I know people use this forum to discuss laptop specs, reviews, mods and troubleshooting.
A notebook review of a new model only tells half a story though.
I believe long-term ownership feedback should also be a thing (if it's not already). Notebook manufacturers that build machines to be durable and long-lasting should be commended and this information should be easily available for others to help them decide how to spend their hard-earned cash when they take the plunge to buy a new notebook/laptop once every few years.
That said, I know there are many variables that may cause people to have vastly different experiences on identical machines. However, I know (as I believe most do) that electronics are often (more often than not) engineered to fail after a set time of usage, a phenomenon in marketing called "planned obsolescence" and you can even get qualified in this field.
http://www.dw.com/en/designed-to-fail-electronics-a-global-problem/a-16369155
Over time, with enough data, we should be able to paint a pretty good picture of which brands have better longevity. This knowledge will empower buyers who will likely reward such manufacturers with their support, thereby encouraging them to continue designing quality electronics built to fail by fluke as opposed to failing by design.
I'd like to do exactly this with my laptop, which seems may need replacement soon.
Clevo W370ET / Sager NP6370
I bought this laptop in December 2012 as "Mecer" rebranded machine. It's rather big, thick, heavy and ugly, but it can't be faulted on performance. It has 8GB RAM, a 128GB SDD and a 1TB HDD, i7-3630QM 2.4Ghz CPU.
Given CPU, RAM and Display adapter options, I chose this PC because of its bang-for-buck, it simply offered far better spec than any other laptop in its price range.
When it was still fairly new, a friend of mine loaded a custom ROM which helped with Windows 8 USB 3.0 compatibility. I haven't updated the ROM since.
I typically expect notebooks to last about three years, and anything after that is a bonus. If you use your notebook for work you can also write it off for tax purposes in many countries after about three years.
Although my Clevo isn't exactly "going strong" anymore, up until this point it gave me far fewer issues than any notebook I ever owned. And I'm still using its original charger as well... *cough* HP *cough*.
At present I'm experiencing the following issues:
* One vertical line of dead LCD pixels near the right side of the display.
* NUM-pad buttons work only if you hammer them profusely.
* The (original) battery only lasts about 30 minutes.
* Frequent blue screens of death, citing memory management issues.
The latter may yet be solvable without replacing hardware.
This PC has been working for me for 5 and a half years during which I lugged it to work every day, where I worked on it for a full day. After work, I would start it up at home about 4 nights a week, and keep it running all night until the next morning. For the last 2-3 years, after a switch in employer, I left it at home, running 24-7, still working on it about every night and over weekends. Oh, and I also used to game on it quite often.
I would like to commend CLEVO for making this laptop so durable and reliable.
For my next machine, they will without a doubt be high on my list of possible purchases.
Any other suggestions for my next laptop?
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Clevo P170EM.
Bought 2013 second hand, less than a year old. Reseller was LogicalBlueOne, Jack was great at customer service, unfortunately a few years back they had to declare insolvency ~2015 due to FWIU a huge payroll tax debt from bad accountancy advice. While I had about 6 months warranty left at that stage, luckily nothing went wrong.
Had to swap RAM sticks around a couple of times to fix weird no-POSTs.
2 new batteries, a new + bigger power adapter (insulation split on original so it wouldn't pass tag for workplace for insurance but it still worked fine), recently replaced keyboard due to the spacebar occasionally missing keystroke, 802.11AC wlan card at some point.
Originally came with 3630QM, bought a 3920XM from aliexpress which turned out an ES which I burned out benching it too close to TJmax too often. Swapped the 3630qm for a 3740qm out of a broken M17xR4 I fixed and flipped, which with Premabios had it unlocked and running 3.8-4.0ghz no power limits. Used it as my liquid metal guinea pig about 18 months ago, which dropped temps by 20C and allowed a maxed out >1GHz OC on the 680M.
Recently swapped in a better Philips screen from a P370EM (after I converted that to eDP for the 1070s) to replace the 72% gamut Chimei which I honestly didn't realise how badly it'd faded.
Partner has it now as her workstation. With a new battery it gets 3-4 hours battery life due to Optimus.
Case is in absolutely fantastic condition... very hard wearing rubbery plastic for being carted a lot, this has been shifted around a lot during its >10,000 hours of uptime! The only blemish is the paint started wearing off the touchpad buttons so I removed it all... exposing brushed aluminium underneath which looks like it came that way from the factory.
Clevo P150HM.
Bought 2011. Directly from LogicalBlueOne
Couple new batteries, an AC wlan card.
Sold to brother in 2013, he still uses it. Since he never ever cleaned it, last year the clogged radiator overheated the 580M and it developed VRAM errors. Now it runs a 670M.
2760QM without premabios is locked down, but runs just fine.
Clevo P370EM
2012 model, Metabox branded, bought cheap in late 2016 to tinker with.
Swapped in a 3940XM, a pair of 1070s, eDP screen and cable (from 3D model), cut some case mods to improve airflow, modded the heatsinks with liquid metal and hybrid watercooling, with dual 330W's and a joiner it pulls 500W from the wall just fine which is about double what it originally would have pulled with its dual 670Ms and 3720QM.
Hated the clickboard touchpad for the first few days of using it but actually miss it now I've moved on.
As for the poll... there's "necessitated" and there's the not-forced upgrades I've been playing around with for the past 18 months or so...Husar likes this. -
I Purchased my P150EM from Metabox in Australia in 2012.
Bought it configured with 3720QM, 680M, 16GB, 256SSD, the better AUO panel and Killer 1202.
From the get go, i had issues with wirelss dropping out consistently, even when using a different router, so after a month i had enough, and called Metabox about it. They happily sent me a replacement Intel N 6235, which worked perfectly from the moment i installed it.
After a year i came to the conclusion i was fedup with using external drives for storage, so i upgraded to a 500GB SSD and replaced the blue ray drive with a 2TB HDD.
During my travels through Europe, i damaged the laptop in my bag (Trying to stuff too much things in my backpack) and managed to bend the socket on the back of the LCD, so it would flicker and drive me nuts. When i got back home i contacted Metabox and arranged for a replacement. They had one LCD left of the same model, so i quickly ordered it and fixed it (They were kind enough to give me PDF files on how to disassemble and fix the screen myself).
At some point i also had to replace the Power adaptor as the cable sheath had cracked, exposing the wires, and i am on my 3rd replacement battery.
Later last year after some help from people in this forum, it was concluded my 680M had died, after doing a bit of research, i thought it might be time to replace the laptop as purchsing replacement GPU's were jsut too expensive online, until i called up Metabox as a last resort. Finding out that they had a 980M in stock and i could pick it up that day... and at a unbeatable price. So i drove up there (30min drive from my home) and they also said they needed tochange my BIOs, and that it owuld take them only 5 minutes. SO i gave them the laptop and they handed me the card with all the pads with instructions how to install.
So now my laptop has changed a bit from its original configuration, being a 3720QM, 980M, 16GB, 500GB SSD + 2TB HDD, AUO v4 and Intel N 6235.
The laptop is used daily, for photos, gaming and general tasks. Usually on, almost all day long, unless i was travelling with if for work, and overseas.
It is starting to show its age, especially on the palm rests and its speed in newer gamiing titles, but i must say that even with all the issues and things i changed during my time with the laptop. I am very pleased and will be returning to buy another Clevo from Metabox. -
Mastermind5200 Notebook Virtuoso
AW M17 R1, bought it locally from a guy who didn't need it after a month, got it for a steal ($300) for the base config, i7 4700MQ, 500GB SSHD 8GB, GTX 765M, 900p screen
Overall loved the machine, did everything I needed it to (in 2015-2017) could play all the games I liked then, and even now. (GTA V, Fallout 4, etc..) Unfortunaltuly, the SSHD is incredibly slow on its on, so I stole an SSD from my main rig at the time ( I sold that thank god) and windows never felt so buttery smooth. The battery lasted me ~2 hours gaming, 3 hours of watching video, 5 with dGPU disabled.
The build quality has beem unmatched so far for me, after coming from various Dells and Thinkpads, I will never hate the rubberized wristrest.
Unfortunatly, while replacing paste on the GPU, I took it out and put it back in the MXM slot while the battery was on, (the way this laptop shuts down is really iffy) so that basically fried the card. Currently use it as a media and light gaming machine with the HD 4600 iGPU, but it suffers heavily, am going to trade it for a gaming pc from my brother (he knows about the "dead" GPU) I am pleased, but will not buy a AW again unless they fix themselves, this was the last real good AW tbh
Am currently in the process of buying a P870DM3bennyg likes this. -
I had a Clevo D900F(sold) & Clevo X7200 - all purchased from Speedy Gonzalez, the X7200 lasted until Dec2017 when the motherboard decided to RIP. I had a problem with the VGA fan dying in ~2014 but that was the only hardware problem I had with the machine. I recently bought a D900F( @KY_BULLET - @Danishblunt) to transplant all my old hardware since most of the newer laptops have either soldered chips, doesn't have room for 3 HDDs, or doesn't support Windows 7 which I need.
I'm not really sure if Clevo is still good when it comes to lower temps on high usage (Can someone answer this btw) but that was the reason I stuck with the brand. Not sure if its still good these days since I haven't been active as much as I used to.
EDIT: Bought the X7200 in ~2011 IIRCLast edited: May 23, 2018Mastermind5200 and jclausius like this. -
I miss the good ole postings by Speedy! ( Tagging you @Speedy Gonzalez )
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Clevo is simply barebones and need to get modded until its acceptable. -
Long-term notebook review
Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by matthysdt, May 19, 2018.