Quick Notebook Review for Newcomers. (If you own it Pls grade/Rate it)

I was thinking our posts on the OCZ category are very spread out trough many threads. So I was thinking we can have our own reviews for newcomers, make stuff easier to find and give them an overall picture. Basically its a multi-question post based on some preset answers (1-10) and an overall pros cons category. I'll tally up the scores weekly and average the system (OCZ Whitebook) score as well as rate the sellers. Please copy and paste question format as follows ( Replace the things in red, add any side comments on the Pros and Cons section. Also don't skip questions at final averages will not be representative.):

RATE THE COMPUTER
Aesthetics: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Portability: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Upgradability: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Performance: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Sturdiness: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Screen: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Brightness: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Clearness: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Drivers: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Graphics Card: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Integrated Camera: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Fingerprint Reader: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Wireless: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Keyboard: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Mouse pad: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Speakers: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Heat output: (Rate 1-10. 10 meaning its cool, 1 meaning you can use it as a portable stove)
Battery Life: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Upkeep: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)(cleaning fingerprints and such)

RATE THE SELLER
Who did you get your system from: (Name the Supplier)
Support: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Customer Service: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Sales Department: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Price tag: (How much did you pay)
Warranty Plan: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Website Design: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)
Website Friendliness: (Rate 1-10. 10 being the best, 1 the worst)

PROS:

CONS:

AVERAGES AS OF 12/19/2008

RATE THE COMPUTER
Aesthetics: 9.4375
Portability:9.25
Upgradability:9.5
Performance:10
Sturdiness:9.75
Screen:10
Brightness:10
Clearness:10
Drivers:8
Graphics Card:9.9725
Integrated Camera:8.5
Fingerprint Reader:8.75
Wireless:10
Keyboard:10
Mouse pad:8.75
Speakers:8.75
Heat output:9.25
Battery Life: 9.75
Upkeep: 6.625

RATE THE SELLER
Who did you get your system from:.Xotic..DSS..RKC
Support:.....................................10.....10.....10
Customer Service:........................10.....10.....10
Sales Department:........................10.....10.....10
Price tag: Average 2560 USD
Warranty Plan:.............................10......8.....10
Website Design:...........................10......9......9
Website Friendliness:....................10.....10.....10

 

That is actually a really good idea, so many comments and debating spread all over the forum will only confuse people who are deciding on what laptop they should buy, I have something else to suggest:

How about this thread is used for discussion (formal and educated discussion, no flaming nor "siding") and at the end, from the data collected here an official OCZ Whitebook review is made and prompted for the Notebook Database? That would make things even easier.

 

RATE THE COMPUTER
Aesthetics: Meaning the appearance of the notebook, right? 10
Portability:8
Upgradability:8
Performance:10
Sturdiness:10
Screen:10
Brightness:10
Clearness:10
Drivers:7 (explained below)
Graphics Card:10
Integrated Camera:8?
Fingerprint Reader:10
Wireless:10
Keyboard:10
Mouse pad:8
Speakers:8
Heat output:9
Battery Life:9 (If you are even look at this notebook you shouldn't really be concerned about battery life)
Upkeep: 5 (As I note below, fingerprints are a big problem)

RATE THE SELLER
Who did you get your system from: Xotic
Support: 10
Customer Service:10
Sales Department:10
Price tag: $3280 including shipping
Warranty Plan:10 (3yr complete care included in base price)
Website Design:10
Website Friendliness:10

PROS:
Easy access to most components.

Potential for possible upgrades in the future, like the 4870.

No flex or give to the hinges for the display.

Keyboard is very nice, the keys feel sturdy and well made when pushed down.

CONS:
No official support for the mobile 3870 yet so the true performance of the cards in unknown at this point.

The finish is a fingerprint magnet. In the right light, they are hard to see though.

USB Ports upside down.

NOTE:
I have used the camera about once.

 

Your guide is confusing some rating are from 1-5 and some from 1-10 you need to make it all the same format IMO.

 

Thats what I was thinking too. Everything should be on the same scale.

 

For all purposes rate on a scale of 1-10. I'll edit it later on. (post has been edited)

Also Aeris I agree with your opinion though any form of discussion is bound to bring in some flaming. Hence the Pros Cons Section. Pls try to keep main discussion to a minimum as this post should only contain questions from new commers and answers/rating from users.

Luthi3n do you mind re posting on a scale of 1-10.

Hoping this post might become a sticky at some point in time.. I'll tally up the scores on Monday nights and average them. To get a representative review. Pros and cons will remain on your posts so users will have to scroll through to see these. But an overall average will appear on the first post.

Thanks and sorry for the confusion.

P.S. Aesthetics are the looks/appearance of the notebook

Edit-Thanks Luthi3n.
I'll grade mine when I get it on Wednesday next week.

 

Aesthetics: 9
Portability:10 (very portable for a notebook with two 256 bit GPUs, though I'm a big guy myself)
Upgradability: 10 (2x MXM modules, DDR3)
Performance: 10 (considering how much I spent on it)
Sturdiness: 9 (optical drive makes a bit of noise when palm is not above area)
Screen: 10
Brightness: 10
Clearness: 10
Drivers: 5 (namely for the GPUs in terms of driver support)
Graphics Card:10 (E-wrecked's 8.12 custom drivers shows what these cards are capable of)
Integrated Camera:7 (a bit choppy and considerable motion lag, but I don't use it much)
Fingerprint Reader:6 (I had trouble installing the drivers and using it)
Wireless:10 (very good range)
Keyboard:10 (soft, yet no major flex)
Mouse pad:7
Speakers:8 (good system overall, nothing phenomenal over other notebooks I've owned)
Heat output:8 (a small improvement over my former Alienware M9750 considering the Alienware was .2 inches thinner)
Battery Life: 10 (Windows reported 3hrs, 10 minutes after I manually downclocked the processors, which is darn impressive for a gaming notebook)
Upkeep:4 (unless you have an Alienware M17 or if you are a neat freak, you'll best be served by buying a cleaning kit and using it weekly. I find it annoying.)

RATE THE SELLER
Who did you get your system from: Dark Smiley Systems
Support:10
Customer Service:10
Sales Department:10
Price tag: $2050 (with HDs and OS, $2450)
Warranty Plan:10 (consider warranty for barebone systems)
Website Design:9 (very professional looking compared to other sites in the same business)
Website Friendliness:10

PROS:

- Upgradeability
- Design is very flexible and moddable (see what I did with my lid), mostly due to interchangeable parts between the Alienware M97xx
- Excellent performance/price
- Backlit keyboard
- Built-in IR (works with any RC6 certified remote)

CONS:

- Lack of active driver support for GPUs
- USB ports are upside down
- Fingerprint magnet
- Has room for a third Mini PCI-e port, but only has two
- No official Internal TV tuner support/option like its predecessor

 

Pls note scores were averaged tonight 19/Dec/2008 These scores can be seen on the first page of the thread.

Next Average will be on Monday December 22nd, 2008

Happy Reviewing

 

RATE THE COMPUTER
Aesthetics: 9
Portability:9
Upgradability:10
Performance:10+
Sturdiness:10
Screen:10+
Brightness:10+
Clearness:10+
Drivers:10+++ The Best Driver Support! GPU drivers available immediatly!
Graphics Card:10
Integrated Camera:9
Fingerprint Reader:9
Wireless:10
Keyboard:10+++++++++
Mouse pad:10
Speakers:9
Heat output:10
Battery Life:10- For the hardware in this chassis, battery life is excellent!
Upkeep: 8

RATE THE SELLER
Who did you get your system from: RK Computers: http://www.rkcomputer.net
Support: 10++++++ Awesome support- GPU Drivers available Immediatly!
Customer Service:10+++
Sales Department:10+++
Price tag: $2850.00
Warranty Plan:10 (3 Year Warranty)
Website Design:9
Website Friendliness:10

PROS:RK Computers is on the ball! They have had every release of the 3870 ATI driver available within days of it's release. When they posted the 8.11 driver on their site i called and told them i had scaling issues with the initial release of their driver. The next day they resolved the issue and the new driver was available for download on their website (Problem Fixed!).

All the drivers they supply are current and constantly being updated. They also have all the drivers and instructions to install XP On their DVD for this model. OCZ will not even do this for you!!!!!!!!!!!


CONS:None to date, this machine is the best i ever bought. The support from RK is the absolute BEST!

 

Edited my post. Added a rating to the warranty that I forgot to add before.

 

Luthi3n included your score for warranty on the score.

IDOXLR8. Would you mind putting a rating on your warranty plan, so that I can include it under the RKC ratings.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention that I changed in my last post.

Website Design:10
Website Friendliness:10

I had previously rated them on a 1-5 scale so I changed it to a 1-10 scale like the rest.

I also adjusted my battery life rating too. I figured, for the hardware this thing has and that it is a gaming laptop, the life is pretty good. If you are even look at this notebook you shouldn't be too worried about battery life.

P.S. Sorry for all the changes

 

Changes Done

 

RATE THE COMPUTER
Aesthetics: 9.75 - Not a fan of the fingerprints, but guess they're *my* fault
Portability: 10
Upgradability: 10
Performance: 10 considering cost vs. value
Sturdiness: 10
Screen: 10
Brightness: 10
Clearness: 10
Drivers: 10 - considering I modded 'em
Graphics Card: 9.89
Integrated Camera: 10
Fingerprint Reader: 10 - works well, software isn't great though
Wireless: 10
Keyboard: 10
Mouse pad: 10
Speakers: 10 - GREAT!
Heat output: 10 - runs cool compared to my 17" HP DV9700 with only one GPU
Battery Life: 10 when plugged in.
Upkeep: See aesthetics - 9.5

RATE THE SELLER
Who did you get your system from: XoticPC - http://www.xoticpc.com
Support: 10 - phenomenal RMA turnaround time.
Customer Service: 10+ see Support
Sales Department: 10 - Thanks guys
Price tag: $1780 shipped overnight. Then threw down another $280 for Blu-ray - Mind you, I had the CPU, HDDS, and RAM already.
Warranty Plan: 10 - RMA sent out by me on a Tuesday and received new system by that same Saturday.
Website Design: 10 simplicity is often the key to success
Website Friendliness: 10

PROS:
Love the rig.. it's hands down the best value for what it costs. For 2k you can compete with $4k-5k systems..AND WIN! Overall, I could only be happier with 4870s in Crossfire..but wouldn't we all?

CONS:
No 4870s in Crossfire..yet! No Cons, in my opinion.


I vote for sticky. This should be at the top of our OCZ forum.

 

E-Wrecked 10 Means it doesn't get too hot, 1 means you can cook on your notebook.

 

noted..and edited

 

Edited on main post to avoid further confusion. Thanks for bringing it up. *thumbs up*

 

... I'll add up scores Sunday night seeing that I'll be busy Monday night and I'll be traveling next week. I was hoping to get a bigger turnout on scores/replies on this post.. only 4 peeps have posted reviews.. bummer.

 

Cross thread it in Aw and get feedback.

 

I ahvent finished mine yet. There are alot of things to consider.

this is just an example.

For portability are we comparing to other notebooks in the same category or overall I mean comparing this to an EEEPC I wouldnt consider it portable lmao

 

Hooper: same category. i.e. other desktop replacements.

As for averages they will be up tomorrow Afternoon/night (I'll average them during lunch time seeing that tomorrow will be a slow day) as originally posted due to the fact that I got home really late tonight.

E-Wrecked how do you cross thread?

 

well.. it was a fancy way of saying double post. start a new thread over there, asking for the same feedback.

 

Ratings have been updated. Next Update Monday Dec. 29, 2008. Cheers.

 

Well I have finally gotten my hands on my notebook. Its really nice. I still need to update the drivers. however I'm a bit disapointed seeing that I bought an extra stick of ram and I didnt get it with my order. Will have to talk to Xotic tomorrow.

 

Congrats z! Merry Xmas! Thought you ordered the RAM elsewhere?

 

Merry X-mas E-wrecked.. I ended up ordering ram from Xotic but i didn't receive it. I'll have to check with them what happened there.

 

For warranty plan for Dark Smiley Systems, you can change that to a 10. There is one detail that I misread and forgot about that makes their warranty system special. 8 is what I give for a standard warranty system.

 

What happened to z? I miss him.

 

He's around, just posted a new thread

 

I'll have to hunt him down