1st time Clevo Canadian buyer. Slightly confused.

Hello everyone,

Ok so this is my situation, I decided to get a gaming laptop like a week ago and started doing my research. Initially, after a day of research, I decided it was Asus VS Alienware and went with Asus G74SX (gtx 560m 1.5g) since I like the design, the great cooling system, and the rubbery touch. Did not find Alienware enticing because of flexy keyboard that I saw on Youtube, very expensive, and there are like heaps of complains concerning customer service.

I did research into most of the components and find reading forums super useful. What I did read as well was that the G74SX did have some complains concerning malfunction upon arrival to a few weeks in, and also how all the pros were doing a clean install upon arrival to get rid of the apparent terrible applications/bloatwares. I thought Asus was like awesome and didnt realize that they had terrible applications installed. Also read like a ton of problems concerning some Atheros card and USB 3.0 driver. Man, I really want to just get the laptop and start gaming through Xmas on Skyrim, dont want to crack my head trying to fix those known issues.

Ok this is becoming a story of my life or something.

Long story short, I stumbled here and was reading the Asus G-series forums when one guy called KingpinZero who seems rather knowledgeable (I read like a ton of posts), decided to send his Asus G53SX/SW back and got some P150HM thingy. He seems terribly happy with his new rig and his new test scores so I was like hmmm. He also mentioned they were the same price.

Ok wow long story short again.

I did more research, ended up deciding to go with Clevo because of the super customization and I can throw out the stock WiFi card for a Bigfoot killer 1103. Had a long list of resellers (9 I believe) and finally ended with Xotics, Malibal and Reflexnotebooks.

My system will be P170HM, everything stock except, i7-2670QM 2.2ghz, Radeon 6990m, 500gb 7200rpm hdd, 8gb ram 1333mhz, Win7 home premium, Bigfoot killer 1103, and IC diamond paste.

Xotics and Malibal have it at US$1594 (no cash discount, since I am not sure how this works).
Reflexnotebook has it at CA$1812.58 , which is equivalent to US$1777.56 (0.98 something conversion).

The difference is US$183.56

Now, concerning shipping do the resellers ship from US to my address? In that case shipping ,brokerage etc. are all the same cost? If Reflex is sending it from Montreal then I guess maybe no brokerage, but how much will that cost. I also understand that buying from US will mean I am paying full taxes while buying from Reflex will mean saving on the PST. Wont save anything in Ontario but I will be flying to Manitoba soon so I will save like 7% PST there.

Calculating taxes, it will be:
Xotics, Malibal = US$207.22
Reflexnotebook = US$88.88 (Manitoba: Federal Tax GST 5% Provincial Tax PST 7%, so I only calculate for the GST)
If I receive it in Ontario it will be full 13% tax and will be at US$231.08.

So basically if I am receiving it in Ontario, I will be paying US$183.56 + (US$231.08 - US$207.22) = US$207.43

My question is will brokerage and shipping from US be so much as to be more than US$207.43? I notice some people saying it is like US$120 total on that or something.

If receiving in Manitoba the difference will be US$183.56 + ( US$88.88 - US$207.22) = US$65.22

In this 2nd scenario I guess maybe it is more economical to go with Reflexnotebooks. Anyone have thoughts on any of this or am I doing it wrongly or what?

I like Malibal so far because of their customization and how they have warranty service in Canada which Xotics did not state that they have it. Reflexnotebooks lack customization options and I am not sure why but they do not have the $100 off when you buy $1500 of customization.

I also heard of the NBR /w 5 posting discount but this only applies to US free shipping so that will not include or affect me am I right?

One more question, why is there no 17" FHD matte 90% gamut screens? Why are they costing the same as 90% gamut glossy when the matte ones are only 72% gamut? All this is at 17" lcd.

I know I typed too much, sorry. I love this forum. Learn a lot here.

PS: One more last question, do the resellers ship the latest drivers? Or outdated ones which are pretty much like the Asus case?

Thanks!!!!!

 

Now to brainstorm on the payment method.

I was thinking if you use credit card to pay it may not be that worth it since the rewards on the card is normally like 1%? On premium credit cards it may go to 2% rewards.

The cash discount is at 3% so I do not think credit card rewards will be the way to go. Problem here is what forms of payment will qualify for the cash discount? If I do a money transfer, how long will it take for them to receive it on average? They will receive the money and then only start building my system is this correct? Will that be like extra 7 days of waiting to save on roughly 2% (3% - 1% credit card rewards) total price?

Xmas is coming up so will that affect shipping dates? Like everyone will be on leave for like 2 weeks and I will be having a sad face and no skyrim at home? D3 is coming out soon too right so it will definitely benefit from a new rig.

PS: The Radeon 6990m is so cheap why? I mean like why so cheap. 580m is like super expensive, can drop the difference on a SSD already. I plan to get an SSD maybe near Xmas/boxing day when there is a sale for my 2nd hd slot. Will have to do a clean install to get the Windows on the SSD I guess. I am still contemplating to spend extra on SSD or on a nicer LCD screen but why no 90% gamut on matte 17 inch.....

 

Hi Sevenk,

In my signature you'll see the guide to buying a Sager in Canada. It should answer all your questions. If you can try and reach 5 posts so we can PM each other, or feel free to email or call.

I can answer some of your stuff here.

If for whatever reason a driver is out of date Sager's site has them listed and ready to download here:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=driver_download2

Radeon is "cheap" cause it's not Nvidia so they can price their hardware as they please. Dollar for dollar the 6990m is the GPU of choice for many users.

I advise a clean install on the SSD as you want this to be your boot drive, you won't regret it.

 

Just to let you know, our cash discount is available when paying via bank wire transfer or a personal check. Checks can take a long time to clear so we usually suggest the wire transfer.

You've done a great amount of research as far as taxes and other fees are concerned. I'd suggest contacting each reseller you have listed to see if they can work out some custom quotes for you.

 

Hi, yah trying to get 5 posts through this thread perhaps.

Have not done a wire transfer in my life other than be on the receiving end of it. From my research I think it is listed as $15-30 in most Canadian banks. I wonder if they charge more if I am transferring to a US bank.

It seems like the 3% discount is actually the same either through credit card or wire transfer. Cash discount is US$47.82 (price of US$1594). Credit cards at 1% reward will be US$15.94 (this is for example using the RBC WestJet card, it actually has a lower return than Aeroplan and Airmiles, if you use a combination of Airmiles card + BMO Airmiles credit card, you normally get more rewards, of course cant use Airmiles card here). Difference of the above is US$31.88. Wire transfer will probably not cost that much hopefully so I get to save a few bucks. Seems to me on orders below $1k it is better to use a credit card, on orders that are higher you maybe able to save a bit more using cash method since wire transfer I think is a fix amount.

In the US it maybe a different story since you guys have credit cards with higher rewards from my previous research but that is because of the financial institutions taking higher risks as well. That will be the difference between Canadian and US banking policies. I think one of your best rewards card maybe the Capital One card for travelling. I always look into travelling ones only.

A question to Reflexnotebook, are the prices on your site on the customization page include shipping and brokerage fees? Or do I need to checkout to see that amount?

I have some other questions but I think I should start a new thread for them since having everything here may seem a bit off-topic. Thanks again for the replies though. Will start a thread for the matte 90% gamut LCD and a thread about if anyone overclocks a radeon 6990m.