NP8660 First Impression from XoticPC Forum User (not myself)

Stumbled across this on the XoticPC forums:

http://www.xoticpcforums.com/showthread.php?t=1073

I don't think that this has been posted here yet, so I apologize if I'm double posting this first impression.

This person's first impressions weren't too complimentary, which is a bit perplexing considering he's comparing a brand new NP8660 to a Dell Inspiron 1520 -- something that is clearly in another class.

His primary problems were with the screen's brightness, vibrancy, and sharpness, claiming that, to him, they pale when contrasted with the his old 1520's display.

From what I saw in the YouTube videos posted of the NP8660, the screen looked fine. Not spectacularly bright or anything, but not bad at all. Impressions of the display on this forum have been generally positive, so I am taking all of his complaints with a cinderblock of salt.

The display for the NP8660 WSXGA+, if it is an LG-Philips (which I believe most users' units have), has the following specs:

Model Name: LP154WE2
Resolution: 1680 X RGB X 1050
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Pixel Pitch [mm]: 0.19725(129)
Number of Colors: 262,144(6bit)
Luminance [cd/㎡]: 200
Color Saturation (%): 45
Contrast Ratio: 500:1
Response Time [ms]: 16

(source: http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com/homeContain/jsp/eng/prd/prd301_j_e.jsp)

Just thought I'd share

EDIT: That link to LG Philips doesn't seem to work, but just go to their homepage and then that model number

 

That guy is sort of .. nitpicking and has some pretty dumb points (such as "why did I buy from XoticPC? why not buy from Sager" - for one, sager's more expensive, and why wait until you have the notebook to gripe) and some strange points (he gets a headache from the new notebook, despite having the same refresh rate and everything as his old one). The only complaint that I can see as being legit is the screen comparison. I don't have either notebook (will have the M860TU in a bit) but Dell screens have had a reputation for being high quality for whatever reason (who manufacturers them?).

 

Dell uses Samsung and LG-Philips displays, like almost everyone. They may use other screens as well, but I know they at least use these two.

 

I have a Samsung 226BW with a luminence of 300. I have to set it to 50% so it don't hurt my poor eyes. If the screen really got that kind of spec, the response time is really poor compared to LCD monitors (5ms)

 

when you pay this much money, you earn the right to nit pick, I agree with lots of what this guy said, Fingerprints look more like stains on the cover, and the display could be brighter.

 

i noticed the brightness isnt as good if you youre not looking at it perpendicularly. even say 20 degrees up or down and its noticeably dimmer

 

That's pretty disappointing. Why hasn't laptop LCD technology really improved over the last four years? I know LED, etc. will be an improvement, but it isn't mainstream yet. Most panels are only 6-bit. And response times lag behind external monitors by a significant margin. Adding a glossy coating does not, in my opinion, qualify as an improvement.

 

thank god i have a descently sized hd tv (26inch) to do anything response intensive.

16ms refresh rate!!! does that mean it only displays 3-4 screens a second?!

I know that can be right and this must be a stupid question, but could someone please enlighten me?

 

Like I've said before it seems like a solid notebook, but there's some problems that came out of poor design, like the fan-cooled power brick (desktops don't even need a cooled power brick, why would a 15" notebook?). Personally, from close-up pictures I've seen, I think the NP8660 looks like it's made out of durable, but cheap plastic, which might not be a big deal to some people. From the only critic review out (I forget which one) they called the display grainy. I don't know if any owners could clear that up for me. I think that Alienware and Sager have come out with disappointing 15" notebooks. Maybe the 15" Voodoo will be better...

 

1000/16 = 62.5 "refreshes"/second

I am not to keen on how refresh rates work, but that's the math.

 

LOL! must have been a dumb moment for me. Had it in my mind that there were only 60ms in a second......... i feel like hiding for a few weeks now.

 

I have only seen one report of a grainy screen. everyone else loves it.
The reason desctops dont have a fan in the power block is because they dont have a power block. In the actual PSU unit there is 99.9% of the time atleast one 200mmfan

 

200 cd/m^2 is pretty crappy in fairness.

In a dark/medium lit room, its just fine. But in a bright room, you really need a nice bright display to help prevent reflections (on glossy screens).

My current laptop is 250 cd/m^2, and my last one was 220. Going to 200 would seem like 2 steps backwards.

 

since its an LCD screen with its brightness coming from a bulb, would it not be possible to just put a stronger one in? I know they are REALLY expensive (like 60euro) but i would pay it to get a stronger screen.

 

You should be able to swap out the display for another one, but a good (better), new one would probably cost you around 400 dollars (if not more).

I have no idea if you can simply swap out the backlight (CCFL) only.

 

mine blew once and i had to replace it. cost 60euro+ installation fees

 

Really? Every power supply I've ever seen has a fan in it.

 

didnt i say that? maybe in another thread (theres enough to go around)

 

Lol! Maybe you did but I don't think I saw it. But if you did, I acknowledge the fact that you said it first and gave you some rep.

 

Response time for LCD's is not a relevant specification...that only applies to CRTs because LCDs do not refresh.

For laptops you look at the Response Time, which at 16ms is very fast for a laptop LCD. Desktop LCDs will be lower, but anything at 25ms or lower is considered good for a laptop LCD, so at 16ms it is really faster than most. The point is as long as you don't see any ghosting or curser trails you are getting all you need from the Response Time.

 

Right, on top of a case fan in most modern cases. I wouldn't call having a fan in the power block as being "bad design" - having the power block burst into flames would be a bad design decision, imo.

I'm sorry, but complaining about "why didn't I just buy from Sager" in your review of a notebook is nitpicking. The guy's an idiot if he includes that in a list of flaws for a computer that he bought, when he didn't even realize that Xotic's (+ other Sager resellers) offer the same notebooks at a cheaper price. Sure, if you spend $2k+ you have a right to nitpick, but that doesn't mean that I won't think your review is crap if you don't come up with legitimate comments on the flaws of a notebook.

Then the guy goes on about headaches and refresh times, without providing any solid evidence for why his new notebook's display would be inferior, and well, you have a crap review that doesn't deserve a thread about it on another forum. It's frustrating to read bad reviews when you want info about a notebook that you're considering buying, you know? Focus on performance, heat, durability, any physical flaws, not vague comments about your headaches if you're posting comments on hardware.


edit:
VV It's still a crappy review.

 

a person offers his view of a product and you lambast him like he has no idea what he is talking about.
while i agree with some things that have been pointed out, it is simply his observation about a product he purchsed...
and while i even say comparing it to an older dell is a bit of a stretch, it is all he had to compare too, therefore, one has to take into account his limited availability of units to compare it with.
(i.e. new lcd hidef vs. older crt - kinda hard to offer anyting other then what you have experienced...)

i do not think he complained when he was asking why not just buy from sager...i think he was just a bit miffed by the fact that nothing said 'XoticPC' aside from the invoice. i see no nitpicking in this. you buy a dell from dell, you assume a pkg would have dell on it. you buy a pc from 'XoticPC', i would say he assumed he would get a pkg from them, not sager....

all this aside though, it is his review, good or bad from your point of view...
take it for what it is.... he spent his money on his notebook, you did not buy it for him....

 

^^^ What he said, I almost made an account on the xotic forum and said something about that guy Anewbus, He added nothing of value in his entire post, Instead, all he offered were insults, and ridicule. A person should at least have a right to their own opinions.

 

I don't mind the post there at all; I just didn't think it was good enough to be cross posted here But yeah, I agree. I've browsed that forum a bit and that guy is really too much (and posts way too frequently, often inane things). I've resisted registering just to respond to him so far, though.

 

Haha exactly.

That's Why I didn't register, it would of been solely for a rebuttal against him.

 

why quote me there!? Im so confused!!!

 

the one regret for this laptop is that it does not come with an LED screen. I recently purchased a Dell Studio 15 for my niece (I tried to talk her out of it, but the Dell with it's pink cover was sooooooo preeeetttttttyyyyyyy!).

I was very disappointed with the Studio, but I must say I opted for the LED screen and it was simply beautiful

 

What didn't you like? Performance? ATI card? curious.

 

In brief,
Construction--felt cheap and flimsy. Was light, plasticky.

Speakers--worst I've ever on a laptop.

Laptop came with poor quality control--multimedia panel inoperative becasue cable to motherboard not inserted, keyboard cable partially inserted so middle keys did not work. Weak wireless. fingerprint reader erratic (works sometimes, does not work others)

Performance was weak, but in fairness to dell, this was due to CPU, GPU and memory I chosee. Since this laptop is not going to be used for games and we had to skrimp somewhere, I opted for lower performance parts. So, not Dell's fault.

Keyboard was actually pretty nice, though. A little flex, but nice feel

 

ive never seen a desktop with a powerbrick. dont all desktops have power supplies built in with a fan built in the thing?? ive seen hundreds of computers(as i help my cousin in his computer shop) and have yet to see a desktop with a power brick.

also on the screen note, i dont really care about the response time etc. if im going to be doing gaming, im hooking it up to my samsung screen with 2ms response time and 3:000:1 dynamic contrast, or i can hook it up to my 42" with 0.1 ms response time with 20:000:1 contrast

 

Are you talking about dell or NP8660?

 

"Performance was weak, but in fairness to dell..."

 

Yes, Dell.....I don't think "weak" is the right adjective for the np8660

 

I don't use these forums too regularly, but LOL. Anewbus is a very dedicated Xotic PC customer, but slightly more enthusiastic than myself. I like to focus on the tech questions, new drivers, etc and he likes to boost the joy of a new buyer and help with order builds. I don't think there is anything wrong with that, as I didn't think there was anything wrong with the review (is this thread reviewing the laptop or a review of the review ). What I would like to see is a comparison of other reviews for this model, if anything. I personally thought the comparison with the Dell was a bit off, as it is no way comparable to a gaming laptop such as this. Much of the review was based around this comparison IE the size of the power brick, cooling, etc. A high performance laptop is going to obviously need to be more bulky. The most valid points he brought up where the fingerprints and the screen issues. Fingerprints I know are undeniable, but I easily wipe them off with a damp cloth (if they bother me); note the lid is the only place where fingerprints are visible. Now as to the screen, this may just be a personal issue and not a general one, but I am sure that another buyer with a similar sensitivity may appreciate the warning and further their research in that area. Sager vs Xotic, I believe he was just unsure of the difference, which was quickly explained in the following posts. I doubt there would be much difference in the product from Sager (It would still be the same), except price and support (Xotic's +). Overall I think he did have some good things to say about the NP8660 and Xotic, although parts of the review were a bit uncomparable or off topic. Just some thoughts, as an owner of the NP5792 purchased through Xotic PC (which I <3 dearly btw). Once again to those who twisted this into criticism towards a valued member on the Xotic Forums, please keep your comments to yourself. Thanks for your time .

-OCG

Also be watching for the release of Xotic PC laptop video previews, which are currently under construction .

 

Don't worry, I'll be putting the M860TU head to head against my M37EW, which despite being four years old, I still see as the M860TU's direct ancestor.