Clevo W740SU 14.1"

update: I finally had the time to replace my keyboard, and it turns out one of the screws is in way too tight. I tried to get it out, but I think I ended up stripping it a little bit -- so instead of messing up the entire thing, I decided that in the end I'm just going to ship it back to Mythlogic

But no, the keyboard doesn't seem to have an extra plate as far as I can tell.

 

Hi, thanks for the nice feedback, I'm evaluating to purchase this model here in Sweden. It's sold by a local reseller.
A question for the linux users: when you say the charge lasts for 6 hours, do you mean it lasts without any sort of kernel power optimizations?
I'd like someone to try to install the laptop-mode-tools. It's a collection of scripts that enable a very aggressive set of power policy without impacting the performance.
Via a simple config file you can enable ethernet shutdown, wifi power optimizations, unused usb ports shutdown, advanced scaling and more.
After that you can check the other possible remaining tunable parameters by running another nice tool, Intel powertop.
I could get the battery to last way more on a Lenovo x200 and I'm interested to see if 6 hours is really all we can get.

Thanks

 

Default Arch installation (with things working and a basic window manager, not GNOME/KDE/Xfce) I get about ~5 hours. Your mileage may vary, the battery life isn't so great on this laptop.

 

I was planning to install Arch as well with i3wm. Still my favourite distribution
Would you please try with the laptop-mode-tools installed? I see they are packaged for Arch. Just out of curiosity.

 

I'm pretty sure Arch comes with that by default if you're on a laptop.

 

Haven't checked in on this thread in a few weeks, only needed to read two pages to catch up.

Thought I'd throw out that I'm seeing this unit on eBay for $400 with a "Buy It Now" of $600. Telling.

 

Something about that eBay auction seems fishy, I don't know.

 

Anyone looking for a regular 14" with touchscreen (non Iris Pro), $900 at NBR Marketplace: http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...2840-clevo-w840su-t-like-new-review-unit.html

 

We'll see. Somebody did the 'Buy it Now' on the unit so I'll watch on the seller's feedback after user receives and leaves it, if they do, not everybody does.

 

I just installed the new keyboard replacement from System76 that they shipped for free (it came with instructions too). It is amazing compared to what my machine came with. No missed keystrokes for me anymore unless it is my own doing! Very glad System76 followed through on this one.

 

Hey Knuxson, really interested to know what has changed. Could you kindly help confirm some items?

1) Do you have a sticker on the back of the keyboard that mentions the manufactured Month and Year? Mine is Sep 13 and I wonder what is yours?
2) The new keyboard, was it made by System76 themselves or made by Clevo?
3) If you have the time, it would be GREAT if you can take a picture of the entire rear portion of the keyboard. I would like to ask my reseller to get one of those too if its from Clevo .

Thanks and cheers!

 

I officially processed my RMA as a return instead. GOnna get hit with a restocking fee but I'm tired of dealing with Clevo's awful chassis and keyboards. THinking of getting a Thinkpad T440 now.

 

We are know about the keyboard. But what happened to the chassis?

 

It literally cracked under it's own weight.

 

did you like sit on it

 

No, I lifted it up, that's what I meant by "it's own weight". I'll take a picture of the crack later if I can, but the materials are so shoddy it's not worth the money.

The only thing I've learned from this is that Mythlogic is an amazing company with great customer support, and I seriously recommend them to anyone on the fence about where to order from.

 

So, you lifted the machine up and it broke?!

 

Yep! Exactly

 

There's something odd about that. Nothing should crack under it's own weight unless then plastic was horribly mixed and with a lot of regrind, or a bunch or screws were way too tight, and/or other external forces at work. I don't doubt stuff like this can happen, but it's sure to be an anomaly more than a common occurrence. In any case that is quite frustrating, but glad Mythlogic are taking care of you!

I'd be curious to get Mythlogic's take on the reason once they get the laptop back. Clevo's got some 'splainin to do.

 

I'm hearing a lot of this new 3rd revision keyboard that is supposed to fix everything but my reseller in my country says that Clevo only made 2 revisions. Where can I get my hands on the 3rd revision keyboard??

 

Here are the pictures of the crack

imgur: the simple image sharer

 

this new keyboard version from system76 is good, no missing characters so far, space works all across it, you don't have to press hard on the keys, anyway, i discovered that miss-pressing the key is due to the fact this is 14" keyboard, keys are smaller and spacing is smaller than a 15" laptops, am using to a desktop dell keyboard

here is a paragraph of the new keyboard without correcting anything of missing keys:

Hello my name is Mohannad Shaheen and i am a computer engineer, am jordanian 27 years old, and i work currently as a SCADA / PLC engineer.

this thing is really working, Great ! Thank you system76, you have my respect now..

 

It's not a standard 19mm keyboard?!

 

I've just ordered this notebook through ReflexNotebook (so Sager), and the keyboard is perfectly fine; this "third revision keyboard" must be included at manufacture from Clevo, i.e. not System 76 exclusive (which makes total sense). That, or I'm just perfectly okay with the second revision keyboard for whatever reason. I haven't even nearly missed a keystroke. It behaves pretty much equivalent to a MacBook keyboard, with maybe a little more snap.

A few days in there are almost no complaints I could make, except the obvious lols oversight of giving me the drivers on DVD. I haven't played with my Windows install at all yet, mostly because of this. Arch runs brilliantly.

 

Anyone knows where I can find just the keyboard?

 

1. For any owners, have you had any issues with HDMI out and is the ports standard size, or will I need adapters I already have a sony Full HD TV and eSATA/USB3 HDD enclosure with standard ports. TIA.
2. After a quick scan of the thread it seems the only major issue is the KB missing strokes and space bar problems.
3. I do not see any win 7 drivers on the Sager site, so I assume I will have to use win 8, but I also want to run VM's under 8 and a dual boot setup with Bodhi Linux. Does anyone foresee any major issues?

 

1. It's a standard HDMI port but I haven't tried using it yet. I suspect any issue I run into will be a package I'm missing; it should work out of the box under Windows with all the drivers installed but again I haven't tried yet.

2. Keyboard has been redesigned a second time (according to System76). I haven't missed a keystroke once in the 2-3 weeks I've had the thing.

3. Win7 drivers shipped with mine on a disk, and everything seems to be in order (internet wasn't working either over WiFi or ethernet with a fresh install but there are drivers for both; take this into consideration). Couldn't find them on the Clevo website (but there were Win8 drivers). There is no DVD drive so you'll need to be able to copy them over somehow. I have no experience with Bodhi but I've found all the drivers I've needed so far for Arch so you should be fine. I'm dual booting Arch/Win7 with no problems, but I had to fix something manually in GRUB (it was a problem with GRUB and not the hardware). If you're running any kind of Linux you might have to tinker but that's to be expected.

It's a great machine as far as I'm concerned.

 

FWIW I returned mine and got a Thinkpad T440p. It's better in almost every way possible.

Another issue I had with my W740SU was extreme processor throttling on battery, and I'm not sure if there's any way to disable that via software. Also take note that the case is made of VERY cheap material, and if you lift it with one hand it flexes under it's own weight; mine cracked within 2 days from this fault.

 

Long-time lurker, finally a poster. Anyone who received their Clevo recently from Mythlogic, how are the keyboards? After much research, I am thinking of getting this one since I need processing power in a light laptop, and I occasionally play some games.

Also, same question with Pobega about the CPU throttling in battery mode. Does everyone experience that? If yes, do you have a solution? And is that a potential deal breaker?

Finally, how is Clevo's and Mythlogic's customer service and warranty? I'm unfamiliar with both of them. Is Mythlogic's extended assurance service worth it?

Thank you. Your comments are much appreciated.

 

Any updates on the keyboard issue? How about from ReflexNotebook?

 

Hi all,

I just received my w740su yesterday, now it's windows/linux dual-boot. Everything works fine including the keyboard. This is my fourth laptop, I owned a Thinkpad T60, Acer 4745G(Chinese version) and a Macbook Pro. w740su's keyboard not as good as T60 obviously, but it's not bad either. The feeling of the keyboard is similar with the Acer 4745G, and a little bit worse than Macbook pro.

There are two things I'm not satisfy. First one is there is no Caps Lock light! I don't know how Clevo could skip this feature. The second thing is all the USB ports are on the same side.

 

Congrats on you new laptop Magtaff, just curious about screen quality, and Touchpad and could you tell me the manufacturer of the display? Thanks ! One review says AUO screen model B140HAN01 AVHA; others say IPS panel ...
Are temps similar at idle in Linux and Windows(7 or 8) ?

WOW not to many likes in this thread
THE 2740 IS AVAILABLE ON GENTECHPC!!!!!!
Here is the ubiquitous unboxing video
<iframe width='320' height="180" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/z1do5unKMxI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Ya, not many likes. I'm still hesitant to get this laptop, even though it's thin and powerful like I want.

My concern are 2 things: how's the keyboard and the flex? what is the battery life?

 

Hi, the screen is "AU Optronics [Unknown Model: AUO113D]". The quality is excellent for me. Worse than macbook retain but way better than Acer 4745g. Touchpad is good, again, worse than macbook retain but way better than Acer 4745g...But I found a problem that is I always touch it while typing, so I'm looking for a way to disable it while typing.

I had to say the temps in Linux is lower then Windows 8.1. It's my first time to use Intel video card on Linux, seems the open source driver is even better than the proprietary driver in temps control.

 

Hmm, I think the keyboard is OK, but I don't whether you will like it or not...The battery life is around 4~5 hours under linux, I haven't test in windows yet.

 

hmm..4-5 hours seem alright. Do you on windows would be more or less? maybe better drivers on windows make battery life longer?

 

I have no idea, but this review might helpful Review Schenker S413 (Clevo W740SU) Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

great. can anyone post a video showing how flimsy/sturdy the lid is?

 

On Intel platforms Windows battery life is usually shorter, assuming that you know what you're doing.

4-5h sounds a bit short though.

 

I just read a review and the dude said it was one of the flimsiest he has ever seen, apparently the hinges are at the center??
http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1217767
Darn I so wanted to like this machine...

 

I've been enquiring from my boutique supplier and was told that the latest keyboard from Clevo is still the 2nd iteration, which I am having now. I highly doubt that what I am having now is the ones many users are claiming to have now which is much improved. Some even claim it is just slightly below par of a Macbook Pro, which to me, if that is true, would be something I would want to get my hands on. I've tried contacting System76 for a replacement keyboard, but they do not sell to non owners of their products.

Anyone here can suggest SOMEONE that has that 3rd iteration keyboard on hand? I am interested to purchase it

 

Not sure why people say the MBP keyboard is good. It's acceptable but "good"?

 

Well tastes differ and different people are sensitive to different things. Some need strong feedback and others like very soft very shallow key action.
But I agree, they are reasonable but far from the best in the market (that's probably still Lenovo keyboards) - the only difference between MBP and mid-range notebook keyboards that I felt is that they have less "give" e.g. when pressing down hard in the middle. But otherwise it's the same scissor type mechanism with key wobbling as all other manufacturers. Well it's at least better than typing on a touch keyboard. :/

 

Hi guys.

I didn't read this topic before buying the w740su, and i should have.
It was a really bad investment. I got carried away by the beautiful CPU and didn't think the construction could be so poor in an over 1000 Euro laptop. I am ashamed to even sell it to someone else since i myself wouldn't buy this at half a price.

I will start with the small things that bother me and get to the big ones. I will also be making small comparisons with Lenovo Thinkpad, since i used to have 2 of them, E530 and E531 (pretty low end ~ 350 Euro)

I had to add another 4gb of RAM and i was surprised to see i need to pop the button lid and open the keyboard to do this. i thought we were in 2014 not 2004. This operation requires certain skill as you can scratch the plastic or break the lid.

Out of the 3x USB 3.0 only 1 can power up devices. They're also on the same side and close to each other, so using all 3 at the same time is mostly a no-no.

The touch pad is... tilted, one corner is higher than the opposite corner, i didn't even know this was possible.

The frame on the display is so weak that whenever i open or pull a bit by the lid it opens and a gap appears between the display and the frame.
Also, pressing on the display cover with the smallest of force will bend it. So caring it in a full backpack can't be done because whatever you have in there will push on the fragile cover and damage the display.

Laptop sometimes doesn't start from the first push of the button. It lights up and shuts down again, and i have to push the button again. I can't send it back like this because it's not a frequent thing, so i have to live with it.


Now the reason why i'm here. I want to change the display cover with something more rigid, do you guys know where i could buy something like that?

 

Kinderheim511. sorry to hear that. I know most of the popular boutique retailers who frequent this site off a "grace period" where you can return your machine for a full refund. For instance GentecPC offers 15 days and all you have to do is pay shipping.
Could you do me a favor + let us know what brand display panel your machine has as well as the quality of it AFA viewing angels, brightness, etc? Thanks

 

As you get thinner certain things have to be done differently like the ram placement. It can be a little tricky but you won't have to do it often. I always recommend have a plastic took for leverage if you work inside notebooks.

 

My Clevo has a 14" (35.6 cm) Full-HD 1920x1080 Matte APDISPS413FHDNG
In my opinion it excels in every aspect, viewing angles, brightness, colors, everything is perfect.

@Meaker, i used a knife but i was very careful with it . However, it's not an operation i'd want to try too often.

I can get past everything but the poor quality build, i can't use this on the road. I'm buying a ThinkPad T and i'll try to sell this Clevo even if i lose some money in the process.

 

Hello! I have system76 galu1 laptop too and flashed latest clevo bios. Right now I have strange troubles, my SATA SSD doesn't detect well. Sometimes it shows nothing in BIOS. May anybody give backup of full BIOS?

 

Did this happen before you flashed it?

 

What is the best way to get a manual that explains how to upgrade the wireless module for the Sager variant or Clevo W740SU? TIA, Josea