**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

my personal experience is that the camera is decent for webcam purposes (cant expect much out of an integrated 2.0mp webcam on a laptop)
But it does the job fine

Personally i dont like integrated mic's on laptops too much , and same goes for the 8690. The reason i say this is cause the mic is on the keyboard, and went using stuff like Vent and playing a game, it really picks up and typing/clicking of buttons. I personally just use a dedicated headset for mic purposes, but thats just me. I tried using the integrated mic on vent and my friends were complaining they could hear my keyboard

just fyi

 

As an FYI to you guys, my NP8690 (with its lowly i5) lasts 1.5 hours on battery(I was watching an .avi). One of the biggest reasons I went i5 was for battery. I have to say I do not regret it.

 

guys, how long do you think GTX 280m able to play game at (at least) medium high? will it do at least 3 years?

 

Actually the cam in the W860CU is not that great. My Asus Eee PC has a way better camera (same resolution, but picture is far better). A little bit dissapointing, but it serves it's purpose anyway.

You'll not need any notebook cooler for this laptop.

Nobody can predict system requirements for 3 years. But as long as your willing to go as low as 1280x800 resolution wise you should be able to still play highest setting in 2 years with that card (although only dx10 settings). I think in about 1 year you'll have to decide between detail or FullHD, both will not be possible. But since you own a Clevo laptop, you can always "just" upgrade your card in a year, provided the next generation of mobile cards will still be MXM 3.0b.

 

well, might prefer FHD with lower setting, else it'll blurry
btw, are you sure this notebook doesn't need notebook cooler? planning to take an U2 (coolermaster)
thx

 

I'm thinking of buying a notebook cooler too as I will be gaming on my sager.. but I might wait for the enermax aeolus cp003 or get the cp001 but I don't know if it will fit.

Yay! My sager just arrived! Going to open it up now and run some tests

Just got my notebook and was wondering if my temps were normal. Also applied IC diamond already so here are my temps. Oh and I haven't removed the sticker yet.. not sure if I should or not.

]http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/6517/temps.png

 

mine still have it's sticker. The back-cover of my notebook sealed with warranty seal T_T
can't took it off T_T

 

Is there anyway to unmap the function keys and windows key? Particularly Fn+F4, the sleep button. I don't need them, and I keep pressing them by mistake. Why would you put your mute button beside the sleep button. Sheesh.

 

you can tell windows to do nothing when the sleep button is pressed, it's in control panel -> power options -> change plan settings -> change advanced power settings -> power buttons and lid. You'll need to set this for all the power modes you use.

To disable the windows key, go here. Unfortunately I don't know of an 'on the fly' (no reboot) method of doing it on a normal keyboard (most gaming keyboards have this option though).

 

Which SSD should i use OCZ vertex, agility or Crucial C300. I was going with crucial but imnt 100% sure;]

 

If you have the cash, go for Crucial C300 - it's the best performing SSD on the market at the moment.

There's a huge discussion on this thread for your reading pleasure:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...ssd-thread-benchmarks-brands-news-advice.html

And a recent thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/501212-ssd.html

 

The black sticker if removed, will lower your CPU temps about 10% give or take. As far as we all know the real reason the sticker exists is because of the ram and the P55 PCH, if you take the sticker off you will raise the temperatures of the PCH and the RAM slightly, but you will lower the CPU temps. Honestly, I can't live with myself knowing there is a black piece of crap blocking a 2 inch wide intake vent under my hard working CPU, I took it off.

But...there is a flip-side to this coin.
There are some vents in the middle of the underside of the laptop where the air would be drawn in from the CPU fan, instead of the round vent that the sticker blocks. It's a last minute low cost engineering solution, and it is quite crude. But in the end, Clevo or Sager did this for a reason. I won't be the one to say there are long term consequences for the motherboard from removing the stickers, if there are even any, but either way, I bought a cooler...(Targus lap cooler).

 

@mangbhoy thanks

 

those temps are fine. some downclock + removal of the sticker shold bring your 5870M to 41-44 degrees (celsius).

 

According to user reports, the 17'' version of the laptop did not have any stickers like the 15.6'' model did and there is not enough differences in the chassis to suggest that the larger size would offer superior cooling so wouldn't need the sticker. Some think it was merely marketing i.e with the sticker on the 15.6'' one, to the average user or reviewer would make it appear that the 17'' chassis had superior cooling as well as better performance of the CPU.

 

If Clevo or Sager did this for a reason why do some people have the sticker and some do not and also in the manual the picture of the sager NP8690 does not have a sticker on the vent. The only thing I can think of is that it was a marketing technique as laptopnut says. Even if it does raise temps to PCH and RAM slightly the raise in temperature would be unnoticeable and probably would not do much to their life span. I've rarely heard of a PCH or RAM failure due to overheating. Moreover, I would be glad to have 10 degrees less on my CPU despite the higher temps to the PCH or RAM because in the end the CPU imo is the most costly and a tough part to replace. Also, 10 degrees cooler on the CPU without the sticker definitely outweighs the slightly lower temps on the PCH or RAM with the vent sticker. Just my thoughts.

Also, what targus notebook cooler do you have? Is it worth buying? I'm thinking of buying an NZXT Cryo LX when it is out again...

 

The sticker is lined with some adhesive and doesn't have any screws. Lift gently with your fingernail. Just remember to take the necessary precautions when touching the insides of your laptop (electrical drain and such).

No probs!

------------------------
Re: the sticker, hmn, the "marketing theory" does fit the facts better than the "components theory".

In my deranged mind, they will make it into a Hollywood summer action flick involving the comic antics of Steve Carell and Shia LaBeouf entitled "Vents in Distress". Bah, going to bed ...

 

Thanks! I really need to remove this sticker.. cpu just maxed 88 degrees today after an hour of gaming

 

thats quite high, remove the sticker. afaik most people in this thread have removed it

 

Has anyone tried reformatting yet? IT seems like a big hassle since you have to reinstall all those drivers or does the midern windows 7 home premium disk install the necessary drivers for you? Also, I was looking through the utilities and drivers cd and I noticed that some of the drivers included were not installed including the touchpad driver, hotkey utility, usb 3.0 utility, 3.5 generation module, CIR driver. What are these drivers and are any of these drivers important that sager perhaps forgot to install?

 

Every computer enthusiast I've known had gone through the process of reformatting. It is very simple and after doing so you get a fresh install of win7 that is free from any bloatwares you may have before reformatting. Try it.

 

i've done it more than 5 times, all because same multi-OS trouble : Partition Table Error

 

Reformatting should be fairly straightforward as what kevin said. If it's your first time, try to print out some instructions so that you're not going to be lost. Windows 7 installs some of the basic drivers but not all of the devices and if the drivers that come with Windows will most likely not be the latest (not that's necessarily bad), you don't get to tinker with the device as much. It's best if you install every driver yourself.

The drivers that you've mentioned are for those with laptops with them installed. I have the Intel Ultimate N 6300 Wifi adapter which has a separate CD for it's software and drivers.

I make it a point to reformat my HDD and reinstall windows every six months and have been doing it since 2002. I usually have a separate partition for Windows and another for my media and files. The drivers and software, I reinstall them all over again. Think of it as like, giving your laptop an oil change.

I've made a bootable USB of my Win 7 Home Prem and all my drivers and software on a 8GB Class 6 micro SDHC (see avatar). Yeah, I'm geeky, I know

 

Ah, thanks for the info. I acctually just finished reformatting today to get rid of all the blotware that was previously installed by sager. One thing I noticed when I was reformatting was that there was a system partition that I wasn't sure to delete or not so I just left it alone. Any ideas one what it is? Should I have deleted it?

 

I only reformat once because I do images using Drive Snapshot afterward. I do one image of a clean basic install of Windows 7 X64 with all essential Drivers / software installed. Then I do another image of the complete system after all games and software have been installed. I store all of this on a 1TB external Drive in case of issues.

 

If your HDD fails and a new replacement drive installed, how do you use the saved image? Do you first format from the Win7 disk? Are the boot sector and MBR part of the saved image or do they have to be built from the Win7 installation routine?

 

When I write this image to a new HDD I don't need to do anything else since it includes an exact duplicate of the entire system as it was at the time the image was taken. This includes the MBR and everything else at the sector level.

The image restore is independent and the Windows 7 CD is not needed for anything.

I just use a custom bootable CD that has a subset of the Windows XP OS called BartPE to restore the image. This is probably why Acronis is more popular because it includes its own bootable Linux CD which is easier to use.

It takes a few hours to write back a 640GB HDD and once done, you have everything exactly how it was with no need to do any configuration, Driver installs or any other tedious and time consuming things.

You can do an image while Windows is running or you can do one offline. I think this is very useful, especially for a laptop.

 

Thanks for the explanation. +Rep.

If I create an image of a 500GB mechanical drive that uses only 80GB of its capacity and want to transfer/write the image to a 160GB SSD, will it work? Can the image be adjusted or only partially used to accommodate the smaller space? I understand that this is a separate use from the backup function being previously discussed, but seems equally useful in some situations.

 

Imaging to smaller drives should be possible (obviously as long as there is space for the data), but I would ensure that the old drive is properly defragmented before imaging it.

 

Yep, that would certainly make sense, probably critical.

 

Would I be disappointed if I get the 1600x900 screen res instead of 1920x1080?
I don't have the extra $50 to spend at the moment, and I'm getting impatient

 

If I turn on AA in any game I'm playing it crashes out. Pretty much across the board.

Is my ATI card junk?

(( this has followed me through 3 drivers attempts including sager's, and a reformat/clean install ))

 

Sounds like a defective card, unless you are heavily overclocked, and even then, it's suspicious. I recently had a motherboard die, and the Sager support people and my reseller (GenTech) could not have been nicer or more supportive. The defective motherboard was replaced quickly, and the entire process was as painless as such experiences can be. I suggest calling your reseller and/or Sager support to help you troubleshoot the problem and arrange such repair or replacement as may be required.

 

I have that resolution and I am not disappointed at all. However, I have never used a 1920x1080 so have no idea if I am missing out. You should ask this guy.

It should work since I have done that with mechanical Drives so the same principal. The only thing to watch out for is TRIM considerations since I am not sure how this will be effected. I have never used an SSD so no idea.

 

Im scared less they will do nothing to fix this, but am sending it in. they recommended i run 3d mark and report the results. Crashed halfway through with renderer errors.

Should i mark the vid card so i know if they switch it for a new one?

 

Did you report the results? Did they agree the card was defective? Do you have an RMA authorizing return and providing you with a pre-paid shipping label? Until that point, don't do or send anything. I don't see any need to mark the card. All you care about is whether it works or not. I don't think anyone repairs a defective video card; they just replace them.

 

I have the 1600 x 900 and I'm not disappointed at all and quite satisfied

The reasons for me getting this resolution are:
1.) Better fps at native
2.) Playing at 1600 x 900 than Full HD is less stress for video card hence lower temps overall, which is what I want.
3.) Also, imo, there's less benefit in getting a Full HD res if you're not going to complement it with a Blu-ray drive for Blu-ray movies

Don't get me wrong, Full HD is clearer but 1600 x 900 is no pushover.

 

no man.the 1600x900 is a great screen and you ll have better frame rates too.sorry for bad english.

 

Yup I got all that. Away it goes...

 

Great. Hope you're back to normal soon.

 

Which has more heat the GTX285M or the HD5870?

 

This is a question that is difficult to answer as there are other variables to consider. Perhaps a more specific question please?

 

Hey guys enjoying my sager so far. I was just wondering if any of you guys have overclocked the 5870m yet. What is a safe overclock for it and will it jeopardize the life of my graphics card (I will only be overclocking it when I am gaming).

 

I have been trying to hook up my Tritton AX Pro to my new sager laptop. But even with a mini optical to optical cable, I still can seem to get audio to my audio controller for the head phones. I have tried uninstalling the reltek drivers and that did not help. I can get the microphone to work and have audio pushed out over the chat channel. But I would love to get the 5.1 working.