Advice on getting my first Sager!

Hey Guys!
I was wondering if you folks could give me some advice on my build? I hope I put this thread in the right spot!

So, I'm ready to buy my first Sager, and I've been spending all week fiddling around with builds.
I know XoticPC gets great reviews as a reputable reseller, and their deal on the NP9130 looks great!
(I'm stuck between the 9130 and the 9150!)

Here's the current build I've been looking at:

Sager NP9130:

Screen - 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Sager Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut
Processor - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3630QM (2.4GHz - 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP)
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
Graphics Card - nVidia GeForce GTX 670MX 3,072MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology
RAM - 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)
OS Drive - 128GB Crucial M4 mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: )
Storage Drive - 750GB 7200RPM [Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache
Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software
Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band)

Total = $1420

I also had a few questions I couldn't find the answer to:

1) I noticed that configuring an NP9150 with similar specs is another few hundred more. What's the difference between the NP9130 and the NP9150? Would you recommend the NP9150 over the NP9130?
2) Does the NP9130 have a backlit keyboard?
3) Is it worth waiting until after Xmas for a better deal?
4) Any specs you would change?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, if a representative from XoticPC or Malibal could send me a PM, that would be super!

Thanks so much!
- Caligirl

 

Welcome to the forums. To answer your questions:

1) The NP9150 has a more powerful GPU as standard (GeForce GTX 680M). If you're going to be gaming heavily, it might be worth upgrading.
2) The 9130 does not have, and is not offered with, a backlit keyboard; the 9150 is available with one.
3) Probably not. Sager laptops are priced pretty aggressively to start and don't go "on sale" per se. There are occasionally discounts on upgrades and/or if you spend a certain amount of money. You can also get in contact with the resellers who can privately offer some things.
4) I would downgrade from 16 GB of RAM. Unless you're running some very specific applications that require vast sums of memory, 8 GB will be just fine. The only other thing to consider is moving up to the 9150 for the better GPU and backlit keyboard. I personally would, but that's up to you.

One last thing - you need 5 quality posts outside of the off-topic and marketplace forums in order to send and receive private messages. Malibal does not participate on this forum any longer, and they are generally frowned upon here. There are plenty of other great Sager/Clevo builders and resellers. Xotic is one of them. I prefer Mythlogic myself, but you can also consider, in no particular order of preference, Pro Star, Powernotebooks, and LPC-Digital.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

That is going to be one heck of a laptop, caligirl! I'll leave the sales related questions for the guys over at Xotic.

As far as the price difference goes, it looks like the 9150 has a slight trump in that it comes with an illuminated keyboard and a 180W power supply; the 9130 does not have an illuminated keyboard, and it's power supply is 120W. Anything beyond that is component quality.

That build looks pretty good to me. I wouldn't change anything if it was my purchase.

*Edit*
Looks like I was beat to the punch. Thanks for the help, saturnotaku!

 

Only thing i'll point out that i also dug up when researching for mine is that the mSATA your planning on using for your C: will be SATA2 - the other HDD bay is SATA3.
Differance in real world is probably little but i avoided that & put my C: on my SSD in the SATA3 bay.

 

Thanks for all of the advice!
I looked into it some more, and I think it is worth moving up to the NP9150.

Would you say its worth about $100 to upgrade from the GTX 670MX to the GTX 675MX?

 

Depends on what you plan on playing i hear its about a 15% performance increase.

 

Thanks for the info! I'd probably try something like Far Cry 3 or The Witcher 2 first.

15% doesn't sound like too much!

 

In depth benchmarks and performance data on each one, just to help your buying decision:

670MX: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX - Notebookcheck.net Tech

675MX: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Personally I think the 675MX is worth the $100. It offers a 256-bit bus which will help with 1080p gaming, and should give you a solid 30% FPS increase at 1080p over the 670MX.

 

You're going for one of the most advanced games ever, Witcher 2. And then one of the worst DX11 games ever made, FC3. So you'll want a beast machine to tackle the gorgeous Witcher 2 (graphically 100X superior to FC3) and brute force Ubisoft's aborted fetus, FC3. For only $100, I'd do the upgrade. It's A LOT cheaper to do the upgrade than to try and upgrade later.

Personally for reseller/builder:

Sager reseller: LPC-Digital, hands down for me. Easily no competition in my mind.

Builder: Mythlogic. You won't get better service/support on ANY notebook, very sure about that. The little extra you pay for Mythlogic will be worth it to you in their service. A lot of companies say they have knowledgeable techs, I ignore that, hogwash. With Mythlogic, I believe it. Their service and knowledge is impressive.

Reseller/builder I'd avoid:

Eurocom - I absolutely hate their marketing and often their information is wrong. It's sickening.

Malibal: Their CS on these forums has been abominable. It's no surprise to me, they are Eurocom reseller.

 

Thanks for all the great advice guys! I will definitely contact lpc and mythologic!

 

I can concur with LPC-Digital. Larry from LPC has been superb with offering great pricing and fast shipment. Highly recommend.