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

Thank for the review. I watched a couple of the videos and they looked pretty decent.

 

I'll have the full version up tonight I believe.

Just have to add the notes on the Kinsington bag, the comparison with the 9262 and a big side by side of the different monitors. Should be about 20 pages @ 12pt font. ^_^

 

It is done.. please see the first post.

Only 26 pages long... glad it's over with.

 

gj on the review man.

 

Gj indeed.

 

Thanks all. Sadly the system shall go back despite what I had to say about it.

 

What? You are returning it? Why ?

 

Because the keyboard is a major issue with me. I've got thin, boney fingers, and the resistance of the keyboard is causing me joint pain with regular use.

Yes the machine has a nice screen and plenty of performance. But I can hand build a more powerful i7 desktop, buy the guitar I was looking at, and refurb another laptop I've got, and still have $ left over if I return the thing.

Now I know most people around here just go an buy another keyboard, but that to me is just added expense of which I can't justify... and makes things less portable if I'm going to pack a keyboard everywhere I go.

All this said, I talked with someone other than Ben at PCtorque and he was rather friendly to speak with. They just forwarded me to Sager, who's closed over the weekend though.

 

I'd love to buy your crappy laptop as a refurbished item on some website :S

 

I do indeed wonder what happens to the returned units.
By law they can't sell them as new, so where do they all go?

 

Jesus this has to be the most thorough Written review I have ever seen, I can't even imagine reading it all though!!! Good Job man +++ rep for the effort

 

JGZ!! thanks for the awesome review; your time is appreciated.

this post has me even more anxious in waiting for mine to arrive

 

I'm starting to wonder if I should ever upgrade from my current 9800m GT because I score more than 11 800 in 3DMark06 and get 600 more on SM2.0 and 400 more on SM3.0 than what you're getting with the stock GTX280m.

 

Run Vantage, then your CPU won't be inflating your scores.

 

SM2.0 and SM3.0 scores are almost not affected by CPU performance as long as there isn't any CPU bottleneck.

By the way to the OP, what are your temperatures running that video card?

 

I believe I posted them somewhere in the 280m overclocker's thread.

I no longer have the system, so couldn't tell you now.

 

Wait you don't have the Sager NP5797 anymore??? Didn't you just get it?

 

Gone after two weeks? You bought it just for reviewing purposes?
I would be sad to see such laptop go away this soon.

 

what are your 2.0 and 3.0 scores?

 

5700 and 5600~

OC'd of course

 

No - I was displeased with the keyboard and found I could put
the same funds into different areas and get more out of the situation.

If I bought computers just to review them, not only would it be to my
detriment due to the return shipping, but I'd imagine resellers around the
world would have me on a blacklist.

Nice idea if you're getting paid for it, otherwise impractical (besides informational
purposes).

 

Hey,
How portable(or unportable lol) would you say your 9757 is? I am looking at the NP8662, 9280, and the 9757 as new laptops for college with plenty of gaming muscle while retaining some semblance of portability

 

Carry an 8 pound book around all day and you'll get the idea! I take it to and from work via car, but not for an extended walk, so I can't speak as a city commuter or student. I've used a 12 inch for years as a daily beater and thought that was adequate, here I am now with a 17" and I couldn't settle for less!

 

lets face it...they are all portable..just some are lighter than others is all....

 

1. I don't have mine anymore... so can't say.

2. Look into the Kinsington Contour backpack, if it's like their other bags
I really doubt that you'll feel a difference between the 97 and a 15 incher.

 

Anybody here tested one with the WUXGA screen, I'm on the fence over whether to get the WSXGA or WUXGA; what type of effect would it have on things like games (as in frame rate loss from going with the higher resolution)? And if I get the 1900x1200 and simply turn it down, will it look like crap?

 

once you go WUXGA, you don't go back.

the desktop workspace (real estate) is amazing for doing stuff.

depends on what game, and of course if you increase the resolution, it will push the GPU harder.

And a high-end GPU like a 9800M or GTX 200M can handle the resolutions easily.

leading to...

nope.

if you scale it to the same aspect ratio of the screen, it looks perfectly fine.

These screens are 16:10, so the following are resolutions of the same aspect:

• 1920x1200
• 1680x1050
• 1440x900
• 1280x800

you can scale down to any of those resolutions and you will see any stretches.

 

LCD screens always look best in their native resolution.

 

Well I got my refund back from PCtorque.... except it's minus $40.00

Just sent them an e-mail:

My gut says this isn't going to end well.....

 

I know this isn't in relation to the review/return idea, but how does the integrated TV tuner setup work? I have a 17'' HP with the expresscard tuner, but the I see the port/input cover on some bigger laptops, so can you just plug in coax directly into the laptop? Thanks

 

You end up getting a couple adapters with a system purchase, and that
usually converts over to screw on coax connectors.

 

That is standard policy for, "Free" S&H. When you return/refund the system, the "Free" S&H (contingent on you purchasing and retaining the system), is deducted.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

yeah, what he said.

 

Well considering it's not listed that way in the "full refund" policy....

I didn't pay shipping in the first place..... they are taking it out of the cost of the laptop just to cover themselves, which isn't how that policy reads.

 

taken from their website...
SAGER IS ONLY ABLE TO PROVIDE RETURN SHIPPING TO THE END USER FOR THOSE END USERS WITH AN FPO/APO ADDRESS.

SAGER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT FOR SHIPPING COSTS IF IT IS APPARENT THE PROBLEM IS NOT COVERED BY THIS LIMITED PARTS AND LABOR WARRANTY.

apparently they felt you didn't hold up your end of the bargain...

 

Either way john, I realize how things are written, etc and why.

I'm just saying that to charge me shipping when I didn't pay for shipping supposedly; plus call it a full return policy is rather a crock and it's not written
to cover said costs if they are going to take the low road out.

It's not full reimbursement if they are going to charge you out of the blue for "free" shipping... and it's not stated that "free shipping" falls into that category. If it were paid shipping by the customer, then yeah, it is specifically stated in the policy...yadda yadda etc....

"Free shipping" should be free shipping, and what I paid for the laptop should be returned to me.

It's just really annoying, and changes some plans.

 

well, coming from someone who sells stuff...
free shipping is free if you keep it. but if you return it, your charged. nothing against you, just business.

 

It' always like that, return shipping is always from the buyer's pocket. Feel lucky that you're not being charged a 15-20% restocking fee.

 

Either way that's the same story they came back with.

Just because everyone does it, doesn't mean that it's "right."
The same argument could be applied to a case of rape. Is rape then
ok if you've done it so many times that in your mind it is consensual?

I sell stuff as well on a regular basis, but at least I'm of the mindset
that my word is my bond. If I say something is free, I'm not going to
charge you for it or increase costs somewhere else to hide it.
Evidently the group that believes in operating that way is in the minority now.

It sets a precedent, ex: let you have my car to use "free" for the day and once you get back I hand you a bill for $400 in gas, mileage, and upkeep. Guess you wouldn't be too interested in using my car again would you? (rhetorical)

The costs are not defined at the time of purchase as being part of the notebook, it is defined as separate from the cost of the laptop, and a service that is provided at no cost to the buyer. Now the rules have changed.
Free magically becomes non-free. *shakes head*

My point is simply that it isn't "right" based on the misrepresentation provided by the ad materials and the fine print isn't clearly defined.

You might say $40 isn't worth going after, because it'd cost more to get it back, which is indeed logical. But how many people is this done to though for the amount to add up? 40 x 100 = 4000

I doubt there's a point in continuing this line of conversation though, it's one big loop. Long as the majority continues to accept it, so it shall be. The end.

 

1:yeah, sorry..this is NOTHING LIKE RAPE!
2:you used the computer, maybe you over looked something that happen to it and got charged for it.
3: they already said at their discretion. that covers them regardless. if they want to be cool about it they can and go ahead and refund the 40. or charge you forty for writing a review on their machine, then returning it.
4: it's usually 14 days for a full cash return and after that it's usually a restocking fee or only store credit. be glad you got what you got.
5: and just because you got charged 40 bucks doesn't mean it happens to everyone else. they may have came up with better story than you. who knows.
6: allot of stuff isn't right in the world. and needs to be addressed...and if you think you can get your money...then go for it...else chalk that up as a 40 dollar trial machine. but talking about it here isn't going to get it back now is it? seriously...if your gonna try, then get to upper management. see what they have to say...but get to throwing around threats and attitude will probably get you nothing for the most part......

ps: they also read the forums as well... which can be used to or against your advantage....

 

No, but we are working on it .

 

Why would you want to flash a BIOS meant for a card with fewer shader processors, different memory chips therefore different timings that will probably render your card unstable at best?

 

Because the 280M is not supported in the Clevo D900C but the 9800M GTX is.

 

high 5 there.
hey... justin at xoticpc said he was going to try and put one in a d901c/np9262. i told him i would buy one to try, but he said he would save me the cost and try it himself first.

 

I actually I think the 280M is supported in the D900C. The subsystem of the D900C is in the nvidia infs for the 280M and it won't be there unless they've tried it on the D900C.

If the 280M will fit in the D900C, then the D900C will still remain the king of laptops .

 

Yeah but you might as well run a 9800m GTX in the end? I'm pretty sure that if the 9800m GTX BIOS worked on the GTX280m, it would lock all the extra features of the video card including the extra shader processors etc, wouldn't it?

 

No, it won't. The extra features will remain, it's just the card being reported differently. But we can't be 100%, that's why we need to try.

 

Then what you should try to do is just switching DeviceIDs and the OEM signature to the one of a 9800m GTX, but if you flash a whole 9800m GTX BIOS to it, I have a hard time understanding how it would properly if the BIOS isn't meant to run on that card. Since we're still talking about G92 chips, I guess there could be a chance that it would work, but I'm not convinced at all, so I guess someone could try it...

 

in this case...it might be only a few things changed in it...the temp 90 to 108 and the device id string...i was going to do it, but they said they would test it first in a d901c and let me know...so i dont have to buy it to try it....(speculation of course on the temp/device id stuff) also...all they did was added to lines to the inf as well..no brand new written driver for it....

and as long as someones knows how to blind flash...then there really is no serious risk, only time delay if it goes wrong...

 

John, any news from xoticpc about the gtx 280m in the 901C?