What alternatives have you taken to the Cougar Point Chipset recall?

I'm on edge right now, as I really need a laptop for univ. studies.

So if I have to wait until the end of February, I might look to other options...



SO!

now, the people who have ordered the 8130, 8150, 8170,

what are your next actions? Anyone cancelled? or, anyone found an alternative?

Decided to wait?

Let's talk about what we could do!

 

Nothing. Stick with current gen i7 is about all you can do.

 

I'm thinking of taking a look at the HP 8540w with the Dreamcolor 2..

But that also seems to be another waiting game..

 

When a product has 3/5 stars on the manufacturers website, I tend to stay away from it

HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation overview - HP Small & Medium Business products

 

Good one, but I do desperately need a laptop.

I might even have to go with the notorious ASUS,

but I see how ASUS will be swapping motherboards on the depot.

 

Why not get yourself something cheap for now like a netbook and then buy your sager when the time comes?

 

I knew I should have bought that m11x when it was on mad sale..

 

The R1 version with the Su7300 is at 799, not to bad and I am sure you can get some discounts by calling them and asking for it.

 

What kills me is the 8130 was perfect. I NEED a matte screen and I really needed a laptop last week.

Maybe XPS 14 time?

 

I'm going to baby my current machine, and will just hope it survives 'til Spring.

If I had seen this future four months ago, I would've spent the $400 on a new M860TU motherboard.

 

Yes, this laptop is really perfect. I don't know how I should deal with this...

I probably won't cancel, Larry is an awesome guy and he's already done so much for me! But hope it comes soon.. I really do need a laptop.

 

That rating is based on only 5 reviews, and it's not obvious those three bad reviews aren't from the same person as they were all left w/in 6 days of each other and have similar tenor. The general take on HP Elitebooks is that they are very good machines. The DC2 screen is (supposed to be) amazing.

 

Yes, but they obviously seem to show the same wait periods.....

So might as well just wait for this one..

 

Yeah in all honesty I would suggest waiting meraki. I think I am just gonna live with mine and then until the time comes where the ODD is giving me issues, ill ship it back for a replacement.

 

Going to buy a Zacate netbook and game on my desktop until AMD Trinity launches next year.

 

I might have to pick up a netbook actually, haha..

I despise having two laptops though.

Or I might have to using that macbook again, it's my dedicated audio system for my companion 5..

 

iPad 2....Did I say iPad? no I didn't...*walks away slowly*

 

I put in my order today anyway, might as well get a broken one to send back later in the year, however I don't know if they'll even ship the bad ones any more now that we know the ODDs are affected...

 

I think they totally halted the shipments.

No chance until this gets sorted out..

 

Quite a lot to think about to be honest. Not too sure how it's going to affect the delivery of my NP8170. Since it requires new hardware, I wonder how long it would take for Intel to supply all the laptop makers/resellers, etc.

I expected delivery for the laptop mid February based on my position in queue but with the call back it might be delayed further. Prices on hardware will drop, and the 6970 will be out by then one would assume. Right now I have the GTX 485M ordered and that was only because the 6970 was not available.

In a month or two (if it takes that long) I see prices dropping and my order will have to be changed to reflect that. I don't want to pay today's prices for something I'll receive next month or the month after that.

So not too sure what I'll be doing. I'll speak to the reseller I was dealing with and see what he suggests. For the money I'm paying, I'm not willing to settle.

I'm not happy, waiting mid February for a delivery was expected because of my late order. But anything longer is an inconvenience because I need the laptop by then, so I might cancel to get something else

 

Well I can't wait, so I changed my order to the Sager NP8760-S1. Nearly identical specs (obviously aside from it being a 740QM and not Sandy Bridge,) and it also has a 17.3" screen and isn't matte. It was also $100 cheaper so I got the hybrid HDD and it still is cheaper then my order was the NP8130.

I can live with that, too bad too, cause the NP8130 was perfect. I could handle waiting two weeks, but not two months.

They only had a couple left and apparently I got one of the last ones cause now it says that they're discontinued.

 

Oh... I just couldn't find myself paying the same price for the 1st gen i7s...

Especially how all the sandy bridge proc's seem to demolish the 1st gens.

I think I'll just wait.

 

I'm the same.

The i7-740QM doesn't have the same sparkle, knowing the lowly 2630QM beats a 940XM.

 

I will just wait but my laptop is purely for entertainment / gaming use so no serious urgency or business. I have just sold my W860CU but I still have my low powered old desktop and an Everun Note Dual Core that I can use. Just think guys, it could have been much much worse.

Edit:

I am also considering the Sager NP7280 (Kobalt G970X) with the GTX 485M and Desktop processor. Having the option to add another GPU later on is nice and the Desktop processor is more than adequate. I will wait a while and decide around the end of March or near April. Once I know how long the wait is expected to be, I will decide how patient I am.

My main motivation in upgrading was after all, the GTX 485M's great performance, Sandybridge and the better CPU's was just a nice bonus.

 

Now to see that Z68 may be coming in a couple months it may behoove me to just return the NP8170 and wait for fixed sata chipset, HD 6970, and Z68. LOL. Here I go again, waiting game...

 

Does Z68 bring anything significant to mobile users?

 

If I had a spare $400 on top of the $1300 I'll spend on a new laptop, this is exactly what I would do. I want a Zacate netbook so bad but I can't justify it to the wife!

 

For what we are seeing right now, no not at all. For the next gen x7200 range monsters maybe we'll see. CeBIT is almost here, aka Clevo's normal show and tell.

 

Debating what to do.... I'm really liking this notebook, I think I'll return it and reorder when everything is fixed. Blargh!

 

You don't have to return it, since it's a recall,

when there is something wrong with your optical drive, you can send it in for a motherboard swap, and everything will be good from then.

 

I'd rather have a computer that isn't bound to fail. I can deal without a new lappy for a couple months.

 

I posted this in another thread but here it is again. Can the port problem be finessed with this eSata to USB 3 converter NewerTech adapter turns eSATA into USB 3.0, makes legacy external HDDs feel young again -- Engadget and an external enclosure for the optical drive? Then, when the dust settles, return the machine for the recall repair.

I use my optical drive so rarely it doesn't need to be internal. If SSD's become affordable before the next machine is retired my plan is to add one, move the original HD to the optical bay and move the optical drive to an external enclosure.

 

USB 3.0 drive is good, because it uses the I/O instead of the SATA controllers.

But I had the intention of actually using the optibay for a data drive on the optibay.

Disappointing, but there aren't any alternatives to choose from, and I'm going to wait patiently for this.

 

Sticking with my order of the 8130. I have spent way too much time and effort looking for a new laptop to just cancel my order. I have been dead set on SB since last summer and don't feel like changing that because of a mobo issue. If I wanted a laptop earlier I would have gotten a Dell XPS or something. The only saving grace, in my opinion, is that there are 1000's of people waiting like me for their new laptops, so atleast we're in it till this gets sorted out.

 

I decided to cancel my pre-order of the NP5160. I was actually going to change to the NP8130 but was not sure of the Matte screen since I have never owned one. The delay will allow me to think about it some more. Sadly, I will not be able to read about any additional personal reviews due to the delay to help me make a final decision.

 

Matte Screens are much nicer, and I'd definitely have put one on my order if the upgrade was $50 not $150

 

You can try your luck by going to your local Bestbuy (or any other electronics store), and see if there are any machines with matte screens on display. That should help you make some comparisons between matte and glossy. You can also look at any TVs or monitors on display for matte screens.


By the way, just to stay on topic, I am going to wait this out, and sticking with my order. I can just use the current lappie until my 8150 ships

 

I would prefer to save that $300-$350 from a 485m to a 6970m. Could use that extra dough for a 256gb SSD and then this baby will scream!

 

I wasn't sure yet if I wanted to drop any money on an SSD. I would like for prices to drop more, so maybe I'll get one end 2011, or early 2012.

This is my first reasonably high-end notebook (one of the goals that I set for myself after being in the workforce for 2 years), and I also want it to last as long as possible, so I decided to go for the 8150+485m.

 

I went ahead and canceled my 8130 order. I think I'm just going to grab an AMD Fusion based netbook like the HP dmz1 or the new Thinkpad coming out.

 

About the matte screens, think classic notebook screens... Glossy screens really look like a mirror but aren't as bad as they try to make you believe as long as your not using them in a spotlight or direct sunlight, and/or you don't need to turn brightness lower than 70%...

 

I assumed I'd be replacing my current machine during it's 4th year of life which is 2011. I also thought there would be a chance to hear new user comments. For practical purposes that's all delayed for at least a couple more months, may be longer.

Dell let me extend the warranty on my current machine into the 4th year so I took that and a couple of warranty issues have come up that I thought could wait until a new Sandy machine arrives but may be that timing won't work out. I like to have a capable back up machine.

If things take longer to resolve than a few months that may push me to holding out for Ivy Bridge if it appears soon enough. This 'old' Dell is showing its age but getting the job done.

 

It took me a long time to decide and then the day I go to order, Bang! I find out the chipset is flawed.
I think I'm going to hold off until it's all sorted out. I know that intel and Sager/Clevo will make it right but why buy when the problems haven't been solved with any sort of timeline.
Prices might or might not drop but my money is still earning interest in the bank in the meantime.
Maybe we will get some price drops by the time it's all sorted and we won't have to be unpaid beta testers for Intel.

As far as Matte screens go $240?!
For that kind of cash I can buy a 23" external monitor for my desk, which is what I am going to do instead. the Matte screen should be a no cost option from Sager IMO. I do appreciate some resellers taking the initiative to at least offer a matte screen. But that's just too much.

Sager doesn't have to sell laptops in Best Buy and Walmart, that's where Glossy screens are king. Plus look at most of the external PC monitors and see how many of those are glossy, not too many.
I can live with glossy when I travel, but not at home 24/7.

 

I was toying with a panther configuration from eurocom with a xeon cpu crossfire 6970m but at. $4000? Ouch! Does not sense to downgrade to 1st gen i7 cpus with SBs just around the corner - ' calculate a similar config for a clevo 150 should be around $1500 withthe 6970m gpu with win 7 approximately- way better than the 485m costing around. $2000 with win7- can you wait a few weeks for the 6970?or everyone just gets it from eurocom in canada? I think there is a real stinker here for not making the 6970 available in the US. CollusionM Higher profit margins. Yes yes we are aware of eurocom,s rep but also resellers in europe? Come on....

 

If I were to wait for the 6970m, I would have to cancel and then go all the way to the back of the line again. Not to mention there is not really a confirmation (I think?) on the availability of the 6970m.

I am also leaning towards the 485m for reasons such as PhysX. I would love me some Eyefinity, but I don't think I'll be getting anymore monitors anytime soon...

 

I placed my order on Saturday after a lot of research; it was basically down to the 8130 or the G53JW-XN1 from NewEgg. I really wanted a Sandy Bridge, though, so I pulled the trigger on the Sager. Then I talked to Donald on Monday and got the news.

I briefly considered canceling the order, but I'm not technically in any hurry, even though my copy of Dragon Age: Origins is sitting on my desk waiting for a laptop that can play it. By the time I get my laptop DA2 will be probably be out, too. Ah well.

So, I'll grab some popcorn and wait.

 

Mythlogic's rep seemed to imply to me I wouldn't go to the end of the line if I switch GPUs...

 

The 6970M will be available before machines begin shipping again, so it won't be too late to change your orders.

Don't hold your breath, because this fiasco is definitely going to push Ivy bridge into 2012.

It being offered is waaaay different than actually having them. No one in the US is offering the 6970M, because it is still weeks away from mass produced availability.

You're buying in to Eurocom's hype. They have approximately ZERO 6970Ms, outside of engineering samples.

 

You can change configurations any time, until it is actually built.

I myself have changed like 10 configurations...

Larry was never mad at me.. haha.

 

It wasn't implying it was more of a statement