*** Official Sager NP8170/Clevo P170HM Owners Lounge ***

Pretty much every laptop that can boot off USB will install 7 from a USB flash drive. Yes it will. That's how I did it. No problemo.

 

I googled the topic and came up with this link:
Install Windows 7 From USB Drive/Pen Drive

Do you know of any other guides ?

 

I used this handy guide for my Netbook.

Works everytime! Maximum PC | How To: Install Windows 7 from a USB Key!

 

odd, I just noticed today that for my front speakers, the metal above the power button turned grayish-white, as if the black paint got rubbed off or something. I didn't notice it before, and all I've done was wipe my laptop down with a cloth..

 

I would do this one. No need to do a bootsect.

Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7?Even on a Netbook

 

oops wrong thread.

 

Ahhhh 2 more days! Tuesday can't come soon enough!

 

OMG tomorrow!

 

Please don't spam this thread with useless posts. Better write something usefull

 

Here you go...

 

Haha YES. Right when my money aligns, the 6970M falls into my lap.

swag swag swag

 

So what kind of things am i gonna wanna download and update on my 8170 when it arrives tomorrow? New bios? Drivers? Any heat monitoring programs i should check out?

I will probably attempt to test every port as well to make sure it's all working.

 

HWMonitor for temperature measuring.

Update your 485M driver to 270.51, with Atomsk's inf.

Off the top of my head, there really shouldn't be anything else to do.

 

Is it true that 485m driver isn't official and causes freezes?

 

It's here, unpacked, and I'm posting on it! Installing Apps, Games, and doodads tonight; hope to be able to write up my own review in a couple days.

All I can say at this point is:
DANG this boots fast.
The upgraded screen is a thing of beauty.
The power brick is really big.
The keyboard is a bit different to type on than my 6 year old HP dv8000, but not too bad. I should be used to it before the week is out.
I'm having a certified blast.

 

Congrats! Enjoy it!

 

I poked around looking for info on the screens for a while, and ultimately decided to put the money towards the better graphics card. Now that I have my machine in hand, and MAN does it run nice, the screen is meh. My older lappy was superior (dell inspirion ~4 years old had the higher contrast upgraded screen at eh time). I believe most of the difference stems from light bleed. Generally you get some, but mine seems to be somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 up the screen from the bottom. Leave the bottom of the screen a bit washed out, and it's noticeable when playing WoW and Rift as that's where most of the info goes.

Is this par for the course on stock screens (and I'm just way spoiled on my old screen - and I do miss my 1920x1200) or do you think I have a screen with an issue?

Do the upgraded screens have much light bleed?

Would upgrading resolve my issue?

 

That sucks man, i will give my opinion on my screen when it arrives tomorrow, i'll let you know if mine is as bad.

 

Has anyone had any issues with their usb? When my computer sleeps everything works but the mouse. I have tried all the usb ports and 2 different mice but I have to reboot before it will work.

 

I have played tons of games on mine and I notice the bleed on an all black screen when it boots but I can adjust the screen to where there is almost 0 bleed when I am using it or playing games. I dont play wow or rift but I doubt it would interfere with gaming at all.

 

That is not common. I would see about getting it replaced ASAP. You should not have that much light bleed. I have virtually none.

 

Yeah, I dont notice it at all after it boots up. Just that black sager screen I notice it up my screen a bit.

 

Just got mine, and have to run to a show so I can't really do any benchmarking until later, but first impressions:

- Nice looking laptop, the Malibal logo is really classy and modern.
- The screen is terrible. Very obvious light bleed on a dark screens halfway up the screen when looking at it straight-on. Unacceptably bad. I'm going to see about other options, or transplant the far superior screen from my 870cu before I hand that laptop off to in-laws.
- The power supply cable is annoyingly short. 3 feet probably from the brick to the end of the cable? So it's hard to keep the giant brick out of the way. Definitely going to end up tripping over it.

More later when I can do more than just boot it up!

 

Some report heavy bleed. while some have none? Why's it so inconsistent, when everyone gets the same default screen?

Yeah, I'm definitely upgrading the screen. I'm just not sure whether I want to do it myself, or purchase it already installed.

 

Well what can look like backlight bleed can just be the screen at an off angle slightly making it look like it, yes viewing angles are THAT BAD.

I hate it. Whenever my kids come up and want to see what I'm doing, watch YouTube clip or something, they say it looks funny because they're looking at it from a different angle.

 

Anyone figure a way to easily switch between headphones and speakers without having to unplug headphones?

 

Is that possible? I've never seen a laptop that could do that.....

 

Get USB speakers.

 

I think its odd you guys are all having issues with bleeding. I have a stock screen and have experienced little to no bleeding. It also doesnt really matter what angle im looking at my screen- its fine unless im like on the floor looking up.

 

I don't know, seems like it should be easy enough software switch. I just hate constantly unplugging and plugging my headphones in all the time.

Firstly I don't really need any extra peripherals where I use my laptop, already cramped. But also how will that help? If I plug in my headphones in the USB speakers I still have to unplug and plug all the time too. My Sennheisers came with a USB adapter, maybe I can use that and turn on USB or Speakers? I dunno.

 

So here's what I'm seeing, this is side-by-side with my w870cu, which has what I've always considered a very good screen.

Both are opened the same amount, just a bit past vertical (10 degrees?), a typical, comfortable amount. All these photos were taken with the exact same settings, and the notebooks were sitting side-by-side. Both laptops have a full black background.

Standing, they're sitting on the table, so this is a bit above them:


Side-by-side, parallel to the ground, from as high as the center of the screen (so a bit below straight-on with the screen since they were opened a bit past vertical):


Side-by-side, normal viewing position, straight-on to the screen.

 

That (the display on the left in your photos) looks like a very typical LED display to me. I'm guessing the other is an older LCD?

(Yes....it's awful. But all the ones I've seen are like that.)

 

I'm experiencing this as well. The blacks look grey, but I'm thinking it's more a bad viewing angle at this point because the "washed out" part isn't always just at the bottom.

Does the upgraded screen not look like this or is what I have a bad one? I know the upgraded screen is a larger gamut, but does it have the same view angle issues and such?

 

pix side by side like ccarollo did:

My older Dell inspiron E1705 is on the left.

I've fiddled with the screen A LOT and where it's at is about the best at all the major points (contrast, gamma, brightness, etc.) which still isn't great. At a avg viewing angle about 1/2 the screen looks great and the other 1/2 looks as though it has light bleed.

 

That screen looks terrible Welp that puts a damper on my excitement for getting my laptop today. I guess i'm gonna wanna plug it into my hdtv most the time when i game cause that's just bad.

 

Just you need to replace stock screen like I did. It was good decision. More information in thread about disassembly display for P170HM.

 

Got any links of where to buy some better quality screens i could consider in the future? All i care about is blacker blacks and better view angle.

 

I have display from this review: Review Deviltech Fragbook DTX (Clevo P170HM) Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews and I bought it in my local shop. It's available also on Ebay and others.

 

I wonder if that will void my warranty at Xotic PC. Not that i'm gonna upgrade the screen anytime soon. I'll prolly use the default screen for another year before i do so....kinda sucks it's so crappy though i hope it doesn't give me a headache.

 

I didn't see the replacement screens as having any better viewing angles. The contrast might have been better to offset some of the gray/washout, but the viewing angles were still a problem. Even the resellers have said that it won't help much in regards to viewing angle.

 

Maybe i could find a decent LCD to put into it? I'm not really digging that light bleed in the pictures. I thought LED was supposed to have LESS light bleed than LCD.

I guess these are the back lit LEDs right and it's the individual pixel lit LED (don't know the proper name) that are better and more expensive?

Welp, my laptop is out for delivery now so i'll find out soon enough.

 

Well, I plugged in my USB adapter and use a neat little util called soundswitch. It basically just automates the manual switching between sound devices. Internal speakers and headphones must be hard wired to toggle when a jack is inserted. At least with this USB it works great.

Just a matter of whether or not the USB sound is as good as or better than the onboard.

 

That isn't light bleed. It's the effect of the LED backlighting and viewing angles. The W870CU used a CCFL backlight. Backlight bleed is typically uneven and not half the screen.

 

Well, I did warn ya... I've returned my laptop and they've refunded me the money. I was the one that posted this screenshot quite a few pages ago ( http://i54.tinypic.com/jubpmu.jpg). I was very unhappy with the screen, in my opinion utterly unusable no matter which excuse you think of. We pay a lot of money for these things, it should be better than this and I'm sure all current owners will agree.

I recommend that if you're really unhappy as I was, decide for yourself if it's worth the trouble of replacing the screen with another that might be somewhat of an improvement. Or if getting a refund might be a better option. There is no doubt the hardware is impressive, but don't underestimate the importance of a good screen.

 

Are you sure about the w870cu having a CCFL backlight? I'm pretty sure it has a LED backlight too.

 

Yes the W870CU did ship with the below..

17.3" Full HD Backlit LED Display with Super Clear Glass View, Ultra Bright Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
__

 

Yeah I think I'm going to attempt a swap of my w870cu and p170hm screens tonight. Looks like it's pretty straightforward.

 

Hmm, interesting. So why the issue with these LED screens?

 

IDK if i'd ask for a refund since i knew what i was getting into with it. I couldn't upgrade the screen initially because then i'd have to sacrifice the gpu.

Seems a screen replacement would be easier than having to install a new gpu and repasting.

We will see if it's unusable any minute now when it gets delivered here....though i was used to using a 2005 gateway laptop so if it's an improvement on that i doubt i will put up much of a fight.

 

As far as I can tell Clevo just chose a really crappy default screen. Dumb move, because I'd now be pretty hesitant to buy from them again (after being a big fan for many years).