Questions on Clevos from Malibal

So right now, this company is my #1 choice. I am REALLY impressed with what they offer and how customizable they are. I do have some questions though:

Do they offer a student discount? (saving money ROCKS!)
What is offered on the MALIBAL Software & Drivers Disc?
What is the "PowerDVD & Bison Cam Software Package?"

If I get it, it will be with 8GB RAM. Are there still ports open for future additions?
And is the laptop upgradable? (Swapping GPU, CPU, etc later in the future?)

And on a less serious note:
Do people actually not opt for the free carrying case that comes with the P170HM???

 

1 - I don't know
2 - I also don't know
3 - PowerDVD software probably, and Bison Cam is the integrated webcam clevos/sagers often use. It's just the software for it. I suggest taking it if you put in a webcam (which you should, I mean it's free. So is the software package).

4 - Should be. If it can handle 16GB it probably has four RAM slots. It *MIGHT* have only two, and thus 8GB (2 x 4GB) and 16GB (2 x 8GB) are the only real options; other places have been seen offering 12GB. Yes, you can upgrade, as long as your laptop is still in circulation and will have the newer parts come out for it/BIOS updates. If it's out of circulation but you want to upgrade to supported, just not-initially-chosen hardware, that's still fine. (2630QM --> 2820QM for example).

Some people might just not take it as they have their own bags. My bag that game with this machine was useful for a short time then the strap broke (while I was wearing it) and I couldn't use it anymore. I don't know if it ships faster without the bag from Malibal

 

Hi! Thanks for your interest. Here are some answers for you.

1. We do not offer any student discounts, however, we do have a current special on RAM, that can save you some money. In addition, we have a 3% cash discount and Free Shipping for active NBR Members, which can save you another $40-50 Off.
2. The MALIBAL Software & Drivers Disc simply includes all of the drivers for your notebook i.e. gpu, chipset, audio etc.
3. We include a copy of the PowerDVD program for use with your optical drive and the BisonCam disc is software for the built-in webcam.
4. If you get 8GB, then you will still have two memory slots available, which you can use to add another 8GB of RAM, for 16GB total.
5. Yes, everything is upgradeable. That is one of the great things about these laptops. You can upgrade the cpu, gpu, hdd, ram etc.
6. The standard carrying cases come from Clevo, and they don't include one with this model, so that's why we don't offer them.

 

Sweet!
I plan to have that laptop last me a few years. Possible upgrades would be nice add-ons every now and then.
And yeah, all that free stuff is awesome! I'll probably take most of what they offer, including the webcam and software.

 

Yeah, it has 4 slots for RAM. Unless you find a way to get them to put in 4x2GB (as I had XoticPC do for me because it saved me $60), then it's very easily upgradable.

EDIT: And that is why I shoudn't open 30 threads in different tabs...was beat by the two responses above

 

Haha no worries. My reply after the Malibal Rep was actually addressing what the guy above it said. Luckily, the reply still applied and made sense so I didn't have to change it.

I am glad that you posted that about the RAM though because it brings up another question I had:
Is there a difference in performance for 8GB laptops with 4x2 or 2x4 cards?

Edit: Also, I just read about your laptop build in your signature. That is almost everything I want in my laptop. Is it awesome?

 

Nope. If you had mismatched RAM or put 1 stick in each of the two locations then you might have a slowdown, but 2x4GB or 4x2GB won't make a difference. The only issue you might have is if you go with 4x2GB, it leaves no slots free for upgrading in the future. 4x4GB is the maximum you can use, so if you do 2x4GB now, you could potentially double that without having to remove sticks of RAM.

 

Alright that makes sense. Do they all have to be the same? Is ther a such thing as making a 10GB RAM from a 2, 2, and 4?

Edit: and no, I don't actually want that but I just want to get an idea how it works.

 

I love it. So far it seems to be one of the most well-built machines I've ever seen. So far my only gripes are that it comes with fingerprint software that doesn't work with modern browsers (which you can buy for $20) and that for some reason the palm check does a horrible job of recognizing that my palm is not a finger.

 

It's better to upgrade in pairs of 2 so that you can get dual-channel working. so, you could always change out 2 of the 2GB panels for 4GB and make it 12GB. After you've done it, just sell the RAM to recoup some of the costs

 

Haha alright. I'm getting the fingerprint reader because it sounds cool and is free with Malibal, so why not get it? And that is great to hear about how it is built! I am so excited for when I can buy mine!

 

To totally bypass the technical explanation and make this easy, you need to make sure you have each of the pairs of slots matching (there are 4 slots, two pairs total). AKA, the primary slots under the keyboard both need to be the same size/speed to get the optimum config- 2x2GB, 2x4GB etc. You *can* run just one stick, but it's not ideal. However, since there are 4 slots, you've got two under the keyboard and two on the bottom of the machine.

As long as you make sure each pair is matching, you'll have optimum speeds. The two pairs don't need to match each other in size. You could have 2x4GB under the keyboard and 2x2GB on the bottom for 12GB if you wanted to. Just as long as the speeds (1333mhz, 1600mhz, etc) are the same across ALL the RAM and you keep them in matching pairs of two, you're golden.

As a note, if you mix RAM speeds (say 2x 1333mhz and 2x 1600mhz sticks), they'll all run at the slowest speed (in that example- 1333mhz).

 

Ok that makes sense. Thanks!

 

Check out that awesomeness!

Lotus P151HM1
1,194.00

Customizations:
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit 95% NTSC Color Gamut GlassView Display (LCD-FHD-15-U)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz (CPU-i7-2630QM)
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM (RAM-10660-DDR3-8GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5 (GPU-560M-GTX)
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 (HDD-500-7200)
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive (OPT-DVD-8X)
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit (OS-7-Home-64)
$80.00
Wireless: Internal 802.11B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card (WE-802.11-Blue)
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU (T-ICDIA-1)
$40.00
Warranty: 3 Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 USA-Based Support (WAR-3-YEAR-1)
Extras: Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Web Camera (I-CAM-W)
Extras: PowerDVD & Bison Cam Software Package (S-DVD-CAM)
Extras: Integrated 9 in 1 Card Reader (I-CARD-R-9)
Extras: Integrated Fingerprint Reader (I-FPRINT-R)
Extras: MALIBAL Software & Drivers Disc (S-MAL-DR)
Notebook Coolers: Cooler Master NotePal U3 Notebook Cooler (R9-NBC-8PCK-G) - QTY: 1
$39.00

Total:
$1,353.00

 

And I believe next paycheck I can get this (meaning in 10 days)!!!!

Edit: errrmm... Will be out of town for two days... 10+2=.....12 days!

 

If I may...

2720 might be worth your upgrade if you're a heavy gamer. It's the sweet spot for the -QM intel cards, with the flagship 2920XM being the best.

Matte-type screen is nicer than the glossy/glass-type. Try it.

You probably won't need a notebook cooler with a Clevo laptop. Up to you though.

Wireless card: Intel PRO/set Wireless 6230-N is a nice sweet spot.

Take the Momentus XT hybrid hard drive. It's sweet.

I don't like recommending Win 7 builds other than Professional or Ultimate, but this is just up to you.

If you have the money for these updates, that is. I think it'll do you fine.

 

The 2720qm won't help at all with games. the 560m will bottleneck way before it hits the needs of the 2630qm. It's only really necessary if you do a lot of HD video editing.

I also agree about the matte screen upgrade, though. Trust me, it's SO much nicer.

Agree about the laptop cooler. If you want one later, you can buy one on amazon cheaper.

 

I was stating that in case he's in a high-heat situation. Some games still won't use more than two CPU cores. If his CPU is running at lower clocks (2.0-2.3) due to having a good bit of heat on em, it'll be hell if the game wants more. The 2720 though, would be running 2.2-2.5 at the same conditions, and would have a good bit more headroom in that case. But that's all. Gotta think of all the scenarios =3. I don't know his current location/position; the 2720 is just the sweet-spot/safe-bet in my opinion.

Also the max clock speeds are FAR higher (2.8 on the 2630 versus 3.3 on the 2720)

 

Is the matte screen that much better?

From what I heard glossy screens are brighter and the colors look more vibrant.

 

Matte screens are anti-glare, anti-dust (well not sure about anti-dust, but apparently you aren't bothered by dust on a screen as much). Some go so far as to say that you don't know what you're missing until you try it. I want one for my next laptop.

 

Don't believe the hype (about glossy screens). Some people say that matte screens are a bit grainy, but after about a day you'll stop noticing it. It really just makes everything clearer under normal lighting.

 

Glossy is good for home theatre or a desktop computer that stays in one place where you can control the lighting.

For a notebook, I ALWAYS recommend a matte screen because you use it in so many different places with different lighting environments.

Actually, colors look better on matte because the whole image isn't screwed up by the reflections of your face in the screen



Glossy screens hurt my eyes on laptops.

 

So I don't know about adding an additional $160 for the 2720 if the 2630 will be able to handle everything I need. And I am getting it with the IC diamond so I'm not hoping to have an issue with it running too hot all that often.

Thanks for the tip on not needing a cooler though. That saves a bit of money..

Also, how does Win7 ultimate differ from home premium?

 

Home Premium offers mainly home-user-useful inherent software, such as music/media streaming across home networks etc, but it lacks any security policies. Windows 7 Professional adds in this software, but removes the home-media features. Ultimate takes them all and rolls it into one. Honestly, I don't understand why Home Premium even exists. It should only have Ultimate and Professional; with Professional/enterprise being there for the workplace to stop non-work-related things like media sharing.

I, personally, will never use anything less than Ultimate on my machines. Most people see this as a waste of money. I just say better safe than sorry, I can do anything I would ever want and/or need on it. It's *TOTALLY* up to you though. If you feel you don't need the security policies, then go with HP. If you feel you want it but don't want to pay for ultimate/won't use media sharing/etc, then stick with pro. If you can afford it and rather get everything, go with ultimate.

 

That's not entirely true. Home Premium is only missing a few features that Pro has (encrypting file system, back up to network drive, XP mode, remote desktop server, and a number of more enterprise grade features). Pro DOES have the same media streaming/playing capabilities. Professional is not any more secure than Home Premium, the difference lies in the extra encryption features and group policy mostly.

Wikipedia has a good breakdown (with chart at the bottom)

Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most average home users won't be using the features in Pro/Ultimate anyway unless they're power users. That said, Win 7 Starter might be the version you were thinking of that was intentionally slimmed down for netbooks/international markets.

 

If I'm a heavy gamer then I would get a good GFx Card.

You can get all the "features" that the Ultimate has by third party open-source programs.

 

I wasn't thinking of any one that was slimmed down. I was actually basing it on Windows Vista's Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate versions. But let me ask, if you say Professional in Win 7 has all the home premium features, when what does ultimate have? Dreamscene? There's no way they'd charge so much JUST for dreamscene... Would they? Microsoft would be bad beyond my imagination if that was the case.


And to the guy below who said you can access it with 3rd party programs, do you use them? And how safe are they? To have direct access to kernel security policies is a lot of power for a program. Just wondering.

 

He's already getting a 560M, that's the best card you can put in a P151HM1, and it isn't anything to really sneeze at.

 

Dreamscene doesn't exist anymore. It was a flash-in-the-pan feature for Vista

Ultimate is really just Enterprise for home users. It's useful if you want all the enterprise features, but without needing volume licensing agreements, etc. If you've got a machine that has one of the TPM (trusted platform module) chips or you use a flash drive, you can use Bitlocker, which is handy. Otherwise it's more stuff that most home users don't need.

Vista and 7 had totally different naming schemes. Vista Home Premium was indeed less "complete" than the Ultimate/Pro versions. For Home users, Windows 7 Home Premium is definitely sufficient. If you run a Server 2008 box at home with active directory, or work in an environment with it for example, then you might find Pro/Ultimate useful (there are other reasons obviously, but this is a big one)

 

So basically... it's totally useless? If bitlocker (which was counter in Win Vista Ultimate extras) and UNIX app support is all that's in Ultimate over Professional... That's just stupid. It should all be in there from the start. Especially something so situational. *sigh* what happened to the old days?

 

I worked for Microsoft (Windows Developer Experience team) last summer as an intern. From what the rest of my team told me, the only reason Windows still has multiple versions is because Marketing wouldn't let them only do one

I run Ultimate at home only because I have like 40 serials from my MSDN subscription, and because I actually use some of the enterprise features.

BTW, you can still run dreamscene in 7- though it requires a registry hack to do it.

Windows 8 will be awesome, I just need to source a touchscreen for my 8150...

 

Wow. And if they can, in Windows 8, create a good balance between ease-of-use (without being such a dumbed down, flashy-to-attract-stupid-people GUI) with the advanced shortcuts/etc they had in Vista (that they removed in 7; making me have to hunt through control panel for them >_>), AND have software developers actually make things to work for the OS (*glares at Mumble which can go so far as to crash windows vista outright; even though it's being "made" for vista as well as 7*)

Oh, that'll be the day.
Oh, and get rid of their ridiculous if-you-change-your-motherboard-you-need-to-re-buy-windows-or-spend-20-minutes-on-the-phone-getting-a-new-key-with-useless-information. That'll help too.

Wow, I really hate Windows. I never realized. *misses Vista*

 

I always loved XP the best. The flashyness of 7 is kind of appealing though.... And compared to Mac OS which I had to deal with throughout 10 of my 12 years of schooling, Windows is AMAZING!

And I know a lot of you guys don't really like windows for a high powered laptop like this but my main reason for getting Windows, other than familiarity, is because I am also using it for classes and I need to be able to follow what we do in class on their computers. Also Skyrim is for windows PC.

And thanks for the explanations on the different windows versions. I'll probably stick with win7 hp and save a bit of money.

Also, could I get more feedback on 2360QM vs 2720QM? I would like to save the $160 but will the performance really be that different? (So far I think I have a vote yes and a vote for no...)

 

Fixed for yas.

 

Oh and does the Malibal version of the P151-HM1 have a backlit keyboard? Not a major necessity but it would be nice....

 

None of them do. You'll have to wait for Ivy Bridge for that.

 

Eh no worries then... I mean, I'm currently sitting in a dark room typing this and the letters and spelling are ok for me. The punctuation and function keys are a little harder to get down but I can make due without. It would have been nice though.

 

I meant *misses Vista*. My preferred Windows OS. XP can bite the dust. Windows 7 flat out annoys me.