Review of CyberPowerPC Xplorer x6-9100

***AVOID CYBERPOWER LIKE THE PLAGUE. CUSTOMER SERVICE AND RETURNS PROCEDURE IS A HELLISH THING. NOT TO MENTION THE RANDOM CHARGES THEY ATTEMPT TO BILL YOU FOR ON TOP OF THE IMPOSSIBLE ACT OF GETTING AHOLD OF THEIR SUPPORT***



CyberPower Xplorer x6-9100
Pros Cons
INEXPENSIVE Glossy black is a fingerprint magnet
New i5 Sandy Bridge Processor Trackpad has some slight issues at times
More configuration options than many Horrendous customer service

First Impressions: First, placing the online order was a breeze. Multiple payment options can be used and the configuration options were pretty strong. One HUGE pet peeve with the ordering system, which I later had confirmed by representatives, they list SATA III hard drive options in the configuration list, but they are not supported by the notebook. What is the point of having them show up on the order system then? The sales rep said the system shows “all available upgrades in the category”. Pretty horrid coding. Then their tracking system… It looks great, lots of checkpoints; however, two weeks after my order was placed there were no updates in the system. Then all of a sudden EVERY update filled in. Had me kind of concerned. The packaging was fairly good after UPS delivered it, only a small dent in the corner of the outer box. There were 4 layers of cardboard packaging in addition to an egg crate shell around the laptop, and it all felt fairly professional and secure. Unboxing was pretty plain, thankfully they threw in a driver disk for me, then it was just the laptop, charger, and battery.

Specifications of Review Machines:
• *BASE_PRICE: [+719]
• BAGS: Free Deluxe Carrying Bag for 15.6 Inch Notebook
• BATTERY: 6-cells Li-Ion Battery Pack 4800mAh (A15A)
• CD: 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive (NB-353-DVDRW)
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-2410M Mobile Processor 2.30 GHz 3M Intel Smart Cache, Max Turbo Freq. 2.90 GHz [-50]
• FREEBIE_CU1: FREE Game - Shogun 2 Limited Edition Coupon: Total War
• HDD: 250GB 7200RPM SATA300 Hard Drive
• MEMORY: 4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-1333 SODIMM Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
• MOTHERBOARD: Intel HM65 Chipset Mainboard
• NETWORK: Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Card
• NOTEBOOK: A15A Notebook 15.6" Full HD 1920x1080 Display w/ Built-in 2.0MP Webcam, HDMI Port, Li-Ion Battery, & Universal AC Adapter
• OS: None - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY [-83]
• SERVICE: STANDARD 1-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY AND LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
• SOUND: Built-in 3D Premium Surround Sound
• SPEAKERS: Built-in Stereo Speakers System
• VIDEO: Intel Integrated GFX PCIe Video
• VIDEOCAMERA1: Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixel Webcam
• WNC: Built-in Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n + Bluetooth v3.0 Card module
• _PRICE: (+586)

Design: The body will either be something people would LOVE or HATE. It is a STRONG glossy, piano black finish throughout the whole laptop. I can already tell it is going to be a fingerprint magnet. The design feels very minimalistic, with everything being a sort of refined look. All in all, VERY impressed with the outer build quality. Not the ultra strong plastics of the upper end Sager or the aluminum unibody of the Mac Book Pro, but definitely a positive. The speakers are not hidden by the typical bezel piece, but instead are open on either side of a row of touch sensitive controls. USB ports are strong, actually a slightly tight fit for my USB drives. The underside of the chassis has one large panel to remove to get access to the HDD, RAM, and wireless card.
Ports:
- 2x USB3.0
- 2x USB2.0
- 3.5 mm speaker/headphone jack
- VGA and HDMI ports
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- Kensington Lock
- SD Card reader

Keyboard and track pad: The keyboard is not fantastic by any means, but gets the job done. Very little flex during regular use and even firm typers will not notice much bend. It is not a chic let or backlit keyboard, and I wish there was an upgrade to either of these. The touchpad is a bit of a train wreck. Tracking works acceptably, but instead of being a true multitouch, it just has the top right and bottom right corners mapped to scroll up and scroll down respectively. In my moderate typing use already, I believe I have “palm deleted” at least 6 full paragraphs? The clicking mechanism on the track pad is better than most however, not trying to streamline it at all, merely making it a set of firm right or left click buttons.
Speakers and Display: The speakers’ quality is not bad for basic laptop speakers. Max volume is quite a bit louder than most others I have used. Quality is a mixed bag, no issues I can point out but there is a slight muddiness at the higher volumes. The display is the item that most of you are probably questioning. CyberPower definitely advertises its display as a 1080p ULTRA HD screen. I have to say that, surprisingly, the screen measures up pretty well! The 1080p display on a 15.6” screen packs a lot of detail in its relatively small package. Brightness scales fairly well from a low power-saving backlight, to a strong, well lit screen that offers some vibrant colors. The biggest downside to the display is most definitely the up and down viewing angle. You MUST angle the screen properly to achieve the full effect of the screen. Even at a 10* pitch up or down causes blooming and washing out. All in all though, VERY impressed with the quality in normal use!

Bottom Line: Dollar for dollar, the CyberPower Xplorer x6-9100 is a great contender with the other laptops in the mid-range. A solid, albeit plasticy build quality, a beautiful display, and newest generation Core I processors craft together a great budget system for anyone looking to step into the new technology.

BENCHMARKS coming if requested.

Photos:

 

Thanks for the review. The trackpad piece concerns me. Does the driver provide any more option than tap-up/down? Like gestures for back/forward in browser?

 

Oh. And it is SHINING!

 

Haha shining is a HUGE understatement. This was taken with/without flash, I even tried to hide it from direct light, its SO reflective. I'll play with the trackpad and see what I can do.

 

I got a couple of questions regarding this laptop.

You mentioned that it was built from Clevo parts. Do you happen to know what Clevo model this is build from? I can't zero in on a particular model based on the pictures.

How long does the battery last w/ the 2nd gen i5?
Do you know if there's a 9 cell option?

Is this a Steam Coupon code or an actual disc?

Would you consider the plastic to be typical plastic that's used in other consumer laptops?
It appears to be as shiny as some of the Dell Mini 1012 or Toshiba netbook that I've seen.

Is there a option to mechanical disable the touchpad? I know on some HP laptop there is a button that you can press to disable the touchpad and reenable it. If not, is there a software option to do that?

Thanks for all our help.

 

Ok, down the line.

Clevo... they would not give me a specific model number. I asked twice and was given the runaround.

Battery life... Real world use I'm getting ~3 hrs.
As far as a 9 cell option, I would LOVE to know myself. The reps wouldn't give me a model # on the battery at all and I have NO idea how to find it.

Shogun is a coupon, not the disc.

The plastic seems a fair bit thicker than my girlfriend's Toshiba A305, and slightly thicker than anything we have in the store I work here... (mostly low end laptops).

Yes, there is a software FN+F7 key to disable the touchpad, thank god!

 

Pretty sure it is W150HRQ. Link at CLEVO - Products

 

It looks very similar, but that is a 14" model, and has a "dedicated optimus button"?

 

The W150HRQ is actually a 15.6 when you look at product details page.

My guess would be the http://www.clevo.com.tw/en/products/prodinfo_2.asp?productid=334
the W251HNQ

 

(ntheo, I fixed your broken link.)

From what I can see, the notebook in the photo's above looks nothing like either of those two Clevo models: for a start off, the keyboard layout is quite different.

I don't think it is a Clevo notebook at all.

 

Everything about it screams MSI notebook.

 

I kinda agree, I think I'm going to be returning it though...

 

What seems to be misleading is the screen had appeared to be a matte screen, I mean just look at it!

 

Very true! They're new pictures, those weren't added when I ordered, it was just one zoomed out side view.

To clarify on what I just said, I'm going to be returning this to Cyberpower. It is a fine laptop, just not quite what I'm looking for for school, and I found a laptop through my employer that I am getting for ~$150 that will run what I need it to, so I'm just going to save myself the money and ship this one back. I will be keeping the unit until around Wednesday to answer any more questions people have, then it will be gone.

**EDIT** If anyone wants it, it is in like-new condition, if you don't want to wait for the build time, you can get it for what I paid for it, 589+shipping, just let me know.

 

ZRock,
What is your assessment of the temps as you were using it?

Thanks

 

Idle is about 31*C
Under full CPU load for ~1 hr it peaked around 36*C

 

AnandTech's review says

(Wikipedia says Pegatron is the original equipment manufacturing unit of Asus.)

 

My MS-1722 is from CyberPower. Usually its labeled underneath it with a sticker.

 

Would you recommend me this laptop?

 

Absolutely not. I found it to be of an ok build quality, however the customer service experiences have been SO awful there is no way I can recommend this laptop to anyone, or ANYTHING by this company.

Their customer support staff is rude, hangs up on customers, doesn't even make an attempt to resolve issues at hand...

 

can you further elaborate your problem??

It appears you're happen trouble returning it?

 

Hey ZRock. I found this thread whilst looking for reviews of Cyberpower and after reading am intrigued. Let me just see if I have this correct and if I am wrong then my apologies.

You chose to order a custom built laptop, paid for it, had it delivered and then shortly afterwards changed your mind and want to return it to the sellers.

There is nothing at fault with the laptop like failed components or damage, you have simply decided it is not for you. You have spoken to Cyberpower who undoubtably told you no way and now you have a bad case of sour grapes over the whole issue.

If this is the case I am sorry but what did you expect they were going to say to you. All custom builders state in their returns policy that once payment made and the build has commenced that is that. The only returns they are going to accept is if it arrives broken, damaged or faulty. You can't simply turn around a few days or weeks or months later and say "I changed my mind I want my money back!" That is not how things work and Cyberpower are quite right to tell you no you can't return it.

If I am wrong then please accept my apologies but the way this thread reads so far makes it appear the way I have described. I would hardly say it means people should "AVOID CYBERPOWER LIKE THE PLAGUE"

In general you always find that pre sales help is better than the free support afterwards. Most places you are gonna call will answer the phone on almost the first ring when it is a potential new customer but not so quickly when you are calling about a problem. Unfortunately that is a fact of the world we live in, get used to it!!

 

After ordering a Xplorer X6-9200 on 8/8, some portions of your review are giving me second thoughts, and others are making me quite excited for delivery. Just a few questions regarding your opinions on the laptop; does it feel like a real, OEM laptop such as dell or hp as far as the structure and quality of the external design? I see that you wouldn't recommend this computer mainly because of the poor customer support. Seems like you've had experience with the tech support in the past. Have you? If so why? I also ordered it with no OS installed. Was there any manual driver installation required?

 

The driver disk didn't work, they were incompatible. Secondly, the I5 I ordered I was told had the HD 3000 graphics onboard, yet it came up only with the 2000 chipset. This was the primary issue. With the false advertising, extremely slow service, and then the issues returning it (followed up by a BBB complaint which they did nothing about), I just don't feel I was given the truth during my many sessions of discussion with them, and as soon as the laptop was purchased, they were extremely unresponsive.

 

If your machine did come with an Intel core i5 2410M then it did in fact come with an HD3000 chipset. Just look at the page from intel on it, and search for 3000