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

Sounds nice... don't know about the backpack...

Personally, I'm considering returning mine... the speakers SUCK!!! My God... compared to my Dell... the speakers output on this thing is the same as if I kept my Dell @ 33% volume... hell... even with headphones... the power it gives my bose @ full volume is about the same as my Dell @ 24%... It's poor all around!!! and sadly... I mostly use my laptop for music and videos...


Edit: maxing out the volume on the dell with the bose headphones plugged in... the headphones speakers sound as loud as the internal speakers on the np5160... that's embarrasing

 

So is the computer I got customized good other than then sound?

 

It's great, I love everything about the laptop except the sound... I'm debating between keeping it and returning it still... the lightweight feel of the laptop is a huge plus... love the HD screen, and the decent battery life... but at the end, the sound is a huge turnoff for me.

 

@ Luis_GT
Don't know if you have tried this but there is a option in Control Panel that helps boost sounds levels.

Control Panel->Hardware & Sound->Sound
Double Click Speakers
Enhancements Tab and then check "Loudness Equalization".

Hope that helps

 

Tried it as well... the amp just doesn't seem to have the power to even boost a decent pair of headphones

 

I've had my 5160 for three weeks now, and it is the first time I've been giddy about a laptop. Here are my specs:
i7 2630QM, 6GB RAM, 500GB 7200RPM HDD, 900P Matte Screen, Intel Advance 6230, W7 Ultimate 64bit, Price was $929.

I'm very happy with it. Very responsive, screen is fantastically bright and clear, keyboard and pad were much better than expected (except for the space bar). Weight is comparable with my old 14" HP Pavilion, but battery life is about twice as long as the HP. It's a great deal that you just can't find for that particular price.

In terms of cons: I would to say the speakers, obviously, but I was looking at getting the logitech Z305s to enhance them. I also noticed that the machine runs a little toasty when I play Civ 5, but I limited turbo boost (via the 99% max CPU power trick).

So I guess depending on longevity and barring any other issues, color me a Sager fan!

 

Where did u get that from?
Cuz it would cost me $1100 to get that customization

 

I agree with this assessment. While I can't compare the speakers to a Dell laptop, I can say that both the speakers and the headphone jack produce a very low audio volume. Highest setting is half or less what I am used to with other laptops. Makes me wonder if there just wasn't some kind of error in the design of these where the wrong voltage is being output.

 

There are way too little write ups on the laptops on the net and even here. Its mostly people without one posting.

I need to some know things between i decide between my N53sv and the 5165/5160 sagger.

1.I have heard from a few alarming posts and aroudn teh net that the temps can get exeedingly hot, and that both cpu and gpu are on the same heatsink. Im not worried about temps but i am worried about reliablity. 100C is going to degrade faster then a n53 that runs at 70peak. Have u guys had crashes, or throttling occure [please only respond if u are techical enough to answer so]

2.I have read that the fan is on often because of this temperature issue. And even at idle can have an annoying buzz, and full load is ridiclious. Compared to the n53 which in tests here is about 10db quieter [10db compared to 49]. What is your experience using the laptop and what realitively speak what are the sound levels at Idle, browsing/work, and gaming?

3. Is the body cheap? How are the hinges does the plastic seem to wear anywhere specificly?

I am student going into uni this fall and this is a big purchase for me, i cannot make the wrong one. I know the pluses of both models so this is not something i need help with. I jsut need to understand the supposed negatives better..

The sagger has a better cost/performance and apparently a better screen, but i cannot afford to have a humming laptop in class. Nore do i want a laptop that suddenly has to throttle down [which nvida gpus do] because heat has reached a level thats too high because of lack of cooling.

 

XoticPC.com, but I did have my own copy of W7 Ultimate, so that lowers the cost

 

What programs are y'all using for CPU/GPU temps? I've used Realtemp and HWMonitor, but I would like something that graphs temp on a chart.

 

I can't answer this because I don't play games on my laptop and so never push the GPU. I have never read of anyone hitting 100 degC temps on this laptop though under any circumstances.

At idle the fan is usually silent because it turns off. However, it is not easy to achieve this zen idle state. Doing almost anything (even reading a few non-flash web pages) usually kicks it out of 'idle'. And idle sometimes is not returned to very quickly after doing work. I'd say that 75% of the time that you are truly idling for 3 minutes or more, the laptop is going to be silent.

While browsing or doing work, the fan is annoyingly loud. It kicks right into a fairly high gear as soon as the processor does any work at all. I'd say that the fan's lowest non-idle sound level is about the same as a high fan level on many other laptops I have seen. It is not quiet. It is loud. Period.

I have never done gaming on this laptop but I have stressed it with heavy CPU loads (10 minute 9-thread compile jobs). The fan ratchets up a few times until it's hit what I think is its highest level but that is only maybe 25% louder than the lowest level.

The body does not seem cheap. It seems very well constructed actually. I am not a fan of the keyboard or the track pad but those are personal preferences.

The Sager will "hum" in class. I personally wouldn't bring it to any meeting or class because it's annoyingly loud.

 

Thank you for your excellent response Bji, its helped me make my decision easy :] i owe u big time.

 

So what did you pick?

 

Im gonna get the N53sv, very close in terms of performance but will willing to lose a little bit of battery and a little extra weight for better cooling, plus 2 year warrenty from asus ;]

 

I'm getting a laptop from powernotebooks. The owner, mr. Stratton recommended the Asus over the saver

 

Just in case anyone is curious ... I removed the Sager logo sticker from the front of my NP5160 just now. It wasn't very hard; I just scratched at it with my fingernail which was hard enough to scrape the sticker off but not hard enough to scratch the lid finish. After the silver logo was removed, I was left with alot of sticky goo on the lid that I removed with some vigorous buffing with a lint-free cloth. Then I used some LCD cleaning solution and a lint-free cloth to clean the lid off. Looks perfect, like there was never any logo there.

I personally prefer my laptop to be completely generic looking so I am happy that the logo is gone. It looks exactly like you'd expect - like the normal NP5160 lid with no logo.

Just thought I'd post in case anyone else wanted to remove their sticker and wanted to know if it was possible and how hard it would be.

 

Mind u grackling i woulda taken the 5165 if this laptop was for home use only or something... just i cant have a noisey laptop

I have done alot of research and for a cost/performance and over package these 2 laps cannot be beat

 

I know you already made your decision on the ASUS but I figured I'd throw in my 2 cents anyways... When i first got this laptop I was constantly hitting 100*F while playing TF2 and BC2. After about a month of use, the thermal paste "cured" or w/e and I seem to top out around 85*F. When it was hitting 100* for an extended period It did seem throttle back. I didn't check to be sure but I noticed my FPS seemed to drop and the games didnt run as smooth. No longer a problem though after the thermal paste had time to set.

The body does feel kinda cheap IMO. After about 2 months of use mine is already showing wear on the palm rest area and the touch pad. The case also creaks when picked up or opening/closing. I havent had a problem with the the hinges but I'm also trying to be careful with this computer since it doesnt seem as solid as some of my previous Dells.

 

i use my 5165 in class all the time and it's dead silent. i literally can't hear it at all. in fact, i'm typing this post in class. maybe something is wrong with your laptop.

 

It's a distant possibliity, but maybe the 5165 has a better, more optimized cooling system?

Mr. Mysterious

 

If it's dead silent, that would mean that your fan isn't on at all. This can be achieved without doing anything significant on the laptop.

I'm running Linux, not windows; maybe Linux's cpu clock speed control isn't working well for Sandy Bridge (I certainly can't seem to control the cpu clock speed like I am used to on other processors); maybe Windows stays in low power states longer and the laptop stays cool longer and keeps the fan off more?

 

i believe the cooling system is exactly the same. i noticed that my idle temps are higher than the temps in ineedmoney's 5160 review.

when it's dead silent, i can still feel the airflow and hear the fan spinning when i put my ear right next to the vent. and it's still dead silent even when i do stuff that requires some processor power. maybe windows does a better job of controlling the fan than linux.

 

That's what I thought. The cooling systems SHOULD be the same.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Yeh the one decent review of this laptop had the db level of idle as 33, dvd 40ish and load at 49!!!
In comparison the asus had 31/33/40 and apparently idle is very easily gotten out of on the sager, as just a dvd jumps it to 40..

Laptops suck, there isnt any clear 100% winner, u have to comprimise someplace always ;[ not like a desktop, kinda lame

 

Hm, it was my understanding from prior discussion that the BIOS controls the fan, not Windows? I don't have any 'quiet but fan blowing air' mode on my NP5160. It goes straight from completely off (the fan) to fairly noisy.

 

That's true at this point. Someone correct me if I'm wrong and they've released something, but none of the third party software for fan control supports these models yet to give you control within the OS.

 

i guess the 5165 does a better job of controlling the fan than the 5160. under "noise emissions", this review says the same thing

Review Schenker XMG A501 Notebook (Clevo W150HRM) - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

i guess Mr. Mysterious was right

 

Wait.... Let me get this right.. the 5160 uses a differetn fan then the 5165?????
Can someone confirm the fan/cooling is different on the 5165???? I thought they were identical models... This might change my choice if it is so.. Plz would like some input!!

Edit- doing some research into this, and actualy yes apparently the cooling although the systems are very similiar is different on the 5165! And the sound levels and even the temperature is down a decent notch I will actualy be buying this now instead of my n53. Although i think both are equaly good choices, 2 year warrenty is hard to beat

 

I would also be very interested in this, although I already own an NP5160 so I'm somewhat stuck at this point. But if the NP5165's fan is really a different model then I'll bet it's physically compatible with the NP5160 - or at least I hope. And I'll bet that there is a BIOS difference that may account for a difference in the fan settings.

Would an NP5165 user please post their BIOS version here? I wonder if putting an NP5165 BIOS on an NP5160 would work and if it would improve the fan situation. I can say for sure that the BIOS on the NP5160 does a terrible job as the fan stays on for a while even after the processor has cooled down. It should go off sooner and should spin slower when it is on, I think it would be just as effective and quieter in low CPU load situations.

 

I just updated to the newest 1.08 BIOS for my NP5160 and I did not have any problem with the wireless networking after resume from hibernate - but I am using Linux, so if it is a problem, it may be Windows-specific.

I was hoping that the new BIOS would quiet the fan down but it hasn't made a difference. I tried the NP5165 BIOS update utility but it failed -and I have since found out that the NP5165 uses a different BIOS vendor than the NP5160. I wonder if it's possible to update the BIOS to the NP5165's somehow ...

I also wonder if the fan problem is a problem with Phoenix's fan control implementation being much worse than AMI's (which is used in the NP5165).

 

Hi,
Does anyone know what kind of vga is installed in this laptop?
Is it MXM form? or is it soldered in the motherboard?
thanks

 

The graphics card is soldered into the motherboard

 

thanks
Do you think this card can run GTA4 and Mafia2 at 1600x900 with 2720QM and 8gb ddr3?
also, is rjtech the only store who has it on sale?

 

I'd check the benchmarks here:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Looks like GTA IV on medium is 60+ FPS, so that's definitely playable. Mafia 2 at medium is around 40 FPS, but high settings look to be 30 or less, which would be a little iffy. If you can stand playing both games on slightly lower settings, you should be fine.

 

The fan is not controlled by the BIOS, but by the EC. So we would either need an updated EC image or someone needs to find out which values in the EC control the fan.

Does someone here know if there is a way to get some parts (like fan and the cooling system) from clevo (I would like to try to change the cooling system + fan)?

 

FlashBurn, try to reach the user okhetan - http://forum.notebookreview.com/member.php?u=221447

He has a connection to clevo and probably can help you.

Let us know if you actually change it!

 

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is an 'EC'? Embedded Controller? If so, are you saying that there is a separate firmware besides the BIOS being used by an embedded controller to control the fan?

What I've noticed about the fan on the 5160 is that it has major 'lag'. It will stay off until the processor heats up to 50 degC (according to my Linux temperature readings which may not be accurate), then stay on way after the temperature has gone down to 42 degC. Then it will eventually shut off even though the temperature reading still says 42 degC. It doesn't seem to respond very quickly to any change in temperature and to favor staying on even when not needed.

I am really wondering if the 5165 has a different fan controller; if so, should I consider the poor fan management of the 5160 a defect that was fixed in the 5165?

 

Yep, there is a separate firmware for the EC (embedded controller). The nice thing is, that the possibility is high that EC of the W1x0HRx (NP5165) is the same as of the W1x0HNx (NP5160). So it would be possible to use it, but as I don´t know how to read out the firmware and I can´t say for sure.

I think the fan should start at 60°C and stop at 45°C. This would be enough.

 

Does anyone know which EC is used in the Clevo W1x0HNx or how to find out?

 

Well I wrote to Sager and asked about the NP5160 EC firmware and if an improved version was used with the NP5165 and if that could be made available for the NP5160. I mostly got a 'huh?' response and I clarified in an follow-up but haven't received any response to that.

 

I hate the keyboard and touchpad on the NP5160. Is anyone else with me?

At first I thought I'd just 'get used to it'. But I haven't. The problems I have are:

1. The keys have too little resistance; the springs or rubber grommets or whatever it is in there providing resistance are too weak. It just doesn't feel right. It makes the keyboard feel cheap because the keys feel so light and substance-less.

2. The keys are flat and not convex. I haven't used too many chiclet keyboards so maybe this is true for all of them. It sucks because you can't naturally 'feel' the key as well because there is no convex shape of the key surface giving your fingers feedback about exactly where they are on the key. I never realized that my fingers used this subtle clue to keep themselves properly positioned on the keys, but they do. With flat keys I get this feeling like I just can't tell as easily where the keys are by touch - and it shows in reduced typing speed and increased mistakes. I think there is a reason that computer keyboards have had convex key surfaces since forever and eliminating that feature is a big mistake.

3. The distance between the keys just doesn't feel right; but maybe this is really just another symptom of (2), because I measured the distance between the centers of each key and they are the same as on my old standard keyboard laptop, which feels much better.

4. The touch pad is waaaay too sensitive and too close to the space bar. You don't even have to touch it, just have your palm hover above it (which is nearly impossible to avoid due to its positioning), and it will register a button press. More than any laptop I have ever used before, I am constantly having errant button clicks interrupt my typing.

I am finding that I make many, many more mistakes when typing with the NP5160 keyboard than on other keyboards, and that the whole time the experience feels unsettling due to the poor tactile feedback given by the keyboard. And I believe that the tactile feedback of this keyboard is inferior to others due to the factors I mentioned above.

 

I love the keyboard on this laptop! Better than most of the laptops I tested at best buy before buying this one. I have no problems with the touch pad either. Its a little rough but that doesnt bother me.

 

If your touchpad is too sensitive, try Downloads - touchfreeze - Utility for Windows that disables touchpad automatically while you are typing text - Google Project Hosting

Chicklet keyboards do not generally have convex keys...so just keep track of the ridge on your F and J keys to stay in position.

After a few days of typing on a new keyboard you should adjust just fine and you will see your speed go back up, and your mistakes go back down

 

Thanks for the tip, unfortunately I am running Linux so I can't take advantage of this. But I had surmised that there must be utilities for turning off the touch pad while you are typing, maybe there is such a thing for Linux as well, I'll look around.

The problem is that I have my own typing style, self-taught from the days when I was a kid on a Commodore 64. I don't use the proper fingers and I don't use the F and J ridges. Apparently I do rely on the convex shape of keys though which I never realized before I got this laptop.

Well it's been a few weeks now and things aren't better but maybe given enough time ...

 

What if you had originally learned on a keyboard like this?

Everything else would seem strange until you got the hang of it. Hmmm, what do they call that???...Oh yes, re-training. Of course if you were a kid on a Commodore 64 it could be a bit more difficult, but you'll get the hang of it

 

I really like the keyboard and I always disable the tap-clicking. The left button is right there...

 

Anyone know how much battery life you can get on just the intergrated graphics?

 

About 3 or 3.5 hours... could be more, could be less, it really depends on what you'll be doing.

 

Speaking of keyboards. My numbers lock is not on every time I reboot my laptop now. How do I ensure "num lk" is on whenever I restart my Sager? It was defaulted on when/since I originally bought it.