My last run-in with a Clevo sourced notebook was back in the '90s. I was looking for a Pentium 120 notebook that was powerful enough to play 7th Guest and other games like it (tell you how long ago it was?). The Prostar notebook was plenty fast, and had all of a 32 minute battery life. Build quality was a joke. Back it went.
Fast forward to this past December. I have an XPS Gen 2 that's aging kinda sorta gracefully and was one of the first units shipped. I also have a 2.16Ghz Macbook Pro running XP via Bootcamp which can also fill the same role but wanted something with better graphics grunt. My choice was between the M570U or ordering an M1710 from Dell. I haven't been 100% thrilled with the XPS2's build quality and was intrigued by the Clevo. So, I ordered it, and a few days later, the box showed up and I set about putting it together. Assembly was quite easy save some confusion on the WiFi antennas and slotting in the 2.5" 9.5mm SATA drive. Once that was done, it was a simple matter to install the processor, apply a bit of Arctic Silver, install the memory and go. The XP install was painless and two hours after unboxing I was up and running.
Initial impressions were that the build quality and materials were excellent and FAR surpassed Dell. Every XPS I've ever seen (we have two XPS Gen 2s, an M170 and two M1710s around the office) has slop in the screen hinge and feels as though the hinge is loose. The M570 has NONE of that. The screen is rock solid and has no slop/slack whatsoever. Fine positioning adjustments are easy and adjusting the screen conveys a feeling of solidity and stability. No creaks, groans, etc from the chassis which is MUCH more than I can say for the XPS. The MBP obviously is built better than the Dell but still doesn't embarrass the Clevo. While the M570U can't run OS X, it absolutely betters the MBP's performance in XP and offers vastly superior graphics and resolution in a package that isn't a huge size increase (although it does weigh 3 lbs more!)
The keyboard is nothing short of amazing and has the best feel I've ever experienced on a notebook. The discrete numeric keypad is a bonus. It feels rock solid with none of the bounce and flex I'm used to on Dell machines. Even with all this, the notebook manages to seem quite a bit smaller and lighter than the M1710 although it actually weighs a bit more and is close to identical in size save thickness. Battery life is comparable, and I get about 2 hours when browsing or watching a DVD. I don't game on battery so can't speak to longevity when doing so.
None of this really matters if the performance isn't up to scratch. I'm very happy to say that not only is the performance superb, but also that the machine runs much cooler than the XPS M1710 and much MUCH cooler than the Gen 2 or M170.
The display is of similar quality to the Dell and seems to have less light leakage, but overall brightness is less and I find myself trying to turn the brightness up frequently. It's definitely not DIM, but for those who like their screens to be able to get into torch mode, this won't do the trick for ya. The glare coating doesn't seem to be as reflective as Dell's and walks a very good line between reflectivity and contrst enhancement. The sound system is also comparable and is surprisingly excellent for a notebook. There's no real bass to be had but the sound extends deep enough and the notebook gets loud enough to deliver sound that's satisfying enough to allow one to go without external speakers.
Now, very recently I had reason to send the notebook back to RJtech due to an ID10T hardware error that I won't go into detail on. The support was excellent and my notebook was turned around within a week. Better yet, what I thought was going to be out of pocket was treated as a warranty repair and the affected major component was replaced. Obviously YMMV and I definitely wouldn't expect this but they were great about standing behind the product. I did have to pay shipping to and from them. Still, I'm very impressed with the speed and painlessness of their service. They've been very prompt about responding to emails, etc.
After three months of HARD daily usage for 3-8 hours/day my impression hasn't changed any. The notebook still feels as good as it did the day I unboxed it and other than self induced pain, hasn't skipped a beat. No BSODs, no problems at all.
Fast forward to this past December. I have an XPS Gen 2 that's aging kinda sorta gracefully and was one of the first units shipped. I also have a 2.16Ghz Macbook Pro running XP via Bootcamp which can also fill the same role but wanted something with better graphics grunt. My choice was between the M570U or ordering an M1710 from Dell. I haven't been 100% thrilled with the XPS2's build quality and was intrigued by the Clevo. So, I ordered it, and a few days later, the box showed up and I set about putting it together. Assembly was quite easy save some confusion on the WiFi antennas and slotting in the 2.5" 9.5mm SATA drive. Once that was done, it was a simple matter to install the processor, apply a bit of Arctic Silver, install the memory and go. The XP install was painless and two hours after unboxing I was up and running.
Initial impressions were that the build quality and materials were excellent and FAR surpassed Dell. Every XPS I've ever seen (we have two XPS Gen 2s, an M170 and two M1710s around the office) has slop in the screen hinge and feels as though the hinge is loose. The M570 has NONE of that. The screen is rock solid and has no slop/slack whatsoever. Fine positioning adjustments are easy and adjusting the screen conveys a feeling of solidity and stability. No creaks, groans, etc from the chassis which is MUCH more than I can say for the XPS. The MBP obviously is built better than the Dell but still doesn't embarrass the Clevo. While the M570U can't run OS X, it absolutely betters the MBP's performance in XP and offers vastly superior graphics and resolution in a package that isn't a huge size increase (although it does weigh 3 lbs more!)
The keyboard is nothing short of amazing and has the best feel I've ever experienced on a notebook. The discrete numeric keypad is a bonus. It feels rock solid with none of the bounce and flex I'm used to on Dell machines. Even with all this, the notebook manages to seem quite a bit smaller and lighter than the M1710 although it actually weighs a bit more and is close to identical in size save thickness. Battery life is comparable, and I get about 2 hours when browsing or watching a DVD. I don't game on battery so can't speak to longevity when doing so.
None of this really matters if the performance isn't up to scratch. I'm very happy to say that not only is the performance superb, but also that the machine runs much cooler than the XPS M1710 and much MUCH cooler than the Gen 2 or M170.
The display is of similar quality to the Dell and seems to have less light leakage, but overall brightness is less and I find myself trying to turn the brightness up frequently. It's definitely not DIM, but for those who like their screens to be able to get into torch mode, this won't do the trick for ya. The glare coating doesn't seem to be as reflective as Dell's and walks a very good line between reflectivity and contrst enhancement. The sound system is also comparable and is surprisingly excellent for a notebook. There's no real bass to be had but the sound extends deep enough and the notebook gets loud enough to deliver sound that's satisfying enough to allow one to go without external speakers.
Now, very recently I had reason to send the notebook back to RJtech due to an ID10T hardware error that I won't go into detail on. The support was excellent and my notebook was turned around within a week. Better yet, what I thought was going to be out of pocket was treated as a warranty repair and the affected major component was replaced. Obviously YMMV and I definitely wouldn't expect this but they were great about standing behind the product. I did have to pay shipping to and from them. Still, I'm very impressed with the speed and painlessness of their service. They've been very prompt about responding to emails, etc.
After three months of HARD daily usage for 3-8 hours/day my impression hasn't changed any. The notebook still feels as good as it did the day I unboxed it and other than self induced pain, hasn't skipped a beat. No BSODs, no problems at all.
