Buying a Clevo looking for input on this site/rig.

So to start off, been a clevo fan since the early 9860's in 2004/2005 and upgraded to my 9750 when AMD made its FX debut in 2006, since then my rig served me well till 2009 where my video card dislodged itself from being taken all over the world.

After that I settled down in Japan, built a killer desktop and then bought an m11x from alienware( don't kill me ) and was happy w/ that for a work laptop.

Here we are now in the year 2012, looking to go back to Clevo as Alienware doesn't seem to care about quality anymore ( screens especially )

So I found this site ibuypower.com and configured one of their rigs that I liked the look of. Talked to the rep and verified that its indeed clevo parts.

Heres my rig configured:

Tundra P1-501M Gaming Laptop
1 x Case ( Tundra P1-501M 15.6" Full HD 1920x1080 LED-Backlit Display Laptop w/HDMI Port, DisplayPort, USB 3.0, Programmable Illuminated Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter - Original Metallic Black - 4946 )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM Mobile Processor (4x 2.6GHz/6MB L3 Cache) - 5035 )
1 x Memory ( 32GB [8GB x 4] 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM [Laptop Memory] - Corsair Vengeance - 5425 )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M 4GB GDDR5 Video w/ NVIDIA Optimus [P1-501M] - 5255 )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE] - Logitech G300 Mouse with Nine Programmable Controls - Free with purchase of Intel Core i7 Gaming Laptop - 5195 )
1 x Free Stuff ( [Free] - 16GB Corsair USB Flash Drive - Exchage Exclusive - 5317 )
1 x Intel Smart Response Technology ( SSD Cache - 64 GB ADATA SX300 mSATA SSD - 5224 )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 750 GB 7200rpm Serial-ATA Laptop Hybrid Hard Drive with 8GB SSD - 4788 )
1 x Optical Drive ( 6X Blu-Ray-R/8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [P1-501M] - 4971 )
1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( Built-in 9-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Laptop] - 3611 )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard - 284 )
1 x Network Card ( Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN [Laptop] - 679 )
1 x Fax Modem ( Built-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Laptop] - 632 )
1 x Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( Intel Ultimate-N 6300 802.11 a/b/g/n 450Mbps Dual-Band Wi-Fi - 4177 )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-bit - 3538 )
1 x Mouse ( iBUYPOWER Precision Gaming Mouse - Midnight Black - 5221 )
1 x USB Ports ( Built-in 1x USB 2.0 + 2x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 3.0 / eSATA Combo Ports [Laptop] - 4940 )
1 x Extras ( Laptop Stand - Golf Ball Style - 3631 )
1 x Media Center Remote Control ( MS Media Center Remote Control and Receiver - 1143 )
1 x Carrying Case ( Free Deluxe Carrying Case - 1038 )
1 x Video Camera ( Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera - 1842 )
1 x Warranty ( Standard Warranty Service - Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support - 4600 )


If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it, looking for a good portable gaming rig thats not to big, since I was originally looking @ the m14x from alienware but due to low screen quality and crappy support w/ my previous, not sure I wanna go that route again.

I'm an Heavy MMORPG Player ( not WOW ) but games like Tera and others like Eden and more. I do play Single player games if I'm into it, but mostly looking for something to hold me over 2-3 years.

Heres a link to the system

iBUYPOWER Computer :: Tundra P1-501M Gaming Laptop


Gorgeous pics I might add. If anyone has any experience w/ them please lemme know. Thanks <3

 

Looks like a excellent build.

I've never heard of ibuypower, so I can't recommend them. There are a number of great resellers here on nbr, including xoticpc, mythlogic, and lpc. There are others, but I've read the most positive feedback about those 3. I bought from Xoticpc.com, and couldn't be happier. They're the largest Sager reseller in the US.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy it

 

ibuypower.com has a 8.7/10 rating at resellerratings.com. They should be ok. However, their rating look pale compare to xoticpc, mytholgic, and powernotebooks.com.

If you are planning to travel around quite a bit, I will stay away from alienware. I had the M15X, and I was very happy with it. Didn't have any issues at all. The problem I have is with the weight. It's a 15 inch laptop and it weights more than my 9170. that's just crazy.

 

8.7? Yeah OP, I'd definitely stay away from them. Xotic's rating is 9.8 and I'm sure they do a whole lot more business than ibuypower. Probably been around longer too. Est. in 1999 if I remember correctly.

 

Mm I think its less heard of since its more military/govt exclusive, hence why I'm tempted since I have a star card. Else I'd more or less go to xoticpc. As far as the rig goes just verifying all is well and what people feel is the max for portable before u get bulky. My only curiosity is the screen if its 95% or not on the gamut side as I normally see both options offered where areas here I asked the techs and they're unsure, so not sure if thats a sign I should stray away or not.

As for xoticpc, anyone know if that extra "copper cooling" add-on is a gimic or if its something that's specifically exclusive to them? And how much does it help? Appreciate the info as well, and if I do go xoticpc vs this would the rig above be equivalent to the NP9150? or a different model? I'm really loving the lights <3

 

how much is the shipping to japan? also do you really need that much RAM?

 

Shipping's free and currently in the US for school. And you're the 3rd person to ask me that lol, I'm thinking 16-24 is fine, but figured why not max out the channels, I do a lot of vxSphere and 3D modeling ( maya ) that + multiple tabbed browsing (upwards 35-45 tabs) though I'm sure I can run that on a lot less, I guess its more of an impulse just cuz idk lol. For an extra 100$ figured why not ?

 

i dont know, for the extra $100 i rather get another SSD, the cache driver seems a bit small. i personally have a 128GB that i put the OS and my most often played games on it

edit: forgot to mention pro-star computers. their base model for the 150em is around $200 cheaper than ibuypower and their service is great, just got mine a month ago. 2.5 business days from order to delivery

edit 2 : forgot to mention the p150em, the msata slot doesnt support SATA III, only SATA II speed. only the main hard drive slot has SATA III speed, so i would recommend a SSD in the main slot

 

Wow I haven't heard of pro-star since 2004 lol. Though yeah if I could configure an extra I would, though I still want to have some space, figured the 240gb would be ok, and the 750gb for the 2ndary. Didn't seem like I could configure anything additional.

Still curious about that copper cooling from xotic.. o-o

 

feel the copper cooling is a waste of money. for mine, i got them to take out the optical drive and put in a caddy so i can put a 500gb 7200rpm in and a 128gb ssd in the main slot. my msata slot is empty

 

The cooling system in these Sagers is great. Temps are normally fine stock, esepecially with the 680m. I didn't bother with the copper cooling upgrade.

Edit: And yeah, you want to be looking at either the Sager NP9150 or the Cevo P150EM. Hope that helps

 

Hmm any differences between the 2? Or just the same model just diff names depending on the reseller?

and thats surprising about the 680 not getting hot o-o


*Edit n/m they're the same thing just checked*

 

Yup, Sager is built off the Clevo. And yeah, the new nvidia cards are built on 28mm kepler architecture that are really cool and efficient.

 

16 GB of memory should be sufficient for your use. Don't forget, if you want to go about 16 GB, you have to get Windows Pro. Copper cooling is a waste of money. You are better off getting an external notebook cooler. Cheaper and better.

Do get SSD for your primary HD. Just an FYI, it takes less than 30s for me to boot to Windows.

 

12 seconds for me to boot but as ive got the finger swipe a little longer. without it its 15 seconds and im already on website brousing.

 

It's about 25 seconds for me on an mSATA for me to boot and be browsing. I like the mSATA+HDD, the 750GB XT is faster than you would think, due to it's 8GB cache. Guess I'm one of the few who likes his optical drive, so thank goodness for the mSATA.

 

Yeah I'm having a hard time deciding if I want an optical now or not, since I'm so used to my m11x w/o one , only reason for the moment I'd think of using one would be for watching my R2 DVD/Blurays.. blargh decisions.

But I take it the mSata is definitely efficient? Because storage is big for me as I'd love to have a SSD + 750gb kinda like how I have my home desktop. Also I noticed ADATA or w/e they're called is pretty cheap on SSD's though I'm curious on their rep, since I'd either go corsair/kingston or intel normally.

 

ADATA is quality. The reviews of their SSDs seem good so far. I use their ram, and it's awesome. I'd go with Crucial personally, their price/performance seem to be the best for SSD. Also owners confirm their reliability is rock solid. Next time I get a SSD, likely it will be Crucial or Samsung.

mSATA is limited to SATA 2 FYI. But I doubt you would notice the difference unless you are transferring large amounts of data a lot. It's more than enough I think for a gamer or just using it as a workstation. But for a server or a network data storage, yeah maybe SATA 3 is better. Up to you.

 

stay away from ibuypower, get yourself acquainted with xoticpc.com they're the best. bought a $1800 sager p170em off of them and it's phenomenal.

Specs are in my sig, but you also get great customer service (it's kind of their high point).

That build is nice, but I wouldn't risk it with ibuypower, i've heard a few bad things involving them. Just check out xoticpc and let me know what you think of it all.

 

Just go with the site that is cheaper and reputable, Gov/milt exclusive mean nothing when they are running a consumer site side by side ~~

 

problem with the msata in p150em is that it only supports speeds up to SATA II, thus even if you have a SATA III MSATA SSD, with say, 500mb/s read/write speed, the laptop can only support up to around 250ish, thus that is why i feel it is more logical to put a 2.5 inch SSD in the main hard drive slot and then ditch the optical drive for a 500/750gb drive. you can always buy an external blu ray drive, its unlikely you will fill your bag with blu ray CDs when you are on the go

 

If you are used to not having an optical drive due to your M11x, it may not be a big issue to forgo the optical drive in favor of the SSD+HDD combo. You did bring up the thought of watching movies on your laptop, and that is a nice perk. You just have to ask yourself how often you travel and would want to watch movies on the go? Also ask yourself if the places you visit have internet access so you can watch Netflix instead.

The mSATA slot may be limited to SATA II speeds, but it is still a significant improvement over the standard HDD and unless you are benchmarking or transferring a massive amount of data on that mSATA drive you likely will not notice a difference. Crucial does make a nicely priced mSATA drive and they are available in capacities of up to 256GB. This is a good option if you don't want to deal with the hassle of an external optical drive.

As far as the copper cooling mod is concerned, I don't really recommend that as it can mess with the internal temps of the laptop more than anything. Given the laws of thermodynamics, heat can not be destroyed only displaced. Adding the copper cooling, it will only displace that heat back inside the laptop. There is no fan blowing on those copper heatsinks to move that heat out of the laptop and no additional vents are added.
Furthermore, another rule of physics is that heat transfers to cold. So, heat will move where it is cooler. The way these laptops work is by having the heat moving along those copper pipes to the much cooler radiator which the fan is blowing on thus transferring the heat out of your system. Adding those copper heatsinks will only move the heat off of the pipes and allow it to radiate into the laptop itself.
Frankly, you would be better off placing the money in a good laptop cooler pad, one that has fans that direct the air right into the intake vents on the bottom of the laptop, essentially acting as an aid to the existing fans.

 

Thanks for all the replies and info.

Especially for the mSata if you say its higher than the standard Sata III XT w/ 8gb SSD then I guess I"ll opt for that + a 750GB. Again its true I can always get a portable bluray burner.

Though as for the Netflix comment lol I only watch Region 2 Bluray's so doubt they'll have what I'm looking for, its mainly to keep up on language and subtitling.

As for using iBuyPower, was hoping to hear something decent but guess that blows, and they're not giving me fully detailed information anyways on the LCD they're using ( is it 95% or stock default ) and when they said "it doesn't get hot" when I asked about the 680 that kinda lost my interest cuz regardless theres no way that'd be possible.

Thanks for the tip about the copper cooling, figured it sounded more like a gimmick for extra $$ than anything else, glad I verified.

I do love the fact that xoticPC will do custom back panels for you as I have a great image I'd love to add to it. Though seeing as I only have a credit line w/ military/govt relations, I'll have to wait a bit and save up due to other bills I guess unless they have their own credit line ( which I doubt :s )

But yeah XoticPC sounds like its for me, and glad I'm finally over my ( just get the m14x and it'll hold u over ) since for 300-500$ more I can just hold me over for a while.


Final questions then are for anyone w/ the p150 and the 1080p screen how the resolutions working out for you, as I'd normally prefer a 900p screen as compared to a 1080p due to size, has this proved an issue to any of you or still fine w/ things as they are?

Also I can't find pics on Xotic that or I"m not looking hard enough but I DO love the lighting they did on the rig from ibuypower and hoping that's something thats standard w/ the clevo chassis and not re-seller proprietary.

I'd honestly love to get the 17" or 18" if they had one but again portability comes into mind and although 14" would be optimal I'm thinking 15.6 wouldn't be to bad.

Thanks for all the input <3

 

sorry what lighting are you talking about? i have a p150 em and the only lighting i see is backlit keyboard and some indicator lights. I have matte 1080p screen and i dont see any problem with since i have the power to run it, so not sure what you are asking. Also if you ask them to do custom back panel it will take extra 2 weeks and i personally cannot wait that long :S

 

The lights on the rig, Keyboard, speaker (outline ) mouse and the 2 lil front lights. Seems to be standard w/ the rig now. As for the backpanel seems for 80$ I can rush it for 5 days vs 2 weeks which I don't mind. I've got a killer image I'd LOVE to implement. *u*

 

i dont get light on the mouse pad, screen panel or speaker. only 3 on each side and two indicator lights for power and battery. also the keyboard lighting

 

Heres some shots o:

 

uhhh are you sure thats a clevo?

 

Yeah, though as I stated before unsure if thats just the companies custom design on it or if thats standard w/ the p150. Though looking further apparently the front lights are custom to the 17" when I asked.

I'm surprised people were able to pull up ratings, curious where they heard bad reviews though. Anyways thats enough on the other side, I'm sold on xoticpc so I'll be waiting to charge it after I talk with them.

Anyone had their backpanels custom designed w/ their own choice of art? Curious on the quality. Would love to see some pics.

 

That looks a lot like an MSI / FORCE to me

 

Probably because it is. Xotic sells them as well I think.

 

Yeah, makes no difference. Unless you are benchmarking or transferring huge amounts of data constantly, you wouldn't know any difference. My mSATA still boots in 25 seconds and everything loads instantaneously.

Also the MSI Force is probably just as good, biggest difference is the single fan. Next biggest would be all the lights and it has more of that typical gaming laptop garbage. I'd go with a Clevo just for the dual fan design and cleaner chassis.

 

Yeah, but @LunaP seems to think it is a Sager/Clevo. Just want him to be clear that it's a different brand/model

 

I'm just repeating what the reps told me, it also has the dual fan, but if that's the case then I'm definitely not dealing w/ a company that can't get their rigs labeled properly.

Thanks for the update.

 

No, the model you linked does not have dual fan. It's a single large fan with dual vents. And it's louder than the Clevo because of that. Probably has the loudest fan of any of the high end gaming laptops. And it's definitely a MSI Force.

 

Ok awesome news, talked w/ a rep @ XoticPC and they showed me where I could apply for a paypal credit card. Got approved and going over my purchase one last time. Going to post a new configuration and looking for some input! Thanks so much for all the help up till now <3

Sager NP9150 / Clevo P150EM
- FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
- SAGER Autumn Sale!!! - $100 OFF When you spend $1350* or more! (*excludes non-sager parts, accessories, shipping, & taxes) - [NP9150, NP9170, & NP9370 Only]
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Sager Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R301)
- 60 Day No Dead Pixel Warranty (On any screen)
- XOTIC PC Professional Monitor Color Calibration w/ Spyder 3 Elite (Operating System is required) (XPC Service - requires shipment to XOTIC PC: will add to build time)
- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3740QM (2.7GHz - 3.7GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU - S2R202)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4,096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R406)
- No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4S822AP)
- Remove All Branding
- Custom Fitted Laptop Back LCD Skin (A Surface) [Choose from our designs or your own Graphic or Logo (Details of design made after order)]
* Will add 5-13 business days on order (XPC Service)
- 256GB Crucial M4 mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: )
- 750gb (w/ 8GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA III 600 - 32MB Cache) (SKU - S5R421)
- 6x Blu-Ray Burner/Reader / 8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive (SKU - S7R556)
- Sager - Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy (Caddy Only) Used For Installing Your Own Hard Drive (Optical Drive Bay remains as selected)
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- No Back Up Software
- Bluetooth Included *With select wireless cards only* (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 (3x3) (SKU - S8R056)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- Standard Sager/Clevo Non Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Ultimate Premium 64-Bit (64&32-Bit CD Included) + MS Office Starter 2010 -[ Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (Directly through Microsoft)
- No Thanks, I will not be upgrading to Windows 8 Professional [Directly through Microsoft]
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Telephone Support (Labor through XPC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Parts Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
- No thanks, standard double boxed packaging is okay with my order
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- Rush Build & Skinning (Reduces Build Time + Skinning Time After Order Is Successfully Processed) (Subject to Parts Availability + Notebook Skin Required) (XPC Service)
- No Xotic PC Gear

Total 3.1k before savings and discounts ( need to verify what I'll get )


Remaining questions.

Should I go 4 Dimms @ 4x4gb or 2x8gb? Other than leaving room for upgrade or lower the price, just making sure that there isn't any difference filling up all banks vs half. I know Speed/timing's need to match but just making sure nothing has changed.

Optical vs 3rd Harddrive. Still having a hard time deciding so I purchased the caddy that way I can buy a drive later and swap em out. Is it hot swappable or does it require shutting down to swap?

 

i really recommend not getting IC diamond paste, recommend doing it yourself. same with SSD, its acutally really easy, this machine is really easy to take apart, but its up to you

 

Hmm do they not do it right or just to save the 30$?

Also for the SSD you mean buy one for cheaper and install it? Haven't checked the prices lately but seems like a decent one for the size, unless theres another sale going on.

 

for SSD, its not only about the price, but also with replacement/warranty etc. if it becomes defective after say 2 or 3 weeks, you have to ship back to reseller, if its local you can replace it locally. For the IC diamond, i dont know about xotic, but a lot of resellers dont do it right. they just put on a big blob. also at that price you could get a p370em, but with less auxiliary stuff like the screen calibration:S

 

For the RAM, there is no difference other than leaving room for upgrade or lower the price.

However, I'd go with a normal SSD instead of the mSATA one. And I'll put it in the main HDD bay and put the HDD in ODD bay (I don't need a DVD/Blu-Ray drive) -- because the SSD can run faster on SATA III than on mSATA slot, which is SATA II.

Also the hybrid HDD doesn't help much in performance compared to SSD. I'd think of the HDD as a long-term storage where access time is not so critical hence a normal 7200 RPM HDD is enough for me.

YMMV

 

---

agreed, thats the setup i have on my 150em

 

So do you leave the mSata slot empty or? Also is the speed really that noticeable?

Also the hybrid should still be better no? Or just a waste and go w/ the standard 750gb for a 2ndary?

 

i left my msata slot empty, since msata ssd are a bit more expensive than regular SSD i think. from my point of view, why would i pay for 500mb/sec read/write and then have it run at half that speed? if you gonna use it for mass storage, i think standard 7200rpm 750gb drive would be ok

 

Technically yes and no from your viewpoint Silverfern.

Yes, it is a bit more expensive from the viewpoint that the mSATA socket is only limited to SATA II speeds. So a person would be paying for a SATA II drive more or less with the Sager systems.

The cost of the Crucial mSATA drives is only about $10 more than the the price of the 2.5-inch SSD of similar capacity (looking at the 128 and 256GB drives) but you are also paying for the smaller size.

Either way, I see it as something of a toss up and it can really depend on what a person wants in their configuration.

If the system components such as the SSD fail, and it was purchased through the reseller, most should be able to offer a sort of "advanced replacement" cross-shipment. Generally, this requires a form to be filled out with CC information and then once the reseller has that they should be able to ship a replacement out with a return shipping label.

Are you located in the U.S. LunaP? If not, then I would not suggest purchasing from a U.S. reseller unless you are okay paying the shipping costs in the event that your laptop needs to be sent in for warranty repairs.

You should be okay with the standard 750GB secondary for storage. If you were something of a benchmarking speed freak then the hybrid 750 for storage would be acceptable, but I haven't found any issues using my 750GB storage drive unless I have a big game installed on it.
Example: I had World of Warcraft on my 128GB OCZ drive, but it started getting a little crowded thanks to EA Origin and BF3 profile data being saved to that instead of my secondary drive. I moved WoW over to the 750GB to get the space back and load times were VERY noticeable with WoW going from the SSD to the HDD. Not sure if it would have helped much though if the 750GB was a hybrid drive.
If you are storing movies, photos, etc. on the 750GB there is no real noticeable difference in load time and accessing those sort of items.

 

I see, and yeah I'd love some clarification on the hybrid then , since I'd be installing alot of games there.

As far as the mSata goes though I'd jest that its still something additional to have just to get the OS out of the way. And it'd be extra space too that way everything remains off the main. Though if it really is THAT much of a difference then I guess I can go w/ silver's suggestion and do SSD for main and OPT out of the optical and just get the caddy, I can always buy the part and swap em out right?

Curious if anyone knows it they're hotswappable ( the caddy's )
I'm guessing no but figured I'd ask.

Also anyone on the forums who's had both front and back sides of their laptop custom skinned? I'd love to see a photo, I'm looking @ doing the backside, but curious on how the front would be done, as xotic doesn't have any examples sadly.

To answer your question about location I'm in the US attending school right now. So I don't think it would be to much of an issue to ship, only once have I ever had to ship back my last clevo and I forget why but it was perfectly reasonable. In less than 2 weeks I had it back, so I was very happy with the response time.

Also thanks for being so informative, I know I"m asking alot, just behind on things so wanna make sure I"m making the best choices before I pull the trigger on this.
Only other off-debatable part i'm still deciding on is 15" vs 17" mainly about portability but I don't see to much of a price jump between lol.

 

You can easily swap drives, or add an msata if you want.
The caddy or optical drive is held in with a screw located in the main drive bay, so hot swapping isn't practical. If you were to go for the ssd and hdd in a caddy, an external optical drive is a much better solution.

 

- Yeah just leave it empty.

- Well, theoretically SATA II has bandwidth throughput up to 300MB/s while SATA III is up to 600MB/s. However, I believe there should be no difference in real-world performance unless you're reading/writing a very large file. You may be interested in this article.

- IMO, you could benefit from a hybrid drive if you use it as the OS drive since the 8 GB SSD can cache some frequently used files (.dlls, .exes, files required on boot-up, etc.) But if you use it as a storage drive then it won't help much... BTW, these are the reasons I didn't choose a hybrid drive.

 

Also if you're going to get a custom skin then I think this is the info you should be aware of

 

Yeah makes sense in the long run I guess. What about Doing Msata + SSD + HDD?
I mean if i have the slot why not use it. Else I'd go w/ mSata + HDD + HDD lol.

Thanks but I doubt I'd request a refund after paying that much lol, I'd be upset but would def hope that w/ a rating like the one they have, that I'd get a quick fix. The rep @ xotic had good reason to charge as well due to what happened from what i read.