Callidor's NP5793 Review + Youtube Demos

Introduction
As I begin typing this thread on my new Sager NP5793, I'm forced to look back at the story that has led to my receiving it. It's getting a little complicated now. Back in February or so, I began thinking about what I would want for my birthday at the end of June. This is my 18th birthday, and I'll be graduating high school about two days after it. This is a pretense for a pretty serious gift. You can check out my m15x review (found here) for some more details, but to make a long story short, I wound up getting that laptop on April 12th. Quite an early gift, but I was happy. Unfortunately, though I was happy with the performance of the machine, it had an irritating problem where under certain conditions the responsiveness of the keyboard would drop, making it difficult to type. I worked for about a week to fix it, and failed. I sent it back to Alienware, and got it back a week and a half later...still with the keyboard problem. So I returned the m15x, and soon after ordered the Sager.

The Ordering Process
This was mostly uneventful. The laptop was ordered on Monday, May 12th, fairly late at night. I placed the order on Sager's official website. On Tuesday, I got an email from Brian Liaw, Sager's sales managr, to confirm a few adress and credit card details. On Wednesday, he, my mother, and I, had to unfortunately sort out an adress confusion with the credit card company, but it only took a few hours. The laptop was shipped that very night. It arrived via UPS ground at my house, on time, yesterday, May 20th.

Packaging and Unboxing
This computer came remarkably well packaged. The whole thing came in an understated white box with the Sager logo on the front. Inside was an inner box, buffered from the walls of the outter box with a layer of foam peanuts. Inside the inner box was the free laptop case, the pockets of which held the AC adapter, driver disks, and owner's manual. Next to the case was the notebook itself, carefully sealed in plastic wrap, and secured against the walls of the box with foam inserts. I don't think you could damage this thing in trasit if you were trying to.





Style and Build
Let's start with style. I must confess, I am not 100% in love with the aesthetic of this notebook. Now don't get me wrong; it's not the size (actually on the smaller end of the spectrum for 17" notebooks), and it's not the orange trim, which looks much classier in person than it does in pictures. It's hard to place it, but the notebook looks all around a little clunky in its design. especially when viewed from the side. The way the wedge style is implimented makes the notebook look like it's just lacking a little in grace. That is, of course, entirely a matter of opinion though. When looking at the open laptop straight on, I really do like the look...it's mostly just the wedge that bugs me...and only a little bit.

As for build; this thing is solid as a rock. I feel like I could drop this notebook down a flight of stairs and damage only the stairs. Ok...not quite, but this thing is clearly built to last. There is no screen or keyboard flex to be found. The screen hinges are rather stiff. If you are opening the screen with one hand, and not holding the bottom of the notebook down with the other, you will lift up the base of the laptop with it. This of course gives you a screen that stays precisely where you put it. The metallic (stainless steel?) backing of the screen-half of the laptop is a cool touch. It definately offers protection BUT...it shows fingerprints clear as day. It's definately cool looking, but expect easy smudging. This uncompromising durability comes at a cost, however. This is a heavy notebook. I put the case around my shoulder with nothing in it but the laptop itself, and its weight is definately felt. It's not an enormouse burden, but you should know when ordering any 17" laptop that you are sacrificing mobility. Below are a bunch of pictures to give a sense of what the machine looks like, and offer some size comparison.


On my desk, next to a 19" 1280x1024 desktop monitor. If it came out clearly enough, also note the vast difference in resolution.


Shot of the power brick next to a USB mouse


Laptop on top of chair. iPod Touch and cell phone on top of laptop.

Display
Ooooh man. This screen is beautiful. Let me start with my one complaint. If you stare straight at the right border of the screen, you can see some of the backlight leaking through. This is only visible if you're looking for it though, and is not present on the left side. Aside from that one trivial complaint, however, this screen is just...wow. The super glossy style will not attract a lot of glare, so you don't have to worry about it. It just makes the entire display look like magical shape shifting...glass. It's really very nice. My laptop has the WUXGA 1920x1200 display. This is more screen real estate than I have any idea what to do with. Some people may find that things are displayed too small on the screen at this resolution, but I doubt that many will find it a hinderance. The only problem one might have with it is that some non-widescreen-friendly web pages look a little awkward with that much blank space visible on the side. Most webpages look just fine though. If you check back at the picture above (with the notebook next to the desktop monitor), you can see that every thread on page 1 of the Sager/Clevo forums is being displayed at once on this notebook's screen. Very impressive resolution.


A shot from lotro gameplay that shows just how much screen real estate there is for things like in-game overlay graphics. (ie: the item boxes, tool tips, raid stats etc.)

Keyboard and Mouse
The keyboard on this thing is nice and comfortable. The keys feel thick and a little rubbery. They have a pretty long action as far as laptops go, which makes the keyboard feel a bit more like a desktop keyboard. The inclusion of a numpad, albeit an unusually configured one (in the interest of space-saving) is a nice touch.



The trackpad is one of the few things I don't love so much about the laptop. The texture feels rather slippery...almost like you never have a great level of control over the mouse. Out of the box, the sensitivity isn't quite high enough for my taste. I turned it up one or two notches, and that helped a little bit, but it's still not wonderful. Also, just due to the way it's structured, controlling the mouse while your thumb is on the left mouse button is a little hand cramping. You may find yourself holding your hand a little over the trackpad, moving the mouse and then dropping your thumb down onto the button. Considering this is a desktop replacement, however, many users will probably be using external mice a lot of the time anyway.



Performance (Aka: aww yeaaah)
Not much more to say...but if you insist. This is great. The first game I tested was Half Life 2 Lost Coast. (It's quick to install.) At 1920x1200 with completely maxed settings, the game ran mostly in the 60s-70s fps. Peaks over 100. Oblivion, also at 1920x1200 with nearly everything maxed (self shadows, tree canopy shadows, and shadows on grass left off), ran smoothely in the 30s-50s in all settings. Lord of the Rings Online (which has much more demanding graphics than many people think), slowed this card down a little bit. I started by bringing it to complete max settings, then turned dx10 dynamic shadows, and dx10 distand landscape lighting off. In most environments this got me 30-50s frame rates, with drops into the 20s in more stressfull situations. All of these games were tested with 4x AA at 1920x1200. If steam weren't down at the moment, I would get you some Half Life 2 and Portal readings (both of which I'm sure would be 80-100+). Try not to be disheartened by numbers like 30. If a game is running consistantly in the 30s (and upwards), that is very smooth to look at visually. There should be some youtube demos posted at the end of this review.

Speakers
Maybe I just haven't heard enough laptop speakers to judge this properly, but in my opinion, these speakers are fantastic. At maximum volume, which is definately loud enough to bother people from a distance, there is no distortion. Games and music are clear and you can definately pick up on some bass presence. I know that most people think external speakers are a must for a desktop replacement notebook, and that's probably true for most users. However, if youre in a hotel room or something with this laptop, the speakers are way more than adequate. I'm very happy with them.

The Conclusion (after 1 day of use)
I've owned this laptop for less than 24 hours...I will most likely add more to this in the future, but as a first impressions review, I am very happy with this machine. I've lost the sleek mobility of the m15x, but I've gained a more powerful laptop. The display, performance, and speakers are all top notch.

Pros:
Powerful Notebook
Beautiful Display
Clear Sound from speakers
Pretty comfortable keyboard

Cons:
Pretty noisy fans (can be made very quiet with fn+3 though)
Some may not like the style
Some parts show fingerprints
Not highly mobile

Oblivion video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIfkZWpnSFk

LotRO video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9RPX3tyrtE

more soon

more now!

HL2: Lost Coast - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz671I3NQ1Y

Call of Duty 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un-kgaXvqOk

Call of Duty 4 that doesn't look crappy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEViXGZ2Zs0

and sorry to revive a long dead and buried thread, but this was requested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWo4rl38opg

 

Nice machine that you´ve got there...

BTW nice review too...

EDIT: Your power AC/DC adaptor have a diferent housing than mine... It´s still 20V 6A(120W)?

 

if i'm reading the label on the back of the brick correctly, yes it is.

 

Glad to see your happy with your new notebook Callidor. By the way great review!

 

Good review.This will tempt many people

 

yep different than my power adapter as well.. nice review overall..

 

Awesome review man!!

Enjoy the most uber machine ever!!

 

Very nice review!

 

+rep for an awesome review and for taking the time to make some videos, too!

 

Nice review! Thanks for sharing your experiences with this machine.

 

I think it`s the same adapter Audigy. Granted , he has different line types on it, but it should be the same as ours.
Nice one Callidor, enjoy your new beast... I just wish I had your config too

 

Congrats Callidor! Enjoy! Great review, and cool box you got there for it

 

Callidor how do you think its built quality compare to m15x?

 

Nice review! I just put in my order for my Sager 5793 (config in sig) yesterday through Xotic. Can not wait to get it.

 

This is much much more solid. Many people haev had stress cracking issues with the chassis of the m15x, and though I never experienced that, there was the creaky screen etc. The Sager just feels totally rugid.

 

I was telling people in AW forum that 5793 has better built quality than m15x as I tried both of them previously, and I almost got bury alive.

 

Dude,don`t bother.
I mean most of the m15x try to kidd themselves that they have the best thing out there.
But the fact of the matter is :
-screen wobbling
-lid screeching
-gpu overheating and downclocking
-cheap plastic cracking
.. are all a part of the current m15x.

 

Nice Review

Can I add your review to the post of the m57ru Owners Lounge?

 

Please do

By the way, Steam is back up and running, an im currently running through Portal. Full settings, 1920x1200, 16x anisotropic filtering, and 4xAA

often over 100 fps, almost never below 80. fun fun fun

 

Exactly and if you look at the AW board it is full of nothing but complaints. I thought long and hard about going with the m15x or the 5793, but after looking at the forums for both it became an easy choice.

 

wow i was tempted to try one due to it being 15" guess ill await the new clevo..

 

@Z, eleron forgot to mention about this one: using refurbished parts for replacement.

 

Well, as far as I know,that`s a normal politics for ANY company : in the warranty they are allowed to replace with indentical or similar functioning part.

 

correct alienware is essentially dell in different clothing and this has been dell's policy all along

 

Pretty much any company will attempt to give you refurbished / certified parts before putting new parts in a return.

 

i see...my bad....hopefully sager is not gonna do this on mine >.<

 

Sager is not different than any company . I don`t mind, I mean,as long as it works,it doesn`t really matter if it`s new or 1 month old part.
The thing is though that Sager doesn`t release unfinished or un-optimised products on the market.
AW wanted to have the first 15 inch 8800MGTX notebook,so they rushed it and goofed up.
I`ll have to give them credit though,they are working on solving the issues down the line.

 

Good work Callidor, could you maybe post the original video files if they aren't too large. I think youtube is making your games seem to run slower than you are claiming they are running. So I would like to see the original.

Also Crysis?? And you sure you got your video drivers up to date? I would really like to see how it handles Crysis on high at medium Res with updated video drivers.

1 more thing. Do you think maybe it would be better to play at a lower res without AA and turn all shadows on? I think maybe it would visually be better and still retain good performance. No tree canopy shadows is no fun.

 

Personal preference I guess. I really like running at native res..and i can't stand games w/o AA. Sorry, I don't own Crysis =/

 

i got my sager np5793 just came in today and i couldnt be happier

 

Hmm..just ran the free download 3dmark 06. scored 9168 marks. is that admirable?

 

that was almost what i got with a slower cpu

 

there's not much of a difference 3dmark wise between the 8300 and 9300.. maybe only a couple hundred points or less...

 

my desktop (which i've always regarded to be pretty high performance...7950GT and 2gb of ram) only scored 3994 or something. I think its bottleneck is definately its processor. pretty cool to know just how much more impressive my laptop is lol

 

yeah imo the t9300 is NOT a bottleneck

 

yeah...in my last post i was talking about my desktop processor.

 

Callidor, try the new 175.75 driver from LV2G for me... others as well. Give it a 3DMark06 test too! Been the best driver so far

 

I had a very similar score Calidor mine was 9178 3DMarks

 

Currently installing CoD4...should hopefully have a vid of that up soon.

 

pleased to announce strong CoD4 performance at maxed settings 1920x1200. the tutorial level (which has very little going on, ran at about 60-70 fps most of the time. the first combat level slowed it down, with some of the intense water graphics dropping it down to 20s for a moment or two. that was as bad as it got though. ive played a few levels after that, and in 99% of cases, the frame rates are in the high 30s to mid 40s. ive never seen a drop below 35 save for that one boat level, and its not uncommon to see it jump into the 50s and 60s. once again, max settings, max resolution.

 

Well, are ya happy with the performance ?

 

New Videos!

HL2: Lost Coast - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz671I3NQ1Y

Call of Dut 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un-kgaXvqOk

adding links to the original post as well.

 

so how is it doing for you so far??

 

I love it. If you look at those vids, youll see it exceeds 100 fps for moments in each of them.

 

Yes but you are running games that are not that intensive. The only really intensive game you ran was Oblivion... I don't know about LOTR online. By the way Callidor can you please post the originals for the videos like on divshare.com or mihd.net. I would like to see them. Thanks!

 

Believe me, you wouldn't get much out of it. I recorded these vids at low quality so that they wouldn't exceed youtube's file size limit. They won't be much clearer in their original format.

 

I see. Its kind of hard to see the smoothness of the game but at least we can see the frames which is good enough. Just a suggestion that I made on the youtube vids as well. Maybe you should put the camera in between you and the notebook on a stand or if not at least tilt the screen more towards the camera (I know you'll be stretching to reach the WASD keys, but at least we'll have a better angle on whats happening).

 

Yea, it's really pretty annoying to find a good way to position the camera so that it can see the screen and not me. ill see if i can get anything better for future vids.

 

How`bout a Crysis or Unreal Tournament 3 video ?
Not youtube please

 

Afraid I don't own those games =/