Should I opt for the Clevo W110ER?

Hey there.

I've felt like ripping my hair out with this dilemma.

Essentially, last year, I bought a Dell Vostro 3550 as my first ever laptop. I had a gaming desktop and still do and love it to bits. I can do whatever I want with it and upgrade it. Unfortunately, obviously you can't do this with a laptop.

The Vostro isn't too bad I guess, but there are niggles that have got on my nerves and have driven me mad with it. I'm not particularly fond of it anymore. The specs aren't amazing either. However, I love the keyboard and touchpad as input devices. In fact, they're the two things that make me want to cling onto it.

The Clevo W110ER is the laptop I saw and went: Wow. The amount of power packed into that tiny of a package is silly. I've always wanted something that small that can pack a punch. I was considering an M11x last year and decided not to buy one and they then discontinued the laptop, which threw that idea out of the window altogether. Although the power on the Clevo is perfect, there are a few worries I have.

Firstly, the keyboard and touchpad. I love the one on my Dell and don't want to leave it. The keys are great, the touchpad is massive and uber responsive. The best part about it is the backlighting, so I can use it in the dark. This is my first worry with the Clevo. I think I could deal with the size of the keyboard, but I love my backlight. If I could see the keyboard under very dark conditions using the light from the screen then I think i'd be able to deal with it.

Secondly, battery life. Unfortunately, I've heard it's pretty horrendous on the W110ER. This isn't something I have to worry about with the Vostro. The Vostro will get 7-8 hours without breaking a sweat on power saving mode, doing web browsing and other civilised tasks. If I could get 4-5 hours with some tweaks on the Clevo I'd be happy, but the reported 3.5-4 hours isn't going to cut the cheese.

So, the pros of the Dell? The keyboard, touchpad, design and battery life for me. Otherwise, the build quality is a bit naff, the case flexes a lot even if it is metal in a lot of places. The GPU is not enough for what I tax them through. It's a 6630m which was alright last year but it's already showing it's age. The processor is actually fine, with a meaty 2.7GHz clock, but I'd like a quad for future proofing with my next purchase. The screen on the Vostro is terrible. I could deal with it if there wasn't this horrible line effect that ALL low end Dell laptops are burdoned with seemingly behind the screen. It really sucks and I believe even the little Clevo has a superior screen. Connectivity is fine other than the wireless card which is tempremental at best.

Now onto the W110ER. Specs are amazing, perfect for what I need. Beats the crap out of the Vostro. The screen is better and serves up a far superior DPI which I like. The build quality also looks superior even if it isn't metal construction. However, the keyboard isn't backlit and the touchpad is small with supposedly clicky buttons. The battery life is also meant to be bad, but if I could tweak the crap out of the laptop and squeeze 4-5 hours, please tell me, I can tinker this stuff no problem.

Now for a specs comparison:

Vostro 3550
- Sandybridge Core i7 2620m @ 2.7GHz
- 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
- AMD Radeon 6630m 1GB DDR3
- Backlit keyboard
- Big touchpad
- Very good battery life
- Crap 1366x768 display
- Shoddy build quality
- Blu-Ray Reader
- Finger print scanner

Clevo W110ER

- Ivybridge Core i7 3610qm @ 2.3GHz
- 8GB 1600MHz RAM
- Nvidia GT650m 2GB DDR3
- Non-backlit keyboard - smaller keys
- Small touchpad - clicky buttons
- Decent looking build quality
- Bad battery life

So are there any Clevo owners who would be happy to help me out?

Thanks

- Ross

 

I really want the W110er But the ports on it are awful. No Displayport at all for 120hz and it still comes with a VGA :/ Gonna wait for the refresh praying it comes with a backlit keyboard and I will be buying then.

In the UK they now do the 3632QM which is a 35 watt I7 you would be far better off with that if you can get it for battery life and heat.

 

Honestly, I have no problems with connectivity, I'm actually currently using VGA for my monitor XD Are you an HDMI hater like me? I actually live in the UK, could you point me to where I could get this chip?

I'm doubting that Clevo will actually do a backlit keyboard on the W110ER, I'm surprised there are none on their other models other than right at the top end. If they did and I bought this, I'd rage, majorly. But you've got a nice 'lil M11x for now, which should do you, the 540m is more sufficient than the 6630m and the M11x is a way better system than mine overall.

 

your wish is my command mySN UK | XMG | by Schenker Notebooks - XMG A102 11.6" Notebook 3632QM available now and its cheaper than the 3520 dual core.

i hope this is the model you are talking about. i get so confused with all the worldwide model numbers for the same lappy.

 

I bought the W110ER because i need to travel with it on my motorbike a lot, and my old Asus 15.6 just break my damn neck and the case...

Though I can't say anything about it because I'm waiting for it for like a month already .

But about the output, what where u waiting that a 11.6 laptop would bring? VGA is just there for professional use, since everyone need to connect it to external video projectors, and lot's of them are still VGA only.

Now for the HD resolutions, u have HDMI. Seriously, my samsung LED monitor brings 2 HDMI and 1 VGA, it also doesn't bring the DVI, because it already bring a DVI to HDMI cable which connects an DVI graphic card output to the HDMI input of the screen.


No matter what, DVI is being replaced by HDMI, and VGA "freakin SUCK". I used to be a HDMI hater, but now I prefer to use it, just because it offer the same as the DVI, brings audio and it's more compact and better looking (though I could use an HDMI-HDMI on my desktop GTX570, I still prefer to use the DVI output, but the other end still connects to the HDMI input of my 22 LED samsung monitor).

I used to be a hater too, but not anymore. Why do u even use VGA? (it doesn't support high resolutions and on them they appear with a lot of ghosting and artifacts).

If you were even talking about DVI-D, then it is just the same as the HDMI, but it's bigger, and doesn't bring audio (there's only like one exception that brought audio over dvi).
Keep Cool

 

Ah damn, that's the XMG lol. You can get it waaayyy cheaper from a UK stockist called PCSPECIALIST - Custom PCs, Custom Computers, Custom PC, Desktop PC, Custom Built Computers, Gaming PC. I can get it -VAT so it comes out at like an insane £630, WITH a 2/3 year warranty.

And I hate HDMI because of HDCP and it never god damned works. DVI is perfect, never had any problems with it bugging out on me, whereas HDMI has caused me a plethora of problems. VGA is fine up to the point where other cables are involved. There is 0 quality difference from a good VGA cable, it's just the interference.

I wonder if someone who does have a W110ER will reply xD

 

I do not hate HDMI I just despise it I have a 3D Samsung 27" monitor at home and just want to make use of 120hz because the majority of the time I play League of Legends and with my 540M GT at 1080 it sits at 80-100fps even with high settings and when Karthus decides to be funny my screen gets torn to shreds with 60hz. The W110er with just a Mini DP and a backlit keyboard and I would be so sold but agreed what you say about the M11x it is pro for my needs I can run nearly any game anyway even at 1080p as long I limit the settings and the ULV works its socks off so I need a real reason to move to the Clevo.

If you go W110ER it will be a good purchase but as above do try and go for the 35 watt I7 it does appear the better option and is more than powerful enough PC Specialist is who I usually deal with and they do offer a smashing deal I have only had amazing things from them my last 2 orders so can vouch from my own experience, they also offer the 3632QM and a Matte screen.

Have a chat with Htwingnut and check out his review it covers everything you could possibly want to know.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...er-np6110-clevo-w110er-first-look-review.html

 

read the warranty and then think again.

 

On the other hand I never had problems with HDCP... Even my xbox 360 I could connect HDMI to my old 2006 LG LCD DVI-D without any protection enabling...

Also I just connect anu hdmi to either my tv or my monitor, and they show up right away without ever giving HDCP warning.

And VGA is really bad, it's not goof for 1080p for example and have lot of interference since it's analogic.

Actually, no... Clevo stopped making them with glossy screen, now it comes with matte screen only.

IT SUCKS. I ordered mine with glossy screen from Portugal, but they were out of stock from Clevo and now they said they can only get me one with matte screen .

I hate matte screens, the laptop looks OLD and crappy, and doesn't have the crystal colors. I never use it outside so didn't care for reflections.


My Asus is glossy and never had problems with reflections.
Keep Cool

 

Certain companies can speak to there distributors or clevo themselves and request information on other screens that could be added to the laptop. As far as i know, it comes standard with a matte screen.

11.6" HD/GT, CORE i5-3210M (2.5 GHz), nVIDIA GeForce GT 650M + 2GB GDDR3 with nVIDIA Optimus Technology, 8GB DDR3 1600 SDRAM (2x4G), 500G (7200rpm)SATA, Integrated 1.3M Digital Video Camera, 802.11 B+G+N Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo card, 10/1000 Ethernet, 6 cell 62.16 WH Battery Pack and MS WINDOWS 7 Home Premium.

This is the standard w110er.

upgradable components usually include the i7 3630qm, 16gb of ddr3 memory, and numerous hard drive and wireless/ethernet nic cards.

If you can, contact whomever you are ordering from and request information to see if they can get other screens for your w110er and if it is even possible.

 

Actually you can't, the XMG W110ER is cheaper than PC Specialist and not only on that model but others too. It sometimes depends on what specification you compare, I spent a lot of time looking at several companies before I bought my XMG P502 and mysn were £40 cheaper than PC Specialist with 680M at the time. That's not the only reason I went with them though, price ain't everything.

PC Specialist rip you off with their so called 3 year warranty (to expand on above post). Check this out:

"3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect and Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)"

That's barely the legal definition of a 1 Year Warranty let alone a 3 year one. 3 years labour which is worthless because everyone knows that free labour is a ploy to get sales but you end up paying more for the replacement parts when they fail.

The XMG comes with a full and proper 2 year warranty as standard and you can have matte or glossy panel in the 110ER, don't think the matte is the only factory default.

I guess as far as the OP questions, this is a gaming laptop. Battery power is simply inversely related to the performance of the laptop. It's not horrendous, just a sacrifice you have to make if you want the power!

I don't have one but I have used one and they keyboard is small yes but it's just a case of adapting - your fingers find their mark pretty quickly. I didn't notice the touchpad or buttons being particularly small, though the whole laptop is tiny so I suppose everything is to scale so to speak.

Backlit keyboards rock (thank you P502!!!) but you can type in the dark without one, just need the screen brightness turned up which doesn't do your eyes much good.

 

Look at this and tell me the laptop has bad battery life: AnandTech - AVADirect Clevo P170EM: Has AMD

 

I'm not talking about that warranty I'm talking about the Gold Warranty that gives me 3 years labour, 2 years parts. That's good enough for me and it's only £69. The one on XMG is much more expensive, nearer £160. I guess that's the other thing I'll miss out on without Dell. Very quick 3 year warranty where someone comes out to service my laptop xD Just a shame that happened so much because the laptop is so poorly made!

I think the PC Specialist laptop is cheaper for the spec I'm talking. I want all of the bells and whistles. But if XMG CAN do it cheaper then I'll go for them.

EDIT: Oh yeah! PCSpecialist do the 3632QM now I'll definitely choose lower power consumption vs 100MHz clock. But can you confirm this may improve the battery situation a little?

EDIT 2: Comes to £645 -VAT (Dad can get through his business lol) with 8GB RAM, 650m, 3632QM, 3 Year Gold Warranty. XMG was nearer 1000 with the warranty. No idea if I will even be allowed to get this thing yet, parents are reluctant due to the warranty situation. As far as I know, this should be fine.

 

I have not used XMG but I personally give PC specialist my recommendation, as mentioned they offer the 3632QM and the warranty is nothing to worry about I always went for the 1 year silver for £5 and when I had a dead pixel it was collected next day and returned two days later with a new screen. Everyone has their own experience but mine has been very good and their prices are very fair and they keep you fully up to date with the processing. The 3632QM will draw less power and produce less heat and it is more than powerful enough for an 11 inch laptop this is the first time desktop replacement sized CPU's have fit in something so small.

I also did the finance which was excellent, paid it off for 11 months and then cleared the balance. No different to an interest free credit card for 11 months.

 

I'm getting more and more attatched to the idea. Now I know that I can get slightly less power consumption it tempts me more. I have some people I could sell my Vostro to and likely get around £450-500 for it. I paid £535 last year, so not bad all in all. I will go for the extended insurance though, just in case.

I was looking to see if I could find a solution for the backlit keyboard thing but to no avail lol. One of the best things about the M11x is that simply amazing lighting system. I wish laptops were more customisable and you could swap motherboards and the like into different shells, just like ATX works in desktops.

 

i will explain more as its not until you read between the lines that you can understand what we are on about. just looking at it looks fine.

pcs
3 standard warranty = 1 month collect and return / 1 year parts / 3 years labour
3 years silver warranty = 1 year collect and return / 1 year parts / 3 years labour +£5
3 years gold warranty = 2 years collect and return / 2 years parts / 3 years labour + £69

mySN UK
2 years standard warranty = 2 years collect and return including parts,labour,shipping,support + included
premium 3 years warranty = 3 years collect and return including parts,labour,shipping,support + £84
platinum 4 years warranty = 4 years collect and return including parts,labour,shipping,support + £168

take a look between the two and you will see why paying more is worth much more.

just for an example
you go for pcs gold warranty.
in 2 years 1 month your graphics card dies.
YOU will have to pay the shipping BOTH WAYS and YOU will have to pay (depending on graphics card) the price of the replacement part/s.
they will do all the repairs for free.
so for example courier price each way for a lets say a £1000 laptop is £20 each way and the graphics card is £300 to replace.
that means in 2 years one month YOU will have to pay £340 out of your own pocket.
so in that time you are paying £70 just for the labour.

ive been on this forum for 4 years now. i have no beef at all with pcs but when i see something thats misleading to the average buyer then i speak my mind. us in the uk are ripped off with electrical equipment so if i can save someone the stress of what could happen i will.

nuff said

 

It won't cost £300 for a 650m though... It'll be more like £100 especially in 2 years time. Not to mention I could probably replace the GPU myself anyway...

If you can link me the XMG for a similar price, then please do, but there is NO way I'm paying £1000 for a laptop over £645. I'd rather replace the bits if it's buggered after 2 years. I can deal with that.

I was also looking at SCAN.co.uk, and they offer similar prices, thoughts?

EDIT: Looks like the XMG may be doable for £700, which isn't bad I guess. It just sucks to have to spend the extra amount of money lol. Do they do a pay over time plan? Scan do that and it's quite tempting, but I think Scan's 3 year warranty is extortionate.

 

Like MrDJ said you are comparing a 2 Year warranty from PC Specialist with a 4 year warranty from mysn which is where the £160 you quoted comes from. +£69 from PC Specialist = +£0.00 from mysn (but I think your EDIT acknowledges that).
Best to email mysn and ask them directly.

In the W110ER the 650M is on the mainboard so if that goes you would need to replace the whole board which you probably have to take the whole laptop apart to do. Scan offer extremely limited options, can't see where you upgrade the warranty or the WIFI or half the other components.

 

Looks like you may be right.

I'll have to consider the XMG then it seems. Everyone seems to rate XMG pretty highly. Would I not be better off just going with the free warranty from XMG? If I get the same as with PC Specialist?

 

This does not add up. The PC specialist 1 year collect and return is free and comes with the price it is only +£69 to increase it to 2 years. It is an extra £91 then with mysn compared to Pc Specialist to increase it to 4 years which is a lot in comparison the only saving here would be the £69 Pc Specialist charge which mysn do not and that PCs is only 2 years max. But is the OP really going to want to keep it for longer than 2 years? Personally 2 years is my limit on hardware and the 650M GT with DDR3 will be struggling in 2 years.

Agreed however it is an integrated chip so if it burns out you will need to have a new board unless they solder a new chip on which is unlikely but these are not Nvidia 8 series cards with plastic solder they shouldn't burn out.

 

You get 2 years for free on the XMG site Yiddo. It's £84 to increase it to 3 years. It's about £10-£15 cheaper from XMG with the same 2 year warranty I believe.

I'm so unsure of what to do D;

 

Dunno anything about XMG but it is your choice fella go for the cheapest with the best options. Gonna hold out myself I need that backlit keyboard and DP haha.

 

mysn xmg started trading in 1994 in germany and have grown to be one of if not the biggest bespoke reseller in europe.
as soon as i saw they were expanding to the uk i had no hesitation to part with over £2000 of my hard earned cash for my P502 the day the uk office opened.
thats how much confidence i had in them.

 

I wouldn't hope for any displayport, I guess it COULD come, but the backlit keyboard may be in the pipeline. I just wish I could know now lol. What does your M11x do in terms of connectivity?

And do you reckon the 2 year warranty would be good enough? I mean I've NO idea how long I'll keep this thing, I'm a tech ho and everything seems to be going relatively quickly.

I'm doing a massive desktop rebuild next year, going to Intel Haswell, probably going to go for a GTX 770 or something and I've only had my current Desktop a year and a half, although the parts in the PC are from 2009 because someone built it out of older bits before I knew anything about them whatsoever.

I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S3 and I may even consider selling that up next year, although I doubt it and of course the laptop I currently have has only been here for a year lol.

 

2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, Firewire, Ethernet, 1-9 Media Card, Displayport, HDMI, 3 Audio Sockets. I have no reason to upgrade from this I get 4-5 hours battery easy with the ULV and 540M GT and it runs everything I throw at it at 1080p. It is the only Alienware I would go for however the bells and whistles Alienware software and features only appeal in such a one off as the M11

I am fighting against building a watercooled Bitfenix Prodigy at the moment. Gotta move house first.

 

I got my W110ER from PCSpecialist and other than the delay due to Customs on their side, everything was perfect. As for the lack of backlit keyboard, that is no longer a problem.

You can see how that solution looks on my W110ER, I used smaller sized ones than the OP in that thread.

 

I just ordered some. I was using my W110ER this evening and drove me nuts. All non backlit keyboards should come with some fluorescent paint in the lettering.

 

I was actually thinking about paint or something. Can you post a picture of it or something? I am a little worried about messing the paint up, mind.

And I was looking at the BitFenix Prodigy, it looks spectacular. I just don't think I want to constrict myself to that size of case. I'll probably be sticking with my CM Storm Scout for the time being, although I want to replace the red interior lights with RGB LEDs...

 

Luminous paint :/ that would play havoc with my OCD. I must have backlit lol

 

I do love my backlit, but the laptop is just so crap lol. I think it's mainly the screen that drives me insane. Honestly, I don't know WHAT Dell were thinking. Yes, the W110ER display will be similar in terms of colours and viewing angles, but with a MUCH higher DPI and without ing holo-lines behind the image 24/7.

 

You didn't see the link I posted showing how it looked on my W110ER keyboard. The link to the thread I posted shows how it looks on someone elses W110ER too but they used much bigger letters.

I don't see a need for paint when the stickers are easy to place on, remove and work so well in dimly lit environments even with the screen set to low brightness.

If your question was directed at someone else then please ignore this

Where did you order them from? Both Ebay and their official site is very reliable so I guess it doesn't make much difference. Did you order the US version?

I agree that all non backlit keyboards should come with fluorescent keys but if they did, maybe it could harm potential upgrade sales.

If they released a W110ER upgrade or MK II that was the same but with a backlit keyboard, I would no longer be interested now.

 

Oh wow! I didn't see the link there, it was pretty hard to find XD That's really awesome! I wouldn't want the letters to be that big, nor in that font, but if I could get the right type of sticker that's perfect

EDIT: Oh I see I can get the right size, that's really cool. I actually looked for solutions exactly like this and found nothing, but now, it looks like this will do the job.

Do you know how I might be able to get a more white colour or something? I love the lighting effect just not the colour lol

 

I haven't seen any white coloured ones anywhere that also glow in the dark but if anyone is going to know anything about them, it will be these guys.

Link

I have a suspicion that since the forum update a few months ago, links posted around key words or text are more difficult to see now, or maybe it varies depending on browser.

 

I'm using Google Chrome and you cannot tell the difference until you highlight it. I just didn't think to do so at the time. It's noticeable once the hyperlink has been clicked.

I mean, another less crazy colour would be fine. Even blue or something. Do you reckon they'd do the stickers for a UK keyboard?

 

They do stickers for UK keyboards, that's what I got.

If you google 'Glowing Keyboard Stickers Blue' you will see some or what ever other colour you want. You will just have no idea how good they are unless you can see some reviews but they may be ok.

 

that looks really good LaptopNut, im very impressed. much prefer yours to the larger letters.

i think yellow is the standard and best as its been used for years on signs like fire warning and is the most visible in low light.

are the stickers the size of each key with clear see through around it or is the letter itself only the sticker. must have taken a lot of patients with a small pair of tweezers

 

I'd definitely be willing to use those.

So, do you think it'd be worth going for the XMG with the 2 year warranty as standard?

 

only you can answer that one mate. we are only here to give advise. the final decission will have to be yours.
good luck whoever you choose to buy from.

 

I ordered them on Amazon through the same 4keyboards outfit. I didn't see any white fluorescent stickers, the only reflective ones I could find were yellow.

 

The letter itself was the sticker and each one had a shiny black background, some were a bit bigger than the keys so needed trimming but only if you have ocd. I didn't need to trim any for my P170HM.

Link to P170HM pick here, both pics were before I redid all again to make it even more perfect though.

Each sticker has a protective film over it but would probably look a bit better with a matte background.

I didn't use small tweezers to do the stickers, I just cleaned the keyboard and washed my hands before doing them all by hand. I heard others say they used tweezers though.

 

I also ordered the same (have it already here, waiting for my W110ER to arrive), But it's not as effective as the huge ones the other guy had on his topic pics with FAT LETTERS.

Though they didn't had that for PT layout (i mean with the FAT Letters) .


ps: But I would prefer that those stickers actually glow at night and not just fluorescent...
Keep Cool

 

hold your laptop keyboard under a light for 10 minutes then the stickers will glow for most of the night.

 

I still haven't used them... But they don't look like they charge from light, they are reflective only as far as I know, so you need to increase laptops screen brightness to have it light up .

But I will test later if they really GLOW! (They really reflect a lot and under white light became very fluorescent).

EDIT: They don't GLOW like I was expecting, just tested...
Keep Cool

 

They don't need to be really clear, do they? Just as long as you can see the keys anyway. I mean I can touch type in the dark anyway, but it's much better for finding keys that I'm not totally familiar with. Also allows me to align my fingers in the first instance.

Another question, will an XMG have to go back to Germany to be fixed up? I can see there that the PCSpecialist.co.uk one could be advantageous.

Also, Guily could you post a picture?

 

nope, any xmg lappy that requires repair will be done at the uk office.

 

Ah cool, another bonus

I do like the sound of XMG from how well you rate them. It's time to start taking the buy more seriously and looking into selling my current lappy. Have a friend who'd be interested in paying 470-480 but will not keep my hopes up. I bought it for 535, so only a loss of around £50 xD. That's the power of getting a laptop worth £800 so cheap lol.

It just happened that this years line of parts are significantly better than the last so it dropped in worth a LOT

 

another option for you if your mate doesnt want to buy it is post it on the nbr market place > NBR Marketplace

 

People there are going to know they can get a better price xD

My friends will pay me a good price, but it's getting them to pay in the first place XD

 

These ones glow in the dark and aren't too fat.

Edit: Just noticed a user said his order was missing return, shift and backspace keys. He figured they didn't include them because everyone knows where they are but that would have annoyed me, after all you've payed your money for a full set. Only a missing space key is acceptable to me.

Link

 

I got mine from ebay. It's from the same guy who also sold to the person who posted on the original thread on this forum about a W110ER with glowing stickers in it.

Haven't still got my laptop, but this is what I got:



Don't judge it by the quality of my pics. It have been taken by a Mobile phone and doesn't represent real quality at all.

On real life under white light, they are very, very radioactive green. If you aim a white led torch, it will even make a radioactive green flare around the letters on ur eye.

But sadly they don't glow on night if there's no lights around, though they really look AWESOME.

Of course that ones don't need to be fat... because they actually GLOW without any light source around.

But mines from ebay are reflective only, they don't glow alone, so those ones work better on fat type of letters.


But haven't you bought the same I have? (from ur pictures it looks the same as the one I got).

ps: But that one u sent the link looks great, they actually glow at night. Will try to find a blue one and I may buy it:thumbsup:
Keep Cool