p170hm questions

I'm considering buying a new p170hm, and I have a few random questions about the computer that I'm hoping some of you can lend some insight on. I'm pretty much sold on the hardware. Mostly I'm interested in the look and feel of the system.

1. Sound systems
I've heard some conflicting stories on the p170hm's speakers. I've heard they're not outstanding, but with a range of opinions. I'm not looking for perfect sound quality, but my current laptop has truly awful speakers. I'd like to upgrade to something that at least has good sound quality and can go to high volumes without noticable degradation of sound quality. Can I at least expect that from the p170hm's speakers?

2. Screen
I've heard that it can be difficult to predict the quality of Clevo's factory default screen as Clevo likes to switch screens often. What is the current trend, or is there one? Are the default screens fairly good on the current stock of p170hms?

If not, what is bad about the stock screens?

3. Fan noise/BIOS
I've heard that there are (were?) some issues with fans toggling on and off during idle or light usage. I've also heard that this can be fixed with a BIOS update. Is this fixed out of the box on newer p170hms or will I need to update the BIOS right away?

How does fan noise compare to the volume of the built-in speakers? Can I turn the speakers high enough to drown out the noise at load? (I'm particularly interested in the noise comparison with the 6990m GPU).

4. Keyboard
I'm not enamoured by the keyboard layout, but I plan to use a separate keyboard most of the time anyways. However, I don't want to have to carry a separate keyboard with me travelling or carrying the laptop around. My main concern is that the keyboard looks a bit cramped, not using up the whole space available on the 17" chassis. How does the keyboard compare to a full-sized keyboard? Are the keys significantly smaller?

Notebookcheck.com says the keys are 14mm (as opposed to 19.05mm for a standard keyboard) but have extra space between them. Is it difficult to get used to or use this keyboard coming from a standard keyboard?

Hopefully someone can persuade me that I'll like the look and feel of this machine as much as the system.

The last couple of questions are about upgradeability:

5. How hard is it to repaste the CPU and GPU, and how much thermal paste should I buy to repaste both the CPU and the GPU? I can't void the warranty by doing this, can I?

6. How difficult is it to access the primary RAM slots? The ones that are under the keyboard, that is. Does BIOS support for 1600MHz RAM mean I could upgrade the RAM to 1600MHz even with a chip like the i7-2670QM, which doesn't normally support it?

7. How difficult is it to access the hard drive slots?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

1. Sound systems
They're about middle of the road as far as speakers go. They do get fairly loud though and still sound decent. So you shouldn't have to worry there.

2. Screen
The stock screen is currently a Hannstar model. It's noticeably better than the previous screens. Check out this thread to compare them:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-between-different-screen-options-photos.html


3. Fan noise/BIOS
New models should come loaded with the newest bios. You shouldn't have to take care of it yourself. The speakers are louder than the fans by quite a bit

4. Keyboard
It is obviously smaller than an external keyboard, but it's not small to the point of being uncomfortable. I found it pretty natural going between the laptop keyboard and desktop models. The numpad is a strange configuration, but the keyboard key layout is otherwise standard. It's not as nice as my mechanical desktop keyboard, but that's an unfair comparison

5. It's fairly simple. It should take 10-20 minutes to do both. You only need a standard size tube of thermal compound as you put a pea sized amount on when applying it. Here's a lnk to the service manual courtesy of NBR member Theriko:

P17xHM_ESM.zip

This link explains exactly how to apply thermal paste, assuming you're using IC Diamond:

Application

6. The primary RAM slots aren't difficult to access- you just have to carefully remove the speaker panel and the keyboard. The service manual above covers this in depth. The 2670QM does not support 1600Mhz RAM, so it would not be worth getting faster RAM as it'd be downclocked to 1333Mhz.

7. The primary hard drive bay is held closed with a few screws on the bottom, it's simple to access. The secondary bay is located directly underneath the optical drive. Again, the service manual has a great guide for accessing them.

 

In my opinion the sound system for the P170HM is terrible, both speakers and headphone jack.

 

1. The speakers have acceptable quality. They need a better amp to drive them, so you will not get terribly high volumes at all. The built in crossovers are decent, however, so there is not too much "distortion" cranked all the way.

2. Can't comment. My screen is the upgraded 90% color glossy and it looks great. Better than my ThinkPad T61 WUXGA 14.1" matte.

3. My BIOS (1.01.10NS1) is brand new (system as built Oct. 25th) and has no issues cycling the fans up and down in small enough increments if it needs it that I don't notice it.

4. Go to Best Box or Wal-Store and look at any of the new "chiclet" type keyboards that are popular now since Apple started using them a ways back. This one is not identical, but is laid out almost identically to most.

5. Easy if you consider opening up a laptop easy. Yes, you will void the warranty on at least the CPU and GPU itself if not the whole machine. It says so right in the manual. Contact your specific reseller and ask them for their opinion. Mine was Xotic and Mike told me flat out that it "...probably will void it." Meaning, if I do it, then have CPU/GPU related problems later I am SOL. Less issue if problems arise in other areas.

6. Very simple. The BIOS and/or motherboard support cannot 'force' your CPU to utilize RAM that is faster than what it can normally.

7. Very Easy. 2 (+2 on drive itself) screws for the primary, 6 (+4) for secondary. Step-by-step with pics in the included .pdf manual on cd.

 

Thanks for the quick responses!

Looks like the screen is good. Sound system I'm hearing quality is fine but volume doesn't get all that high.

Sounds easy to upgrade, too. I'll probably have a look at the service manual.

 

Yes none of the Clevo / Sager models have loud speaker volume. You might consider headphones or external speakers for that scenario.

I like the creative ones myself.

Shop Creative Speakers: 5.1 Speaker System, GigaWorks Speakers, iPod Speakers, Portable Speakers
_

 

I think the sound on the Clevo P170HMx is pretty good, as long as you remember to "Fn+5".
But i dident buy a notebook for its smallish speakers, i got dedicated speakers for that.

 

The fans are loud. But I am comparing to a Lenovo T61, which is pretty much silent. You will be able to hear the fans very clearly even when the comp is idling.

As far as I know about the BIOS, you have no control over the fans, except with the fn+1 button combo to turn them all the way up to full blast. So expect a decent amount of noise.

The keyboard should not make you feel cramped, I have no problems with it, but my hands are not very big.

I can't really answer the rest as I never really payed attention to those and I have noticed no problems with the sound system so far.