Wishes and Expectations for Clevo [2017 Edition]

2016 is been one heck of a year, both good and bad for our dear Clevo! Some wishes and expectations were met, while others felt kinda off...

Anyway, since 2017 is coming real soon (with some nice looking upgrades incoming I hope), I thought it will be good to get the ball rolling and start this thread!

Some pointers first:
1. I actually made this thread as a spiritual successor of sorts of this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...oks-for-2015-2016-wishes-expectations.775918/
2. I am cool with pointing out what's wrong with the current models; after all one of the general expectations is that Clevo fixes whatever it can for current owners and not repeat such mistakes for future models. Just that if the issues are serious enough, opening a separate thread is much more advisable for better visibility.
3. Feel free to post up news or confirmations that the expectations can or cannot be met here too!

So, what do you guys think?

 

I would recommend starting with the most common requests found here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ing-or-broken-in-your-skylake-laptops.797648/

 

MOAR BGA!!

(Don't hurt me @Mr. Fox or @Papusan)

Looking forward to Kaby Lake. It's to support Optane technology, which is very interesting.

 

If I thought you were serious about wanting more turdbooks in a market already saturated by mediocrity I might have to smack you around, but I do have a sense of humor. When I am in a good mood I call them jokebooks instead of turdbooks.

Here's this: What are you planning to buy and why?

 

Hopefully, this will truly be a wish list thread as intended, and whatever people need Clevo to fix on their Skylake models will be posted in the thread designed for that.

Having already indicated what is broken or missing and needs to be fixed in this thread...
Feedback to Clevo R&D Team: What's missing or broken in your Skylake laptops?
...I do have a wish list.

• I want to see Eurocom's custom 700W+ AC adapter become standard issue for all Clevo SLI notebooks instead of the dual 330W setup.
• I want to see a larger, thicker and heavier version of the P870DM3 with 5960X and greater CPU support as the successor to the Eurocom Panther/P570WM that uses the huge screen like the one on the massive but crippled Acer Predator turdbook.
• I want Clevo to commit to stop changing MXM design for at least five years and support GPU upgrades for all machines starting with last year's GTX 980 200W and smaller 180W form factors.
• I want Clevo to hire @Prema on a retainer basis to make sure every Clevo/Sager system they sell has fully accessible menus and functional BIOS options with no more goofed up and absurd EC throttling garbage.
• I want white keyboard backlighting to be the default color on all Clevo notebooks instead of the current idea that everyone likes blue, or the option to permanently choose a default keyboard color and turn off keyboard backlight in the BIOS (then I can totally eliminate the need to install Hotkey/CCC bloatware).

 

What have you eating today? There are more than enough of TurdBook's around in the market. It is time to prioritize us who want real power beast now!! Staph selling and promote Junk!! The change should start 2017

@Mr. Fox important info for you my friend... BGABook,TurdBook,JokeBook... A dear UGLY child has many names!! Pick what you want. Doesn't matter. All the same!!

 

@Papusan and @Mr. Fox - I was feeling facetious this morning.

It must be all that holiday cheer going around.

 

No worries. I know exactly how that works. Facetiousness has a way of creeping up on me sometimes, too.

 

I want a full sized 17 inch chiclet keyboard!

 

The charge cable itself feels a bit flimsy/loose when plugged into the port in the back. They should redesign it


The cable is too heavy for the port to hold so dont let it hang from the laptop

 

Sorry I can't rep you more now. But y are forgiven sleep well tonight

 

Wow, thanks for the responses so far, let me clarify some stuff first:

1. I actually made this thread as a spiritual successor of sorts of this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...oks-for-2015-2016-wishes-expectations.775918/
2. I am cool with pointing out what's wrong with the current models; after all one of the general expectations is that Clevo fixes whatever it can for current owners and not repeat such mistakes for future models. Just that if the issues are serious enough (haven't read the Skylake thread yet but that sounded real bad), opening a separate thread is much more advisable for better visibility.
3. Feel free to post up news or confirmations that the expectations can or cannot be met here too!

 

I was looking forward to Kaby Lake too after reading this: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/intel-300-series-chipsets-may-include-usb-31-wifi/

But then I realised that this is referring to after Kaby Lake

These are part of my wish list too! (will be posting up my wishlist shortly)

I missed those too!

The food item that is

Hmm, mine looked similar but don't have such issues. Is this something recent?

 

Ok, here's my wishlist, but before that, some context about me, so that you all will understand better where I am coming from in making my wishlist:

Spoiler: Some Context About Me

I am a proud (and maybe one of the few remaining) NP8170 user in Singapore. It followed me to 4 trips to Japan and is still my current main workhorse mainly for content creation/development. When I gotten it in late 2011, it was in a small shop in one of the shopping malls in Bukit Timah. At that point of time, I don't have a personal computer of my own; I had to share a PC (that I built myself) with my brother constantly. Also, I was starting university/college and would be staying that most of the time instead of at home, which meant that I needed something portable but powerful enough as I was taking photos using a DSLR.

I was quite picky then; somehow or another earlier on I felt that most of the usual offerings by the usual companies simply won't cut it. I was looking for something that can really last. Heck, I was asking around for upgradeable laptops which everyone thought I was being unrealistic. Thankfully someone in HardwareZone (local tech forum) pointed to me Sager and after some searching, I found that shop and placed my order in cash.

Once I got it, it was really good. I felt liberated at having my own computer to call my own after so many years (I started doing these tech stuff since 12 years ago). The "personal" in "Personal Computer" is finally true for me I guess haha. I could get a lot of things done too. But I soon faced problems such as my shop (later known as a reseller rather than a system integrator like the most of the companies I see here) closing down under mysterious circumstances and realising that my service tag (a.k.a. the sticker on the underside of the laptop) was missing all these while, which means that my warranty was effectively voided. (Funny part was that quite soon after, in June 2012 if I am not wrong, Aftershock, the local system integrator, was set up and still going strong) What gotten worse was that after a while, I realised that I should have picked a lighter model as I would be carrying it around the university a lot and the battery life was simply too low; I didn't take into account these factors since I was focusing too much on performance. As for the upgradeability? I realised that it is not easy to get parts into Singapore at a reasonable price, especially without any local shop helping! And those prices don't depreciate unlike their desktop counterparts...

All these, with some... erm, personal issues gotten me to question whether I was doing this correctly and also my tech skills. Anyway, after a long while, I started to recover from all that and realised that I made the best decision I could back then seeing how the full modularity of the laptop helped me to be able to maintain the laptop much easier compared to others (e.g. cleaning the contacts of the GPU to resolve boot issues). Heck, I daresay that most of the laptops created around the same time as my laptop do not exist anymore. More importantly, because of this laptop, I found you guys too!

So now, well, I just graduated and found myself a job, and I think I will like to have something newer and also lighter lol. And yes, I am typing all these on the NP8170.

My wishlist (so far):
1. Better support for modular laptop
What this means is not just better BIOS support for more GPUs or CPUs. What I am referring to is a better supply chain such that customers can get these parts at more reasonable prices, or at least get them in the first place without worrying about the compatibility of the parts e.t.c.

1a. Better TB3 support
Alternatively, better TB3 support will be good seeing the rise of eGPU docks; they can be another way of tiding over until a full laptop overhaul. I am just not confident seeing recent developments/

2. Slightly lighter laptops
Thanks to recent developments, it seems that laptops are finally becoming lighter while more powerful whether BGA or not. I just need the non-BGA to be a bit more lighter and slimmer...

3. New chassis and/or motherboard design
...which brings me to this point. Currently Clevo seems to be just changing parts out and not redesigning the laptops. While the cost savings by doing this is great (the company needs to keep itself afloat after all), somehow I don't feel that... excited with each new hardware change. Maybe it's just me lol

More importantly, seeing the possibility of TB and Wifi being integrated into the CPU, I hope Clevo can take advantage of these and create more streamlined models

4. Continued support for Windows 7
This may sound selfish, but I do think that quite a few of us are still using Windows 7 for many reasons (for me, I am using specialised hardware that do not work in Windows 10) and so hope to see some support for Windows 7. At least provide drivers for the components in the laptops?

5. Custom thermal pads replacement service
Crazy idea time: Seeing how different combinations of thermal paste and pads contribute to thermal performance as mentioned here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-recommendations-update-thermal-pads.796820/, I wonder if it is possible for resellers/system integrators to provide the replacements of these thermal pads as an aftermarket service?

That's all for now I guess

 

1. Premium material for the chassis like aluminum or at least carbon fiber.

2. single 700W AC adapter

3. support for intel extreme processor

4. support for single gtx 1080 ti

5. less bezel display screen ala xps design

 

They should make fan more effective like what MSI doing, MSI did very well with thermal solution

 

I dispute MSI having a better thermal solution

 

Hmm, I thought they are on par?

But one thing for sure, MSI's laptops are way too expensive compared to the rest!

 

1. Please update official BIOS to address latest security and hardware issues frequently.
2. Please release High-end CPU compatible laptops (such as Skylake-X, or Kerby Lake-X model CPUs with 8-core or more) instead of cheap regular desktop CPU models. Make the desktop replacement slogan true.
3. Since SLI graphic cards are possible, strive to make multiple CPUs in one laptop possible (dual sockets or quad-sockets)
4. Make larger screen options available, like Acer Predator x21. I would see this as very important in the new gaming age. With large screens, laptop can accommodate better cooling systems, and of course high-end CPUs.
5. Make finger scanner independent from the touch-pad buttons, and have the middle touch-pad (middle mouse button) , or just eliminate the finger scanner, instead of putting something truly innovative, such as eye-scanner.
6. Make a new world of laptops, this is my original idea, please do consider copyrights when using it. Modularize laptop body (and many parts can be modularized) and screen, the screen can hot-plug to the laptop body. These designs would allow users more flexibility in customizing own laptops. If the screen and body connector is designed as Type-C, that would put Clevo in the best position to dominate
7. Speed, power, and speed, power, please repeat it again and again, because that's the theme of Clevo laptops, so please strive to make the most powerful laptops, and more powerful than servers, and than any desktop PCs. One day, the word "laptop" means super-computer when talking about Clevo laptops.

 

Let me add another thing to my list:

8. Include USB Type C to Type A converters as part of the package! (be it on the resller side or Clevo)

 

Nope, $30 adapters for everything! Hail the Apple design!

Wait, that was out of character.

 

There are a lot of regular ports too don't forget.

 

I will be replacing my HP Z820 with a Clevo in 2017. A 6 core laptop would be really nice, but I'd settle for the 4 core I guess. This machine will be for work mainly so I presume they are relatively quiet when not doing anything exciting. I know it's slightly nuts to ask, but I'd like the screen to fold back flat, and include active digitizer support. I know, I know, but the Lenovo Thinkpad p70 has a digitizer option. Anyway, that is my humble wish list. Happy Holidays everyone!

 

They are also completely dominated by BGA CPU filth, so that's a great big "no" unless you're shopping for an Ultrabook and have low performance expectations. Pay more and get less is not a good strategy.

 

Was just being sarcastic, I know you guys won't do that.

 

11-14" with 10 series GPU...p640 successor... Thinner and lighter...ditch the nerdy look..

 

You could also use a configuration like that for a portable tortilla warmer... double-duty value right there. Just lay it on the keyboard, close the lid, run Fire Strike, and *BAM* ready to eat.

 

Fine.. just gimme a successor lol

 

Just what I've always wanted!

 

Hmm then I think I am one of the edge cases seeing how I have used up almost all USB ports on my machine (one mouse, one keyboard, one webcam, one video capture device and another webcam incoming?)

Come to think of it... Yeah, they sure do charge a lot for BGA, which is why I sticking with Clevo. At least the BGA stuff is reasonably priced

 

It's already thin. To reduce it would impact keyboard and cooling quality.
2.0Kg is already an acceptable carrying weight.

I would like a successor to the P640RF with the capability to add bigger battery and ditch the HDD slot. It seems doable to have two config, one with a bigger battery, other with a smaller one + hdd.

 

That would be interesting, but given the placing of the HDD it seems like a good idea. Personally I'd take something that takes uses space saved by removing a 2.5" drive bay and uses it for more/better cooling, every little bit helps.

 

That's not a bad idea either. The heatsink assemblies really have their work cut out for them on the smaller units.

 

From my visit to MSI headquarters, they said that alot of people still prefer a 2.5" bay.

 

I could see that. It is still cheap, bulk storage. I have no problem with one, just because I don't need an SSD for pictures, music and office files. But I'm sure as SSD prices continue to drop, we will see less and less of them in laptops.

 

I would like a successor to the P640RF with the capability to add bigger battery and ditch the HDD slot. It seems doable to have two config, one with a bigger battery, other with a smaller one + hdd.[/QUOTE]

I would echo that.. M.2 Storage is still too expensive.. A lot of people would prefer 2.5" drives... I do understand that space can be better utlitised but I'd expect that to be the case more often then not in 2018--19 when prices hopefully would be lower for M.2 storage..

 

ssd prices will rise in the coming year or so because of "nand shortage"

pretty sure that the shortage is made up by the manufacturers to drive up price

 

Probably so. Considering all of the other marketing lies and made up crap the majority of people have accepted without question "just because" they will most likely get away with it. They can easily fabricate the shortage as well by stopping production in order to manipulate the market, much like what sometimes happens in other industries, including oil and gas.

 

Another vote for an updated P640RE/F with Kaby + Pascal, a thunderbolt 3 port, and a bit better battery life.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

A smaller device able to work well hooked to external graphics without breaking the bank could be interesting.

 

I have to ask, is it remotely viable to replace air cooling for watercooling with next to no risks of spillage? Do note I'm a big fan of high end air cooling but I see the thermal dissipation requirements increasing with more powerful hardware and do wonder if that's a possible avenue.

 

rog gx800

 

For a laptop, using air cooling is the only thing that makes good sense. The ASUS with the colostomy bag is a joke. Just get an inexpensive portable AC unit for when you're doing crazy overclocked benching. If the laptop is built correctly it will run cool enough for gaming and ordinary tasks without jumping through hoops to keep it from getting too hot.

 

While I found the GX800 novelty approach amusing, I personally wouldn't consider it and would much prefer something that was more self contained within the laptop's chassis itself.

Alternatively, how much would power requirements need to drop for a high performance laptop to be fully passively cooled, as in massive (given physical constraints) flattened heatsinks? I'm asking given how a few high end phone SoC implementations have incorporated similar designs.

 

I've seen some DIY mods in various places before for liquid cooling a laptop. Some have looked impressive on the temperature drops. But typically the involve removing or modifying parts of the computer, likely voiding the warranty, and at that point when you add in a pump / res / loop, you've basically turned it in to a desktop almost (in my opinion).

Passively cooled electronics are going to be significantly less powerful for processing power. They are designed specifically to have low power consumption and lower max temperatures. They just aren't nearly as powerful as a desktop processor. The "enthusiast" processors are designed for much higher operating max temperatures. Creating a passive cooling option for them would probably be quite large and not worth it.

 

It would not be so bad if it was quiet in water cooled mode.

 

Let's expand this idea... Maybe have a modular section like how Fujitsu used to have for their laptops or Motorola in their recent modular handphones? Users can choose between an ODD, HDD, weight-saver component or even an additional fan!

I am already feeling the pinch when I was getting some RAM for myself just now...

 

The whole concept seems pretty silly to me. With such an anemic CPU onboard and all of the cooling emphasis placed on the GPUs, I'm convinced their priorities are all screwed up. But, the main thing about the ASUS colostomy bag contraption that bothers me most with the concept is what happens when you try to use it like a laptop and disconnect it. It this is a representation of the new trend with how OEMs are starting to think, we're all in for a world of hurt, in a virtual packing lot paved with compromise and flawed thought processes.

 

For a gaming machine being focused more on the GPU rather than CPU makes perfect sense. Every gaming build should be that way, a dual core with a GTX 1060 will fare much better than an i7 with an RX460.

If you can do both of course that is nice.

 

The additional fan idea was done by Acer with their predator 15/17, it made little to no diffefence in temps.