Rising Japan: The FT 5760 Review

So I've been working with Tony Huang at Sager recently getting a deal ironed out to get a new machine to replace my embattled 8790.

On the way to work this morning, I got a mail on my cellphone letting me know that my 5760 had been shipped out via USPS. Good to hear. I definitely hadn't expected to hear that for another week or so, actually. And on top of that, I was in a bit of a mood about the whole thing because I'd emailed Tony, but hadn't heard anything, so was thinking that I was in for another long wait (I had extensive troubles w/ communication during the end of the 8790's life and the beginning on the 5760's).

But, the wait is over. The machine is on its way. Hopefully in less than a week's time, I'll be posting pictures and my initial thoughts on the 8790's replacement.

I'm sure I'll be more than pleased considering that I think the Dell 9300 at work is super-fast now that the only thing I've got to compare it w/ is my puny (yet dependable) little Sony FX-120. Before, I grumped @ the 9300 since it couldn't keep up w/ the 8790. Now that I've had time to get used to the slowness of the Sony, I'm sure anything would seem fast in comparison. We'll see. I'm a multi-tasking maniac, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of gruff left for the 5760 if it can't keep up.

So, enough with the preamble. Here's what is on the way:

NP5760C
Glossy 17.0" WSXGA+
Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 4MB L2 Cache, 2.16 GHz, 667MHz FSB
Nvidia Quadro FX 2500M 512MB DDR3 Video Memory
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 X 1024MB)
100.0GB (7200rpm) SATA 150 HD
8X DVD ± R/RW/ 4X +DL Super-Multi Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth
XP Pro with Express Upgrade to Vista Business Edition

I had XP that I could've put on the 5760, but since I could upgrade to Vista for $85, I figured that I might as well go that route.

Judging from the lack of business in the 57xx Support Forums, hopefully I made the correct decision in giving Sager one more chance.

First Impressions
I've got a few pics, but they're at home on the machine (typing @ work on the Dell now), so they'll have to be posted later. Lighting in my house sucks, so the pics aren't as good as I'd like.

Anyway, my impressions after a few days of ownership/usage:

Weight
Heavy! I'd seen a similar model (only config'd w/ a Celeron- blasphemy!!) in Sapporo awhile back. Looked slick. The slick look totally does not project the image of a heavy machine. The 8790 was a heavy brick. Using the Dell 9300, I was impressed at how light it is. And balanced. The 5760 was surprisingly heavy and not balanced. Seems a bit butt-heavy. I haven't carried it anywhere yet. Pretty much came out of the box and then moved around for some comparo pics w/ the Dell, but that's it. Otherwise, it hasn't moved at all. Definitely a true DTR in the weight department.

WSXGA+ Glossy Screen
I was worried about dead/lit pixels. Haven't noticed anything so far. Beautiful screen and the resolution, as I had often guessed, is definitely the sweet spot for me. After using the Dell 9300(WUXGA), the 8790's WXGA screen seemed waaaaaaaay too big. So I figured that WSXGA+ would be the sweet spot. And it IS

Heat
So far, I've only run Civ IV: Warlords on it, but after hours of play with settings cranked up, I haven't noticed any wayward overheating or loud fans disturbing me. No heat-related problems as a result of Civ IV, anyway. I can't stand FPS games, so it might be awhile before I find something that truly pushes the card.
In regards to the palm rests, they are a bit warm, but nowhere near the sweaty-palm problem that the 8790 had. Not even remotely close. If I hadn't had the 8790 to compare it to, I probably wouldn't have even thought to've check the palm rest. That reminds me- I'll have to snag the temp sensor from work and check the palm rests before and after gaming to see what the difference is, if any.
For the time being, heat is not a problem and fans are not loud. All seems very good in that regard.

Keyboard
Keyboard seems to be a bit stiffer than the keyboard on my 8790, even though they appear to be the same exact thing. No complaints. Definitely prefer the Sager keyboard over the Dell's.

Touchpad
Looks cool. Like the little circle doowhammer at the bottom that looks as if it would let you scroll up and down. Make note that I said, "looks as if." There's also a little arrow pointing up and down on the R. side that makes it look like one could scroll up and down with that, too. Once again, an example of, "looks as if." Neither work. Touchpad works. I can move the cursor and tap/select things, but that's it. Round circle jobbie and the Up/Down function on the R. side of the touchpad do not work. Will be using my Logitech MX900 BT mouse for the most part, so it's not a huge problem; but it is annoying that hardware doesn't work out of the box. I haven't checked for driver updates or anything of the sort, yet. So, we have our first

Speed
I was worried about going from a P4 3.4ghz Northwood to a more mobile-minded CPU. Tony Huang even mentioned it on the phone that one just isn't going to get desktop power/speed w/ non-desktop CPUs. I'm not able to do a direct comparison w/ the 8790 since it's long gone, but I can say that it's Fast. No complaints on the speed. Definitely smokes the Dell 9300. It's fast and that, I like I think I've got problems, tho'. The other day I was ULing pics on Flickr and my Sony FX-120 that was sitting idle nearby started making noises. Bad noises. Someone's jealous. Looks like the 5760 arrived just in time.

Sound
Haven't messed around w/ too many audio files so far, but for the time being, I haven't been disappointed w/ what I've heard. Haven't had any sound problems that the 5720 owners experienced; Keeping my fingers crossed that the sound issues were quashed after that first generation came out.

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Haven't burnt any DVDs and haven't used the cam yet, so I can't mention anything positive or negative about either. SD card reader seems to work well (and fast), so no complaints there.

As it sits now, all is well in the world. Well, borrowing a monitor tomorrow to upgrade my desktop's CPU + mobo, so "all" is less than "well," but 5760-wise, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this machine. Take that w/ a grain o' salt, tho'- I'm less than a week into it. Let this puppy ripen a bit and then we'll see what I think.

Software Issues
Not the machine's fault, but rather an XP problem, apparently. I can't get some things to run. The other day, I tried to install Google Earth. No problem, right? Not so fast. Double-clicked the executable (which had been used on the Dell 9300 & my desktop previously, so I know it's a good file). Cursor went into the "I'm thinking" mode and then back to normal. Tried again. Same thing. Opened up Windows Task Manager and didn't see anything associated with Google Earth.

Fast forward to this morning. Just before heading to work, I wanted to mess w/ some photos that I'd taken last night, so I clicked on the Picasa icon in the Quicklaunch bar. Cursor went into "I'm thinking" mode and then stopped. I waited a few seconds to see if the Picasa splashscreen'd come up. Nada. So I clicked it again. Same thing- cursor gets busy for a moment and that's it. Went into the Start Menu and tried it that way, too. No go. Worked fine last time I used it. Maybe the machine's grumpy and needs a restart. Or maybe I DL'd an update that makes it reject any Google apps

So first it was Yahoo Widget Engine not installing correctly. Now Google Earth & Picasa won't go. Hopefully a restart when I get home'll fix XP's attitude. If not... any ideas?


Multi-tasking
Was wondering how this machine'd hold up to my persistent nonsense with having a billion things going at once. One word- fantastic. I'd have to hazard a chance and say that it's even faster than the 8790 was. The thing that makes me feel that way is that I've left a running game of Civ IV (Huge map) minimized, a few Explorer windows open (3-4) and a buttload o' tabs open in Firefox 2. Messing around on Firefox, one'd never know that Civ IV was running in the background. I could do the same thing w/ the 8790, but I think there was a small hint of a performance hit, IIRC. So far, I haven't thrown anything at it that it had problems with (other than the wonky not-running bullcrap that it's doing).

Thank you, chief It actually arrived just a bit ago. Got home to a delivery notice, so I went down and picked it up. Actually posting on it right now (Firefox 2.0 was the first thing I installed after enabling my Logitech MX900 & connecting to my home wireless). Have taken a few pics and have a few thoughts already, so those'll be up when I get a chance.

On the gaming side, nothing too serious, actually. Civ IV Warlords is the only thing that I've been playing lately that has any oomph behind it. Be nice to trick it out, tho' and see how the effects work. Was always scared to do that w/ the 8790 for fear of a nuclear meltdown. I do own Oblivion and've heard it's a booger to run (this 512mb Nvidia card should put up a fight, I'd suppose), but when I first tried it, it just didn't seem like an intuitive game to play. Guess not having the manual and patience to dig into it work against me. Hear nothing but good about it, so I'll have to spend some time w/ it. IF I ever have time. Got me a Nintendo Wii & 4 controllers, so I'm looking at having a Wii Little Party sometime soon. Who's got time for Oblivion?

As for the Sager Extended Warranty, that's a negatory. Tony Huang and I spoke about the warranty and the dead pixel insurance and we both come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth the hassle. So... 1 year and then I'm on my own. At least I'll have CC protection if things get too ugly- I sent dolares in for the 8790, but I put this little guy on the Darth Vader credit card, so I've got some muscle behind me if I have to get grumpy again

Thanks, Yang. That's you and me both!

As for the problems I was having w/ the last post, a reboot seems to have gotten things squared away. Picasa runs just fine. Haven't tried to reinstall Google Earth yet (busy trying to save someone else's computer).

Well, not exactly a "replacement," per se. 35% discount off a different machine.

Shipping cost $130 via USPS (I requested that specifically as using UPS or FedEx would've netted me a few hundred bucks in customs fees).

I haven't been to Chiang Mai in 10 1/2 years now. I wonder if it's changed much since I was there last. Beautiful place.

If it's changed that much in just the past year and a half or two, I can't even imagine what it's like then since it's been a decade for me.

Missed a chance for Sapporo, eh? Well, you're better off there weather-wise, at least. Can't say the same for pay- definitely not going to make it rich in Thailand being a teacher (not that you would in Sapporo, either, tho'). Hopefully Bangkok's influence there hasn't affected the standard of living too much. Hate to see Chiang Mai turn into Little Bangkok Next time you're out and about, stop by Hokkaido and I'll show you around a bit- show you what you're missing If that's too much, you can always hit my Flickr page and do a search for Sapporo (or 札幌, either way- I tag w/ both).

If you go for a 5760, I'd imagine it'd be ok down there. Doesn't get as hot and humid here as it does there, but so far, this machine doesn't seem to get all freaked out about heat like my 8790 did. It's such a relief not to deal with that. Not that I've been problem-free; I've just been bad about posting about ev'thing. So far, nothing major, tho'. Definitely recommend the 5760 if you don't mind the weight.

I didn't use Hibernate or Suspend. I've never had good luck w/ those and so I don't use them. Just wanted the screen to go off so as not to burn it in with a static picture. Works every other time- just that one particular morning when it wouldn't work. Worried me, but after a restart, it's worked fine. Well, you're ahead of me there. I wouldn't know how to do that if I had to. Definitely LMK if you get it squared away. Appropriately enough, the cursor's focus zoomed up into a different area and made a small editing mess as I was typing this. !#$%!! Works as designed? Cocksuckers. That must be corporatespeak for We Don't Know How to Fix it or It Would Cost Money to Fix It, So We Won't. I've got a friend that's worked @ HP for more years than I care to remember. I'll have to get ahold of him and see if he knows anything about it. He's not in the PDA section, but still- if I hear anything, I'll LYK. I didn't format the card w/ the 5760 as it doesn't even see the card. Nada. Nothing. It's like there's not even a card in the slot. I could blow in the slot and get the same effect. Curious as I ordered the Dell 9300 at the end of 2005 and it works just fine. Doesn't seem right that a high-end notebook that is newer can't read 4gb cards. And that doesn't bode well as I just ordered up an 8gb card; if 4gb is a no-go, then I can't imagine the 8gb being any better. Too bad my 2gb took a dump and is unusable; be interesting to see if it's readable. Having checked for updates, I see nothing new. Card Reader version is 2.0.0.4, same as Sager's site. Elantech's touchpad driver, 5.0.1.9, is also the featured driver on Sager's site.

Hey, chief. I know how the being away is- other than this thread and the Photography Thread, I'm not around much myself.

Start emailing the Head Kahunas- maybe that'll get 'em in gear to put some power in a 14 incher for ya (does that sound worse than it is?)

Screens... I don't know that there's much difference. Without them side-by-side, I'll have to say that I get the feeling that the Dell is actually a bit brighter. But that could be a bunch o' hooey. This 5760's screen is fantastic. The Glossy bit is a bit annoying sometimes, but otherwise it's sharp and clear.

Edit:
Posting from the 9300 now. Don't know. Hard to tell the screen diff. when they're not side-by-side. I prefer the Sager screen, though- if not simply for the fact that it's WSXGA+ and not WUXGA.

That's kind of worrying that I'm not the only one w/ the screen problem. Hopefully this doesn't escalate into a larger issue later on down the road. How long've you had your machine?

The touchpad problem's been "fixed" for the time being. Disabling it via Fn+F1 does the trick for me. That's all that I need. Still a PITA when I type and I'm not using my MX500, but for the time being, I'm coping.

As for the off-center keyboard, that doesn't bother me as my previous machine was an 8790 which used the same exact keyboard. The only difference that I can notice is that I think the wrist pad area on the 5760 is larger than the 8790's, so that changes things a bit. I didn't have the machines side-by-side, though, so maybe that's just my imagination.