How Reliable are Sager/Clevos? Repair Procedure?

Having heard so many strong endorsements of Sagers throughout NBR and finding them extremely competitive on a price/performance, price/features basis, I'm strongly inclined to purchase more than one of them (need two shortly), but with a boutique brand the thing that is of greatest concern is reliability and repairs. Please, if you would, put your strong loyalty for the brand aside and indicate how reliable Sagers are in general. Do they have the same problem as most brands with new models having lots of bugs and driver problems for the first 3-6 months? Also, how are warranty repairs handled? Are there on site service plans? ADH plans? Does Sager back the product or does each dealer have their own warranty/service plan? Finally, which dealers do you recommend, as it seems these are mostly assembled by the dealer.

Thanks very much. I hope to join the "club," but I am sending these two machines to people who work for me in other states, and I want to be sure they can expect reliability and easy access to service.

 

I've had my Sager for quite a while, and so far, it has not given me any problems.

I've had a couple of BSOD's, but that was because of my Crucial M4 SSD, not the laptop itself, and was remedied already.

I haven't had a chance to send it in for repairs or anything, but from my reseller, the customer service has been great (A+, actually) and I talk to my rep about twice a month or so. I recommend Sager and their machines.

p.s. - Don't buy from Sager themselves. Buy through one of the resellers. Sager's customer service is horrible but the resellers' are excellent. It's a funny anachronism.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Thanks. I had heard that about Sager. Which reseller do you use? Are there others you have heard are good as well. Xtopic seems to be popular. Also, if you could give me the name of your rep, I would appreciate it (as would he or she!) and it definitely is allowed by NBR.

 

I would honestly recommend all of them. Just to name a few (and in no particular order):

XoticPC
LPC Digital
Malibal
Mythlogic
Kobalt
Eurocom
Reflex Notebooks
And so forth.

I'll PM you the link to the profile of the rep that I dealt with.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Other than the obvious Sandy Bridge recall, we haven't had reports of any other major issues. There were freezing/BSOD issues reported on the forums at one point, but most if not all of those were related to either Intel RST drivers, SSD issues, or LPM registry settings.

Warranties are backed by the company you purchase from as well as Clevo (for most resellers anyway). I've never seen an at home warranty for any Clevo based machine though. We do offer free shipping both ways on warranty work, with an average of about 2-5 day turn around depending on the defect.

Our warranties can be extended up to 3 year labor/3 year parts, with the stock at 3 year/ 1 year and 24/7 support and free shipping both ways on repair/upgrades.

If you have any questions, feel free to call, email, or PM us

 

Thanks. As much as i appreciate your response, it would be more helpful if a member recommended your company and Sager than if you, who make your living selling them, post a self-promoting message. Not that I don't believe your firm is excellent, and I do appreciate your candor - it is not just an all-positive post.

This said, if you have satisfied customers, by all means contact them and ask them to post their own experiences.

While I have you, can you tell me what your company's policy is on returns/refunds? Specifically, is there a period for returns for refunds even if there are no problems with the machine, just that it doesn't perform as expected or isn't comfortable to use? Is there a restocking fee for such returns? Also, if a machine arrives DOA or has had several returns for repair and remains disfunctional, do you have a "lemon" policy, in which you will either replace the machine with a new one or refund the purchase price if the buyer has had little use of the product over the first month or two (or three!) because it has been in service or not working?

Thanks for the feedback. I think this will improve Sager's and its resellers' awareness among NBR members.

 

I understand on the first points. There are quite a number of our customers on these boards, so they may add to this as well.

To address your other questions, we have a 30 day 100% money-back guarantee. Please Note: Shipping fees are non-refundable. As for the lemon policy, there really isn't anything in the machine we can't replace if there are issues up to and including the motherboard.

 

I bought mine from Xotic Pc and everything went well. But I have never heard anything bad about Malibal. If you stick around awhile (I have only been here a month but have read ALOT of threads) then you will see that very rarely they promote their company. The reps are for the most part, part of this community and post answers to questions and other things (except Eurocom lol).

 

I personally have no problem with self-promotion as long as they can back it up Which they do.

Mr. Mysterious

 

One of the best resources for customer reviews is: ResellerRatings.com - simply type the name of any of the stores mentioned in this thread in the search box at the top of this linked page and you can read hundreds of real reviews from customers who own a Sager/Clevo laptop.

 

Regarding the Mythlogic, I have to chime in there.

Mythlogic assembles the laptops themselves - they are not sager resellers. Cool in theory, and they charge a bit of a premium for it.

The system I ordered from they failed within a few weeks. The motherboard needed to be replaced, and rather than use one they have in-house, they ordered one and end result is the system was in their hands for two, almost three weeks before it was sent back to me. And despite being so late no expedited shipping or anything like that.

As many people are happy with sager resellers on here, and mythlogic charges more and can't do all repairs in-house, I'd avoid them.

 

Many thanks for the feedback. Saving a big headache for others is the highest contribution one can make on these forums.

 

Thanks, I did know of the site. Thing is, it tells me that you are considered a good reseller, but it doesn't tell me if Sager's are reliable products. I know you would not intentionally mislead someone on NBR, but in fairness, a member with no vested interest is a bit more valuable source of feedback. Still, I appreciate yours and apparently others think well of your company.

Totally agree. That's why I encouraged you to include the name of the rep you have had great experiences with - it really is ok under NBR rules, as long as you don't benefit from the reference (and I don't think extra friendly, accommodating service from a grateful rep would count, especially since you are already getting that ), but I will let you decide on that, since I would only be quoting you. Sounds like your vendor is among the best rated of Sager sellers.

Thanks for that. Sounds like this is something of a "cult" product, but in a good way. Better to use the term "boutique." What's most impressive is that Sagers are increasingly the most recommended products on the "What should I buy" thread on NBR and that in itself is impressive, considering the relatively small number of visitors to the Sager Forum vs. most other brands.

I'm about ready to take the plunge, but will take the suggestion to wait to hear more comments (already two vendors have been ruled out!), particularly about particular models and certain features, such as the FHD wide color gamut screens, etc. I do like the very high degree of customizing available, and prices seem quite competitive as well. I guess these are not ever going to win a (light) weight contest in their class, however.

Are the cases on these products very durable? Do hinges hold up well, screen bezels not separate from lids, casing able to take occasional bumps without sustaining much damage, internal components also well braced from occasional shocks? How would you compare the build quality to, say, Apple, Lenovo, Dell Precision? For that matter, how much of the unit is built at a factory vs. at the reseller? Does the degree of customization make the reseller as important as the manufacturer in terms of build quality?

Ok, here's the las t question, I should have asked from the start: what are the worst aspects of Sagers?

Many thanks. I know I am far from the only person looking to know this brand better.

 

The reviews on RESELLERRATINGS.COM are from members with no vested interest - that's why I linked you to it! These reviews aren't merely commenting on the customer service of resellers, they also contain feedback on the quality of the Sager/Clevo laptops they have purchased.

 

From what people say, the front speakers are not as good as others. I personally find them fine. The one thing that I found to be a bit disappointing was the sound quality out of the laptop, but honestly that is not why people buy Sagers. They are made to be very powerful for a good price. Also, if you know how to repair laptops and upgrade them, that only helps because Sagers are very upgradable. For example, the NP8130 is the one I have, which I basically got to take the spot of a desktop because I do not have room for one and cannot move it. It probably doesn't do the best when dropped or whatever, but I don't think anyone on the forum has, most of us are too careful lol.

 

I recommend you read my review if you need help deciding which model to go for

Worst aspect....hmmm that's a tough one. I don't really dislike anything on my computer, but, gun to my head, I'd have to say that the keyboard is the worst aspect.

"Really?" you ask, "Not the touchpad?"

No, not the touchpad.

Mr. Mysterious

 

I loved the touchpad, you don't like the keyboard though? I actually love it.

 

I love the keyboard myself, but if I had to pick something it'd be that.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Just decline his question. It is un-answerable.

 

Thinking of buying an EON17 (Clevo X7200) from Origin PC. anyone heard anything good or bad about them? They're pretty new but, on paper, everything looks pretty good.

 

Origin PC - originpc.com - Reviews, Ratings and Prices at ResellerRatings

Mr. Mysterious

 

To the OP, just look through a few pages of the Sager/Clevo thread. Depending on how far back you want to go, there have been dozens of this same question on here. Here is one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/583462-best-reseller.html and here is another: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/578146-whats-popular-trusted-site-buy-your-sager.html and there are more if you would like.

I bought mine from Sager, so I don't have a horse in this race, but I spent several months on here researching before I finally bought mine, and read everything I could about not only the laptops, but the resellers too. The ones I have seen recommended the most are LPC (I think it is called) Malibal, Mythlogic, Xoticpc, Kobalt. There may be one or two others, but those are the ones I see the most.

My choices came down to Malibal, Xotic, Myth and LPC. I have seen hundreds of satisfied customers refer each of them, and it is the customer service that makes them stand out from the rest, from what I have seen. Check out those links and then come back if you have more questions, but I would be comfortable ordering from any of them.

Good luck, and I have had mine for a couple of months now, and am absolutely happy.

 

Thanks so much for all the very helpful feedback. I hope to place an order this week and "join the club." I tend to get "obsessed" about brands/companies that are not as commercially popular but truly make and support a quality product, as Sager and some of its dealers appear to be.

I'm sorry, but as much as your company has a good rep - here and elsewhere - I find your aggressive self promotion not only a turn-off but in flagrant violation of NBR rules, to the best of my knowledge. If you know otherwise, then keep at it and best of luck. I prefer not to be hard-sold.

Thanks. I'm with you on all your points, but I do like to use my computer on the road to watch movies and it's kind of a shame to have a really nice screen, video card and perhaps blu ray drive - or just high speed download service - and have mediocre sound. Still, not a deal breaker for me. Are there not speaker upgrades, even DIY - anyone know if they are a standard size?

I'd feel a bit better about your comment if there was something indicating that it is tongue-in-cheek, but I will assume it is and that you are somewhat hyperbolic in your suggestion that there are absolutely no downsides to buying Sager computers. I take your point if it is meant to be a resounding endorsement of the product and dealers. Though, all products/companies have some downsides; none are perfect. Constructive criticism is helpful to a new perspective buyer and good for all the vendors who participate on this forum to hear from its buyers. Yes?

Wow, 10/10 from 13 reviewers! They do seem pricey, however. Also, I worry about a company that has not been in business very long. I work in venture capital and failure rates are very high. I'm sure you can maintain an "orphan" computer that uses off the shelf components, but when making a mutli thousand dollar investment to last several years, I'm a bit skittish about using a new company. I'll contact them and ask point blank how well capitalized they are and report back here.

Thanks very much. I take your point that a little more initiative on my part would have yielded answers to many of my questions from past threads. I do find that Sager owners love to talk about the company and their resellers, and it is helpful to get very current inputs - such as yours!

Would you - or anyone else - like to comment on Maliabal's somewhat aggressive approach to snagging my business? Justin from XoticPC saw my postings but waited for me to contact him before he wrote me an email answering the questions I posited on this thread. Much more comfortable dealing with this kind of businessperson. You?

 

Could not have said it better myself.

 

Read our posts again, all we've done is answer your questions. We haven't even given you a sales pitch. The most we've said is to contact us if you have any specific questions for our company.

Note: The rep who left that first post is new to our company, and I agree he could have worded his first post a little better - but still, I don't see anything that I would consider to be aggressive at all.

 

I've got to agree with MALIBAL on this one. I too am in the market for a Sager/Clevo machine and have also looked at less custom solutions from Dell and Lenovo. The information provided, especially the reseller rating link is useful in both choosing a brand as well as choosing a vendor.

 

Thanks very much. I take your point that a little more initiative on my part would have yielded answers to many of my questions from past threads. I do find that Sager owners love to talk about the company and their resellers, and it is helpful to get very current inputs - such as yours!


Actually, I was pointing out that you could get feedback from dozens of owners in the other threads, since they are still fairly current, and maybe that would help you out a bit faster. I have found that sometimes, especially as summer approaches, it can take some time to get a variety of answers. Hopefully you will feel better now about whatever decision you make. Good luck, and please let us know what you decide to get.

 

Yes, I do feel much better informed and I will keep you all posted. The user group for this brand is yet another wonderful reason to buy their products.

 

No need for you, or other members who support you, to feel I have attacked you for your posts. But when you suggest checking resellerratings.com, knowing that you receive glowing reviews on it just doesn't feel like it is meant solely to provide unbiased information about the product and its vendors. And I agree that you didn't sell that aggressively in the text of your posts to me, but just look at your "signature" line, below, and perhaps you will understand why a newcomer might find anything you post to be tainted by what appears to be a very "in-your-face" advertising pitch at the end of each and every post. This is far more than just a non-commercial business-card-like contact information - which even that, I believe, violates NBR's policy against commercial promotion on member threads. I can't even put more than 3 lines at 2pt text to say what gear I own and you have a virtual billboard with all but flashing lights to say: "buy from us, we're awesome, we do it all, we've never had any complaints against us, we give discounts to NBR members..."

Sorry, but that makes anything you post tainted as a sales pitch in my view. Apparently the people here who have worked with you think you are good folk and they are coming to your aid with both pubic and private posts (though others have sent PMs deriding your commercial pitchmanship.) Note that you are also the only vendor that has posted at all, much less 3 times (!) on this thread, when all of them no doubt monitor the threads and all seemed content to let the positive references of members speak for themselves - or they observed the rules of NBR that prohibit commercialism of any kind on member threads.

Mr. Mysterious has opined that he has no problem with self-promotion if you can back it up, and he suggests that you in particular can do so (though you will note that you are not the vendor he recommends). I actually do have a problem with self promotion in a forum that is meant to be non-commercial in its entirety. There is just too much advertising thrown in our faces online, and NBR is normally an oasis devoid of logos, much less 7-color, multiple font, full logo"billboards" such as yours, here:


MALIBAL | Forum Support | 888-MALIBAL | Live Chat | M-F 9am-6pm PST
Models: P170HM (8170), P150HM (8150), P151HM1 (8130), X7200 (7280)
Official Signature Banners / Twitter / 95% NTSC Color Gamut Displays Now Available!

Active NBR Member Discounts: US Customers: NBRFREESHIP / International Customers: 40% OFF UPS Express Rates

We have zero complaints with the BBB in 7 years. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to member content...
I am, frankly, surprised that you are permitted to post such a large, loud advertisement as if it is merely your signature, and I wish you would tone it way down, but if the mods don't mind and your rep is good enough that the members aren't irritated, then my hat's off to you for your apparently successful use of NBR as a free advertising/marketing tool, able to reach new customers like me, right at the point of purchase decision. I hope you will respect my right to object to your somewhat "loud" presence if I respect your right to try to get a leg up on your competitors as long as they choose stay low key and give you the run of the forums to promote your company.

 

..................*facepalm*

Malibal, I just want to say, I have no issues with you, I think you're a great company. There is no ill-will on my part.

And to everyone else, just an FYI:

I recommend all resellers that sell Sager, except (and this is my opinion, so please respect it) Kobalt and Eurocom.

Mr. Mysterious

 

If this is your standard, then I hope you would apply it to the other Sager/Clevo resellers who post here, including Mythlogic, Xotic, Powernotebooks, and the Canadian resellers because they all do the same thing to one extent or another on this forum.

If you have such a big issue with how NBR handles resellers on this forum, send a PM to Charles Jeffries or one of the other admins.

 

I really don't have a "big issue" with Malibal, now that I understand the truly unique latitude that vendors have on this forum, entirely unique among all other brands' forums, and I have already written to Charles, who is a friend. Normally, vendors are simply not allowed to post at all on member forums, and I did feel like I was being "sold-to," but now I see that the Malibal people were just trying to help. No other vendors, by the way, posted to me on this thread, which made it even further seem inappropriate that Malibal did. But again, I "come in peace" and I learned what I came to learn - Sager are great products and there are many excellent vendors. There are a few vendors that many of you don't like, and none of you said you like dealing with Sager (many had negative things to say about dealing with them), and several of you PM'd me about your vendor preferences - thank you. There are several vendors, including Malibal and others, that many of you recommended.

I learned through a most unfortunate exchange on another thread of an entirely different brand that someone, who did not post on this thread, but who owns both a Sager and a computer made by the brand of the other forum, was offended by my comments here, to and about Malibal's behavior towards me. He was also offended that I asked members who owned the other machine, which i also decided to purchase despite much recent negative publicity. I don't think that member was correct, and I know his tactic was not. But I promised him I would publicly apologize to Malibal and I hereby am doing so. I had no way of knowing your posts are seen here as non-commercial. Had your posts been made by a "regular" member, I would have found them nothing but helpful, so I thank you for having that very intent. And this poster is correct; if I was uncomfortable by your unconventional position as a vendor/member on this forum, I should have kept the discussion private, between you and me and, if necessary, an NBR mod.

Thank you all for your great advice. You are one heck of a loyal fan base for what appears to be a truly awesome product with a unique "ecosphere" of vendors taking a great product with limited manufacturer support and making it a great ownership experience by providing wonderful support to your customers.

I consider this thread closed, at least for my purposes in starting it. I have made my decision, to purchase a Sager 8130 - and two more for the field after we've tested it here - and I am talking to several vendors. Thanks again for your kind assistance.

 

Just want to add my experience so far. I had one of the original laptops released before the recall. I ordered mine from xotic and so far have had no problems with them. My laptop was one that experienced the random freeze issue and I put up with it until the recall because for some reason it never locked up while actually playing a game, just from browsing the web or sitting idle. Also, it would be pointless to send it back before the recall anyway.

A few weeks ago I got the e-mail stating that Sager was ready to start the recall process. I followed the steps outlined in the e-mail. Printed off my UPS shipping label and the RMA # and after boxing it up sent it back to the company. One of the best things I liked about it was the steps for other problems. The e-mail stated if I had other problems with the laptop that I wanted addressed while it was back for the recall, I just had to write out a detailed list of problems and include it with the laptop between the keyboard and screen. I talked about the random freeze issue and included it with my laptop.

About 5 days after I shipped my laptop out to Sager I got a call stating that they were finishing up with my laptop and told me they fixed the freezing issue. One of the memory modules was bad and Sager just replaced all of them.

Hopefully in a few days I'll have my laptop back and everything will be addressed. If all goes well, it will be the best customer service I've had.
Props to Sager and Xotic.

 

That really is exceptional service! It is worth even paying a bit more or dealing with inconveniences such as no onsite service to have such attentive and personalized support. Thanks for relating that story. I am definitely sold - on the brand and the reseller!

 

Uhh... The worst aspect... umm... hold on it's coming to me... it's coming to me... I almost have it...!!!

No wait, that was just a fart. I got nothin. I honestly do have not a single thing to say about it. Also, my laptop's been kickin for over 2 years now, not a hiccup. And they're sturdy when dropped, my bagstrap burst before and my laptop took a 4-foot drop onto solid concrete; 20 pounds weight in the un-padded shoulder bag. I'd have to point out to you the little scratch. So they're durable too.

Oh wait I found it! They don't look flashy. Wait wait, no, that makes them less likely to be stolen... I return to my previous position of not having anything.

Jokes aside, I have nothing to complain about. Nothing to even wish was "better". The cooling is impeccable. At any given time of day, (and we get to 34 degrees celcius easily ambient temps in my country), my laptop is cool to the touch for parts one would normally touch (everywhere except the back). So cool, in fact, that what I consider "blazing hot" on another laptop is "that's not so bad" to normal laptop users. My screen is nice, it works well, never had a problem. I can clean my machine, upgrade it, etc etc under warranty, and in fact, the resellers will happily give me instructions online on how to give it a maintenance walkthrough to clean dust/etc out. The keyboard is pretty good for gaming, the keys are soft and feel good to use. The touchpad isn't completely smooth, it has a slight roughness to it and I get a nice feel when using it. Not like the new Dell my sister has. My CPU and GPU and RAM and DVD drive and PSU and USB ports and LAN port and Card Reader and Bluetooth and WiFi and Keyboard and Touchpad and Mic and Speakers and Screen all still work. The sound isn't bad, better than my old HP, can support 5.1 surround. I have yet to test it with a good headset (coming in July for me), so I can't tell you if it's that fantastic. It's by no means bad though.
What can I say? The build quality is great, the cooling is great, the parts are solid, one hard drive going bad 3 weeks after i bought it versus the nearly 2 years since then I've been using it without a hiccup. When we say "there's nothing bad about Sagers", we aren't joking. They may not be perfect, but they're bloody close to it. We literally don't know what to tell you.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to add. I dealt with XoticPC, I've had good dealings with them in the past, though if anything comes to a warranty matter, get it in writing. I *did* have a misunderstanding when I called and explained the problem, asking if it would be replaced by warranty, and they misunderstood or something and told me "yes". It was for liquid damage on a keyboard. I ended up having to buy a new keyboard from them. That aside though, I did have a defective hard drive which was replaced by them completely hassle-free, and I even asked for a couple extra hard drive screws (because two were bad after I un-screwed the hard drive to ship to them), and they happily sent me like 15. I still have extras.

I'd say go with them, if it's anything sensitive though, feel free to e-mail so you're both sure of what was being said. I do plan to get another Sager soon, after selling this one in my sig, and when I do I'll be going back to them. That's my 2 cents for reseller advice.

 

I am sorry but I found all of your responses to Malibal a little bit on the offensive side. I Just ordered a new Sager from Xoticpc but Malibal was another contender that I had considered. The reason I went with Xoticpc is that they are the first to contact me and had the lower price. However, I have read many posts on this forum from Malibal and I truly believe they have tried to be most accommodating to you although you have been against them from there very first reply.

Whichever you decide is up to you. However, I believe that you need to not be so judgmental when asking for help.

 

he retracted his defensiveness.

 

Having re-read through this entire thread, Malibal may have been trying to sell you on Sager (though no more so than any regular member/owner). What I don't see, however, is how you could possibly have interpreted anything they said as "Buy a Sager from me."

Now you're entitled to believe whatever you like, just like how I feel you have misinterpreted and subsequently overreacted.

 

Well I might be one unlucky customer but here is my two cents about Sager.

So I recently received the NP8130-S1 on Friday and I already found a problem with the laptop. The headphone jack doesn't work. (I know I know I made sure I didn't plug it into the mic jack by accident) I tried with three other headphones, tried re-installing the driver... nothing... when I plug in the headphones, it doesn't detect it for some odd reason.
I probably have to RMA this (already.. wow -.- ) and I use this laptop for work so yeah... not the greatest first impression... sigh.

 

So, you got a lemon. Part of the reason some sager customers are customers are how fast and well they treat warranty work.

 

Aznkorealee, where did you buy that from? Xotic states that they test all laptops before they ship them out. I had a dud hard drive which failed after a month of use; but there's no way they could have known that. If you got from Xotic I'll have to wonder about their testing, if you didn't, I can breathe more of a sigh of relief XD

And just RMA it one time; they shouldn't hassle you for it.

 

I didn't purchase it from Xotic, it was from Reflexnotebook. However Reflexnotebook doesn't assemble the laptops, it's from Sager that assembles and ships it.

Well I live in Canada so according to the retailer, it's going to take 2 to 3 weeks in total(there is express shipping but that costs couple hundreds of dollars just to ship it) to get it RMA'd with Sager.... I can't wait that long as I need to do programming with it...

might as well pick up an external sound card instead as it'd be cheaper than choosing the express shipping and faster solution. Again... not the greatest first impression of the laptop. Could be my first and the last laptop from Sager.

 

Well I hope that's not the case, I've had no problems as such with mine aside from that one dud hard drive, it's been going for over 2 years now. I feel bad for you that you bought the machine in a timing where you needed it to use asap, rather than with some leg room to get used to it. I'll be sad to see anyone go with non-sager branded machines.

I hope you get your issues sorted soon, you could always use a USB headset too. When you get a chance I hope you can RMA it. Next time if I may suggest, XoticPC says they test the machines, and Malibal and Mythlogic appear to assemble the laptops in-house, so... you should have no trouble with them. I do hope this doesn't stop you from liking Sagers, because your problem isn't very common T_T.

 

I think the OP has the response he's looking for, so I am quietly closing this thread.