What US reseller will install a custom (Spanish) keyboard? And current Clevo kb quality in general

Hi all!

I'm looking to put together a serious workstation, and for various reasons Clevo/Sager seems to be the single best option. Mainly because I need a huge amount of storage, and you can put 2 M2s and 2 2.5" drives in many of these units.

I have one problem, though -- I've been using Spanish keyboards for 25 years and I can't go back to US keyboards. I'm too old to retrain my muscle memory after so much time. So... I'm looking for a Sager/Clevo reseller who is willing to install a Spanish keyboard on the computer they sell me. I realize this will almost certainly mean a delay due to special ordering the keyboard from Taiwan or wherever, and that is not a problem.

I actually was able to do this about 3 years ago with Xotic PC, but they now tell me they no longer do this.

My other question is about the quality of current Sager/Clevo keyboards in general. The one I had before was, quite simply put, the single worst keyboard I have ever used. And this is not hyperbole -- the Radio Shack TRS-80 I used in ancient times had a far better keyboard. The Sager/Clevo keyboards I had (one in English, one in Spanish, so the problem was not a fluke) missed tons of keystrokes, were squishy in general, had a spacebar that had to be hit more or less right in the center in order to register, and so on.

Are current Sager/Clevo keyboards any better? If not, are there aftermarket alternatives? Back then, everyone was clambering for a Steelseries keyboard, which was apparently slightly less awful, but the manufacturer stopped selling them to the general public.

Thanks in advance!

 

This is my personal opinion about Clevo keyboards: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/clevo-makes-the-worst-laptop-keyboard-ever.789740/

HIDEvolution can get you a Spanish keyboard if you contact them. They have the best customer service and most customizations regarding specs like factory decided CPUs, fastest RAM options and the most versatile storage options for HDDs and SSDs

 

I mean that's your only option pretty much if you want a Clevo, I've used plenty worse ones.

I would second the HID option. I can't think of any other resellers that offer it. HID doesn't even need asking its literally a choice right now for keyboard language.

 

Jesus, Joseph and Mary! On the Clevo/Sager keyboards I used back in the day, I had half-dead keys, keys that only worked from a certain angle, squishy keys and dropped keypresses... but not flying keys!

This really is inexplicable... granted, Sager/Clevo are generics, but most of their design is quite solid, if clunky. But even so, there's simply no excuse for putting what is still apparently the industry's most POS keyboard on it. It makes no sense, either -- what do they save by doing this? $7.50 on a $2000 machine?

This leads me to two other questions:

1. Are there any aftermarket keyboards for the NP9152-2 (P750DM2) (not external ones, obviously)?

2. Does anyone know of any non-Sager/Clevo laptops that let you install two M2 SSDs, along with two 2.5" hard drives?

Thanks!

 

@Galm17 can offer you better alternatives than I could so let's wait for his reply.

A lot of times when I complain about the keyboard, others say that it isn't a big deal as they want a smoking fast CPU and GPU, etc. that's all that matters. To me, the keyboard is one of the most important things because while not a coder or web developer, I type a lot on forums and till this date, after 7 months of ownership, I cannot for the life of me type a single sentence without a mistake.

When I use my wife's cheap Dell Vostro entry level taptop, man does typing on that thing feel much better. the keys feel solid and the travel distance is great. With this keyboard, you have all black / empty areas all around the keyboard then the keyboard keys are all squashed into this tiny little triangle and I just can't get myself to get over it! WHY!! why!! why waste so much of space? just to save a few bucks as you said.

I don't blame Sager, it's Clevo who designs these pieces of trash keyboards as they are the ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)

As much as I hate ASUS and their low quality products that never seemed to work 100% (at least for me), their keyboards are awesome, you can type on that thing blind folded and not make a single mistake.

I advice you to look at MSI / ASUS options but Galm17 will be more specific.

Also, if you can wait, do like me and let's wait for the Acer Predator 21 X:

 

I'm not sure about aftermarket keyboards, the slot may be universal.

As for alternatives... The MSI GT72 used to be the main alternative, same with the GT62. They both got gutted though. The MSI GT73 is now the only one with a plethora of storage options. The market is in a pretty bad spot for i/o on 15" machines.

However, one thing to note is the Clevo P650 series machines have different keyboards. You may have a better experience with those for typing, I thought they were decent. You'd be sacrificing the desktop cpu and switching to soldered parts, and losing thunderbolt III. But you would get a much thinner chassis, and better battery life. I'm not sure that's worth doing, but that's another option that still has 2 m.2 slots and 2 HDD bays.

 

I bought the Clevo P650RP6 ( http://www.hidevolution.com/evoc-p6...gaming-laptop-w-nvidia-gtx-1060-w-g-sync.html ) and got it two days ago. I do not have any problem with the keyboard and I do like it. The support was very nice to.

And, if you need an new keyboard (spare part) you can buy one there too when you write to the support.

 

Couldn't agree more! I'm not a coder either, but I spend huge amounts of time typing, so a less-than-first-rate keyboard is a horrible experience for me.

 

Woah! Now that is a serious machine! But at 18 lbs, and the price it's going to have, I don't think it's an option for me.

LOVE the keyboard, though!

 

I just had a look at the GT73. That keyboard looks suspiciously like the one on the Clevo model I bought about four years ago, which was the awful POS I mentioned in my original post. Right down to the lack of a left Windows key (which drove me crazy, as I use that key for about 20 shortcuts). Is it really any good?

That I didn't know. But are they both from the same manufacturer?

 

Weird its an MSI keyboard. It shouldn't be on Clevos. Or its like a steelseries or something.

No idea about the manufacturer. I've used both and preferred the P650 one.

Wait... Why are you waiting for an all soldered machine?

 

The Sager/Clevo and MSI keyboards were interchangeable a couple years ago, and may still be for all I know. I remember that back then it seemed like half the world's Sager/Clevo owners were trying to get aftermarket MSI SteelSeries keyboards, due to them being at least marginally better than the atrocious Sager/Clevo ones.

This is so frustrating for me -- the Sager/Clevo is the ideal machine for me, except for a part that probably costs the manufacture less than $10, and which could easily be 5 times better for just a tiny a bit more money. But a laptop with a crappy keyboard is of no more use to me than a smartphone with a crappy touchscreen.

 

I guess. Mines due to arrive in a few days I could report in on it then. You could also ask the P650 owners lounge how they've been feeling about it. I haven't been seeing complaints (and I've been in it since page 1 out of like 215 lol).

 

What difference did my non soldered P870DM offer me? It's not very upgradable VS a soldered one. I'd rather have a larger machine with a proper keyboard

 

Well, apparently there's a new 1070 GTX upgrade kit for the P870DM that Eurocom is offering. It's not the 1080, but it is a slight upgrade over the 980 GTX - http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...enix-has-arisen.781814/page-783#post-10348684

I keep hope they are working on a 1080 kit, but that is the optimist in me.

 

Eurocom also offers keyboards in different languages as an option in their configurator.

 

Mythlogic offers non-English keyboards as well.

 

So what about the GT83 if the power issue was fixed?

Eurocom seems to be very slow on updating their Clevo line, only a few are updated with the 10 series unless I missed something.

I don't usually recommend Mythlogic because their pricing is not competitive.

 

Really? They offered me very competitive pricing. P870DM3 barebones with 3 year warranty for about $400 less than HID's quote.

 

Eh your not that far off actually. LPC handily beats them, but your right the difference wasn't that much.

 

and their customer service atrocious

 

Not in my experience. I ordered a Pollux 1416 / N155RF1. nVIDIA can't seem to produce 965Ms to keep up with demand. Mythlogic stopped selling it, Sager too. Mythlogic offered me an upgrade that was very generous. I, actually, thought too generous and told them so. This was nVIDIA's fault afterall. When things didn't go smoothly, their Customer Service stepped up.

This will be my second Mythlogic machine. A returning customer pretty much says it all.

Personally, I like the keyboard in my Phobos 1715 / P770ZM-G. I suspect the Deimos 1616 / P750DM2-G will have the same non-chicklet keyboard. Phoenix and I, definitely, agree that the 17" should have a bigger keyboard.

 

This! I unfortunately had to send my GT73VR because of TDR issues when gaming, but the lack of left Win key was definitely an annoyance with that keyboard while I had it for a few days - turns out I use shortcuts like Win+R and Win+L all the time, or just Win key to bring up the Start menu. Can someone please confirm if P775-DM3 has the left Win key?