My (Horrible) Sager Experience

I just need to vent!!!

I had originally purchased a 9262 (D901C) back in June of 2008 through www.xoticpc.com and has been nothing but a headache..

I run max fans (fn+1) at ALL times.
I run it on the best notebook cooler there is.
I clean it once a month (take apart and clean each fan, dust).

These are all the configurations I tried.

Setup: Dual 8800GTX and 3x 7200RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (71C)

Setup: ONE 8800GTX and 3x 7200RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (70C)

Setup: Dual 8800GTX and 2x 7200RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (65C)

Setup: One 8800GTX and 2x 7200RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (57C)

Setup: Dual 8800GTX and 3x 5400RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (68C)

Setup: ONE 8800GTX and 3x 5400RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (68C)

Setup: Dual 8800GTX and 2x 5400RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives well over thermal limit (63C)

Setup: One 8800GTX and 2x 5400RPM hard drives
Result: Hard drives close to thermal limit (54C)

With 2x 5400 hard drives and 1 8800GTX do the hard drives stay within thermal limits. The entire reason for OWNING A 9262 is for SLI and 3 HD RAID!!!!!!!!!!! The laptop is obviously not designed correctly and does not perform as advertised!

Total Maintenance/repairs/RMA’s/returns//etc

1. (July 2008) Returned 1 8800GTX
2. (July 2008) Returned 3x 7200RPM hard disks (replaced with 2x 5400RPM)
3. (July 2008) Repair Broken Wifi
4. (August 2008) Ordered and promptly returned 2nd 8800GTX
I took a chance at this point with the mindset to upgrade to parts that generated less heat (SSD) eventually. I KNOW NOW I should have returned it then!!
5. (October 2008) Repair Bad MotherBoard
6. (March 2009) Repair Bad MotherBoard + 8800GTX

As I mentioned at the start, I purchased the machine late June 2008 and have 2 years parts and labor through XoticPC. For the entire month of July the machine was spent taken apart or in for replacements or repair. Add on 2 weeks for both motherboard repairs and I have had the machine in working order for 7 out of 9 months. The entire month of April I spent out of the country and have been trying to work with XoticPC for a refund.


A little about what the laptop is used for. I work for a billing company (banks, mobile phones) and deal with Multi-Million dollar databases all day long. I purchased the 9262 with a quad core CPU, 4GB and 3x Hard drives so that I can run our billing platform from it. The 8800GTX was an added bonus in case I had time to ever play a video game. My position requires that I travel > 50% of the year and spend up to 2 months straight on site training/debugging/coding etc as required. For the same price as a Dell or HP with half the power I chose to go with the Sager, which now I fully regret.

Showing off the 9262 was always impressive, and the fact that I could have a portable billing system on my back and ready to go was amazing. The first time the motherboard died I was in the middle of presentations for a customer. I had to go shopping for an external enclosure which supported RAID just to get my data so that I could continue. I actually had to wait just over 2 weeks to get home and ship out the unit for repairs. The second time I was in my hotel in Chile playing Fallout 3 when it just shut off. Try to power on and get nothing but a black screen. That was the last straw for me. I was going to upgrade it to 3xSSD and the 280GTX because SSD can handle more heat and the 280GTX puts out less heat (or so i heard).. I really looked forward to this machine giving me years of use when all I am met with is disappointment...


My company and I cannot take any more chances with the 9262. I need a machine that is reliable and won’t just decide to fry on me when it wants. I can’t spend time I don’t have sending it in for repairs when I am not even in the U.S. I have argued with Sager and even had Justin try from XoticPC try to get a refund but they won’t budge and continue to say that its past “the 30 days”. I have read the warranty and this clause is very vague… Do you think I can still fight it? Sager says they will work with me in other ways but I have honestly lost all faith in them and just want my money and forget I ever purchased a Sager product…


Pretty sure I can be upset over all of this. If anyone actually reads all of this what would you do now? Any past experiences like mine?? I can’t be the only one…

 

Why don't you try getting a replacement with the original specs from sager first, or request they give you the new 9280 instead... Try a new laptop before you decide it wasn't just a singular problem becuase I have not heard a peep from anyone else about this... Let sager give you a new laptop and if you have the same problem again (probably not) then you are entirely in the right to request a full refund

 

I think you have every right to be upset. I also happen to be a big Sager fanboy, and can say your experience seems out of the norm. That shouldn't make you feel better, but it runs counter to what I've experienced and what I've seen from others.

The first thing I would do is find out "how they will work with you in other ways"

 

agreed ^^^^

 

forget about it and buy new one from Dell cause big companies can fix big prob. by total replacement of your notebook and then fix it to sell it again as used.

if you keep your machine it will remind you by your pain.

 

You have a lemon, and should have returned it when problems first arose within the first thirty days.

Sounds like a horrible experience.

 

Seems like you have a lemon to me.I don't have a laptop that has your specs.But my idle temps are below 40 for CPU and HDD.

 

hate to suggest this but how did you pay?? if it was credit card you can try to call them to get them involved..

 

It does sound like a lemon; however, at this point I can well understand your desire to avoid the 9262 and other Clevo/Sager products.

Given that Sager is being rather firm on the no-refund point, are they willing to give you a completely new replacement system with specs that are as close as possible to the original?

If so, here's my dumb idea - it'll take longer than just getting a cash refund would, but at the end of the day it should get you cash instead of a system you just don't feel you can rely on (in your case, I'd say that feeling is justifiable, even though I do not believe that all Sagers are unreliable) - if Sager's willing to swap you out with a completely different system, and provided it gets a thorough shakedown cruise, take that new system - leaving it in the wrapping and boxes, totally unopened (don't even peel back any of the tape) - and sell the system on eBay or on the NBR for-sale forum. If this is at all feasible in your situation, make sure you also try and get Sager's agreement (in writing, of course) to consent to the transfer of any remaining warranty from you to the buyer, so that you can sell the new system with some warranty coverage for peace of mind.

That make any sense whatsoever?

 

That does sound like a headache.... but hauling that tank around as much as you were must have also been a headache... I travelled 50% of the time also, and I found that hauling around my 9262 in airports, taxis and hotels was not worth the headache, and backache....and staying at some of these places (Bogota for example) at high altitude, I had cooling issues, even all fans on high with a Zalman cooler. I now leave my Sager in one place and bring something more "portable" with me.

 

I forgot to mention but I have had two totally different machines with the same problem. At least that's what I was told by Sager, they could have just swapped out parts and told me it was completely new.

Ex-military, the 9262 is light to me

 

yea 10lbs is really nothing, 20lb's would be cutting it for me just becuase it would cause some strain on my fingers when picking it up off a table or something lol

 

I also have the 9262, configured like yours; 2x 8800m GTX in SLI and 3x 200gb 7200rpm HDDs. I also bought mine for the extensive travel I do. I've had repeated hard drive failures which I attributed to a combination of bumpy travels and operating heat.

I finally got fed up and replaced the hard drives with 3x Intel XM25 80gb SSDs six months ago (RAID 0), and haven't had a hard drive or heat-related problem since. It runs cooler, quieter, and I've had no further drive failures.

I'll never order another laptop without Intel SSDs.

 

Maybe it's because I'm only rolling 1x HDD, but I'm definitely not having any heat problems with mine, and it's summer time in Iraq...

The GPUs were giving me a little heat problems, but some software fixed that. Now unless I'm gaming nothing goes over 45C, and besides the GPUs nothing goes over 60C when fully stressed.

 

This reminded me... One of the tech guys at Sager actually had the nerve to tell me "Normal hard drive too hot for this machine, you replace with all solid state"

Spending 1,800 on SSD's is not on my to do list when my mother board fries once every 3 months.

 

Yea 1 HDD is fine. 2 HDD in the same bay could cause heat issues.
If you open up the HDD bay you can see the mount for the HDD stacks them right on top of each other, with no air flow. Very bad design.

 

TO me it sounds like a your a bit of a whiney OCD computer wierdo. Complaining about temps that really aren't that bad (except the 70* ones). My hard drive runs at about 60c much of the time when I get fully cranking everything so what no performance drop.

I suggest a good therapist to alleviate your unfounded fears and OCD and if it aint broke dont try to fix it. As far as your other problems, you sure they were real or imagined? I used to get it in my head that my MOBO was broken etc. when I had a Dell because of random things like a 2FPS drop, or a slightly elevated heat sig, or a strange sound. Turned out to be nothing.

Its ok bro, I used to be like you too then I realized.... its a machine, it can "take" a lot more than we think it can. Unfortunately you have probally done more damage to it yourself at this point by shipping it around like a mad man and taking it apart every few weeks fiddling with it. So I say again, next time - unless its BROKE! dont fix it. and slightly higher temps doesnt mean broken it just means get an AC.

 

I agree with everything you said, except for this part... ....I'm not so sure that's true..

 

You work for Sager?

5. (October 2008) Repair Bad MotherBoard
6. (March 2009) Repair Bad MotherBoard + 8800GTX

That means I had 2 motherboards replaced AND a video card replaced in less then 5 months. Learn to read before you post.

 

Ok 3/4 the price...

 

Yea, I noticed that when I tore it apart the other day, just for curiosity's sake. And i agree, I thought that was a bad idea to stack the HDD's on top of each other. BTW, where's the 3rd bay at, I could only find the two?

 

well well

lets see if the infamous xotic makes this one right

btw june is very very close so act on it now if you only have the standard 1yr warranty

 

not even close buddy.

dell is usually much more expensive then sager.

 

No I don't work for SAGER. I'm just not a retard.
Guessing some B.S. you pulled likely damaged your MOBO's if there was really anything wrong with them. Overheating is your problem btw. Get better cooling solutions.

 

probably just didnt monitor temps well enough, and didnt use any cooling tips/tricks etc...

 

Neither of your post are very constructive, or well thought out. I can't see how you could read the op's detailed report of his experience and then post what you have. I have also had a headache with my D901C/9262, two bad motherboards so far, and I certainly did nothing to cause this. Be constructive or at least use well founded accusations.

Again, did you even read the whole story. He states that he DID in fact use a notebook cooler and set fans on max. Though, the 9262 "should" be fine with fans on auto and without a notebook cooler as long as its being used on a hard surface with nothing blocking its airflow.

 

Take out your battery and you will see the 3rd bay. If you plan to put a hdd there you need some frame to fix it, otherwise the hdd can slip out. If you do not move it you can have the 3rd hd also without the frame.

PL