**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

I am trying to decided between this and an m15x so I have some more questions.
For you people that have received it, can I get some in depth reviews and maybe pics on the screen quality? How are the viewing angles, colors and blacks?
I don't mind the minimal black box look but how does it feel? Is there much body/screen flex or it it solid?
Is there keyboard flex?

Apparently the m15x has a nice display and a very solid body. Downside is the $ and the gpu. I kind of like the look and I don't mind the extra weight as it seems like a tank. I wonder what dell would do for me if I had a pixel issue or just did not like it and want to send it back? I thought I was stuck with my G51J but newegg.ca customer service hooked me up with a full refund.

I am trying to be picky about the details as I live in Canada and I want to make sure I am getting a laptop I will keep. BTW, for me personally, a stuck or dead pixel is a deal breaker, it would drive me nuts to know I paid over 2k for a laptop with an imperfection.

 

For starters, you will get better warranty service in Canada by going with AW/Dell. They send local technicians to perform repairs and overnight the parts needed. With Clevo/Sager, you will have to send your notebook to the US via mail. If I were Canadian, I'd strongly consider an AW.

As for the rest of your questions, I'll let you know in a matter of hours when my 8690 arrives.

 

My screen quality is amazing. No stuck pixels, good black levels, nice and bright. You could totally run the 1920x1080 at 1600x900 if you wanted to, I did for 2 days. Not much flex on the lid and none on the body. Solid. It is a little thick but nothing major and not too heavy. Fans not loud at all, and hasn't got too hot playing COD6. The DVD drive is the loudest thing. The track pad took a minute to get used to, as I am used to swiping my finger up or down and it seems to prefer when you press and hold at the top or bottom of the track pad to scroll. Happy with my purchase.

 

Is it normal to be excited for a Monday?

 

@ josh_g

If defective pixels would bother you make sure you buy the No Dead Pixel Guarantee. $200 if you buy it stand alone, or $100 if you bundle it with one of the extended warranties. This is much cheaper than having to hassle with sending it back and paying the shipping both ways.

 

Why not just offer a $200 LCD "upgrade" option (e.g. LG displays)? I'd rather take that instead of some pixel guarantee.

 

I plan on ordering an 8690 in the near future and have been planning for it in the mean time. With that I have a few questions for owners of this awesome laptop. I will be installing Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

1. Is the card reader fast enough (assuming the SD card inserted is fast enough to begin with) to be ready boost compliant?

2. How far out from the card ready slot does an SD card sit? I plan on leaving one in full time, and hopefully it’s not to obtrusive.

3. Can the fingerprint reader software that sager supplies be configured without having to scan a finger for login to windows? I want to use the feature of locking up some folders that have personal information with the scanner. I could not find this information in the user manual.

4. I have seen it asked before but no one responded, How does the lid stay closed, I don’t see any latches or anything in pic’s that have been posted?

5. Does the laptop have a failsafe mechanism so that you can’t turn it on when the lid is closed? With the power button on the side I worry about having to remember when I put the laptop in my backpack that I need to face the power button side up.

Thanks ahead of time for your assistance!

 

Mine just arrived!! I didn't know about the complimentary carrying case, that's a nice touch. The notebook looks like exactly how I imagined it to be. The thickness isn't surprising at all and frankly it's barely thicker than the Asus G51 I had. Aesthetically it's a much nicer looking notebook than the G51 and has a more solid construction.

I'm getting ready to prepare my Windows 7 dvd so it'll be a little while before I have everything running and can start evaluating the notebook. Initial impressions are very good so far.

 

Well I have been doing some pricing. The Sager, with shipping, exchange rate and cc charge is going to cost me $2129 before tax. That is with the 4 gigs of 1333 the 1920 x 1080 screen a 320 gb 7200 rpm hd but no OS.
I contacted dell.ca and spoke with a friendly gentleman in India and he said he would knock off about $125 off the m15x. It would have the same specs as the Sager except of course it would be the GTX 260 and 4gb of 1066. The total cost before tax would be $2150.
He said that if I have any pixel problems, even 1 stuck pixel, they will repair or replace the unit free of charge.
I kinda like the look of both the laptops, I know the Sager GPU could be upgraded at a later date but would I really even do that... I'm not too sure. I wish I could see them side by side. Either way I am looking at a $600 price jump over my G51J, maybe I am crazy for even considering this.
So, what do you guys think?

 

Congrats Joker!!! I am very interested in your review.

 

Damn! You beat me Joker.. Mine's still on the truck, guy is probably on his 2 hour lunch break..

 

I'm sure you'll have yours up and running before me. I have to slipstream xp sp3, partition the drive and then install win 7 on the 2nd partition. Gonna be awhile..wait didn't you say you had an already made sp3 iso??


Edit: found my slipstream disk!
Edit 2: The display BLOWS AWAY the Asus. There's no comparison between the two and it's hard to believe this thing is an AUO. Colors are deeper, contrast is much better, blacks are far better and the viewing angles much better. I'm basing this off of seeing the XP installation screen but even my gf agrees it's far better than the junk on the G51. I'll add more photos and comparisons once everything is up and running.
Edit 3:

Here's a photo:

 

Joker you are not making this easy for me More info, HURRY!!!

 

Joker if you could post more about the screen that would be really helpful. I'm trying to find its specs (Contrast, panel color bit and depth, brightness, etc.) since I know you at one time had the studio XPS 16 RGB screen, which is supposed to be the best out there, but I had to cancel mine.

I am however thinking that I'm going to get the 17" Model, so I hope there isn't much of a difference between them xP

 

I'll definitely be talking a lot about the LCD since that is one of the most important pieces of a notebook to me. The XP install is nearly done so I'll be adding on Windows 7 in a few minutes. Once that's done, I'll try to take some photos for you guys. Keep in mind the photos just won't do the panel any justice because it tends to dull the contrast/brightness. I can tell you now it's got better blacks than the Dell XPS 16 display but I was already expecting that. The colors are not as vivid but again, I was expecting that because the Dell is RGB LED.

 

mmm i am getting mine sooon todayyy! should I install XP or Win 7? =/

 

Windows Seven. End of discussion.

 

WOOT just got mine, gonna open it up now! Alright Soviet gonna install win 7 ultimate!

EDIT: now i need to condition the battery... So I just charge it to full and let it drain down to 0 right?

 

Yes. 10char

 

argh!!! shipment came at 1:36, I missed it. I wanna pick it up myself but they still haven't contacted me!!! Damn UPS!

 

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At least your UPS guy showed up! Still waiting.. Chicago's mail is so bad even UPS/FedEx sucks here.

 

mm so far i didnt locate any dead pixel...is there an accurate way to check it?

 

Grats on the new laptop, lets see this baby burn on furmark n intelburntest. You should probably do a review on it.

 

Thanks, I think I will write a review once everything is setup.

 

mmm i cant find the cd for the driver...anyone know where to download them?

 

I Lol'd, then I lol'd some more,

 

Check the pocket of the carrying case they send. It's all in there. Well I ran dead pixel checker...NO dead or stuck pixels. I knew all those chants would work out!

 

=DDDD got it. Now gotta install win7 =D


Edit: Soviet if I pray to u, will my display have zero dead pixels? (Prays) haha..... (prays quietly)

 

o so its a physical device, nvm then.

and congrats on ur new notebook! post some exterior pics, i just looked at the ones posted by another user a couple of pages back and honestly its looking REALLY GOOD. loving the inside A LOT - the backlit kb. i wanna see the outside tho

 

nvm i found the cd lol in the case...

so what program should i use to check the dead pixel?

 

I use my eyes + dead pixel buddy.

 

eyeballs.exe

 

This is what I have been using for years. Click "cycle them." http://www.gdargaud.net/Hack/DeadPixels.html#LCD

 

Alright, everything on the Sager driver dvd worked in XP except the realtek gigabit driver. For those of you that want to install XP like me, it makes life much easier.

 

Thanks! You are the best, unlike some people who try to be sarcastic

 

I agree. There are a bunch of sarcastic dbags on this forum, haha.

 

Damn you guys for rubbing this laptop in my face. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to buy it. I wish they did a Buy now Never pay finance deal! Cmon guys, get some reviews in. Anyone got the 1600x900 screen. Wanna know what that's like. Cheers.

 

+1 Lolz


10char

 

http://translate.google.com/transla...book.22279.0.html&sl=de&tl=en&history_state0=

Notebookcheck.de review

 

When I get my notebook, I won't be publishing a review.

 

Anyone know what does the 3.5 Gerneration module driver is? and how do i enable it cuz i cant install it...same as CIR Driver

 

A few pictures:







Yes that's how black the screen looks. Also the fans are pretty loud on this thing. I used the touch button to set them to slow but they're still loud. Any other way to get them to run quieter?

 

Hey joker did you install the 3.5 Generation Module and the CIR Driver? it says i cant install it because its not on....

 

Nope, neither worked for me either. Are your fans LOUD?

 

I see windows booting..... omg where the burn pictures, lol jk, i want numbers.

While suggesting laptops, i saw some people said 8690 had some loud fans, back then i though maybe was a sensible user, but i guess its the way it is.

 

Your fans are probably quieter than the CPU fan on my M570TU. Loud fans don't bother me. But then again, I can sleep through the night like a baby with my five 1TB Barracuda ES.2's thrashing torrents.

 

well the fan is weird... to me its a lil loud and its inconsistent! =/

 

hmm, on the hwmonitor how come my temp for the cpu doesn't show up? Btw, this monitor looks awesome.

 

Can you provide a screenshot?