Official Sager NP8130/Clevo P151HM1 Owners Lounge

Sent mine back for repair due to unstability. Tried everything under the sun myself to repair it myself, I hate to bother people. But I just couldn't get it to work. Malibal is looking it over now, but I'm on the fence on if I even want it back or not. I'm going to hit them up tomorrow for an update. They've had it a couple days now, so I want to hear their opinion before I make the decision.

Likes - Stat for stat the laptop was great, loved the screen and the raw power contained under the hood. Great bang for the buck. Decent battery power too for a gaming laptop. Chiclet keyboard was above average.

Dislikes - Other then mine being a dud... I just didn't like the trackpad, gestures seemed unresponsive. Casing had a little more flex than I'd like, but doable. Did not like the GPU being replaced by a new model two weeks after getting it, even if it's only a slight margin of improvement. No backlit keyboard, minor quip.

Edit: Actually, since they are behind me, I'll just go ahead and email now and hopefully I'll get a response tomorrow.

 

NDA is over, now in the US the nVidia GeForce GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5 DX11 is available for sale...
_

 

I agree, the trackpad does suck somewhat on these models. I basically use a mouse if I can help it. If I must use the trackpad, I have to max the mouse sensitivity and then, gestures are still fickle.

Besides that however, the system is rock solid and stable for me and excellent for everything that I do. I am a little disappointed with the new card a month after I've had the laptop but that's how technology works.

 

Can you or any of the other resellers do some benchmarks or overclocking tests on the 560 to see what it's limits are? I am interested to see how it compares to the stock and overclocked 460M (most can do 800 core, 1400 memory, 1600 shader).

Thanks.

 

Yes. I did the same thing with the trackpad to try to make it more responsive. Didn't really work. And yes, I know tech refreshes quickly. But having it less than two weeks in my hand only find out that one of it's best selling points (gpu) just became obsolete really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Just realized it was memorial day today. Probably will not get a response from Malibal until tomorrow. Ack. lol

 

I, for one, am shocked by this development.

 

I think the 560m has a 775 core, 1250 memory, 1550 shader stock. I haven't seen a comparison yet though. They'll be popping up soon I'm sure!

 

Hey guys, I have one last question before I buy: how's the stock network card? Is an upgrade worth it?

 

Impressions have been mixed, based on my reading of the forum. I went with the Intel advanced card, since its a relatively cheap upgrade that will boost range/signal strength (2 antennas) while still including Bluetooth.

Some people said screw the bluetooth and go for the Intel ultimate card, and some people said their signal strengths for the stock card were just fine. I also just noticed there's a new "Bigfoot Networks Killer" option. I don't know anything about that, but I'm guessing it doesn't include bluetooth either.

 

The only confirmed benches for the NEW 560M I see right now are those below...

 

How do you think the 560m would do with TW2 on 1920x1080 on high or ultra settings with Uber sampling off based on these results?

 

Bad.
10char

 

I think that with the patch 1.2(not released yet) and the latest drives and a 10% OC it would achieve 30-40 fps high 1920x1080 resolution on The Witcher 2.

 

With the patch and ensuring you have a DRM free version (DRM kills performance by 30-40%), you would be able to play Witcher 2 at those framerates at high settings if you didn't enable AA.

 

Sweet. I can do that. Steam and GOG offer DRM free correct?

 

Just ordered my NP 8130 from XoticPC Hoping to have it within a few weeks.

 

What upgrades on the stock version did you get?

 

Well, I saved $60 and got a 4x2GB memory config (it's the special that it says to ask about)...I guess this is kinda a downgrade, but I probably won't need to upgrade to 16GB...ever.

Then, I upgraded the wireless card to the Advanced-N (almost got the Ultimate-N, but I wanted to keep the Bluetooth module just in case), and I added Windows 7 Home Premium.

Unfortunately, the stock price was pretty much at my limit, so there wasn't all that much upgrading for me to do.

 

Yeah I just ordered the same thing but Matte w/ 95% Gamut screen and the advanced wireless card

 

Nice on the screen. I wanted to upgrade because I do web design work on my laptop, but I also don't really have the extra $100 right now and I heard that the stock Matte screen is fantastic.

Wonder how long it'll take to ship out. XoticPC told me today that there's a tiny holdup right now but that it should be over by the beginning of June (as in: this week).

 

They just confirmed my order today because they were closed all weekend and monday. And apparently it is around 10 days from now. BTW, the screen was just like $45 there was a special going on

 

On the 8130? I'm still seeing it for $95.

 

My order was confirmed today too. Only things I changed from stock was IC Diamond + Windows 7. I also opted for the 4x 2GB RAM installed by Xotic (even though it will add to build time) to save the $60.

 

I figured I'd try to install the thermal paste myself. I was looking into it and it costs like $20. Probably worth the $20 extra to have it installed, though, just to make sure it's done right.

 

I just checked mine, I guess it did cost 95. When I clicked the button before it said $45 for a special o well. The only thing I am worried about is that when I put mine in, it was on backorder because of no more 460m's. I hope that for some reason they do not find a box of 460m's and don't upgrade mine. That would suck.

 

Vapkez....as people have said many times, the difference between the 460M and the 560M is made negligible by a good overclock. To me, they're basically the same card.

Mr. Mysterious

 

And, that being said, I think that someone reported that all laptops starting last week were getting the 560M, but that was only one report (and, I don't remember where it is).

 

Yes, but if the 560 can oc the same amount, then it can be 10% better. I am not saying it will but there is the possibility. Even then I know its not a huge margin, but it helps.

 

Lol, no it doesn't...You're looking at a 5 FPS increase in most games.

Of course there's a difference between 20 and 25 FPS....but there's not that much of a difference between 100 and 105 FPS, is there?

Cognitive psychologists call that diminishing perceived utility.

Mr. Mysterious

 

I am talking about games like TW2 where it can make a difference.

 

I've played through several hours of The Witcher 2 with custom settings. I haven't played around with the settings too much but I can say I'm happy with the performance even after enabling a few features like motion blur over the default settings.

 

Nvidia just released the official 275.33 driver, it mentions improved Witcher 2 FPS (over the beta driver, hopefully the older drivers too)

 

To be fair, with the 460M and the 560M, I found most demanding games are going to be running in the 20-25 FPS range on high to max settings so it does make a huge difference.

 

The 3G Module slot in NP8130, what kind of slot is it?
Does anyone know if you can put a mSATA-type SSD into that slot?

 

I'm pretty sure it's Mini PCI-E but the space is way too small for the average Mini PCI-E card SSDs unless it was extremely small. The space is made for a sim card reader and 3G module.

 

is there a performance hit if you opt for the 4x 2gb?

 

I was just doing some research, and the consensus seemed to be that the performance hit is so miniscule that it probably would only show up in benchmarks. The main reason why you'd want to stay away is if you think you may upgrade to 16GB in the future.

 

Really I think it's a good idea overall, saves some cash. And honestly, if you're going to upgrade the ram, you would end up buying lower latency anyway.

 

Update: Okay. I've been talking back and forth with Malibal. They've narrowed it down to either a hard drive problem (bad sector) or GPU apparently. I'm trying to determine if they're going to give me the 460 or 560. But I think they're closed now, so I'll have to wait till tomorrow for a confirmation. So there's a little update of what's been going on. Details will be following!

 

Jeez so expensive
1303$ with that 3% discountt
well who uses checks so like 1340
Then + 48$ for 3 day shipping
Why so expensive for shipping?

1400$ total, that was more than I planned to spend.

 

Just go to the UPS website and figure a 13 pound box that measures 22x14x5 and you will see that $40 for 3 Business Day is way below actual UPS charges.

 

Assuming the 560m overclocks as well as the 460m then 10% improvement for basically the same money is still 10% improvement. Get yourself a 6970 and a new power brick and the 560m won't trouble you any more. Newer technology is inevitable, sometimes sooner than we would like.

(typing from my 3 year old Asus M50sv)

 

One of the reasons I picked LPC-Digital was due to their free shipping. It was a wash though, since I also didn't do any of the 3% discount options -- which would have roughly covered shipping -- but I wouldn't have done the discount elsewhere either, so I was happy.

If you have the patience to do the 3%, LPC is definitely the way to go -- between the discount and the shipping you can easily save $100.

Edit: And to MrMysterious for his question about recent purchasers -- Still loving mine and have not had any problem nor regrets. I haven't enjoyed a new piece of hardware this much in 20 years. There is that slight hitch in the CPU fan output when I FN-1, but that seems to be the only time it shows up so I'm unconcerned.

 

What version of Bios/ec are you running?

 

For those interested the Sager NP8130-S1 is being released today. (Special Upgraded Package)

2630QM/8GB DDR3 1600/750Gb 7200/95% Gamut Screen $1319

 

Wow. Wonder if my order's already gone into production (so I can do a quick upgrade switcharoo)...do you have a link, Justin?

 

Is the only difference from the regular 8130 and this 8130-S1 is that it has a larger and faster hard drive and that the RAM is 1600 instead of 1333?

 

Will be up in just a few minutes

@Vapkez The difference between is as you said the larger HDD, Faster Ram and also the Glossy 95% Screen

 

Thanks. I never really knew what the S1 meant, just made a guess

 

Sorry, my computer lagged and double posted my message above, you can delete this post.