Novatech X50

@ Shroomy, Sorry I was talking about ONE.de who used the Vestel Top-Notch Chassis (X50) with Santa Rosa, but have now discontinued it with the JHL90 filling its place with a Monterveina platform.

@ Oiad, I have tried out an X50 at Novatech when I went last week and was on it for about an hour. I had a thorough look at it and did a lot of typing and there didn't seem to be any problems with the keyboard (as there was on the P670) and I couldnt really fault the build quality at all.

 

No Squeeky monitors or keyboards. Don't worry I already believed it and after reading what I'm about to link you all to it has only cemented these beliefs.

I've been looking into some other forums with info on the Vestal chassis. Found this interesting thread here. Good news is that the X50 'Top-Knotch' Chassis is apparently a vast improvement and that Vestal's problems are down to the fact that they're still a new company trying to find its feet. Bad news is that reading page 2 shows that yet again, Kobalt, Novatech and Rock obviously don't get along all too well.

...Not that you'd expect them to. But Novatech doesn't really come out looking good.

 

Lol... I feel sorta bad for starting that thread :S

I would say that Rock come out looking worse than Novatech

On a side note, When I was looking at the X50, I noticed that the screen was like nothing I have ever seen on a laptop before. It looked almost like the screen was mounted in the chassis, and then a thick piece of clear plastic was placed in front of it. I am not saying that this is a bad thing though - I can imagine that it would make it a lot more difficult to damage the screen and it would make it more hard wearing aswell

 

Wow Oiad, I had a nosy through that forum and it seems Rock are viewed pretty negatively, especially in henry's thread!

To be honest, Rock seem to be the worst looking, Novatech not so much!

Two more days people, two moar days! :d Henry did you pick up the X50? did it seem like a good weight for being 15.4"? the base where components are housed, would it be thicker than usual to you compared to laptops of the same size?

 

Oh yeah, Novatech weren't the worst offenders. I don't blame people for having a disliking to Rock. I've been looking into the possibility of buying a M860TU (pretty undecided what to go for still) and Rock didn't come out too well on that front either.

I'd imagine that the X50 were pretty average in size and weight for it's class. Being light, if true would be quite a bonus in tipping it in its favour when I decide what to buy.

Haha, in some ways I couldn't help it but sorry to bring it up. Though I thought it was good work. I was right though, you do pop up all over the place.

 

Erm, henry...did you use a demo X50 MV or a finished build?

Because my brother checks his Novatech account everyday and it says "not in stock", it's doubtful he'll get it tomorrow and no reviews on tuesday by moi!

Just noticed we have a Novatech subforum in this forum!

 

@Shroomy, on the Tech Pond, Rock are generally viewed badly because the Tech Pond was set up when Rock went down and so did the Rock Forum. A lot of the main people on the Tech pond migrated from the Rock Forum and had negative feelings towards Rock for shutting down the Rock Forum.

I didn't actually pick up the X50 but I would say that it is pretty slim. It is also pretty much the same thickness all the way down so is not a wedge shape like the dell XPS M1530.

@Oiad, I have decided to give Rock a clean slate for my oppinion since they got bust and got taken over. I will make up my mind if / when my machine comes back from Rock after it is picked up tomorrow

 

Ah I see, and thanks for that info!

But did the X50 MV you played with, was it a demo unit or retail ready?

 

The one I played with was a Pre-Production Sample. According to the guy at Novatech, the week before mass production starts, they do a run off of around 100 notebooks to check everything is peachy It is one of these, therefore shouldn't differ much at all to the production model, apart from possibly slightly inferior build quality.

 

Did he mention when they start to ship?

It was "released" on the 25th ffs!

 

Hmmm, I cant actually remember whether he said they had shipped yet or not :S All I remember is that he said they had 100 shipped by air for review models for maganzines a few weeks ago. I think they might have already shipped a batch, but im not sure :S

 

Oh damn, this last week and a half have took forever to go by! :F

Can't wait another week or I'll go mad! lol

 

Lol... The only reason I have to wait for a couple of weeks is because magazine reviews take priority over techpond reviews ... also the mags got there first

 

So magazines will get first, then people who ordered? if that's the case, depending on how long I'll have to wait I could easily reconsider. :/

 

Yeah, I've noticed they've moved both our thread (I say this because everyone else seems to have abandoned this subject and we're the only three still rambling on ) and the BenQ X31 thread have been moved.

Don't think we need a Novatech thread, as all the Clevo resellers will want one. Maybe a Vestal thread would make more sense if we're going by manuafcturer. I can imagine plenty of activity with that...

*there goes the rolling hay*

Just out of curiosity, which machine of theirs did you purchase?

 

No, What happens is, they order X amount of notebooks for the first batch. They ship say 50 / 100 by air so that they can get the machines tested etc. and to ship review units to magazines. The rest are shipped by sea and then arrive and are built up for customers. The magazines had their review units ages ago, probably before the release date.

 

Henry, you reckon I'll get mine next week? and I should contact one of their guys? anyone Novatech staff on NBR?

 

Wouldn't hurt if you're feeling a bit out of place with where your order is. Besides, surely it's their job to keep you updated of such things if you ask and not for them to just sit and laugh.

 

As I said, my bro checks it every morning and it's says it's not in stock, and my paitence is worn quite thin right now! >: (

 

But patience is a virtue.

 

Bah! don't lecture me on what is right and wrong silly!

Seriously though, I've nothing else to do these days, no work at all to do with this inflation and I finish early every day.

 

@shroomy , i have been following this thread for a while now, it seems that in the uk this is THE laptop to get for a 9600GT, im waiting for your review to order it, btw have you been told/does anyone know when novatech will release options like being able to choose the HDD, RAM and processor? Ive heard that they may offer these soon intead of pre configured models....
and also the only other 9600gt laptops in the near future are the JHl90 compal and the asus rock 520 right?? so its a choice between these 3 for uk customers?

 

It seems to be the best for the 9600M GT 5777, if you are looking for a good mid range gaming Laptop this is it, if you are going for high end you may look at Kobalt's Nexus or above. There is also the Zepto Nox A15 but from what I compared the X50 MV Pro is the best value for what you get as a whole, plus I can't really find anything on the Nox, and the X50 MV using the new Montevina chipset is a big plus when it comes to powerusage/battery life, which is a win for me!

I heard about being able to configure the parts individually, but personally the standard and the Pro are good enough, I went for the Pro and when you can customize your parts, it seems to be where people get ripped off!

 

good stuff, yeah i have been looking for ages for a 9600gt laptop, and the x50 seems ideal, but the tempation of the nexus is there although i would only afford the base specs (2.26 processor and 2 gig ram) cause its expensive for me , id probably upgrade it later but really i dont need the 9800gts BUT it looks quite good, anyhow....im just literally waiting for the first review just because no matter what magazines/ specs say the most reliable reviews are from people who actually have the laptop.....btw is it just me or is the novatech forum really inactive compared to nbr? i seem to get a lot more info here lol and also on techpond there are novatech reps that seem to post more there than on novatechs own forum... ah im rambling on now

 

i just configured the nox its like 100 pounds more expensive and does not look as good as the x50, btw you know whats strange... the x50 pro is a 200 gb 7200 rpm HDD right? well when you actually place an oder for it and it is in the "basket" it shows up as a 250 Gb? HDD.... i wonder if there is an error on the site...

 

Yeah the 9800M GTS looks very tempting, but to match the specs on it to the MV Pro, it's simply a waste of money at that point.

I need to PM a reviewer and get some tips on how to make a good review!

Novatech forum is dead at some points of the day, but if you post a topic you will get answered to, I did atleast! NBR is where I found out about the X50 "thanks Oiad for saving me loads! " Techpond I would consider signing up to PM the Novatech guys there, but I'll have to wait about 12 hours from now and see if my brother got it or not, because the delivery date was today "Monday 4th" but it said for him today "Not instock", which is quite irritating! Could be a fault in their order system but I'd think it would be organized!

EDIT:

I can't see any back pics of the Nox, but I wouldn't be confident guessing it's nice! 250GB HDD? if so AWESOME! does anything else change?

 

Shroomy, Post on the www.techpond.co.uk, beause there are 2 novatech reps on there. I think the ability to configure your laptop will appear in the next week or two if my memory serves There will still be the option to have pre configured models for next day delivery

Lets just say you do cancel your order with Novatech, you will have to then order from another company who are likely to build to order, therefore you will have to wait around two weeks for that to arrive, or even longer as you live in ireland. The Rock P520 isn't shipping until mid august anyway.

 

Am just thinking to do that henry!

I'll wait it out but I can't wait too long man, and it shouldn't take them any longer than 3 days to actually build it, shipping over here charges you an extra £20, when it says when you go to buy it "Free Shipping".

 

Hi. I too ordered the X50 (not pro) about a week ago and still have not received it. I contacted them today and they said they still do not have it in stock - They didn't tell me when they are expecting it to be in stock. Grrrr, I've been waiting ages! Do you think I should ask them when they expect to get some more in?

 

Oh great, that about sums it up I won't be getting mine for a good while either!

Yes you should, tbh I think I will now.

 

Often, good things are worth waiting for

 

Brilliant, it's on backorder and the date has been removed, so I've no clue now.

 

OMFG! *cries*. when wil it be in stock?! They've just bloody released it so surely it can't be long? And why don't they know lol, they're selling it! grrrrraahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The plan to hold back the stock until Nehalem arrives to make sure customers don't get the most up-to-date chipsets. That's why.

 

I PM'd kp on Techpond from Novatech, if the laptop isn't going to come in mid-august I'm canceling my order.

I don't have time to bollocks about, I'm thinking about picking up a cheap dell and putting the rest towards a good rig for gaming.

Always something that has to happen, WHY CANT ANYTHING BE SIMPLE!

 

ok, let me know what you get told! I'm fed up of waiting! I originally ordered a 5920G from amazon.co.uk on the july 17th and i was waiting for 2 weeks and in the end it didn't come! I hope this will not be the case!

 

Ok guys, my brother contacted them today and they don't know if they are being sent this week or not, they couldn't answer.

Decided now to cancel I think, not 100% sure but I'm thinking of getting a cheaper laptop and get a rig built, £500 would get you something pretty good so.

Soz guys! :F

 

Ok, thats it, I decided to build a desktop as well, already got a laptop

 

Ahh, fair-does. If a reseller can't tell you whether they've sent your purchase or not it sounds like the sign of something being covered up or for. I can see why you did it.

 

Exactly! The laptop was "released" on the 25th, yet they still don't know when it's coming out!

The sales and customer support are helpful but that doesn't mean much when you don't get what you ordered when you expected it. Oh well, I'll need to ask the "What Notebook Should I Buy?" forum yet again!

Sorry to everyone who expected me to review, but you can't blame me when they don't know when it's actually going out!

 

Shroomy,

Its a shame you have decided not to get the X50 MV,

I have just noticed your Sig, and I would recommend getting the Sorar Pro... I have used a simerlarly specced Dell 1525 which had a T2390 processor (better than the T2330) and it was SOOOOOO slow. I think the T5450 would probably be worth the extra £25

 

By the way... If all goes well I will be doing a review anyway in around 2 weeks

 

That's if they remember where the review model is.

How are you getting to review it?

My problem is with the way Novatech and ALOT of sales teams handle situations like this. The fact that they say they 'can't remember whether they sent it out' is really bad. They should keep a booking of such things. That's just a simple rule of admin.

It goes in the list of along with 'keep everything quiet and say nothing/you don't know' of things companies do to keep us calm. If anything they those things tend to freak people out more. Hence this I guess...

 

If I had more money to burn I'd probably get a gaming laptop, but I guess I'm more suited to desktop gaming!

Really? what were you exactly doing on this Dell 1525? I only expect to have Word, Windows Media Player and FireFox open at the one time!

 

Maybe you could review the Novatech Sorar instead of the X50MV?!?!

 

Haha, I guess I could, not that I'd think many would be fussed I'll keep that in mind ntdata!

 

@ Oiad, I am doing a review model for the Tech Pond forum

@ Shroomy, I was only doing the most basic things on the 1525... web browsing etc... also it seemed to take FOREVER to boot up into vista :S

 

I'm getting XP on it, but I'll talk to my brother as he's the authority you would say!

 

Ah, no, no, no! Budget notebooks are still popular! And a review with pics and stuff would be great!

 

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