**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

So is it normal?

 

Which Intel drivers is everyone running now? Sager's driver page hasn't changed, but the Intel Driver Update utility shows an update available under Wireless Networking for Intel WiFi Link 5300 driver 12.4.1.11 >> 13.0.0.107. Note - chipset and storage matrix drivers were not included in the scan.

http://www.intel.com/support/detect.htm?iid=dc_iduu
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...All&OSFullName=All Operating Systems&lang=eng

 

Did you recently run Windows Update? I know I've had problems before where something on my computer simply stopped working right after I installed an update. Try doing a system restore.

 

It's perfectly normal. You're only seeing it because you're specifically looking for it. The camera also amplifies how prominent the trails look when you watch the video.

 

Well, I compared the video to what I'm actually seeing in my screen and they look exactly the same.

Why was this not present on my M860TU?

 

Like I said, you probably weren't looking for it back then. Things become very apparent if you are actually putting the effort into finding it. The specs of the panel in your M860TU and W860CU may be different enough that the "green trails" are visible on the latter. On my W870CU's panel, I don't have that green fading, rather a very subtle trail of white arrows similar to the mouse trails feature in Windows. But even then this is extremely subtle.

As mentioned before, this is completely normal for TN panels. If you don't believe me, go into any manufacturer's forum here on NBR and ask people with similar panels to attempt to reproduce your claims. Repeatedly asking about it here in the Clevo forum isn't going to satisfy your obsession for proving an issue that isn't really an issue at all to be true. Just know that the rest of us are going to sit here facepalming as you run around frantically trying to find the answer, which is already infront of you, by yourself.

 

Okay, so now I feel a bit jipped. I bought my 8690 from xoticpc just over a month ago. Now they are offering the unit for $200 less than what I payed, plus it comes with the 285m gtx. Grrrr!

 

That's capitalism at it's best.

 

Oh ok. So this means that the green trails are more promounced in the W860cu's panel than on the 870CU's?

I guess the resellers also dont know about this because they regard those green trails as defect when I showed it to them.

 

What I mean is it is existent on every notebook TN panel. How extensive the "trails" are in each panel is subjective to each user, but is still detectable.

Every (competent) reseller knows how TN panels work and they know it is not a defect. This phenomenon does not fall into grounds for defects. If you want to get rid of most of the trails that "your" eyes can see, swap in an expensive and battery guzzling IPS panel.

I'm done with this "issue." I'm dropping it from my "things to debunk" list.

 

Alright, got it.

 

Well, I received my NP8690 yesterday, and after having it for 24 hours, all I can say is WOW! I'm totally blown away by this laptop. I'm quite thrilled with this thing, for sure!

Now here is one question. I noted, in researching the laptop, that the audio output quality is rather mediocre. I figured I'd wait to receive mine and judge for myself first, and agree that the sound quality is pretty crappy (using Grado SR60's to test).

So now I'm starting to look into USB headset solutions. I'm fine with a corded solution, and would prefer to pay no more than $125 ($75-$100 is preferable). Surround sound would be ideal, since this will be for gaming. I've started to scour these forums and the net for recommendations, and am finding a great mix of results.

Do any of you have a particular USB headset that you favor?

 

I'm waiting for the UPS truck to arrive as I type this. They moved the delivery date forward to today so I have to stay home to sign for it.

 

You can upgrade a lot of things on the W860CU.

Here's a link to the service manual.

Page 2-12 covers the cpu.
If you're under warranty, messing around inside might null it. Check with your vendor first.
Whether to get an i7 or not depends on what you do with your laptop.

I'm about to buy one as bare as I can, and buy the upgrades seperately. It's going to be even cheaper and more fun that way. Most parts come with their own warranties anyways, so I'm not worried about parts breaking down.

 

Both the W860CU and the W870CU have mediocre audio from the headphone jack. The sound stage is definitely pulled back when testing with my Sennheiser 595's. But when using the notebook speakers, the quality is unnoticeable. But it's best to have a separate sound card if you plan to hook up your headphones or some real speakers to your notebook. My Altoid amp/DAC that I built off of dual single AD8610TI's and a TI PCM2702 puts the notebook's built in sound card and that overrated X-Fi card to shame.

 

Can you offer more advice regarding some existing external sound cards?

And using speakers really isn't an option, since I'll often be using the laptop where other things are going on (like while the girlfriend is watching TV). Hence why some degree of isolation is preferable as well.

In my research so far, I *THOUGHT* I had found a pair of headphones that would have worked great for me... the Razer Megalodon... only to discover that it does not play nicely with 64 bit OS's. DOH! So close...

 

Well I'm finally typing my first post on my new laptop.
My only comment is: For anyone on the fence about getting the 1600x900 screen, it is excellent.

 

The only good entry level sound cards that I can think of that aren't gong into the triple digits are from Turtle Beach and Creative. Either one should be more than enough to outperform any notebook built in sound card.

 

I have some problems with mine, i really need your help...

I am trying to install linux x64 ubuntu dual boot with windows 7.
What i did was install the win7 first, creating a free partition (for linux). The Win7 installation created the system partition with 100mb and the rest was for the installation called C:.

Windows boots ok, but now installing ubuntu, it does not recognize Win7 installation. It says the HD is totally free. When trying the ubuntu live cd, i can find the partitions and mount them to see win7 files. it doesn't make any sense. I have a free W860cu - style note (no brand) and flashed the Bios with Sager new bios update thinking it would change something about some bugs like ubuntu not have ACPI events and beeps with batery lower than 5% even when beeps are turned off in bios.

Even if i could install correctly dual boot ubuntu and Win7, ubuntu WLan drivers just cannot work to make my wlan card work. it says connected but cannot find any routers or connections... only way i can connect is with Lan (Ethernet), and bluetooth is the same. just cannot turn it on.

If someone knows how to solve any of these problems, have or had some, anything, i gladly apreciate any answer given.

Pedro Neves

 

I guess from your claim, the low battery notification option in the BIOS only applies to Windows. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5645323&postcount=1634

 

Ok many thanks that's already something.

But it's still the smaller problem i have

Ubuntu's installation i just nonsense.

With other Bios's I could install it after detecting windows, but it would mess with win7 boot files -_- then i just couldn't boot windows, only linux.

Now with that Bios, everything is a mess.

The option in the Bios for the boot option first start OS or try something else first, is there anything to do with that?

Pedro Neves

 

Hey Soviet,
I'm having a strange problem. Games are not running full-screen.
The game runs in the center of the screen with unused black bars on either side.

 

Check NVIDIA Control Panel-> Adjust desktop size

 

What games are you talking about and what happened when you tried changing resolution inside of the game?

By the way, in some games when I get that, I just hit alt+return and then make sure the resolution of the game is correct. I also found that a few games don't support 1600x900 but used to support 1680 x 1050 just fine. I found ways around this from patching, to hex editing and loading asi files.

 

So far, Battlefield 2 and the COD4 demo. I changed the settings in COD4 to 1600x900, but it stayed in the same "box." Same thing with BF2, but it doesn't seem to support 1600x900 to begin with.
It's strange because I used to run Battlefield on my old laptop at a lower resolution, but it scaled to fit the screen (1200x800 or something). I'm downloading the 186.81 WHQL driver to see if it helps.

Edit: I haven't yet patched Battlefield to v1.5 so that might be causing some problems. Although I'm still not sure about COD4.

 

It's not really a problem. Like the two gentlemen said, your display driver is locking the aspect ratio and stretching the current resolution to meet the nearest inner dimension of your screen. If you don't like it, you can turn off aspect ratio locking in your Nvidia control panel under "adjust desktop size and position."

Some games are really picky about resolutions so just try relaunching the game after you have made the adjustments.

 

WELL then.
It seems that by messing around in the Nvidia control panel for a bit (mostly with the scaling, as there was no "adjust desktop size" option) I fixed-ed it.

Also, my GPU temps are 41C when idle and73C at load.
My CPU temps are 48 idle, 75 load.

That's MUCH better than my old laptop which idled at 95C o.0

 

"Adjust desktop size and position" is a category that contains the options for scaling. It is not an actual option.

 

For what it's worth, my temps are about the same. I was able to get the GPU to max out at 86C and CPU around 78-80C, using Furmark's burn-in functionality.

Happy with yours? I know I'm thrilled with mine!

 

Eh, well I must have hit something that fixed it while I was messing around.

Yeah, I figured those temps were fine, but I applied paste anyway. I opened it up and they used WAY too much, of course.

And yes, it is the greatest computer I have ever owned. Battlefield 2 never drops below - I kid you not - 100fps when playing online with max settings. This is coming from a guy who used to squeak by with 12fps with minimum settings on clan servers.

 

awesome. is that at stock gpu clocks?

 

I presume Sager slathered on too much IC Diamond on mine as well, but am too lazy to rip it open and reapply it. My temps are good so I'll just let it alone.

Been using FRAPs to test out Dawn of War 2, Star Trek Online, and Mass Effect 2, and while I haven't been able to run absolute max everything, I'm still getting great FPS with high settings.

Wish I had a week off, just to tweak and work further with this thing.

 

you should be able to max dow2 and me2 at least

 

Yep. Haven't tried to overclock yet as I'm waiting for my paste to break in.

Edit: First run with the new paste (AS Ceramique), and I'm already getting 3C lower than earlier. Can't wait to see how low it gets when it's broken in.

 

I am running ubuntu on mine and the WLAN works great. Are you using an outdated version? Only problems I have are related to turbo boost not working until kernel version 2.6.33 and lack of support for P55 sensors in this version of lm_sensors.

I have no idea about the dual boot since I have never tried it with Win7. Try partitioning the drive with gparted rather than the installer.

 

I believe you have to install windows first, then make a partition for ubuntu and install that. Ubuntu will over-write the windows boot sector with it's own.
Then boot Ubuntu, go into the boot settings text file, and add an option for windows with the correct partition specified. Make sure to set the timer to something like 10 or 20 seconds or else you won't have enough time to scroll down to the OS you want to boot.

This is the method I used to dual boot before 7 came out, so you might have to alter something.

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_windows_xp_and_linux_xp_installed_first.htm

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5772504&postcount=3

 

Yep, learned about that one after I'd put my order in. Oh well, what's done is done and since it's at least working "correctly," I'm not going to bother with redoing it. *shrug*

 

Do all notebook vendors do this?
I was considering doing it when ordering to save me a step from opening it up.

 

Hey guys,

I just got my NP8690 today. Should I be worried about my temps? Even on idle, my CPU runs at 5x degrees while my GPU runs at 49 degrees.

Also, I'm living in a tropical country. It's extremely hot right now (around 30 degrees and above). And I don't have an AC where I'm staying.

Specs:
CPU: Core i7 920QM
GTX 280M
4GB DDR3
W.D. 320GB 7200RPM SATAII

 

have you removed the plastic cover on the cpu vents?
that could help

 

Oh yeah! That. I see it now. Thanks!

 

I noticed some of you have upgraded your ram to the Kingston Hyper X kit.

Does the 8690 actually take advantage of the faster timings (CL7)? Or does it default to the more conservative timings (CL9).

Also has anyone tried a higher capacity (16gb or even 32 gb) SDHC flash card in the memory card reader? I want to make sure it can handle the higher capacities.

Thanks,

 

Just ordered a G860 from Kobalt in UK , looking forward to some power gaming shortly.

I have a birthday oppotunity coming up soon , anyone recommend any Top class Headphones

 

Ordered mine yesterday from Kobalt too (c:

Race ya

 

Whoa there don't overload them

I went for Saturday delivery my heart says Saturday March 13 , my head says some time after

 

I also order a 860 from Kobalt, fingers crossed mine will be delivered end of next week.

 

Just received mine last beginning of this week, arrived a day early from PC Torque (Very good company to buy Sagers through). I could go through all the stuff which has been said before i.e first impressions and how nice the screen looks, but instead im going to tell you my 3 main loves/hates and then what programs I immediately installed as there doesn't seem to be much talk on that.

Lets start with the good stuff: (LIKES)

1. The SCREEN!! (The full HD 1080p is gorgeous I has a 900p DELL and this is leagues ahead, crisp colours and deep blacks. It also has no problem playing COD4 at its native res.

2. The look (I wanted a understated notebook, as I think the alienware are ostentatious and dare I say it childish, this looks professional and at the same time looks exciting, like an old Ford Capri (for all you young ones I suggest you look them up amazing car).

3. Features (This notebook isnt packed with them like some of the gimmicky notebooks out there but what it does have is the important features; the keys are in the style of a Mac book and have enough resistance behind them that they feel well built, Touch sensitive buttons across the top are a nice bonus and I particularly likes the option to change fan speeds, as I sometimes do work in palaces like the library its nice to be able to slow the fan down to lessen the noise.

Now the bad points: (Dislikes)

1. Chassis (What I mean by this is that although the chassis looks nice and well built, I cant stop thinking that for a +1000 dollar notebook that there should be some metal components of some other plastic blend that makes it feel that little more special and rigid.)

2. Loss of some key features to come (This wasn't a deal breaker for me but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked to have waited and got this laptop with USB 3.0, SATA III and possibly the ATI 5870. These newer refreshes of well known hardware cant help but take the shine of your new buy, knowing that its will be outdated by the end of the year.)

3. Battery life, granted this is a gaming notebook and you cant expect the same performance in the battery as other brands, however sub 1 hour running some applications is appalling. If you travel a lot and there is no immediate outlet then you may find you self a little stuck, that said if you like me have it plugged in 90% of the time then this is a great desktop replacement.

Overall this is a great powerhouse of a notebook and will run all the games I have thrown at it at native res with good FPS. I would recommend this laptop to anyone! And all the disadvantages above don't even come close to making me think twice about my purchase.

Programs Installed in the first week:

1. Intel CPU Gadget.
2. Futuremark Vantage
3. 3D Mark 06
4. Core Temp
5. COD4
6. Crysis

Hope this helped you guys, no doubt you will know all this and more already I just thought it would be worth while to hear another opinion.

 

I am interested to know what people have done for sound;

Headsets, Speakers , add on usb sound hardware or even plain old notebook speakers, I am thinking of getting a headset but I am quite interested in combining it with a USB add on like the SB X-fi

 

You may not believe this, but the sound quality on the NP8690, as terrible as it is, is still better than my old Compaq.

Still, I am looking at either a Creative USB or ExpressCard in the near future. I know somewhere on this thread there are pics of the ExpressCard version.
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