is there a fix for this or is it normal? Someone mentioned it here as well on this thread: Crackling audio output - XOTICPC Forums
(PS) In reference to "Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio"
Can someone clarify if in fact the NP8170 contains an actual Creative Sound Blaster card within itself or is this Driver based only?
f) What exactly does the Touch pad driver do for this Laptop?


3. CONCERNS:
So far the concerns i have are:

• 4 noticeable dead pixels
• Low 3dMark Scores
• Dull display when using 11.10 drivers for Battlefield 3
• Quality of speakers

4. OPINION
I would like to get input from everyone on the 6990M situation? Given that I am still within the 14 day period (3 Days left, Tuesday November 22nd)..... would it be sensible to return and order the same model to receive the price difference? Or go for the NP8180 with the same configuration (excluding its dual 6990m's)?

If not then what are some laptop cooling solutions one would recommend for my NP8170 configuration based on stock oem thermal compound? What’s the best 300-500gb SSD one would recommended in terms of performance and which Ram works best with the NP8170 ( Kingston HyperX) , (Crucial Ballistix), others ?



5. PROS
These are the Pro's for me when it comes to the NP8170 based on the configuration i currently have:
Display - The 17.3 display is amazing beautiful. Although I have notice some dead pixels, I really can’t stress enough how easily the quality is noticeable from a standard 15" screen.
Battery life - @2.4ghz the battery life is incredible. The best method in getting the most from your battery is to create a separate profile using the balanced power plan template and further adjust it.
Build - I really like the style and design of the NP8170. The brushed metal look and soft keyboard makes me appreciate Sager notebooks.


6. CONS
Only con I’d mention is the fingerprint sensitive casing and quality of speakers. Nothing more.


7. CONCLUSION
I believe that the NP8170 is a great laptop for those looking for a desktop replacement or sheer power packed into a 17" notebook body. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a simple sleek designed laptop with incredible performance.


(PS) Can someone explain the reason for the Low 3dMark Scores ?
Thanks



8. PICTURES

 

Thanks for the review. I have been thinking about ordering from xoticpc and it's very helpful to read reviews from the customers. I was not aware of how the savings for NBR members worked but glad that I know now.

 

anyone? post 4348, tnx

 

Yes from the information we have at the moment you may be able to upgrade to the next gen GPU.

They will have the same form factor. A bios upgrade will be needed of course.

No info yet on the Nvidia 3D Vision 2 with the current models yet. Sorry.

 

The 3D vision 2 glasses are already compatible and a 120Hz Lightboost panel (LG?) swap may work with the current 3D model.
But then again it needs some extra watts and XTU was already disabled on the P170HM3 because of stability issues...
Anyway...if someone knows how to get hold of one of those 120Hz Lighboost panels, that Toshiba is using right now, then i am happy to try it on my P170HM3...

BTW, a quote from a mod@Nvidia Forums: "The 3D LightBoost benefits in notebooks is a little less than Desktop monitors though."

 

Just got mine yesterday. Installed my 128gb crucial m4 and put my 500gb 7200 rpm drive in as a backup. Was pretty easy even though I am not good with hardware!

Anyway it's working great so far. Booting up in 15 seconds is pretty awesome (I have a 256 gb crucial m4 too waiting to go in my desktop). I'm downloading BF3 as we speak, will post some results (with my specs) when I have a chance to try it out!

 

Anyone else experiencing the Sager logo flicking twice on start up?

 

...those are very high temps? Take a look at the end of page 435 for very high temps.

 

Prema, bebyhemi

thanks a lot for sharing)

 

I have not seen this reported for this model yet.

We can check with Sager on Monday about this.
_

 

Found them and ran them. Fixed my fan issues.

Last problem. Windows sits at a black screen with the little white cursor that blinks until I pull out my USB devices from the USB 3.0 slots. For instance, my phone or my USB flash drive. Not sure if it's trying to boot from them and that's why it sits there until I pull them out or something else? How do I make it just boot even if something is plugged into the USB 3.0 ports?

 

^^change the boot order in setup, so that the hard disk (c:?) is before the usb drive?

 

I just received my NP8170 w/ NTSC 90% a couple of days ago from LPC-Digital and there is no flicker in the screen.

This system is awesome! I will be doing a review w/in the week.

 

Thanks babyhemi. Here's 2 examples of what happens during boot up:

1. Sager Flicking #1 - Youtube


2. Sager Flicking #2 - Youtube

 

I have this very same flicker since it was new. There has not been any problem at all with mine. I figure the flicker was normal and the laptop never has had any problem. The only problem was when I dual booted into Linux and made a "small" mistake on drive mapping and blew it up!

 

My logo screen flickers too. Windows also flickers too when loading. I guess it's normal.

 

I've been thinking of getting an NP8170 as a Christmas present for myself and this thread has been very informative. Thanks to all.

 

Thank you rsdunphy & bgstan for the info! Let us all wait to hear what Sager or Xotic makes of this common issue.



I do apologize if I am being picky on certain details with this purchase(as my 14 day trial window is closing). I just would like to be sure that the build quality and standards are up to par (which we are to expect for the price we're paying) and hope that these companies are aware of common problems before shipping orders to loyal customers.

My biggest and most disturbed issue by far deals with the Build quality of the speakers. Unless I have a defective model , I cannot seem to understand why would Sager use such bad speakers for a well high end advanced system. The output of audio through the speakers give horrible distortion/crackling sounds for all media types I play. Video, music, games and even Skype conference calls all perform the same. Seems like I am not alone on this issue as a user by the name of Wallzii opened a thread on the same issue.

Finally, I could not take it any longer and decided to record a conference call I had with a colleague of mine. If anyone can verify that this indeed is considered normal, please reply.
Thanks


Listen here: XoticPC NP8170 Crackling output(Speakers Example)



More of Wallzii's thread can be read on:

NBR: Crackling audio output thread

XoticPC: Crackling audio output thread

.

 

Greetings, fellow NBR members!

I have a quick question regarding a P170HM laptop (Schenker XMG P701 PRO).

I am about to purchase this laptop from eBay. The seller provides a very thorough and excellent communication, but what worries me is that he bought the laptop in March 2011, and it has an i7-2630QM CPU.

What are the chances that it features the faulty Cougar Point chipset that forced Intel and vendors to recall certain models due to SATA management issues?

 

My screen does the double Sager flicker as well. I figured it's normal. I was going to turn off that boot screen and switch it to the more detailed bootup screen (one that shows the memory test, bios, & HD info). I think I saw a setting in the bios for this.

 

Ask him to run CPU-Z and look under "Mainboard" "Southbridge Rev". it should show "B3" to be the fixed revision.

 

Outstanding! Will do so...

Thank you.

 

Crackling audio is definitely not normal. The other cases I've seen have been due to shielding issues most of the time. I'd say contact your retailer about it and see what they can do for you

 

After much fiddling with the THX and Realtec settings, I have very acceptable sound from my speakers. I have never had a laptop, no matter how much I spent, to have great speakers. My G73 sound is good but not load enough. With the 8170, I have much louder speakers. I also found that the video player I use (media player classic), there is a setting to use surround sound or something like that and it made the sound much better and somewhat deeper. As for this laptop, I paid around $3k and never have looked back. I never had a Sager before but have always looked at them. This by far is my favorite laptop ever (I have had around nine) and I am never looking back. This is my last laptop, my next geek toy will be a 12" tablet running Windows 8. The boys at XoTic (is XoTic planning on selling tablets?) made the purchase a pleasure even though I had to wait for the Intel chip fix. Compared to my G73, this laptop is tiny and soooo much power!!!!

On a fun note:

I put the laptop outside this morning when it was 6 degrees C. Then hit FN+1 and look at these temps. Wish they would stay this cold all the time.

 

Well, not wanting to pay the $80 Amazon price for a refurb, I ordered one each of these for under $20 total - with shipping:

RC6 Microsoft MCE Remote Control for Windows 7 Vista XP | eBay
New HP Remote Control for Microsoft Media Center RC6 IR | eBay

Both arrived in just over two weeks, and both worked perfectly without any additional configuration required. Just pop in two AA batteries and enjoy. The key is to look for an RC6 IR remote. Microsoft, Dell and HP all have inexpensive options available out there. I must say that I'm quite happy with the setup now. Resellers might want to consider including an option for a remote when ordering a new system as well.....

 

Hey there! Another happy Sager NP8170 user reporting!

Here's what I picked:
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5 Video Memory
2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Processor ( 6MB L3 Cache, 2.00GHz)
Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 2 X 4GB
500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module

Just a quick question for now, what kind of accessories MUST I get with my laptop (my first by the way)? One thing for sure, those matte screen protectors look good...

Thanks!

 

I'd only recommend two necessary things:

1) Backpack/carry bag
2) External mouse

Some other things that might be useful depending on your circumstances:

1) Wireless Keyboard
2) Laptop Sleeve
3) External monitor (second display)
4) Headphones/headset

It really depends on your usage and how portable you want to be (and how much you want to protect your machine). I personally keep mine in a padded sleeve and carry it around in a heavily padded laptop backpack. A good wireless gaming mouse is almost a requirement too.

 

I got a free Dicota backpack from Sager and am using my Kane's Wrath Deathadder, so the must-haves are more or less settled.

As for the rest, I will be going for the laptop sleeve and headphones first, which will be interesting cos' I am not sure whether I can get that big of a laptop sleeve and for headphones I am quite specific (need it to work with my handphone, wireless/bluetooth, remote etc).

Another thing is that I keep seeing people having a silicon cover over their laptop keyboards; is that neccessary?

Also, I want to protect the back of the screen (part that has the branding), how do I go about doing it?

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't worry about the keyboard. As far as I am aware, there isn't a silicone cover for them yet anyway, so you'd have to look for a generic. But they wouldn't protect it completely if you spilled something anyway. Dust and whatnot cleans out of the keyboard with just a cloth

To protect the back you may want to look for a clear skin or piece of vinyl. Others might have better ideas for that though.

 

Hi,

I was wondering whether the P170HM FireWire port is FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394a) and whether it supplies power? I'd be connecting a Canopus ADVC-110 unit to the laptop and without a powered FireWire port I'd need to buy an additional power adapter.

Cheers

 

This model has one Mini-IEEE1394a Port. It is not powered though. Sorry.
_

 

Thanks for the answer, babyhemi.

 

I am not sure; heard that they do it to protect the screen from the keyboard.

As for the back, any good recommendations?

 

:confused2: Still haven't heard back from XoticPc nor Sager. It seems like the issue is coming from the left speaker only as the right speaker sounds normal. Any idea if this can be solved alone via diagram? This long "wait" isn't working.

With low volume you can hear the distortion as well. Sounds like a bit of screeching noise.

Low volume test: XoticPC NP8170 Crackling output(Speakers Example)

 

Sounds like you should send it down; I don't think we can hear the problem if our speakers are working...

 

I also had this problem. They said it was unusual but possible to have blown speakers. I guess we are seeing more numbers now. I also got the laptop from one of the resellers here. The resolution was to send back the whole unit to Sager and have it fix there. Kinda disappointing too, and I definitely agree with you with the high price for this things, they should have prolly check evrything before sending..

 

Mine was the right speaker near the monitor. Try to run test through configure in that way you could localize each speaker.

 

totally agree with you. I'm avoiding using the speakers for now and only headphones. Hopefully they'll answer back.

 

I just got my NP8170 and its great, but I am having a very unexpected problem.

I am currently using a wired mouse which is working great, but I also have a wireless mouse that I love to use, unfortunately, the usb transceiver does not fit in any of the usb 2.0 ports. Oddly enough, it does fit in the usb 3.0.

I then thought it was the usb transceiver, but I have two other laptops and 2 other desktops and the transceiver fits in every single one of the laptops and desktops.

Has anyone experienced this problem with the usb 2.0? Any advice?

EDIT: I have the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500

 

Hey everyone,

I am interested in a Clevo P170HM, I wanted to know if they are still shipping with the HannStar defualt panel? I have heard really bad things about the LG one they were using...

Thanks again
-Tim

 

Yes as of late the HannStar is the one shipping at the Sager factory for this model . A very nice stock screen!
_

 

Ok, sweet. So it doesnt matter what reseller, even if the reseller is branding it as its own. Wouldnt it ship from Clevo actually ? Or do they go to Sager after Clevo and then to resellers. I only bring this up, because the place I was looking at ordering from, doesnt mention Sager, Just Clevo P170HM. (Even tho, there one in the same, I think)

Just want to make sure for the most part they all have the same stock/defualt screen.

 

It may be that some dealers / resellers are not shipping this HannStar screen with this model.

If your reseller uses the SAGER factory for the build, then this should be the screen that would ship. Check with your dealer.

-

 

Ok, I will check with them. I was talking about Pro-Star, they seem to have the best price when compared to the others, plus free shipping. But they use a Clevo shell, witch I am not sure if its totally the same as the Sager shell, and if it would also have the HannStar base screen. If anyone knows, let me know.

Thank you
-Tim

 

Yes Sager and Prostar get the same shipments in from Clevo. They are only 1 block away from each other in the LA area.
_

 

Niceee...Thanks for the info...I will ask them about the stock panel anyways, just to make sure. I have heard very good things about the HannStar screen, and recetely the 90% gamut screen has gone awol... from sager and pro-star. Must be out of stock.