Owners review steelseries upgrade comparing a np9150 to a np9130 stock keyboard.

Coming from a dell XPS m1530 to sager for the first time I had high expectations on the quality and usability of my new np9130 laptop. However I was extremely disappointed with the np9130 so I ordered a replacement np9150 and it solved almost all the issue I had with the np9130.

I am a little annoyed I ended up spending $150 in shipping for the return of the old laptop, the original shipping charges, and the expiated shipping of the replacement (which came late and shouldn't have paid for). I guess that's part of the game ordering things from the Internet (other then amazon of course, love that sites return and shipping policies).

Anyways the glaring issue i had with the np9130 I had was the keyboard, both in response, spacing, and layout. In particular the keypad and fn keys. I kept missing key strokes and the key press required was extremely heavy which is bad for touch typing.

The np9150 replacement I ordered I choose the steelseries keyboard upgrade over the stock backlit keyboard. This is my first backlit keyboard and it's entertaining and could have its uses in dark rooms but by no means necessary. The keystroke response is crisp and feels great. The spacing is closer then the stock np9130 but not touching and feels much better. The new location of the windows key is great for gaming but I'm still learning the layout and hit the space key looking for left alt. The FN key layout is PRINTED differently then the stock, but the keystrokes are still identical to the stock. I am hoping steelseries comes out with the program to remap the FN keys for this shortly.

The power supply of the np9150 is about 1.5x BIGGER then the np9130 PSU. This surprised me and not thrilled about it, but looking around for options to replace the stock one and see if I really need a 180w PSU or if I can get by with a 150w one.

The plastic case of the np9130 was rough and course. It actually rubbed my wrists raw when I was using it but didn't think too much of it at the time. Now that I have been using rubberized case of the np9150 it's extremely noticeable how bad the case on the np9130 was in comparison.

The price paid for both laptops with almost the exact build before shipping costs.
-np9130 = $1301.86
-np9150 = $1571.92

As a point of reference both laptops had the following build (Performance and screen quality on both machines is the same).
-i7 ivy bridge 3610QM
-8Gb 1600mHz Ram (12Gb in np9130)
-95% gamut matte screen

I have a intel 6300 nic in the np9150 over the intel 6235 I had in the np9130.

I also added IC diamond to order of the np9150 and notice a 7 degree lower temp difference but still need to burn it in some more and to see if this holds the max temps of the GPU at 67 degree after a few hours of gaming.

And the steelseries keyboard cost $99.

So for just less then $300 more I extremely happy with the new np9150 over the np9130.