One year later... with my D900K

One year later... with my D900K
(borrowed the template from Chaz's "one year later..." post)

Exactly one year on this date (March 17, 2006), I received my barebones for my Clevo D900K (a.k.a. Sager 9750, Alienware Aurora m7700, etc..) at PC Club... of whom got it from Pro-Star for me through a special order (I was going to go through RJtech, but Pro-Star gave me a better deal). And assembled it with separate standard components within an hour. It took me about half a year [of planning and saving up money] to decide to get this notebook because, at the moment, there were no other dual core notebooks on the market, as well as having a high-end videocard.

Interesting at this time is the launch of the next-gen model of the Clevo D900 series (D900C w/ 3 HDDs and SLI DX10) to replace my model (D900K) and the D900T, just shows how fast gaming innovates new technology with such a short period of time.

I would like to reflect on a whole year's worth of impressions and experiences.



Physical Appearance:
When I had a chance to check out the build quality of Clevo gaming notebooks, I saw the ODM company that I wanted to get my first notebook from. My Clevo D900K looks as good as it did when I received it. I knew that I did NOT want a plain notebook that everyone else has or a notebook that can be identified by the masses. This notebook, til this day, still turns more heads than any other notebook that someone is using next to it, which I like.
The chassis has been rock solid through all the time I have been carrying it around, first with the bag that it came with and then now with my Kensington Contour Backpack. The top of the notebook is as close to new as possible, in fact, the plastic film that is covering the brushed aluminum of the top has not been removed yet and has no sign of wear. And I did not even have a sticker on it, where one would find the OEM that sold it, like SAGER, PRO-STAR, EUROCOM, etc...
The LCD (WUXGA 1920x1200) panel still amazes me and others when they see it. No dead pixels or scratches, and still turns heads. I definitely have no regrets about getting such a high-resolution and am glad to have ordered it. The workspace is amazing and the gaming makes it even better since turning on AA is not even noticeable with such a high-resolution... so you all know that I game with native resolution.
The keyboard is still perfect, although a bit more shiny from usage. The touchpad is only used when I am too lazy to bust out my mouse, so it looks mint.
The front Audio DJ LED panel still looks near mint condition and gives it a nice appearance (for on-lookers), although I rarely use it since its angle is steep (compared to the nice angle on the Clevo M570U).

Stability:
This notebook has been a trooper since I first put it together. It has ran all of my games with no problems. Although I do feel that it can get noticeably warm after prolonged periods of gaming, which makes me so glad that Clevo created the Fan Speed Toggle (Fn + F2) to help keep it cooler. I am always making sure to always use a notebook cooler when using it (my current one that I use the most is the Vantec LapCool4). The heat coming from my 2 internal hard drives (located under the touchpad) gets noticeable warm when on for a while, but it does not bother me since I am always monitoring the temps for all of my components (CPU, GPU, HDD), which has always seemed stable.

Performance:
This was the fastest notebook back when I purchased it and it showed, the 7800GTX was unbelievably fast for my gaming needs, as well as using it for 3D rendering in CAD, Maya, and 3ds. The CPU is something that did not seem to worry me since it was never a bottleneck for my work and gaming. This notebook still holds its own til today with a 3DMark06 score of about 4000 and can go up to 4800 with a small overclock.

Problems:
This notebook only had one instance of a defect due to the videocard overheating, which was easily remedied by getting it replaced and making sure that I should always use a notebook cooler, use the Fan Speed Toggle, and monitor the temps. Other than that, it is as fast and as stable as a new notebook.

Overall:
I have to say after building & fixing so many notebooks and computers (both custom and OEM), my experiences with this notebook, although being a bit bulky (but I wanted the power on the go), makes me feel that I made a good decision and I do believe that it will easily last for another 2-3 years for overall uses. In the future when I am wanting to replace my notebook, I will definitely look towards another Clevo. My warranty [for my barebones] with Pro-Star ends today. I am hoping that this notebook will continue its streak of stability for the years to come.

I still, til this day, am adamant about taking care of my notebook, and hope that my experiences and advice will help the next notebook owner thats lurking around.

Special Note: I have never been a forum person until I have gotten my notebook and joined this one. I hope that the whole year that I have been in these forums that I have been of some help to others. I stick around this forum to try and answer anything that I can, even if there is no monetary gain. I only do this because I enjoy helping others about my own experiences and knowledge... especially for a 24 year-old.

Game On People,
-Gophn

 

Great to here everything is perfect for you !

Excellent notebook, something special.

Although may I ask, how have you keep your notebook to be in a mint condition, because we all remember our times of scratching our notebooks unintentially

I think that you are mroe special than you think (sounds chessy) but, you have done so much to this community than you realize.

 

One year already. Time flies.

You should be very proud of the fact that you have been one of the most helpful posters on this forum, most prominently in the Sager/Clevo, What to Buy, and Gaming forums.

Cheers to Clevo. Mine is running strong right now, almost a year and a half later.

I think we should make the "one year later" post a tradition.

 

I think this would be a very novel idea for many good reasons:
- can reflect on a reseller/customer relationship for dealing with the purchasing and support
- gives a more in-depth impression about the notebook itself (since its based from the usage over a good duration of time)
- helps inform the masses about an OEM/reseller's warranty work

Pretty much.... a great follow-up for a notebook review.