Sager NP7220 First Impressions

We got the NP7220 yesterday for my wife. My laptop is in the sig, so the Compal is my comparison for the Sagar. Because size is important for my impressions below, I'm 6'2" and I have big hands. My wife is half my size with small hands.

NP7220 Specs (not amazingly fast, but not bad): 12.1" WXGA (1280 x 800) "Glossy" / Intel® Mobile (GMA) X4500 w/256MB Dynamic Memory / Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 / 2.26GHz Processor / 1066MHz FSB / 3GB DDR2/800 / 200GB SATA II 3GB/s 7,200 RPM / DVD +/-R/RW CD-R/RW / (MS/MS PRO/SD/MMC) / 802.11B+G

I've added a Kensington Cling2 screen-protector, which I use on my HEL80 and recommend these. Had to use a paper cutter to cut clean edges and make it fit this screen. I also got a Brenthaven Eclipse Sleeve I for it -- recommend it.

This laptop is tiny! My wife wanted something small enough to carry around and loves how small it is compared to my HEL80. The finish is impressive, but honestly worries me a bit because it's got such a high polish. I transport my laptop daily, but my wife won't be moving hers much. So, the polish should be a benefit and not a detriment. The polishing mitt that's included should help with this. This thing is FAST compared to my HEL80. No, I've not tested the battery life yet.

If I say the HEL80 is 10/10 in terms of being well-built, I'd give the Sager an 9/10. Seems a tiny bit more flimsy, but still nothing to complain about and definitely better than the most recent 14" Dell I played with.

The first surprise out of the box was the lack of the firewire port, which was listed as an available port in the specs. The folks at Powernotebooks said this was a typo and are making good by sending an expresscard firewire adapter. Nice support from them if you're considering working with them! They updated the specs on their site, so this shouldn't be a source of confusion for others.

The next surprise came when trying to install WinXP, b/c I promptly got the blue screen of death. Figured out I needed to flip a BIOS switch from Vista to XP. Solved the problem and was flying. Guess I should have read some instructions somewhere, but what self-respecting geek reads?

I use the Targus PA410U Defcon CL and it works very well with my HEL80. I got another one for the NP7220, but it doesn't fit well at all. It seems there may be a design problem with the lock site for the NP7220, because the side of the NP7220 is probably angled 25 degrees of the vertical, with the side pointing down. So, long locks may not fit.

I also got the 8-cell battery, because I was worried about the battery life. There's no way to put this politely. This battery is ugly. It lifts the back of the laptop up about an inch. I'd definitely need to see the 6-cell battery if I were to buy an extended battery again.

Another thing is this keyboard is small. If I were interested in this 12" laptop for myself, I'd be disappointed. Yes, I realize it's a 12" laptop and not my 15" laptop, but I'm glad it's not for me. The "," "." and "/" keys are all half-size, so my paws don't like them. It's getting better as I type, but it's an issue. My wife actually thought the keys were close as well, but her tiny hands are able to adapt well.

So, I'm definitely loving the very impressive performance, build quality, and appearance of the Sanger, but I'll take the size of my Compal over the Sanger.

Hope this helps someone out there.

 

Nicely written uncle SAM, anyway thanks for info.

 

Well done GeneDoc.

+1

 

Could someone enlighten me as to what this means, please?

 

Could you take a pic of the key board? That is one of the things I am concerned about. I am using a 14 incher right now and the keyboard is just about right. Can you make a conparison?

 

Thanks very much for the first impression. Can you comment on the heat and noise of the notebook?

 

http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/images/7220/

Here are the stock pictures. Is there something else you're looking for? I can measure dimensions when I get home from work if that would help.

 

Noise is near-silent. Only time you notice it is when the DVD drive spins up/down, but certainly not unreasonable. The DVD drive is a little louder than my HEL80, but definitely not anything I'd comment on.

Heat is less than my HEL80. As many HEL80 users would attest, the left palm rest gets warm (?hot). I didn't spend as much time typing on the NP7220, but I did check it a few times and it seemed cooler than my HEL80.

As a side note, I use XPads for both computers and they work well: http://www.xpad4laptop.com/

 

Do you think you're able to do a review on notebookreview.com? I'm almost convinced this'll be the notebook I wanna get later on but I wanna know a full review from an owner.

 

Could you take pictures of it and the screen ?

 

Sorry, but time doesn't permit a full review at this time. Also, it's my wife's computer, so my impressions are only second-hand from her. I asked again how it's going and she loves the performance. She said she's making slightly more typos with this keyboard due to the small size, but feels this is improving as she's using it more. I did ask if she's regretting the keyboard size at all, but she said it's only a minor inconvenience and is far outweighed by the overall performance and her enjoyment of it's small size. Personally, the keyboard and screen size on her machine just seems too small compared to my HEL80, but I'm a "bigger is better" guy.

If there's something specific you're interested in, I can ask her about it.

 

Is there something in particular you're interested in that the stock photos don't show? This would help me make sure I got a shot of what you want to see. Also, note I installed the Kensington Cling2 protector on the screen, so it's not a pure screen any longer. Personally, I'd rather protect the screen than get an undoctored image. Regardless, the screen still looks great, even with the Cling2 on it.

 

I got my hands on the Dell 14" laptop you have today and the keyboard for it is very comfortable to my own hands compared to the NP7220. So, if it were for me, I'd go for the 14" form factor over the 12". We'll see what my wife says in the long term in terms of the keyboard.

 

Hi,

I was planning to buy it, so I was wondering if you could help me with two things:

1. Can you post a picture with the 8-cell on?

2. How long does the battery last (4-cell and 8-cell)?

Thanx!

 

Yea, I was a little concerned about the keyboard myself. I have large piano-like hands so it may take some use too. But seeing the stock photos, it seems besides the Function keys, Tab, and Tab, the "," "." "/" keys are the only ones somewhat smaller.

Other than that, are all other keys similar size to full-sized keyboard?

Is the hinge sturdy?

Also, from which website did you buy the notebook at?

 

Quick testing:
4-cell battery
--- DVD movie, full screen brightness => 1 hr 21 min
--- system idle, full screen brightness => 1 hr 47 min

8-cell battery
--- DVD movie, full screen brightness => 2 hr 25 min

I'm not planning on doing more testing here. It takes a lot of time and all will probably show the same thing -- the battery life stinks. Still the only weakness I can point out in this laptop.
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Note using Battery Eater Pro showed me the battery was supposed to be 2400 mAh, but was actually only 2252 mAh.
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EL80 Keyboard
Height (number to spacebar) = 92 mm
Width (Tab to Enter) = 298 mm

NP7220 Keyboard
Height (number to spacebar) = 82 mm
Width (Tab to Enter) = 258 mm