Official Sager NP8130/Clevo P151HM1 Owners Lounge

Personally, I think for an expensive high end machine, two years is a good investment, especially for +$79. Above that, after two years the value of the notebook diminishes, but since it's only about $150 more for a three year, not a bad choice.

I've never had to use my warranty with Sager, but other notebooks, it wasn't too bad. Just the waiting for the shipment and repair.

 

Hey Guys,

I just put in my order for an 8130 last week from XoticPC:

Display: 15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Matte Type Screen
Processor: 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM, 2.2-3.3GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache
Memory: 8,192MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive: 6X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
Wireless: Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth
Cooling: Stock OEM Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
Warranty: 3 Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 USA-Based Support

Product Subtotal:
$1,439

Shipping: UPS Ground
$28.00

Tax:
$0.00

Total:
$1,467

My question is whether or not I should cancel the order and bump up to the GTX 485m graphics card in the Sager 8150? The problem is that an equally spec'd out machine is going to cost nearly $2200 on Xotic with the new card. Is it really worth the nearly 800 bump in cost?

I plan to use the laptop mostly for gaming while traveling and to save power versus turning on my gaming desktop. But realistically, if anything is too demanding, I do have a desktop at home with an i7-930 and 2x GTX 470s in SLI. (my current laptop is getting dated, which is why I'm looking to upgrade-- it has an 8600 GT card in it)

So, other 8130/8150 owners, will the 460m be enough, or is the 485m worth the nearly 60% price increase?

Also, has anyone heard a date when we can expect the laptops to ship? All I've heard so far is that they're back ordered until the end of the month.

Thanks!

 

I was on the fence too, but think it's better (in my opinion, of course) to order a 8150 with the 460 now, plus some RAM, HD capacity and ICI thermal and to be happy playing games for the entire year. When the new and more demanding ones get released, just switch the GPU with the money you certainly will save and be happy for one more year.

 

@ Epsilon:
Try speccing the 8150-S1. I was able to get a few nice configs to actually come in a little cheaper than the 8150. Not sure if it will work for what you want but maybe.

As for whether its worth it: I guess it just depends on your budget. The 485M is the best single-card mobile graphics solution as far as I can tell and if money is no object, go for it. I am going to buy the 8130 with the 460M because I can't afford the extra expense and it will run nearly all current games at max settings anyway. The 485M def gives you more future proofing though.

 

I checked into the S1 when I was looking at the 8150. It really only comes out to $50 difference in price ($1660 for everything minus the 485m, $2155 with it).

In addition, price does have it's part. I was hoping to stay around $1500 total, because I've got a car + other bills to pay and that budget is roughly one paycheck, leaving the other for bills + savings.

I'm hesitant to go the route of buying the 8150 with the 460m and upgrading later because from the other comments, a 485m will still probably cost $600-$800 separately even a year from now which would most likely go 50% of the way towards a new laptop if I chose it.

Basically I'm right on the fence for this one. I'm one to love bleeding edge hardware, but also at balking at the cost (you can never have both!). My gf made the good point that I do have a fantastic desktop, so maybe it really isn't worth the extra $$ for such a ridiculous laptop. (Not to mention, I do still want some portability. I get 3 hrs or so on my older XPS m1530 with a C2D 2.5ghz, 4gb RAM, and an 8600 GT, even if it is getting dated).

 

iBUYPOWER Computer :: Battalion 101 P150HM Gaming Laptop

This is the NP8150/P150HM and comes with the 485m standard. It would be in the mid $1700's after the $100 rebate. Rebate does end today though!

 

I would agree with this solution...With the 8150, you could also look into the ATI 6970, then sell the 460 afterwards. Prices should also be lower by then if you really wanted a 485.

 

There’s a possibility that the 8130 will get new graphic options too!
Who knows the GTX 560m may be able to fit in the same slot? I don't know the technical stuff, but I assume an equivalent power consumption graphic card will come out that’s better (it’s how technology is)

...heres to hoping in a year or two I will be able to upgrade the graphic card =]

 

To give you some perspective, in relation to your desktop setup, the GTX 485M is about as fast as the AMD 6850, while the 460M is just south of the GTS 450. The 485M is equal to 460M in SLI, in most situations.

So, do you need or want the speed of a desktop 6850 in your mobile device? Having GTX 470 in SLI kinda negates the need for a ultra-high end mobile GPU, imo, if you have constant and frequent access to your desktop kit. It all depends on how often you travel, and what your standard of acceptable performance can stand.

Expensive mobile gaming setups are justifiable for three reasons:
1. Necessity - have infrequent to no opportunity to use a desktop. Therefore gaming notebooks are your only option, thus money is no object
2. Luxury - tech junkie, loves mobile gaming, money is no object for what you love
3. A mixture of #1 and #2 - have a desktop, but gaming notebook is convenient on the road; not to the point where spending $2k is easy to swallow

Outside of those, I'd peg you as #3, unless you are on the road more than you're home.

 

I definitely fall as #3. While I like to have great mobile hardware (and be more of #2 there), I know I'm paying through the nose for it compared to my desktop. And it's hard for me to justify that $800 price difference when that much money could be spent on 1/10 of my remaining car loan, or to pay for an awesome vacation with the gf.

I think this is probably the most frank and down-to-earth response. While I'd love to have the horsepower to be sure, it's a lot of money commitment. Either way, the 460m is still 4x more powerful than my current laptop. I've built three desktops in the span of the one laptop, at probably only 1.5 - 2x the cost of that laptop between the three of them, so the premium is hefty.

I think I'll make do with the lesser model and pump up the other specs like I did.

Realistically, this laptop is going to be used mostly at home and for times when running a 1000w desktop is a little impractical, like web surfing or basically any game other than Crysis, Black Ops, etc. (Paying your own power bill makes you realize just how much that stuff costs)

Thanks for the advice! I think I'll stick with what I have, and keep my desktop as my primary machine, and the new laptop as my on-the-go/mid-level machine. As much as I'd love to spend the $2200 on something *awesome*, I'd kick myself later. I'd spend that much and still not even compare to my desktop.

 

The GTX 460m is no slouch by any means. It will serve you well, especially if you're good with playing more demanding games on a desktop or dropping detail when you're on the laptop. You will most likely be able to drop a new GPU in it in another year for less than the $500 upcharge for the 485m that may even be more powerful than the 485m.

In my situation, my desktop is a Core 2 Quad with GTX 260. This laptop (well NP8170) with GTX 485m and i7-2720QM will blow it away. But with my useage I'd much rather put the $1000 into my laptop that I would have otherwise put into updating my desktop.

 

Hi Sager laptop users

I'm going to buy my 1st sager laptop soon and I need your input on the type of hardware that I should get.

I'm giving Sager a try since it features the same specifications as the Asus G53/G73 and is lighter which is really nice. I'm looking at a NP8130 instead of the NP8150 as I don't like glare screens and am not a resolution nut. However, I have a hard time deciding on which CPU to get.

I intend to use my Sager for gaming until at least next June when my Sandy Bridge Extreme desktop will be set up. Apart from gaming, I will be using Microsoft Office, browsing, a bit of Adobe Photoshop and non-professional graphics editing via Carl Zeiss Axiovision software for all 3 years of the warranty until I finish my PhD course.

Therefore, should I stick with the stock Intel i7-2620QM which runs at 2.0GHz to a max turbo of 2.9 GHz or upgrade the processor to the Intel i7-2720QM which runs at 2.2 GHz and a max turbo of 3.2GHZ?

Thanks for your advice

 

The Intel® i7-2630QM will be adequate, there is no need to upgrade.

 

You know my plan to go with the 460M? Well I'm not going to do it. After reading some reviews on the GTS 450, I now know that the 460M just isn't good enough for me. I was surprised to see the GTS 450 clocking in as slower than the 5750. Since I'm 100% notebook, I need something that's going to immediately show me that I've upgraded from this old GTX 260M. The 460M is ehhhh better, but it won't double my gaming performance, and isn't an ideal 1080p GPU either.

So I'm joining you on the GTX 485M wagon.

While I have your attention, may I suggest to you some posts I made in another thread, about whether you should go for the $90 8GB upgrade?

tl;dr - If you buy your 2 x 4GB from Newegg, you can have 12GB total for the same price. Or, you have the option to sell the default 2 x 2GB for profit, and you'll end up having spent half of that $90.

 

Hey everyone. I have been looking into a laptop since I started college.

My question is to everyone who has it already. Does the computer run very hot while just watching movies or surfing the web? I mean can you sit with it on your lap without starting to sweat? Also how reliable is sager? I know everyone knows them as a brand but is it good build quality? And has anyone had a burnt out pixel or anything? Or is it really hard to tell if there is one? I was thinking of buying from xoticpc because they have a good price better then ibuypower from what I can tell.

Also how much will the 40 dollar thermal compound help out with cooling?

Oh and what is clevo exactly? Is it like the chassis or layout of the laptop and sager puts everything in or what?

Thanks. And sorry with all the questions I just want to make sure is all.

 

I can't speak for the 8130 but my NP8662 (core 2 duo / quad generation 15") is cool except for the exhaust which comes out the back.

I don't have stats, but you see few complaints about reliability or Sagers broken down. They have a default 3 year labor, 1 year parts, and upgraded warranties are fairly cheap too. $79 for two year parts, three year labor and $150 for three year parts, three year labor.

On a 1080p screen it'll be difficult to discern. If you have a full white or light gray screen it'll probably stand out a bit if you look right at it.

I went from Arctic Silver 5 to IC diamond on my desktop and current laptop and dropped temps about 3-4C at load. Not significant but every little bit helps. Can't say first hand on these Sagers, but especially if you're going for 485m GPU I can say it's probably a valid investment if you don't want to change the thermal paste yourself.

Yes, Clevo is the chassis with screen and motherboard. Sager assembles and sells them as their own brand. Resellers help manage your machine through sales, warranty, and repair. Other brands use Clevo as their base chassis. Alienware used to as well.

NP. Glad to have you onboard!

 

I'm confused. The GTS 450 is a desktop GPU. Why would you read reviews of it to make a decision about the GTX 460M? They are not remotely comparable and, yeah, the GTS 450 is at least 50% faster.

The 450 is slightly slower than the desktop HD 5750 but the mobile HD 5750 is a 2nd tier card and not even in the same ballpark as the GTS 450 or even the 460M for that matter. The 460M is significantly faster than the 260M but yeah, in the same neighborhood.

If you want the 485M, go for it. Its a beast and substantially faster than the 460M. I am just a bit confused by your rationale.

 

I use the GTS 450 because its higher clocks offset the 460M's 192-bit bus. It's easy to use the 450 to ballpark the overclocked 460M's performance.

The overclocked 460M is slower than the GTS 450, which is a disappointing card in itself.

 

Thank you Paladin.

BUMP

 

Hi thank you htwingnut for the post. I think I am most likely going to buy this now.

Now I just have a question on whether I should go with the intel 6230 or 6300? I don't really care about the max bandwidth I was just wondering about the extended range and reliability with the two. How close are they?

 

I don't suppose the AUO17ED (B156HW1 v7) screen from the Dell XPS15 is a possibility, though?

 

This review appears to be for the v1 panel as it lists the PNP id as AUO11ED.

This review is actually for the v5 version of the panel. Look at page 2, para 4.

In case anyone is interested, I think I'll create a thread in Hardware Components with reviews of the various FHD panels I've found.

 

Did you find the reseller for the v.7 panel?

I was only going to opt for the v.4 when I feel the need...

 

6300 is supposed to have greater range since it uses 3 antennas. But you lose bluetooth capability which is incorporated into the 6230.

 

the 151hm1 with gtx 460 isnt optimus enabled right?

 

No not optimus enabled. You have to go with the 5160 or 5170 with 540m GPU.

 

Yes it is, but because its a higher color-accuracy screen its a bit more than the $150 on our site. But we can get them in. Our normal matte screen is the v1, but what your looking for which is the v4 (the "v7" is a AUO misprint/silent revision basically), has less brightness (270vs300) but higher color-accuracy so its a tradeoff. But please PM me if you want more info.

 

the v4 and v7 are different... both use the same technology but v4 is matte, v7 is a glossy screen..

I looked into these screens a lot as well, and I found out that indeed, the XPS 15's 1080p B+RG screens are the v7, not the v4..

 

I think that meraki is correct; however, the v4 would be preferable, I think since it's matte. Anyway, I am potentially interested for the NP5160, depending on the price, but I'll wait until those come out to contact you.

Yes, that's my understanding as well. I've started a thread to collect all this info.

 

K, when we talked with AUO they didn't have a datasheet for the V.7 only the V.4 with a matte finish. So that might explain that one, but for sure we are using the V.1 and the V.4 screens for matte applications.

 

Again, thanks for offering these Mythlogic, but can you take some screenshots of the V.1 and V.4 in action? Would be nice to see some decent photos of this screen. The schenker review on notebookreview only did an "ok" job at showing the screen. I'm really looking forward to someone showing us these matte screens already.

 

V1 is the WLED screen,

V4 is the B+RG LED screen.

V4 all the way..

 

so which screen does the 8130 have?

 

I have a quick question. In the future, if I want to upgrade my 8130 to a GTX 485m, then I will only need to buy the MXM card, and a stronger power supply.. right?

Also: Placed order on 8130 2 weeks ago.. Just got it today !!

 

It comes stock with the V.1 screen.

 

What kind of shots are you looking for specifically so that when we get some pictures taken we make sure we get shots that people want to see.

thanks

 

Thanks

 

Two shots available at this review.

FYI.

 

So which is better? np8150 or np8130?
np8150 in xoticpc: 1600$, np8130 with the exact same config:1350$
Is there any annoyances with 8130? Screen quality wise or power supply or any thing?
Is upgradable graphics really worth it?

 

The 8130 has a matte screen, the 8150 is glossy, also the 8130 has an unknown amount of upgradability on the GPU side, but its still a MXM card so it could be upgradable. While the 8150 for sure you can upgrade the graphics if you wanted to, as the 6970m is slated for that platform, but not the 8130 due to different cooling.

 

Grab the color wheel that is used often on this site for screen reviews (no idea where to get it), or some other color wheel image. Take frontal, side, and top photos of the screens with the same image. Also include photos of the standard glossy screen that comes with the 8150 so we can actually see the difference.

A couple of photos with some bad indoor lighting that would cast obvious glare on the 8150 but not on the 8130 would also be cool too!

 

Thanks

 

Thinking that a higher PSU and MXM slots will be all that's needed for upgrading is quite a bad idea.

If you look around in the Sager forum, people have fried motherboards due to drawing too much power than the platform was intended, by using higher wattage GPUs.

I really wanted to dive for the 8130 for the price, but I decided to go safe and went for the 8150...

Of course, this is just speculation. Just my 2 cents..

 

Is it easy to change the wireless card? I should've gotten the 6230, but I got stock and seems too much of a hassel to reorder.

 

Yea, its pretty easy, just take off the back panel, which is a couple screws, you'll see the wireless unscrew the wireless take off antennas, reverse, your good. If you can swap out ram or a HD on a laptop you can do a wireless card.

 

Cool thanks.

Amazon.com: Intel 6200 IEEE 802.11n (draft) Wi-Fi Adapter - Mini PCI Express - 300Mbps: Electronics
this ok? buying from amazon

 

You have to get the 6230 not the 6200 while the 6200 will fit, you will loose bluetooth as it is on the same card for this series. Unless you don't mind losing the btooth, then the 6200 will work great.

 

I want to question about the ventilation and cooling.

Do Sager's 8130 and 8150 perform as well as G53's cooling?

I'm currently comparing the G53 with these 2 laptops since they share some similarity but I might be heading for the Sagers if it does have a cooling system as great as ASUS's G53SW.

However, the 8150 and 8130 are more affordable and upgradeable which is a bonus for me since I plan to upgrade to the 2720QM.

Please advice, thank you.

 

All that really needs to be said, about which machine has the superior cooling, is that the G53 would catch fire trying cool a 100W GPU.

 

+1 about Sagers cooling.