Has anyone tried the Clevo R200RS (VR Backpack)?

Hi All

Most of it is in the title but I have been considering one for a while. Going to wait a week at least as they are replacing the Sky Lake with Kaby Lake.

Specs are below but I want to replace my PC, and yes, I know, I could get the same for a lot less money (£1599.99). Would be nice to have the option for a really decent VR experience once some decent games come out.

Only flaw is, I can't find any reviews of them at all. Don't suppose someone has one to tell me its amazing or #£!"£?

Thanks in advance!

Processor
2.7GHz Quad Core i7-6820HK Processor

Video Controller
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB

Disk Drive Options
Samsung 960 EVO PCIe 500GB, Samsung 960 EVO PCIe 1TB

Memory Variants
DDR4 2400MHz 16GB, DDR4 2400MHz 32GB

Wireless
Qualcomm Killer Wireless AC 1535 with Bluetooth

Audio
High Definition Audio, S/PDIF digital output, External 5.1CH audio output supported by 2-in-1 Audio, Microphone, and Line-out jacks

Connectivity
3 x USB 3.1, 2 x Thunderbolt 3 USB Type C, 1 x HDMI (with HDCP), 1 x 2-in-1 Audio jack (Headphone / S/PDIF Optical output), 1 x Mini Display port 1.3, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet Port, 1 x DC-in Jack

Warranty
2 Years

Battery
45 WH Battery with average 4 hour runtime, 19V 230W Charger

Included
Computer, DC Power Adapter, Backpack, Stand

 

It's based on the NP81xx/P6xx series motherboards IIRC so should be similar in terms of performance.

 

The reason there aren't any reviews or really any exposure is that it was created for a very small market in one country and as such it hasn't been picked up by other Clevo customers. It's correct that there will be a KB update, there is also a bigger battery option for use as the backpack. But as you can see by the design, it wasn't created as a backpack PC but rather as a slim desktop solution which could be used as a backpack

For example, our XMG Walker (which was the first commercially available backpack PC, around 4 months before anyone else launched their versions) was specifically designed as a backpack PC for VR. For example:


- the two 99.96Wh batteries are hot swappable meaning you have 90+ minutes of run time and the GPU can run at full speed, you can then change the batteries out without needing to charge it up again or restart it


- we have a 12V power socket to run a Vive HMD from, so no need for the Vive link box - you just plug everything straight into the Walker


- battery charge status on the chassis, full strap system (which is detachable) with pockets for Wireless HDMI and everything else.


Of course you can use the Walker as a normal PC as well, it will run from the optional 300W PSU or the batteries with the same performance.


My advice would be that if you really want a VR backpack experience then you'd be much better off going for the Walker over the R200RS - ok I am biased as the Walker is our own product and not Clevo's, but vice versa if you want a slim desktop PC then the R200RS would be better than a Walker for that purpose.


I would happily point out, especially before anyone reacts to my post, that we do not promote the XMG Walker as a consumer product. Though it does excell as a consumer product in single player environments, price is a factor - this is unavoidable due to the nature of the product, the batteries and so on. More importantly, the VR backpack excells in large scale tracking use, multiplayer VR and specialist industries. 99.5% of our Walker customers are businesses in VR development, engineering, VR arcades and public VR experiences/exhibitions, military applications and training, simulations and so on.


If you are interested in any further advice then please let me know, you can pm me once you have 5 posts! I am heavily involved in our VR business so am extremely familiar with these products and the pros and cons of each option available to you.

 

Hi

Thanks both for the info.

Your XMG Walker does look good but as you said, price is high, higher than the high already R200RS!

I think I may just chance the R200RS, can always return it if its awful out of the box.

 

No problem, do you have a link to the R200RS page with pricing? I wasn't aware that companies outside of China were selling it yet.

Most of the price difference will be because the Walker is a bespoke backpack - the batteries alone are over USD250 each because they're such high capacity and hot-swappable individual units and then of course you get an external charging station for the batteries and so on.

 

Yup - https://starlabs.systems/product/star-labstation/

Do you know who is selling it in China? (as it might be cheaper )

 

Thanks for the link, I haven't heard of them before but if they have a 30 day lead time then it's fair to say that they don't have stock (we don't even have our Kaby Lake sample yet from Clevo, though my colleagues have seen it in Taiwan). The price could be correct, but there are two batteries available for this - a 45W and a 145W option. That price only makes sense with the 45W batteries which is under 20% that of the Walker batteries, you'd maybe get 20 minutes max play time before needing to charge the battery up to full again. Also, assuming you have a Vive, you'd still need to plug that into the wall for power as unlike the Walker I'm not aware that there's a 12V output on the R200RS.

The company I know of in China isn't a reseller so you wouldn't be able to source it from them.

 

I hadn't even got as far as headset! Was thinking Oculus, just as I used one once and it was very good.

Time for some Googling!

 

Yeah, VR can be pretty deep to make sure you get the exact setup you want, especially if you go slightly offset like a fully mobile solution.

I would speak to the reseller and confirm any points.

 

Using a Rift with a backpack doesn't really make sense still (unless you're using optical tracking of course), their room scale tracking isn't anywhere up to the Vive/lighthouse standard yet.