NP7330 / W230ST Full Review!

My first written review, felt like writing one, sat down and did it

Its a little long, but it basically describes everything about it and any problems I might've had or things I found wrong/interesting

Specs:

i7 4700MQ
GTX 765M
750GB 7200RPM HDD
8GB RAM @ 1600Mhz
1080p IPS Display
Basically ordered entirely stock (on the Reflex Notebook website) except I added on Windows 8 for my OS.

Ordered from Reflex Notebook as I'm in Canada. Got 2% cash back along with 1% student discount. Overall superb service. Paid around $1350 for mine after everything. Shipped from Los Angeles to Vancouver, BC in 5 days via UPS. Build time, I forget exactly but it was quick as I didn't order a very custom machine.

Build Quality:

Build quality on the 7330 is fairly good, it definitely feels sturdy but I still wouldn't want to drop it.

Performance:

Tons of power for a notebook of this form factor, tons of power for a notebook of any form factor really. Even on battery life the HD 4600 can handle light gaming, you could even play some more demanding titles if your desperate and don't mind lowering the graphics and resolution a lot. The GTX 765m can handle any modern day game at 1080p, now obviously maybe not the most demanding titles can be maxed out, but medium to high for really playable frame-rates and you're good to go. Any of the non-super demanding games can usually be played maxed out with AA off.

Look/Design:

Looks fairly plain, but luckily not as plain as some of the previous generation Sager notebooks I've seen. It has a bit more styling with the black and silver-y combo going on, along with some other things. However with the laptop opened and viewing from the front it does look quite plain as you see this cheap-y looking silver. However in a business situation this is a good choice for someone that doesn't want to appear to be a gamer. It still looks a bit plain, and it'd be nice if it had a bit more style to it.

Screen:

This parts easy. Absolutely gorgeous display, you won't find much better out there no matter how much you pay. 1080P on a 13.3” looks incredible, as its IPS it also handles direct sunlight really well, had no problems using it outside on a bright day.

Battery Life:

Depends on what your doing however I got around 3.5 hours watching youtube videos, replying to emails and a little bit of Minecraft (no problem on the HD 4600). However doing only internet and Youtube might get you more (4+ hours or even more I'm not sure).

Keyboard:

A little bit of flex, but nothing noticeable actually. Overall typing was quite fine, had no problem typing on it fast. When I first got the notebook it took a bit to get used to it as the keys are fairly close together, but this was fixed after using it for a while.

Trackpad:

Better than most trackpads out there, the surface of the trackpad is easy to use compared to some others; not a rough surface or anything. Obviously doesn't compare to any normal mouse, but for a trackpad it does a great job.

Fans:

For a laptop of this size its going to be hard to find one that will be quiet when gaming. The fans are loud, but not as bad as something like the MSI GT70 I had for a while. One thing is I noticed the fans would sometimes for a few seconds go to almost max speed and than die down to quiet while doing simple, non demanding things or even just on the desktop. Might be some software thing that I haven't installed, or perhaps a BIOS update will fix, but for now I thought I'd just point it out.

Temperatures:

The temperatures are good for something like this, 70c on the GPU and 75 to 80c on the CPU after gaming, much better than the 80C+ I've heard of on the GE40 and the literally 90+ I got on my Y580. Ofcourse I'd recommend an external cooler for extended hours of play or rendering videos, just to make the notebook last a little better. I use a Coolermaster Notepal U3 and it does a fabulous job for $30.

Heat on keyboard etc.:

Didn't really notice anything uncomfortable on the keyboard/trackpad area, the exhaust fan area does get hot though (expected).

Audio/Speakers:

When I first received the notebook the speakers sounded absolutely terrible, worse than anything I'd heard on any laptop in a while. My Sound Blaster Cinema was telling me it couldn't find any compatible devices or something like that. However after re-installing the audio and Sound Blaster Cinema drivers a few times it did improve a lot and became simply average sounding speakers. I suggest fiddling around with Sound Blaster Cinema software if you're having problems with the audio. In a quiet or even a little bit noisy room you'll be fine, but if there's a vacuum running in the background or something you might have trouble. Overall simply average sounding speakers.

Miscellaneous:

I found this machine to be very portable, however was a little surprised to the thickness at first as there is this sort of hidden “bulge” on the bottom on the notebook (in pics you don't really see it). However, still have no problem taking this thing with me as its a really small form factor and decently light weight.

At first I thought the 13.3” was too small, but I eventually got a little more used to it, with that said I'd prefer 14” definitely. I'd love a 15.6” actually, but for some reason with that manufactures always make the bezel far too big so the overall size increases so much more than it needs to.

I found the arangement of the FN+F 'x' (x being F1 to F12) controls to be a little oddly placed, like FN+F12 is to change the backlit on and off, I would think the more commonly used controls to be closer to the left side, but that might just be me. However this is easy to get used to, just something I felt like pointing out.

Had no troubles with quality loss when using headphones/set as I've heard some have had with previous Sager notebooks (9150 for example).

For those that don't know it doesn't have a DVD drive, just thought I'd point that out.

If you have any problems with your 7330 / W230ST I highly suggest installing all the drivers from Sagers website, I did so and fixed any of the small problems I had. Also doing all the Windows updates seemed to improve things too.

Pros:

Powerful
Portable
Great display
Lots of ports
Good temperatures

Cons:

Speakers, even with software improvements are still just not that good, don't get why Sager can't include decent speakers in there laptops.

A little thick, but for the amount of power you're getting its more than fine.

Wish screen was bigger

Fans randomly getting really loud while doing nothing can be annoying (possible software fix?)

Fans are loud (but so is basically any notebook with this much power in this size)

________________

End of review!

That's basically it, overall happy with it

Hope you enjoyed my review! Might make an updated post after a little more use with it, perhaps will take some pictures if needed

 

onkyo should ask clevo to have their name removed. this simply misleading and ruins the brands reputation.

 

Good review, good job. I agree with pretty much everything you've said. Although while I do think it's a little thick it is still quite light and can easily be handled with one hand without fear of dropping it. I could never say the same about my NP9150 or other 15" notebooks. And dimensionally, the AW 14 dwarfs the W230ST by comparison: AW 14 is 1.5 lbs heavier (33%), 0.3in thicker (24%), 1.2in less deep (14%), 0.3in less wide (3%), so total volume is 76 cu in more (50%!).

 

To be fair you are never going to get amazing sound from such a small machine, a good pair of wireless headphones might be a good partner.

 

You'd be surprised, I know this is sort of an unfair comparison, a friend has a Dell XPS 13 ultrabook, speakers are definatly better than that of the Sagers. And then I mean, look at cell phones, HTC One has incredible speakers for just a phone. I think Sager could fit in nice speakers if they wanted to, just my opinion though.

With that said, nothing compares to a good pair of headphones.

 

Yea I've never actually seen the AW 14 in person just going by reviews and videos and things... so I guess I shouldn't have said that in the review, but it was late when I wrote it so I forgive myself

Its definatly super portable, especially for the amount of power it offers, but when I compare it to an ultrabook... it always seems big. That's an unfair comparison I guess

 

Right. It's not an ultrabook. Someone here had a photo of a w230st sitting next to an AW 14 and the size difference was laughable.