Malibal. Same specs different price P151HM1 & P150HM

I am trying to buy a sager laptop from malibal. I configured P150HM and P151HM1 with exact same configuration (see below). P150HM price comes out to $1299 where as P151HM1 came to $1,474.00. I was wondering what could be the reason for this for th $175 dollar difference? Is the motherboard ... different on the two machines? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Lotus P150HM (P150HM)
Customizations:
Promotions: $100 OFF Configurations Over $1500 $-100.00
Promotions: FREE SHIPPING ($50 Value) UPS Ground to Lower 48 States
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($40 Value) 8GB 1333MHz to 8GB 1600MHz Memory $-40.00
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($45 Value) Spyder 3 Elite Color Calibration w/ Profile Disc $-45.00
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($75 Value) GeForce 560M to Radeon 6970M $-75.00
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($95 Value) Blu-ray Reader to Blu-ray Burner $-95.00
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.4 95% NTSC Matte Display $95.00
Display Upgrades: Spyder 3 Elite Professional Color Calibration w/ Profile Disc $45.00
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.2-3.1GHz $50.00
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM $40.00
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash $85.00
Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Burner 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive $175.00
Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1102 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card $30.00
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU $40.00
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
Branding: None
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: LIFETIME Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Product Subtotal: $1,474.00

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Lotus P151HM1 (P151HM1)
Customizations:
Promotions: $100 OFF Configurations Over $1500 $-100.00
Promotions: FREE SHIPPING ($50 Value) UPS Ground to Lower 48 States
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($40 Value) 8GB 1333MHz to 8GB 1600MHz Memory $-40.00
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($45 Value) Spyder 3 Elite Color Calibration w/ Profile Disc $-45.00
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($75 Value) GeForce 560M to Radeon 6970M $-75.00
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($95 Value) Blu-ray Reader to Blu-ray Burner $-95.00
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.4 95% NTSC Matte Display $95.00
Display Upgrades: Spyder 3 Elite Professional Color Calibration w/ Profile Disc $45.00
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.2-3.1GHz $80.00
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM $40.00
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash $85.00
Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Burner 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive $175.00
Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1102 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card $30.00
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU $40.00
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
AC Adapter: Full Range AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, 120W AC Adapter, DC output 20V, 6A
Branding: None
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: LIFETIME Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Product Subtotal: $1,299.00

 

To get it the "same specs" you need to get the 180W power adapter which is going to add some cost, but still be cheaper. I ran into this as well and wasn't sure what to think of it. I think it might use a cheaper mobo or something because the choices limit your vid card selection to the 560m. I paid extra and went with the 150 for this reason, but it would be nice to get some insight on this.

If you check their FAQ on that model, it will say the only 3 differences between the two are that the 151 defaults with a matte screen (better imo, but up to you), 120W power adapter instead of 180W (but you can upgrade to the 180W), and it's finish is metallic instead of rubber? I don't remember that last one with too much clarity but it was something along those lines.

 

Thanks Leoul. I wasn't aware of AC adaptor difference. As you said it still comes cheaper.
I am not much of a gamer. So 560M is more than enough for my needs. Looking for a well built, fast (for daily tasks) laptop that probably lasts for a while.

 

Chassis coating / LCD Screen (matte) / and smaller AC adapter are the only differences.

8150 > 8130 is specs and upgradability, that's it. It physically is the same chassis.

 

$200 gets you a rubber-coated chassis and bigger power brick

 

It does get you the rubberized finish as opposed to hard plastic, but I spoke with Malibal on the phone today with the same question, and they told me its the power SUPPLY, not the A/C adaptor, that's upgraded on the P150. So, if you want to upgrade your gpu in the future to something higher wattage, you're better off with the P150.

 

silly comment but, if you are not gaming, why not get a smaller laptop?

Also, for travel, the p150hm adapter is quite large, i just flew with it and is quite big.

regarding battery, i got with couple of battery saving tweaks ~160min video(720p) in flight (i.e. low brightness etc)

then again, if you dont game i would recommend to look into something where you can turn of the graphics, i.e. optimus etc, so you can get lots of battery power when needed

 

For laptops, the power supply is the AC adapter .

 

I have thought about smaller one. I really want full HD display. Hence this option. I looked at dell and similar specd XPS laptop (cheaper GPU and 1333Hz RAM) was almost 400 dollars cheaper. I am only going with this because of a friend's recommendation.

So do you guys think a similar speced XPS vs Sager is worth almost $400? Thanks

 

Because a 15.6" machine is not large that's more along the lines of a medium sized laptop. My Qosmio is large.

Yes it has a plenty big power brick but... all good things come at a cost. You can't get a 1080p computer anymore without having to tote around another two pound brick.

CEO of company: "What's this? They want these amazing 1080p screen-toting gaming computers for under twelve hundred? We can do that... but as a side gimmick to nail them in turn, drop in a 180w power brick."

Response from rest of team: O.O

Rest of us:

 

Oops! You can tell I'm a desktop guy

 

So....if that is true, if you upgrade to the optional 180w ps ($45.00), then the same gpu options could be available on the 8130. I'm sure that potential buyers would appreciate the choice between a rubber/non-rubberized finish and gpu choices - and no reseller is offering it in competition. Must be more than that.

 

People here have managed to place the 485/6970/6990/580 in the 8130/p151hm. The two laptops even share the same service manual. In this thread, they put a 485 in the 8130. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/566988-p151hm-upgrading-graphics-cards.html

It's not practical to upgrade the card yourself though, as a top end notebook card like the 6990m costs about 500 dollars.

As for why resellers don't offer the option to put more powerful gpu's in the 8130, it's because 8130 is supposed to be the budget model and 8150 the top end model.

 

In most cases you can upgrade the GPU yourself if you have the upgraded PSU- but it also voids the warranty on those parts. If you're willing to take the risk/cost of doing it, then it's not a problem