What to do with my Sager 5760?

Hi guys.

About 15 months ago I posted here asking for advice on a gaming notebook. I eventually decided on the Sager 5760. Here are the full specs:

- Display: 17" WUXGA
- Processor: Intel Core Duo Yonah T2500 2.0GH
- Video Card: 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
- External Monitor Video Adapter: None Standard
- Ram: 2048MB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 (2x1GB)
- Exterior Finish: Standard Finish
- Bay 1 Media Drive: 8X DVD/24X10X24 CDRW Combo Drive
- Primary Hard Drive: 100GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA)
- Floppy Drive: None Standard
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/
- Camera: Integrated Digital Video Camera
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audi
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Incl
- Operating System: Windows XP Home SP2 with Drivers

Price tag: 3000 USD (a steal at the time)

So yeah, it's a powerful machine, and still enough to make most people go gagas. The manufacturer warranty is gone, and while I did get a 3-year warranty from the folks at XoticPC (who were excellent to deal with in my experience), it's non-transferable. The machine still works - the only problem with it is that the screen sometimes goes black if you lift the display too quickly - but I feel like I've simply outgrown it. When I got to college, I ended up not needing a portable machine at all, which made me feel kind of silly, but still glad that I had such a powerful rig. The jump to the 8800 series, though, simply blew the 7900 cards out of the water, and the rig feels like it's on the lower end of the high-performance spectrum at the moment. Crysis, for instance, runs OK, but I can't help but wonder how much better it'd look with an 8800 GTX (or two) running it.

So, the question is, what am I going to do with it? I've seen other people sell it for well over 1500 dollars this season, but that's with a 7950 onboard and a good chunk of the manufacturer's warranty left on it. The value is only going to go down over time, and I'd like to get somewhere in the range of half what I paid, since that'd give me the ability to build a much more powerful rig myself and maybe have some money left over afterwards (which is more than welcome right now). Is selling a good idea, or am I just dreaming? Am I better off waiting until the warranty runs out and the machine is a bulky midranger that I can sell for a few hundred bucks?

Some insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

John

 

its always better to sell sooner than latter, the only issue with selling a high end system is people who can afford a high end system buy new...

 

The sooner you sell it the better. The 5791 starts around $1,500 so I don't see you getting that for it - perhaps around $1,000 would be fair considering there is no warranty and the fault you posted.

It's a good system but as you have experienced it will struggle with todays games and beyond. Put a post up here in the forums with some pics and try and offload it, or even throw it on eBay (though most looking for a laptop on eBay don't know what Sager is).

 

I would definitely get that issue fixed with the LCD blacking out before selling. It will help it sell better if it has no issues. Especially if there is no warranty left after selling.

 

Is there any way to actually fix an issue like that? It's really not a huge problem, but I don't understand why it would be happening, either (it only blacks out if I lift it open too quickly, and even then, the image displays for a split second).

 

its probably a loose cable from the LCD panel to the LCD inverter.

If you still have warranty through XoticPC, just contact them about it.

 

Agreed, have your thing fixed and keep it...

I mean in my experience high end lappies are like cars. They loose their value very quickly but after 3 years price are becoming stable. So maybe getting 1000$ for now will be the same in another 12 months.

IMO it's a compromise you make when you buy a laptop. Those can't be just upgraded every 18 months. In that case, buy a small basic business laptop and a full gaming rig (honestly it mau be my road for my next upgrade).

And oh yeah, 1500$ sounds right for your machine... Honestly it would still outperforms most gaming rigs sold by the big names that never really offer the high end graphical cards. So yours will only be outperformes by the new clevos.

I know the upgrade is tempting but as for me, I will wait another 18 months. Use that xotic warranty at least lol. Plus honestly at the pace things are going right now even the 570RU won't last over 18 months.