Sager/Clevo vs Alienware/Dell

Hi all,

Iv heard good things re: Sager/Clevo:

- good price
- build quality
- customer service

Im currently owner of M17x R3 which was offered to me as a replacement after a fight to get Aleinware/Dell to recognise the problem and ship over an upgraded replacement [specs in sig].

Iv got no plans to buy a new gaming laptop, however im intrested if Sager/Clevio can match or better AW/Dell in laptop specs for M17x/M18x, build quality, better customer service (replacements/repairs/warranties ect) and if they have better or same price for the top rated system specs.. so that in future i know a good rep company i can check out other than AW/Dell.

 

Yes they can, they got sataIII and m17xr3 sometimes only have sataII also, clevo/sager are cheaper but they don't offer the actuals high-end gpu from ATI, I have personnally taken alienware because I whas able to get a rebate of 360-400$ on it from the company I whas buying it.

 

O rly? Where did you hear that?

 

Never heard that claim before. Sager is sending out laptops with the AMD 6990m in about 2 weeks, which is the top AMD card as far as I know.

 

Sager have reseller , and those reseller offer very good customer service . Most likely better than Dell rep

However M18x is made with full body alumunium , none of the current sager lineup have full body alumunium like that AFAIK .

Specs wise clevo/sager offer slightly better value .

 

Are clevo/sager mainly plastic? or does it vary with model?

 

Plastic but it doesn't feel like plastic because it uses a rubberized coating.

 

There is some aluminum on my X7200.

 

idk about the P150/151 but the P170 doesnt have any rubberized finish. its got an aluminum palmrest and trackpad and lid, looks nice, but the rest is plastic, matte plastic around the keyboard, and shiny for the screen bezel. the bezel actually looks good, the keyboard area not so much. And the keyboard itself isnt great, not the noisiest, but still noisy and cheap but it has no flex in it; another negative is trackpads probably 5mm too short and doesnt glide properly till youve oiled it up

havent seen the m17x inperson but imagine the difference is night and day, the P170 is very restrained and dark, perfect if your sick of over stylized gear trying to look different

 

Yea, my experiences with Sager resellers have been stellar so far. Malibal has been really quick in answering all my questions (almost instantaneously!). I would definitely recommend the well-known Sager resellers.

Yes, but the general consensus is that the build quality is very good.

 

My wife has an Alienware M17x R2, and it's built pretty well. The aluminum shell is nice, the keyboard is good, and all the lighting options are cool.

I have a P170HM, and in comparison, it's basically entirely plastic, so it doesn't feel quite as sturdy. However, it is quieter than the Alienware (especially while gaming), it's easier to get at the components, and I feel it has a better trackpad. It also fits in my existing laptop backpack, since it's not as angular.

Overall, there's not too much difference between them when you're actually playing a game, so mainly it comes down to aesthetics...

 

I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. There are many other factors when it comes to differences between those laptops.

Mainly, the most important ones being, imo, customer service, pricing, and reliability.

Mr. Mysterious

 

The P170HM is partly brushed aluminium. The top cover has an aluminium plate surrounded by a glossy plastic frame, and the handrest is also aluminium. The P150HM is a rubberized plastic, but both are very sturdy and the build quality is quite high.

 

plenty of aluminum on the x7200. i bought mine through xoticpc, but just about any reseller has tons of customization options. clevo > alienware any day, especially if you're just comparing pure computational firepower of something like the x7200 vs an alienware m18x. alienware wins in the mainstream aesthetics department, but even there the x7200 is more akin to the special forces, while alienware has more of an in-the-navy village people kinda vibe ;-)

 

I wasn't impressed with dell customer service. Clevo/Sager sellers do it way better.

 

reseller customer service, no taxes, but the biggest differance for me was the screen quality differance. You can upgrade Sager/Clevo screens to 90-95% gamut screens. Alienware's highest is 72%

and one more thing Zeggy. The made by "Magnesium"...that's only the keyboard tray. Not the entire notebook, the R3 is made of plastic mostly.

 

OP, I was originally tempted for an AW R3 as well, but finally realized the only thing I was paying more for was the backlit keyboard and design. All other things money can buy, you can buy them cheaper and better (more options) through Sager/Clevo. AW/Dell has to recoup their marketing dollars somehow...

 

I have dealt with Dell extensively over my career and I can tell you right now, if customer service is important to you, then you need to go somewhere else.
The consumer level support ranges from poor to nonexistant. However, their business support they take much, much more seriously. They do a great job supporting business customers, and I dont mind dealing with them at all.

If your just an average Joe though, who hasnt spent 6 figures outfitting your office, then they can be a nightmare to deal with. Just the wait times alone causes some folks to give up.

 

While i don't know if owning an xps laptop gives me special treatment, i have always had great support from Dell. I was told by a manager to request to speak with the xps department and they are trained to give you better service (that is from a live chat in 2009). Just over the weekend I got a hard drive replacement for free and my three year warranty ended in June! That's crazy. Even so, I've chosen to move on from Dell. My MALIBAL should arrive in a couple weeks and I am excited to play with my first clevo laptop. But to be fair, Dell has always given me great support. But their hardware is probably more susceptible to malfunction than most. In my three years of owning Dell xps m1530, I had to replace fingerprint scanner, motherboard, and as of this weekend hard drive. From a $2000 laptop I expected better but I'm not totally disappointed. All repairs were free and easy through the chat. Anyways, enough Dell defense. My conversations with MALIBAL and Xoticpc have been great. They are by far the most responsive of any customer support I've ever dealt with.

So while Dell wasn't bad, it appears sager/clevo retailers are better. I know this thread is a bit old, but its something to think about for your future purchase.

 

From my personal experience, I'm just going to say that Dell's tech support was a nightmare for me. I had to get something serviced on my desktop and they kept on beating me around the bush so to speak. As far as Sager/Clevo customer support is concerned, just go through a re-seller like Exotic PC or LPC-Digital. They provide excellent customer service. I have heard bad stories about customer service directly from Sager.

As far as build quality is concerned, I just received an NP8150 about two weeks ago and it feels pretty sturdy. It looks great too, the top of the laptop looks slightly like a super car. Alienware on the other hand I have heard is mediocre. I had a friend that had an m15 from them and it completely broke down on him the third year he owned it. He took care of it and used it primarily for gaming. Sager's better if you want more bang for your buck (kind of like a porsche) and Alienware's better if you want something flashy but are willing to pay a premium for it (Lamborghini.)

 

I had an XPS 1530m and have to admit the XPS service was way better than the standard Dell consumer service. They were knowledgable and could pick up I knew computers, so we didn't spend an hour troubleshooting I had told them I already did. It felt nice to talk to someone on the same level, instead of feeling like they were just going through the script on their screen and treating me like a 80 yr old grandmother that can't find the IE icon in front of her face. If you go Dell, get an XPS system because their support is miles above their standard support (it's US based too).

That being said, I've been more impressed with the forum posts here from the likes of MALIBAL, Xotic, LPC-Digital, and have nothing but the same expectations if I call in for techincal support. My laptop should be here this week, so I may have some experience with the technical support my reseller can provide if anything comes up. Hopefully I don't have to, but if I do, I'm confident it will be a great experience.

 

I owned an Alienware laptop before my Sager and I'll say this -

Dell:

CS: Dell sucks, I can't repeat this enough. The Alienware service is fantastic until it runs out (You have like a year of good service or something like that) then you have to pay a stupid amount of money for them to even answer a simple question.

HW: The hardware is alright, for the amount of money you pay you do not get top of line hardware. This has already been discussed a lot on this forum, the only thing Dell has going for it is the backlit keyboard.

GPU Drivers: The drivers are great until you need to update them from the manufacturer (AMD or nVidia). You will lose some functionality of the laptop, for example all the lights won't work. Eventually someone will come up with the tutorial on how to get everything to sync up but by then all your friends will have moved on to another game.

Sager:

CS: Through a reseller, you can't even compare the two because the CS is light years ahead of Dell on this.

HW: You get the best bang for you buck, it's slightly less attractive but IMO, the black looks pretty BA

GPU Drivers: You can use the drivers from AMD or nVidia with minimal problems, for example; every once in a while ill boot up my Sager and my fans will go on full blast and I lose control over them. I believe this is caused by the most recent nVidia drivers but like I said, it's a very minimal problem

Results: Sager wins hands down. Alienware are over priced pieces of crap, the CS is horrible, and in the end you can't upgrade the laptop at all. If i knew then what i know now about Sager vs Alienware i would have bought my Sager years ago.

 

Wait, what? Yes you can upgrade your Alienware machine...

But I, more or less, agree with the rest of your points.

Mr. Mysterious

 

You are correct, I did not specify what I could not upgrade on my AW. I could not upgrade my GPU which IMO, is pretty make it or break it when it comes to the decision of what to buy.

 

Really? That's....very surprising.

Why couldn't you? Warranty?

Mr. Mysterious

 

It was the m15x (not to be confused with the M15x). Apparently when I bought it I bought the last video card that would run on the machine or something like that. It's been a while but I remember spending a lot of time researching how to upgrade the GPU and fell flat when I read you couldn't. Perhaps they fixed this now but that still wouldn't change my mind about the company. lol

 

I can't speak to Alienware, but the MXM standard may be the culprit here (for any laptop). Say you bought a P150HM right now, if the next batch of graphics cards switches to a new MXM standard away from 3.0b (the current standard), you'll be out of luck. The 485m/580m/6970/6990 could potentially be the last card supported in current models. That said, we all hope that isn't going to be the case.

 

Here's my experience with Dell vs Malibal customer service

Fresh out of college, new job, and looking to replace my aging college laptop, last month I placed an order on an alienware laptop, but I cancelled. A few days ago, I just placed an order on a new Clevo laptop from malibal, and I'm not going to cancel this order. The difference was pretty much customer service.

When I tried to place an order on the alienware laptop I was still on the fence about it, because it was so expensive and I had like about 2/3 of the money but I'd have the rest a month later. Still, I was ordering one mostly because I was aware of alienware through reputation. However the rep I had called to place my order through made the mistake of double tapping my debit card after I had called him back to make a slight change on the order. So the next day I got an e-mail saying that my order was on hold because of it. I called my bank to ask what happened and after they explained that they had no problems, I tried to call my dell rep back. He was unavailable at the time, so I ended up speaking to somebody else, who, after I had explained the situation, transferred me to another department, who after explaining the situation to them, transferred me to yet another department, who after explaining the situation to that last person, transferred me to the phone number of my bank without warning (all of this with about 3 minute hold time in between transfers, and when I connected to my bank it took me about a minute to realize what the last dell rep had done while I was going through my bank's automated system). Rather annoyed, I called dell/alienware back one more time and actually got to talk to someone who knew what they were doing on my first try. However, because of all that mess that happened before I cancelled my order because Dell was not turning out to be quite what I had thought they were from my initial reputation assumption.

Fast forward a month later to last weekend/yesterday, after doing some investigation on sager laptops, I bit the bullet on buying one from Malibal. (I was unsure of getting one before because I wasn't sure about repairs/customer service and the fact that I would even have to think about getting a dead pixel policy scared me away at first.) However, when I did place my order, I entered the wrong billing information because my bank had finally changed it to my new address, so I had to contact malibal to fix this. Initially I thought the rep I was text chatting with might brush me off (because they pointed me to a link to validate my information and told me that after I did, they'd get around to it when they had free time) but to my surprise, the rep stayed with me through the chat and was very helpful in sorting out the issues with my bank, calling them for me to cancel the initial pending charge so that I could immediately redo my order (instead of having to wait for the charge to auto-cancel after about a week) as well as helping me while I was being ridiculously stupid re-entering my information to be completely correct. In the end, we got it worked out, and I didn't have to deal with crazy crap like I did with dell. I'm pretty satisfied with my selection now.

 

Lol, wanted to comment but then realised I was typing it on a M18x (specs in my sig.) , so nah, no comments

 

I was going to buy an alienware m17x from best buy. Then I spoke with Donald from powernotebooks.com. I cant wait for my Sager np8170 to be shipped home.

 

Best buy? Hmmm... that's the worst place to buy a laptop imho
You could get that m17x directly from Dell for 20% less. These R3's have up to 6 hours of battery life

Anyway, NP8170 is an awesome rig, I'm sure you'll be happy with it!

 

I agree. Bestbuy only sells the lowest config available. Most of their models don't even have Bluetooth or Blu-ray. The only time they actually get stock is when Dell needs to move systems.
The Alienware M18x is truly AWESOME!! The aesthetics, AlienFX, IGPU(long battery life), hardware, performance & resale value add up to an amazing machine. I also enjoy the HDMI IN port.
Dell/Alienware customer service is fantastic. NBD parts, on-site techs(if that's your thing) and if the need ever arrives....new replacement systems like in my signature.

It's really sad that some of you Clevo rebrand owners had a bad experience with dell/Alienware. They really do produce an exceptional product.
I think the Clevo rebrands are pretty sweet spec wise. I just don't like the use of desktop CPU's in a DTR and a hella boxy 2002 Dell Inspirion like chassis.

 

I might as well through my opinion in here since I follow Clevo/Sager as well as Alienware.

In the 15" market the Clevo 8130/8150 is by far the best laptop. I've had personal experience with this laptop and it is built like a tank. Though in all honestly the m14x from Alienware doesn't even compare spec wise to either.

In the 17" single gpu laptops things are a little bit closer. To make a long story short, the Clevo 8170 is by far the better bang for your buck laptop in performance + screen categories. The m17x is only king in the battery life department since the 8170 doesn't offer manual gpu switching.

In the 17-18" dual gpu department, things get interesting. You basically have the Clevo x8100 & x7200 vs. the Alienware m17x r2 & m18x.

The x8100 at 18" and the m17x r2 are both wild cards due to both of them being able to be upgraded with 920/940xm cpus and 6970s. They have the exact same performance for the most part and it comes down to plastic of the x8100 vs. the aluminum on the m17x r2. Also the m17x r2 has by far one of the best screens ever created.

But the x7200 vs. the m18x is a close decision. On the x7200's side you have an easy to repair laptop with 3 dedicated HDD bays. You also have the ability to put an i7 990x or a Westmere Xeon into it. On the m18x's side you have 2 dedicated HDD bays and the i7 2920/2960xm. Both get about the same performance since they share the same gpu's. The ONLY thing that determines whether one is better is simply the fact that the battery of the M18x is at best 5 hours whereas the x7200 is at best 1 hour. I personally get 4 hours with gpu's turned off but others with a lower processor have reported better. This fact alone means that I can actually take my laptop and use it in an area without a wall outlet. Now places are limited where there aren't wall outlets but for me I wouldn't be able to use an x7200 at all in my University classrooms. That was the sole reason why I went with the m18x over the x7200 besides the fact that dell had the 6970 xfire upgrade at $400. A huge discount that most retailers couldn't compete with in pricing at the point I was buying.

 

i like my m17x r3 but i think im gonna upgrade and buy a sager from xotic pc. I was looking at the sager 8150 and the sager 8170. I can't decide between the two. im looking to spend about $1600 tops. Any input would be appreciated .

 

Hey bigtonyman,

If you have any questions about your build or any discounts we offer, feel free to shoot me a PM.

Also, what is the primary use of the laptop? The only really big decision between the NP8150 and NP8170 is the real estate, so to speak.

 

The only differences between the P150HM and P170HM are:

• Larger footprint on the P170HM
• More screen real estate (same 1920x1080 though, so the pixels are larger)
• Marginally better cooling on the P170HM
• 120hz screen option on the P170HM
• Extra hard drive bay on the P170HM
• XTU support and overclocking on the HM67 based P170HM

Otherwise they can have the same CPU/GPU/RAM choices. If portability is a concern, the P150HM can have the same horsepower minus the extra hard drive.

 

I crossed this road a few times on my way to deciding what to buy. First it was Alienware VS ASUS then it was Alienware VS Alienware. Ultimately I decided the M14x is what I wanted. Then I stumbled upon Sager. I fell in love completely. THEN I fell upon this place and now my only trouble is WHO will I buy my new NP8150 from. I have my build an everything. My big thing is that I built the computer up. Discount added, and shipping to Afghanistan, and it comes to 2999. Which I thought was funny, but its the far end of my budget so thats fine! I have contacted... Two? Resellers Xotic and LPC but I have my eye on Myth. I contacted Sager as well. No replies yet but I am on a whole new time zone so thats to be expected. They sleep probably. lol

 

Not a good idea to contact Sager...they don't offer good service, not compared to the resellers. If you have any questions, feel free to read my Clevo Guide

Mr. Mysterious

 

I went for xotic for my np8150. No problems. It's gonna come tomorrow or the day after and I'll see how much of a bamf it is then. But I would say you can't really go wrong with xotic so far. (also, PM them for discounts

 

You didn't mention the backlit KB, HDMI IN &OUT, WirelessHD, Klipsch sound system and slot-loading BLU-Ray as the PRO's of the AW
Also, I'm getting 4.5-5hrs of battery life with a 2960XM. And last but not least, the CPU is easily OC'ed all the way up to 5Ghz across the board. It destroys the 990X (stock) in all benches except for Wprime where it's still very close even though it's 4 vs 6 cores. 4.5Ghz on all cores is what I run 24/7.

On the other hand, the X7200 has many screen upgrade options and like you mentioned, 3HDD bays and easily accessible internals.

 

I will live in UK for 1 more year then i will move back to my country or other country for work. If only sager have international warranty, I will not have to thinking should i buy AW or Sager .

Could anyone please tell me that how long will sager NP8130 last? How easy is it to break down in 3-4 years?

 

I think we have read a lot of hardware/price differences now.. but here is one point I didn't read so far in this thread:

The Design of Clevo is much much better than any Alienware in my opinion. I wouldn't make a presentation with an Alienware laptop.. I also wouldn't want to take it with me to work. But the Clevo looks really smooth & decent (especially the ones with Aluminium like the P170HM). I bought a gamer-look-like laptop 3 years ago (the Asus G50vt-A1) and wished for some other design already two weeks later :/

 

Design IMHO is a matter of opinion. I've done enough presentations with both Clevo and AW machines in IT field to tell you with confidence, it really doesn't matter what beast you use as long as it serves the purpose. I also bring my M18x to work every day. We have a few ppl with Clevo's here as well as ASUS G series. So stereotypes aside, it's you and you alone who decides what the next trend should be

 

The Sager NP8130 has proved to be a solid machine as many users can attest to! If properly used, it should very well last you 4 years.
_

 

Does the Sager/Clevo ship with keyboards that are illuminated from under the keyboard or do the ASUS trick and shine a light on top of the keys

 

For me it's actually the opposite! Size/weight matters much more than battery life. There's an outlet in almost every classroom at my university, but it would be awkward to bring something as large as the m18x to class, and it wouldn't fit on smaller desks. Granted, I would still love to have graphics switching on my 8150, but for me it was the best balance between portability and power. I don't even think the m18x would fit in my backpack, and the extra 5-6 pounds would be quite noticeable since I walk 40+ minutes to and from class every weekday.


Anyways, here's my take on things, comparing the main features of roughly equally sized laptops from clevo and alienware:

15 inch category - p150 v m14x (the m14x might as well be a 15 inch laptop because of its size) - power+better screen vs backlit keyboard+battery life.

17 inch category - p170 v m17x - more screen options vs backlit keyboard+battery life.

>17 inch category - If you were to buy now, the m18x is the clear winner over the x7200, imo. But the m18x is relatively new while it's almost EOL for the x7200. The p270wm should come out in a few months, and comparing that with the m18x - power vs backlit keyboard+battery life.

 

No backlit keyboards available from Sager, although it has been requested by the NBR community very many times.

 

I'll admit, a back lit keyboard would be nifty, as I type in the dark using my netbook's screen illumination to see what I am going for...

 

Actually in another thread someone had mentioned a rumor that they may arrive in Q1, so that's exciting. Hard to say whether or not Sager has confirmed that yet, they tend to keep updates to themselves till launch

 

i like the aesthetic simplicity of the sager/clevo. just a sharp looking machine with quality components