**Official Sager NP5160 / Clevo W150HNQ Owners' Lounge**

ok, so i have a question about what companies might accommodate my strange customization request. I'm going off to college this fall, and have decided to get the sager np5160 as it is the right blend of power size and price. i can get a free download of windows 7 from the MSDNAA because i am a college student, so i could save $80 by not getting the pre-formatted hard drive, but microsoft is running a promotion where college students get a free xbox 360 with the purchase of a windows 7 computer, so i am wondering if i could email the downloaded file of windows 7 that i get from MSDNAA to a sager re-seller (like exoticpc or mythologic) and if i could get them to not charge me the $80 for it, but then sell it to me so that i could still get the free 360 from microsoft as well (which i would sell on ebay to further offset the cost of this awesome computer) what do you guys think? what companies would do this for me, and would it qualify for the free 360?

 

Doubt it would work. From the looks of the website, they only accept certain orders from HP, Dell, and Samsung. Sager is in its own league

If you want a similar laptop though with the possibility of getting that 360, I would look at the HP dv6t Quad Edition or the Dell XPS 15.

 

If you can get it to work... post how you did it, cause I ordered my sager last week and might as well take advantage of it

 

Hey,

Yea we do that all the time (Pre-load your OS / office key) just hit No-OS, and then send us the key via email. We're going to install an OS for testing, benching, and calibration purposes. Only difference is with a valid key we'll leave it on instead of formatting it =). No big deal at all, and no extra charge.

If you can get a free 360 out of it, IDK, as the deal says "participating retailers" and usually that means some company that has sent their "participation check" to microsoft lol.

 

Ordered last week... and today I get the SWEET SWEET SWEET email that my NP5160's been shipped!!! Can't wait!

 

Sounds fraudulent to me. The deal with Microsoft must include include selling a copy of Windows 7 with the computer, and you're not doing that, so claiming that the computer being sold is qualifying because it came pre-installed with the buyer's already-owned Windows 7 is fraudulent. I doubt Microsoft or anyone else is going to pursue this, but if your business participates in fraudulent transactions I have to wonder how long you'll stay around ...

And even given all of that, I don't think the O.P. is going to be able to claim the Xbox because, like you mentioned, you're not a seller participating in the program.

 

i think you need to re read his post. dude.

 

Is there an aftermarket set of speakers, internal, that can help this laptop put some bass out there? They are very "tinny"
Or is there an audio control that you have tried that accommodates action movies and music that has bass etc in it to sound a little more realistic?

 

I did read the post. Please be more specific.

 

"If you can get a free 360 out of it, IDK, as the deal says "participating retailers" and usually that means some company that has sent their "participation check" to microsoft lol."

IDK means I don't know. In other words he is saying he is not a "participating retailer" so he doesn't think doing it this way qualifies for the free xbox.

So, where is the fraud?????

 

I think there's some confusion here. The person who is asking the question about the Xbox wants the reseller to install Windows 7 using the key he acquires from his university, but have the reseller show on the invoice that a copy of the OS was included. That would be fraudulent.

Mythlogic simply installing the OS from one of their discs with a legitimate CD key obtained somewhere else is not fraud. They would also indicate on the invoice that either 1) no OS was ordered or 2) it was installed from a different source not purchased directly from them, most likely the former. So it wouldn't qualify regardless of whether or not they were participating in the promotion anyway.

 

Hey,

Yea thats all we were saying is yea we can install OS's and Office from keys that come from you, as long as they are legit keys. But yea we aren't participating, and so as probably wouldn't qualify as it appears to be some kind of co-op marketing between like Dell, HP, Best Buy etc. AKA people who are bigger than the entire reseller pool combined =) I wish we could get in on that promo, but alas we cannot.

 

Like I stated earlier in the thread, you can forget about the promo for Sager/Clevos since they are simply not participants in this promotion. You have to buy from HP/Dell/Samsung(?), and even then, only particular models.

 

I have a question, how do you get THX trustudio working? It says no supported devices found. Using built in speakers that sound like tinny crap

 

Just install it and type in the cd key. I didn't notice much of a difference with or without THX installed.

 

@WhiskeyD

You have to activate it!

 

Yeah, even with it on I didnt notice much of a difference. When i reformatted to install the SSD I didnt even bother with reinstalling it.

 

Shouldnt it already be activated when you got the laptop?

 

Damn... My NP5160 is still at the hands of UPS and now Xotic has a promotion for free upgrade to 8GB... sucks that I missed it...

 

Anyone know if this lappy has port multiplier on the esata? Looking to use Amazon.com: Thermaltake BlacX Duet eSATA USB Dual Hard Drives Docking Station ST0014U: Electronics :3

 

Sorry, really none of the Clevo's have port multiplier enabled.

 

Officially a proud owner of a NP5160 with a core i5 just to be different

 

I should have done the i5, but it is still a good laptop. Boot time etc isnt as fast as all the hype I was expecting with SB i7, W7 etc, but it is still a solid laptop I hope works for at least 5 years.

 

I hope it lasts 4 to 5 years as well... the laptop doesn't feel as strong as my 4 year old Inspiron 1520... but the chassis on that is either metal or really really really hard plastic. On the plus side... it is lighter, which is what I wanted, cause hauling around a 7 pound notebook was't fun.

 

So I cancelled my order due to no availability on the AUO V.4 matte screen. The good thing is the guys at XoticPC took my new order and verified very quickly. For the same price I ended up getting an np5165 with the same specs as my np5160 order besides the gpu due to much cheaper upgrade price on the AUO V.4 1080p matte display. I just ordered it yesterday and it is now in phase 2 so finally I'm on track to actually getting my laptop. I'm actually kinda happy about this, it will be interesting to have that extra graphics capability. I like this thread so I'll probably still post in here rather then the np5165 besides the only difference is the gpu right?

 

Just like the NP8130 and NP8150 are the "same laptop".

Mr. Mysterious

 

For anyone interested, I did a video loop test with my i5 equipped laptop and got 135 minutes out of it with brightness set to the lowest setting since it's what I use... this was running a 1080P 13GB movie... doesn't seem bad at all... especially when my battery came with a wear level of 5.7%

 

Let us know what your battery life is with just surfing the web, lowest brightness setting.

To really see a big speed up in boot times you need an SSD, not sure if you have one or not, but my machine boots in about 15 seconds.

I am convinced the quality of lithium battery cells used in Clevo/Sager is not the top of the line cells. I have had my machine since April 2010 and my wear is down 23%. I leave mine plugged in all the time and have ran it only a few time on battery. While I understand how the charger circuits work on the Sager and its not the most optimum, my Asus G1 that recently crapped out (with similar charge regime) was over 4 years old and its wear was around 35% in that time.

 

There was a big debate a few days ago about leaving the laptop plugged in with the battery or whatever. People disagreed left and right, but ultimately, the decision lies with the owners of the laptops how to set it up.

Mr. Mysterious

 

just surfing the web... more like watching Air Crash investigation on youtube I managed to get 3-3:30 hours of battery life. I'm gonna retest it though just to get a more accurate number.

 

I know, For me I gave up debating this topic long ago in this forum. Everybody has an opinion and really there is no right or wrong, so I just leave it alone.

 

I'm loving this laptop, well worth the price I paid for it.

 

Hi I am new here.
I really want a Sager but
A. I don't know where to get it/ where is best deal
B. I don't know what customizations to get, because i kinda wanna keep it under $1000 + maybe 50
C. I don't know if i should get 5160 or 5165
Thanks

Im using this for High School and Playing games like SC2 WoL or MW3 when it comes out

 

BTW do I have to refresh this page to read new posts?

 

You can get sagers at resellers like XoticPC, Malibal or Mythlogic.

I got my 5160 from Xoticpc's

as far as modifications, the best one would be the 1080P screen... it's VERY nice!

 

Thanks for the reply.
What is the comparisons between the following and is it worth it?
Gamut Screen vs No Gamut
i7 vs i5
SSD vs HD
8gb vs 6 vs 4
and what wireless thing should i get?
Is it possible to get a good customization for under 1k?

 

And the current sponsor of this forum...PowerNotebooks.com

 

What's the benefit for each place?

 

None really. Sager resellers basically the same when it comes to pricing and service. XoticPC and Powernotebooks sell Sager machines, which are built by Sager and supported by the resellers. (Sorry for saying Sager so much). They are built using shells from Clevo.

Mythlogic gets blank shells from Clevo and builds/tests the systems themselves. I think they have a greater attention to detail than the Sager resellers, but they can be more expensive depending on the options/upgrades you select.

Honestly, just wave a stick in the air. None of the Sager resellers (at least the ones based in the US and Canada) who regularly post here have bad reputations.

 

So what customization should i get? i want it to be under 1k
Right now i am considering buying from xotic, pctorque, and powernotebooks
My main question is how much ram should i get, get i7 or i5, how good should the wireless thing be, and what screen to use

 

The 95% gamut screen is more for people who do photo editing or 3d models... for day to day, the normal gamut screen is just fine.

 

What is your tax/shipping price/policy to California

 

So for a high school student who uses laptop for hoomework/gaming
i dont need a gamut 95%?

 

you can have it... will you notice the diffence, maybe not...

 

The 95% gamut screen, if configured correctly and software supported, should show more colors than the standard screen. Generally they are more saturated looking and "pop" more. Some people like them, some people don't notice as much. I didn't upgrade my NP6165 screen from Sager but will be sourcing one and upgrading myself in the near future. For a normal user you may or may not notice it that much. Check out the screen comparisons thread for pics of each.

The Sandy Bridge i7s are going to be quad core vs dual core on the i5s. It's the general consensus that quad cores are going to be the standard in a couple years for processors. I considered an i5 for a long time until seeing I could afford an i7 when going with Sager, and ultimately went for the i7-2630QM. Again for daily activities you may or may not notice that much of a difference (unless running programs that utilize the quad core or multiples of each) but the i7 will be more futureproof in theory.

Solid State Drive vs standard Hard Drive. Having been introduced not too long ago SSDs are still quite expensive GB for GB compared to their standard HD competition. They offer much quicker load times though compared to HDs and are quickly growing in popularity. Personal opinion, go w/ a 7200RPM HDD and get a NP5165 vs NP5160.

This is dependent on your personal usage and applications you're planning on using at once. Most users will have no problems with 4GB. Others may want 6 or 8GB if you're going to be doing quite a bit of intense multitasking... i.e. gaming+photo editing+web browsing+etc. or compiling. Typically you can upgrade the RAM yourself later cheaper than offered by resellers.

If you're a bluetooth user than the Intel Advanced 6230 has an advantage over the 6300. The 6300 will xfer at 450mbits vs 300mbits on the 6230. I believe the 6230 has 2 antennas vs 4 on the 6300. Personally, I use Bluetooth and have no need for speeds over 300mbits (which is what my router tops at right now anyways) so I went with the 6230.

Absolutely, especially with the recent price reductions from Sager.

I built my NP5165 a month ago w/ the following specs for $1014+shipping:

1080p (60% Gamut) Gloss Screen
i7-2630QM
IC Diamond Compound
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
Intel Advanced 6230

You can get the same for $1004.00 right now through XoticPC, and upgrade to the 1080p 95% gamut screen for $95 more.

 

Hello Pelotudo,
TY for the info.
How should i buy my Windows 7 though. It costs 80$ on the xotic pc cite
EDIT
I might get it from powernotebooks instead for they are sponsoring this forum . Do you think that's ok?

 

Did the test running a refresher program and some personal web surfing, managed to get 4 hours 58 min in UMA mode running the screen @ the lowest setting.

 

Where should I get windws7?
And is 80$ worth upgrade from 540 to 555?

 

you can get windows 7 through newegg.com or through the resellers themselves... I went with reseller personally, cause home premium was cheaper than on newegg...

 

So if I buy the 5160 on power notebooks it will be $999
Specs: 1080p regular matte
I7 2630
4gb ram
320 gb 7200rpm
Windows 7
advanced wireless
1gb nvidia 540
Is this worth it.
Also, is the eagle 17" backpack $50 good?