Sager NP5797 (M570ETU) with GTX 280M - User Review

Sager NP5797 Gaming Notebook

The Sager NP5797 is a performance gaming notebook in the desktop replacement class.
Primarily this laptop is aimed at semi-mobile enthusiast users who need extra processor
or pixel pushing power to run 3D rendering software, media development programs, multitasking,
or games such as Call of Duty and Crysis. These laptops are actually built by Clevo, and rebranded
under many names such as Dell, HP, Gateway, Alienware, and Sager, among others. They
are offered under the Sager name in the United States by XoticPC, PowerNotebooks, PCTorque
and many additional resellers.



Being that this is a unit configured for personal use, the configuration will be a bit lower
than most enthusiasts would purchase this model in. Currently the 5797 features the Nvidia
GTX 280m, the most powerful single laptop graphics card available. This is paired with
the entry level Intel P8600 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of DDR3 1066MHz RAM,
Hitachi 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, and 8x DVD +/-R /RW/ 4x + Dual Layer optical drive.
It is also equipped with a Intel 5300 a/b/g/n wireless card, and a 17 inch WSXGA+ glossy
widescreen display. The laptop was ordered without an operating system installed, however
Windows XP Home was loaded by the owner. Having Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista
preinstalled (working out of the box) is available as a configuration option.

Detailed configuration as purchased:
Sager NP5797 built on Clevo M570TU
System Color – Orange Trim
Display – 17” WSXGA+ Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Display w/Wide Viewing Angle (1680x1050)
Dead Pixel Policy – Standard
PCTorque 30 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee
Graphics Card – Nvidia GTX 280M w/ 1GB memory
Processor – Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz w/ 3MB L2 Cache (P8600) 1066MHz FSB 25 Watt
Arctic Silver Thermal Compound
RAM – 2GB DDR3 1066MHz / Single SODIMM
Hard Drive – (1) 320 GB 7200 RPM SATA II w/ 16 MB Cache
Optical Drive – 8x DVD+/- R/RW / 4X + Dual Layer Drive w/Software
Fingerprint Reader - Standard
Bluetooth Module
Intel 5300 WiFi Wireless a/b/g/n Networking Adapter
High Definition Audio Sound System
No Operating System (Drivers and Utility Software Included)
Standard 8-Cell Smart Li-ion Battery
AC Adapter
Deluxe Black Business Carrying Case
60 Day Trial of Microsoft Office
Sager 3 Yr Labor, 1 Yr Parts Warranty (Yrs 2+3 paid by PCT)
Lifetime 24/7 Domestic Support

Total cost after free shipping and price matching:
$1,684.89 from PCTorque.com


My primary reason for purchasing the 5797 was my existing laptop, a Dell Inspiron 6000,
was slowly suffering from component failure and needed replacement. I'd previously purchased
a Sager NP9262 for a relative's use and had looked at the 579x series as an alternative. Before
picking the 5797, I also considered the Sager 5793 (an older model of the 5797 that was on sale),
and the Sager NP8660.

My reasoning for the choice of the 5797 over these units, is largely due to upgradability in the
5797. With the 5793 costing roughly $1500 USD fully loaded, and the 5797 $1684.89 total, I feel
there were significant benefits for the extra $200 spent. Some of these being that the 5797 can use
newer Quad Core processors, includes the latest Nvidia mobile graphics card, has eSATA for
external hard drive use, HDMI for high definition connections to televisions, and some minor
revisions between system components. If I had purchased the 5793 and tried to modify or
otherwise upgrade the system to be equivalent to a 5797, it would cost nearly $1000 in parts, not to
mention my own time.

When compared to the Sager NP8660 (now the 8662 by the time of this writing), there is less of a
gap in components. However the 8660 lacked a USB port (3 vs. 4), has a 15 inch widescreen,
removes the numerical keypad, has had limited reports of heating and flex issues, as well as a
poor choice of placement for the firewire port in my opinion. At the time of purchase, the NP8660
also did not come with the new line of graphics cards (GTX 260m for the 8662 vs. GTX 280m for
the 5797).

As to a usage and construction comparison with the NP9262, that will be further in this article
after the impressions of the 5797 have been discussed.

== Build Quality & Design ==​

The design of the 579x series of laptops hasn't changed much, mainly because Clevo is sticking
with a design that has worked well and stayed fairly appealing to the eye. Here we have the 5797
in Orange Trim.



Silver Trim is also available, which changes the binding color to metallic silver and the screen lid to a
70/30 silver/black combination.

Construction of the 5797 is largely of strong black plastic in glossy or a shiny matte color.



One oft asked question potential buyers ask is “just what does the orange look like?”
Well to solve that once and for all, here are some comparison photos with common
objects you can relate to.

Dr. Pepper Can – Conclusion: Not nearly as red.



Hefty Trash Bags – Conclusion: Not as bright orange.



Ovaltine Malt – Conclusion: A match!



The metal lid on Ovaltine Malt is the same color of orange, or very nearly so. If you're
questioning whether or not you could handle such a color, try a local supermarket and this
should tell you what the color looks like. Speaking strictly of the appeal of the appearance
of the laptop, the orange color I believe is more striking than that of the Silver Trim. It's
subdued, but still enough that people standing around when you pull it out, are going to notice
it's not an A-typical computer.

Usage wise, the orange doesn't distract as it is largely limited to your peripheral vision. As to
durability, I've tried scratching the orange trim with a finger nail and it showed no signs of
chipping or damage.

Visually, I believe the laptop could be acceptable in a casual business environment, and would
also look sleek or “stealthy” in most any other venue. So it can transition from work to play
without appearing out out of place.



Around the screen bezel when the unit is open, is black matte colored plastic with silver highlights
in the screen mounted camera and lid locks. Directly around the screen itself in a recessed groove
is glossy black plastic. The lid design in general is good, with stiff hinges and pressing lightly on
the outside parts of the lid does not cause any distortion on the screen. The screen is also fairly
resistant to twisting from the edges. Around the screen on the interior, you have seven rubber feet
that press against the main body when the screen is closed. This helps prevent key indentations
in the screen as well as reduces wobble or shaking if you would be traveling with the notebook.



One thing of note with the screen hardware, is the lid latches. The latch on the left side isn't really
a latch, it's a lid lock. The right side latch is and operates as a standard latch with spring. The lid
lock is a nice feature if you travel or I'd imagine bounce your laptop around a lot in transit. It's
neither a laptop seller nor a hindrance. Just nice if you need it, ok if you don't.

Continuing down to the keyboard surface area, directly under the middle of the screen are four
buttons. The three on the left are programmable hotkey buttons; these could be used for one
touch access to an E-mail application, or web page, perhaps even an audio file. To the right of
these is the power button. This seems to be of adequate size and it lights up a bright tech blue.



Around the keyboard and touchpad, there is a section of plastic that looks textured, and is
actually a fine checkerboard pattern molded into the main chassis plastic. So this is all one piece,
not separate. Oddly enough, it serves a secondary function of letting you know when you've run
off the edge of the touchpad.



Outside of the checkerboard pattern you have a reflective, yet matte surface plastic which is
used for the majority of the upper surfaces, palm rests, and the chassis. This is a smooth, strong
plastic, which is good, since attempting to flex the machine as a whole produces no noticeable
warping or flex. You'd have to put some muscle into bending it, to get it to budge. Very solid
overall and it provides the impression that the plastics used may be a composite material. At
this time I don't have reason to believe this plastic is painted, the color appears to be naturally
part of the blend. This is also a benefit over a painted laptop, such as the Dell Inspiron 6000,
since the palm rests on the Dell were worn through to the body over the course of a year.
Very unsightly, costly, and doesn't help the resale value when it happens.

Down on the front edge of the laptop you have your audio ports for Line In, Headphones,
Microphone, and Digital. Placement wise, these are ok for quick hook ups and general use
like at a desk or station. They are not good for if you have the laptop in your lap, and have
headphones plugged in. You're more likely to be bumping the plug end into the notebook.

Also along the front end is your system lights. You have Power/AC, Battery, Hard Disk,
Wireless On/Off, Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock. These are small lights, ranging in
yellow to amber depending on the status. I'm a bit more used to system lights being up near
the screen, so it's a bit odd to have to look under your right wrist to see what is going on.
Otherwise they serve their purpose and work fine.

Lastly, on the right edge, you have your built in system microphone. As is reported elsewhere,
the sound it is able to record has to be fairly loud for the output to be “kinda decent.” You could
offset this in your audio recording program. It won't replace a headset microphone, but it's there
if you need it in a pinch.

Along the right side, there are the following ports: ExpressCard slot, 7 in 1 card reader, two
USB 2.0, one mini Firewire, one phone jack, one Ethernet jack, CATV/tuner jack.



Among these the only notable item is that you get the CATV/tuner jack even if you don't order
the TV Tuner option. Note that the TV Tuner card, isn't installed, just the jack is filling the hole
and the wiring is run if you get the urge to put one in later.

Along the left side you have the DVD/optical drive and the standard laptop lock slot.
Something concerning the optical drive is that I've heard users complain that it is too easy to
hit the release button, and pop out the drive randomly. Myself, I think the button is perfect as is.
If you know where to look for it, then finding it by touch is easy and responsive. The bezel on
the drive tray is also quite a bit thicker than a typical drive tray and matches the main chassis shape.



Along the rear of the laptop, the ports are: HDMI, DVI, one USB 2.0,
one dual purpose eSATA/USB 2.0 jack, and a power in port.



Again only one thing notable, and that is that the eSATA does function as a working USB 2.0
port. This isn't very clear in any reseller's product page. Which eSATA, if you don't know, is
mainly used for connecting an external hard drive such as a Western Digital MyBook, so you
can achieve higher transfer speeds than a plain USB port or Firewire.

== Screen ==​

The screen on the 5797 so far has been a diamond in the rough. Individual reviews of prior 579x
units seemed to indicate that there was a problem with the screens being too dim. This screen has
to ability to go from “fairly dim” to “ow that's a bit bright.” After some research on the screen
model number, LP171WE2-TLA3 lead to the discovery that the screen is being used by late
2008 model 17 inch MacBook Pro's. It has very nice color representation, and with the Nvidia
GPU seems to do fine in scaling old games. One disappointment however is after the Nvidia
drivers are installed, the screen is really only viewable at the resolutions of 1680x1050 and
1400x1050. Everything else is very blurry and difficult on the eyes. Ultimately 1680x1050 was
chosen as the resolution, with adjustments made to the Windows DPI, font, and appearance
settings to account for the difference in object sizes. For comparison, originally I used 1280x800
on a 15.4 inch widescreen.



Brightness at maximum settings:


Brightness at lowest settings:


Concerning the glossiness of the monitor, it acts like a black mirror when powered down or you
have a full black screen displayed. The amount of reflective light doesn't seem to be much of a
issue over long periods, and the screen is still somewhat visible even with moderate sunlight.

The backlight to the LCD is notable that it fades between brightness levels when being adjusted.
Typically you see a “step down” where the brightness drops in cheaper designs. It serves little to
no functional purpose, but it is nicer to watch and gives you a sense that the screen is of a bit
better quality than most.

So the main fault of the monitor, or perhaps rather the video card, is the lack of choices when
trying to stay with a low resolution. Otherwise, it's a very nice monitor.

== Speakers ==​

First of it needs to be noted that the 5797's speakers are side firing, meaning that they produce
sound aimed away from the sides of the laptop and not at your head. In general this means that
your “center” or front sound is a bit hollow compared with front firing speakers, which would be
aimed at your face. After playing several pieces of music I'd say the speakers on the 5797 are a
little bit better than average. If you're comparing it to a laptop such as the sub $750 models from
HP, Dell, or Compaq, then the 5797 speakers are a favorable improvement in terms of having the
power to produce loud sound without significant distortion. There's not really much bass to speak
of with these speakers either, but all laptop speakers have major issues with quality bass reproduction.

One of the 5797's side firing speakers with a silver painted grill:


So they're not 5.1 surround sound speakers, and they are somewhat weak in the “front” which is
where most of your stereo sound is going to be active. Something that I found to help greatly
with listening to music, was to turn on the SRS WOW plugin in Windows Media Player. This
expands the sound “field,” similar to a stadium or virtual theater mode on a surround sound
receiver. So instead of hearing more out of the “sides,” you get the impression your are in the
middle of the sound. It basically fills in the virtual “front speaker” you'd otherwise be missing.
I also found tweaking the Windows volume settings so the WAV balance was slightly more to
the right speaker helped.

If the lack of SRS WOW bothers you in other programs, such as games. The you could
purchase the SRS Soundbox, which adds the same sound effects to all programs running
on your PC. Winamp also has an older plugin for SRS WOW effects.

If you're an audiophile, then you probably already have headphones or a external speaker setup.
For everyone who isn't a dedicated audiophile, I think the speakers would do their job just fine.
If you're upgrading from a 15 inch laptop, you'll likely notice an improvement in some of your
audio.

== Synthetic Benchmarks ==​

Something to keep in mind with the following benchmarks, is that largely, this system contains
the lowest performance parts it can be purchased with. Most gaming systems also come with more
than 2GB of RAM, however the owner chose this configuration. Since the system and drivers
were designed more for Windows Vista instead of XP, there may be a performance hit there as well.
All drivers and settings are factory default. Other 5797 owners have already shown an
improvement using modified video drivers.

Super Pi – Stress tests the CPU using math calculations.

50 seconds for 2 million values of PI

wPrime – Also works the processor performing intense math calculations, however wPrime is
more tailored for multiple core processors than Super Pi. Lower numbers are better.

Notebook / CPU wPrime 32M time

Sager 5797 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4GHz) 35.687s
MSI GT627 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.71GHz) 28.143s
ASUS W90Vp-X1 (Core 2 Duo T9600 @ 2.8GHz) 29.080s
Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 (Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz) 30.126s
Dell Studio XPS 16 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4GHz) 31.827s

Pcmark05 - Measures overall notebook performance based on processor, hard drive, operating
system, RAM, and graphics. Higher scores are better.

Due to a repeating problem with the PCmark demo, PCmark scores are unavailable.

3Dmark05 - Comparison results for graphics performance. Higher scores are better.

3DMark Score
15020 3DMarks

CPU Score
8567 CPUMarks

HD Tune – Storage drive performance results.

Hard Drive: Hitachi HTS723232L9A
Transfer rate:
Min 6.3 MB/sec
Max 80.5 MB/sec
Average 60.9 MB/sec
Access Time 16.1 ms
Burst rate: 134 MB/sec
Cpu usage: 2.0%

== Gaming Benchmarks ==​

Gaming performance was based on playabiltiy of the game, such as speed (FPS) and visual quality.
Unless otherwise noted, all benchmarks are set to 1680x1050 resolution on all high settings and
2x anti aliasing, and all games are the public demo versions of each title.

Crysis -

GPU Test Results
Run 0
Average FPS 20.66
Min 15.62
Max 24.10

Run 1
Average FPS 21.60
Min 15.62
Max 24.59

Run 2
Average FPS 21.53
Min 13.71
Max 24.68

Run 3
Average FPS 21.56
Min 13.71
Max 24.68

CPU Test Results
Run 0
Average FPS 18.29
Min 11.44
Max 27.88

Run 1
Average FPS 19.07
Min 11.44
Max 27.88

Run 2
Average FPS 19.28
Min 11.44
Max 27.88

Run 3
Average FPS 19.11
Min 11.44
Max 27.88

Despite these numbers, actual gameplay was smooth and did not provide any distractions such as
stuttering or jerking. Sound played flawlessly and without issue.

Here is an externally recorded video illustrating the speed of gameplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXfYhMjCFP4

Farcry 2 -

Unfortunately due to some kind of texture rendering issue, the demo was not playable after about
3 minutes. I believe this is related either to the age or quality of the demo, or the Nvidia graphics
drivers being still factory fresh. A driver update might yield better results in the future.

Unreal Tournament 3 -

While there is no benchmarking tool in the UT3 demo, gameplay was very smooth and detailed.
No problems or negatives to be found what-so-ever.

External recorded video for gameplay speed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8cvQR5JbQY

In game capture video for graphics detail illustration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOi634A9WP8

Supreme Commander -

SupCom is a very hardware taxing game. This being said, gameplay was much equivalent to Crysis
with no noticeable slow down even when several hundred units are on field at war with each other.

Recorded videos below don't provide the sense that the gameplay FPS was acceptable. Main reason
for this is that the system has trouble trying to process video recording in real time along with the
strain of SupCom. Again, actual gameplay was fine during use.

External video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxb-4iuEBPo

In game capture 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB4AG1NESC0

In game capture 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMVJ_QyoHQ


Bootfighter Windom -XP -

Bootfighter Windom is a third person free mecha combat game with multiplayer, and has a
English patch hosted by the MirrorMoon group. Since the game is free, the full version was used
for the tests. Primarily the benchmarking done here was to show off high dynamic range (HDR)
and lighting effects on the giant robots.

Gameplay was also completely smooth on all settings maxed out to their highest.
No problems with stutter, audio, or otherwise.

External video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EKrszIZEDk

In game capture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7sF8BtiJu0

== Heat & Noise ==​

First off, for the amount of hardware in the NP5797, I'd say it handles heat quite well. Despite
it carrying Nvidia's latest card at the time of this writing, the system overall remains well cooled.
Largely this is due to the rear of the laptop being composed of fan and heatsinks.
As for noticeable heat during usage, the only place on the work surface would be the right hand
side palm rest, between the trackpad and lid latch hole. This area is “warm,” but not “hot.” What I
could compare it with, would be a comforting cup of hot chocolate or coffee in a Styrofoam cup,
type of warm. The reason this area is warm, oddly enough is not a result of a major component,
but the Intel 5300 wireless card. Keeping the wireless turned off results in less heat overall and
there's not much difference between the palm rests then.

The only other spot is on the bottom of the laptop, basically on the underside of the Enter key.
This area is directly on top of the CPU and it's heatsink, so it is understandably hot. This isn't
burn you fingers hot, but it's several levels of heat beyond the palm rest for certain. Note that the
heat is not able to be felt from the keyboard side, only on the bottom of the chassis.

Due to the design of the intake vents, which are mainly under the right palm rest on the front
edge, I don't believe it'd be wise to use the notebook in your lap very often. Main reason being
that no matter how you sit with it, you're inevitably blocking some vent, fan or otherwise.
Another consideration for lap use, is that the notebook is heavier towards the rear, so it likes to
tip a little backwards when being kept on an uneven surface such as legs.

Ultimately, while I think the system does a great job on it's own handling heat, I believe for
system longevity and comfort when it's used in a lap, a notebook cooler would be a recommend
purchase. If you were to purchase a 5797 with Quad Core processors, which produce more heat
than a Dual Core system, it'd be very wise to include a cooler as part of your budget.

Noise is another often discussed item with the 579x series. I can only speak for myself, but
under normal conditions it's not any louder than a Dell Inspiron 6000. For those of you without a
Dell to compare to, I would liken the noise level to a leaf blower two to three city blocks away.
Another comparison might be a table or desk fan.

Something else worth mentioning, is that there are two main fans that produce noise. You have a
main heatsink fan in the rear of the laptop, and a small fan under the chassis below the Backspace
and Delete keys. The small fan is what produces the most noticeable noise because it's higher pitch.
By pitch I mean the “fan whine.” It also starts up after the heatsink fan, so that's another reason
you may notice it.

Depending on use, the small fan kicks in about every minute and a half. How distracting the small
fan noise will be will vary from person to person, but if you're playing a game or some form of
media, then it likely will be drowned out by the speakers. If you're quietly typing a document,
then you'll probably notice it until you learn to adjust and “tune it out.” It's not bad.. it's just there.
Like getting a new car or new house, there's some things that take getting used to.

Main reason I don't have much to say about the heatsink fan is that it's noise is unremarkable,
and equivalent to a much lower class 15 inch notebook. So there's nothing worth noting actually.
Optical drive noise is also unremarkable and stable. None of the spin up “jet turbine vibration” as
is found in some laptops.

== Keyboard & Pointing Device ==
​

The keyboard itself, is unfortunately a low point in this machine. When I first received the laptop,
there was noticeable flex in the keyboard from the YJM keys to the right side. The epicenter or
worst area appeared to be below the Backspace key. When typed on, keys in this area felt deeper
and took slightly more effort to press. There was also some key rattling found around the
Backspace key once fervent typing was started. Left side of the keyboard was pretty solid.

Taking this issue to the NotebookReview Sager forums, I found other users had either had the
same flex in their keyboards, or not had the flex at all. Several users were advised to take the
keyboard out, by pressing in 5 latches above the Function keys and then bending their keyboards
back flat if there was any flex. In my case I did find that the flexible portion of the keyboard
was visibly bent. Mainly I believe the flex to be a result of the aluminum backboard being too
thin, or just not stiff to begin with.

One thing which greatly improved this issue, was the “rubber band mod” in which you take cut up
wide rubber bands and place them flat under the keyboard in order to provide support. Having
done this, there is no noticeable flex to the keyboard and the typing depth has become much
more uniform.

In general the keyboard keys are naturally stiff. I wouldn't quite say they are really uncomfortable,
but they are certainly not a highlight of the system either. On the positive side, they may last longer
and soften with use. For people with thin, boney fingers, this may be more of a strain on them than
say a average meaty finger since they don't have as much muscle around the joints. For gamers,
I doubt you'll notice since key presses are not a major concern in the heat of battle. On that
thought, it may benefit gamers that are harsh on their keyboards – but sensitive, thin fingered
computer users may wish to look at a different system or an alternative input device.

Key size is about average, except in some areas. Tab, Caps Lock, left Shift, left Ctrl, and left
Alt are all less wide than you would find on a standard size keyboard. Everything else is about
average for what you'd find on a 15 inch notebook, except the 5797 has the added functionality
of a numerical keypad. Having a numerical pad is a great help if you've not had the option of
one previously. Very useful in games or business applications.

Something that is seriously lacking on the keyboard, is proper key icons, or labels, for some of the
keyboard hardware functions. For example, the Bluetooth card has to be manually turned on
using Func+F12, or the screen mounted camera with Func+F10. There's also several fan settings
with the Func+ number keys. None of these are marked with any indication they perform any of
these features. Another thing that could be improved on, is the inclusion of more Func key
combos for media player features. The only media player controls you have are Mute, Vol
Up, Vol Dn, and Play/Pause. It'd be nice to see a track skip or a dedicated stop key. Another
option would be to put all the media keys as secondary modes to the numerical keypad buttons.

Last thing worth noting on the keyboard, is that since it lacks N-rollover, it can only register
2-3 key presses at one time. This might not sound important, but for instance in some sports
games you may need 2-3 keys pressed at once in order to toss/kick/etc the ball. I also found this
evident in an old space game where you need to constantly move about while targeting the enemy.
It could be worked around with key bindings, other gaming controls, or just a bit of adaption in
the way you play. From what I understand via the NotebookReview forums, Clevo gets it's
keyboards from two major manufacturers. One supplier may have this key registering issue more
so than the other.

Moving on from the keyboard, we have the touchpad. In general it feels pretty good. It's
responsive, and of a good size. Larger than on some Dell laptops I have seen past and present.
The trackpad is almost level with the top of the palmrests, just a paper thin indentation in
difference. The trackpad does have a scroll portion, although I would suggest increasing the
scroll area slightly via the mouse settings. Just generally pleasant to use, and this is from the
point of view of a die hard mouse user.

The trackpad mouse buttons on the other hand are so-so. Both left and right click buttons are
rather small. Each button has a bit of sway to the left or right when pressed. Both buttons are
also somewhat stiff like the keyboard, however these seem to be softening up with use. I
eventually went back to using an external mouse, simply due to preference and speed.

In between the clickers, you've got a fingerprint reader. Ultimately I think this is the single most
useless object on the laptop. First off, I'm not a fan of biometric security and didn't plan on using it.
The Sager manual reveals that the fingerprint reader is actually an option, but yet you can't find
a U.S.A. based reseller that will sell you a system without it. I asked. I did install the fingerprint
software, however it hooks itself into the Windows login screen and startup. That was enough for
me to want to uninstall it.

So to summarize, I think the space used by the fingerprint reader could be put to much better
use providing more space to the mouse keys. If you need it, it's there. If you don't need it, it's
not the be-all end-all in securing your files.

== Wireless (WiFi) Card ==​

In general the Intel 5300 a/b/g/n card seems to do an adequate job of performing it's functions.
Transfers of files and web browsing is snappy; transfer rates are within the expected range for the
network the system is being used in. Using a 802.11g network, the system maintains a link out to
about 250 ft., however this will vary depending on the router you use and the network type. Only
thing that is a downside to this card is the abundance of heat it produces, which was mentioned previously.

== Webcam ==​

Largely the webcam is unremarkable. While it does have fairly decent color representation, quick
motion does produce a lot of blur. I also believe that the camera may be a fixed focus type. Many
notebooks have poor cameras , so it's not particularly surprising. The colors are better than that of the
Sager NP9262 camera, which has similar specs, so that's a minor improvement. Most mid to high end
cell phone cameras would probably best this built in webcam.

== Battery ==​

Battery life on the NP5797 is surprising long with light use. A full two hours and seven minutes
was observed before the system shuts itself off. “Light use” in this context meaning web browsing
on wireless, document editing, watching Internet videos, and similar tasks. Physically the battery
is small for a laptop of this size, which helps lessen the overall weight.

Picture of the 5797 battery:

== OS & Software ==​

Being that this system was purchased without an operating system, firsthand accounts of how the
preloaded software functions was not possible. The system seems to operate properly once Windows
XP Home is installed, provided that proper XP drivers are obtained from the Sager computer website.
While you do receive a system utilities and driver CD, as well as a copy of the Nvidia PhysX game
Crazy Machines 2, the Bluetooth software included is only a trial version. This trialware is locked at a
5 MB transfer limitation. By contrast, an older Sager NP9262 comes with a full version of the same
Bluetooth software. The trialware isn't required to operate the Bluetooth, as it is recognized in
Windows and installed, but the 3rd party program is far easier to use. Why you are stuck with trialware
when you should be getting a full version for such a basic system feature, is very odd and slightly
annoying.

== Customer Support ==​

Since the laptop was purchased through PCTorque.com, most customer service and communication
has to go back to them. However it's been shown where resellers (such as PCTorque and XoticPC
among others) will refer the system owner to Sager directly for some issues or repairs. So you have two
different groups to deal with.

PCTorque's sales and service as of this writing has been somewhat of a mixed bag.

Originally contacted PCT concerning a price match by E-mail before purchasing the system,
which was replied to in a normal amount of time. Placed an order for the new 5797 on the
16th of March, which as their website listed at the time as shipping within 3 business days.

About a week after my order placed I sent an e-mail asking about my status after the funds had
already cleared. They sent an E-mail back the next day, and to summarize, said Sager was
expecting all new systems to go out at the end of March or early April, and I'd have to be
patient. They promised to send the tracking number as soon as they received it.

During the last week of March I called them to get an update on my order, again they said
they'd promise to send me the tracking number as soon as the unit shipped. At the time,
there was no mention of the graphics card being the actual issue that was holding up the
systems. The problem was that Nvidia had not shipped the cards, and thusly the laptop
kits were delayed getting in to all the resellers. This I had to find out for myself.

I waited until after I heard many people on the NotebookReview forums saying that their
new Sager units from Xotic were shipping and called PCTorque again. Suddenly they say
my unit had shipped 3 days ago on the 8th of April, did I want the tracking number? I said
I'd prefer it by e-mail. They said they'd send it over immediately. I waited a bit more than
an hour, then sent a request by email for the tracking number. About half an hour to an
hour later it came in to my mailbox.

Talking over the phone usually goes through Ben Shtavinski, as do most E-mails. Typically
over the phone he is cordial enough and trying to be helpful. While I have no ill will towards
other ethnicities, it is a bit difficult to understand Ben due to his low voice and accent. This
combined with the lack of communication (i.e. me having to go to extra effort to stay
informed about my purchase), delayed communication, and PCT not sending the tracking
number right away as they had promised, leaves me with an uneasy feeling about having
to get support from them in the future.

What is more troublesome, is that several other PCT Sager owners have started reporting similar
circumstances with their purchases. A NBR thread
here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=371935
is the most recent account of these reviews as of this writing.

As for Sager themselves, who is the other half of the customer support equation; much like
PCT, users out of the United States are not having many positive things to say. While their
systems are great for performance, their customer service department leaves you feeling like
just another number. While they also have customer service staff with heavy accents, Sager
excels in making you feel they truly personally do not care about your problems. It's a very
hollow, mechanical, and irritating relationship at times, even if the original problem is
resolved adequately.

So what it boils down to is that the Sager resellers handle the customer support, while Sager
does the major repairs and actual shipping out of the systems. In conclusion, if I had to do it
all over again, I probably would try PowerNotebooks.com, or XoticPC once more for my
U.S.A. based Sager purchases.

== Conclusion ==​

In conclusion, I believe that the 5797 is a performance machine with a lot of value for the price.
If you're constantly mobile and need the computing power to go away with you, then you can take
a hard look at the NP5797. However I do believe this is a niche system, primarily for enthusiasts.
Most “at home” gamers and non-hardware performance geeks may be better off spending the same
amount on a Intel i7 based desktop system if they are upgrading, and then getting a mid range laptop
for mobile usage. The largest single flaw of the system is the keyboard. However, the only way to tell
if you are able to handle it's quirks is to buy a system and test it out.

Pro's:
Upgradability.
Price vs. component value on NP5793.
Additional ports such as 1 x USB, HDMI, and eSATA vs. 5793.
Attractive appearance.
Stable chassis construction.
Screen quality and vibrancy.
Touchpad.
Battery life.
Performance in gaming and processing.

Con's:
Weak microphone.
Lack of low resolution display options.
Speakers are side firing (although it can be overcome with an additional purchase or plug-ins).
Heat/noise for sensitive people.
Keyboard overall.
Weak mouse clickers.
Bundled trial version of Bluetooth software instead of the full version.
Sager customer relations.

== Reviewer's Addendum ==​

Adding on the review above, there were some special requests and further information that could
help a potential buyer with their difficult decision.

Unboxing Gallery & Notes -

Unboxing images are in order.



The “deluxe case” the 5797 comes with really isn't much to speak of. It would be ok until you could
purchase a better bag or case, but otherwise I wouldn't use it for anything more than accessories.

Top Open:



Back:



Front:



Accessory Kit:



Power Cord and VGA Adapter:



System Discs:



Laptop on Open:




General System Gallery -

Images are in no particular order.

Screen at full brightness.


Screen at lowest brightness settings:



General laptop images:




Technical Images -

BIOS screens:



Interior of the system:




Screen comparison with a matte Dell Inspiron 6000 -

Notice the difference in brightness, color quality, reflection, and sharpness.



The “Rubber Band Mod” -

The rubber band mod, as was mentioned in the article above, is where you attempt to help support
the poor keyboard mounting system by placing cut rubber bands under the keyboard.
These images should be illustrative of what is done to complete the “mod.”



Kinsington Contour Laptop Bags -

I was asked for impressions of the Kinsington Contour bags that I own and if the NP5797 would fit.
Well let me say that I've got nothing but good remarks on the Contour Roller that I use.
It's has many pockets, it's still almost like new even after 4 years of use, it can hold more
than it should be stuffed with while still not causing additional stress on the
holder, and it works. It's not flashy, and it falls more towards the business end
of the laptop bag spectrum, but the design is very good. While it can turn from a
carry bag into a roll-a-bout in the time it takes to read this sentence, the best feature
is the contour of the back side of the bag and it's handles.

Since the back of the back is shaped in an arc, while you are carrying it, the case
doesn't beat up against you leg while walking. This is a huge help when you're
traveling or just hate getting bruised kneecaps from your luggage. The other half
if this is the bag handles, which are offset and fit together when lifted. Since they
are offset, the bag weight feels less heavy and is less of a strain to haul around.
The shoulder strap is made of a typical materials up until it gets to the section that
sits on your arm, there it becomes a stretchy but durable squishy rubber which
also helps cushion the load.

I've packed my bag with 3 full size external hard drives, various cables, spare
storage media, all the power adapters and cables, paperwork, clipboards, various
blank media, pens, pencils, cards, a laptop, and other minor items, for a
load weighing around 35 pounds. Carrying it around felt more like 10 pounds.

The durability as mentioned is quite good being that the bags are made out of
something akin to a coated vinyl mesh, double sewn nylon straps, and heavy
duty zippers with metal buckles and clasps. I've put it through cross country
road trips, and multiple airports, and it still has no rips, tears, or otherwise.

Last noteworthy item, is that the Contour Roller fits the 5797 and it is snug in
the included interior cushion.



The NP9262 (one laptop class up from the 5797) will fit in the Contour Overnight Roller
case once the interior cushion is zipped out and removed. A laptop sleeve, such as
the Targus “CVR217 17” Laptop Slip Case” can then be used to replace the
cushioning. Due to the size and weight of the 9262, that's saying something about
the case's ability to contain a laptop.

Some case images:




Sager NP9262 vs. NP 5797 -

For this section I will not be discussing benchmarks. Mainly because comparing a quad core system
with 8800m GTX and a dual core system with the GTX 280m would be like analyzing apples and oranges.
This will be purely a design and impressions review.

First off, we have some size comparisons between the two units.






Ultimately the 5797 wins over the 9262 here due to weight, height, and overall size.

Here are some dimensions for the curious.

NP5797 Closed
15 and 5/8ths wide x 11 long x 2 and 1/8 inches thick.

NP5797 Open
Top to bottom it is 12.5 inches tall.

NP9262 Closed
15 and 5/8ths wide x 11 and 7/8ths long x 2.5 inches thick.

NP9262 Open
Top to bottom it's 13 and 5/8ths tall.

Some short thoughts on the design of the systems as they compare:

Keyboards are nearly identical, as are the trackpads, however the 9262 has a superior support
plate for the keyboard so there is no flex.

The mouse clickers are very stiff on the 9262 due to them being joined in the middle, however
I believe they are a improvement over the 5797 buttons.

No fingerprint device is present on the 9262.

The screen is more flexible on the 9262, but both units have no noticeable flex to their bases.

System status lights on the 5797 are not in a “normal” position as is on the 9262.

While the 9262 has a body largely composed of a steel frame which provides strength, it also
is considerably more heavy than the 5797. There are many grooves and holes on the 9262 which
catch dust and other particles, so it gets dirty rather quickly.

The integrated webcam on the 9262 has a very yellow or brown output, where the 5797 is far
more white and natural looking. Quality and speed recognition on both are roughly the same.

Ethernet and modem ports on both units are in a side position, which is not practical except if you
are constantly hooking and unhooking from a desk setup. Rear mounted ports would keep another
wire out of the way of the user.

The 5797 does not have a PS/2 port for legacy mice or keyboard peripherals, as the 9262 contains.
There also is no DVI / S-Video ports on the 5797 to speak of.

HDMI/USB port on the 5797 is somewhat stiff to push a plug into, where this is not an issue on the
9262 since all ports are individual and separate.

Screen latches on the 9262 have heavier quality springs than the 5797, but the lid lock on the 5797
is a nice offsetting feature.

The 9262 has about one and a half hours of battery life, while the 5797 shows two hours and seven
minutes total run time with light use.

Speaker volume on the 5797 goes lower than the 9262 before cutting off (muted) by using the keyboard
controls. However the volume on the 9262 is louder than the 5797 using those same buttons.
If the Windows volume control panel is used, both systems
have the same minimum and maximum volume output.

The 5797's sound is more of an open or virtual stadium surround mode, whereas the 9262 is more
like direct stereo.

Speaking of power bricks, the 9262 power adapter is larger and has a shorter cord than the 5797 adapter.
The 9262's cord length is 18 inches less than a 12 ft. 5797 power adapter.
Considering weight, the 9262 brick tips the scale at 3 pounds 1 ounce, while the 5797 is roughly
half that at 1 pound 13 ounces.

A couple photos of the power adapters:



Now the real shocker here, is the difference in screen quality.
These pictures should speak for themselves, but in every test the 5797 is brighter than the 9262.

Bright wallpaper color test:


Dim wallpaper color test:


Pure white brightness test:


Side comparison:



So unless you absolutely must have either the strong frame build, the additional hard drive
capability, or the dual graphics card performance of the 9262, the end result is this. The
NP5797 beats the NP9262 in terms of value, size, screen brightness, cord length, battery life,
and webcam color representation.

Where the 5797 falls to the 9262, other than in the performance categories, is in the mouse buttons,
the keyboard, multimedia ports and placement, and screen latches.


This is the end of the review.

 

please give us a crysis/warhead/farcry2 benchmarks

Warm Regards




A Falling Cat named Spangky

9 Lives only

 

Do the demos of said software have benchmarks I can run for you?
I'm pretty much limited to free/trialware.

About to try and install XP since it's OS-less.

 

yes the demo has a built in benchmarking engine I think

To run the built in benchmark in the Crysis demo, run the batfile "Benchmark_GPU.bat" in the folder "Electronic Arts\Crytek\Crysis SP Demo\Bin32\Bin64\"

Regards

A Falling Cat named Spangky

9 Lives only

 

Sweet! 8662 and now this!? it's like xmas all over again

 

more like 4th of July ...






A Falling Cat named Spangky

9 Lives only

 

Nice...enjoy your laptop...I am still thinking about which one would be better to get, the NP8662 or the 5797...sighs.

Also, since the experience from the NP8662 benchmark thread, I honestly think you should try to enjoy ur laptop first and then post some results.

Cheers,

 

Ok (says a prayer of thanks) figured out how to get XP to get to the setup screen without crashing... the bios is set by default to Vista... have to change that.

Got a question though... the system already has a C partition with 75 MB used.

With it being factory fresh, anyone have an educated opinion if it is safe to delete and just continue... or is there something on there I might need?

I'll post specs in a bit.

Edit - oh yeah... no dead pixels that I can tell *whew!*

 

Sounds like it might possibly be a recovery partition - I'd call up your reseller first and ask them what's on that partition (if you can't inspect the partition directly). If you can't get access to that partition with the drive in the system, I'd pull it, put it in an external enclosure, and then hook it up to another computer to see what's in that partition.

 

They are closed atm (pct) and our communication hasn't been going so well as detailed elseware.

What's worse case if I just delete it or set up another partition and delete C afterwards.... swapping the letters back over later?

Not that it probably matters, but it is a fat32 partition.
Other than the fact it's disk 0 on id 0 and atapi [mbr]

With the 75 mb used... that's all the info it provides.

 

god this is such a teaser

 

Well I waited a month... and am looking at XP setup screen contemplating which way to go.. so I got the "feel your pain" thing down.

 

If it's FAT32 then it's quite likely a "hidden" recovery partition of some sort. I wouldn't delete it until you know what's in it and you're sure you don't need it - until then, I'd set up another partition (your hdd ought to have enough room left over even with 75MB in this partition, right ) and run in that until I had a chance to figure out exactly what was in that partition.

Did you request any sort of recovery solution from the reseller when you purchased the system?

 

this is killing me! im refreshing this topic over and over again hoping for a pic or something.. calm down.. calm down.. your da man JGZinv! take your time. All good things takes time

 

I'm working on the pics.. got about 30 of em and I'm not done by any means.

Shyster - nope... I'm a nerd, don't need any prefabricated recovery junk ^_^

I'll go ahead with the separate partition... at least until I can figure out what is in there. I'm not fond of having C used by... "something."

 

Fair enough - I don't like prefabbed "recovery" solutions, either (mainly because they're usually not much of a solution at all); however, deleting something, particularly something hidden, before you know what's being hidden, is not a great policy either.

 

Well on further examination... I don't have a choice.
Windows will not allow me to make a new partition (option C),
so I'm forced to use the existing... of which I can format to ntfs, convert to ntfs, or keep it as fat32 and stick xp on there.

No matter which way I go, it's very likely to screw up whatever is on there.
So it comes down to format and start clean, or install on top of. 79mb might be drivers or something small...

As much as I don't like it either, clean sounds like the best route.
I'm working on the pics so I'll watch for a reply if you've got a counter suggestion before I mess with it again.

 

Won't let you? How many partitions on on there already?

 

One... here's a pic of the screen.
It says to press C to create a partition, but I'd say everything is allocated
to C.. so there's nothing it can create from.


Also I have updated the first post with the first round of images.

 

Thanks for the pictures! Rep for you.

Duane

 

those are amazing shots! thanks man

now you know what you need to do right? BENCHMARK it baby

 

Thanks. I plan on doing a side by side with the 9262, a sony lcd, and my Inspiron 6000 later on.

Write up review will be once I've got it up and going on XP and some programs.
Right now it's kinda hard to review a big bright paperweight.

 

Very nice. I enjoyed the color comparison and I appreciate your effort.

Would you please take a pic of the lid, once you've removed the plastic?

 

Sure... just as an update.. I'm using the Ultimate Boot CD to try and figure out what the deal is with the weird partition.

Right now, looks like nothing is on it despite what XP thinks.
Going to run a couple more scans and see if it can be worked around, otherwise I'm going to just wipe it.

I'll have some additional parts to my reviews too, beyond the 9262, etc.

Can a mod change the title of the thread please?
I adjusted the first post but the thread title did not reflect the edit.
Thanks.

 

Send a PM to Gophn to get that changed.

When you get a chance, would you confirm whether your Nvidia Forceware is version 179.27?

 

Yeah... I'll be on this for a while tonight. Once I get XP up I'll have more info.

UBCD revealed nothing more than used space and a text file on the partition.
So it's about to be wiped... wish me luck. ^_^

 

Title changed.

Is that title good enough, very simple and straight forward.

 

Sent you a PM Gophn.

Kevin - I got the system running on XP (small cheer of victory)
but even after installing all the available drivers. I don't see any Forceware.

The standard Nvidia control panel and so forth is there. The driver for the 280M GTX lists as a 6.14.11.7927 12/5/2008

Also anyone got some good suggestions on how to combat the lack of being able to lower the screen resolution. I feel like things have been cut in half going from 1280x800 to 1680x1050 and it doesn't downscale well at all.

 

Nvidia drivers is "Forceware"

Using the stock Clevo drivers (from Sager, Pro-Star, etc) is good since its probably the most stable.

you can also try the official 179.48 if you want:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winxp_179.48_beta.html

 

Working on getting the wireless card going atm, since evidently that wasn't on the drivers cd. Will test those out shortly.

 

thanks for this post have been feverishly checking this site for any news on the sager 5797.
I ordered the xxodd m570tu-2 which is = as this notebook so please bench/review would like to read that while I wait lol.
Btw. I heared different things about the memory upgradeability I somewhere read it could be upgraded up to 8gb ddr3 and others have said 4gb ddr3 anyone know what's up with that?
thnx again

 

Here is my first shot at 3d Mark 06 with the drivers it shipped with (6.14.11.7927)

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=10657923

The only oddity is that the 8 Triangles test sucked at 11.6 MTriangles/s as compared to my 8400M GS that hit 26.0 MTriangles/s.

So I'll chalk that up to a driver issue and I'll be trying out a new driver today. Any suggestions?

Dave

 

hmm I can't see your 3dmark score in that link could you take a pic/screengrab pls?
btw it would be interesting to see different benches of the same machine but with different setups here is what I ordered:

XXODD XNi570tu-2 17” (1920x1200)
nVIDIA GeForce GTX280m 1GB GDDR3
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2,80GHz, 1066Mhz, 6Mb)
4GB DDR3 1066MHz geheugen (2x 2GB)
320GB SATA harde schijf 7200RPM (16Mb cache)
4GB Intel Turbo Memory module
Intel 5100AGN 300Mbps WLAN

 

I can see them. and they are very good results for a single card!
Congrats!
(Even if it does say Nvidia 180M Gtx...)

 

Oh Im a retard yeah I see em too.
sorry and thnx

 

I put a note in the results to indicate its not the 180M.

 

I expected a bit higher around 13k compared to NP8662 (3dmark 10,493) with a slower cpu and gpu.
Must be a driver thing atm but still the score is quite nice

 

Sort of a sound off on what is working:

Win XP - up
280m GTX stock Forceware - up
Internal intel 5300 wifi - up
Intenal LAN adapter - up
Fingerprinter reader - up
Camera - up
Mouse - up
Hard drive - up (not installed matrix storage manager though)
DVD/CD drive - up
Sound system - up
USB ports - up

Haven't checked on -
Any other ports.
Bluetooth.
Other software.
Benchmarks
Screen resolution related tweaks

I'll try and get a pic of the video card and the lid as was requested before I leave out this afternoon, won't be back in till about 10 pm est. Just to let those refreshing this thread know you can take a break and get some lunch ^_^

Edit - New images are in the first post.
I did not take the heatsink off the GPU as I'm really not feeling that bold to mess with it.
It if ain't broke, don't mess with it - in a sense.

Someone else might show off the card in their unit, but this should at least tell
you it is/is not going to fit in the 9262 perhaps.

 

I just bought a NP5797 w/ these specs...

1 x NP5797
- Chassis Color: Orange Trim
- Display: 17" Wide Viewing Angles WSXGA+ LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1680 x 1050)
- Processor: 45nm Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9550 / 6MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB[+$130.00]
- Video & Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M Graphics with 1GB DDR3 Video Memory
- Operating System: Genuine MS Windows® XP Professional[+$45.00]
- Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 2 X 2048MB[+$50.00]
- Primary Hard Disk Drive: 320GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive[+$45.00]
- Optical Drive: 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
- Wireless Network Card: Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300AGN - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR Module
- Primary Battery: Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
- Integrated Security Device: Fingerprint Reader
- Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office Ready with Free 60-Day Trial
- Warranty: Sager 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty with Three-Day Shipping Both Ways Paid
- Carrying Bag: Standard Carrying Bag
$2,069.00

Definitely excited for it. That is the reason that I had gotten Windows Xp, is that the CMOS can be updated more easily to Vista, but not so down to Xp. How did you get it to do that? Please let me know. Way excited to get this laptop, should be here within a week, but was on pre-order for almost a month. Sounds like it is going to be worth it by far! Thanks for the pics.

 

Considering you ordered the system with XP, you likely won't have to do any configuring. It'll already be installed.

Anyway, if you go back to the first post I showed in a picture towards the end which BIOS setting I had to change from Vista to XP in order to get it to load the install disc. Also had to format over a weird partition that was using 75 MB of space.

...and for those just joining us again, I updated the first post with inside pics and laptop lid post shipping plastic.

 

Ok, didn't know that it would be that easy. I've never seen Phoenix BIOS have that option before, but it sure does help!

Appreciate you submitting this excellent review. It sure does make me excited to receive mine, which should be only around a few more days. Cheers.

 

Hello everyone,
I have a question in relation to the NP5797.

Question one: Is the processor upgradeable? Is the CPU soldered to the motherboard, or able to be removed? Reason I ask this is because I would like to purchase the laptop with the lowest processor, buy the QX9300 separate, and way cheaper than what Sager would charge; and install it and sell the old processor.

Question two: Does the motherboard support anything higher than the DDR3 1066, or does it support DDR3 1600 or anything above?

Question three: Does the motherboard have set timings that it supports? I.E. the timings on the DDR3 1066 are the max the board supports?

Question four: What is your average battery life you get with all your settings set to maximum performance?

Question five: What is the average operating temp “in Celsius”?

Question six: What is the average temp under 100% load, I.E. when benchmarking “in Celsius”?

Thank you for your time and effort in answering my questions. I am looking to purchase the best laptop Sager has to offer so I am trying to get all my questions answered ahead of time.

V/R
Rob

 

1. Yes 100% upgradeable. Not soldered.

2. No. Anything higher than 1066 will downclock to 1066.

3. See above I think?

4.-6. Can't answer.

 

Here is some more information.

I'm running full CPU overclock, 2 instances of Folding@home (CPU & GPU), and the CPU temps are between 60-70 C and the gpu is at 71 C. Idle temps have been way way low, like 26 C, lower than my 13' Sony SZ650N/C.

 

I'm going to have more review yet, so I'm not done by a long shot.
Still don't have programs loaded so can't tell you on the temps yet.

I did notice that after about 7 hours at idle speeds waiting to figure out
if I was going to load windows, it was no louder than my dell. Also there's was no discernible heat.

Now once I got XP on there, all the components of course fired up and after about half an hour sitting in my lap the fans started cycling every few minutes. The right hand palm rest from the trackpad to the stickers got warm. After taking it apart... I'm a little surprised because I thought the HD was there... but it's actually center. So really there's only the wireless card and the CPU more in that general area.

Regardless, it's not a "bad warm," just a "hey dummy you've got a 17 inch powerhouse laptop in your lap with the intakes partially blocked" kind of reminder. Certainly not as warm as the 9262 palmrest under no load.. which is a lot hotter.

I'd consider if you've got the funds.. a cooler would probably be a good buy as long as you could plug it in by USB and AC, and it would be designed for lap use. The laptop isn't the problem here... more the ergonomics of trying to hold it on a odd surface (legs), and not causing it undue stress. You really a better off with some kind of flat object under it if it is going to be in your lap.

One reason I say this is that the laptop with the screen and heatsinks, plus the fact it is fatter in the rear than the front... is butt heavy. So it naturally wants to tilt backward as one big piece if you don't have your legs flat.

But I'll bring this up again when I do the writeup.

 

from another thread, temps were 40 for the CPU and 73 for the GPU while running the crysis benchmarks

 

So is the ram upgradeable to 8gb ddr3 or 4? heard mixed reports.

 

the M570ETU can go up to 16GB of DDR3 ... but 8GB sticks are not available yet.

 

so this laptop WILL support a 6GB x1 DDR3 module correct? Only problem is windows is not able to utilize anything greater than 6.7GB?

So anything after that would be throwing money away correct?

 

I think 64bit Windows can utilize more than 6.7GB RAM.