Sager vs. Dell

xps or 5720?

 

sager..
..

 

Really general question.

Sager is superior - better design, quality, screen, performance, etc.

The only thing the Dell has going for it is price.

Chaz

 

Well, this is kind of a loaded question when you put it on the Sager forum of course people are going to say Sager. Put it in the Dell forum and they will say Dell. I personally like the Sager for the same reasons Chaz has stated.

 

Without knowing a budget, etc. it is hard to recommend anything . . you might try completing the FAQ so we can give more specific recommendations in the What to Buy Forum.

Chaz

 

Well not all Dell people will say Dell...personally I think Sager is great, Dell is better on price. So if you say that you can afford a Sager, I say go for it.

I was looking at Sager before I bought the cheaper Dell.

Sager rocks!

 

The Sager will be better in the long run... But I love the lights on the XPS, no other comp. on the market looks like the XPS with its lights flashing. So if you like unique stuff the Dell would be good. The Sager looks more business, so if you're taking it to meetings it'd be better, don't want anyone having a seizure during said meetingfrom the Dell...

 

General Questions

1) What is your budget?

Would like to spend around $1500 - $2000 but I am willing to pay as much as $2500-$3000ish if it is neccasary.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen


3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?

- Gaming and running some art based programs ie Photoshop

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?

- taking it places

5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?

WoW, FEAR, Half-Life 2, OutCry, Doom 3 ect..

6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

-Currently looking at Sager and Dell, but I do not know which company I should chose.

7) How many hours of battery life do you need?

- I use a plug in usually so not a terrific amount

8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?

-online is fine.

9) What country are you buying this in?

- USA

Screen Specifics

10) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?


f. WSXGA+ = Widescreen Super eXtended Graphics Array; 1680x1050;

g. WUXGA = Widescreen Ultra eXtended Graphics Array; 1920x1200;


11) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?

- whatever is better for gaming/true color.

Build Quality and Design

12) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

- Not really, but I would love to have a nice looking laptop.

13) How long do you want this laptop to last?

- 2-3 years

Notebook Components

14) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?

- While I am still trying to determine how much i need, I believe 100 gb should be good.

15) Do you need a DVD, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-R drive?

- DVD-CD/RW... wouldn't mind a DVD-R though


-=======================-

There you are mate... thanks for your info!

 

Sager still. It has the better build quality and the other things stated, and if you get it from www.pctorque.com or www.powernotebooks.com, you will have EXCELLENT customer service.

 

I also recommend the Sager - it just has a wonderful case design, in addition to top-notch components and a beautiful display. We have a review of the Sager here:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2758

Now, you can get an XPS for around $1,600, but it doesn't match up to the 5720.

If you wait a month (not sure you want to), then the dual-core version of the 5720 will be out.

Chaz

 

The only advantage of the Dell over the Sager that I see is... The customizable LED lights, and the price, of course, but for worse performance and worse build quality... It's not worth it if you can afford the sager.

 

funny this thread should start here...just got my wife the 2.0 PM M170 with the 120Gb sata, xppro, office basic and 1gb and 4 yr completecare all for $2179 including tax last friday. it's hard to beat dell when they have a coupon going along with the huge drop in prices.

One thing that is STRONG with Dell is their warranty and adp from day 1 (abliet you have to deal with the indians). With sager you have to ship the unit back to the factory for RMA repairs while dell is at home so you don't have to go thru the BS with de-personalization with your notebook and coughing up the shipping cost and then when it comes back, to personalize it again.

I should now cause my 9750 is RMA at Sager for some nasty issues that has cropped up.

 

Hey Albsterama. Sorry to see you had to RMA the new 9750. What happened?!

 

hey rob..

it started developing random freezing. as you know, i run my notebook 24x7 and after a cold boot, it would be fine for about 2 or 3 days and then it would freeze. In the Event Viewer, i would find these "fault bucket" errors and it got to a point where if I click on the event link, the event viewer program would not respond. also, i started having battery leak where the battery would suddenly be charging eventhough its never been on battery.

So short of rebuilding XP again, i talked to Allen down at Sager and we arranged an RMA so they can replace the battery and then run a full diagnostics on the mobo and power circuitry and also i requested they run my machine 24x7 for a week to make sure the freeze issue is gone.

I'm bummed but it kinda makes you appreciate how good the on-site warranty is as versus RMA the units back, especially to ensure you control the data on your harddisk.

 

I'm sorry to hear about this, but it sounds like you're getting good responsiveness from Sager. Hopefully, they'll have you all fixed up in no time. Do let us know how it comes out.

 

Okay..got an update from Allen at Sager, they're replacing my mobo so i was not on drugs when i said it froze, battery losing power etc. Should be back here next week and i will re-run my tests. I also asked Allen about the mem speed issue and he said he checked that as well...wow...sager is pretty good.

Will let you guys know how it all goes !

 

It is reassuring to see that Sager is responding to each of the issues you pointed out to them. And all things considered, the anticipated overall turnaround time doesn't look too bad.

Since this thread is about Sager and Dell: I have never had to work with Dell customer service or technical service, but people close to me have. Their experiences haven't been great.

 

Ratings via Reselleratings.com as of 04/04/06

Company Name: 6mth Rating/Lifetime Rating

Alienware ---------- 5.89/7.33
Dell ----------------- 2.75/4.37
Discountlaptops ---- 9.89/9.98
Falcon Northwest - NA/8.75
Hypersonic--------- 6.19/8.45
ISTNC -------------- 9.79/9.95
PCTorque ---------- 10.0/9.93
PowerNotebooks --- 10.0/9.99
Sager --------------- 6.67/5.0
VoodooPC ---------- 8.91/9.53



From what I have heard and read.
Dell Customer Support is not very good
Sager support is just slightly better.
But if you want the best support from Sager, it is best to buy your Sager from PCTorque, Discountlaptops or Powernotebooks or other resellers.

 

The interesting part about the ratings is that it looks like the boutique companies do much better. Personally, I don't go by resellers rating. I've had both great Dell CS even with the Indians (since i've owned 3 dell inspirons in my life and a 4th is coming) as well and my experience with Sager was very good as well - but considering who i knew i was dealing with at Sager.

IMO, I think its luck of the draw, you may still get some numnutz in various companies but the key is to document the calls: time, who you talked with and emails.

 

My reseller rating theory:

It would seem to me at least that resellerratings is not as reliable as it could be because of the people that visit and use the site. Many people will only review if thier is a problem. Let's face it your average Dell buyer doesn't even have a clue what resellerating is and the few that do rate Dell there are likely either informed and did thier research or people surfing the net after having a problem.

Alienware's customers typically expect more and may or may not have any real knowledge of how to get through things themselves that do not require the product to be rma'd. Now the same can be said for Hypersonic.

The reviewers for PCTorque, Discountlaptops etc are typically the people searching the net for a notebook and are willing to inform themselves and do thier research. Sager, PcTorque or Powernotebooks are hardly household names, they attract those willing to research and would likely fill out are review more than the satisfied Dell customer. To an extent Vodoo and the Falcon fall into the same boat, thier satisfied customers are more likely to review the service and product and not just review if there was a problem.

 

UPDATE: Well, Sager returned my 9750 last Monday and its magnificent. No more freezing and everything is buttery smooth. One other observation is that where there was once a delay between warm boots, like 5 to 30 secs, is now gone or at least cut down to a second now.

I also confirmed with STS that anytime they remove the heatsinks they have to apply the AS5 as a standard procedure, in case those of you wonder if they do or don't.

w00t...

 

Glad to hear you got it back in perfect condition, Albsterama. Also very comforting to hear that it works flawlessly - I haven't had any problems with mine, but if I do, I'm glad to know they do care about customer service.

Applying AS5 . . interesting, and very nice of them indeed.

Chaz

 

We share your relief, Albsterama. Glad you have it back and all is well, or better.

 

Sager Rulezzzzzzzzz Im Getting A Segar Tooooooooo!!!!!

though what is the difference between ASUS and Sager???

 

Sager vs Dell, I would go with Sager. Unfortunately there is no Sager in Asia pacific region.

 

My buddy just received his Dell M170 a week or 2 ago.
After some issues and customer service he received.
He is now in the process of returning his M170 for a full refund ...

So ya, I am awaiting for the US release of the Clevo M570U (aka Sager 5720 Dual Core)