Going with Sager for the first time now

I posted a thread the other day looking for a new gaming laptop. I got many results, but the most bang for my buck and reasonable was Sager. ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...ng-laptop-enthusiasts-help-me-out-thanks.html) I've never ever heard of Sager, Clevo, Malibal, Lotus or even heard of those names before so I was a little hesitant. But, oh my, was I impressed with the results. I always like to stray away from Alienware systems simply because I know I have a permanent hidden radiobox that says "The word "Alienware" is printed on the laptop. +$500." and I was incredibly impressed with the Lotus configuration. I was able to get a 485m and 8gb of RAM for about $1,600. That would cost me over $2,000 with Alienware. That being said, from a technical and performance perspective, I'm pretty optimistic about the laptop customization. I just have a couple questions and I'd like some feedback.

-What are your thoughts on the Lotus P150HM as a laptop in general?
-I noticed that they offered a "3-year warranty," what exactly does that 3 years cover for?
-Are you pleased overall with the product (Any product) and services offered by Sager and Clevo?

Just the general feedback stuff. Let me hear your story!! (As I'm reaaaaally leaning towards this company over my beloved Asus (Always bought Asus as, until now, they were the best bang for my buck.))

 

Hi, the Lotus P150HM is a great notebook at an unbeatable price. Here are a couple professional reviews:

MALIBAL's Lotus P150HM: GeForce GTX 485M Gets Its Game On : Bigger Bang In A Smaller Package?

MALIBAL Lotus P150HM Review

Our 3 year Parts & Labor Warranty covers all parts on the notebook, except the battery and ac adapter after the first year. Those two parts are only covered for a max of 1 year - even if you purchase a 3 year parts warranty. This warranty also includes free shipping both ways on all warranty work and free labor on upgrades.

I'll let others answer your last question.

 

Here is a users review

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/549118-sager-np8150-clevo-p150hm-review-forerunner.html

 

Thank you both for your help! I've read all the reviews, front to back, and yes, the P150HM is an amazing system! Can't believe it was able to run Crysis 2 at max settings at a solid 40 FPS. That blew me out of the water. This sounds like a snag deal, and I'm going to do some further research. Just one final question:

I can't find anywhere if this laptop features a back-lit keyboard? Is back-lit standard, or is it even offered as an upgrade?

 

Sorry, the laptop does NOT offer a backlit keyboard. It's hardly a deal breaker because I think it adds to the professional look. Many people have requested back lit but it looks like its not going to happen anytime soon.

I like to think it like this, the cheaper my laptop LOOKS, the smaller the chance a thief will want to steal it. Haha

I said LOOKS cheap, the build quality is supposedly very very good. Cheap might not be the perfect word to use as you might get the wrong idea. Bland might be better. I prefer the word "Professional"

The screen quality is also supposedly amazing especially with the 95% color upgrade that many resllers offer. I recommend Malibal and Xotic.

PS: Malibal, check ur PMs =P

 

I seriously doubt a thief is going to check the brand and model of any laptop he finds after breaking in. He'll scoop up "targets of opportunity" as fast as he can.

 

It is unfortunately not an option at this time. There are rumors of a Clevo refresh next year with backlit keyboards as seen at CeBit, but there's no ETA of that yet (and it won't be backward compatible with current models)

 

I'm sure you are correct. I was just kidding. Although....when my sister was in college, someone broke into her dorm (she didn't lock the door), they took her macbook and ipod while leaving the Dell notebook. It was all on the table. Maybe the thief didn't think anyone would notice if he left something behind. haha

 

I think I can safely speak for just about everyone here who has purchased one of these marvelous machines. In general, you will be extremely pleased if you buy this laptop. It's sleek and stylish. I like to think of it as kind of the James Bond of laptops. It has this tuxedo sort of, understated design, and packs serious firepower!

This. Yes. The FHD 1920x1080 95% gamut is incredible. Everything on this screen is crisp, clear, and bright. I would recommend the matte option, unless your very partial to glossy screens, although your initial thread said you had no preference.

 

I was in the same boat as you a few months back. I never heard of Sager until I, too, posted up a thread in the "What Notebook Should I Buy" and I was directed to Sager by several members. To make a long story short, after some research and some hesitation (mostly being that it was a brand that I've never heard of and people telling me I should go with a "name-brand") I decided to pull the plug on the Sager NP8130 as you can see in my signature and I've had this laptop for almost a month now and I really love it. The overall finish of the laptop is nice and professional looking. The screen really is amazing and after watching HD movies on my laptop, I don't think I could go back to watching regular DVDs now. With my specs, I feel like I got a great deal and I wouldnt have been able to afford it with the name-brands manufacturers (or most don't offer the specs that I currently have)

On the flipside, obviously, the main downside is the battery life (2.5hrs - 3hrs with normal usage)and the huge power brick, but I knew about those before making my decision and I don't regret it thus far.

 

Just got my Lotus P151HM1. Gotta say that I was a bit doubtful at the rave reviews, but I can say now that this is one slick laptop. The MALIBAL logo on the lid is very sleek. The matte plastic has a very nice feel. Went with the glossy screen, which I typically hate, but it was only 30 bucks more as opposed to the 125 of the matte. Screen is AWESOME. I am surprised and impressed.

Speakers have often been cited as the weakest link of Clevo products, but the added THX software makes it pretty darn good to me. I was expecting a tinny sounding POS. I've also read things about how touchy the fingerprint reader was, but it works fine for me. Can't say much about the battery life. It is what it is.

 

Havent heard of Sager until a few weeks ago and now Im about to purchase one as well!

 

i was in the same situation, i didnt know about sagers/clevos until i visited this forum. now im the proud owner of a mythlogic p150 and it couldnt be any better. this laptop has surpassed any expectation i had. also dont let the fools trick u the rubberized finnish is good, the speakers are good enough, but the trac pad is the only weak point.

 

Wow, I am incredibly confident now that I made the right choice. It's good to read about fellow users who were in the same boat. Sager it is!

Well, I was just about to make my decision with the Lotus, but I decided to just, what the hell customize the Satori (The 17.3' model) and see the price.

It came out to be the same. What the heck? So, I did a run by to see what exactly was ramping out the price for the Lotus, and I realized (As many people recommended.) that:
-I could grab the 17.3' model with the same specs for the same price. Satori.
-I could grab the 15.3' model with the special screen (95% NTSC thingy.) Lotus.

I mainly have my laptop hooked up to an external 32' HDMI monitor so I'm actually leaning more towards the Satori seeing as I'll get 2' for the same price.

I have a couple of other questions too:
Someone already justified that paying $160 extra for 2.0 to 2.2 processor speed increase wasn't worth it. Similar questions:

-The better thermal compound (+$40) Is that worth it? I'm a huge gamer, and my room gets pretty darn hot some times. I'm usually on my computer around 10+ hours every day. (I'm going to be a computer engineer, so shut up about my no-life on computers. Haha)

-The RAM speed upgrade. I want 8 gigs, but there was a speed upgrade from 10660 to 128000 for $60 more.

Are any of those upgrades worth it? Thanks again. This forum saved my laptop buying adventure!

 

To answer some of your questions:

Thermal compound- if you're an avid gamer with higher ambient temps, the IC Diamond is worth it to eke out a few extra degrees of cooling. If you aren't comfortable opening up the laptop to do it yourself, then it's a must have.

RAM - it's come up before, but in real world usage like gaming, the speed boost is not really at all noticeable. Sure you might see a boost in synthetic benches though.

 

Thanks again Malibal! Helpful as always! Looks like I'll be purchasing the IC Diamond then. My room gets incredibly hot and when I'm on my computer, I'm always gaming, so that sounds worth it. Thanks for the information about the RAM as well.

Looks like I'll just need to decide whether to get the 17' or the 15.6' as they're the same price if I get the upgrade screen on the 15.6'. I think I'll be going with the 17'. Is it really that simple? Or am I missing something? I don't see any reason to go with the 15.6' if it's the same price as the 17'.

 

Between the two, they both offer the same screen resolution (1920x1080) so the only difference between the 17" and 15.6" will be the size of the pixels on the screen- it's the same amount of actual useable screen real estate. The 95% color gamut screen is much nicer in terms of actual display quality.

Also of note, if it matters, the 15.6" will be a more portable machine. (Also, the 17" comes with a second hard drive bay)

 

Thanks again with the quick reply! I've been reading that the 95% color gamut screen is really worth the money. I've also read that even though the 17.3' doesn't offer that feature, the stock screen on it is on par, or above average from most screens. The color gamut is just above and beyond. Though, the screen isn't a real deal breaker to me seeing as I mainly have this hooked up to an external monitor 9 times out of 10 anyways.

Yeah, I kind of see this laptop as more of a portable desktop, as I'm never really moving around with it that much.

Thank you so much for your help. I think I'm leaning towards the 17.3' Seems to be a better fit for me for the same price!

 

As a desktop replacement, it seems to fit all your needs.

My younger brother has a P170HM from Malibal, and absolutely loves it. He uses it more as a desktop replacement, but also lugs it around campus with little in the way of added effort.

 

From a portability stand point, I travel frequently and carry both by Sager NP8170 (17") and my work laptop in the same bag with me. Not too much touble. If you want a bigger screen then go for the 17".

 

Got mine yesterday and as others have said, this is one slick laptop. From the logo to the finish, it looks professional for being such a beast. The keyboard is great, and the screen is amazing. The colours are vibrant and sharp. Everything worked out of the box and all the games I've tried so far have worked without any hiccups what so ever.

 

I'm overjoyed to hear all these positive reviews!! Looks like I finally found a company that truly offers the best bang for your buck!

Though, something new has occurred! As of today, Malibal now features the AMD 6990m graphics card in their laptops. According to forum benchmarks and notebookcheck.com, the 6990m is better than the 460m, 485m, and the 580m, yet, it's $100 **cheaper** than the 485m?! Is there some hidden catch here? Or is it true that the 6990m, even though it's pretty much the best single card out there, is so freaking cheap without any drawbacks?

Thanks for all your help again guys!

 

hmm im not sure about the lack of drawbacks, no cuda, poor drivers, and lack of support from game devs, and the last card, the 6970m had a significantly higher failure rate than the 485m.

 

So, from what I'm understanding, you're recommending I pay $90 more for the 485 and skip out on the new 6990?!?

 

no what im saying is that nvidia definitely has an advantage in other areas over ati, but ati does have a better price point, because they don't have as many functions as the nvidia cards.

These extra functions like cuda require more transistors to be put on the chip, thereby increasing the price of the unit. as i am an engineering student i will probably use some of these functions, so i went with the 485m, which is still an incredible graphics card, but its not as cheap as the ati 6970m or the upcoming 6990m.

in addition i have heard that amd cards have problems with certain games, like not being able to use AA or having to force it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. What extra functions do you speak of that nVidia cards carry that ATI does not?

 

There aren't any extra functions per se. Nvidia has PhysX and CUDA support which may or may not be beneficial depending on what you're doing, in addition to 3D Vision support.

 

Well, as a gamer, I would never care for 3D vision. I've heard of PhysX, but I've only encountered one game that used it, (Alice: Madness Returns) and I just immediately disabled it as I noticed a huge FPS change, but noticed very little quality enhancement when it was turned on. I've never heard of CUDA before. Looks like these features aren't for me.

Edit: I noticed that Malibal has said that those who preorder the cards will have them shipped mid-august. If I order within this week, what's the possibility I will have my laptop before August 20th? Reason being, that's the day I go up to college.

 

You go up to college in August, doesn't college start in September?

 

Some people prefer to get to the place where they stay a little earlier to get settled in.

@Caziban

I believe CUDA is used to in some Adobe software to decrease time it takes to render pictures/videos by quite a bit compare to just using the CPU alone.
So if you use photoshop, premiere and such, Nvidia cards will help quite a bit, from what I've read.

 

NO use for CUBA, but physx could be amazing if Nvidia actually put more effort into it.

 

now now, Cuba is not all useless. How bout the cigars and the beaches?

 

I consider everything useless if it has nothing to do with gaming I live near the beach, and it smell like rotten fish I tell you what

 

haha its not a fishery. Its a resort area Women and booze don't have anything to do with gaming, but they got their uses.

 

Amen to that but that what the macbook and ipad are for

 

My first day of classes is August 21st, Cheesy.

Thanks Tony for clearing some things up about CUDA. I *never* ever use photoshop, or any adobe products or editing software for that matter, so looks like the ATi card is the perfect fit. Assuming I can get the laptop on time.

 

Ati is the perfect fit for everyone, but unfortunately I don't think you will get that card on time assuming that the 6990m will be ship out on the 15 to 17th, it is a very close call mate. Can you not buy it when your at college Caziban?

Everytime you say my name, I keep feeling like you think I'm cheesy

 

Ehh, the first week of college I really shouldn't need a laptop anyways. I guess I could buy it at college!!

 

Yes sound like a sound plan! Meh I won't get much use out of it, I'm going to be teaching people how to drive for their driver test