**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

Yes, I have seen version 1.01.01aS. My version is 1.00.01.

 

Oh okay. Mine came with version 1.01.01S

 

I got mine last week. The laptop is awesome but sadly the fan loudness is definately a step in the wrong direction. The old machine was far better in this regard.

 

Mine's really not that loud at all. Certianly quieter than the M15X I briefly had.

I really have no complaints yet although battery life is hilarious.

 

Hmmm, all this talk about fan noise is starting to get me worried that there may infact be something wrong with my notebook.

When the fans are 'idling' before any form of use, (the fans kick in after the slightest action I do on my notebook) they are actually very quiet. But it's annoying that they kick in to nearly 100% and stay that way for most of the time after I put only a little bit of stress on the machine. And that's when the sound becomes a bit to much for my taste.

Perhpas I will indeed record the sound and put it up on youtube for you guys to hear. I just haden't expect this comming from such an expensive piece of equipment ... (And here I was so happy that my machine had 0 defects)

 

I was wondering, does Artic Silver 5 go bad in the tube if left in a cool dry place. I have some left over from when I built my PC and if I need to redo the thermal compound on my notebook when it comes I was wondering if it will still be good. The stuff is about a year and a half old.

 

If the cap is on, then no.

 

Cool thanks Soviet.

 

is the space bar hard to press? is like when u type fast u just tap the spacebar. but sometimes not working.

 

the fan gets a little loud sure, but never to the point of being annoying or distracting.
coming from a notebook with cooling issues and a silent fan, i actually find the fan noise quite comforting, reminding me that the cooling system is doing its job.
i live in the philippines and im quite sure the fans are at its max when i game.

the only hardware "issue" i have with the laptop is the relatively weak audio of the laptop especially when playing BD's. since im not yet in my house, i havent tested the unit with speakers nor headphones yet.

overall id say its the best bang for buck gaming notebook you can get at this point in time...

 

So I finally pulled the trigger on the 8690 last night from xoticpc. I am very excited i am right now on a 6 year old Dell Inspiron 8600. I am steppin' up in the world. Any one know how long it usually takes to ship from xotic?

 

add 3to5business days to the shipping method you picked. they ship first to nebraska where the unti is outed then its shipped to your address.
congrats

 

First post! (Sorry, it has to be long. You are welcome to ignore.)

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on this forum for many months, maybe even a year (before this lounge was set up) and have decided to come out of the closet lol . This is especially timely since I just placed my order this afternoon, so I'm not quite an owner yet. I've been using my old trusty 6.2lb Toshiba A80 1.7ghz single core laptop for the last 4 years before it passed away while I was not around . I've poured water through its keyboard (accidentally), been through heavy rain with it, somehow broken one of the LCD hinges so that it pivots on only one side and removed 15 screws+infuriating plastic snap-on parts just to clean the fan a couple times. Good memories indeed. I'm still amazed it has survived till today, if only a day longer so that I could have backed up my data as I had planned to tomorrow (honest*). Ah well, things happen for a reason.

After my experience, I've decided to go quite the other extreme by getting technology that's just being phased in as opposed to that being phased out. My Mac-fan-boi of a housemate thinks I'm silly to blow so much money on a laptop but hey, I think I've earned it. Yet, he seems even more excited than I am about my new laptop. Anyway, its a decision I've been mulling over for some time now but my inability to play any semi-decent game or run any engineering programs properly on my old laptop removed any hesitation I had (the black friday discount did help a bit too). I'm currently borrowing my other housemate's 1.8ghz dual-core HP and already I see the difference. Yes, I know thats an obvious statement but humour me. I can't wait to start using my new Sager.The performance of the cpu I'm using has doubled and will quadruple (or more) compared to I had before in a space of 1-2 weeks How's that for Moore's law...

Ok, back on topic. I have a question and a comment. I think maybe one or two forum members will be trying to improve on the cooling system. Has anyone thought about introducing some sort of dust repellent foil or mechanism to reduce the amount of dust entering? I will also be more free after mid-December and wouldn't mind running any benchmarks/tests that some people may still have, so long as you give me a nice set of instructions. Till then, I'll drop in and out. Don't worry, I'm always watching hahaha.

-Your friendly neighbourhood lurker
P.S. Maybe I should change my name.

 

"add 3to5business days to the shipping method you picked. they ship first to nebraska where the unti is outed then its shipped to your address.
congrats"

Sweet! I thought it would take much longer. Thanks for the info. I now need to get some games!

 

well thats assumig the 1600x900 is already available. i had to upgrade to the fhd screen as the hd screen has been out of stock for a while

 

Good News then. I already selected the FHD screen.

 

Welcome aboard! Good to see you finally out of the closet . But back to your questions...anyone trying improve the cooling system on this laptop is only trying to reach the freezing point because there's no chance in hell this laptop will ever overheat unless its defective. Don't worry about dust entering in your vents, all laptop does it. By blocking your vents in anyway will only keep your fans from performing at their best to keep the laptop cool. Just clean out the fans and vents every 1-2 months and you'll fine.

 

I've seen the interior chasis design and have been very impressed but I guess I'll have to wait till I can run some tests to be the better judge. Hopefully, I don't get a defective one like one or two of the other posters I've seen on here. I want to be as cool as a cucumber .

 

When you say the battery life was hilarious what are you talking about? Is it really bad.

I have another question. How thick is the SAGER 8690. Thanks.

 

Battery life is 40-50 minutes. It is a 3 cell battery. Sager/Clevo figured this model wasn't designed for battery use. If you want long battery life, get a slim and lite model.

It is 1.65~2.0" thick, front to back.

 

is there a 6 or 9 cell replacement battery for the 8690?

 

No, the 3 cell is the only battery available at this time.

 

yeah, kinda though so
i still can get an hours worth in power save and at the lower brightness settings though...
wonder if switching to a lower resolution while on batteries will have an effect?

 

Hey Guys,

Regarding NP8690, what do you think about add the dual fans cooler as upgrade?

What about the standard sound device? Is that good?

One more question...

What are your suggestion, buy from XOTICPC or MALIBAL?

What´s the difference between than?

Tks

 

I don't have my 8690 yet but from look of what people have been posting on the forum the cooling system is awesome and really has no need to upgrade it. Some people have been taking the sticker off the vent and have drop the CPU a few degrees in doing so. There has been some talk about leaving it on because it cools the others components better. The way I look at it is if the CPU and everything is at a good temp already I am not going to mess with it. Some 8690's have come without the sticker from the manufacture.

From what it sounds the 8690 doesn't have the greatest sound but for a laptop is average.

I ordered from XoticPC and have had the best customer service I have had ever from any company. From what it sounds like a few members have bought there notebook from MALIBAL and have had good luck.

 

You will probably find that you do not need an external cooler, but the best advice is to wait until you get your NP8690 first, and then decide if you think you might want the external cooler.

The standard audio card supports 7.1 Surround Sound and is as good as it gets. However as with virtually any laptop, the internal speakers will be mediocre at best. To get the best audio you will want to use a quality headset, or best of all a quality 7.1 Surround Sound speaker system.

 

A question to owners:

How unwieldly is this laptop?

By that I mean would one be able to sit on the couch with it in their lap and watch tv while doing whatever with it?

Or is it too big/heavy for that?

 

The main difference is the price and warranty. I believe you get longer phone support with xoticpc vs Malibal. Malibal will have the cheaper price by $20-$30 or so, but it depends on what you're comfortable with. I know the few people who have used Malibal (including myself) have been very impressed with them and their customer service.

If you're pretty technical and know what you're doing, Malibal should be an option. If you're not comfortable fixing your own problems, and need help a lot if any problems come up, you'll probably appreciate the phone support from xoticpc.

 

weightwise it isnt that heavy.
it get quite warm though, even in normal task loading such as surfing, but not to the point of being uncomfortable.

 

I was just price comparing prices and on Malibal I got less features/upgrades for the same price I got everything I want on xoticpc

 

Can you post your upgrades, because I can't see how that's possible. I didn't look very hard, but the only upgrade price difference was on the 920XM, at Malibal it was $755, and at xoticpc it's $745. Seeing as how the base price is $20 cheaper at Malibal, any hardware upgrade should still result in you saving at least $10 by going with Malibal.

 

Sager NP8690 (Built on Clevo W860CU) Custom Gaming Laptop
- 15.6” HD+ 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1600x900) Super Clear Glare Type Screen
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Intel® Core™ i7-720QM, 1.60-2.80GHz, (45nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 6,144MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
- Custom Fitted Laptop Back LCD & Inside Skin (A+C Surfaces) [Choose from our designs or your own Graphic or Logo (Details of design made after order)]
* Will add 5-13 business days on order
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- 11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Operating System Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs
- No Xotic PC Gear

COST 2218(XOTICPC)

Customizations:
Display: 15.6" 1600 x 900 HD+ LED Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 1.60GHz
Memory: (6GB) 6144MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM
$270.00
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M 1GB GDDR3
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA-300
$60.00
Optical Drive: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive
Wireless: Internal 802.11A/B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card
Warranty: 1 Year Parts and Labor Warranty with 24/7 USA-Based Support
Power: Additional Smart Li-ION Battery
$110.00
Accessories: Targus TSB212 Deluxe Notebook Case
$75.00

Product Subtotal: $2,194.00 malibaL(I DIDNT EVEN GET AS MUCH AS I DID WITH XOTIC PC).

 

That's the exact same order. Just because one description is longer, doesn't mean you actually get more. The only difference there is the warranty, which I mentioned in my original post answering the question about Malibal and xoticpc.

 

If I bought the warranty most similar to xotic pc it would be another 250 dollars plus the ram was more expensive, an extra battery is more expensive with malibal, you cant order a car adapter. That is why i am buying my sager from xoticpc instead of malibal. And I have heard almost nothing but good about xotic pc.

 

I lol'ed. 10char

 

I'm not trying to tell you where to order, I'm just trying to get the facts straight so people who read this aren't misled.

False.

The warranty's are different. For $250 you get 3yrs labor AND parts at Malibal. This is not similar to xoticpc's warranty, where you get 3 years labor, not labor and parts.

False.

The 6GB of ram is exactly the same price at Malibal and xoticpc, $270 upgrade on each site.

False.

The extra battery is $10 cheaper at Malibal. It's $110 there, and $120 at xoticpc.

False.

You can order a car adapter at Malibal and xoticPC. It's on both websites, same price, $65.

Like I said, I'm not trying to persuade you, I don't make any money off where you buy your PC. I'm just keeping the facts straight.

I know plenty of people who have bought PC's from xoticpc, and I hear fantastic things about them as well. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with them and hope everything goes smoothly!

 

Thank you for the replies...

I have one more doubt. Regarding Malibal website, I have noticed that they call the Sager NP8690 as Lotus Series. Why? The laptop didn´t came wt Sager as logo?

TksThank you for the replies...

I have one more doubt. Regarding Malibal website, I have noticed that they call the Sager NP8690 as Lotus Series. Why? The laptop didn´t came wt Sager as logo?

I need to have this laptop delivered before dec 15. Do you know which company (sager, xoticpc, malibal) has the lowest lead time for delivery?

Tks

 

While we don't have a 100% definitive answer, from what I can tell you, Malibal is supposedly a Clevo reseller, while xoticpc is a Sager reseller. (This is why xoticPC will not price-match Malibal). The main difference being that there is no "Sager" badge on the Malibal Lotus, it's just a plain black case. Malibal calls it a Lotus because they want to (product differentiation). As far as the hardware, they are exactly the same.

Both xoticpc and Malibal seem to drop-ship from the exact same location, and probably resell laptops that came in the same shipments. There really should not be any difference in shipping time, but I would email them both and ask. Doesn't hurt to send an email!

 

weird so many people are complaining about the sound. Surprising to me, i can't even hear a sound coming from the fan in the middle of a dead night. ???? strange .. are we talking about the same model here ? lol weird ...

 

yeah just found out the right palm rest is getting warmer than usual under gaming. Is there any way to cool it further ? though i do not rest my hand there when gaming but you know the cooler the better

 

The HDD is under the right palm rest. The only way to make it cooler is to buy a cooler HDD.

 

awww... any suggestion ? will a ssd help ? it is almost impossible to mod this stupid stuff with a battery pack right below it

 

That dreaded hot right hand palm rest still exists with this laptop? I thought it was already improved from the M860TU.

 

An SSD runs similarly as warm as a conventional HDD. Yes I took a temp gun to it before. My 250GB 7200.4 runs in the low 30's, probably never broke 36*C, in my W870CU. And that is after heavy use. I'm sure the temps will be similar in the W860CU as they are pretty much the same notebook design. Clevo really stepped it up.

 

My W870CU's palm rest is cooler than my M570TU's palm rest. And my M570TU palm rest was never hot to begin with. I'd say there is an improvement here.

 

Hmm, black friday on Xotic...should've bought NP8690 then :|

And yay for laptop coming on saturday!


And Sovi - I see you bought the W870CU...just what I expected haha (due to your misleading posts about wanting the W860CU but ITS A TRAP!)

 

any news on a BIOS update to hopefully make the Mute Fan Biutton do something usefull?

This machine is awesome but the fan noise even when doing nothing is pretty loud,

Neil.

 

I have now added the service manual for this unit to the list in my sig - I take no responsibility for anything anyone does with this knowledge.

Quick Linky

 

Got the 8690 today, bleh, I have a dead pixel in the somewhat middle of my screen. 2 1/2 inches to the left, and 2 inches high from the middle of the screen.
Otherwise it's great so far...the touchpad kinda sucks, but eh it's fine since I use a Razer mouse.
The screen really is the bees knees though color and brightness wise...I'm impressed. Also I got 84fps in FEAR, as apposed to 78 on the 9280, so CPU clock definitely helped there on the turbo.

Soviet went with the 8760, wow I didn't see that comming, I really really didn't...Yea right! So how is it? since I know you'll be the first one to read this post anyway. I kind of like the 8760 better than the 8690, but I didn't want a 17 inch, I wanted a 15 inch, so obviously I had to go with the 8690.

 

if you split the screen into 9 equal rectangles (like a #), if the dead pixel is in the center rectangle, that's a warranty issue (even without dead pixel warranty)