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    **OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

    Discussion in 'Sager/Clevo Reviews & Owners' Lounges' started by ChinNoobonic, Oct 8, 2009.

  1. COM6502

    COM6502 Newbie

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    Shipped on Friday...Left 4 Dead On Monday!!!
    Hopefully my new NP8690 will be waiting for me at my doorstep on Monday.
    Thanx for all the great insight everyone that posted through #136... I haven't had the time to read past that! Your generosity helped me to decide on the NP8690 over the AW M15x. Thanx again!
    The lack of audio quality has been discussed often but I've not seen a solution offered yet. Wireing has been mentioned as the culprit but I was wondering if anyone has tried coupling an audio amp such as the "bitamp" http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/headroom-total-bithead.php to improve these problems?
     
  2. Riccardo83

    Riccardo83 Notebook Evangelist

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    Why using an audio amp? just use spdif or hdmi or bluetooth headset?

    Also would be great if it was possible to change the wireing....?
     
  3. COM6502

    COM6502 Newbie

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    Thanx for the reply Riccardo83...I've read that the audio signal was weak, bass especially, even through headphones! Have you had this problem/
     
  4. Riccardo83

    Riccardo83 Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes I had, and have. Thats why using digital hdmi or spdif or bluetooth headphones is a solution to that. im using hdmi or bluetooth for on the way... works perfect.
     
  5. Thisisalamp

    Thisisalamp Notebook Deity

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    Go for these ones :D 186.81 These are the best stable drivers you can get for W860CU

    @COM6502 : That's why I bought my X-Fi :) loving it every second with full bass :D

    @Riccardo83: I just came out of hibernation a few minutes ago and got the same problem with the fingerprint reader...or maybe it's because I just came out the shower and I have fish fingers
     
  6. aggie113

    aggie113 Notebook Guru

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    It's a laptop so of course the speakers suck :)
    Not a biggie as I have a Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA2 headset and love it. It powers from a usb port (HPA1 uses regular wall power adapter) and it does great with bass and the mic is good for skype and gaming if you do that. I find it very useful here in Iraq as the quarters are close and a loud speaker setup isn't something you can use.
    I have found my fans have gotten a little louder over time but it may be due to the pervasive dust/fine sand that is everywhere. I try to keep my room clean with a hepa filter and such but it can't get it all.
    I'm still hoping someone comes out for a fix of some of the things that bug me. I want to be able to use the power button while the lid is fully closed and I want bluetooth to be enabled via a BIOS option so it can power up without me having to turn it on after a shutdown/restart.
    Other than those issues I am really digging the laptop. It's so quick I even went ahead and did a full disk encryption with TrueCrypt. If you try to start this up and don't know that all you see is a generic Windows 7 error on startup :) (really the password prompt).
     
  7. elderperez

    elderperez Notebook Enthusiast

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    Has anybody done an intel burn test on the 820? Well, I did and here are the results:

    [​IMG]


    I dont know if its really a valid and pertinent test. I only ran the test once. If so can someone tell me if the results are well within the normal parameters
     
  8. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    man really hope sager comes out with a higher capacity batter. but as discussed here before, it probably wont happen.
    having 3hours of batt on this beast would make it near perfect, bad audio not withstanding
     
  9. kaitainen

    kaitainen Notebook Enthusiast

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    So my 8690 came in the mail last Friday setting me up for a perfect weekend. Everything was going well, the notebook was in good shape (even though the UPS guy dropped it on the ground and the box had VERY visible shipping wear) and the screen was mint. However, when I started playing some games via Steam, my notebook began to make a high pitched whining sound that from what I can tell came from below the 9, 0, o, p, and other surrounding keys towards the backspace key and the screen. I first noticed the sound ONLY on the main menu of games but the sound has since persisted to even when I'm playing games. The sound has also increased in level since I first noticed it. Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on? I really do not want to have to send my 8690 back but I am starting to get more worried. Thanks a lot.
     
  10. ajrayman2010

    ajrayman2010 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey guys --- I just bought my own Sager NP8690, i7-820, 4gb 1333 ddr3, 280m gtx, 500gb 7200rpm!!! I bought it through xoticpc with rush delivery and should have it by Friday. Yay!
     
  11. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    congrats
    tell us how it goes for you
     
  12. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4979407&postcount=6
     
  13. kaitainen

    kaitainen Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks a lot. Am I correct in assuming then that the sound is coming from my GPU? And if that's the case, are there any chances of use causing damage to the GPU or whatever is causing the sound? The fact that the sound has gotten worse since Saturday is still giving me some worries.

    Has anyone else had a similar problem with a whining/static sound coming from a little up and to the right of the keyboard?
     
  14. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    It may cause damage to your eardrums, but that's pretty much it.

    I think the static sound you are hearing is coming from your speakers. A lot of users have been complaining about it. The drivers or the sound card is probably not grounded enough. Then again, hardly any onboard sound card on a notebook is properly grounded.
     
  15. kaitainen

    kaitainen Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks again. I remember reading about the static, but this is different. I turned off my speakers to make sure that it was not them and the sound persisted. You have definitely eased some of my worries, but I'm still going to call Xotic PC tomorrow and see what they say to be safe.
     
  16. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    Adjusting volume doesn't do anything to static for digital sound systems.
     
  17. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    I think what soviet means by the grounding is that stray electrical currents are "activating" your speakers and making them sound. If you just turn off your speakers, that won't help, because the stray electrical currents will still be "turning on" your speakers, so to speak, when they hit. Then again, I'm still mostly stuck in the analog age. XD
     
  18. kaitainen

    kaitainen Notebook Enthusiast

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    Would it help if I told you that I do not hear the static sound when only listening to music? Also, do you have any idea why the whining sound is worse on a game's menu screen rather than in-game? Thanks.
     
  19. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    That's because the speakers are being driven while you are playing music. When it's not doing anything, you will notice the crackling more.

    Again, like I said above, your GPU will not necessarily squeal during higher loads. It just so happens that it will make sounds at a lower load where the voltage is at that point of resonating.
     
  20. ChinNoobonic

    ChinNoobonic Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey guys, Happy New Year! Finally back. Had to RMA my laptop because of a faulty GPU. You wouldn't belive all the stuff I tried before I RMA'd it. Hint: Could you smell what I was cooking? And no, it wasn't cookies.

    Anywhoo, what I miss? LOL. I will be updating this thread again and I am back!
     
  21. BrandonSi

    BrandonSi Notebook Savant

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    Hey Chin! Sorry to hear about that! I went through a bad one before finally getting a replacement that was 100% as well. What a pain. Obviously Clevo or Sager has some quality control issues to work out. :(
     
  22. Jesse_Dylan

    Jesse_Dylan Notebook Consultant

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    Is there any way to keep my computer from rebooting itself as soon as it's done installing updates? I wasn't used to that. Maybe I accidentally hit the "okay" (by typing??) when the "need to restart" window popped up.

    Either way, WOW, totally annoying. At least the fingerprint reader worked on the first try after it rebooted (I can count how many times this has happened on... well, the one finger I just used to log in--the middle!--I should just disable the reader, but when it works it's neat), or I might have thrown a table or something. :)
     
  23. Wolfpup

    Wolfpup Notebook Prophet

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    For Windows 7? There may be other ways, but on my main system I have Windows Update set to "notify my of new updates, but don't download or install".

    The real reason I have it set like that is I have fun looking at what the updates are (plus checking for non critical ones I should have), but a side benefit is it doesn't auto-reboot. (I still install right away though, as soon as I see that pop up, which is usually the Wednesday morning after a patch Tuesday).
     
  24. -V-

    -V- Notebook Enthusiast

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  25. Riccardo83

    Riccardo83 Notebook Evangelist

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    can u reproduce what i did?

    About the fingerprint:
    One more problem I have with the fingerprint is, that if activated, itunes and loads other programs take ages to load. once i deactivate it its fine.
    Maybe it has to do with trying to use fingerprits to login into a few programs.

    I have also noticed, that the fingerprint reader itself works fine. Launching the Fingerprint Control Center from the taskbar always works, and in case it doenst read my finger the first time it definitely does the second.

    Fingerprint Reader Issues after starting the Laptop from a Hibernated status

    Sometimes, or most of the times when I had Fingerprint activated, hibernated the laptop and startet the laptop again,
    it said "Too Fast" when swiping my finger over the sensor. And then it always said Fingerprint sensor in use and I wasnt able to swipe again with success. I needed to restart and then it worked.

    I only encountered this problem after I hibernated. Restarting always works...

    That should be a driver or software problem.

    Coudl anyone confirm this?
     
  26. Thisisalamp

    Thisisalamp Notebook Deity

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    I said it before ;) and I confirmed it today as well. It does not read fingerprints after hibernation...well time to use my feet :D
     
  27. Tobe_ornot_Tobe

    Tobe_ornot_Tobe Notebook Geek

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    Strange - just tested and my fingerprint reader works fine after hibernation.
     
  28. Riccardo83

    Riccardo83 Notebook Evangelist

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    Sometimes it does, a lot of times it doesnt...
     
  29. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    i dont find the fingerprint logon useful but i do find the fingerprint personal safe very important.
    you can disable the fingerprint logon by running :control userpasswords2 and unchecking 'user must enter password to use this computer'
     
  30. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    ha! i think ss bricked his too.
    what did you do exactly? have you found the absolute limits of this machine?
     
  31. Jesse_Dylan

    Jesse_Dylan Notebook Consultant

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    I can find no rhyme or reason to the fingerprint reader's behavior. When does it work on the first try? When I decide I'm going to turn it off. When does it take 30 tries and/or go into intruder lockout? When I expect it to work.

    Thanks for the help on the auto-update stuff! You guys rock!
     
  32. ChinNoobonic

    ChinNoobonic Notebook Evangelist

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    I didn't brick mine. It worked as it should, but it started artifacting in games at stock clocks. Figured it was bad video memory. Tried lots of stuff, but still didn't fix anything, so I RMA'd it. It's fine now though. I didn't push it to the limits as I didn't want to void my warranty before I got it fixed. Soviet said he's just without a GPU, waiting on the GTX 285M.
     
  33. Oiad

    Oiad Notebook Evangelist

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    Hmm, doesn't Soviet' have a 920XM? I expect that with the 285M drawing 100W that it could be quite a hefty hit on the power. I remember the combination of an extreme Core 2 Duo and a 280M/3700M could be tricky with the M860.

    Fingers crossed.
     
  34. Skelm

    Skelm Newbie

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    I joined the ranks just before Xmas . . for a short time. I purchased the Pioneer Dreambook W86 i7 (in Australia).
    The laptop arrived and I started installing it - finally got around to installing some games to check the performance and BANG the system started shutting down a couple of minutes into playing the game. Installed HWMonitor and found the GPU ramped upto 100+ deg C in a couple of minutes, so I RMA'd it, suffered from the Xmas shutdown period for the repair and finally had it returned 2 days ago.
    Apparently the GPU was replaced although the job sheet that was attached stated that they reapplied the thermal paste only!?! Anyways it was running ok (max. 90deg C under gaming load) until this morning when I turned the laptop on, it booted into Windows 7 fine then started beeping and the NUMLOCK and CAPSLOCK LEDs started flashing in time to the beeps :eek: . I can't find any information on what the beep/flashing LEDs are indicating so thought I'd post here to see if anyone has an insight into what the problem may be? Thanks in advance for any feedback.
     
  35. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    Despite the paper specs that we saw from the FX 3800M before, I doubt that the GTX 285M will draw 100W in WCS. If that were true, then every single person that exceeded 675/1688/1000 on their MXM 3.0 GTX 280M's would have had power issues.
     
  36. Oiad

    Oiad Notebook Evangelist

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    Did any of them have the 920XM too?
     
  37. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    Yes, but they weren't W860CU's. Notebookcheck has a little bit of info for the GTX 285M. I loathe Notebookcheck for unreliable info, but it's the only thing I can find right now that isn't a copy-paste and reword of the FX 3800M.
     
  38. ChinNoobonic

    ChinNoobonic Notebook Evangelist

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    Your GPU temps are still very high. Try investing in new thermal paste. As for the flashing LEDs, I encountered it too. It's associated with the HDD. If your temps for the HDD get above 55*C, then it triggers the beeping and LEDs and eventually shuts off the computer abruptly if the temps do not go down. Try installing the matrix storage drivers. Also give the area where the HDD is some ventilation. If all fails, invest in a cooler.
     
  39. ChinNoobonic

    ChinNoobonic Notebook Evangelist

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    I don't think I'll make the jump to the GTX 285M. It's just a slightly overclocked 280M =\. Personally I'm waiting on Nvidia's DX11 capable cards. That's a long wait as the desktop versions of Fermi wont show up til March.
     
  40. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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  41. Skelm

    Skelm Newbie

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    Yea I'll look at the temps once I'm sure everything else works correctly. Not sure the matrix drivers are going to help - the fault occurs in BIOS aswell so if anything I'd have to look at a physical issue for any overheating, both fans sound like they're working ok.
     
  42. ChinNoobonic

    ChinNoobonic Notebook Evangelist

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    The HDD isn't tied to the fans. The HDD is at the front. Doesn't hurt to try. Keep posting your results.
     
  43. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    ive never heard of anyone with an 8690 getting 90+ temps on gaming or other normal tasks. i think its summer there now, so ambient temp must be high, but still 90 degs is way too high imho, unless your gaming out in direct sunlight. i live in a tropical country myself and the highest i ever got was low 80s on both when i accidentally covered the rear exhaust vents.
    its unfortunate that the job order says only thermal paste was replaced. try to check the heatsinks if they are seated properly, remove the sticker blocking the cpu fans, reapply paste. see how that works.
     
  44. Skelm

    Skelm Newbie

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    yea I wasn't particularly happy with the high temps but figured I could look at the cooling later, anyway the laptop is with a courier on the way back to Pioneer for replacement - I'll post again when it gets back with some hopefully pleasing results.

    thanks for the advice all :)
     
  45. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    btw what ambient temps do you have there?
     
  46. Skelm

    Skelm Newbie

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    currently mid to high 20deg C but for this time of year it's quite common for mid to high 30deg aswell - generally if it's that hot I'll have the air conditioning on at around 24deg.
    Just received this from Pioneer's tech support:
    I know the desktop versions of the nVidia 2xx series cards run fairly hot (often reported at around 80deg as a norm) but if they think running at 90deg+ is ok I'm a little concerned, not only for the fact of having a heater sitting under my hands but for the degradation of the hardware itself over time :confused:
     
  47. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    They're pulling your leg, Skelm. No component should exceed 90*C, even if it can continue to operate. Your reseller may have replaced your thermal paste, but did they do so properly and inexcessively? My guess says no. Pick up a syringe of MX-2 and apply the paste yourself. You will see much better results knowing that you properly applied the paste with your own two hands.
     
  48. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    thats similar to the ambient temps i have and the gpu never goes above 80.
    too bad its already with the courier. as ss said, thermal paste could have been too thick and reapplication could have solved your problem.
     
  49. UntoldGlory

    UntoldGlory Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi guys, well, I finally got my new lappy, and for the most part I'm loving it. I'm really only having one issue, and I've searched around the forum a bit and can't find any kind of resolution for it. Hopefully you can help.

    The Problem: When I plug in my external monitor via HDMI cable, I get these odd blue flickers through the blacks on the screen. If I use the DVI to HDMI converter, this problem goes away. I really want to be able to use the straight HDMI cable, since I can send my audio with it and reduce the plugging unplugging I have to do, but I can't stomache the severly degraded colors that seems to bring. Any ideas?

    Conditions:
    280m Driver version: 8.15.11.8647
    Monitor: I-Inc brand, model number iH-252 25" FHD monitor.
    Fn-F7 state: External monitor only (though it does the same thing on multiple monitor)
    Laptop LCD: 1600x900 (hence having to go to external only to get FHD resolution)

    Thanks in advance!
     
  50. Riccardo83

    Riccardo83 Notebook Evangelist

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    i will check that as well on mine next time. what exact thermal post do i have to get? and is there a guide of how to do it properly, didnt think it would influence temperatur that significiantly...
     
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