Clevo = quality?

Been debating alot with a classmate, about how I feel that Clevo is the best quality laptop manufacturer that I have come across.
But I would like to get some input on this, am I completely wrong in saying that Clevo is all about quality (cooling, components, etc) ?

My friend also mentioned that Clevo used to make laptops for Alienware, which werent of the highest quality.
Basicly his argument is that Clevo makes performanced centered laptops, of mediocre quality?

 

I think two years ago clevo was at their prime. They had very little competition for quality laptops, but now that others have stepped up their game they really are only average. When they jumped on the 15.6/17.3 bandwagon they lost my support. They still have no competition for their desktop cpu powered laptops, but if thats not what your looking for, then everything else is average.

The only real perk now days is that you can purchase from the reseller of your choice, and they know the only way to rate them is customer support so they work hard to get/keep your business.

 

What do you mean by quality in this case.

Components can be a little tough, as laptop manufacturers obtain much of their stock from the same variety of part manufacturers, i.e. same HDD, screen, RAM manufacturers.

I would say that the Clevo models are certainly usually well designed heat and performance wise, but can sometimes have small issues that crop up. i.e. M570ru series had the sound jack/card issue.

 

Clevo D900K - biggest piece of junk ever designed.

After my run in with Clevo I will never buy from them again.

The only good thing which came from buying a Clevo, is I realized that I can build a better laptop than them. And guess what I did. I have a homemade 15" laptop almost done and a 24" laptop done.

If I ever bought a laptop again, it would be from Dell. They have a much better warranty than Clevo does.


K-TRON

 

no probs here Oct/08 to present

 

Being in IT, I have purchased computers from Dell, IBM, Lenovo, Sony and Toshiba. The quality of my D900F is as good as any from those companies.

I would not hesitate to buy another Clevo system.

 

Same, the way the keyboard is held in place on M860TU isn't what i'd call quality and definitely more cheap. But the build materials (feels like metal instead of plastic, dont know what it actually is), chrome-like edges around that metal and touchpad, and overall feel of quality is way higher than my last laptop. Opening up the underside, the cooling system is ridiculously better than any other laptop; all copper (and an overly generous amount of it) and a very large fan are quite nice.

 

It's interesting that clevo has been using that keyboard retention mechanism for years, and only on the M860TU did it have problems...

Also, Proud owner of an M571RU since Sept 07 - No issues to speak of, still good as new

 

The M860TU/M860ETU is the best laptop I've owned, followed by the Asus G1S. The only place the M860ETU loses out is with the keyboard, as the G1S's keyboard was amazing.

 

When considering to buy a high-end system the warranty is one crucial point to think about. Clevo has tons of small resellers and you may end up having the worst service and support for the best system, which may ruin the whole experience.

 

In my opinion my Clevo W860CU has been the highest built quality I have personally seen. Feels like it is built to last with performance to boot. I have owned Macbooks (Build quality was also very solid), Alienware, and Asus laptops and without a doubt the Clevo is on top with the Apple Macbook right beside it. I was going to go with the new Macbook Pro but I decided to go with Clevo because for $300 cheaper I could get better performance. The Asus and Alienware notebooks were also built very well but so far I think the Clevo will be on top. I agree the Clevo has tough competition now where in the past they were pretty safe at the top. My opinion though, LOL this is the Clevo section.

 

Worst service.... Xotic PC, Power Notebooks, etc have some of the best service and support in the computer market in my opinion and compared to companies such as Dell they are miles ahead. Yes Dell has lots of retailers that can send out a tech to help you. But when you need to get something replaced or exchanged I don't think you can find a better retailer then some of the resellers of Sager/Clevo. Sorry if I took your post the wrong way, not trying to start a argument. So please don't take this the wrong way.

 

Lol, when you live one block away from your reseller you might be impressed, but what it the closest you have is 1000miles away? And what if you need something urgent? What if the part is out of stock or worse yet discontinued? Will they replace your 900C with 900F without additional costs if the mobos are out? And yes if I need something replaced/exchanged the techs Dell sends could do a bad job (if let them, but IMHO if it's a high-end machine you should NEVER let a tech touch it) but the delivery will be fast&furious.

 

Well, warranties aren't technically Clevo's responsibility, since Clevo warranties are conducted through their resellers, but I will note that the basic Sager reseller warranty seems as if it might be better than the basic Dell warranty in the US. You can get a better warranty from Dell than you can get from a Sager reseller, I think, but, of course, you'll be paying more. It's difficult to tell, admittedly, since we're trying to compare a boutique vendor with a much more generalized and larger company. It's also probably worth noting that Dell only has this advantage in the United States; it seems that Dell service out of the US is very, very, poor (especially in the UK and Australia).

 

Actually this advantage is not just in the United States, it's service is not poor here in Canada, Dell's Complete Care warranty is the best laptop/computer warranty bar none, and that's no exaggeration, I have yet to find anything that can compete with it.

As for the topic at hand, in my experience Clevo's have pretty good build quality, probably not the best, but definitely top 3.

 

Sorry, I probably should have said North America instead of the States. I do apologize if I offended anyone whom isn't Quebecois. (I actually apologize to them too, but I personally find them a little silly. >.> )

 

As far as I know, Australia was the only country that had problems with Dell/Alienware, I can't remember the details so I could be wrong, but I think it had something to do with Dell/Alienware only licensing their name out and not actually being in control over pricing and warranty in that country. I've never heard such things from anyone else other than Australians to be honest. Perhaps the UK has the same issues, regardless this appears to be an issue relegated to Australia, and maybe the UK if you say so.

Why exactly are Canadians/Quebecois "silly" to you?

 

The UK had it's share of issues as well, judging from the experiences of Pman, Alexrose1uk, and a few others whose names I'm not remembering at this moment. A lot of it seems like it may have been the changeover from Alienware over to Dell, lots of parts were going missing, inventories were wrong, parts were promised that were never delivered, and various other issues. I also seem to remember some issues where they weren't adhering quite correctly to EU law, but I'm not really very clear on that... I just remember the fact that people were having issues.

And I don't find Canadians themselves silly, I just find the periodic Quebecois insistence on secession a bit silly. The people arguing for "special status" I can understand, but I think the ones that want full secession from Canada are perhaps a bit off. And we should probably leave this (the Quebecois bit) here, as any further discussion along these lines is likely to get political.

 

I see your point, I remember reading about some of Pman's and Alexrose's issues, hopefully Dell/Alienware can get them selves sorted over there, as for the rest of the world they seem to be doing a pretty good job from my understanding.

I thought the comment of Quebecois being "silly" was a general insult to all Quebecers, you should have been more specific with the original comment. Now that you've cleared that up, I must say I agree with you on the point of separatists in Quebec, which are actually a small percent of the population these days. The separatist movement here in Quebec is not what it once was, but there are still some foolish ones who have been raised to hate the English language and English speakers in Quebec and believe separation is the only way to rid themselves of their perceived problems. I personally dislike them and find most of them to be excruciatingly irritating and uneducated.

 

over at the 8690 owners lounge some owners have been complaining about these issues:
thermal paste not applied well
loud fans
low audio from headphone jack
touchpad responsiveness
not all owners have these issues though. i for one dont have the first two.
although the last two could be driver issues, the presence of the first two could point to some QA issues with clevo.
but with that being said, i think these are still minor issues compared to what other high end brand owners have had to contend with.
however, when your buying a high end laptop, you do want everything to work flawlessy and you do want the makers to use high end/top quality hardware even on those things that seem 'non-essential' (ie touchpad). maybe its their way of cutting down cost, but if only clevo/sager could have resolved these issues, then the 8690 could have been the perfect 15 inch gaming laptop.
i think that most in the sager community have the same sentiments.