The wait is over

Well the wait was very VERY brief. I ordered my notebook from malibal via bank wire last Saturday, my bank processed the wire and I received notice that my notebook was "paid" and ready to customize on Monday afternoon. On Wednesday I received an email stating that it had been shipped. I go to check out the shipping info and it says "Original scheduled for delivery on 11/7, early delivery rescheduled for 11/3", that's quite unusual for UPS but who am I to argue.

I got it this afternoon and I will be honest here for a moment, so if you don't like honesty, stop reading. First off I want to preface that I'm not a novice, I've been working with computers and technology for around 20 years and know my stuff.

So the first thing I did was unbox it of course, it was packaged in box after box, it was boxception. After I got it out the first thing I noticed was that it's about as heavy as my old XPS 1530 and the same thickness as well. The power brick is also MASSIVE, I don't think it'll fit in my messenger bag anymore.

Next I booted it up and installed windows, this didn't take too long and before you know it I had windows installed. This is where the trouble began, windows did not recognize a SINGLE driver on this system, so I downloaded all the drivers I needed to get rolling (Video and wireless) to a portable harddrive. Installed the wireless driver (Intel 6230). Nothing, I couldn't connect to any networks, maybe it's my password, disable the password on the router, nothing. Check my other devices, two laptops, 1 desktop, 2 cell phones, 2 nooks, and my xbox can connect to the wireless, but this thing can't. Hrm strange, but lets keep moving on, install...nope BSOD. I got three more in the process of trying to get the nvidia drivers installed so I gave up and reinstalled windows.

This time I thought "maybe it was the chipset", so I installed chipset drivers then wireless. Nope not the chipse....bsod, I got two more in a row. Fully frustrated I reinstalled windows for the THIRD time and lo and behold the third time really is the charm, the chipset installed, wireless drivers installed, nvidia drivers installed, rebooted and I had wireless.

I'm still having some issues with my bluetooth, I get my mouse paired (Razer Orochi) and use it for a bit, after about 3-5 minutes the mouse stops working. I have to turn off the bluetooth and turn it back on to get the mouse to work again. I've tested the mouse against two other laptops in the house with bluetooth and they both worked just fine.

I then got as many as , my normal apps installed as I could remember and fired up minecraft. I don't care what games are out, minecraft is a good test for how well your system performs I was able to perform without a single hitch running a 256 texture pack.

I haven't played much for games yet still have a ton installing from steam.

So my thoughts on the build and components. First off you can see what I built in my signature below, additionally I got it without any branding. I REALLY REALLY like the clean look of no branding. There are two stickers, and HDMI and a THX sticker I'd like to get off eventually.

The panel, I had more than one person PM me after my last thread and tell me I made a mistake with the 95% matte panel, wrong I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this panel. It's bright and very crisp, it reminds me of my dell's panel which if I'm not mistaken is an early predecessor to this one. I have zero dead or stuck pixels in this display unit and...well it's just gorgeous.

Build quality, I'm actually very very very disappointed here. The case itself rattles, for example when I'm typing, I'm a fast and furious typer and the panel shakes back and forth (the hinges are stiff but the whole thing still "shakes"), and I get lots of 'clacking' noises of what sounds like parts hitting each other.

The keyboard, I'm not too happy with either, it's a nice chicklet style keyboard but is VERY noisy and you don't get much for response on typing, it's very.....cheap feeling.

The plastic, I'll get used to it in time I'm sure but I don't like the rough plastic feel. It feels "dirty" and the rough sensation of the mouse pad just puts me off completely. I have nerve damage in my right hand from a shoulder injury and this is even worse on me. I'm thinking maybe of getting a skin or something to go over it to take care of the texture.

All in all everything came as ordered, for the components inside I def got what I paid for, a high end laptop with a mediocre build. I was asking myself before this notebook arrived "how do they keep it so cheap" and I am finding out now why.

Please keep in mind that I reserve to change my opinions as I get more used to it, I'm just not used to this style of build/laptop and I'm sure the more I get to work with it, the better I'll feel.

As far as my experiences with Malibal, I recommend them without question, they were very fast, very responsive, and VERY VERY generous with the offers.

 

Well the good news is, I somewhat echo'd many of the negative views expressed in terms on keyboard, build quality, ect the first week of owning my P17HM3, however at week 3, I am now evermore satisfied using this laptop. Though I don't think I will ever get over the noise(vibration) the keyboard makes when typing. I have supplemented with a basic standard desktop keyboard while at my desk, and the stock keyboard is satisfactory for gaming.

I have restricted my desire to voice my full opinion on my laptop yet in a review, primarily due to not having formed a full opinion, however one thing is clear, everyday it gets better. Thanks for your opinion.

 

I have had 2 other laptops and worked on a bunch of others too and I always like an external USB keyboard. That defeats the purpose of the laptop somewhat, but man - i like my fingers close to my shoulders when typing and the screen at least 40cm away.

You are disliking the rough cover of the P151HM? Well, I'd preffer it over my rubberized P150HM. Rubberized finish collects dust like hell and when you clean it, you always wonder if you did in fact clean it all or it just remained.

Here are the laptop surfaces that I like in ascending order (last is best):

-glossy finish (piano lack) BLEAGH!!~ *puke* collects fingerprints and scratches
- silver paint finish UGHHH~~! Gets worn out quickly, looks like a toy to me. Preffering black plastic over painted plastic.
- Rubberized finish Hmmm... still not liking the feel to it, hard to clean, feels really odd
- rough, sandy plastic finish - love this one. I had an ASUS EEEPC 701 in 2008 and I loved the feel to its casing. Easy to clean, hard to damage by scratches, getting a good grip on the chassis....just awesome.


So if I could choose, Id order a P151HM with my current specs. But - cant. I still preffer performance over looks.

 

Yea it's mostly a texture thing. The XPS I had has the rubberized feeling to some of it's surfaces and it stays gross. My left hand is ok with the texture somewhat, I'll get used to it. The texture with my right hand however makes weird sensations due to messed up nerves. This is only when I have inflammation in my shoulder (like I do now) so when the inflammation goes down/away it doesn't feel as bad.

 

I like tactile surfaces. I do not like the shiny plastic of my HP Netbook, or the silvery plastic of the Macbooks. I dislike that strongly...

 

Any fan noise noticable when playing games? It seems there are some problems with the fans on the P170's with the bios, so I was wondering if these had any problems as well.

 

Actually customers that have the latest bios/EC package have reported that the fans are not annoying at all.

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Yes, I agree with Larry, the latest BIOS/EC package hasn't received any complaints for fan speed so far for our customers as well

 

Thanks for the replys guys. Great to hear that this is not an issue. Time to order!

 

I couldn't agree more, still at the end you get an upgradeable system that is very easy to deal with, performs better than most big brand gaming laptops and you get better customer support. I consider the glass half full, but that's just me

Thanks for the honest review!

 

No fan noise at all, actually but then again I haven't been playing much for "intensive games" except minecraft. When playing minecraft on every other system the fan noise ramps up so high that it gets annoying, not so much on the new notebook.

 

@OP
If the keyboard is so bad then surely there is a way or a alternative keyboard that you can get to replace this one you have or Malibal should be able to tell you if there is and at what cost.
This is easy enough to replace on most laptops + might be able to get a backlit keyboard, not sure how the backlit power would work on the Sager's / Clevo's .

 

At this time there is no alternate keyboard for this unit. There is not a 3rd party keyboard for this one too...as well as no backlit one. Sorry.

_

 

get an external logitech or razer keyboard... they have a nice feel to it

 

Yes I love my backlit RAZER.
_

 

I guess I'm the only person that rarely uses his computer with no additional lighting. Although backlit keyboards do look pretty cool

 

Nope, I have never used additional lighting, actually I was one of VERY few people at a recent das keyboard demo that could type over 80wpm with 95% or higher accuracy with the key labels missing.

I probably won't get an external keyboard as this was meant more for taking the system out and playing games while I'm away from home, although when I get my new desk area setup I MAY get a keyboard setup for it. If not I'll get some sort of KVM/synergy setup going.

 

Dominion, how is the noise from this laptop, especially at light loads and boot up? Is it quiet enough to use in a classroom/library?

 

This is the quietest notebook I've used. I barely hear it while playing BF3. You'll hear the fans occasionally but you can't hear them over the light sounds of a lecture or people moving about in the library. I used mine in class with no problems.

 

No, I'm with you. I grew up as a touch typist, so I've never seen reason to need a backlit keyboard. To me, it's just something else to suck down battery life. That said, I do like laptops that have an LED light installed on the bezel at the top of the screen- it makes doing work near the laptop easy in the dark.