Sager NP5165 user review

i received my NP5165 on august 3, ordered on july 21, and it's fantastic.
i took the base build with a cpu upgrade to the i7-2630qm and the IC diamond thermal compound for cpu + gpu.

it was ready to go from the box, i just updated the nvidia driver. the windows experience index gives it:
cpu: 7.4
ram: 5.9
aero graphics: 5.9
gaming graphics: 6.8
HDD: 5.9

so far i played League of Legends at max graphics, at 1080p getting at least 100fps (with shadows off). i have starcraft 2 on ultra at 900p getting 50 fps.

this 1080p screen is absolutely huge, and the colours are very vibrant (this is with the standard screen). when i look at my pc monitor and back to this one, theres no comparison, this screen is too good.

optimus technology works great so far. i downloaded a program called speedfan 4.44 to check temperatures, and it idles at 52C, during starcraft 2 it was at 87C (i only played one game, it was like 9 minutes real time). i have the laptop on a wooden desk, and it has small pegs on the bottom to keep it elevated.

heating hasn't been an issue at all, the palm rest gets warm at most, and heat is only noticeable if you put your hand on the left side of the laptop (that's where the vent is) or on the bottom of it.

i really like the keyboard of this laptop, the buttons actually have depth to them and they push in and snap back very nicely when pressed. to compensate for the depth, the keyboard part of the laptop is slightly depressed (this is so the screen doesn't touch the keys when it's closed)

so far there isn't anything that i don't like about it. i will be using this laptop for university in the fall, so i will have to experiment with the battery life. i also didn't get a chance to really use the speakers on the laptop, since i have good headphones. I will try to update this post if i get a chance to check these things out tomorrow (it's late and i don't want to wake everyone up with sounds of gunshots and explosions lol).

i was deciding between this laptop and the sager np8130, but now that i have this one in my hands, the performance is excellent and to me the gtx 560m card on the sager np8130 is not worth the extra $200.

this is my first review so if im missing anything let me know, or if you have any questions i'd be more than happy to answer them


Now that I've had it for a while, I use it regularly for school and the battery life is about 4 hours. This is with brightness lowest, force UMA mode, and wifi off, with a word document running and the odd pdf file.

Some things I have noticed:
The screen doesn't actually close, instead the little bumps on the monitor allow for a little bit of air to get in. This allows for a lot of lint to get stuck to the screen which can be annoying (it's either from that or the screen is getting it from the air.
After typing for a while, the keys can get dirt on them (or is it dead skin buildup?), which is normal, but I can see that it also happens to the touchpad.
The touchpad doesn't really feel nice, kind of like wood (you can feel the friction)
The sound is not good, the speakers have a hard time getting the sound to your ears (since the speakers are actually at the bottom of the laptop), but this is more noticeable when you are watching a movie with someone or from a distance. Now if you are sitting close to it, then the volume is fine, but the speakers sound kind of tinny. Then again, it's a laptop so you can't really expect to have good base. I use headphones or speakers, rarely the laptop speakers.
Other than that, it's not bad at all. It's pretty light; when I have it in my backpack it is not a burden to carry (first time I went to school with it I thought I forgot to bring it because my bag was so light lol)

 

i'm looking at the same lappy, but i can't find any pics or videos of it online?
u think u could snap some photos of it?
also do u think it's "thin+light"? or is it kinda brick-ish

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/7581813-post4.html

 

it's actually pretty light. when i first picked it up i was surprised. I compared it to my sister's older asus 15.6 laptop, and it's the same length, but this one is shorter in width, making it look more wide-screen

 

I've been living a hole for over six months now. How does the GPU in the NP5165 compare to the NP8130?

I'm even thinking of just getting a used NP8690 to save some bucks.

I'm thinking of playing games like AC Revelations when it comes out.

I did a search on raw numbers - http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

What I would like to know is the actual user experience with this notebook.

 

Here's a comparison of the FPS obtained by the 555M and 560M at various detail levels for various games.

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

the GT 555m is, so far, the latest of the GT class cards, and the GTX 560m is a fairly recent GTX class card. the the 560m is much better than the 555m.

looking at the system requirements for AC Revelations, it requires GeForce GTS 250, so either of these cards will be able to handle it. I saw the video card on the NP8690, and it's a GTX280m, which is actually better than the GT555m.

i think you should try to find a used NP8690 that's in good condition, since you're trying to save money, and if not then get the NP5165. The NP5165 that I have plays games great, so i imagine that the NP8690 would be even better.

 

Thanks! Those 8690s still sell for pretty pennies.