New Sager model - NP5797

Hello all. I'm new to posting here but I've been following the threads as I made the decision on which laptop to order. I ordered a 5797 and I'm expecting it to arrive tomorrow. I don't really need a quad core processor so I ordered the P9500 processor, but I usually build my own desktop systems so I like the option to upgrade to a quad later when the prices drop. I checked out the 9262 and it was a hard decision until I learned that I would save $300, 3.5 pounds of laptop, and gain an hour of battery life by going with the 5797.

I do game when I have time but that's not my top priority. I mostly need it to replace my 4 year old desktop and for Photoshop work. I actually ordered a 5796 from PCTORQUE but was told I was getting a "free" upgrade to the 5797 with the same processor. I guess I was lucky that they ran out of the 5796's.

 

Welcome to the NBR forums.

Nice free upgrade...

 

Received my 5797 yesterday, and I 've got to say that I already love it. Everything works perfectly on Vista Ultimate 64. The WUXGA screen is awesome and no sign of the white area that some people reported on the 5796. The user pinning with the 4GB turbo memory works flawlessly and the fingerprint reader works the first time, every time. I'm not a super gamer so I can't quote frame rates or anything, but I downloaded the Crysis demo and I could run it at full resolution on high settings with absolutely no problems. I did not try the very high settings. All of the temperatures are in the normal range.

The only problem I saw is that the wireless card would not see my wireless network although I could see every other one in the neighborhood and both of my other laptops had no problem. I put in the SSID and code several times with no luck. I downloaded the latest driver for the card from Sager today and it seems to be doing fine now. Something to consider. Sager's web site seems to be EXTREMELY slow and it's a 182MB file so plan on a little time if you need the new driver.

I purchased this from PC Torque, where I found free shipping, great customer service, and a fast turnaround on my build.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the purchase and I hope to enjoy the laptop for quite a long time. When the prices drop on the quad processor I'll probably upgrade though.

 

Any benchmark score for these machines ? I'm just so excited while waiting for mine.

 

yes,post some benchmarks!

 

Good luck with your new Clevo...

About the wireless card, try this newer wireless card drivers from Intel(dated 11/24/2008): http://downloadcenter.intel.com/dow...ers.zip&DwnldId=17158&ProductID=3062&lang=eng

 

Okay, I can download a trial version of the benchmark software and post some benchmarks. Which benchmarking software do you prefer and from where?

I'm currently using driver 7.15.11.7602 for the installed 9800m GTX. Which driver should I be using for the best performance and where should I get it? I'm looking more for real world performance here, not benchmark performance.

 

well...using your factory driver is good for benching 3dmark06 only.
you will need a better driver to bench everything else. 178 and up. everyone seems to be using 180.84 at the moment. then you'll be able to bench all games and 3dmark vantage. another good one everyone likes to see. and about 80 percent of the games out have a demo version. and allot of them are now starting to have the built in benchmarking software.

 

Where can I get the newer driver? Sager doesn't have one and the driver I downloaded from Nvidia doesn't find a supported card.

 

depends on your version of windows...
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showforum=120
grab one of the top set of drivers.

 

Okay, I don't know where this puts us in the realm of fast computers since I don't usually benchmark, but here's what I see.

First off, here are my system specs:

Sager 5797 on Zalman cooler (cooler fans on high)
Vista Ultimate 64
WUXGA monitor
P9500 duo core processor
9800GTX (driver 7.15.11.8084)
4 GB memory
4 GB turbo memory
320GB 7200 rpm drive

Maximum temps during the test:
Processor 58c
GPU 64c
HDD 50c

3DMark06 scores (free trial version)
9432 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 4433
SM 3.0 Score 4085
CPU Score 2291


How does that stand? Temps look okay as well?

 

all looks good.

 

Okay, the wifi problem is back. I get a message that I have limited connectivity. I have two other laptops that do not have problems, the drivers have been loaded twice and I provide IT support for a living so I know the settings are correct. Has anyone else seen this problem with the 5796/5797?

 

might be a firewall issue.

 

what kind of router do you have?
edit: just seen that IT for a living. nice. so do i, but i call it "problem solving" glad to see another in the field.

 

I think everyone is an IT of sorts if you are active in this forum.

I've been doing for over 9 years now... since high school.

 

Linksys WRT54GS. Flashed it about two weeks ago to the latest revision. Also tried completely removing the driver and the NIC from Windows and rebooting to let it pick up again. Looking around the 'net and the forums it seems this is common with Vista but I haven't seen a resolution yet. Probably some stupid Vista checkbox.

 

I had that issue recently, turned out to be my firewall software.

and on another notebook, there were useless network adapters that were in the device manager and useless items in the "Wireless Connection Properties"

 

Yeah, you pretty much have to be really into it to stay active in the field. I've been doing it since high school too...about 25 years now!

 

i dont even claim IT as a title. since my clients having me fixing everything not it related or a broader scope of what IT means (what others may label it as). when you say IT it usually means the guy who fixes the network problems. and most use to ad hear to this and not go to much past that. if it we're software..they would point you to the maker of the software. and you would only slightly indulge if you had any type of clue what was going on, but in most cases..you would let it go.me, nope. fixes range from networking to fixing something technical on a car. having nothing to do with being an IT. LOL. not to mention all the software programs out there that many different companies use. i learn them all. depending on what my clients are using. because they rather pay me than pay the manufacture or tech support that is now being outsourced to different countries. (speculation of course) or takes for ever to get one of their techs out to one of your ten locations to fix it. so to the guys in my situation.. we are pretty much called "problem solvers" when one arises....we get in there and fix it! no matter what it is..

 

What do you mean by useless items? I've disabled what I thought should be disabled but I don't have tons of Vista experience. It came on a laptop I bought about a year ago and I kept it for about a week before putting XP on the lappy. Since SP1 it seems to be doing better so I moved the old laptop back to Vista Home and bit the bullet and ordered Vista 64 on the new one.

 

Okay, when are we going to get a 5796/5797 owners forum so we can track our issues/resolutions? Seems like everyone else has one, we should too!

Other than the wifi everything seems great. Put the latest video drivers on from laptopvideo2go and I started having some lockup issues. Did a system restore to before the driver and everything works fine again. I think I'll wait on some other input before upgrading it again. Like I said in a previous post, I can run Crysis and anything else I have so I'm not too worried about it.

 

check list:
1 check power settings for card. make sure its set to recieve and transmit at full power.
2: check all firewall settings. make sure it is not blocking dns request. especially norton and mcafee.
3: check the aggressive roaming. tell it no.
4: check your networking properties and make sure you only have your home network listed under wireless networks...for the time being.once it works then add back the others. you main wireless network should be set to connect automatically and connect even if network is not broad casting.
5: check to make sure your authentication settings are correct. they will throw off your connection as well. make sure if your using wep that your wireless is doing the same thing.
6: make sure you have the lastest updates
7: open up a cmd prompt window and type ipconfig /all to see that you really have an ip address of 192 or 172 or 10 and not 169.
8: ping router
9: you can also choose your own dns servers. ones you know to work flawlessly
10: when it says limited or no connection..what is the ip address it's giving?
11 also click the repair button to see how long it takes to renew itself. it should take almost immediately if the wifi has access to the router.
12: reboot the router while looking at your wifi device...see if it changes. you can have the other laptop up as well when doing this.

 

I think I found the problem with the wireless. My network does not broadcast the SSID. In Vista it seems that you have to check the box "connect even if the network is not broadcasting". Found an article on this on technet and so far it's working.

Like I said earlier, I figured it would turn out to be some obscure Vista checkbox.

 

4: check your networking properties and make sure you only have your home network listed under wireless networks...for the time being.once it works then add back the others. you main wireless network should be set to connect automatically and connect even if network is not broad casting.

so you didn't read my post...sniff sniff..im hurt....*L*

well at least you figured it out.

 

I did read the post and I really appreciate you taking the time to put it together. Somehow I missed that one critical line the first time I went through it.

Thanks again!

 

no problem. as long as it's working and you can roam now. all is right with the sager gods..

 

So all of the new owners are happy with their 5797's? I was going to get the 96 and haven't had time. All of a sudden it was gone and a 97 was in it's place. Was the 96 a Centrino 2 as well? Has anyone checked real world battery runtime? How about the keyboard? Also, any light bleed on the screen? Thanks!

 

I orderd the 5796 and got the 5797 as a "free upgrade" from PCTOURQUE. It will support the duo core processors which is what I have until the quad cores drop in price. I don't see any light bleed on the screen and the keyboard was fixed a couple of revisions ago. Check the whole thread for my posts and you'll see that this is a solid performer. So far it seems that the battery life in power saver mode is definitely not too bad. I was quoted a 2 hour battery time when I ordered it and it seems it will deliver on this time, although I've not run it flat yet.

I can run Crysis in high mode at max resoltion with no problems yet. So far, this seems to run just about everything I can throw at it and then some.

 

Excellent! Thanks. I was waffling between this and the Alienware M17. The two ATI 3870's would be faster, but only if the drivers support the game in Crossfire. I'm not sure how AW does, but Dell is terrible at driver updates. If Laptopvideo2go got up and left, I'd hate to have to rely on Dell for updated drivers. How is Sager with updating drivers?
I would just go for the 9262 and two GTX's, but I do travel a bit. Weight doesn't bother me, but I would like to be able to watch a movie on 1 battery via a USB drive. Since the 9262 is not Centrino 2, it can't turn off the vid cards to save power, so I hear you can get maybe 1hr out of it. I go to Korea, Hawaii, and Bali about 1x per year. So even 2 batteries won't make any of those trips, but 4hrs on 2 batteries is ok. If this continues I'll probably get something with better battery life to take on trips, but I enjoy gaming in the hotel at night.

Anyway, thanks for the help!

 

Actually, I ordered the M17 first, but cancelled after getting a runaround from Alienware. I decided on this laptop because of the battery life and slightly lower weight from the 9262. I still haven't run the battery flat but in power saver mode it lasts pretty well, though I don't know how long it will last running a movie.

 

Okay, so I got curious as to how long this battery will actually last. I put it in the default power saver mode, popped in Lord of the Rings, and unplugged it. Running full screen in power saver mode with the wireless turned off it made it 1 hour 48 minutes before it went into sleep mode at 3 percent. Not too bad running a movie, at least in my opinion.

I really want to try under volting it and running the test again. I plan to stress test before I try it, then record temps. We already know battery life so I'll record the temps and battery life after undervolting...assuming I can figure it out. I've never tried it, but it sounds pretty simple.

My config for reference purposes:
Vista Ultimate 64
P9500 duo core
4 GB ram
320GB 7200 RPM HD
WUXGA screen

 

you can always run the 9262 in single vga mode which in turns invokes the power saving options on the single active vga card. i got an hour and a half out of mine. haven't tried a dvd test yet. but if you use a dual core with it, then that also would cut down on watts and voltage... but i dont think it will beat out the ocz in staying on longer. since that is a mobile platform and this is a desktop replacement.

also, allot of the planes are switching to on board power so you can still game on a plane...(speculation on which planes) ridding in cars just need to ad a 300 watt inverter. and hotels and motels have outlets.

but sitting in the park or on the beach....hahahahahaha not happening.

 

Thanks pcphoto! I use www.pbus-167.com/ to set the voltage. It does a quick stability test when you set it and you can have a different voltage for each different multiplier. And its free
Let me know if you have any questions with it.

Thanks again for testing for me. I think I'm getting closer to my choice.

 

Thanks for that johnksss. Not that I'm ever on a park bench, but in airports and on planes. I have a 300w converter for my car, which is great. I think I'll call Korean Air and find out if their planes have any kind of power outlet on them. That would clench the deal.

I looked at OCZ (and everyone else), but very few have the 9800gxt only some lower variant. These are already much less powerful than the 260/280 series, so I'd like the best I can get. I would prefer a single card solution because it is always going to work with a game whereas you never know with the SLI/CF. I was hoping that Sager would come out with a Centrino 2 version of the 9262 as well (then you could for sure turn off the vid cards for a decent integrated solution to save batteries), but no such luck yet and I need a new lappy ASAP. My Dell i9300 died and I've only got a Dell Latitude 620, which is ok but no gaming for sure. Battery life is great though. I get over 5 hours on the big battery and 3+ on the original small one. But my desktop is old too (AMD 3200+ Athlon XP!!), so I'm feeling the upgrade bug biting.

 

hold that thought! they are coming with a new one and if you look at my avitar..that is what it's suppose to look like. it will run 3 gpus sli and hybrid sli. also pack the qx9300- or higher cpu and of course..mobile platform. but all this is speculation...if it has bios over clocking then im all over it when it comes out in about 4 months or so.

 

Sounds great! I wish I could wait that long. I'm typing from my "dead" Dell i9300. Windows won't even install anymore, but Ubuntu still works ok. My girlfriend takes my good laptop, so I need one now. It's ok though. ANY time you buy electronics, something new is about to come out right after you buy. I've been waiting for Centrino 2 to come out because I thought it was worth waiting for, but I'm not waiting any longer.

I'm down to the Alienware M17 or the Sager NP5797...maybe the 9262 if your help on the airplane power is correct.

 

they are all good choices...

 

As promised, I finally got around to undervolting my 5797 and here are the results. I managed to drop the temps under load by about 20 degrees Celcius, and ran the same test as above and found that although I got lower temps, the effect on battery life was negligable.

I thought someone might find this useful if they were undervolting for any battery advantages.

 

Thanks for the update pcphoto! That helps me alot. My bonus isn't going to be paid until late Jan, so I still have a few weeks to agonize over my decision and hope some other choices show up.

Has anyone heard any news of new versions from Sager?