build quality and warranty service?

After 4years with a dell inspiron 6000 I can say that I treated that thing about the way you'd expect an 6 year old to treat a gen1 gameboy, and just like that gen1 game boy it was damn near indestructable, with one exception:

I lost at least 1 key from the keyboard every 11-13months. Of course replacement of the keyboard was completely painless. Call dell, tell them you lost a key, and they mail you a new keyboard the next day.



Dell no longer makes a product that fits into the market I'm looking at. They might when/if they ever refresh the M4400 but in the mean time I think the best product out there for me is the w860cu.

Generally speaking, how is the build quality of clevo machines? Are they finnicky being in a laptop bag that might be dropped 2 or 3 feet?

When the keyboard inevitably takes a dump on me (I don't think it was build quality that had me losing keys, I just type alot...and hard), will sager/xoticpc/whomever else I buy from make it just as painless (and cheap...free) under the warranty to get a new keyboard?

 

bump? I'd love to get an answer to my questions.

In the continuum of laptop build quality with dell being somewhere in the top quarter, and the old alienware m15x being somewhere in the bottom quarter, where "generally" do clevo machines fall?

When I lose a key or two from typing a year after I buy the thing (and the year after that, and the year after that) will it be a problem to get it replaced under the 3year sager warranty?

 

Clevo machines are built very well. My NP9262 is rock solid. You won't find anyone here complaining about bad build quality on their Sager/Clevo machine.

About replacing parts for free under warranty... that depends where you live. If you live within the United States, yea that will be no problem replacing a broken/faulty part for free. I think you have to pay shipping to send it back (if they want the faulty part back), they won't reimburse you for that (unsure of this!!). Surely if you get the maximum warranty, they won't mess around with you. I haven't had any problems with my laptop, so I've never had to deal with replacing bad/faulty part(s).

 

i Have an np8662, and it's been bounced around in a targus bag, fell out of my car in the bag, etc. It still looks brand new. The Clevo / Sager line is a fairly tough line. We're not going to say it's a panasonic toughbook, but its build compared to say a Dell or alienware just blows it away. You're not going to lose keys easily, I have tried to pry a key off to get dust out from under it, and it's just easier to take a can of compressed air and blast away. They have virtually zero screen flex, and they are designed around the idea of cooling a system as much as possible. That is to say, you have a monster CPU / GPU combination and its cooling system as the core, and the rest of the computer is built around that. You get a very fast, very cool computer that may not be the prettiest thing around, but is designed to last years.

I second Ettornio's advice as well, get a good warranty, and if you live in the USA all you pay is shipping to send back the faulty part. They are built well to the point that they are insanely upgradeable. There are several people on here who have the np8662 and shoehorned in qx9300 Core 2 Extremes in to maximize cpu performance, some who shoehorned in q9200s, and even one who put in a qx9300 AND a GTX 280m in, and it still runs! My ONLY reservation, and this is solely subjective, is that if you take your computer to a big-box store, people will either stare in awe at the power of your laptop, or they will go " is a Sager?" and assume your np8662 is a normal 15" and cannot handle any games. Then you get to go and prove them completely wrong by displaying how well games run at higher settings.

Good resellers include XoticPC and PowerNotebooks for sager / clevos. I used PNB, and I had NO problems with them, or the laptop itself. Service is amazing and professional, they answer questions quickly (usually within an hour or two), and when you call up you don't get sent out to a country where you can barely understand what they're saying. To me, after buying my np8662, i will NEVER go back to a Dell / AW / HP style rig again.

Jason

 

Clevo's are very well built machines. Not much flex in the LCD or with the chassis. This is my 1st Clevo (I have a Sager which is a rebranded Clevo) and I must say I'm very impressed. I've owned Dells, IBM, Toshiba (well built IMO), Sony's, and also HPs all over the past 20 years so I can say I've used a wide range and by far for my home use I like this machine.
They are easy to maintain, clean and easy to swap the CPUs, HDDs, or GPUs. It took me 7 mins to switchout my CPU. 4 screws to remove the back cover, then 4 screws holding the CPU in. Clean, rinse, and put the new one in. Very simple. Not like on an HP where you take the whole back cover off, the LCD screen, all component have to come out, and 40 screws later that are all different sizes, you get the idea. Took me the 1st time I swaped a CPU on an HP about 2 hrs to do, I'm down to about 30 mins now with instructions/pictures, no instructions for the Clevo it was that simple.
The keyboard is easily replaceable which it is on most machines I've ever had to work on. The issue may be buying the keyboard.
I do like the keyboard on my Sager NP9850 (aka Clevo M980NU). I purchased from PNB as well very happy with PowerNoteBooks.com.
Having keys pop off on a dell is normal (isn't that sad normal) due to their cheap build quality. We use Dells at work and that happens all the time but we can replace a keyboard on them very quickly if we have a spare laying around.
They have warranties up to 3 years and I don't know what is replaced in that timeframe. Hopefully a reseller can answer that for you.

I also want to say the users on this forum are awesome and are very helpful in answering your questions, helping with issues, etc.

Lastly, dropping any piece of equipement is prone to failure and issues.
If you treat your equipment harshly it will pay you back twofold.

Hope this helps.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

If you are comfortable with replacing hardware yourself, whether it is a keyboard, Ram, Hard Drive etc you can easily set up a Cross Ship where a new part is sent out right away and then you send back the defective part after the replacement arrives.

 

I've always been comfortable replacing hardware myself I'm one of those wierdos that soldered in internal usb hubs into their gen1 eeepc 701's, after that, doing things that DON'T void warranties is cake

I don't treat my stuff bad on purpose, but I know that my daily life subjects me and my things to more wear and tear that you'd see just leaving it on a desk. I like to know that what i own is up to the challenge.

Thanks all for the feed back, now my only concern is that darned battery power question which i guess wont get answered until they start shipping.

 

Justin, is this allowed for international orders? Because if so I'm annoyed that i had to wait 3 weeks without a keyboard and missing one of my hard drives because of UPS and time flows etc.

 

It is allowed, even for international orders. However, shipping would not be covered.

 

Okay, well excuse me while i go off and curse repeatedly for the next 1-2 hours for the stress I had to endure while going without a keyboard and hard drive for 3 weeks

 

You can still get a cross-ship so you wouldn't be without these parts , you would just be responsible for the shipping.

 

I think he's cursing because he didn't realize this could be done, and so he went ahead and did it the other, longer way.

 

Yes indeedy, you're a smart one. I didn't curse in the end, I just took out my frustration in a 4 hour long combination of randomly
1 - Killing people in SF 4 online
2 - Killing people in Crysis
3 - Killing people in Unreal Tournament 3 online
4 - Killing people in Fallout 3 by many numerous ways, including putting frag mines in their pockets and watching them explode
5 - Causing massive mayhem and outrunning the police in Need for Speed Undercover
6 - I forgot what I did here, but it included a lot of killing too
7 - Killed people in Call of Duty 4

Yep I think that sums it up. Better than cursing

 

I take out my frustration by killing Asus users in Source games.

 

lol clevo all the way? XD

 

Damn straight Clevo all the way.

 

Should have Team Fortress 2 tomorrow... Red team ftw?

 

Yes, red team ftw.

 

I got a m570etu it doesn't look that strong but if you feel it its solid. Theres no flex at all when resting my hands under the keyboard. And when you pick it it up it doesn't stretch or bend. I used to have an hp laptop before and it would creack and the panels had alot of flex, none of that with the clevo. Its very solid. The only complaint is that its kind of boring and ugly looking. But I didn't buy this notebook to look pretty, this notebook was built to do work, by work I mean play GTA IV, Crysis, and Sim City 4 (great game)

 

This is my favourite quote ever XD
"This notebook was built to do work, by work I mean play GTA IV, Crysis and Sim City 4"