Sager NP2096 Owners Lounge

"computer management." Basic. It is set on automatic defragmentation.

 

I never tried shrinking a partition from within Windows... I used gparted from a bootable Linux CD the last time I did something like that. The idea of shrinking a Windows partition while Windows is running out of that partition scares me...

 

could I do it before I boot Windows? I'm not to familiar with prompts... I have Ubuntu installed but I used Wubi, so i don't think that'll work. Any one else have any ideas?

 

How cool is the NP2096? I'm between this one and DV5T, but I don't know wich one to get.

 

Hi Takezo,

Not even a "close" comparison. Sager 2096 (Compal JHL90) with WSXGA+ screen it blows away not only HP DV5T ... but even a Sony X-Brite screen.

Sager 2096 better all the way around. Cooling, Quality, ... name it.

Make sure you buy it from "Power Notebooks" in Nevada or "XoticPC" in Nebraska ... a much better Customer Service and support than HP.

G!

 

Can anyone check the brand of the notebook screen, the nits(brightness) and the contrast? This will give people a good idea of what to expect.

Also, gonk, when you mention the Sony X-Brite screen, was it the Eco or Hi-color version? There is a big difference between these two screens...

 

I absolutely love mine. (I technically don't have the 2096, I have Xoticpc's version of it) This is my first glossy screen and I thought I would have issues with it, but it's very easy to read. I've had it under florecents as well as regular bulbs and really don't have an issue. The pictures online really don't do it justice as it's a very nice looking machine. Not really flashy enough that it's the first thing a theif is going to want to grab, but nice looking none the less. The customer service at XoticPC was great. The machine was delayed slightly, but to make up for it I was upgraded to 2nd day air from the regular ground shipping so that was definately a plus. It has been getting warm while I've been playing Warhammer, but hopefully a notebook cooler will fix that problem. WAR runs wonderfully with all settings maxed. The fingerprint reader is awesome as well! I'm not sure what other info you would like to know, but I do recommend the notebook!

 

first manually defrag windows a couple times. get yourself an ubuntu livecd, hit f12 (or something like that) while your bios is booting, choose cd and boot from the livecd. once youre in open a terminal and type "sudo gparted" and youre good to go.

 

If by 'cool' you mean how hot it gets, both of those laptops have similar temps, though from what I've seen, the NP2096 runs a little hotter. The NP2096 has much better battery life though (since HP hasn't released a battery that sticks out yet).
Quality-wise, they both seem to have their share of issues, though the dv5t probably has a few more...

The dv5t is definitely cheaper right now, so it all depends how important these things are to you.

 

I am buying a new laptop for school/play and decided on this one. I just have one question for owners...

Noise. How is the noise? My last laptop was LOUD, so in class the sound was embarrassing so I wouldn't usually use it. I read the review on this and it said it was quiet... but my last laptop was supposedly quiet too...

 

The NP2096 is hotter? o.o

I'm going to buy my first notebook, but I'm uncertain about which one to get, mostly because of the temp issue.

My friend got a Powernote GT (the same model as Sager NP2096/Compal JHL90) and he says that the GPU gets really hot (around 80-85ºC). I thought that was a "problem" that only the DV5T had, talking about the notebooks with a 96GT.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

While playing Warhammer my system does get hot. According to HWMonitor my high temp was 95c. I will be ordering a cooler in the next few days. Otherwise just idling and surfing the temps are great. What games were you interested in running on whichever system you choose?

 

So I've had this laptop for almost a month now, and I am very happy with it.

One question though, the laptop came with a drivers cd...was I supposed to install the drivers, or were they already done for me?

Also, what's the best graphics driver to use on this coumputer at the moment?

 

if your comp came installed with windows your drivers are installed too (if your drivers werent, well... your fingerprint reader wouldnt work, and scrolling in a browser would take forever without graphics drivers)

i dont know if people are trying out different drivers, go ahead and try 177.98, it worked for me except for my main game so im now using 176.37 to play mass effect, and then ill upgrade to 177.92 when im done

 

Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, WoW, RTS...

 

I have a few questions:
1.) How can I make the fingerprint reader work properly? I have enrolled fingerprints. However, it keeps on asking for a password and I have no idea what it is. I never made a password for the fingerprint reader.
2.) When I turn on my notebook, the screen is fine. When I put it on standby and turn it back on, the screen becomes a lot brighter and washed out. How can I solve this issue?
3.) Is there any software that will make the webcam work? I don't think the notebook came with anything that would make the webcam useable.

+rep for anyone who helps me. Thanks.

 

Some of my keys don't really spring back out as well as they should almost like something sticky is underneath them. Anyone know of a good way to clean out underneath the keys? Do they just pop off like desktop keyboard keys? Also does anyone know what the button to the right of the display and sound settings is in the group of three buttons underneath the sager logo?

 

elite,

i've been having the same problem as 2. however, when i put it in standby or turn it back on the screen becomes a lot darker and i have to manually increase the settings to the brightness i like.

i dont know how to fix it though

 

The password is more than likely your windows password. When are you seeing the option to enter your password as opposed to fingerprint? You might have to open up the "Protector Suite" software and change the "Power-on Security" to use your enrolled fingers.

bamitsbrian: did you try removing the WOW software? Worked for me when mine kept getting dark.

I got a question as well for anybody:
Is there a built in microphone on the NP2096 or must you use an external one plugged in? Also has anyone been able to get the camera to record at a high framerate (above 5fps lol) for recording on the laptop so no need for the slowdown since it is not online. Windows XP 32-bit.

 

Apparently, this guy get more the 5fps on the webcam of Sager NP2096. I can`t do it, my webcam is shown as a 2.0 usb device. I`m using the Debut Video Capture Software, same program what he`s using.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eebtGjud-c

Somebody can help me?

 

I'll try it out for you and get back to you.

 

There is a built in mic. My friend told me I sounded pretty good on it too! I haven't used it much tho as I generally use a headset.

 

I don't know what the problem is, mine has a lot of motion blur due to the low FPS with the same software. This is my first webcam so I don't really know how to fix it.

 

Can anyone tell me what the small button to the right of the power button does? Every time I hit it, nothing happens.

 

it charges devices plugged into usb, i.e. an ipod

 

Hey everyone. I'm trying to get my HDMI output working properly with my 32" LCD HDTV. I can see video perfectly, but I cannot for the life of me get any audio to play via my HDTV's speakers. I'm using the Nvidia audio drivers. Any clue as to what is going on? I have already tried to set the Nvidia drivers as my default and doesn't work. Please help!!

 

Hey there!
My Sager came in, and I'm loving it. There were a few hangups with the Intel Turbo memory dashboard, but those have ironed themselves out, and now everything is running perfectly.

I have noticed distinct time improvements when I pin an app to the Turbo memory (I have 4 GB). Something small like Firefox goes from .5 seconds to instantaneous in opening, haha. But the difference is mainly in slightly larger programs, like OpenOffice or iTunes. Those, the difference is quite clearly cut by a few seconds in loading time.

I know some people think it's useless, but in lieu of an affordable SSD, I love the ability to pin pretty much everything I need to it. I just put WoW on the machine, so I'm looking forward to see what happens when I pin that to the memory!

 

I second that! Haven't taken exact times but I can tell you that Word 2007 opens much faster. Also, I play Timeshift and Bioshock and they both load faster as well! The Dashboard performs pretty bad though. I mean, It takes a while to open and sometimes I have to pin some programs twice, it even doesn't open sometimes :S I'm hoping new drivers will be released soon, I'm sure Intel is working on it. Definetely worth getting though! Oh, and 4GB is as much as you will ever need! I have just about every program on there and room to spare.

 

I'm starting to think I should have gotten the turbo memory now. >.< I had heard that using the thumb drives acts in the same manner, is that the case? Also, is the turbo memory something that could be added later perhaps?

 

I too would like to know about the fps with the webcam.

Also, I'm having a hard time getting my microphone to work (Vista Home Premium 64). I've fiddled around with every sound option and tested it numerous times, even reinstalled the sound drivers, and still no dice.

 

Hi PandaBear ...

Yes Sager NP2096 (Compal JHL90) is Intel Turbo Memory 2.0 supported.

Look these Threads also ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=300577

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=122612

INTEL, 2GB Intel® Turbo Memory, Internal PCIe Mini Card
https://www.avadirect.com/product_details_parts.asp?PRID=11374

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=2985&p=3

Hope this answered your Q!

G!

 

Thanks for the info Gon!

 

I looked into the manual for this notebook, but couldn't find the answer I was looking for.

What exactly is the "smart key" pseudo button for beside the WoW Audio pseudo button?

 

^^ I was wondering the same thing. Anyway, I find all those keys useless so I disabled them.

 

I clicked the smart key, and it brings up an on screen bar called "Program DJ" w/ links to the green charger, a wireless switch, WoW audio and video, and meeting secretary. Meeting Secretary brings up a program for the webcam. Still playing around with it, but that's all i can see it does atm.

 

Need some advise.
I purchase a NP2096 from Xoticpc on 22/09, adn I just check my email. They sent me a email said they ship my laptop on 25th and the estim. date on the UPS is 30th.
SO I like to know some neccessary change I need to made.
Like the touchpad etc... can anyone give me a list so I know what change is needed.

 

Honestly, I didn't change a whole lot. I changed the Synaptics touchpad driver to the ALPS touchpad driver because it bothered me but it may not bother you. It can be found on the Compal support site:

http://www.compal.com/asp/driver_dnd/index.htm

Besides that, I disabled a lot of the startup applications and focused a lot of my time on system monitoring applications. Also, make sure to update your video card drivers:

http://laptopvideo2go.com/

 

I somewhat agree as well.

@panda: for some reason, I don't have meeting secretary (I have watch dog) but the Program DJ doesn't pop up when I click the smart key.

Also, I'm having a small issue with my network card dropping its connection when I'm downloading files. It could most likely be my dad's doing (configuring the router to drop my connection once it hits a certain bandwidth) but I wanted to ask if anyone else was having this issue before I come to a conclusive decision.

 

has anyone gotten ubuntu up and running with this laptop? ive already gotten sick of doing work in windows... i was originally going to wait until ubuntu 8.10 final was released, but if anyones got lan and wireless working on the pre-release that would be awesome

//edit: if anyones interested as far as i can tell all hardware is supported out of the box in the 8.10 alpha, but ive been having some issues with compiz and using an external monitor. if you dont care about either of those it should be all good.

 

@ Vicarious

I installed Ubuntu using Wubi but I can't get wireless internet working. I haven't tried everything possible but its proving to be quite a task. Any ideas?

 

How about the other drivers that have been updated? Should I bother updating them as well?

Also, sorry I'm a noob in laptops, laptopvideo2go.com I only see one driver, that one I assume is universal?

 

go to the forums, there are many many drivers. also read the howto on installing them.

ill get back to you when i dont have work to do, im not sure i *actually* tested the wireless. since i couldnt get dual monitor to work im working in windows right now

 

I ordered my NP2096 from Xotic on friday, and it arrived today. Pretty dang quick, i was expecting to have to wait but have been pleasantly surprised. It looks like a great machine, definitely better looking in person.

 

Do you guys think there could be any sort of damage due to heat if I leave my laptop closed while gaming? I have a monitor hooked up to it and since the bottom left of the laptop gets hot when playing games I was worried if it might mess up the monitor.

 

^--^
You should never close your laptop when it is on, even if it is at idle, because it needs to breath through the keyboard. It will definitely overheat!

 

I'm not exactly sure as to which I should use... I know upgrading will allow the GPU to run more efficiently allowing perhaps lower temps. I also know that I can use any of the drivers there however is there one that everyone is working with? Anyone know which I should use?

and BTW I just got my sager from powernotebooks and the ALPS touchpad driver was already installed working. =]

 

Here you go:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showforum=88

I would recommend the 178.13 drivers. The new 179.13 drivers are out, supposedly a little better, but for some reason they're not available for 64-bit systems.

 

how come windows movie maker can't detect my webcam? it's not even in the Scanners and Cameras program but it does show up in device manager...

 

dmonee - laptopvideo2go drivers cover a wide, wide array of cards. You'll download a driver for a 7 series card and might find it also covers a 9 series card...

I was wondering about this as well, as there were two different options for the wireless cards on xoticpc.com. Is that just an internal thing with the wireless card? Or is there an express card plugin of some sort?

 

try from the top and go down. i cant use anything newer than 177.92 because of graphic issues in battlefield 2142, but if i ever drop that game ill move up to 179.13 (or 178.13, depending on other things)