My 5760 - Unusable So Far

Hi All,

Quick update on my new 5760 that I received on Tuesday -- I'm having major problems so far due to it locking up routinely.

I had originally thought the problem was associated with Oblivion, as that was the first major application that I installed. However, the system locks up, reboots, and displays visual artifacts outside of Oblivion (in fact, I've uninstalled Oblivion). The problems are getting worse. I seem to get anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes of usage before running into problems.

So far all the problems seem to be video-related, so I am guessing the problem is with the video drivers. I'm hoping it is a software issue, not hardware, as I do not wish to ship the unit back.

I guess my next step is to re-install the video drivers (they seem to be the most recent drivers though). If that doesnt' work I'll re-install the entire O/S (it came pre-installed). We'll see how that works out.

Very disappointed. For $3K, I expected absolute perfection! lol.

Cheers,

Eugene.

 

Sorry to hear that. It sounds like a video problem for sure - try the latest drivers from www.laptopvideo2go.com or www.tweaksrus.com.

 

Hi Eugene, Sorry to hear of this. You have a great plan of action. I would uninstall the video card drivers and reinstall them (make sure they are the most current drivers). If this doesnt cure it, it wouldnt hurt to do a memory test. You might want to try running memtest on it to ensure the ram isnt going bad. As a worst case scenario, you can format and reinstall Windows.

It sounds most like a video card issue though...

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've already tried re-installing the drivers - didn't work. I've also tried the drivers from laptopvideo2go. Also didn't work.

I never thought about a memory problem -- good point. I've now run memtest -- no issues found.

I've written to Sager. We'll see how their tech support people are...

Cheers,

Eugene.

 

First impressions of Sager's tech support are good.

My sales rep emailed me back promptly to let me know he'd get the support department on it right away. An hour later I received a call from one of their techies (Dan, I believe he said his name was).

He asked good questions and actually *listened* when I explained the symptoms (it's amazing how often tech support people don't really listen first, before deciding they know what the problem is!).

He's going to get back to me in an hour or so.

In an odd way, this will be a useful opportunity to evaluate Sager. Although this particular laptop was purchased for my own personal use, I own a company (Stratogistics Inc.) that goes through far more laptops than I care to mention! In my experience, you never really *know* a supplier until you have problems. Might as well find out from the beginning what they're like.

I'll update everyone on how this all goes.

Cheers,

Eugene.

 

I did get good service from Sager from the issues I have encountered so far.
I find contacting them by email 1st is best for me.

Hopefully everything goes well for you as it did me.

 

Sounds like a heat issue to me since your computer will lockup and then restart on its own.

Does it make a sound when it locks up?

Lets hope its a driver/software issue.

 

I don't think it is a heat issue. It'll run into problems often within minutes of first booting up. The system feels quite cool. Tech support from Sager went through this as well (having me force the fans on, for ex.).

Tomorrow, if I have time, I'm going to completely re-install the operating system and all drivers.

I'll be talking to tech support again tomorrow to finalize a way forward. They called several times today seeking details, having me run tests, etc. They were very responsive. So far, I'm impressed by how they are handling things.

They seem to think the problem is the video card itself -- after all the things I've tried, I suspect they're right.

Stay tuned...

Cheers,

Eugene.

 

Maybe it's just because I haven't seen that many (So feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but the 5760 launch does not seem to be going too well. It seems like almost daily someone has a DOA or real problem unit. As someone looking to purchase one under the new Sager extended warrenties, it has me a little nervous. Especially since (As I understand it) the 5760 is virtually the 5720 with new components, I thought it would have very few issues.

Of course I'm probably just a little anxious about spending a lot of cash on my first laptop, and I'm sure that all the hundreds or thousands of happy 5760 owners are just too busy drooling all over them to come on here and say so. At least Sager's support seems to be coming through for people.

 

Anyone have any idea how many 5760 and their look a likes have been sold?

Just curious on market size?

 

Two of my colleagues purchased 5760s just before I did. They are both very happy with their units. No problems. Everything is solid. That was what led me to make my purchase.

Between what I buy for myself and what I buy for my company (we're not a huge company, but we're all geeks and love our toys...), I've seen a *lot* of laptops. Mostly we used to buy Toshiba, but they're falling out of favor with me these days.

Regardless, there are always some units that have initial problems. So long as it doesn't become *too* common (as it has with Toshiba), I can accept those odd hiccups. What I have no patience for is sloppy service. If Sager resolves the problem in a professional manner (which they have been doing so far, at least), I'll have no complaints about this particular problem. Problems happen -- I've been in business too long to expect otherwise.

I'd rather have a company that stands behind me *after* they've got my money... whether that will be the case here, well, we still have to see!

Cheers,

Eugene.

 

do share what company so I can not buy from them.

 

not sure i follow this statement...

 

Several thousand in the US alone.

So far the RMA rate is less than 2%.

 

How does Clevo compare in size to the other Tiwan Laptop makers?

 

Quite a bit smaller than the big ones. Clevo is a specialty manufacturer like a Custom Speed Shop. They do not make anything for the major brands.

 

Sorry to hi-jack the thread.

Paladin44,
Do you have a quess on the ETA of Merom based Sager 5760s?

 

September at the earliest...if I had to bet I would say more likely in October.

 

October it is then. I sure hope it doesn't slip into November, or worst, Jan. 07.

 

Well, welcome to the world of new computer technnology release dates

 

I unfortunetly have been having similar issues recently, mostly relating to video. Oblivion will not play at native widescreen res or almost any smaller res without it showing artifacts somewhere after 20 mins of play...sure the first load may be okay but than loading a new area/town/outside of town, it would be all messed up with artifacts! This is not something I want to see on a top of the line powernotebook. I was away for the last week in Maine with no internet, so I could do lil to try new drivers or such for the video...however I noticed playing at many settings I could only play at a tiny resolution with everything on low to get no artifacts (sometimes i still did) and so I think there must be a serious problem with the drivers and the game Oblivion. I was able to play Need for Speed Most Wanted hacked to 1680x1050 res with no problems all ultra-high settings, however oblivion had many issues. Including the dreaded blue screen of death! You would think this computer would be able to play Oblivion flawlessly.

 

Oblivion is a very poorly coded game, I would not judge any computer based on its performance in it.

If the other games run fine, then it pretty much narrows the problem to the game.

What drivers are you using? Try the 91.31's, they work flawlessly on Oblivion with the Nvidia laptop I currently am reviewing (Go7400).

 

I tried the 91.31 and they don't work with sager 5760 hardware it says...
im using the stock drivers that came installed and with the 7900GTX 256mb... I dont even know what driver it is, I could not find its name or number in options/preferances, etc.

 

If you are using the LaptopVideo2Go drivers, you have to download and extract the drivers, then get the modded .INF file off the site and replace it in the extracted files.

 

Attaching below my stock 5t760 nVidia Driver screenshot.
Mine came with ForceWare 84.26 and havent experienced any graphical issues yet.

 

hmm mine shows actually the same as you, Kilim. Yet I have experianced problems with playing games like Oblivion...perhaps it is overheating and the fans are not kicking in properly. You have the LapCool device so your cooling may be fine...I really think now it might be an issue of heat, because the game usually first plays fine and overtime of playing or loading a new area, the artifacts will than appear.

 

I didn't really do an extensive test on the affect of the LapCool4 with my 5760.

I let it run on idle for a few with and without the Lapcool4 and checked the HDD and CPU readings with Notebook Hardware Control and I really didn't see any major drops in temperature.
It was almost the same for each reading when benchmarking FEAR and checked it afterwards and there wasn't much change either.

I actually played Oblivion for an hour in my apartment without the AC on and the LapCool4.
I noticed my 5760 get a tad warmer due to warmth of my living room without the AC.
But the system still ran w/o problems.

Maybe try to put the fan in FULL instead of AUTO by doing FN+F2.
Thats the Fan Auto/Full toggle I think.
I have never put my fan in full though.
But I guess it is something for you to check to see if it may be the problem or not.

I have played BF2, Star Wars: Empire at War, F.E.A.R. and Oblivion with no problems so far.
I also made sure I have the latest updates for each game as well.
(I actually play Oblivion with a bunch of Mods in it and should start a new game again someday.)