SYSTEM
Sager NP 5720
> Intel Pentium M Processor 780 / 2MB L2 Cache, 2.26 GHz, 533MHz FSB
> 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2 X 1024MB)
> Nvidia GeForce GO 7800 GTX PCI-Express 16X Graphics with 256MB DDR3 Video Memory
> 17.0" Wide Viewing Angles WUXGA Active Matrix LCD Display w/Super Clear Glossy Surface
> 100.0GB (7200rpm) Ultra ATA 100 Hard Drive
> 8X DVD ± R/RW/+DL Combo Drive w/LightScribe Technology & Software
> Integrated 1000Mbps Ethernet & Intel PRO/Wireless 802.11 a/b/g & Bluetooth Module
> Integrated 56K V.90 Internal Fax/Modem
> Smart Li-ION Battery
> Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
System Price: $2889
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As of yet I haven't posted any pictures. I'll post some pictures and complete the rest of this review by this weekend (December 3-4).
Until then, pics of the same model (I believe it even has the same configuration) can be found here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=117063
ORDERING & SHIPPING
I ordered my notebook from Sager for two main reasons: 1) I live in Texas, and would have had to pay sales tax to PCTorque. 2) I read in more than one thread that for some re-sellers, the manufacturer's warranty starts the day the re-seller buys the system from Sager, not the day you purchase the system from the re-seller. This would mean it could be possible for the manufacturer's 1-year warranty to last for only 9 months. I don't know if this is true, but I decided to play it safe.
After much debate, I opted not to get an extended warranty. I dread the thought of Phillips-Magnavox as a warranty service provider. It seems that (for the most part) if a computer has problems right out of the box, it will probably continue to have problems. But if a computer is problem-free right out of the box, it is likely to remain problem-free. Therefore, if I had problems right out of the box, I would have returned the system - not gotten it repaired - and gotten an entirely new one.
Sager allows returns (for a 100% refund) within 30 days of purchase if you are unhappy for any reason.
The sales rep (Tony, ext. 107) I spoke with with very helpful, especially when it came to discussing what parts were not in stock, and how long my system would be delayed if I configured it with certain parts. I placed the order on-line on November 7, around 3:00 PM. I paid by wire transfer the next morning, November 8. I received my system around 9:00 AM on November 9.
I have to admit, I was a bit concerned about the apparent lack of a testing/burn-in period. However, I've been using the system pretty heavily for over a week with no problems.
The notebook was satisfactorily packaged, comprable to other notebooks I've ordered.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS & OVERALL FEEL
The 5720 feels solid. There is no 'flex' in the keyboard or display. It was lighter than I expected, since I had been considering a monsther like the Sager 9000 series or the Hypersonic FX-7. It powered-on with no problems, and was not loaded with a bunch a 'crap applications' like most store-bought systems (or Dell). I also like the main-body's silver color and the black lid - it's a sharp-looking notebook.
BENCHMARKS (3DMark 05)
As delivered from Sager, with no changes:
> 3DMark Score: 6805
After using Spy Seeper to prevent unnecessary items from automatically starting with Windows, I got a new round of consistently higher benchmarks. (Obviously this can be done manually, but not being the computer guru that many of you are, I find Spy Sweeper to be great for removing unwanted stuff.)
With newest Nvidia Drivers, cleaned-up hard drive, and Power Scheme set to 'Always On' (although I don't know if that really matters):
> 3DMark Score: 7010
> CPU Score: 4230
These tests were run with no overclocking.
HEAT OUTPUT & FANS
Temperature Range (degrees Celcius) according to MobileMeter:
> CPU: 40 - 54
> Hard Drive: 35 - 44
As you would expect, the higher temperatures occured after extended use, especially gaming. Max fan use never kicked in during Internet browsing or office applications. Max fan use kicks in after about 10-15 minutes of gaming, quits after a few minutes, kicks in again after another 10-15 minutes of gaming, and so on... Max fan noise is noticeable. While it doesn't bother me, I can see that it might bother people who are particular about fan noise.
Luke@PCTorque provided a firmware that allows you to easily toggle the fans between full and auto by pressing Fn+F2. Since the laptop has never gotten anywhere close to being too hot, I haven't felt the need to install the firmware - I'm content to let the notebook manage its fans automatically.
The notebook has never gotten more than slightly (and I do mean only slightly) warm to the touch, even after long periods of use. The power brick does stay constantly warm, although not uncomfortable to the touch. I took the plastic PCMCIA place-holder/cover out when I first turned the notebook on, and I do notice a slight breeze coming out of it, so apparently this does help with airflow. I have not used the computer or taken any measurements with the plastic cover in place, so I don't know how much of an effect this actually has.
To reduce heat and extend battery life, I am considering undervolting the CPU (as described here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=70943), although I want to look into possible performance issues first. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
BATTERY LIFE
> About 1.5 hours of intensive gaming.
> About 2.0 hours of browsing the Internet, downloading, and/or office applications. This assumes no use of the optical drive.
> After 2.5 hours using the Audio-DJ control panel (with laptop closed) at a fiarly low volume, 10% battery charge remained.
To reduce heat and extend battery life, I am considering undervolting the CPU (as described here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=70943), although I want to look into possible performance issues first. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
DISPLAY
Granted, I got my previous laptop over a year ago, and it has only a 15" display, without the glossy surface, but...
This is best damn looking display I've seen. It's nicer than even my desktop's Dell 18" Flat Panel monitor. The contrast it amazing - everything is crystal clear with vibrant colors. The same screenshot on either my previous notebook or desktop looks dull in comparison.
Some reviews caution potential buyers that the 'glossy' (or whatever term is used by a particular manufacturer) screens can have bad glare/reflection problems. I have not noticed this to be an issue.
There are no dead/stuck pixels and no leaking/shadowing - even though I did not get the 0-dead pixel policy.
Personally, I find text and icon size to be ridiculsouly small when the display is set to its maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200. But if you don't mind the small size - and like to fit alot of stuff on your desktop - this is the screen for you.
I have my resolution set at 1280 x 800. I generally have game settings at 1084 x 768, which of course means the image needs to be 'stretched' horizontally to fill the entire screen. I thought the resulting distortion would bug me, but so far it hasn't really been noticeable during gameplay.
SOUND
Obviously the integrated speakers aren't as nice as your average Altec Lansing 8.1 surround sound system with subwoofer. However, I'm not going to defeat the whole purpose of a laptop by getting an external sound card and speakers. (I hate cords WITH A PASSION!!)
That being said, the integrated sound and speakers are definately above-average for a notebook - more than satisfactory for me.
In addition to the Control Panel and individual software applications, volume can be easily adjusted via Fn keys or the Audio-DJ panel. However, the Audio-DJ panel doesn't seem to operate when running games in full-screen mode. Perhaps that can be changed by altering settings, but I don't know because I haven't looked into it.
KEYBOARD
Great balance - has a solid feel with a little bit of a 'click' sound, but not too 'stiff' or loud. No particularly hot areas.
The built-in keypad (number-pad, 10-keypad, or whatever you call it) seems to be arranged a bit awkwardly, but I've gotten used to it and use it with no problems. Keep in mind however that I don't use it for heavy data entry or bookkeeping - but it's good for general office applications and gaming.
TOUCHPAD
The touchpad is made with a great material. It operates very smoothly (both during pointer movement and page-scrolling), and the snsetivity can be easily adjusted via the control panel. It has a bar (marked with up- and down-arrows) for vertical page-scrolling on the right hand side, although this can be disabled to allow the entire touch-pad to be for regular pointer movement only. It does not have a similar marked bar for horizontal scrolling, but you can confugire (via the control panel) an area to be used for horizontal page-scrolling if you wish. I use the touchpad and vertical scroll bar at default settings.
I only rarely accidentally hit the touchpad during typing, causing it to move the cursor. Luke@PCTorque (Luke is just awesome, ain't he?) provided a firmware that allows you to easily toggle the touchpad on and off by pressing Fn+F1. So even if accidentally hitting the touchpad when typing is an issue with you, the problem can be easily solved. I've downloaded the firmware, but haven't felt the need to install it.
Between the standard left-click and right-click buttons is a 'directional' button. To be honest, I've never used this button and am not entirely sure what its intended purpose is. But I bet it will make some function even more convienient once I figure it out.
Someone, please feel free to let me know what this if for - and save me the trouble of actually reading the manual!
I'll complete the rest of this review by this weekend (December 3-4). Let me know if I've missed anything, or if there is something in particular you would like to know.
LED STATUS PANEL & AUDIO-DJ CONTROLS
CAMERA & MICROPHONE
WIRELESS & BLUETOOTH
Sager NP 5720
> Intel Pentium M Processor 780 / 2MB L2 Cache, 2.26 GHz, 533MHz FSB
> 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2 X 1024MB)
> Nvidia GeForce GO 7800 GTX PCI-Express 16X Graphics with 256MB DDR3 Video Memory
> 17.0" Wide Viewing Angles WUXGA Active Matrix LCD Display w/Super Clear Glossy Surface
> 100.0GB (7200rpm) Ultra ATA 100 Hard Drive
> 8X DVD ± R/RW/+DL Combo Drive w/LightScribe Technology & Software
> Integrated 1000Mbps Ethernet & Intel PRO/Wireless 802.11 a/b/g & Bluetooth Module
> Integrated 56K V.90 Internal Fax/Modem
> Smart Li-ION Battery
> Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
System Price: $2889
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As of yet I haven't posted any pictures. I'll post some pictures and complete the rest of this review by this weekend (December 3-4).
Until then, pics of the same model (I believe it even has the same configuration) can be found here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=117063
ORDERING & SHIPPING
I ordered my notebook from Sager for two main reasons: 1) I live in Texas, and would have had to pay sales tax to PCTorque. 2) I read in more than one thread that for some re-sellers, the manufacturer's warranty starts the day the re-seller buys the system from Sager, not the day you purchase the system from the re-seller. This would mean it could be possible for the manufacturer's 1-year warranty to last for only 9 months. I don't know if this is true, but I decided to play it safe.
After much debate, I opted not to get an extended warranty. I dread the thought of Phillips-Magnavox as a warranty service provider. It seems that (for the most part) if a computer has problems right out of the box, it will probably continue to have problems. But if a computer is problem-free right out of the box, it is likely to remain problem-free. Therefore, if I had problems right out of the box, I would have returned the system - not gotten it repaired - and gotten an entirely new one.
Sager allows returns (for a 100% refund) within 30 days of purchase if you are unhappy for any reason.
The sales rep (Tony, ext. 107) I spoke with with very helpful, especially when it came to discussing what parts were not in stock, and how long my system would be delayed if I configured it with certain parts. I placed the order on-line on November 7, around 3:00 PM. I paid by wire transfer the next morning, November 8. I received my system around 9:00 AM on November 9.
I have to admit, I was a bit concerned about the apparent lack of a testing/burn-in period. However, I've been using the system pretty heavily for over a week with no problems.
The notebook was satisfactorily packaged, comprable to other notebooks I've ordered.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS & OVERALL FEEL
The 5720 feels solid. There is no 'flex' in the keyboard or display. It was lighter than I expected, since I had been considering a monsther like the Sager 9000 series or the Hypersonic FX-7. It powered-on with no problems, and was not loaded with a bunch a 'crap applications' like most store-bought systems (or Dell). I also like the main-body's silver color and the black lid - it's a sharp-looking notebook.
BENCHMARKS (3DMark 05)
As delivered from Sager, with no changes:
> 3DMark Score: 6805
After using Spy Seeper to prevent unnecessary items from automatically starting with Windows, I got a new round of consistently higher benchmarks. (Obviously this can be done manually, but not being the computer guru that many of you are, I find Spy Sweeper to be great for removing unwanted stuff.)
With newest Nvidia Drivers, cleaned-up hard drive, and Power Scheme set to 'Always On' (although I don't know if that really matters):
> 3DMark Score: 7010
> CPU Score: 4230
These tests were run with no overclocking.
HEAT OUTPUT & FANS
Temperature Range (degrees Celcius) according to MobileMeter:
> CPU: 40 - 54
> Hard Drive: 35 - 44
As you would expect, the higher temperatures occured after extended use, especially gaming. Max fan use never kicked in during Internet browsing or office applications. Max fan use kicks in after about 10-15 minutes of gaming, quits after a few minutes, kicks in again after another 10-15 minutes of gaming, and so on... Max fan noise is noticeable. While it doesn't bother me, I can see that it might bother people who are particular about fan noise.
Luke@PCTorque provided a firmware that allows you to easily toggle the fans between full and auto by pressing Fn+F2. Since the laptop has never gotten anywhere close to being too hot, I haven't felt the need to install the firmware - I'm content to let the notebook manage its fans automatically.
The notebook has never gotten more than slightly (and I do mean only slightly) warm to the touch, even after long periods of use. The power brick does stay constantly warm, although not uncomfortable to the touch. I took the plastic PCMCIA place-holder/cover out when I first turned the notebook on, and I do notice a slight breeze coming out of it, so apparently this does help with airflow. I have not used the computer or taken any measurements with the plastic cover in place, so I don't know how much of an effect this actually has.
To reduce heat and extend battery life, I am considering undervolting the CPU (as described here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=70943), although I want to look into possible performance issues first. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
BATTERY LIFE
> About 1.5 hours of intensive gaming.
> About 2.0 hours of browsing the Internet, downloading, and/or office applications. This assumes no use of the optical drive.
> After 2.5 hours using the Audio-DJ control panel (with laptop closed) at a fiarly low volume, 10% battery charge remained.
To reduce heat and extend battery life, I am considering undervolting the CPU (as described here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=70943), although I want to look into possible performance issues first. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
DISPLAY
Granted, I got my previous laptop over a year ago, and it has only a 15" display, without the glossy surface, but...
This is best damn looking display I've seen. It's nicer than even my desktop's Dell 18" Flat Panel monitor. The contrast it amazing - everything is crystal clear with vibrant colors. The same screenshot on either my previous notebook or desktop looks dull in comparison.
Some reviews caution potential buyers that the 'glossy' (or whatever term is used by a particular manufacturer) screens can have bad glare/reflection problems. I have not noticed this to be an issue.
There are no dead/stuck pixels and no leaking/shadowing - even though I did not get the 0-dead pixel policy.
Personally, I find text and icon size to be ridiculsouly small when the display is set to its maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200. But if you don't mind the small size - and like to fit alot of stuff on your desktop - this is the screen for you.
I have my resolution set at 1280 x 800. I generally have game settings at 1084 x 768, which of course means the image needs to be 'stretched' horizontally to fill the entire screen. I thought the resulting distortion would bug me, but so far it hasn't really been noticeable during gameplay.
SOUND
Obviously the integrated speakers aren't as nice as your average Altec Lansing 8.1 surround sound system with subwoofer. However, I'm not going to defeat the whole purpose of a laptop by getting an external sound card and speakers. (I hate cords WITH A PASSION!!)
That being said, the integrated sound and speakers are definately above-average for a notebook - more than satisfactory for me.
In addition to the Control Panel and individual software applications, volume can be easily adjusted via Fn keys or the Audio-DJ panel. However, the Audio-DJ panel doesn't seem to operate when running games in full-screen mode. Perhaps that can be changed by altering settings, but I don't know because I haven't looked into it.
KEYBOARD
Great balance - has a solid feel with a little bit of a 'click' sound, but not too 'stiff' or loud. No particularly hot areas.
The built-in keypad (number-pad, 10-keypad, or whatever you call it) seems to be arranged a bit awkwardly, but I've gotten used to it and use it with no problems. Keep in mind however that I don't use it for heavy data entry or bookkeeping - but it's good for general office applications and gaming.
TOUCHPAD
The touchpad is made with a great material. It operates very smoothly (both during pointer movement and page-scrolling), and the snsetivity can be easily adjusted via the control panel. It has a bar (marked with up- and down-arrows) for vertical page-scrolling on the right hand side, although this can be disabled to allow the entire touch-pad to be for regular pointer movement only. It does not have a similar marked bar for horizontal scrolling, but you can confugire (via the control panel) an area to be used for horizontal page-scrolling if you wish. I use the touchpad and vertical scroll bar at default settings.
I only rarely accidentally hit the touchpad during typing, causing it to move the cursor. Luke@PCTorque (Luke is just awesome, ain't he?) provided a firmware that allows you to easily toggle the touchpad on and off by pressing Fn+F1. So even if accidentally hitting the touchpad when typing is an issue with you, the problem can be easily solved. I've downloaded the firmware, but haven't felt the need to install it.
Between the standard left-click and right-click buttons is a 'directional' button. To be honest, I've never used this button and am not entirely sure what its intended purpose is. But I bet it will make some function even more convienient once I figure it out.
Someone, please feel free to let me know what this if for - and save me the trouble of actually reading the manual!I'll complete the rest of this review by this weekend (December 3-4). Let me know if I've missed anything, or if there is something in particular you would like to know.
LED STATUS PANEL & AUDIO-DJ CONTROLS
CAMERA & MICROPHONE
WIRELESS & BLUETOOTH
Thanks Hoss for the great info. I know most peole don't care about battery life and other stuff said, but I do and you have helped me make my decision. You rock!!!
