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Sager 5320-V Review by doc_simple - Page 2

post #21 of 126
10/15/05 at 11:42am
Does this notebook have Axiom?
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post #22 of 126
10/15/05 at 12:08pm
Hey Doc and others that have posted here about the 5320, I can’t thank you guys enough for posting the information you did, and being honest about it. I am a huge perfectionist and was considering the 5320…. I will definitely reconsider all my possibilities now.As for your situations, I hope that they are able to fix it ~ at the very least I think Sager’s 30day guaranty is a great step in the right direction for any company to take. Just wish they would considered putting as much devotion as they do in there policies in their quality. Great thread though ~ keep up the good work, your posts definitely have helped me deciding which laptop I will be considering.

Please keep us updated.

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post #23 of 126
10/15/05 at 1:23pm
Thread Starter 
Im guessing Axiom is some kind of sound device, so I think I do not have that. I have a Realtek device/driver for sound.

Nexor, I am not sure I ould say not to buy this laptop. I think all product have issues. The question is what are you willing to accept for the money? The package I got ran me 1865 with delivry charges, but it is packed with hardware I want and in a pretty slim form factor.

If you find something equivalent price/size/performance I would be interested to know which one. There is and Asus I belive that is close but with 128 meg on the video card, and a cool metal case. And I think the Acer Ferrari (is that Acer?) is a sweet machine too. However the Ferarri is priced like one. I looked around quite a bit till I found this one, and overall am happy.

You might want to wait a week and se how Sger Midern handles this issue before buying anything....
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post #24 of 126
10/15/05 at 1:39pm
I would have to agree with you Doc on the final verdict. This laptop exceeds my expectations perormance-wise accross the board. I am very happy with it. My only gripe seems to be with the keyboard, and maybe the weird sound problem, however, I can only hear it when the volume is up ridiculously high. The signal to noise ratio is just not very good, but it doesnt interfere with normal usage. All in all I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend the system to other people.
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post #25 of 126
10/15/05 at 1:59pm
Nope Axiom is a modular ATI gpu.. more info can be had here..
http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2004/4755.html
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post #26 of 126
10/15/05 at 2:26pm
The Sager 5320 has better components and should in theory operate much faster then the other notebooks, so naturally I would prefer it but I worry about the quality of Sager. A colleague commented on his Sager 3880 experience which was discouraging to say the least (twice cracked hinges). This is one reason why I have my doubts.
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I understand the concepts of error control and probability. I’m just trying to figure out for myself which of these many problems posted on this Sager form have validity to them and how frequently they occur compared to other manufactures.
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If you don't mind me asking though, how are your hinges? Do they squeak, are they tight, is there any grinding sensation, or do they operate in a nice fluid motion - easy - quite - and how they should? Do you think the plastics (case) could take the wear and tear of daily moderately rough travel in a backpack?
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(On a side note - the i8500 had hum due ground looping issues but was easily fixed shutting off all line input [lowering and shutting off mix/aux/line in/spdif]). If it is a ground loop, you can tell by running your laptop via battery (not connected in any away to the ac adapter) and see if your headphone noise disappears. Maybe this could help you.
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Anyways I will be following this thread closely. Thank you both for posting your experiences thus far.
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post #27 of 126
10/15/05 at 2:28pm
I'd definitely still recommend this laptop to people. Once I get some pics up, I'll probably post a full review.

I never even noticed the headphone problem until I pumped up the volume all the way.

The keyboard is a little annoying, but its really something that you can get used to. All laptop keyboards suck imo.

The laptop gets pretty hot. Make sure that you have it on a flat surface so that the fans are free. There are little leg things on the back to elevate it about a quarter inch and let the air flow better. When the laptop isn't elevated...it gets quite hot.
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post #28 of 126
10/15/05 at 3:48pm
Thank you to everyone who has posted info and reviews. I am also watching this thread very carefully as I too am thinking about purchasing one.

Has anyone else dealt with Sager's tech support on these issues? I've written them several emails regarding the viewing angle, brightness, battery life (just simple questions) and they have yet to respond to any of them even though it's been a week. That is kind of making me weary.
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post #29 of 126
10/15/05 at 6:22pm
Hey doc not to get off subject, but is that a table saw in your house? Looks like you might be doing hardwood floors, but I could be wrong.
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post #30 of 126
10/15/05 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
AzN: According to ATI this Axion is a form-factor/connectoid type. It says the x700 has axiom and so I have to assume that it is an axion laptop. I have no idea how to verify this though as I would not know an Axiom connector if it bit my leg.

Nexor: d(h)ELL is evil. I hate them with a passion. However tha does not mean that they dont have some decent products. I just dont groove on their business practices. As to wether the laptop you have configured is better I dont know, look for reviews and I can almost guarantee that you will find some negative comments. Look also at what I and the others who have purchased this machine are saying: Yes, keyboard crap but we would still say YES to buying our Sager's.
My hinges seem fine to me. Do they swivel like a German engineered killing machine? No, but they dont squeak, grind or make any oher funky noises. The movement is firm and the screen stays in position even if I am shifting the machine around.
The laptop has spent a week traveling with approx. 8 million pounds in textbooks and has no appreciable damage. I once traveled for over a year with a toshiba satellite that was completely plastic. I beat the poo out of the poor beast so I dont fear the plastic. I expect that in a couple years when this machine is headed for the great donation pile in the sky that I will have left my mark on its hide. Bu I feel sure that it will make it that far. Of cpurse, check back in a couple months on durability issues :'))

Thansk for the advice on the sound issue I will play with it. I dont want to buy a sound card, its not the money, its the principle!


Simtech: If you think Dell will provide better support than Midern, have I got a website for you!!

http://www.ihatedell.net/

Just remember, no manufacturer wants to support their product, that costs money. If you are not getting answers from Midern (Sager Direct) I would talk to PCTorque. Some guy Luke from there is on the boards naswering questions pretty frequently. If you want to go direct I dealt with Mark at Sager and he was pretty good at answering my questions. I like e-mail for casual conversations but for bidness it be by the phone.
I have left a message with their support dept on friday and will be posting how they handle my issues over the next week. Forums give me a great place to vent my impotent rage against stonewalling bureaucracies!

Pharoake: Yes it is a table saw but unfortunately I am not doing floors. We moved from a house where the saw did many wonderful things, like cut wood real nice, to a duplex with no garage where the saw is completly dissed by using it as a plant holder/bar.

and all pics will be linked in the next hour.
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post #31 of 126
10/15/05 at 7:00pm
Thread Starter 
pics up
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post #32 of 126
10/16/05 at 12:31pm
You gave an estimate about the battery life but could you really do a battery test like with a stop watch till it drops dead? 1 hr battery life is bad 2 is accetable and 3 is somewat good. I guess I really want a complete answer to that battery life issue.

Can you run the test with wifi on, screen to the max, etc. Just normal stuff; not gaming?

~Thanks

PS. do it on ur time no need to go out of ur way to do it ^_^
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post #33 of 126
10/16/05 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 
sometie during the week I will try to get you some numbers. This si he one test that requires me to make sure it stays on and active so I have been reluctant. However, I am curious myself. You just want battery life during normal usage? You know the machine goes into a power-saving mode that cuts power to the screen/gpu/cpu? I think I can force them on, but I gues you just want portability life not power.
So one night this week I will do it.
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post #34 of 126
10/16/05 at 8:12pm
I did some runs of memtest86 just to cycle the battery a few times. The laptop got 1hour 5x minutes. I wasn't watching too closely, but it was longer than 1:50. Perhaps after I've cycled the battery a few more times it'll hit 2 hours. I don't know how indicitive memtest is as far as battery life goes. When I post my full review, I'll likely have battery tests using a number of different applications.

The thing is, he 5320 has the 533mhz memory. This drains the battery significantly faster than the older 400mhz models. Also it only carries an 8-cell battery compared to the 3880's 12-cell. Of course it should be noted that you can replace the dvd-rom drive with a 2nd battery if need be, which should offer nearly 4 hours of battery life.
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post #35 of 126
10/16/05 at 8:25pm
Most common type of testing the Battery life is to simply watch a DVD and report that time.
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post #36 of 126
10/16/05 at 10:50pm

A good test is an accurate one. Don't forget to...

You may also want to cycle your battery a few times (also called conditioning) to bring it back to its peak performance, that is of course if you want the most accurate readings.
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post #37 of 126
10/17/05 at 10:19pm
Hey doc_s, what do you think of speaker quality on the laptop?
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post #38 of 126
10/18/05 at 2:07am
Thread Starter 
the speakers are kind of a mixed bag. SOme good, some so-so. I get decently usable music and game sound, no bass though (of course) but when I have a game up I am usually running ventrilo to talk voip. It gets really hard to hear the vent like it is a set low and the speakers high. However, when put on the headphones the game volume seems normal but vent is scraemin load. I think a pcmcia sound card may be in the future.....would that act to control the on board speakers or just the headphones?

they are ok, for a laptop, but only in a laptop.
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post #39 of 126
10/19/05 at 10:32pm
Wow, I'm really cought in bewteen the 3880 and the 5320. The 3880 has better battery life, sound, and you can load it up with more stuff compared to the 5320. For the same price, the 3880 could probably out preform the 5320 by a little bit,*not graphics wise* given it does have a slower card 6600 go...

My question is why did you op for the 5320 instead of 3880? What were the reasons why u chose this one instead of the other. Other than, it looks better. EDIT: when u look at the review for the 3880 you see that its video preformace is almost on par with the 4880 which also has a X700 so we can conclude that the 6600 isn't THAT much worse than the X700...4-5 fps difference in doom....
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post #40 of 126
10/19/05 at 11:25pm
Hey new to the Laptop world. But I have really narrowed the selections to this and the Asus Z71V. I only have 2 questions, How do you think some Amatuer video editing would run on this? Just uploading some video from a cmaera chopping it and putting together a film (20-30mins)
And the heat Issue, I am going to be taking this thing to Thailand and I have faced 110 degree heat there last year. Any laptop coolers to fit this (ok 3 questions). I just want to make sure I get the right Laptop so when I go and try to make some movies over there I won't get pissed when i find out the PC can't handle the load or the heat. (Average heat will be about 90-95 degrees)
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