Sager 5320-V Review by doc_simple - Page 3

mostly I went for the 256 meg video and the display is a little nicer (specs wise anyway). It looks like there are more options then I had seen a couple of weeks ago.
Also you have the option of adding a second battery into the cd rom slot.

Plus it does look damn sweet!

If you have the cash I would look at the 5720 too. Its bigger but its got the GeForce 7800. I have no idea how this would handle heat in Asia. I think any high performance machine will run hot. I feel sure this would handle video editing. I also feel sure it wont be smoking fast. I think the editing is a function of the processor not the video card, so that will be your bottleneck. If you want true video editing power, and cant wait for the dual-core mobile processors next year I would get a machine with a non-mobile processor. Of course you pay in battery time. The laptop world is full of trade-offs. I found this machine filled my sweet spot and though I have some envy for the 5720 I am as happy as any tech junkie can be. Always wanting the newest and sweetest toy!

For the guy looking for battery reviews: It looks like someone else is willing to pick up the ball and run with it so I happily pass the buck to Lobotomy. He has posted some info that pretty much matches mine. A couple hours give or take. Like he said, if you want more this machine does let you add that second battery!

I certainly dont mind helping y'all find a good toy. I lived on this board for days before I bought mine. Plus it gives me a false sense of self-importance.

*****Important Note*****

The keyboard is removable with small clips. One, not surprisingly is under the F8 key. I grew some stones and just pushed the corner back in place and have not had a problem since. So, what will you do when your keyboard craps out? Pop the clips slam in the new one and go on with your life. In a former lifetime I was a Dell certified lappy tech (which means I can take things apart and usually get them back together) and I can assure you that laptop keyboards go bad. Also worked on IBM's. Same shiza. Plus I kind of like the little clicky noise the keyboard makes as I type. Lets me know I am hitting the keys!

*****End Important Note*****

As for Sata vs Pata. I read that the higher rpms is better in smaller <100 gig hard drives but when you get into mad density drives the sata will rule. I got Sata, I love Sata and Sata loves me. Go for what makes you happy, costs the least or preferably both ;"0

cpu-z says yes.

yes it dos have a centrino sticker....

Now for some bad news (

Bizarre cricket noise in headphones is as yet unresolvable. I even checked with the wife to see if I was going nuts bt there it is. Sager tech support was a little weak, although in their defense they tried to call and could not reach me so we were working through e-mail.
My main gripe is that each e-mail was a day apart and contained one or two simple questions. They should have sent me the laundry list to check off, and then moved on.
Long story short the machine is to return to its rebranded home and I have made some hard decisions. I was a little ticked that a 2 week old machine that needs to be returned is costing me shipping charges, although they offered to pay the return shipping charges I think I am going to decline.
That is not to say I wont be owing a Sager though, all in all they were no better or worse than any company that sells things and does not want them back. Additionally, making people like me pay the shipping charge will usually minimize frivolous returns. I am thinking about choking down the additional monies (quite a bit) and grabbing a 5720. Essentially the same machine with a bigger screen and the GF 7800.
Does anyone here have any input? Anyone else have problems with their 5320? Anyone in their right minds not want a GF 7800?

Please either help me justify this additional insanity or stop me from foolishly spending more!!!

I can help myself....excuse while I go shoot some silicon.....

Well, heres the thing. I have read about problems of with the machine but mostly people seem happy. The chirp noise, for me at least seemed unrelated to any activity and never went away. Sager tech support said they had not heard this problem before, but who knows. Obviously Twilight IS experiencing the issue. I have decided not to get another 5320 but only because I am going for the larger 5720 with the GeForce 7800. However I too am a little worried as the 5720 is the same machine, essentially as the 5320 in a slightly larger form factor. If the chirp is just some inescapable bug of the motherboard the 5720 will probably exhibit the same problem. I will then be faced with the issue of keep or return. Other than that annoyance I really did love the machine. It runs like a dream, has a very vivid screen and is pretty damn portable. And, I really cant find anything else in its class. Especially stepping up to the 5720 with the 7800. A little bigger but still a fairly elegant machine thats not just a brick. I could just have Sager refund my money and keep looking but I wont buy Dell, I think the XPS looks like a friggen christmas tree and I live in the professional world. I did not test the speaker out on the back and my machine is going back to Sager so maybe TV can test for you.
Have you found something that has all these features for a comparable price?
Is there another option?
I would be interested to know as my new order is back-ordered for weeks anyway.

hmmm, greatest review ever? That kinda hurts

But notice that he his speaking of poor sound quality in the headphones as well but what he is noticing is from having the sound cranked up. I had that as well, the other noise is different. It is a distinct chirp noise that is repeated endlessly for me. It is faint and overwhelmed by most sound. When I am gaming I usually crankl all sound down as I use Ventrilo to chat with my buddies and when we are not speaking I get chirp, chirp, ect...

Regualr speakers? You mean the ones on the machine. They are ok. The other review raves about them but I can tell you I am right on a 2700T (P3M) compaq laptop with JBL Pro speakers that sounds far superior. That does not really matter as, for me anyway, its all about headphones.

As for the 3880 if you are on a tight budget that 3880C for aboot $1200 looks pretty nice. Note the differnt screen along with the diff video card, but as I said a great price.

Locke: Its definitely one of the installed hardware devices causing the chirp. We will probably never know which one unless they are removed one at a time. Take a for instance, say its the (insert any device here) causing it, what can you do? The device is probably not bad, its just a design issue. That is my opinion anyway. I will be greatly interested to see if the 5720 has the same issue. Hopefully I will be so blown away by its graphics that i wont care if it does. The reason I returned it is that no one else had reportre dthe issue, so I was worried I had an issue with the moboard.

I'm guessing this is going to be a contstant issue with these machines. Or with a particular run of moboard. As no one in a position of knowledge (ie. someone from Sager or Clevo) has weighed in yet I would love to hear from anyone who does NOT have this problem. Maybe then we can look at info like motherboard rev. and see if there is a common element.

Just checked ot Syan's link and Chaz thinks it may be hard drive interfernce but I cant agree. It is to constant and regular. However, he may be right. Reality seldom seeks my approval

I was just playin....but


His review is pretty damn good. Notice he has somrthnig like 5.0 x 10^29 posts too, so he probebly knows his stuff. My main bitch with his review would be the same as for mine: we were to happy. New, shiny machine. Who would want to say bad things. Honestly, I do not expect that this will get fixed. I expect all the machines to exhibit this behavior, and I expect it is due to electromagnetic interference of some kind. In order to fix the problem a new mother board and a re-design would be in order.

It sounds that other factors have outweighed this issue for you, and that is perfectly reasonable. The machine smokes Dells/Compaq's?Gateways for breakfast and finishes up with a light snack on Sony/Toshiba!

Over all, still a pretty kick-ass machine, so if you get one, at least you know what to expect. Enjoy!