*** Official Clevo P170EM / Sager NP9170 Owner's Lounge ***

I too just received my P170EM. I took some photos of the unboxing but no need to post. It is packaged VERY safe!

First Impressions.

It's gorgeous!
The Keyboard is great
only thing I absolutely cannot stand is the trackpad. This thing as absolutely atrocious!!!! I'll elaborate on that later when I conduct a full review.

as Unatural said the Chi Mei screen is great. I absolutely LOVE it! The grainy issue is simply the effect of a typical matte screen. The colors a re awesome and the picture really is crystal clear. Viewing angles are amazing!

Take the "grainy" as a MUCH less annoyance to the glossy reflection. It really doesn't bother me at all!

I have not heard the fan kick on yet but I haven't gamed yet.

I'm at work so I can really say anything about it yet. I am installing SWTOR now and will game on it tonight and get FRAPS etc in regards to the 675M.

expect me to start my true review by tomorrow afternoon.

~Nevertree

 

So I was about to click "checkout" on my P170EM build from xotic when I received an email from Hutsady (who has been awesome btw) advising me to wait until the 29th to order. Part of his email from earlier today stated, "You can order it now but we also just got word from Sager they will not be shipping any more comptuers until the 30th, which is exactly when Ivy Bridge is supposed to come out. So if you do order now it wont get to you any sooner, might as well wait for Ivy Bridge." So yeah...decided to wait on clicking the ol' "checkout" button.

So my question is, does anyone know or have any speculations as to what the price difference will be with the upgraded PCU? Will it be the same price since it will now be the current model? Will the SB PCU still be an option as a discounted price?

 

My guess is it'll be the same, I asked Hutsady to hold my order until Ivy Bridge is released and he went ahead and did so.

 

Hmmm...maybe I should take that route. I feel like once the 29th rolls around they're going to be so backed up from everyone having the same thought.

 

I agree. The trackpad has a rough texture, while the armrest and the rest of the surround is smooth. The track pad should have been made the same as the rest. Your finger kind of sticks to the ridges in the simulated aluminum. I have the stock glossy screen and its perfectly fine.

I ran dban and installed a fresh version of win 7 ultimate (I ordered with no OS). 750gb HD takes 5 hours and 30 mins to wipe. Its finally up and running, installed all the drivers. Couldn't be happier even though i haven't done much with it. I'm slammed at work and am trying to do this in between jobs.

 

Out of curiosity, why did you run dban on a fresh hard drive? The most you would have to do is a full format (or a quick format even). I never recommend running dban except when you're planning to sell the drive/machine or throw it out. (Just because it takes so long to run, and because the drive will still be in your possession).

 

So I just noticed Xotic PC put out an in-depth review of the NP9170. I plan to watch it as soon as it loads.. Only thing is with me being over here in Afghanistan, the internet sucks! lol So a 30 minute video is going to take like 2 hours to load.. oh the torture!!!

 

Because i wanted to install ultimate. For whatever reason windows was insistent on installing enterprise.

 

Ah nvm just found it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPHq...DvjVQa1PpcFOR7s73AW5hU1xaIy-4UiVrmrlisvFI_ZI=

 

Yep, that is it.. It just finished loading and I gotta say they did a good job. Once I get my laptop in, I am interested to see how hard it is to get to the other two ram bays under the keyboard. We shall see!

 

Hmmm might order one of these next week, if the 7970M shows up on the 24th.

 

^^^This^^^

 

Anyone have any idea if the 7970m's will work in the NP9170 laptop or is it too early to say?

As for "this", not really sure what you mean by that? :/

 

1. Most likely will fit in 9170 since it fits Alienware 15/17 Rv.3

2. Means "I will do the same"

 

So the AMD 7970M will be released approx. at same time as the IB cpus from intel?

 

Similar to and this is a very reasonable solution marketing

 

What are you guys using for a backpack type case? I have this one and its really tight..

 

I got a old Dell XPS backpack, that i got together with my Precision M90!
I'm rly looking forward to get a new computer now, this one is running on overtime tbh

 

Should I go with 1333 or 1600 memory?

 

From what I've been told and the reviews I have read, one really cannot tell the difference between the two speeds. If money is not an issue, I would say go with the 1600; otherwise, shoot for the 1333.

 

He means he'll buy the notebook too if the 7970 shows up on the NP9170. And that makes three of us, I will be ordering if it shows up as an option as well.

 

Thanks Keyster! Did you get yours yet? If they didn't ship it yet may I suggest putting it on hold, till IB and 7970 comes out?

 

It's already there in configurator (PNB)

 

I haven't received mine yet, but it is in Phase 2 with Xotic PC - I am hoping I get it before June, which is before I go on R&R back to the States, but it could possibly take awhile to get through the mail all the way here to the military base I am at here in Afghanistan.

I'd rather have it sooner than later and just upgrade later if I need. To be honest, if I were to put it on hold, then I would more than likely bail on this model and wait for the NP9270 instead. :/

 

Upgrades should come out within next week. I suggest - you wait.

 

Oh neat, thanks for the heads up! I'm still just waiting a bit longer for Ivy Bridge, but that shouldn't be too much longer now.

 

Same here. I wonder how long it will take to build/ship. I need it ASAP, but i refuse to go with Sandy and 675, cause I'm buying it for the next 2-3 years.

 

there gna be an upgrade for NP9270??

im waiting for IB too, and i want this machine for at least 5 years .. what graphics cards should i wait for?

 

ATI 7970 only. Read here http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/658084-amd-7970m-available-buy-18.html

 

whats so special about it ??

and how does it compare to nVidia's new core technology??

 

What's so special? Hmm, how about speed/performance on the level of desktop 6950/GTX570 sound? Nobody knows for sure about upcoming GtX 680M, but I believe it will be on the same level and MUCH more expensive.

 

i think i will wait for 'em cards

any ideas if the NP9270 will have any upgrades? or any newer model replacing it? i could use the audio chips on those machines

 

9270 is not out yet. Go to Xoticpc, Gentech, or PowerNotebooks for more info

 

ah makes sense now .. feel so stupid .. sorry and thank you

 

7970 or wait for GTX 680M?

 

No worries man we are all here searching and learning every day

 

Go here http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/658084-amd-7970m-available-buy.html , read, decide for yourself.

 

Well, no one has seen the 680M's specs, so it's hard to say what to do.

It does make a lot of sense to wait until both are out, which is something I'm considering myself.

 

I don't want to point fingers, but according to several sources something tells me 680M is going to be a long wait.. Well from now until it gets released that is, leaks show up etc etc and then we get a date, trust me, I reckon a July/ maybe August release

But hey I might be wrong, everything changes. One might be better off buying the things available now instead of playing the waiting game.

 

for me .. its more like "save more money" game .. so i don't mind at all

 

I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

I have a huge favor to ask from anyone who owns this laptop. I just returned a MSI laptop with the steelseries keyboard. I returned the laptop specifically because of the keyboard. If you press the lower corner of any key it would not register. I was told that this laptop's keyboard was produced by the same manufacturer. Can someone test to see if there are any issues? Just press the lower corner of the A (or any really) key and let me know if it doesn't register. If not I'll be buying this laptop when ivory bridge comes out.

 

I always believed that if you waited for something bigger/better/etc, youd always be waiting haha. Just like when the 7970m and 680m comes out, then therell be speculation on 780m & 8970m, and when IB comes out, itll be the next thing. I know my config is going to power through all that I need it to for a while to come. Im finding, albeit somewhat scattered, that the 2960xm can reliably do ~3.6-4ghz on air, so Im psyched as it is. And worst case scenario, with IB, if it comes out and its a massive improvement that I cant ignore, I would think Xotic can do a switch out fairly easily, and a small wait wouldnt be a big detriment with that in mind to me.

 

But how does that help when you cannot oc as the bios is locked? Till date i have read that only alienware 18x has an unlocked bios and none of the sagers do. Do you have a way of getting to 3.6 or 4 even with the locked bios?

 

To my understanding Prema has a method of unlocking it and enabling XTU, if its not already enabled in the BIOS.
STATUS UPDATE 27 MARCH: XTU BIOS, CLEVO P170HM3 & SAGER NP8170 3D (+Aptio Tools)
That link is from his sig.

 

These come with a program called XTU, you just have to use that in windows to do the OC'ing, thats all =) The BIOS interface doesn't have the tools, just the windows program

 

Five questions
1. Does this tool "XTU" have any limitations as compared to an unlocked BIOS when doing the OC.
2.From the sager site I see( and assume) that the HM77 chipset is being used for both NP9150 and NP9170. If I remember correctly the earlier models namely 8150 and 8170 had different chipsets and so oc was possible only on the 8170 but it is perhaps not the case now. So can the new 9150 be oc'd as easily and as much as 9170?
3. If I use the custom BIOS ( I am guessing it is a custom BIOS so plz correct me otherwise) like Prema's violates any warranty from the resellers?If not then again can I apply the same method and oc the NP9150?
4. Why dont the rellers ( eg myth or xoticpc or others) do this when installation so that we customers have an easier time without worrying too much about damaging anything when we try it out.
5. Has the OCing been tested? results anywhere for NP9150 and NP9170 of max oc , heat and other things??

 

Ivy bridge + 7970M in this machine is going to be great.

I am thinking of getting a 480GB SSD and biting the bullet. I'm hopeful that it will eliminate some noise, have a slightly smaller heat factor, and save some battery life.

Will this clevo machine have an optimus-like GPU switching for the 7970M? That'd be amazing.

Can't wait to order New promotion at work is going to have me traveling. At first I was sad to leave my desktop 580GTX but the 7970M seems like it kicks .

 

I really don't think the 480GB drive is worth the money. I don't think it'd be a noticeable difference in noise. It should be slightly less heat and battery, but not $800 worth (at least not to me).

As far as graphics switching, Mythlogic got it to work with the 6990m, so I don't see why it wouldn't also work with the 7970m.

 

Any news on the 3D version of the P170EM ? Last I heard it was set for release in June.