Johnny's np8660 Review!

Hey everyone!
So it is Monday today, and I received my np8660 from Xotic PC just on Saturday. Hopefully I can share with you people some things about the notebook that will help you make informed decisions about whether or not to buy it.

First of all, XoticPC was a good company to deal with. I had very little trouble with them, and they did certainly come across as professional and honest. If you live in Canada like I do, it might be difficult to send your machine back into the states to be fixed, but hey, its fine with me. In short, do NOT be shy to order from Xotic, they wont let you down.

Now onto the goods! I should preface this part of the review by saying that I have not done any benchmarking tests of any kind to the machine, nor will I. The comments and information I give in this review are from EVERYDAY USE. I could not care less about numbers, so long as the machine works. Having said that, here are the specs and a breakdown of the computer into sections.

SPECS AND SECTIONS:
Processor:
My computer has the 2.5 gig, P model processor. It is high performance and is apparently easier on the battery consumption. It performs quickly, and I never have come across a situation in which I wish for more processor speed, although to be fair, I only use this computer for gaming and surfing. The processor is good overall, and I have no complaints.

HDD:
Next, I chose the 320GB hard drive spinning at 5,400 PRM. I wanted the capacity of the 320, but did not want the heat/battery consumption of the 7,200 RPM version. I have had no problems with this hard drive, and I suppose I wouldnt expect any at this stage in its life. However, I will mention more about the Hard disk in the games section of the review.

RAM:
I opted for the factory installed 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. I know that it can be user upgraded which makes it much cheaper, but I am a very lazy person and could not be bothered to spend time researching and ordering the parts, not to mention the installation proper. (thats the reality, and I won't sugar coat it...)
I am impressed by this ram. It loads applications much faster than my older desktop PC, however this can also be attributed to the processor as well. Lets just call the RAM/processor combo a very effective one and leave it at that.

Battery:
The battery... it is very safe to say that this laptop is an absolute HOG when it comes to the battery life. If you do not have it in some sort of conservation mode, one can expect to drop about one percent of their total battery each minute, and that is NOT WHILE GAMING! I will test the gaming battery life tomorrow while I am paying attention in my lectures...
One feature of the laptop is the Silent Mode. Not only does this decrease battery consumption by a sizable amount, but it also drops the noise level of the lappy considerable too. More on the silent feature later though...
I would say that you should expect to get about an hour and a half of in-class use realistically. I had hoped for more, but there are just so many redeeming features.

Noise:
This machine is great for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that it is QUIET! I had expected a helicopter-esque fan rumble... but it just isnt there! I will admit that while gaming the fan noise is quite noticble, but my speaker system more than drowns it out, and it is not someting to worry about. Pressing the silent mode key, even in game, the noise level drops to nothing... nada... gar nichts. It is incredible. Have zero fear about taking this thing to classes.
My power supply doesnt have a fan in it that I HAVE HEARD. If there is one it is quite, but to be honest I am far too lazy to look inside there carefully.

Keyboard:
This is one of the most comfortable boards to type on that I have used. The space bar is a minuscule amount louder than the other keys, and is one of the only things about the computer that I do not like. It can be unresponsive at times, but I am also using this on my bed, so my posture is not entirely there right now. Nothing to worry about, even if you are writing a long essay.

Heat:
One might expect a computer with this much power to become quite hot easily. I have heard a lot of people complaining about the palm rest getting hot while in use. I have not had this problem. The palm rest MAYBE gets luke warm after about an hour of use. I have had NO BSOD's as of yet.

GPU!:
This notebook has the Nvidia M9800GT card in it. Boy o boy! What a champion. I have gamed on it quite a lot so far and I am so very impressed. I have played Bioshock, Crysis, Need for speed most wanted, and various other.
Bioshock will run with absolutely zero lag at maxed settings at full 1080p on my 40 inch lcd. It looks stunning, and I was surprised that I was able to max it completely, but it does this without any problems.
Crysis will run on max res with settings medium, exept water, shadows, physics, and objects on very high. I have not tryed to go any higher than that just because I am still getting into the game, but it ran these settings with no lag, and I would not be surprised if I could max a few more things.
I had Crysis on, playing with my friends for maybe 6 hours solid (taking turns of course) and it was still pumping it out rightly. Did not overheat or anything.

Screen:
I chose to stay with the default screen. It works just fine and it by far the best laptop display I have seen. There are no dead pixels or anything.

Wireless and Bluetooth:
I have not tried out the bluetooth yet, but the wireless is great. I can pick up wifi WAAAY farther away than with my other laptops and it is fast too.

I may have forgotten some sections is there, so if there is anything else anyone needs to know give me a shout.

In summary:
GET THIS LAPTOP. Go on the internet right now and order one. I'll wait here while you do it, okay? ... ... ... Alright, you will be EXTREMELY happy with the purchase. I have never been so satisfied with another buy in my whole life. Just do it guys, seriously.

I hope that this as been helpful to at least one person. Feel totally free to shoot me some questions and I will blast you some answers.

Peace,
Johnny

 

nice impressions and mini-review.

a good read.

thanks for your efforts.

make sure you take care of that little beast.

 

I regret buying my m15x.. how much did yours total?

 

Probably 2.1K

 

Judging from his review, his specs are:
Screen: 15.4" WSXGA+ 1680x1050
CPU: P9500 2.53GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR3-1066
Videocard: 9800M GT 512MB GDDR3

it should about about $1970-2030 at XoticPC.

 

great mini review Johnny
i should have mine from Kobalt on friday or early next week
enjoy

 

Hey Johnny, thanks for the review! Reckon you could post a couple of nice pics of this beauty? Would be particularly nice to get a pic of the screen showing the desktop icons (to get an idea of the resolution).

Many thanks in advance!

 

I'm sure you could Ebay it for a little more than the amount you spent, and it'll sell immediately.

 

nice mini review, i enjoyed it!

 

And why would that be? Shouldn't the value go down?

 

Nope, some Alienware fanboy will pick it up in a heartbeat. Think of it like some sort of cult. Logic and reasoning is not factored in their purchases of these computers.

 

You guys are becoming worst Fanboys that the Alienware fanboys!!!

 

Won't these fanboys buy from the site themselves? Why eBay? I thought it was full of scammers now..

 

You must be searching for scammers on eBay to find one...for the ~80 items I bought, I was always happy. Simple trick is to check the feedback. If you don't have enough items sold and good feeback, it may be harder for you to sell some ~$2500 items.

 

yeah, where are the pictures? i have enough words to read in my life..

 

good luck to them buying a laptop without a warranty as they are not transferable.

 

not just 'A' laptop probably one of the least reliable laptops EVER! :O