*** Official Clevo x7200 and Sager NP7280 owners lounge ***

My laptop is a Sager NP7280, 12 Gb RAM, 2 SSD drives (80 GB each), one 500 GB HDD. Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit, ComodoFirewall and MS Security Essentials, always up to date.

Suddenly, after everything was running smoothly for about 2 years, my Sager NP7280 doesn't recognize my second SSD drive anymore (my first one is the boot drive, and still is recognized well).

This second SSD drive (80 GB) was used, amongst other things, for a 'XP Mode' virtual Machine. I don't want to screw everything by trying to reinvent the wheel, that's why I prefer to ask here first.

Any specific firmware upgrade to try? Any other advice of what to do?

Thanks in advance for any hint.
Best regards.
Cesar

 

Swap the boot drive into the dead drives slot. This may help determine if the drive went bad or the sata port. Drive may need to be RMAed.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS CM9 via Tapatalk.

 

Before swapping, can you describe "NP7280 doesn't recognize my second SSD drive?" Do you mean it doesn't show up in BIOS? Swapping may be a good idea, but first re-seat your connections on the ribbon on both ends (the ribbon to drive and from ribbon to mobo). Then reboot, and recheck BIOS. It is possible something may have shaken loose.

After that as DR650SE suggests, try swapping drives (assuming the 2 80 GB drives are in the cage, and the 500 GB drive is under the battery). If the drive doesn't work there, try a different computer if you have one handy. to see if it can be detected. If you determine it is the drive, it may need to be replaced. If it is a SATA port, then you'll need to contact Sager about next steps if you want to correct that problem.

HTH

 

Hi DR650SE & jclausius, thanks a lot for your answers.

The SSD drive is working again, without doing anything (that day, even after rebooting, the SSD mas missing).

However, I feel worried that a very expensive laptop (3K+) has these hardware failures after a little more than 2 years (I also had some bluescreens recently). It was purchased as a tool, for getting better productivity, and certainly hardware failures won't help productivity.

Even with cheapier notebooks I had in the past, I didn't have to be opening it to try to fix defective hardware so soon.
I hope my point is understood, not everyone purchasing a top-notch laptop is a hardware hobbyst. Some especialists need for their specific work, and don't want to deal with the hardware. Opening the laptop is not desirable at all, in my case.

The problem is that I am in Bolivia, South America and there was no way to purchase performance laptops here. So I had to buy it in the US, but now it's unthinkable for me to ship it to the US just for a repair or replacement (even if it would be still under warranty).

I'm seriously thinking in a MacBookPro as my next laptop, if it's confirmed that I won't have to be worrying about hardware, or having to open it and deal with the internal components.
Do you know if a wintel brand can guarantee MacBookPro-like hardware reliability?

Thanks again, and thanks in advance for any extra info.
Best regards.

 

Buy in Brazil repair in Brazil sager have an authorized reseller. Microway Pronet Notebooks

 

I don't think there is any hardware you can buy in which there is a 100% success rate. Not even a MBP can claim that. I have a MBP that won't even boot w/ out the charger hooked up.

(Knock on wood...) I've had my x7200 since Oct' 2011. Never had a problem w/ the physical hardware itself. Had what I thought was a BIOS problem and booting a while back, but it turned out to be a problem w/ Windows and the RAID controller, and my mirrored drives. Just needed to completely wipe the drives and restore from my backup to resolve the issue.

In case of blue screen issues, in general blue screens mean you're using some kind of incorrect driver or some kind of mixup there (if it is a hardware bluescreen failure). I cannot remember the last time I've seen a blue screen... Trying to recall if I had one when my RAID drives went to sleep, and never woke up. But I don't recall any other time.

In regards to your SSD, you may want to check with your SSD manufacturer. I know for instance, some of the SSDs manufactured by OCZ have been known to fail at a higher than normal rate, and most people recommend Samsung, Micron, or Intel for reliability purposes.

 

SSDs usually fail due to firmware issues rather than external conditions, especially as mentioned above with earlier OCZ drives.

If reliability is of utter paramount importance I would only stick with ONE SSD manufacturer and that is intel.

 

Intel makes some great SSDs, but it seems like lately they have gone downhill a bit. I like the Samsung drives too.

I just got my Clevo x7200. It's a used ibuypower model with a i7 960 with 6gb ram and a 64gb c300 SSD and the 6970 graphics card. I like it. One of my fans is missing the screen for some reason. Trying to locate that and a caddy for the drive bay under the battery.

Where are some good sources for parts?

 

i just made an order for a sager np9370 , should recieve it sometimes around next week ..
now am an owner of a clevo 7200 ( np 7280 ) with the i7-950 , 460m sli , 6gb ram etc etc ..
i tried to read as much as possible but didnt find wat am looking for .
my question is :

1) can i still upgrade my 7280 ? what graphic cards are available for the upgrade and who sells them
2) whats the max ram speed that my old sager can use ?
3) does my mobo support sata 3 hard drives ?
4)how hard is it 2 upgrade the screen and who sell 3d screens
5)any backlit keyboard available for the 7280

i know am gettin a newer machine and shoudnt think of upgrading , but i just dnt want 2 let go of my x7200 .
i love this machine and if there is a way to upgrade it at somehow ill go for it.

 

1) Yes, some users seem to be using the 7970M which is a very potent card.
2) 1333mhz IIRC
3) You can run them but they will only run at SATA II speeds
4) 3D screens require a different kind of connector which the x7200 does not support.
5) There is no connector for it so no.

 

both my 9370 and 7280 was ordered from powernotebooks , the new machine will have a 7970m crossfire which sounds more like a gamble
with all the complains around it...i always been using green cards and its gonna be my 1st time to try the red ones.
ill give a call for abe or donald 2day perhaps i can manage to squeeze in some rams and a hardrive with
the shipment...too bad i cant fit in a 3d screen or a backlit keyboard
i was thinking of somethin like 2x485m's ! any1 know if those are still available and how much would they cost ?

 

I've seen some 675Ms going cheap on ebay which should work.

 

they should work as simple as removing old ones and installing new ones ? or requires different heat sinks / fans etc ?

 

Question for X7200 owners:
- I have a sager NP7280 (purchased in February 2011)
- I'm thinking of formatting it (just to restore it to factory state), but when I check out the sager website it would appear that the drivers for the NP7280 are for a more recent model (e.g. graphics card drivers are not for 485M which is what my laptop has).
- So my question is: has anyone re-formatted an older 7280 recently and, if so, what drivers did you use? The drivers that came on the CD with your laptop?

Thanks

 

Nvidia have a unified driver model, so the latest sets support the old cards.

 

See my sig regarding drivers! Feel free to rep/like the post if it is exactly what you're looking for.

 

Hey jclausius it's cool helping people out but it's against the forum rules to ask for rep/likes

 

I know. That is why the post was informing Se4nH4x, a user w/ out many posts, about reputations and likes, as they may not know about this feature. Nothing more was intended.

 

Any chance that you have the palm rest for the x7200?

I've been looking around for one since mine has faded and doesn't look good anymore.

 

just buy a pc of carbon fibre and add it to the palmrest area .. will look neat and nice.

 

I've already got stickers to cover the palm rest, but deep down inside, i know its not perfect Lil.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

I know how you feel. My mobo dropped a ram slot and now I only have 16GB vs the 24GB that are actually in my system.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS CM9 via Tapatalk.

 

Never did find a mobo replacement?

 

They are pretty expensive pieces of kit to be fair, even more than desktop boards.

 

Nope. Haven't looked to hard. Resellers wants $450 for one.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS CM9 via Tapatalk.

 

At least its still working with one defective ram slot instead of crapping out all together .

That would totally pissed me off.

I think in going to just repolish the aluminium, hopefully that will get rid of the discoloration, and maybe Anodize it if i have time

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

Did you try contacting [email protected] as sager themselves do ship worldwide or your original reseller?

 

I have not, but will try them soon.

I'm currently sanding it down to make it shiny

WIll post pictures when I finish.

 

My np7280 just died. Was weird was playing Crysis 2 and the laptop locked up so had to do a hard power down on it after that nothing. Laptop powers up the hard drive light lights up for a few seconds then is just flashes. But the screen doesn't power on, no beeps nothing. Have swapped out hard drives, swapped both video cards around, moved around all my memory, cleared the cmos and no dice. This is the first issue i have had with this laptop and it seems t be a show stopper, i am assuming it is the motherboard itself sense it wont even power on the screen beep or anything. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

'attempt to remove the cpu and repeat it all over again if you just replace under warranty.
Your notebook is the v1 or v2?
I was using 1 or 2 psu?
well my always left the vcore at 1.0V because it does not heat well.
By Ficotriste you are going through this and I hope it succeeds.

 

It is a version 1, But why keep taking the CPU out? Only using 1 psu at the moment not overclocking or anything

 

bemde all should try it on your current situation is a test to be done.
lately in my house I always use 2 PSU and vcore to 1.0V because he was always noticed the 125v PSU was very hot.
in high-demand games recommended by 2 psu.

 

How would i know if mine is v1 or 2?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

Usb 3.0 ports if I remember correctly.

 

So i guess i have version two since i have two ports on the left.

Mine has been worming flawlessly since i got it a few months ago.

There's not a lot of people selling this particular laptop on eBay, hard to find parts.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

Well its the high end of a niche, it was never a high volume product.

 

I explained how this equipment go with a low durability.
equipment of $ 4,000 u have no durability and a notebook of 800 last year.
I think that it's time to stop investing in them because the manufacturers are making people spend to have future headaches.
I'm wondering when I will be that I will have my headache.
v2 has the expresscard slot.

 

Before you go to the trouble of repasting, I would try one thing. Underneath the keyboard (KB), next to the RAM is the CMOS battery. After removing all power and the normal battery, you may want to first try to remove the CMOS battery for a brief period of time, and then put it back in. After re-assembly, see if you can then get the machine to start. Note, removing the CMOS will reset any BIOS settings, so you may need to configure this afterwards.

If you need instructions on removing the KB, just let me know.

Other things to try:

a) You may want to try to remove the drives, and see if the machine will POST -> or at least get to where the laptop will display a BIOS screen.
b) You may want to try removing and testing with just one of the RAM sticks. Will the machine POST with any single RAM stick?

 

TBH, I couldn't figure this out either.

I don't know if you bend or push down the metal prongs in front of it? Bend the plastic? However, if you're not careful I think if you bend the connector holding the battery in place too far it may crack.

Perhaps someone could explicitly explain the procedure on how they removed the battery.

 

Usually batteries in holders can be flipped out with a plastic utensil.

 

If someone could explain it to me, I would be very thankful! Unfortunately I already bend the connector so much that it doesn't touch the battery anymore. So, everytime I start the X7200 it starts with default settings.

Mabe it becomes more clear when you take a look on the following pics I've made:

 

Take another picture with the battery off so we could see the connection on the bottom.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

*lol* I am afraid you missed the first part.
I would gladly do that, if I knew how to dislodge the battery! Because that's my problem: I couldn't figure it out yet. Maybe you can give me some hints? Did I miss something? I can swear that I tried everything, but I found no "switch" or anything else to let the battery pop out. I was short before breaking the plastic frame out....

 

Something like this:



1. Push in.
2. Lever up.

 

If I understand you correctly,

First slide the brass colored piece horizontally toward the battery.
Then, lift that edge of the battery straight up, vertical away from the mobo.

Correct?

 

You should be able to push the battery itself. The slot there is for a plastic utensil to get it.

 

So step 1 is to push the battery horizontally. This makes perfect sense.

I tried that with my fingers at one time and couldn't get it to budge. I guess I didn't apply enough pressure.

 

Not exactly! He meant to push a screw driver in and then lever the battery up until it pops out. But by levering up the battery you have to hold down the plastic frame, because if you don't the plastic frame will pop out too and that would be very unfortunate!

This way I finally made it! :thumbsup:

@Meaker: I am afraid I gradually have to pay you consulting fees! Thank you so much (again)!!!

 

Wish I would've asked this a while back. Thank you from me as well, Meaker!