$200 30-day No Dead Pixel policy

I'm just curious if this is worth the purchase. How often do brand new Sagers, or other laptops for that matter, get dead pixels?

 

not many sagers. it happens though. same with other laptop manufacturers. i'd say it's not worth the money unless even one dead pixel will drive you up the wall or make you miserable.

 

you can return it within 30 days, no question ask, no restocking fee. why pay more while you can do the same?

 

That's why I was asking. Thanks for the information as you potentially saved me some money.

 

So what you're saying is, say I order a sager from xoticpc and don't purchase the 0 dead pixel. I get my sager and it has a dead pixel on it. Could I just return it saying its defective? or just say it has a dead pixel... I don't understand though, if theres a choice to pay more for a warranty, how can you not pay for it and still get that certain warranty?

 

The dead pixel warranty allows you to send it back for a replacement without paying shipping. Using the 30 day return you pay the shipping and get a refund on the laptop (but not the shipping), then you order a new one and pay the shipping for that one too (as per usual) - as far as I can tell anyway.

 

^theirko is right on

Sager and its resellers have a 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. So if there is ANY reason you are unsatisfied you can return it for a full refund less shipping fee's. (your just out shipping). 0% Restocking Fee

The main benefits of the dead pixel policy is if you:
1)are on a strict time line for your laptop and need a guaranteed perfect screen from the start
2)dont want to mess around with sending it back and waiting for a new machine.
3)want the re-assurance that shipping is covered if a dead pixel shows up within 30 Days

Otherwise if you have the time and dont mind returning and re-shipping a new machine (if by chance you had a dead pixel) you can utilize the 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee and return it for a new machine. No questions asked.

 

Justin does Xotic inspect each Sager before it sends it out to ensure its working and has no dead pixels? Is special treatment given to people who have the 0 pixel warranty?

 

Special treatment is given when customers purchase the dead pixel policy, thats what it is there for. A screen is checked to ensure there are no dead pixels when the DP Policy is purchased.

Unless the dead pixel policy is purchased a single dead pixel (as long as it is not in the dead center of the screen) is not considered a defect. Dead pixels are rare.

Each machine is fully tested and burned in prior to shipment.

 

So Justin, I heard that the LCD screen are broken down into sections resembling that of a tic tac toe game. Or you saying once a dead pixel ends up in within the center sector, even if it is not DEAD center, it will be considered a defect?

 

^^ It has to be in the center quadrant to be considered to be a flaw.

 

Not to scare anyone of, but so far I've had three (3!) M570RU notebooks and every single one of them had one or two dead pixels!

The one I have now still has to be replaced by my reseller for having 2 dead pixels (I have dead pixel warranty)

 

Lol, maybe its the reseller.

 

Damn that sucks. I wish there was no dead pixel warranty and that Xotic and other resellers just checked each system to ensure there are no dead pixels. But I guess they have to make money.

1 thing I don't understand Justin. If you test every system you send out, wouldn't notice dead pixels in your testing even if someone didn't buy the dead pixel warranty. So say someone doesn't buy the warranty but you assemble the system and boot it up to test it out and you notice a dead pixel in the process.. do you then just send it anyway since they don't have the warranty? :S

 

they ship out systems with dead pixels unless there are too many of them or there is one in the center of the screen. this is where the no dead pixel warranty comes into play. the screen is examined by multiple people to ensure a perfect screen before it ships out.

i had 2 9860's and both of them had dead pixels. i ordered the pixel warranty with my 9262 and my screen came in perfect. i cannot stand dead pixels, especially on something that i look at 95% of the time.

 

yep i have one myself even on my brand new screen i installed.. came brand new that way.

 

@smood:
Because of LCD manufacturing technology, dead pixels are a fact of life, unfortunately. There are over 3 million sub-pixels on a 1680x1050 screen. Manufacturing has gotten good enough that dead or stuck sub-pixels only rarely show up, but with over 3 million sub-pixels per screen, there's always a chance of it happening.

When Sager assembles a notebook, they have to acknowledge that dead pixels might happen. This is true of every LCD manufacturer, and they actually have one of the best standard dead pixel policies in the industry: they will not ship ANY notebook (dead pixel protection or no) that has 3 or more dead pixels. They also state that more than 5 dead pixels (or even one in the center quadrant of the screen) developing during the lifetime of the warranty is considered a warranty issue, whether or not dead pixel protection was purchased.

So Sager does fully inspect each notebook before shipping, but their policies mean that a screen with less than 3 dead or stuck pixels outside the center quadrant will still get shipped unless you have purchased the no dead pixel plan.

 

Damn it. Looks like I'm going to have to pay another $200

@Eleison ya but thats Sager. I wanted to buy from Xotic.

 

xotic sells sager systems. they are not "xotic" brand they say sager right on them. and imo if you get a wuxga screen and get one dead pixel imo you are not going to see it at all unless you are looking for it. they are sooooo tiny... on a lower res screen they are much more noticable though

 

maybe there are dead pixels on my panel, but I am not able to locate them so far.

 

And, in the typical case, I believe that the unit ships straight from Sager to you unless you've ordered an Xoticpc-specific customization (like a paint-job), in which case Xoticpc (or any other reseller who follows a similar business-model, like powernotebooks - I think) doesn't have the opportunity to inspect the LCD, although justin, eleison, or anyone else who knows better is quite free to correct me.

 

In which case, ignorance truly is bliss - the best policy seems to be to do a decent visual inspection when you first get the notebook, and then ... don't go looking for them after that.

 

Not worth it,I think.

 

You know people, they'll get a program that will specifically find the dead pixel and then when they find it, they'll complain about how they don't have the l33test piece of hardware out there.

I am one to encourage XoticPc to have a policy like this, if people are so anal and willing to spend that money for absolutely no dead pixel when they most likely won't get any, then beautiful, more cash for you, more discounts for me?

 

from my experience dead pixels are very common. i would say about 50% of sager's systems come with dead pixels because they do no have an aggressive pixel policy as standard. at the same time this is one reason why they are relatively less expensive than say, dell or alienware or that they offer more per system.

i know alienware has a much better pixel policy but that is priced into their products as my m9750 came with no dead pixels.

have you guys even see a dead pixel? they are extremely annoying, especially dark stuck red or blue or any bright colored pixels. they are right in front of you during boot-up and in your face when you are viewing your desktop or web pages. they only "go away" when you are playing games or watching a movie because of the rapid picture movement.

my 55" plasma hdtv came with 1 dead unlit pixel. i sit so far away from it that it's not possible to see it so it does not bother me. a laptop screen is right in front of your face so it will always bother you, especially the bright pixels.

if you guys are buying a powerfull laptop, and an expensive one at that, i highly recommend you get a pixel and extended warranty. if you buy a big named brand laptop from your local brick and mortar store, like best buy, you can exchange the laptop for another one if it has dead pixels without penalty. you cannot do that with sager unless you purchase the pixel policy.

 

Interesting point zfactor. I was planning on getting a WUXGA. Anecdotally I have a samsung syncmaster 932BF (19") 4:3 monitor on my desktop and it has no pixel problems at all. Its very nice.

 

I can live with one or two dead pixels. Hot pixels--that's another story.

 

Like Zfactor said, Xotic is a Sager reseller. When it is branded as Sager, it is built and QC'd by Sager. Sager likes working through resellers like Xotic and PowerNotebooks, though, so you can frequently get a slightly lower price going through us, and resellers often include things like 24/7 support to make the purchase a better value.

Incidentally, I did some checking on Alienware's pixel plans{/URL]. Their notebook LCD plan doesn't say anything about shipping with a dead pixel, but if you get a notebook with dead pixels and they are outside of the center quadrant (where almost any company will replace the screen without question), they do require that at least 2 dead pixels be on screen before they will replace the LCD. Like other comments have said, Alienware builds this into the price of their systems, and then some. The $200 No Dead Pixel policy from Sager (which is only $100 if purchased with a 2 or 3 year extended warranty) does the same thing, only better (even 1 dead pixel, anywhere on screen, constitutes warranty replacement), but still does it for a lot less than Alienware .

Alienware's replacement plan on MONITORS that they sell is a lot less attractive, however. They require a minimum of 6 dead pixels be present on any monitor they sell before they will replace it under warranty. This is also Dell's standard policy, except on their UltraSharp Monitors with the Premium Panel guarantee, in which case they will replace the display if it has ONE lit pixel (but they still require 6 or more "dead" [dark] pixels).

From Dell's dead pixel policy:

@ARGH:
You're making a very broad generalization. Not everyone notices dead/stuck pixels in the same way. I used an old Dell laptop during and after college for years before someone pointed out the dead pixel to me on the right-hand side of the screen (if I looked for it, I could usually find it, but only because I remembered that it was overlaid where the scrollbar usually goes). This was a low-resolution 1024x768 screen, so the pixels were considerably larger than they would be on even a 1680x1050 screen, let alone a 1920x1200 screen.

I also had to work on a 17" 1280x1024 external LCD at my last job that had a lit green pixel. The company bought some bargain-basement LCDs, and all of them had some quirk or another (one had a wonky VGA cable, so you had to tweak the cable just right to get it to show the right colours...otherwise the screen had an aqua or yellow tint to it). Again, I never even realized it was there until someone pointed it out to me, and I had to search for it every time I wanted to show it to someone else. This one was even close to the middle of the screen (just outside the center quadrant).

SO both a dark and a bright pixel (both larger than they would be on either of the screen options Sager offers for the NP5793 and NP9262) were so unnoticeable to me that I had to have someone point each one out to me, and even after having them pointed out, I didn't notice them unless I wanted to. Certainly, not everyone is like me, but not everyone sees them like you do, either . I think we're two extremes of an issue that is far more commonly occupied by people somewhere in the middle.

 

Don`t even look for them.
Live your life normally and you`ll be happy. If you find it, you`ll always look at it.

 

Justin conveyed to me that dead pixels on the NP5793 were fairly rare but around 50% doesn't seem rare to me at all. How many non-pixel warranty screens do you think end up with at least 1 dead pixel?

 

With the 1920x1200 screen I could have many dead pixels and not even know it. Even if I knew there was a dead pixel it would be nothing compared to the vast amounts of dust and lint that are lit up by the beautiful glossy screen.

MICROFIBERMAN TO THE RESCUE!!!!!

All is well on planet Earth

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=213323

The above poll doesn't really differentiate whether one's laptop came with the NDP policy. It is my understanding that the laptops in question are Clevo-rebranded laptops sold by Sager, Eurocom, etc. So there really shouldn't be a large deviation between these sellers once we get a bigger sample size, except Eurocom doesn't off the NDP policy (the website incorrectly says they do), and this should be taken into account.

 

well i had 2 different 5791's both with the same screen and one had 2 dead pixels and the other (the first one which i kinda wish i kept) had not a single one to be found on it.. but honestly the one with 2 dead pixels are so hard to find imo no one would ever walk up and go hey look at that.. i had to literally scan the whole screen VERY carefully to find them myself. now of course i know where they are so i notice them at times but as i said no one else would ever see them

 

I think I won't go with the warranty and if I have a dead pixel I will get it replaced and pay for the shipping there and back which should come to the cost of the warranty (~200) but then I won't know if my new notebook has no dead pixels will I?

 

paying shipping to and back will cost you like $100 dollars, which is either the whole cost of the NDP or half of it, depending on your extended warranty purchase. do all this and you still will have the worry of dead pixels with the replacement screen unless you manage to get into a verbal match with sager and demand they give you a perfect screen at no additional cost.

if you do not get the NDP i say just suck it up and deal with any dead pixels that may arrive.

 

Alright maybe I should get it then. I wish it were like $50-$100. $200 is a little overboard.

 

Why not get it packaged with one of the warranties smood? More value for your money that way.

Eg. I'm going for the 2 year parts and labour with LCD accident warranty, but check it out, they have no dead pixel package as well, coming up to less than 300 dollars, so technically, you'd be paying less for that feature if you took it.

 

I say don't go with the policy if you are getting the wuxga screen- as zfactor said, you won't find them unless you are REALLY on a mission to find them. Just restrain yourself some wasting precious gaming time to search for them with a microscope.

>>>Question: what are the odds that a HOT pixel could pop up after 30 days, 6 months, 1 year?

 

Ya there are pros and cons to both sides. Its a tough call. I tried to see if there were any on my samsung desktop monitor (1280x1024), I went to this site that allows u to find them and I kept thinking I found them but then they would just end up being a spec of illuminated dust.

There is no substitute for the experience of actually having them and seeing what its like I suppose.

 

illuminated dust... my mortal enemy

 

As far as it goes, the NDP policy is a lot more "worth it" if you either have to have the notebook right away with no dead pixels, or if you purchase a 2 or 3 year warranty (because the NDP policy is only $100 when purchased with the 2 or 3 year warranties).

Keep in mind, though, that those specks of illuminated dust are probably right around the size that a dead pixel might be on your Sager's screen, and they may have even been a little bigger. Imagine if that speck were either pure black or stuck as red, green, or blue, and try to imagine how much (or little) that would interfere with your computing experience.

I've attached an image where I try to simulate what it's actually like to have dead pixels. Make sure you don't blow up the image at all, because that will blow the "pixels" up larger than 1 pixel. In the white half of the image, I've placed four "dead" pixels (one actually dead [black], and one each "lit" red, green, and blue). In the black half of the image, I've placed 3 "dead" pixels (one each "lit" red, green, and blue).

On a 17", 1280x1024 screen, these pixels will be easier to see than they will on a 17", 1680x1050 screen. The pixels will be almost 24% smaller on a 1680x1050 screen, and they will be almost 34% smaller on a 1920x1200 screen. This is actually a pretty good way to figure out just how annoying a dead or stuck sub-pixel will be to you.

 

that's an excellent representation of what these annoying-as-hell dead pixels (stuck pixels, or whatever you call them) will look like. they never go away and will say hi every time you boot up the computer or are viewing a black background, for example.

if you are buying a powerfull gaming laptop i high recommend you get an extended warranty and with that you can tack on the NPD for a decent discount.

you will not regret it in the future as these two options give you the best peace of mind and provide a worry-free experience.

 

Damn, i can't see crap. Oh well. I know what I don't need.

 

Ohhh ya thats pretty annoying and pretty clear. Maybe the warranty + NDP is worth it. Does this discount apply to xotic as well? I tried to add both but it didn't seem discounted in the total price.

 

if i'm understanding you correctly, you only pick one of the warranty options. i think 2 or 3 of them have the ndp included in the option as a discounted package.

 

I took a close look at your image.......... and man, my screen is dirty!!

 

@Eleison,

Point well taken, without being blown up, and on a 14.1", 1400x1050 screen, the middle white stuck pixel in the black half of the image was annoying - my eyes kept getting dragged back to it; I saw the white pixel in the bottom part of the black side, too, but it wasn't nearly as annoying; finally, I didn't see any of the dead/stuck pixels on the white half until I searched, at which point I think I saw one that was a light cyan shade.

 

I asked Justin at Xotic about this because I wanted dead pixel and accidental damage. They did not offer the dead pixel discounted price with accidental damage.

You pay for dead pixel 199 + a warranty with accidental damage. I am sure that Justin can verify this for us.

 

The accidental LCD Warranty we offer is not through Sager, so it doesnt provide a combo special for the dead pixel insurance. There are two sets of Sager Warranties :
1) The Sager 2 & 3 Year (Warranties only)
2) The Sager 2 & 3 Year Warranties + 30 Day NO Dead Pixel Warranty (combo special)

As Eleison stated when you purchase the Sager 2/3 warranty with the 30 Day DP Warranty Combo you get $100 off.

 

What if I wanted to cover accidental LCD damage and 30 day no dead pixel guarantee?

Btw, what exactly does that LCD accidental cover? If it cracks, breaks, has the coloured lines running vertically on it (or is that covered with normal warranty)?