Is Sager/Clevo still good?

Hey guys, I'm new here. I've been forum hopping trying to research for my next gaming laptop. Right now I'm looking at Sager laptops. I have read a ton of great things about them but most of it dates back to 2003-2008.

I would like to know if this company is STILL a good, reliable, and dependable brand to purchase.

 

There are TONS of threads on this board that will support the claim that Clevo/Sager are still really amazing.

 

Oh definitely. In fact I was looking at the NP 2096 back in 2008, which was not the top-end model back then; they have made considerable strides in terms of build quality and looks for their mid-range systems. The NP5165 chassis looks much sleeker and there are far fewer complaints about flex and too much heat. Alot of it isn't really to Sager's credit though, such as the power/thermal efficiency of Sandy Bridge processors and Optimus, which are fairly recent developments.

Their habit of being one of the earliest adapters of new hardware has certainly not changed. I banked on this back in February in waiting for a NP5160 model with GT 555m instead of GT 540m, and guess what? They delivered a month later.

And according to alot of comparisons, their build quality is above average (i would say below Thinkpads, Macbooks, and professional-grade stuff like Elitebooks/Toughbooks) but above Dell/HP/Acer consumer-level stuff.

 

Awesome! Well then it looks like I will be a Sager owner in about a month... I just need to decide which one. Any suggestions on which are the better models? I am looking for a gaming laptop that I can also take to classes, so it has to be portable and hoping for a battery life of at least 3 hours.

I got by with an ASUS UL-50VT for my first year of college but I want to be able to play awesome games (or study...) My budget is about $1400 but slightly flexible.

(This is including an i7 2630 or 2720, 8GB Ram, and a good graphics card, most likely the GTX 560M 1.5GB. Also it needs to come with Windows 7 on it).

 

The one in my signature is right around your price point, it plays games really well and is an all around awesome laptop.

 

P151HM1 (Sager NP8130). Get a 2720QM, choose the free 8GB RAM upgrade (saves $60), get the GTX 560M stock (only card you can choose I think) and just opt for Win 7 HP, Pro, or Ultimate. Enjoy. Should clock in not too high on the price range too. These prices based on XoticPC/Malibal prices. I went with Xotic before, love them. Hear good things about Malibal. Pick your chalice.

And on behalf of Soviet Sunrise, welcome to the KGB (Klevo Gaming Brigade) in advance. Where we hope to <s>murder Alienware and take over all of NBR</s> unite all gamers and pwn all noobs online from our unheard-of notebooks.

 

I lol'ed
(10char)

 

The i7-2630 is more than sufficient for gaming. Keep in mind though that batterly life on an 8130 (and probably most laptops with a 560m or better, except for the ones like Toshiba & I think alienware that have optimus,) is ~2-3 hours.

 

hhahahaha I like...

 

Awesome! Thanks guys! All I need is for that other paycheck to come in to give me a nice financial cushion and I'll be able to get it!

 

I saw a Clevo x7200 and it is a very high quality notebook. I was the most solid notebook I ever seen. It looks to be a very good notebook.

 

The x7200 supports desktop CPUs and SLI graphics cards. Definitely not what anyone would call portable.

 

Easier than moving a desktop around XD

 

the dude wants to use it in class so that basically rules out the x7200. the 8130 is the best choice imho.

 

Personally id go for 8150. Both 8130 and 8150 has same dimension, same weight (same backbone) while 8150 can get better gpu and some others. 8130 has a 120W psu while 8150 has a 180W psu (insane big power brick, 2 pounds) so if you don't mind the big power brick and a bit less battery due to more powerful and power consuming gpu, id go for 8150.

 

^^Even the 8130's power brick is huge! I was amazed when I opened the box!

 

Yeah but he will not get enough battery fro the 8150. The 8150 eats power even more than the 8130, it would not last long.

 

At idle the battery life shouldn't be significantly different if you have the 485m. Both Nvidia cards (485m/560m) will downclock significantly when idling. However if you've got the 6970, it does in fact idle a little higher and can lower expected run times. 3 hours or so should be about standard for the Nvidia based P150HM/P151HM1. The 6970 will be a little shorter, if much.

The only time the power draw differs significantly is under load, at which point neither laptop is going to give you more than 30-60 minutes while gaming anyway- it's just too power intensive

 

It's true that the 6970M will sit at 300/900MHz, if you have anything Flash or video related open.

The solution a lot of us use, is ATI Tray Tool, with which you can lock the 6970M @ 100/150 MHz.

Problem solved.

 

Do ATI Tray Tool come pre-installed on sager laptops with ATI Radeon video cards (ordered my laptop np8150-s1 with 6970M)

 

No, ATT is a third-party app. Link.

It can also be used to undervolt the 6970M. Here's a good thread on it.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

I just tested my battery about an hour ago. Getting just a little under 3 hours on the NP8130. I'm pleased.

 

Remember to use it on battery now and then so the battery doesn't become useless like mine.
*sad face that my lappy dies in ~10 minutes*

 

How old is your battery? Regardless of usage, Lithium Ion batteries tend to have lifespans of ~3 years before they can only hold a small amount of the original charge. They're considered consumable items for a reason- battery tech just hasn't kept up with the rest, sadly enough (of course, there are always exceptions to this, but it's pretty typical).

 

It's about two years old next month. It would always die in about 50 minutes or so from day 1, but 10 mins is just pitiful hehe. I'd really love a good P170HM with 2.5 hours battery life.

It's hard for me to get new parts for anything here, as I live in the Caribbean; everything's all international shipping. I wish one of you resellers would open a branch down here, even if we had to order it and then you'd bring it down, and you'd just be an outlet. If only this country wasn't so technologically backward =(.

 

So it may actually take me a month before I can buy my laptop (which I guess is ok... Classes don't start back up until the end of August and Skyrim doesn't come out until November...) Any idea if there will be any new sales going on or if newer models will be released soon?
(I'm new to this company... I heard about them for the first time about a week ago).

 

Which company, Phoenix? If it's XoticPC, you should be able to get a 5% student discount instead of the basic 3% on cheques/bank wire transfers. But I don't know about anywhere else. Maybe Malibal (who seems very good themselves) would do something similar? Mythlogic seems to like throwing in extras if they can't price match. Or so I've heard. Multiple times.

 

I haven't decided where to buy it from yet... I've been looking at XoticPC, Powernotebooks, and PCtorque. What are malibal and mythlogic?

 

....
<s>Malibal's the people that make Maliwan elemental guns in Borderlands, just with a new name</s>
Malibal's the people that have been posting very actively in your thread. They have a post a couple notches higher, asking how old my battery is. See if they're more to your liking. Remember, e-mailing these people for more information is a good thing.

 

The NP8130 seems to be an excellent choice. The only thing I'm skeptical about is the battery life. I imagine the 3 hour estimate is with minimum brightness, no wifi, and just editing documents.

Still, that should last through about two 1:15 minute classes.

 

Yeah, I just found their site. They do not sell Sager but I found one called the Lotus P150HM-S1. Any information on this computer? Is is a Clevo model?

 

WiFi, power saver default (40% brightness I think). Browsing youtube/text editing etc. Basically no games. Should last you at least 2.5 hours. More if you turn off the WiFi etc.

 

It's Clevo barebones, re-done just as Sager would re-do theirs. There's no difference, other than it probably won't have "Sager" written across the back of it.
And no laugh on the borderlands reference? Am I the only one that sees the resemblance?

 

Sorry! Never really played Borderlands. I heard it was sweet though!
And thanks for the recommendation! I like their option more than I like the other site's. I'll probably end up buying from them.

I just need info on the Lotus P151HM1 and Lotus P150HM. (Anyone, anyone?)

Edit: And I'm liking the Satori P170HM

 

Our Lotus P150HM-S1 is built on the Clevo P150HM chassis. Sager sells these as 8150's. They are the same chassis though

 

Forget the name "lotus". That's the laptop models, they haven't been re-named. If you've been on XoticPC, you should have seen "Sager NP8130 (built on Clevo P151HM1)" and "Sager NP8150(-S1) (built on Clevo P150HM)".

Same models. For future reference, the P170HM is the Sager NP8170 and the X7200 is the Sager NP7282. The rest aren't talked about as much, though XoticPC always has the "built on" under the Sager name.

 

So... can I has a pestilent defiler please?

 

Sorry, but you might be looking for Maliwan.

All Borderlands joking aside, the model names can be confusing across the resellers/dealers, so sticking with the Clevo names tends to be the way to tell them all apart easily. The built on/with model is typically the Clevo name. There was a thread here a while ago that actually pointed out how those naming schemes worked that made things really helpful..

 

Oh sweet! I was looking at those Sager models! But I think I'll go with the Malibal versions. I like that they are more customizable!

 

I'm going to start a second thread about malibal laptops and the questions I have about them that way everyone can keep discussing battery life and stufff for the Sager's.

By the way, I'd just like to say that this is the BEST technical forum I have been to! I registered to three of them and visited a few more when I decided I wanted to buy a new laptop. You guys are the only ones who actually answered my questions.
On every other forum they just told me that I was wasting my time buying a gaming laptop and that I should get a desktop and netbook combo (even though I told them specifically I didn't have space for a desktop). They also insisted on me getting a Mac which really annoys me because I have a huge bias against the company. I even told them I don't ever want an Apple computer. In all honesty, I hate everything apple (except granny smith and honeycrisps).

Anyway, thanks guys! You rock and I'm definitely going to stick around this forum!

 

Welcome to NBR. And dude, of course, other forums suck. NBR is where you come when you want help. As long as you're a living, breathing human, we'll help you; <s>no other requirements</s> but your IQ has to be over 60.

 

Uh oh... I never took an IQ test... Dang it! No wonder I can't go to the off topic section or send PMs! They "claim" I don't post enough but now I know the truth!!

 

No, you just need to make a pre-requisite number of posts before you can do that. You know, to avoid spammers/trolls/mutated-beings-which-live-off-internet-feedback-and-making-others-angry-instead-of-food-and-water.

 

The 3 hour estimate I gave earlier was based on my power settings: wifi (constantly surfing the web) on and 25% brightness (still surprisingly plenty of light, I was really happy when I saw that!).