Official Sager NP8130/Clevo P151HM1 Owners Lounge

I have an 8170 with 485m, and can get 2 hours on battery. But with IGP could probably get well over 3, probably more. In any case I don't see using my 17" beast on battery for any length of time at any time, so for me its a moot point, but I can see for people that do use it on battery.

 

It's probably the 1 low quality part in the whole rig... Yes the image is pretty bad, but I don't think its so much the drivers as it is the hardware itself

 

Just picked up my laptop from UPS(They never seem to be able to deliver it when anyone is home ) I'm about to unbox it. I don't think I've ever been so excited to open a package before...it's like Christmas!!

 

Except on Xmas the packaging is more exciting.
I must admit the moment I opened the box I was quite excited, and fell in love with that little black slap of plastic

 

Does Sager NP8150 support BIOS based switchable graphics ?

 

You will notice that no one is really offering Optimus with high end video cards. Even though it is theoretically possible to implement Optimus with high end video cards like the nVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M w/1.5GB GDDR5 and above there are compatibility issues with several games, STEAM, and even Linux. You will see it with the mid-range cards like say the GT 540M, but not with the high end cards. It seems that when you try to compromise you don't do either thing well.

So, you have to decide whether battery life or powerful graphics is most important to you, and make your choice accordingly.

We currently offer the Sager NP5160, Sager NP5165 and Sager NP5175 that support both Sandy Bridge and Optimus.

 

I read somewhere that the new GTX560m are coming out Optimus support. Is that true ?

 

The GTX 560M has already come out and for Sager machines, there is no Optimus support.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Too bad though.

 

Is i7-2720qm worth $160+ ?

 

Depends- do you run a lot of VMware and have need for Vt-d, or have need of hardware encryption support? If the answer is no, and you don't run much in the way of video encoding/multi threaded applications, then the 2630 or even a high clocked i5 may be sufficient. The big benefit to the 2720qm is that you'll have higher everyday clocks around 2.5ghz most of the time due to turbo.

 

Depends on what you do with it. For gaming and general use? No. For specific needs with virtual machines (directed I/O) and Trusted eXecution Technology, yes. If you don't know what those mean then you most likely don't need them.

 

where can i buy an hdd caddy for my laptop??thx

 

^--^

NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

 

ohh thx!!but i live in europe.do u know where i can buy from europe??

 

Google is your best friend, even in Europe

 

is this a good option??

?????? NEW SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM ??? ?????? ????? ??? eBay, ?? ?????????? ????????? ??? ??????????? ??? ???? ??? ?????????? ??? ??????

 

From the NewModeUS front page:

 

By video encoding/multi threaded applications, are you referring to Intel® Media Software Development Kit api's ?

Can we still use them , since this has a dedicated nvidia gpu ?

 

By video encoding/multi threaded applications, are you referring to Intel® Media Software Development Kit api's ?

Can we still use them , since this has a dedicated nvidia gpu ?

 

Optimus is the last thing you want if you're gaming with your machine, it's not mature and is detrimental to the overall performance.

 

^ This.

Optimus is lovely in theory, poor in practice.

 

They can definetly implement a switchable solution if not optimus at the BIOS level using a MUX

Probably might add to the cost if they implement in the High Level Graphics Cards Market.

 

The danger with this is you'd then become reliant on Sager/Clevo to provide driver updates, and they're none too quick about it. Though in fairness, no big OEM is.

A hardware toggle requiring a reboot in order to switch, though a pain in terms of practicality, would be the best of both worlds.

 

A question for XoticPC:

I ordered a 8130 two weeks ago, I ordered it without an OS installed; I'm guessing it will come with the latest BIOS installed to be able to support the 560m. Am I right? Or would I need to update the BIOS?

Thanks in advance.

 

It is a less than $50 item...shipping to Europe will make it cost prohibitive. That is why I suggested buying it locally.

Now, if you were buying a large quantity it would make more sense for international shipping.

 

I've noticed a lot of Optimus bashing on the forum lately. For those users that have used Optimus, I understand your frustration. Nvidia has made a lot of promises about what Optimus achieves and you feel they haven't lived up to those promises. Unfortunately the battery saving hype of the tech is a bit overplayed, in part because Nvidia's midrange GPUs already have a number of power saving features that minimize Optimus' impact. Early adopters of new technology and innovations are always going to run into the brunt of the problems. No one likes to pay for a product only to find they paid to be a beta-test guinea pig.

Now I have a question. Is it possible to use an Optimus notebook without Optimus drivers? From a technical standpoint, can the Nvidia GPU use the integrated GPU monitor outputs without Optimus or integrated GPU drivers installed?

 

All rendering by the GeForce GPU is done "behind the scenes" as it were. All of its output is done through the IGP, so the GeForce card has to be able to talk to it somehow. Also the IGP handles all 2D work. Without the Intel drivers, you'd be stuck at 800x600, low-color depth resolution.

 

No the bios is already flashed onto the card. You don't need to do anything like that. Just install drivers off the CD

 

Any pointers on this one ?

 

Regardless of a OS or not the latest Bios Sager is using will be flashed on the notebook. If I can help with anything else just ask

 

well my laptop is supposed to come in friday and let me tell you it can't come fast enough!!!!!!!!!!! looking forward to some just cause 2 and some breach. Oh BTW I will be hosting a minecraft server when i get it and if anyone is interested, I will put the ip up I'm not advertising just saying

 

Yeah, do you live in the U.S. The other NBR server is Europe based?

 

thanks for your answer; i'm getting ready for the installation so I downloaded the drivers here Software Upgrade except the gpu one, i got the one with the modded inf ready.

Am I doing the right thing? or should I go with the drivers from the cd?

 

Is it just me or does the NP8130 have a pretty awful webcam? It seems very ashy looking to me.

 

There are very few good built in webcams, IMHO.

 

I also have a MBP and the webcam is actually pretty good (well, at least compared to the NP8130) I'm surprised they put the webcam that they did in as it's awful. I'm very disappointed in that because I will be moving abroad and I was hoping to cam with my friends and family in the U.S.

BTW, I received the NP8130 today so I'm still getting a feel for it.

 

Well, the MBP would definitely be the exception to my statement. Apple invested a lot into Facetime.

 

Yes you are You can use NVIDIA drivers from various places whether it is modded with the modded inf's, through NVIDIA or Sager.

 

Scratch what I just said heh. Didn't read thoroughly enough

 

When I had my Clevo W150HR, which has the Optimus-enabled GeForce GT 555M, I was able to use the latest reference driver from NVIDIA without needing a modified .inf. NVIDIA simply hasn't added the proper device IDs to support the Sager/Clevo 560M yet. The cards should be included in subsequent official WHQL driver releases; it's just a matter of time. Now you can say that support should have been there before notebooks equipped with that GPU were put into the marketplace, and I won't argue with you there. But to say that you'll be locked in to using drivers from the OEM for this system is misleading.

 

I'm well aware of how optimus works. I was wondering if it is possible to use Optimus without ever using optimus drivers or the IGP for rendering, thus avoiding bugs within the optimus switching system.

 

thx truststudio pro just stopped working!!either is off or on its the same.whats wrong?i unistalled it then installed again.the same..some suggestions??thx.

 

No. Optimus IS all about the drivers. Optimus isn't possible without them.

Many Optimus systems allow you to choose switchable GPU (Optimus) or discrete only in BIOS. So you could choose only discrete GPU and use the nVidia drivers but you wouldn't get switching, if that's what you were referring to?

 

I thought Optimus was NVIDIA's brand name for automatic graphic switching. If you have the option to select the discreet GPU in the BIOS, that's just the "old" hybrid system.

Optimus Technology

 

Haha, imagine normal people:

 

Why isn't my game working?

You're running on your integrated graphics card?

What's that?

(explanation)

How do I fix it?

You go into the BIOS.

What's a BIOS?

(MUCH longer explanation)

Thanks!

(Two months later...)


Why isn't my game working?



Fixed

Mr. Mysterious

 

It's not even hybrid. It's just discrete GPU, no Intel. Optimus is nVidia's brand name, but in order for it to work it requires drivers to do so. It won't just happen. Even "Press Fn + F6" is a driver supported feature that's manufacturer specific. Optimus will allow automatic switching, through driver support from nvidia. So to be honest you're better off with Optimus because it will at least receive regular nVidia updates.

 

Optimus does use the integrated chip. It runs everything through the integrated chip for output, even when the dedicated chip is being used.

EDIT: And mrmysterious66, you missed the hour long session of getting them to press the right function key at the right to while restarting their computer over and over again.

 

I'm sort of embarrassed to be asking this question as it seems to obvious but I just have to in order to clear my head.

When I play a DVD on my new laptop, it seems slightly grainy when I put it to full screen while watching it two feet away. However, the quality seems better if I step a few feet back OR when I make the movie play in half the size of the full screen. Now, I've never really watched a DVD on my previous laptop before because it had a smaller screen, but with the bigger screen of the NP8130, I'd thought I would start to watch some DVDs now. The graininess of it at full screen isn't bad, but it just caught my attention slightly so it made me curious. It's just not as crisp as, say, my desktop wallpaper picture at 1920x1080. Is this normal for a DVD playback at full screen?