LPC-Digital Sager NP9170 configuration for a soon-to-be college student

Because I can't copy and paste now, I'll just indicate what I paid extra for:

Matte surface ($30)
240 gb Intel 520 SSD ($210)
750 gb 7200 RPM HDD ($115)
Windows 7 Home Premium ($80)
IC Diamond ($35)
Bigfoot 1103 Wireless card ($60)
Geforce GTX 680M ($445)
Microsoft Office Home & Student ($139)

Total: almost $2300 with discounts

Concerns

1. The upcoming MSI-GT60 seems to be a comparable value because of the price, speakers, and keyboard. Are the audio and typing on the np9170 poor enough to warrant a switch? I can order from XoticPC to get a Steelseries keyboard and external sound card, but I want the laptop as quickly as possible.
2. Can I get a refund or exchange the 680m for a 7970m and $300 in modifications if the Enduro issues are fixed?
3. In my present circumstances, a gaming laptop is not an undue waste of money, but an interesting opportunity . I can get it at little to no personal cost. If I hate it, I'll go with a laptop/desktop configuration after college. However, the thought of buying a laptop for $2300 bothers me. Is it worthwhile?
4. Should I stick with the 240gb Intel 520 SSD or get a 120gb 520 and Intel 320 mSata with Raid 0?

Thanks.

 

Any feedback?

 

have you checked price of other companies?

 

For qn 1 i have no way of answering that unless i have both laptops side by side to do a comparison. Regarding your 2nd qn, do you mean that you wanna get a full refund of the 680m and have the 7970m installed when the endure issues are resolved? You did not have qn no.3 :/ as for qn 4 you mentioned that you will be able to get the laptop at little to no personal cost, but then you are worried about the price tag >.> may I know ur current laptop/desktop specs that you are using?

 

AFAIK, LPC always has the cheapest prices, proven by so many people who have compared quotes with other companies.

Your configuration seems fine, but do you need office?

I always get my copy either free from school or $15 for a student license.

 

Most universities offer free or very cheap Microsoft office as well as windows. I get Windows 7 enterprise free from my computer science department. Save your money and don't get those two.

Also, SSD is cheaper as an aftermarket purchase almost always. I would recommend doing so, however $210 for Intel 520 drive isn't a bad price.

Clevo is a great college laptop. Recommended for sure. Sound quality is bleh however, but you can get external sound to resolve those issues. Personally I don't listen to much music from the laptop speakers so not a big issue. That said, the sound isn't terrible! Just not excellent.

Compared to MSI g series, clevo chassis are more professional looking, and while they are plastic, they are very durable. I hear the plastic on MSI laptops feel flimsy and cheap. I can't speak from personal experience.

As for refund etc, contact the reseller/site you buy from. If it is within 30 days I don't see why not, cause they would refund the entire laptop anyways. Less trouble to just swap gpu. You might have to pay shipping and whatnot...so you'll end up losing money. I always recommend getting the best gpu for your budget and be happy. Swapping later is a hassle, money and time wise.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

If you are into headphones on the NP9170 (P170EM), there isn't much option for the headphone mode on P150EM/P170EM if you are using it without Center/LFE jack, also room correction isn't available in stereo mode. However, you can set it to 5.1 or 7.1 mode and set THX to headphone mode, it'll create a virtual 5.1/7.1 sound experience, still the bass boost/crossover frequency feature is missing if your headphone doesn't have LFE jack. If you want to get decent sound over headphones when using the NP9170, better get an external headphone amp or get a 5.1/7.1 headphone with discrete speakers. For built-in speakers, MSI is going to sound better.

 

I don't have a computer right now, and thanks for telling me that I skipped a #.

The college I will attend doesn't offer free or discounted Windows 7 or Office for undergraduates, but it does offer Symantec.

I don't use headphones, but I'll keep the advice in mind. Thanks!

 

My old Asus UX50 had a poor touchpad and subpar keyboard, so those problems likely won't be dealbreakers for me, but it seems that the MSI GT60 And Alienware M17x r4 are comparably sound purchases. What does the Sager have over them?

I'll overlook poor audio if someone confirms that adjustment can improve it.

I'd prefer the Sager, honestly.

 

alienware make their laptops look like a toy for a 13 year old with all those lights and weird stuff, i really dislike their design. sager is plain and simple also portable, i like that

 

Don't RAID your SSD's. You will lose TRIM functionality and speed is plenty fast. For the price of a 128GB mSATA + 120GB SATA you can find deals on a 256GB SATA III SSD for similar cost. Although their Intel offerings are quite cost competitive.

 

That was a typo. I meant that I was choosing between just the 240gb Intel 520 and the 240gb in Raid-0 with an 80gb Intel 320 mSata, though I suppose the difference in speed would still not be worth the cost.

The Alienware m17x's appearance is the only reason I haven't chosen it.

 

Just a few more questions about noise:

1. Is the Sager np9170 unduly loud while idle? What about the 9150? (They don't seem much worse than the Alienware m17x, but fewer people complain about that laptop's noise.)
2. Is it true that I can use MSI Kombustor to shut off the GPU fan?
3. Does the "Fn + 1" combination work on the 91xxs or not?
4. Does Clevo allow modified fan tables now?

 

I've decided that the 9150 would be better for me than the 9170, and the only competitor is the MSI GT60 0ne. Any other opinions before I choose?

Note: Both notebooks add up to the same price, but I can get significantly better discounts on the Sager, and the extra money could go toward an external sound card and a keyboard or mouse, though I would like to avoid buying those.
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Sager np9150 configuration:

Product Subtotal
LIFETIME Limited Labor and 1 Year Premium** Parts Warranty $0.00
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive $0.00
Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student Edition $139.00
Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module $60.00
Sager Branding $0.00
NONE $0.00
Crucial® M4 512GB SATA III SSD $355.00
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU $35.00
Integrated Fingerprint Reader $0.00
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 4 X 4GB - Free Memory Upgrade Back to School Special! $0.00
No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy $0.00
No Canada Warranty $0.00
Genuine Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition ( 64-Bit Preloaded ) $80.00
FREE UPS Ground $0.00
8 cells smart Lithium-Ion battery pack 76.96Wh $0.00
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz) $0.00
15.6” Full HD 16:9 LED-Backlit Super Clear MATTE type $30.00
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 680M 4GB GDDR5 Memory $445.00

Total: About $2300 with discounts

 

The spec looks great to me. You might want to get the SSD at some other store, because resellers charge more for it than it's retail price. (You can get it for $400 on newegg and if you send LPC an email that you wouldn't like an HDD, I'm sure you'd get more than $400 off.)