I need someone to help me with specs on a Sager

I'm not a novice in computers but I'm a little overwhelmed by customizing a computer since I never have. My budget is $1,200 and I'm having trouble figuring out some of the specs on a Sager 5160. If someone could explain which is the best of the following that would be helpful.

320GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive (+$20.00)
500GB 7200rpm SATA Hybrid Hard Drive with 4GB SSD* (+$95.00)
640GB 5400rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive (+$35.00)
750GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive (+$75.00)
80GB Intel SATA2 Solid State Disk Drive (+$170.00)
120GB Intel SATA2 Solid State Disk Drive (+$235.00)
160GB Intel SATA2 Solid State Disk Drive

What is Solid State Disk and what are its benefits?


Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth *
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 - 802.11A/B/G/N * (+$25.00)
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N * (+$35.00)

Which one is the best one here?


The laptop I'm buying will be an all-purpose computer and I'd want it to play games extensively. Is the video card it offers (1GB GDDR3 Nvidia GeForce GT 540M with Optimus) adequate to play modern games? Would you recommend something else that's within my budget ($1,200)? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

A solid state drive or SSD has no moving parts, uses less power, less prone to failure, and is very fast compared to regular Hard Disk Drives. Get the hard drive that most fits your needs. If you're gonna install a lot of games on it, then get a higher capacity HDD.

For my laptop I went with the intel 6230 because it was a 25 dollar upgrade and I will be having this laptop for around 2-3 years. Who knows what type of wifi signals I'll be getting in that time? The higher up the wifi card, the higher speeds you will get (theoretically). Most will never experience those speeds, but its nice to have. The intel 6300 has three antennas (whereas the other cards only have two antennas) and has better range, but in exchange you will be giving up bluetooth.

The graphics card on this laptop is a 435m with higher clocks. I would say that this a mid-range card at best. It will be okay in playing most modern games at mid-to-low graphics without sacrificing frames per sec. Now if you are going for the 1080p screen upgrade, the GPU will be working harder to push all those pixels so it could result in lower graphics.

I would recommend this laptop for you if you need the battery life. If you don't need the battery life, then upgrade to the np8130. If you already have a windows copy, then this laptop should come very close to your 1200 budget. If you don't have a windows copy, then it will be close to 1300ish.

 

I couldn't agree more with everything 'hispeed' said. I would add that if you do go with a standard HDD, make sure it is a 7200 RPM drive as this is much better than a 5400 and available for much lower pricing compared to a SSD.

I might also add that unless your heart is set on SAGER (as it is a very good product) then you might open yourself up to other brands since SAGER tends to be for those customers who want the best technology right now and not six months from now, which means you may get less for your money, on your current budget, than you might get from somewhere else. Above all, be comfortable with your set budget, and you'll likely find something perfect for you within it. The worst thing you can do is limit your choices.

 

Both replies pretty much spot on.

SSD benefits are speed, speed and more speed, but they come at a high price. It's mainly an enthusiasts upgrade option.

As far as the wireless options go IMO the default one is just fine. I've had my NP5792 for 3 years now and still works as if i bought it on day 1.

The graphics card you're looking at will play most games on medium settings. If you're into eye candy it will be lackluster.

Edit: the 5160 video card is not upgradeable if you want to upgrade int he future.

 

What other brands offer more for the money? I'm asking this sincerely not sarcastically because I've been laptop hunting for a few months now and am narrowing in on Sager/Clevo, but I'm very open to other suggestions - as I would guess the OP is.

 

Personal preference for me is definitely Sager, but i do have a couple of friends who own Asus laptops as well, they seemed pleased with it.

 

just to give you a rough idea of the difference between a normal hard drive and a solid state drive.

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Fair question! My point to the OP, and any other interested party, is that while it's fairly easy to go with Sager's quality when you want high-end technology within a budget of $2K-$3K+, sometimes a lower budget doesn't necessarily fit the clientele graph of Sager.

By that, I mean there are many, many listings under Notebook Manufacturers here at NBR, and most of them have a useful purpose depending on what your budget is and what components are important on a case-by-case basis.

Each individual has to determine what they can and can't live without when purchasing a new machine, and when your budget is $1,200, or fairly limited compared to those customers choosing Clevo models, it just makes sense to do some thorough research over several manufacturers to get the best bang for the limited buck, rather than trying to stretch that same limited dollar to a high-end manufacturer where the purchaser may not get the best individual-suitable system.

I'm not saying he can't get a good Sager unit for $1,200, only that he might get a more suitable system for his tastes from a different manufacturer. As a metaphor, if a person has the money to buy a Ferrari, then great for them, but if someone else doesn't have $250K+ to spend on a vehicle, there are obviously many quality vehicle choices out there for around $20K, just as there are several computer makers that offer less expensive models than Sager, but still get you where you want to go. If you can't make your budget fit the price of a Ferrari, you still have options to pursue.

 

Buying a Sager/Clevo is more like buying a Nissan GT-R to compete with the Porsche and Ferrari out there. Budget Performance...

 

^ This. Bang for buck the sagers are a awesome deal. I don't think that I would've found a 15in, 1080p, 8GB ram, 500 GB 7200RPM, 460m nvidia, core i7 2630 for less than 1200 hundred anywhere else. The only reason my cost was close to 1500 was because I got the 3year warranty (+150), didn't have a windows copy (+90), and upgraded the wifi card (+35). In my opinion this is one of the best deals out there, especially if you have 1200 to spend.

 

The miracle is, Sager didn't use to be the "bang for the buck" type company.

Even in the last generation with the Sager NP8690's, I chose the MSI GX series over this, because it significantly turned out to be cheaper with the same components.

There was a certain "premium" cost to be paid over MSI or ASUS to get the better cooling and upgradeability.

Now, with bleeding-edge technology and power, Sager has managed to even get price-competitive with powerful cooling and user upgradeability.

There is really no reason to choose Acer, MSI, or ASUS over the Sagers, because Sagers have also become price-competitive.. which used to be the benefits and reasons many chose Acer, MSI and ASUS....

I don't know honestly what happened, but I think my computer was broken at the right time for me to make a self-justified upgrade to the Sagers at a lesser price than I intended.

 

I couldn't agree more that Sager offers awesome products for very competitive pricing, but Sager models may not fit into every budget or need range, which is why I pointed out that there are other viable manufacturers. I wouldn't ever want to give anyone the impression that unless you get a Sager laptop you're making a bad decision or doing something wrong, as that's simply not the case.

I am ordering a Sager NP8170 because it fits my individual requirements and budget very well, but I shouldn't ever presume to believe that because Sager was my best choice it is automatically the best one for everyone else.

 

I know exactly what you mean. I stumbled on Sager a few months ago when the i7 720QM or 740QM was standard and I did not want to buy them. They seemed like any other company with prices, but with this new refresh I couldn't believe the price/performance I was getting.

This is true. The only reason I suggested a Sager (as opposed to another company) was because he (or she) said that they want to game extensively and wanted to play modern games. In my opinion, a 460m is perfect for a gamer in between causal and enthusiast. It will be relevant for another year and then be outdated in its price bracket.

The 540m is a insult to non-informative consumers who only think "zomg ohhhh higher number = better".

For the sake of it I'll mention the HP dv7. Has a 17in screen, quad processor, good GPU with 1GB of GDRR5, etc... I personally have a dv2000 from '07 or '08 (can't remember specifically) and have had zero problems with it. Yes, the fans are constantly on, can play games at 1 FPS, and has a 90min battery life, but again ZERO problems with it.

I was literally 1-click away from getting the new dv7 with a i7 2720 + 6570m +8GB RAM, but my folks said to wait and think about it (SO glad they said that). The reason I mention this laptop (or any HP pavilion in general) is because they have amazing coupons when you get them. When I was configuring the laptop they had a $500 off coupon. I upgraded a lot of things and still came to under 1200 with a 3 year warranty.

Note that the coupon also applies to all dv6's, which is their 15in line.

 

play games at 1 fps? typo?

 

Not a typo. I can get to the menu at most games and, but the game goes at a tectonic pace. For instance in SC2, if I try and make my probes mine minerals or build something, it would take well over a minute to get there and do the command. I cannot play any real games on my current laptop, but it is a perfect student laptop (sans battery life). It has fast internet, browser speed is great, and never crashes.

 

I have been using a Toshiba P105-S9722 since '06 and have also been very happy with my machine. Because of that I was mistakenly limiting myself early on to the Toshiba Qosmio line for a new purchase until I started searching for something that had USB 3.0 ports and potential GPU upgrades, which brought me to the excellent NBR and Sager products.

Only problem now, as another forum poster similarly once stated, is that these forums tend to leave wallets and bank accounts on life support.

 

Hahaha I like that observation, but i think that is for the people who need to have the best/extreme/awesome laptops ever forged by the gods.

I was set on buying a laptop around 1200-1300. I won't even think about another laptop till haswell drops, along with amd 8000m or nvidia 700m. Until then I'll only contribute to NBR as a jealous on looker. If laptops don't have DDR4 ram or GDDR6 or something along those lines its too soon for a purchase.

 

Haha... I started out my laptop search this time around with $1500 as the limit, and thinking I was going to get something more mobile, I ended up with the config in my signature... My method for less notebook envy is that once I get my laptop I leave NBR for a few months as soon as the next generation is announced...

 

Ah, I see. Yes, if Sager is out of your budget then it's not a good choice. Also, if you value, say, style and portability & battery life over function then there are other, better options. However, I don't know of another, better option if you want computing power, high res screen and good selection of modern ports (read: USB3). The only exception I know of would be if you got a "super coupon" from one of the big vendors. Again, I'm more than happy to entertain alternative suggestions to the NP5160, e.g., that have quad core SB, 15" FHD screen, USB3 port(s) and reasonable (for non-gaming applications) graphics card for $1200.

 

Agreed. I upgraded from the M860ETU to the W860CU laptop far too soon. I thought games were going to be more demanding, but turns out games are better optimized to run on lower end specs (not saying our GPUs are bad, I just like to run on "max" .

Although I'm "upgrading" now from my W860CU, only because i really didn't like that laptop, not because of what's in it, just the feel and overall design.