Thinking of a 9262 through XoticPC

First off, have any of you had any experience w/ them and how has it been?

Second, here's my system that i'm thinking of...note that I have been the proud owner of an AW m7700, but just over three years in and it's crapped out four times. I know, it happens, but the customer service there is less than stellar. I had been holding out for the m17x, but this latest hard drive failure in my 7700 plus AW's continuing delay in releasing the m17x has me really leaning towards another Clevo based machine, the 9262. I welcome all insight on this...what does it NOT have that the 17x will (I know I will miss the lighting scheme and touchpad features as well as the general cache of having an Alien)...

Okay, so here's what I'm looking at from XoticPC. I won't post the final price as its flat-out embarassing but it is IN LINE w/ other models of this nature and in the end may be a bit less expensive than the Alien. WHAT IT LACKS? The cache of owning an Alien; the sleek design; the lighted keyboard; the lighting options; the cache of owning an Alien and; most importantly; the cache of owning an Alien...it makes me a bit sad, it honestly does, but I'm just bummed.

Model: Sager 9262 (uses Clevo D900C/D901C motherboard)

Display: 17" WUXGA Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200 native reso)

Color: Arctic Silver

Exterior Finish: Custum Skins and Paint Job (I'm spending a bit here to personalize this thing to take the sting out of not buying an Alien -- if I chicken out, I can save a bit by NOT doing this)

Dead Pixel Policy: Standard 30 day

Processor: Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6700 2.66 GHz w/ 8MB L2 Cache - 1066 MHz FSB (they offered a Dual Core at 2.93 GHz but it was $400 more, only a dual core and only a 4MB cache)

Video Cards: SLI Enabled DUAL PCI-Express nVidia GEForce 8800M GTX (1042 MB Total) w GDDR3 DX10 Video Cards (User Uprgadeable!)

RAM: 4,096 MB DDR2 800 (2 SODIMMS) Dual Channel Memory

Optical Drive: Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/ Software (I don't need a blue ray on my lappy, although its only another $400 to get it).

Primary Hard Drive: 200GB 7200 RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 -- 16 MB Cache)

Secondary Hard Drive: 200GB 7200 RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 -- 16 MB Cache)

Third Hard Drive: 200GB 7200 RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 -- 16 MB Cache)

Raid: Raid 0-Stripe (actually thinking of RAID 5 here, to get redundancy and back-up...but not sure and any thoughts would be helpful!)

2.5" SATA Enclosure and Back-Up: USB 2.0 SATA Aluminum Enclosure + 1600 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive (I need to get into the habit of backing up my saves!)

Memory Card Reader: Internal 7 in 1 card reader

Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR

Wireless: Built In Intel PRO-Wireless 4965 802.11 a/g/n

Camera: Built in 2.0 megapixel Camera

TV Tuner: Built in Multi-regional TV Tuner w/ Remote (Express Card MCE Remote and Receiver)

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi 7.1 Xtreme Audio Notebook Express Card (plus the internal one as standard)

Speakers: Integrated System Speakers

Case: Tripp Lite Corporate To-Load Black Leather Notebook Case

Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery

AC Adapter: Extra Power Brick

Fingerprint Reader: None (only $80, but I worry about it going fudgy)

OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 32/64 Bit Edition w/ Drivers and Utilities CD (MUST REQUEST DUAL BOOT W/ XP, willing to pay extra for that although our tech folks can do it too for free, so maybe I'll hold off)

Warranty: Sager 3 Year Part and Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 Customer Support.


whew...well, whaddya think? I think power wise it rivals (or maybe because it's quad core and future ready) surpasses the m17x.

 

Not bought from them yet, but will in the VERY VERY near future
The staff and the owner himself are too friendly!
And yes, it's a very trustable and well reputed company. See http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Xotic_PC

 

pad11,

I recently bought an np9262 from XoticPC and I'm a very, very satisfied customer.

I got extremely fast delivery and found both their customer service and tech support to be outstanding.

 

Folks, thanks so much for the input! The fact that you get their customer service PLUS the ability to purchase the Sager warranty on top of everything makes me feel pretty safe in purchasing from them....now if they'd just announce a date to ship the SLI enabled versions I'd pull the trigger and buy!

pat!

 

Do not worry about the SLI release date:

So you can purchase the second card for SLI later, and adding it yourself w/o voiding the warranty.

 

Gophn! Good point! I think, since we're maybe just, what, a week away, I may wait..plus, anytime you're going to drop $5500, there's always trepidation

But you're right, I could just enable the SLI later....

pat!

 

most of the owners (w/ singe 8800M GTX) here are going to do the same and get the send 8800M GTX when its ready.

so its a better alternative, then delaying the entire notebook rather than just shipping it with a single card, and letting the card get the second card when the drivers/config is ready.

 

do you think it will be an easy fix? not from the standpoint of putting the card in, but from a driver compatibility standpoint? just wondering...

pat!

 

Nvidia has released Beta SLI drivers... which the Dell XPS 1730 are using... but they are lacking... since it gets a 13,000 score on 3DMark06.

..while a single 8800M GTX gets about 10k already.

So when Nvidia matures the drivers, it should get better.

Only time will tell.

But for the moment, most people are enjoying their single 8800M GTX notebooks.

 

I don`t think they`re lacking that much.
The desktop 8800 GTXs SLI score about 13500. So that score sounds about right.
Now the true questions remains if SLI in the Dell even helps games or not.Anything below 60% is not justified. Paying for 2 cards to get only 50% increase in performance is a ripoff.

 

You'll get the same graphics benefit that you would on a desktop.

Some games = zero improvement - like crysis, some others like CoD4 = yes, runs at flat out resolutions at smooth frame rates.

If the Dell is running Beta drivers and getting 13500 marks, maybe it will do better when they get the final's

 

Also, get the Q6600 instead of the Q6700. The extra speed isn't worth that much more, and you can overclock the Q6600 a ton if you really need to.

 

Yep bought the NP9262 with the 8800SLi option. im still waiting for it though. but justin @ xotic has been helpful in giving me news about what is happening from time to time.

@the biles-- umm i thought u cant overclock your cpu with the bios that is installed on the Np9262.??

 

I haven't heard anything about that, but I still think all that money isn't justified by the slight increase in speed.

 

yeh i have looked at previous threads and you cant overclock the cpus with the current bios that is installed in the NP9262.

 

In judging the impact of SLI only the graphics scores (SM 2 and SM 3) matter, not the total score. If I remember right the Dell graghics scores were quite impressive compared with a single 8800M., and would have been even more impressive on 3DMark tests run at a higher resolution.

 

I'm very much thinking of buying now w/ both cards and waiting for the SLi upgrade...I mean what I'm thinking of ordering (see specs) would smoke my current m7700!

pat!

 

Well, I DID IT! See above specs as that's what I ordered...holy crap!!!!

I'll let you all know how the process is coming!

A special thank you to Justin at XoticPC for all his help in the ordering process and for answering a litany of questions!!!

later,
pat!

 

Congrats! Keep us informed (if you can manage to tear yourself away from it for a moment or two once it arrives ).

 

thanks shyster! VERY excited, even if the SLi isn't enabled yet

pat!