Considering the NP8690 - a few questions...

Hey guys, I'm in the market for a gaming/multimedia laptop, so this forum has been a tremendous help to me (and tremendously addicting!). Anyway, the Sager NP8690 has been the frontrunner for me, basically because it's the most powerful 15.6" laptop out there, which is just the size I'm looking for. As for my questions...

1) I see very few people choosing the HD+ option (1600x900), which is the option I'm leaning towards. Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems like plenty of resolution on a screen of this size. Plus, I can plug it into a 1080p TV when I want to crank up the resolution. Also, wouldn't the lower resolution give better performance (via higher framerates at native resolution) for the life of the laptop? Would I really even notice the higher resolution when watching movies on the laptop when I find it hardly noticeable on a much larger HDTV? Is there any difference besides actual resolution between the two displays I might not be aware of, such a brightness or anything like that? The extra real estate for spreadsheets and surfing, I can live without.

2) I'm leaning towards getting the NP8690 from a reseller that has the laptop with a plain top, not anything like Cyberpowerpc or that sort of thing written on it. I don't mind it saying Sager, but anything else seems lame to me. Offhand, does anyone know which resellers sell the laptop as I'm describing? ibuypower is telling me it might or it might not have their logo on there. On that note, any resellers I should steer clear of, for any reason? EDIT: Sorry, I'm located in New York City.

3) I'm a little concerned about the sound quality, based on what I'm hearing. I hear bluetooth or USB headphones help, but is it that terrible even with a decent set of stereo headphones? Also, are the problems bypassed when using audio via the HDMI output?

Thanks in advance, guys. I appreciate it.

 

1) The full HD screen has much better quality and a lot sharper.

2) Not any I know of, Eurocom is one you might want to steer clear of judging by their past record, but it seems that they are trying to change for the better recently.

3) It's not that terrible, I use the notebook speakers when playing games sometimes and it's really not much worse than any other notebook sound. I use a Cowon D2+ and a Westone UM2 for my usual music listening so I'm not all sound quality insensitive either. It's about setting the right expectations, you don't expect a notebook to sound like a full-blown surround sound system.

 

I am one of the few who went with the 1600 x 900 resolution, some games will gain an extra 10+ fps boost in performance at that resolution when compared to the FullHD while others will perform about the same so it varies. This was on the GTX 285M so with the ATI 5870 which is even more powerful, I would expect even more of a boost!

You can see a few benchmarks of the different resolutions I did here

1600 x 900 resolution along with an ATI 5870 GPU will give you great performance and you will be able to play in native resolution for a lot longer than FullHD.

I have no regrets and the screen quality is bright, clear with good viewing angles too. You will want to let others know where you are located so they can advise you better where to purchase.

Regarding the sound quality, I find using SRS Audio Sandbox software solves the issues of mediocre sound quality and makes it sound a lot better. Many agree with me on this one but some say they notice no real difference. I recommend you test out the 15 day demo.

 

For question #2 I would definetly go check PowerNotebooks.com. I just ordered my Sager NP8690 from them last Friday. Donald is a cool guy and was very easy to do business with. He answered all my questions regarding concerns and what not.

Plus I didn't get the feeling like I normally do when dealing with sales people, that their just being nice to you to make a sale. Donald made the buying expirience feel much more personal, like I was actually inside his store talking to him.

 

I think it's the same for almost all Clevo resellers, it's because they have a small customer base unlike huge international notebook brands who just use service personels, most of the service personnels in those small Clevo resellers are most of the time the owner of the company themselves, or the technicians who know what they are talking about. Unlike a salesperson who will tell you that a notebook is better because it has 4 gb of ram compared to another one with only 2gb.

 

hey, if your looking for a good deal I'm selling one. just pm if u want the link.

As for ur question, 1920x1080 is the resolution to go. I can say this screen is a freakin beauty. One of the reason why I'm so hesitant in selling this beast.

for sound quality, ya ur right it's okay. not very good.

 

Unless you have really bad eyesight or you're like my parents and really can't tell the difference between bluray and DVD resolutions, get the 1080p. Higher resolution means everything will be that much sharper (especially text when you're not gaming), and the HD5870 is enough of a beast that it can handle almost any game currently out at 1080p with no problem.

The reseller I bought from was Gaming Laptops - XOTIC PC - Gaming Notebooks - Custom Laptops - Custom Notebooks, and I had a really great experience. Stellar customer service and great prices. Check them out at least for price comparisons with other resellers you might be looking at.

Use SRS Audio Sandbox and the laptop speakers will sound much better - dare I say average or above average for notebook speakers.

 

I bought mine barebones from rjtech no label on the screen. Also I have the 1600x900 screen and have no complaints. I wanted the higher frame rates for future games at native rez.

 

i have the 1920x1080, but have used the lesser one as well.....get the Higher one. I also bought from rjtech and loved it....no decals or anything. I use a usb headset so i bypass the onboard sound.....

If i were you, i'd wait.....the new nvidia card is out soon, and may be avail for this and according this board, it will be "50-100%" faster.....the 5870 is good but will soon be totally, completely obsolete, so they say.

 

There's no way the 480 will be "50-100%" faster. The desktop cards were heavily disappointing based on initial benchmarks. I'm betting on 25% at most.

 

If capitalism formula holds true(useful for clearing old inventory), more like 15-20%. Actual game performance probably less noticeable, for one bs reason or another. Benchers may benefit the most (squeezing all that "hidden" potential).

 

20% more powerful, and also eat up about half an hour of our one hour battery life.

Generally, I always desire newer, better components, but for some reason, I'm just not interested in the Fermi...what is wrong with me?

 

Be Smart, wait a month or so....theres no reason to buy a 5870 at this point, its like tossing cash in the toilet. new Fermi card may blow current 5870 away, who knows? If not then you can get the ati card, but at this point i think we would all bet the ati card will be getting the short end of the stick. who cares about battery life its already horrible......

 

Is that confirmed that they are adding a new card option in a month?

Im looking to purchase in about a month...

 

...and then after that, wait some more for ATI to release their new line of cards? One thing I've learned about buying any tech products, waiting for the latest and greatest would lead to an endless wait. Not that I'm in a rush to buy, but I'm just saying there's always something new around the corner in this industry.

Also, if what I'm reading is any indication, my spec'd out laptop priced nicely at around 1600 right now would then be pushing $2000. Is that right? I would say paying $300-$400 less would be perfectly good reason to opt for the 5870.

Either way, thanks for the help guys. Keep the replies coming. I still think I would go with the 1600x900 resolution. I'm sure the 1920x1080 looks amazing, but in a year or two when my laptop is struggling to hit 30 fps at 1920x1080, and looks crappy when I lower it to a non-native resolution, I know I'm going to be wishing I had gone with the HD+ resolution and won't want to be forced into upgrading my video card.

 

Waiting is a losing game. No matter when you buy, something new is "just around the corner".

25% is me being VERY optimistic. Initial benchmarks comparing a desktop 5870 (not the same as MR5870, I know) to a GTX480 don't show any consistent improvement. Some games show a rise in FPS, but that's probably more of the "Nvidia bias" than anything hardware related. Add the insane heat and power requirements (and the great compromise you must make in laptops)... well, I'm not excited about it either.

Source: Nvidia's GTX 480: First Fermi Benchmarks - nvidia gtx 480 - Gizmodo

 

my advice:
buy whatever you want to buy,
there's always a faster geek around the corner
so? he'll only be 5FPS ahead of you.

buy your pc now.
regret later.

enjoy it for the time being, sell and upgrade.
(but if im not mistaken 8690 has upgradeable graphics?!?)
whats there to lose?

 

I spoke with justin and joseph at Xotic and they said the 400 series will cost something like 600+ as an upgrade option when it arrives.

That is a whole lot for just maybe 25%

And yes the graphics are upgradeable as its a card and not part of the mobo.

 

Go ahead and wait for the 480 if you wish to be parted with way more money for a minor performance gain.

 

I went for the 1600 x 900 since I'm quite happy with it and agree with your reasons regarding the fps. For some strange reason, my eyes love ATi graphics more than Nvidia (must be psychological too) so go and get it now, enjoy your games and adding $600 for the 480 just ain't worth it. You'll spend less time finding the most suitable graphics drivers with ATi compared to Nvidia (at least in my experience).

Get 8GB of RAM instead, like I did

And like what some of the guys said, it's a tech industry and competition will drive these guys to sell these products - don't be a sucker

You can think, I got the best laptop with the best specs at the time that I bought it You should already be very happy with that thought

 

i really doubt the 480 will be 600 more...more likely the price of the 5870 will drop alot and the new current speced out 2k machine will have the 480 as defualt but with the option of lowering price using the 5870.

 

Current indications are that the the 480 is planned to be atleast $300 more than the 5870. Seems pretty likely since the 285 is more than the 5870 even though it is slower.

 

yeah thats a good point. I guess also, you have to spring for the bigger PSU, and now that i think about that, double the wattage might suck...i personally run a portable AC all summer and that +300 watt psu + my gfs g51 would pop the breakers....

 

I was checking out a review here that seems to complain that the laptop is "almost disturbingly loud" and that the battery life sucks.

Notebookcheck: Review Deviltech Devil 9700 DTX (ATI HD 5870) Notebook

Now, the latter I understood, but I was under the impression that those with really loud fans had faulty systems. Am I mistaken, or should I assume this laptop is going to be really loud?

 

Well, it depends on your noise tolerance, it's noticeable, but not annoyingly so. If you would read their GX740 review, it's even louder at max of 47DB under load.

 

To me, it's not very loud at all. Audible, yes, but annoyingly loud? No. Then again, it's very subjective, so no doubt, there will be others who find it too loud. Unless all professional reviewers start consistently stating noise in terms of actual decibels, it will be hard to convey what's too loud for any given person.

Oh and to address the other issue, yes, the battery life is horrendous.

 

What?! My gaming laptop has a battery?! I never noticed because I always had it plugged..:wink:

 

the battery sucks, noise is low for me, even lower than my asus g51. Will prob be even worse on new 480.

 

Low battery life is expected from proper gaming laptops anyways, imo. I don't have any issues with the fan noise (I'd actually call it "sound" )

 

I actually like the fan sound, just like how some people likes listening to the engine sound of a lamboghini.

 

They could easily solve the battery problems by using a switchable graphics solution. As for the fan noise, it is not very loud at all.