Hello SagerForums members,
This is my first post (although I was checking the Forum posts for almost 4 months).
Last week I have ordered a 5670 for my cousin (from PCTorque of course). I have received it on Thursday 10th April.
The ordering and shipping process went wery well.
The 5670 specs are:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
RAM: 256 MB
HDD: 40GB / 5400 rpm
Screen: SXGA+
Combo DVD/CD-RW drive
All other oprions in default.
I will give the notebook to my cousin in the end of the month. In the meantime I do heavy testing (that is gaming).
1. Installation
I have installed Windows XP Pro and then the drivers supplied in the CD.
I followed the recommended sequence in the manual. Everything went smoothly.
One of my first impressions; the Sager 5670 notebook is compact (which is nice). From pictures I though it was bigger.
2. Screen
Although I would have preffered the UXGA screen, my cousin wanted the SXGA+ one. His main concern was the small incons and fonts. Anyway, the SXGA+ screen is very good. With fonts at default size (100%), fonts and icons are readable. Anyway, I have set the fonts to 110%. Icons and fonts look very nice and sharp and more readable for me.
I have not observed any ghosting during gaming (RallySport Challenge, UT2003, RTCW, F12002).
3. Construction, Keyboard
The construction is very good and the keyboard is very nice. Compared to a Toshiba 1955 (16 in screen, 2.5 Ghz, price around $2400) notebook I was testing one month ago the Sager keyboard s equally good.
4. Drives
The hard disk and combo drive are good. The hard disk is less noisy than I expected and is fast (compared to other laptop hard disks; I was checking the Toshiba laptops and almost all come with 4200 rpm drives). The combo DVD/CD-RW is also nice and does what is suppose to do. As with all laptop optical drives, one should be careful when inserting or taking out a CD in the drawer. I used NERO CD recording software with no problems at all.
5. RAM
Nothing much, except that I have ordered another 256 MB module from Crucial. Installation went very smoothly (following to the letter the instructions in the manual). The Crucial RAM module works flawlessly, for a total of 512 MB now.
6. Bechmarking
I have installed various benchmark programs: Sandra2003, 3DMark2001SE, Passmark Performance Test and Burn-In Test, Prime95).
Some 3DMark2001 results (WIndows XP Pro, drivers form CD, Vertical Sync Off):
Graphics Core Freq.: 250 MHz (default)
Graphics Memory Freq.: 380MHz (default)
3DMarks: 7100
Core: 261 MHz
Memory: 390 MHz
3DMarks: 7301
Core: 270 MHz
Memory: 400 MHz
3DMarks: 7438
In the latest setting (270/400 MHz) I had some artifacts in UT2003. I used Rage3D Tweak (from www.guru3d.com) to report and set the core/mem frequencies.
Anyway, I use the default settings for the graphics frequencies, since current games are very playable.
7. Gaming
I used the following games to test the 5670:
UT2003, RallySport Challenge, RTCW and F1 2002.
All games are very playable in 1280x1024 with high settings. I have also tested UT2003 at 1280x1024 with 2x Smoothvision (Anti-Aliasing) and it was still playable (although motion sometimes slowed a liitle bit).
In UT2003 sometimes the frames during a fight drop around 24 fps but still the game is playable with no major breaks. I used FRAPS to report the fps (which might result in 10% lower frames).
8. Issues
So far the Sager 5670 is very stable in its operation. No problems even if it is on for hours (many of which is gaming).
One issue that somehow concerned me is that the left side of the keyboard gets hot (especially during gaming). However, I am still be able to use the keyboard for typing and gaming. So no major issue here.
As I said in the beginning, the laptop is for my cousin. For now I wait for the next 56?? model with the m10 (mobility 9600) graphics card. I think in that model current games should be playable in 1600x1200 with high settings.
This is my first post (although I was checking the Forum posts for almost 4 months).
Last week I have ordered a 5670 for my cousin (from PCTorque of course). I have received it on Thursday 10th April.
The ordering and shipping process went wery well.
The 5670 specs are:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
RAM: 256 MB
HDD: 40GB / 5400 rpm
Screen: SXGA+
Combo DVD/CD-RW drive
All other oprions in default.
I will give the notebook to my cousin in the end of the month. In the meantime I do heavy testing (that is gaming).
1. Installation
I have installed Windows XP Pro and then the drivers supplied in the CD.
I followed the recommended sequence in the manual. Everything went smoothly.
One of my first impressions; the Sager 5670 notebook is compact (which is nice). From pictures I though it was bigger.
2. Screen
Although I would have preffered the UXGA screen, my cousin wanted the SXGA+ one. His main concern was the small incons and fonts. Anyway, the SXGA+ screen is very good. With fonts at default size (100%), fonts and icons are readable. Anyway, I have set the fonts to 110%. Icons and fonts look very nice and sharp and more readable for me.
I have not observed any ghosting during gaming (RallySport Challenge, UT2003, RTCW, F12002).
3. Construction, Keyboard
The construction is very good and the keyboard is very nice. Compared to a Toshiba 1955 (16 in screen, 2.5 Ghz, price around $2400) notebook I was testing one month ago the Sager keyboard s equally good.
4. Drives
The hard disk and combo drive are good. The hard disk is less noisy than I expected and is fast (compared to other laptop hard disks; I was checking the Toshiba laptops and almost all come with 4200 rpm drives). The combo DVD/CD-RW is also nice and does what is suppose to do. As with all laptop optical drives, one should be careful when inserting or taking out a CD in the drawer. I used NERO CD recording software with no problems at all.
5. RAM
Nothing much, except that I have ordered another 256 MB module from Crucial. Installation went very smoothly (following to the letter the instructions in the manual). The Crucial RAM module works flawlessly, for a total of 512 MB now.
6. Bechmarking
I have installed various benchmark programs: Sandra2003, 3DMark2001SE, Passmark Performance Test and Burn-In Test, Prime95).
Some 3DMark2001 results (WIndows XP Pro, drivers form CD, Vertical Sync Off):
Graphics Core Freq.: 250 MHz (default)
Graphics Memory Freq.: 380MHz (default)
3DMarks: 7100
Core: 261 MHz
Memory: 390 MHz
3DMarks: 7301
Core: 270 MHz
Memory: 400 MHz
3DMarks: 7438
In the latest setting (270/400 MHz) I had some artifacts in UT2003. I used Rage3D Tweak (from www.guru3d.com) to report and set the core/mem frequencies.
Anyway, I use the default settings for the graphics frequencies, since current games are very playable.
7. Gaming
I used the following games to test the 5670:
UT2003, RallySport Challenge, RTCW and F1 2002.
All games are very playable in 1280x1024 with high settings. I have also tested UT2003 at 1280x1024 with 2x Smoothvision (Anti-Aliasing) and it was still playable (although motion sometimes slowed a liitle bit).
In UT2003 sometimes the frames during a fight drop around 24 fps but still the game is playable with no major breaks. I used FRAPS to report the fps (which might result in 10% lower frames).
8. Issues
So far the Sager 5670 is very stable in its operation. No problems even if it is on for hours (many of which is gaming).
One issue that somehow concerned me is that the left side of the keyboard gets hot (especially during gaming). However, I am still be able to use the keyboard for typing and gaming. So no major issue here.
As I said in the beginning, the laptop is for my cousin. For now I wait for the next 56?? model with the m10 (mobility 9600) graphics card. I think in that model current games should be playable in 1600x1200 with high settings.
