Best P151HM1 distributor for Canadian consumer and other misc. questions

Hi, I've been looking for a good affordable laptop for quite some time now and the p151HM1 seems to be the right laptop for me. The two major distributors seem to be Malibal and Xotic PC and I'm willing to go to either of them; they seem to have amazing customer service and quality in products. The problem is I live in Canada which makes warranty service and shipping a little difficult, I was just wondering who offered the better service to Canada and if there were any other distributors that could compete. I've checked out the Canadian distributors but their prices are ridiculously high compared to Malibal or Xotic's. Also, if anyone could tell me if there are any promotions or discounts that I should be aware of before I make the purchase.

Now moving on to the laptop, I had a hard time picking between the P151HM1 and the P150HM. In the end however, I realized that the only difference was the ability of the P150HM to install a better video card which I don't particularly need especially when the 485m could potentially cost me $450 more than the 560m which isn't worth it in my opinion. If there is any other difference, I haven't spotted it. If there was, could anyone enlighten me?

Another thing is that I don't particularly like the logos 'Malibal' and 'Sager' would it be possible to get those removed and and stickers so it just looks like the stock Clevo P151HM1?

But yeah, my current configuration right now is:
-i7 2630QM
-95% glossy gamut
-8gb 1333 MHz RAM
-GTX 560M
-750gb SATA 300 (not sure if I'll need the extra 250gb for this upgrade though, worth it?)
-6x blu-ray reader (also not sure if I'll need this upgrade, is it worth it? Can't say I'd use blu-ray much but I dunno if that'll still be the case in 2-3 years)
-Intel 6300 wifi (how does it compare to the bigfoot? I personally don't trust/like bigfoot)
-IC Diamond 7 thermal compound (I don't game a lot, mainly school and graphics editing. Is this necessary for the occasional gamer?)
- And finally, what warranty plan do you guys recommend? I plan to use this laptop for 3-4 years, do I need the best warranty though?

What do you guys think? I'm on a bit of a budget so I can't splurge too much on the configuration but I'd say this is good enough. I also heard that the Malibal comes with a case, is this true? and if so does the Xotic? cause that would be nice.

Anyways yeah, that's all. Thanks to anyone that can help and answer some of my questions, any help is greatly appreciated as I am pretty much set on this laptop.

 

The only differences between the P151HM1 and the P150HM are that the P150HM has a rubberized finish, a glossy screen by default, and 180w power brick, while the P151HM1 has a plastic finish, matte screen by default, and 120w power brick. That's it

Warranty work would require you shipping it back to the states, you're right. As far as the logo, you can always order without if you want it plain.

Wifi- the bigfoot card has better software for optimizing QoS/latency, otherwise the 6300 is overall a faster card bandwidth wise

Paste- the upgraded IC Diamond paste can shave 4-8C off the temps. It's not necessary, but for some the extra heat reduction is a big benefit.

Warranty- entirely up to you, long warranties offer peace of mind obviously.

Hope this helps answer at least some of your questions!

 

Not all the prices of canadian resellers are high. Look at reflexnotebook. Pretty much the same.
Reflexnotebook.ca is your Source for the Sager NP8130 (Clevo P151HM1) in Canada

1. A 750GB HDD is about $80-200 vs $50-80 so the price $45 increase isn't too bad for it.

2. The bluray is all up to you... If you will watch bluray then obviously get it, if not, then don't. I do believe that there is a cheaper bluray drive out there that MALIBAL is price matching. Maybe reflexnotebooks will do that too...

3.

4. It's up to you on that. It will drop temps a bit and there are reports that it will allow the cpu/gpu to downclock faster saving battery.
See this post about that:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/595989-thermal-compound.html

5. A warranty never hurt anything.

Edit:
Oh and if you don't mind the whole shipping back into the US for the warranty, I recommend MALIBAL. They are awesome!

 

I would also like to add that our warranty to Canada includes a very nice shipping discount for NBR Members. You can PM us for details.

 

Alright, I was also wondering how shipping, brokerage and taxes would work. I understand that the Canadian resellers ship from the states anyways so the prices should be similar but they are Canadian based so would there be possible duties since Malibal is an American Based company?

Also I understand there is a free shipping promotion for NBR members atm, how would this be applied to Canadian customers. Sorry I can't PM for some reason, if you would prefer to I could e-mail you or use your live-chat feature

 

Hi, there are no import duties or taxes on notebooks shipping from the US to Canada - so the only thing you have to pay is the price of the notebook, shipping, brokerage (if you select UPS Standard to Canada - Note: the brokerage fee is waived if you select Express or Expedited Shipping) and your local GST / PST / HST which are the same taxes you would pay if you purchased a laptop locally.

Also, you need 5 posts before you can PM. Once you reach this number, simply drop us a PM and we can discuss details about the shipping discount we offer NBR members.

 

Where are you located? The two Canadian resellers are Fortnax (in Calgary, AB where I purchased mine from) Fortnax and Reflexnotebooks. Reflex Notebooks in Ontario. Both of these resellers ship from Sager to Canada and have a presence on this forum.

Fortnax gave me a few discounts over the website price so it may benefit you to contact the resellers directly and see what kind of deal they can arrange for you.

There is also Eurocom in Ontario which is the only other Clevo distributor in North America besides Sager. Everybody else gets their's from Sager whether it is Malibal or Xotic, etc. The Eurocom Canadian pricing is horrible though, it seems like they are taking advantage of their fellow citizens as the Canadian prices are much higher than the USD prices on their own website despite the fact that the Canadian dollar is higher than the USD. Eurocom imports directly from Clevo in Taiwan and builds their systems in Canada and they will ship from Canada. In the other thread, the Eurocom rep said he wasn't in control of the website pricing but could try to get you the best deal he could if you contacted him directly.

 

Because of NAFTA, no duties or fees can be charged on computer products, therefore you will not be charged duties or fees at all if you get it from a Sager Reseller.

DO NOT EVER ship ANYTHING via UPS standard. Any reseller or company shipping anything to Canada should not even offer this. UPS uses a private brokerage to process parcels across the border when you select UPS standard. The brokerage can charge anywhere from 50% to 150% of the actual value of the item. My friend bought a 24" monitor from the US and specified USPS but the seller shipped UPS. The monitor cost $350. USP brokerage charged him $150 or they refused to deliver the package. I'd recommend any reseller who wants to do business to Canada to not even offer the standard option because you will only get grief and complaints from your customers because of the hidden surprise costs that are basically unadvertised and must be paid by the customer on delivery.

When I purchased mine from Fortnax (run by the user Aikimox on this forum http://forum.notebookreview.com/member.php?u=235434) he got Sager to ship via USPS for me which was much, much cheaper than dealing with either UPS or FedEx. Personally, I avoid couriers for any cross border shipping and just go with the regular postal system (unless Canada Post is on strike).

When I was charged GST by the CBSA upon pickup of the laptop, Aikimox wrote me a cheque right away to pay for the GST for me as I had already covered this when I purchased the laptop. He also helped me order an HDD caddy and offered to replace the screen for me and free labor on anything which is something I wouldn't get if I had bought from Malibal or Xotic. Basically shipping via USPS saved me a huge chunk of change anyway so I avoided the US resellers. I avoided Eurocom because their Canadian pricing was unfair despite them being the only other direct importer/builder of Clevo laptops in North America.

It also made more sense dealing with a Canadian reseller for me as I would not have to ship the laptop back to the US to deal with repairs. Shipping to Canada may be affordable but as a fellow Canadian, you know Canada Post charges a lot more to ship the other direction and when you receive an RMA/repair item, you might get dinged for taxes again unless the American reseller had clearly marked out RMA/repair part and filled out the proper paperwork.

Nothing against Malibal or Xotic of course, I'm sure they are both excellent and the large volumes they go through ensures they can offer cheaper pricing across the board in many cases. I'd contact the Canadian resellers or reps for Fortnax, Reflex, and Eurocom first though to see what they can offer you.