[Review] Sager NP8651 / Clevo P650SE with GTX 970m HTWingNut's REVIEW

The ports don't support phone style headphones with inline mic, you need to plug in dedicated devices or maybe find a converter.

 

But I want to use the internal microphone, not the headphones.. I'm really trying everything but nothing is working!

 

Plug you headphones into the headphone port and say you have plugged in headphones then set the default recording device to the internal. Check the internal mic is registering noise in the windows audio manager.

 

Nope, it still isn't registering noise !

 

Then talk to your reseller you may have a hardware issue if you can't ever make the MIC register input.

 

Yeah I guess so, thanks Meaker

 

I have bought a p505 with a 970M and a i7 4710HQ last November; it's been running great till now but I noticed that lately the CPU temperatures have gotten much higher than expected (the fact that it's so hot this season probably made it worse, room temperature is around 30-31 degrees). Strangely enough dota 2 is the game that pushes the CPU temperature the highest, peaking around 98°C; is it an expected behavior? How easy is it to repaste?

 

Those are higher then you want. Before you repaste it, have you opened up the bottom to clean out the vents and fans?

 

On my P650Se, the touchpad button normal click somehow clicks the left and the right button. Is this a hardware issue or something software related? I reinstalled the drivers but that doesnt seem to fix this.

The touchpad click works fine to be clear. It is the left button click that triggers both the button functionality.

 

Yes, I usually do open up the bottom and dust the fans using canned air once every two weeks or so!

 

OK great, next would be to redo the thermal compound if you're comfortable doing so. IC Diamond is always our recomendation http://www.innovationcooling.com/application.html

 

I'll look for a video about how to remove the heatsink from the cpu as I am not very sure on how to proceed. I have some mx-4 left from a previous repasting so I think I'll use that one. I don't know if I'll have to replace the thermal pads as well, if so I have 1 phobya 120x20x1 mm and 1 phobya 100x100x1 mm pads!

 

The thermal pads can be re-used so long as they look intact.

 

I'm going to have this laptop, is a cooling pad gonna be necessary? If it does, what kind of cooling pad that might works the best for this laptop?

 

I never found a cooling pad to be necessary. The temps I recorded in my review were without the use of a cooling pad.

That being said, if you really want a cooling pad, go nuts. It can't hurt.

 

No cooling pad necessary, just make sure you are always on a flat surface like a desk. Never on carpet or your bed where you are blocking the bottom vents.

 

If you are going to be playing long sessions it may be worth just propping up the back a little with plastic bottlecap sized supports will give it maximum breathing room.

 

alright then, good to hear that though, thank you for your advices gentlemen.

 

Hopefully ordering one of these tonight. Spent months looking at various laptops, but in the end this seems to be the best for my budget. I'm getting mine from a company called PC Specialist in the UK, the quote came to £884 for the i7-4720HQ, 970M 3GB and 8GB RAM. Unfortunately it will come with a rubbishy 500GB 5400RPM drive so i'll have to open up the laptop and swap this out for my 250GB Samsung 840 EVO on day one, and then purchase another drive for it at a later date. Super excited though, i can't wait.

Does anyone here with the B156HAN01.2 have noticeable issues with backlight bleeding? Just wondering because i've seen several people mentioning this on other websites.

 

You'll usually see a bit in the corners. It doesn't really show up on anything other than the boot up screen (when it's all black).

From my experience with it anyway. Varies by laptop.

 

Is hotkey compatible with win10 ? Same question for MBX audio software ?

if one of you guys went to win10 please tell me if you have any driver problem with clevos...unbelievable they didn't release win10 drivers for important softwares clevo...

 

Anyone else having issues with wifi and windows 10?
Ethernet works, but it cant connect to the wifi after upgrading from windows 8.1...

Checked all the updates and they are all set.


Found the issue. Needed to restart the router. Only took 1.5 hours to think of that...

 

I've had the NP8651 for months running Windows 8.1 and decided to update on Windows 10 official release day.
Prior to windows 10 everything was running smoothly, all drivers were working and it was... buttery smooth.
After installing windows 10 microsoft seemed to force all drivers to update to the latest version (there's a lot of whining on the internet about this already).
I noticed that with the new drivers, ethernet wouldn't connect (spotty connection) and windows chose wifi connections over LAN.
This is caused by an updated Realtek PCIe GBE family controller driver. I had to install an older driver via a disc that came from the OEM.
This driver version is 8.32.508.2014 instead of the 10.X that was updated.

Are there any other driver updates that were forced that cause issues in the NP8651?
I haven't come across any issues with the hotkey...yet.

 

None that I have heard but it is early days.

 

My main questions deal with the lcd panel.

First should i buy one with thr lg panel?
2Nd could i upgrade a laptop with a 1080p panel with a 4k izgo panel down the road?
Is there a aoirce for the izgo panel seperately?
Is there an upgrade coming soon?

Thanks for answers

 

The 4k machines use a different cable and in some cases connector (depending on the type of panel shipped). So it would not be a simple swap out, I advise getting the display you want when buying it.

 

Today I got a replacement keyboard after getting an erratic problem with "W" key issue that does not release the function immediately despite releasing key press.

Now installed the new keyboard I got and W is now working normally but another issue occurred. I noticed the space bar now is not being as tactile as the other one when pressing on the left edge of the space bar. When I use my thumb to tap the space bar on the left edge while typing on it does not work. Freaking have to move a bit half way into the middle just to get it work...

Sigh what a quality keyboard from Clevo.

Can someone tell me if this is normal that pressing on left or right edge of the space bar does not really work and no tactile feedback like pressing on the center?
Now I have to ask for round 2 for replacement or just ask for refund and find another notebook I guess. What a headache keyboard.

 

Tapping left or right side of spacebar works normally for me.

 

My laptop came with only 1 8gb cl11 stick in it. I just bought another 8 gb ram stick, but I got a cl9 stick because it was the same price as the cl11 stick, believing that it would just run at full 800 mhz (x2) clock speed with cl11 timings. However, it seems like my RAM is downclocking, so both sticks are running at 667 at cl9 timings, at least according to hwinfo64 and CPUz. Anyone know how to fix this? It seems like this was probably a bad idea and I should have gotten the same specced stick, so I will probably return this one...

 

Yeah I tried the other keyboard with defective W key it's really working on the left/right portion of the space bar. I guess this replacement is just seem broken. I already called the shop where I bought it and agreed to send me a second one and they have confirmed through test that the space bar on the new replacement they are sending is really balance tactile feedback and no seesaw like pressing on the space bar. Hope to received one more tomorrow, have high hopes the second one is good or else I'm done with notebook

 

It seems like just an unlucky set to me too, best of luck with the 2nd replacement.

 

I had this issue with my P650SE as well. Not the best keyboard around.

 

When running dual-channel RAM, the system will run both at the lowest speed (so it'll take the slowest of the two).

 

You can try manually setting it in XTU if the option is there.

 

Yeah indeed just got the 2nd replacement keyboard today and luckily all is well and working just right. Yey...

But I really fear the kb quality now, until when will this new keyboard last before its broken all over again...

 

Hey, i've just received my laptop but i'm having quite a major but simple problem which is preventing me from doing anything. I can't work out which is the BIOS key, pretty sure i've tried them all but none seem to be working. Any ideas?

 

Easiest way is to do an advanced restart.



Or search for advanced.

 

Its typically F2 but quick boot may prevent you from getting in there. Try booting up the computer, then tell it to restart instead of turn off. Once its started restarting then spam F2 and continue to do it. You should be able to get in then.

 

Excellent, thanks for the help! It was quite an odd issue for me because i've never experienced issues with accessing the BIOS before on a laptop. There were two instruction manuals for the laptop, one of them was supplied by the vendor which in this case was PC Specialist, and the other was a Clevo manual. To begin with i was trying to press F7 because this is what it stated in the PCS manual, but when i checked the Clevo book instead it said F2. However it turned out that neither of these buttons worked for me, so i ended up using the advanced restart method shown above. Rather strange because i even disabled the fast startup option as suggested.

Thankfully everything since then has been fine, i managed to install Windows 10 without issue and getting all the drivers working was no problem. However, i have been unsuccessful in making the fingerprint driver work with Windows 10. When i received the laptop it was running a trial version of Windows 8 and the scanner worked great, but since wiping the drive and installing Windows 10 it hasn't worked at all. I have the official driver from the Clevo website installed, but when i go into the Windows sign-in settings the option for setting up fingerprint recognition is greyed out and disabled. I recall there being a piece of software on the Windows 8 installation for setting up the fingerprint scanner, but can't remember what it was called?

 

@CivicJDM - Try using the mySN Win 10 fingerprint drivers from HERE; your model being the XMG P505. The software you might be thinking of is "BioExcess" by Egis Technology.

 

Good thinking about the Schenker website, i would never have checked there. It seems they're a step ahead of everyone else because not even the Clevo website has any Windows 10 drivers yet. Also, the BioExcess program you mentioned was definitely the one on here before because i can recall the name now. I downloaded that Windows 10 fingerprint driver and installed it, now i have 'Biometric Devices - EgisTec ES603 Swipe Fingerprint Sensor' showing up in Device Manager which is a good sign. However, the fingerprint option under the Windows sign-in settings has disappeared completely, so i'm not sure what to do about that. Also, i tried searching for BioExcess after installing the driver and nothing shows up, which is a bit worrying?

 

Yea Schenker was impressively quick out of the gates. I'm not on W10 so I can't help specifically troubleshoot. Some driver issues might be simply due to W10 being a new OS but could just as easily stem from M$ dictatorially electing to force updates, thus mucking these installations up.

Take a look through this THREAD. Though they might not have the same exact Clevo model as you, some never faced your W10 fingerprint issue because it worked first time ( HERE) and some fixed it by installing Clevo's FP drivers ( HERE). Another has a similar model to yours but I'm not sure what was used for fingerprint drivers ( HERE). I'd say ask on there and then fidget around with the FP driver you have installed until it works. Maybe uninstall any present FP drivers first, from control panel and/or device manager and see if W10 maybe installs an FP driver that actually works. If not, try with the Clevo or Schenker drivers again (possibly uninstalling between each). I don't know if the software utility for BioExcess is available for W10 yet...a proper driver, and apparently some luck, seem to be all that's needed to get the FP to work in W10.

 

Thank you for the helpful and informative response. I have tried uninstalling the driver i had and then rebooting, followed by installing the Schenker Windows 10 driver, but this resulted in the same issue i described before where the option for fingerprint is displayed but greyed out. The driver supplied by PC Specialist also resulted in the same issue unfortunately. I have yet to give the Clevo driver another go but i imagine it will give the same outcome. I'm not sure about this, but i think the reason why some people in that thread have been successful in getting their fingerprint scanners to work with Windows 10 is because they have upgraded straight from Windows 7/8 and the drivers with appropriate software have been transferred across to the new operating system.

I'll keep playing around but it's not looking too good at the moment. One thing i found strange is that the BioExcess software doesn't seem to be bundled with any of these drivers i'm using, so i have no idea how to get this back again. Maybe that's the reason why i can't get the Windows fingerprint option to be made available, because the software is missing. I really don't know about it though.

 

Sorry to hear that. If you already tried the Clevo drivers, Eurocom HERE have recently added some Win 10 drivers for their rebrand of your same system so you could test them out too.

They do not seem to bundle that BioExcess software with any W8 or W10 fingerprint downloads. Like them, I assumed BioExcess was not necessary for the FP sensor to function in those OS's. However, when you download the Win 7 FP driver from the Eurocom link above, extract it, open it and go to program files > UI, you'll see the BioExcess installation. Mind you, I don't know if it's compatible with W10 but if you're willing, try installing it. For me on Win 7, my FP didn't function until I installed the BioExcess software after the driver installation. It may somehow solve this W10 hiccup for you before you consider any of the OCD driver cleaning I try to detail below.

P.S. Again I'm not on W10 but...Out of OCD cleanliness, first attempt to uninstall the driver from your control panel's programs and features if it appears there as "EgisTec Fingerprint Driver" or something like that. If it asks you to restart do so. Then check device manager and if present, uninstall any FP drivers under "biometric devices" or "secure biometric devices." Then double-check device manager again to make sure W10 didn't just roll back to an older, possibly problematic driver it had initially installed. If it did, you might want to uninstall that one too until the FP device doesn't even show up in device manager anymore or it indicates an "unknown device" (Not sure if there is a "delete device driver software" box you can tick when you uninstall a driver in W10). That way you know that every driver for the FP device is uninstalled and you're squeaky clean. Then, you restart and W10 may or may not force a new FP driver down your OS's throat . If it doesn't and the "unknown" FP device is in your device manager, then try a Eurocom/Clevo/Schenker FP driver.

 

Anyone else have a bit of flex in the back edge of the bottom cover around the area where the esata port is? If i squeeze the part just below the screen and the bottom around the esata port it kind of flexes and overlaps a little; if I do the same thing on either side of the GPU heatsink there is no play or flex. Is this normal or is there some retention piece broken on my laptop? If this doesn't really make sense I can explain it more if necessary. I mean the part of the bottom cover that wraps around the back of the laptop (like the part that covers the GPU heatsink), but on the non GPU side. Where this part comes into contact with the main body of the laptop there seems to be a bit of play that perhaps shouldn't be there.

 

Thanks once again for the informative response, you're a lot better at writing than what i'll ever be! Anyways, i carefully read through your message and followed the instructions one step at a time, firstly removing the EgisTec driver from under Control Panel and then rebooting the laptop. The device still showed up in the Device Manager so i left-clicked onto it and uninstalled, checking the box to remove driver software. Once this was done i went back into Device Manager and double checked it was gone, then installed the Eurocom Windows 10 driver that i hadn't previously used before. It asked me to restart at the end, but before doing this i also downloaded the Eurocom Windows 7 driver and installed the BioExcess program from there. Once i had restarted the machine, it popped up with the BioExcess icon in the notification area and it allowed me to successfully set up my fingerprints. I had a look in the Windows sign-in options and the fingerprint section now showed 'Remove' rather than the old greyed out box. After signing out and attempting to log in using my fingerprint, i can confirm it's now working because after swiping the sensor it showed a quick Windows Hello message and then the desktop.

So i'm pretty sure the whole issue was down to not having the BioExcess software installed, which is quite surprising because i didn't imagine it would be dependent on that. Pleased it's all sorted now, cheers for helping me with this.

 

Good to know there's at least this method to get that part working. I want to use Win 10 & fingerprint scanner too and this had me a little worried.

 

Not sure if I understand you but if you're referring to the back cover around the esata/usb port then I guess I know what you mean. Removed the back cover and re-attach it and make sure the esata/usb port at the back fits in into the hole of the back cover or else you'll see some overlaps or something ain't right on the cover. Check it it fits right and correctly before putting back the screws.

 

Yeah it's that part of the back cover. It fits right and everything looks fine externally, but I think there might be some retention tab or something that might be broken. I will have to take off the back cover to check.

 

i like the design it's kind of extraordinary
i really want it now

but can it survive to play the next game release in 3 or 4 years later?