*** Official Clevo P640RE/Sager NP8640 Owner's Lounge ***

Hmm, Metabox might be the exception. Because XMG, Xotic, Mythlogic, Eurocom, Aftershock, don't offer it...

 

Full review just posted here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/sager-np8640-clevo-p640re-overview-videos-written.786609/

 

I got mine from Kong Computer (which is a reseller to Metabox system) in Australia. I got the 1440p as well.

I agree to @HTWingNut, the one thing that Clevo could improve is the battery life, else it's a stellar 14" laptop.

 

Also the XMG version is reviewed on Notebookcheck here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Schenker-XMG-P406-Clevo-P640RE-Notebook-Review.158239.0.html

Interesting to see how this compares to the review of the similar MSI G40: http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GS40-6QE-Phantom-Notebook-Review.158147.0.html

 

@Will Kavanagh

yay! Someone else with the laptop who seems to know more than I do!

I do have a question about the display. When looking at some icons (eg, reply, mark as spam, delete on gmail or even the Notebook Review logo) do they look a bit fuzzy? Like if you were to take a small picture and stretch it out.

 

Have you tried using a different browser? I've noticed that in Chrome more than others personally.

 

I have not. Never noticed this issue on my previous 14 inch so I'm not quite sure. I've also noticed it on Steam's login/splash page. I'll try Firefox and see if it's replicated on there as well.

 

That's a Windows scaling issue. 1080p at 14" gives a PPI value of 157. I don't know where the setting is on Windows 10, but on Windows 7/8/8.1, one has to right-click on the Desktop, go to Screen Resolution and click on 'Make text and other items larger or smaller', and change the scaling setting.

If some particular application looks 'blurry', it means that it hasn't been optimised for Windows' high-DPI settings. Just right-click on the executable (.exe), go to 'Properties', head to the Compatibility tab, and check the 'Disable Display Scaling On High DPI Settings' checkbox, click 'Apply' and restart the application.

 

I got so fed up with scaling issues on my XMG P505 (it was set to 125% scaling, I think), that I just set the whole system display to not scale any more (i.e. 100% scaling). It's just about manageable on the P505's 15.6" screen, but think everything would be too small on a 14" screen without any scaling

 

I also have this issue with some random applications as well (e.g. uTorrent, Acrobat, etc)!.

Here are some of the possible solutions:

1. You can make use of "Disable Display Scaling On High DPI Settings" as suggested by SRSR333. It works well most of the time, but not always for all applications.
2. You should take note that some applications do have inbuilt scaling as well (e.g. Photoshop CC). Therefore, using the inbuilt scaling could be better.
3. Last but not least, you can also consider this method by Dan Antonielli as well...

If anyone have any better suggestions/solutions to ease the viewing strain (without fuzzy blurry text) for a 1080 resolution on a 14", I would appreciate them as well! I don't think i can survive without the scaling since everything gets too small

 

Did this and works great for Steam except now it's kinda tiny. haha. I might try that method by Dan Antonielli. BUT when I'm on Chrome, the text is just fine; they're super clear and crisp but it's just fuzzy images or icons so I'm not sure what's going on.

Also, scaling is set to 125% by default (or 150, I don't quite remember as I was messing around with it and just reverted to default as it was the best setting).

 

Indeed, anything smaller than 15.6" requires scaling to see anything properly.

Sadly, no, since 100% scaling makes everything too small. At least you guys have a 14" screen, 0.7" more than my 13.3" W230SS. Running OS X feels like I need a microscope, since there are no scaling/high-DPI options there...

 

Just got mine today.. But my only means of a valid OS is Windows 7 on a thumb drive ... There is no "legacy" option for USB so I keep bsoding after Windows logo since 7 doesn't have native 3.0 support.. Any work arounds?

 

Do you have another computer? We need to install Windows 7 on that and then shift the drive to the P640RE. If it's an M.2 drive, just use data migration software. It's incredibly clumsy, I know, but there's no choice.

Or you could install Windows 8.1, which makes life a lot easier for you.

 

Can you not install Windows 7 on a USB 2.0 drive?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

Could try an external DVD player with an install disk, again USB 2.0 if you have access to one of those.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but I just downloaded the w10 iso and I'm going to purchase a key later... Just hate the useless clutter and background resource hogs on w10... Oh well

 

So norwegian site was right and it is a 970m 6GB edition?

 

Evening gents,

I'm extremely keen on this laptop to replace my W230SS, however the notebookreview and HTwingnut did bring to light some concerns. I would really appreciate your opinion on the following:

- Is there any noticeable screen tearing whilst using V-SYNC or is this only present without?
- Has anyone noticed the slow screen response times whilst gaming to the point where they significantly took away from the experience?
- I would really appreciate it if an owner of both the P640RE and W230SS could point out comparisons between their screens. The W230SS 1080p is one of my personal favourites; I've always been nervous about upgrading as a result
- Will Windows 7 work with this laptop? If not, has anyone experienced any issues running older games (2002 dx9 onwards) with windows 7?

Thank you for your assistance I'm hoping to pick up one from XMG within the next few days to ensure that it arrives before I travel, but torn between this and the MSI GS40.

 

For some reason the past few sagers I've had love having no sound after waking from sleep... Really annoying

 

Speaking of sleep... Anyone had really slow start time from sleep? Is there some settings that I'm missing out? When I wake from sleep, I see that the blue power button is lighted, but the black screen remains for quite a while...

It seems to me that I boot faster than I wake up from sleep...

 

I have the same issue as well with sleep taking forever to get to desktop..and as far as sound goes it is not present when I have headphones plugged in when resuming from sleep...

 

Make sure you have the latest chipset drivers and try it without anything plugged into the machine. Usually it's a driver issue causing slow wake from sleep or shut down.

 

Hello all,
Well, I’m finally ready to pull the trigger on a shiny new gaming/DTR laptop, I’ve done my research and it looks like I’ll be purchasing the Clevo P640RE (thanks in large part to the amazing contributors to this thread!) Prior to doing so, I have a few more nagging questions that I’d love to have addressed prior to making what I consider to be a significant investment on a new PC. Here are the specs I’m looking at:


Clevo P640RE
14” FHD IPS, GTX 970m (3gb), i7-6700HQ, 500GB SSD HD, Win 10, 16gb RAM


Does anyone have any input as to which reseller is best to go through (USA)? Reliability, customer service, etc are all factors to consider:

• XoticPC.com - $1474 (lifetime labor, 2 yr parts, lifetime tech support)
• Gentechpc.com - $1474 (lifetime labor, 2 yr parts, lifetime tech support)
• Malibal.com - $1524 (2 yr limited parts and labor warranty)

Some other questions I would certainly appreciate some input on:

• Regular shipping OK or spring for wood crate, warranties, custom packaging, all that?
• Is the Xotic OS Boost worth it?
• Should I purchase an additional SSD now to be included, or just buy one and add it manually as needed in the future? I certainly don’t need more than 500gb as of now.
• Can anyone provide some insight on the Dead Pixel warranty? Is it worth paying extra for?
• Does anyone know of any Coupon Codes available for any of these resellers?

Finally, I’ve heard that the 15” Sager/Clevo has better battery life – is this a significant difference? Trying to figure out if it’s worth going bigger and more expensive than I had planned, but if the battery life is as bad as I’ve read for this 14” it may be worth it… (on xoticpc both are listed as “2+ hours” for battery)

I’m coming back to PC from Mac so anything is going to be an improvement, I just want to make sure I get the most bang for my buck! Thanks all!

 

1. Go with exotic. They do their own rigorous qa testing on each laptop they receive.

2. Regular shipping is fine.

3. Xotic boost is so ridiculously not worth it.

4. Add an additional SSD later. You can find one on Amazon for half the cost.

5. Dead pixel warranty might be worth it if it's not already covered under the manufacturer's warranty. It's a bit of a scam if it's already covered, so you'll have to check that out.

6. I know with some retailers if you call them and say you'll buy it on the spot if it was only a little cheaper, they will do it because the salesmen on the phone make commission and have a bit of leeway on the price.

7. The 15" version is a better laptop overall. The only reason to go with the 14" version is for portability. For some people, such as myself, portability is paramount.

This is all to the best of my knowledge. Good luck!


Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

Great, thanks for your response! I had a feeling the "xotic boost" was a ripoff, but good to hear from an expert! In looking over Xotic's stock warranty it seems it covers 6+ dead pixels, I think that should be fine for my purposes... and I'll give them a call to see if there's anything they can do about a discount, per your recommendation.

...now to decide between the 14" and 15" models! In building with the specs I'm looking for, looks like the 15" would only cost about $12 extra, so I'll have to find some appropriately-sized PC's that I can look at in-person to serve as basis of comparison to truly decide.

Thanks again for your help!

 

Is there an option for an LCD with a lower response time that will fit?

 

Not officially, but you might buy one elsewhere and fit it in the notebook.

 

At this point I'm really just stuck on G-Sync - the 15" Clevo has it whereas the 14" Clevo does not. Does G-Sync really make that much of a difference that I should opt for a size larger than my preference?

Coming from a Mac I'm used to gaming at around 15 FPS, so a laptop with a real GPU is already going to seem like such an improvement - with that in mind I'm wondering if I'll even notice the difference if my new laptop has G-Sync or not.

What do you all think? Any input is greatly appreciated, I think this is the last decision needed to be made before purchase!

 

G-sync is nice but not essential so don't let that over ride other concerns.

 

Most manufacturers don't cover dead pixels until you get to a specific threshold of them. So if dead pixels will drive you nuts, though they aren't common, it might be worth adding the warranty to your order and have it checked (and replaced if needed) before it ships out.

If you have any questions feel free to email or message me directly and I'll be glad to help out!

 

Thanks Pat! Actually, I just e-mailed Xotic PC sales support about this, but maybe you could help?

I noticed there are a few promotions that the NP8640-S should qualify for, that are not showing up during the customization screen. Both of these promos are featured on your home page, and show up on the customization screen for the NP8640, but not the NP8640-S (which is the model I'm interested in).

"Sager Instant Savings - Instant $50 off all M.2 SSD" should apply to this model, as should "Free Game Promotion - Rise of the Tomb Raider when you buy a GTX 970M Notebook". The Sager NP8640-S has both an SSD and a GTX 970M graphics card, so should qualify for these deals.


Let me know about these whenever you have a chance. And on a semi-related note, if there are any coupon codes you have available I would be happy to hear about them! Thanks Pat!

 

I'll send you a PM on it.

 

CyberpowerPC has this guy with a 2560x1440 screen and Windows 10, 1 TB 7200 rpm drive and one 8GB stick of DDR4...

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/spec/getntbkspec.aspx?id=P640RE

however, their specs state a max memory of 16GB and when I chatted with them, they said that was correct as those specs were direct from the manufacturer.

Is there anyway that is a typo? I want to make sure it supports 32GB before pulling the trigger...

I bought my sager w230 from them and didn't have any problems so I don't mind purchasing from them again...

 

It should do 32GB, 2X16GB sticks..

 

The NP8640 certainly supports 2x16GB for a total of 32GB.

It's an option on our configuration page

 

Weird that Cyberpower would tell me that then...

Unless this spec means that it is a max of 16GB per slot???

• DDR4(2133 MHz), slot *2, max 16GB

 

I have noticed that most resellers sell this with the DDR4 PC2133 memory...This should run higher memory speeds with no problems, right?

Newegg has 32GB PC2800 kit for $220 (you can buy single 16GB sticks for $105 each). For the kit, I wonder if they grab them from the same batch to ensure higher compatibility with each other and charge the extra $10?

The PC2800 kit is $30 more than the PC2133 kit...the performance difference is probably barely noticeably in real life use so debating if the higher speed is worth it....

 

2133mhz is the max speed officially supported by intel and you are right, the performance difference from faster ram is very small.

 

Is this accurate as well, or a typo like the RAM? I thought the P640RE only came with a 1920x1080 screen...

If this is true, does it have G-Sync? Is there any way to get G-Sync on the P640RE?

 

No. That screen option is legitimate; refer to Clevo's website.

Yes, but not on the internal display. The rear DisplayPort output is connected directly to the Nvidia GPU and G-Sync works with a monitor that supports it.

 

I ordered one from Cyberpc...had $50 amex gift card (i5/i7 promo), tomb raider download and found a 5% off coupon code...not sure if we are allowed to post price we paid here but I am happy with cost especially to get the 1440p screen...

 

Or our site, it appears to be correct

 

What are people getting as idle temperatures on this laptop? I just received mined yesterday and my idle temps with a -150mV undervolt are hovering around 43C. My Dell XPS 9550 with the same processor idles at 30C with no undervolt. Any thoughts?

 

CPU temperature sensors are not calibrated in that region so it's hard to say exactly what temperature they are at

 

I wouldn't hesitate to buy this if it wasn't for the poor battery life - hopefully they refresh it with a higher capacity battery.

I briefly owned a gigabyte p34w a few months ago and was shocked at the build quality - from flex/bent chassis, uneven keyboard and inconsistent trackpad buttons among other things.

It seems like this is the most decent 14" alternative, if it wasn't for the battery life...

 

I'd say it's one of the better options. There aren't a lot of 14 inch models available like there are 15 and 17 inch models, and it's hard to get all of the options people want in to a small frame like that.

 

It would be interesting if manufacturers began to lose the 2.5" drive and instead provide two m.2 ssd slots (if there is space on the board, which I imagine would be tricky), or at least provided an optional internal "battery extension" to fill that space. That way the entire section under the palmrest can be taken up by one long battery. I believe the 2.5" internal drives should go the way of optical drives on these small machines - I'd like to see them be replaced entirely by pcie ssds on anything below 14" and the internal volume be used for additional cooling or larger batteries.

On the other hand, if the gigabyte p34w can fit a 61.25Wh battery and the internal layout is very similar to this p640re, surely clevo must be able to provide a better battery.

I'm likely going to wait and see what happens with this laptop over the coming months.

 

Nothing is probably going to change for the P640RE, until they release a new model. That won't happen for another more than half a year or so.

 

Yeah, I'd assume that any changes would come with a Pascal refresh, although that could be up to a year away.