Anandtech review of p170

AVADirect's Clevo P170HM with GeForce GTX 485M: High-End You've Been Waiting For - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Pretty in-depth review for prospective buyers.

 

Lots of power, but problems with the screen, chassis feel and finish and the keyboard mirror the same complaints in the user-made review on the owner's forum.

Hopefully CeBit will debut newer models with similar specifications but with updates to the design (no expresscard slot?!)

 

Yeah I agree. Unfortunately, Anand's review and the concerns about freezing issues is really casting alot of doubt as to whether or not Sager is going to be my next computer. It seems the overwhelmingly positive reviews come from within the Sager community while the "external" reviews seem to universally question Sager build quality.

Disappointing, especially since I've decided to swear off HP precisely for build quality reasons.

 

Jesus - do they just have an unjust view of Sagers, or is it really as bad as they make it out to be? After reading that review I get the impression this thing is no better than the Gateway I've been using for 3 years.

 

They admit as much. They really only like eye candy and metal chassis it sounds like:

EDIT: It seems their only big gripes were 1) the odd layout of the keyboard (which I find is much nicer than the one on my W510, so it's a step up. LAPTOP COMPANIES SHOULD NEVER SWAP THE LEFT CTRL AND THE FN KEY ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGH) 2) that the screen isn't great, which you can get around using an upgraded panel. I plan to upgrade to the 95% color gamut screen DIY style 3) The chassis is plain and has some glossy bits on it (OH NOEZ!)

 

I think it's just Anandtech is very fair and reviews notebooks from a normal consumer point of view, not from the view of someone who doesn't care about anything but performance.

I find it odd if Clevo had such a great LCD with the X7200, why change it?

I also expected the temps to be better. Was expecting CPU temps to be max at 67/68C and GPU max temp at 76C.

If the keyboard could be redesigned, backlit, with a proper LCD panel to match the performance of the SB and 485M, get the temps a little lower on the SB and GPU then it would be the ideal high performance laptop I think. But as is, the Alienware M17x R3 with HD6970M when it's released looks to be the undisputed king of 17" gaming notebooks in every way imaginable.

 

oh yA? dell? lol


This review got me wondering about about the chassis and the keyboard though...

 

Dell does pretty good on their performance lines, their cheap lines are garbage though...

 

I still disagree. Performance and price wise it can't touch the x7200 or 8170. The only thing I'd give it is that it's possibly better build quality, but to me the aesthetics of it will always make them look like toys/crap.

 

Temperatures vary, but as it stands, 76C is actually pretty good...considering many consumer laptops tend to go about 85-90C.

 

Or if it's an HP laptop you can probably break out the skillet and fry some eggs on the case. (JK... not really though..)

 

Now, will the 95% display improve upon viewing angles, whites, blacks, and contrast? Or just the color depth?

 

According to the original screen comparison thread, it seems that it offers all around improvements. While the screen is now discontinued as per Mythlogic's update.. that means that if you want one, better to get it soon from a place that has them. I'm looking to buy my screen off Ebay for $120 and do the swap myself. That way I'll also have a backup screen too in case anything happens down the road.

 

How do you know what to look for, brand/size/model-wise?

 

Careful, I contacted sellers on eBay and they said they don't have the V.4 in stock. Even if they say "Exact", always contact them before to confirm.

 

I search for that specific model, the B156HW01 v4. A quick search brings it up.

That's what I've been doing. I'm waiting to hear back before I buy anything. That's a ton of money to drop on a screen that may be wrong.

 

i dunno that review seemed a bit biased. from the way i read it performance figures didnt seem to be that emphasized and they were constantly bit@#ing bout aesthetics.

 

Think a second about the average consumer. Keep in mind, not a single person on this board is an "average" consumer, otherwise, they wouldn't be on this board. The average guy doesn't know if his RAM is DDR2, DDR3, or maybe even how much RAM he has. I'll also wager a huge portion of the population doesn't know what a "3D Mark Vantage" is, probably guessing it's some kind of game. The average person wants a nice looking laptop, that performs well enough in applications like email, watching video, and writing up assignments (all things easily done with a 2.00 GHz Core 2 Duo). Not many people are using graphic intensive programs, playing Crysis at 1080p, or benchmarking their systems as often as any of us do. The review is perfect for the average person, as this laptop would be useless to them. To those of us that are performance junkies however, this laptop would be perfect taking into account performance, cooling, upgradability, etc.

 

the average user doesnt check on anandtech either. for a tech and performance based website that was a flimsy review imho.

 

Well Anandtech does like their MBPs

What they say makes sense in some ways though... Here's the analogy.

There are expectations on what you will find in a performance sports car. If your introducing a line of cars to compete with Porsche/Ferrari and it has the performance of the Porsche/Ferrari, its expected you have at least aluminum trim if not wood, and that you have real leather interiors. Your paint job at that price point must be spotless as well, even if you are charging 20% less.

Similarly, for its price point, Clevo will be compared to Alienware/MBP/ Enterprise solutions of the major brands. Even if they are the budget competitors, its expected that you don't skimp on the $.25 material changes in the casing that make it look much better.

To the 3rd party observer who doesn't know the actual performance of the machine, just like the ones who don't get to drive your Ferrari, the only distinguishing point is the exterior, and what they see through the window. That's why even though Hyundai can put a 400 hp engine in their $50k car, its not considered of the same class as the $100k S class Mercedes or 7 series BMW that they are supposedly competing against.

That said, I think it looks like a thinkpad which never came across as "cheap"...

 

true...cnet reviews seem to be relied upon by the average user crowd.

 

But they may stumble onto it. If I want a laptop I can type in "Macbook pro review" into google, which is probably how most people start out. That's how I found websites like engadget, this one, notebookcheck, etc etc.

 

I agree. While I'm not a fan of my Thinkpad W510 at work, I do love the aesthetics of it. The look of alienware and others are too overdone and gaudy, and are more than out of place in most professional settings. I wanted a laptop that is understated and won't be a target to get stolen either.

I love the styling on the Sagers, because it's pretty darn close to the thinkpad and comes off as quite professional.

 

Exactly! I guess I'm just more used to the corporate world so I didn't think the look of the Clevos was out of place at all... Then again having a MBP look might not be bad either That seems to be more of a board room look than a tech junky look though!

 

i'm not exactly looking for something with a 'professional' look, but the sager's are definitely one of the only options for something with power that doesn't look overly and unnecessarily 'styled'. i don't want fins and moldings, and don't need enough flashing leds to make clark griswold proud.
something sleek, modern, simple, and functional is what i'm after. the sager design isn't what i'd consider an ideal match to that, but it's the least obnoxious.

 

People who want clean, non-gaudy designs for a gaming laptop are an underserved market.

I was really fond of the design for the Inspiron 1520 / 8600M laptop which was my last purchase. It looks fairly "normal", and had a choice of colors for the lid; I picked a nice blue -- that was perfect. I went back to Dell recently to see their SB options, and all those single-color options are gone, replaced by "graphics" instead. I couldn't find anything that wasn't too "loud" for my taste, so if I went that way I'd have to go for the plain silver, black, or whatever case unfortunately. For higher-end graphics, Alienware is out of the question (no flashy blinky for me), Asus & MSI are too heavy (8+ lbs for 15", no thanks), so I'm leaning towards a Clevo for the next machine.

I like the option on Xoticpc for the custom paint jobs, but I feel kind of silly sending over a flat blue jpeg and saying "this is all I wanted".

 

You can look into the XPS refresh, the default XPS15 is a MBP style brushed aluminum which looks pretty understated... problem is the video card is a bit weak.

A monotone paint job people might do for cheap for you, look around! You can probably call up Dell and ask if they can do it too since they're doing custom paint now too.

 

Regarding the quality of the default screen...

Could we get HT's opinion on this? I know it's in his review, but I just want to make sure...

 

I often wonder how much more my Clevo would cost if they just ripped off a Thinkpad keyboard and built the chassis out of aluminum or magnesium. I'd probably pay it if it was like $100-150 more.

 

For a non-metallic chasis, I think the Clevos are totally fine. They're not flashy, they'll get a bit scratched up and worn, but I've never a serious issue with it, and my laptop gets toted around a LOT. Feels like it's over-emphasized in the review.

I agree with them on the keyboard layout, but not on the cheapness of it. Personally I much prefer the keyboard quality on my 870CU (which is the same as the P170HM) to the one on my wife's Macbook Pro. But especially on the 17" models, it's idiotic to have all the keys crammed together. It's disappointing that Clevo didn't address this with the P170HM.

The screen reviews are a little disappointing too. Though I suppose I could swap in the screen on my 870CU (which is super bright and I love) if it's appreciably better than the one on my upcoming P170HM, before I give the 870CU to my in-laws, heh.

 

How could they possible under-emphasize performance when they state...

"Speculation isn't necessary here, though, only the bottom line: the GeForce GTX 485M is the leap in mobile graphics performance we've sorely needed. "

...as well as backing it up with 8 game benchmarks. In fact, they love the performance.

The benchmarks already speak for themselves, they'd sound like a broken record if they told you that the p170 is fast any more than they already have.

I'm rather pleased that Anandtech is paying attention to build quality rather than placating you with specs and big numbers. Not enough reviewers put emphasis on build quality and to top it all off, most of us already know what performance looks like from the specs. A review should focus on the things we can't know from specs.

Good for them, they should indeed be picky about build quality. Its fair for them to declare that the Sager's build quality is behind the best of what can be had today if it is indeed true. Its far more honest than telling you that its "built like a tank" then proceeding to beat into your skull how fast the thing is.

tl;dr, Its not a bad laptop, its performance cannot be under-emphasized. However, it is not a bad thing to be honest about its less than high-end build either.

 

Thw whole review seemed to have a negative tone imho. And iirc they did emphasize aesthetics and build quality insteaf of performance in their final words.
Aesthetics is really a personal thing. A think an mbp looks like a girly laptop but thats just me. And if the 8170 is anything like the 8690 i had, then id say id rate waaay above the standard build i see.
Its a gaming laptop, performance should be considered more than anything. Of all the reviews ive read on the 8150/8170 this seemed like yhe most biased.

 

Review definitely seemed overly nitpicky to me. Maybe that's cause i'm uber excited for my 8170

 

I thought the review was helpful. I think what they were not happy with (and what I'm not happy with) is that they were disappointed that not more or enough was done on a 17" platform. You have the space, use it efficiently. The 8150 size wise seems better packed together and with the 485 as well, seems nicer.

Any manufacturer who slaps a 485 with SB will have good performance and maybe they felt Clevo could've done a bit more engineering to put in things competitors have or are adding. Slapping the 15" keyboard on the 17" model just sounds lazy.

Clevo will address these things since the back-lit is already discussed for late this year and maybe they will do something about the keyboard too...

 

The keypad keys is a valid point. Ive used the same kb in the 8690 and for a 15inch it is ok but as you say its lazy engineering slapping a 15 kb on a 17.
However, key feel and stiffness was great. I dont know if it is significantly different on the 8170 but if its the same as the 8690, again i feel that it is overly biased as i thought the 8690 kb was very well constructed with 0 flex.

 

I feel that it would have been better to send the P150hm for review because as a package it just appears to be the best engineered out of the bunch...

 

I think the decision to use the 15" KB for the 17" is probably more cost-related than anything else. Component standardization is probably one of the reasons why Clevo is able to put together chassis at a lower cost than others.

 

Anandtech in their new asus review hinted that they are currently reviewing a p150hm with 6970m... Any idea who sent it to them?

 

Most likely Eurocom. Notebookcheck just did their review of the p150hm (2720/6970) and it was from Eurocom

 

Huh..I wonder if it's an ES that they got then, like what happened to Tirenz..