Comparing NP6658/W650SJ and NP7338/W230SS

I've been looking at the Sager NP6658 (Clevo W650SJ) and the Sager NP7338 (Clevo W230SS). It seems like they're evenly-matched apart from the size difference but I'm still not sure about a few things. I'm coming from a 15" laptop with a full keyboard and a glossy screen so the 6658 jumped out at me, but after some reading it seems like the 7338 has the better GPU and battery life for roughly the same price. The fact that the 7338 still has separate Home/End/PgUp/PgDown keys is also appealing; I use those more than the numpad. I haven't bought a Sager before so I'd appreciate any advice.

1. Are these IPS or TN screens? I think I heard the 7338 has an IPS screen and the 6658 is TN, but I'm not sure. It seems like Xotic PC has the 7338 with matte only and the 6658 glossy only.
2. What is the gamut on these screens? Are they suitable for photo work (with calibration, at least)?
3. How bad is the noise/heat issue with the 7338 if you throttle the nvidia GPU? Most of the time I won't be using it for my work so I hope I can run silent. On load, are these so loud that they'd bother other people even if you were in a noisy room? (Say, a cafeteria, not a library.)
4. Does the 6658 palm rest surface have paint that can wear off like the 7338?
5. Are the keyboards decent for someone who types most of the day? I do a lot of coding.

Thanks!

 

Hi renderman, congrats on your first post!

1. Neither have an IPS option for the screen. The NP7338 does have a wide viewing angle though.
2. Neither list specifically what the color gamut is so most likely they are the standard 60% NTSC.
3. Both models are pretty quiet under light load, but the will be a little louder under load because of their thin chassis they need to do so to keep temps down. The noise probably wont bother people in a noisy room.
4. Haven't heard any issues with paint wearing off on the 6658.
5. Both keyboards are chiclet style which are nice to type on. If you are at a desk you can always hook up an external keyboard.

 

Thanks a lot Hutsady! I'm also wondering about the hinges on the 6658; I saw a few posts from people with variants of that case (in various models) where the hinges seemed to lock up at some point and torque open the plastic. How long do the mechanical joints on these usually last?

 

You're very welcome! While its not a common issue, mechanical parts can go bad. It will be covered under the parts warranty as long as it wasn't cause by abuse or dropping etc. Its hard if not impossible to put a time frame on it.