Dell vs. Sager

Two things lead me to Sager vs the named brands. One was that you just can't get all the bells and whistles you get with a Sager, and for a cheaper price too. The second was some solid recommendations from the people here, who have used many other brands in the past.

sager is a little known company and doesn't get into many magazine reviews, but most laptop companies e.g. vodoo use the same machines as sagers.

Dell does have the edge on graphics cards (at the moment), but thats only coz they're dum enough to use the last in the agp series of cards, whilst most companies are prepearing for pci-e

Sager customer service: Send a email or call and leave a message. They contact you when they found the solution or need more info.

Dell customer srvice: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/192820

Sager 3790 vs. Inspiron 8600
Sager 3790 have a better screen, better cooling, better benchmark score and better battery life with the 12 cell.

Sager 5690 or 8790 vs. Inspiron 9100 or XPS?
They all are Desktop replacement and have low battery life.
Sager got better screens that the 9100 and are less heavy.
Dell got a better gpu, the ati mobility radeon 9800.

I can't say for sure yet about compairison; but I actually opted to return my Dell 8600 in the 21 day 'satisfaction garenteed' period because of the low quality of the display. I went through a few replacement screens, sharp have light leak and high dead pixel count (had 3 of these)... and the other samsung (tried 2 of these) had this big neon blue light on the bottom of the screen, and less severe light leak.

Now I see people who are plenty happy with their 8600 screen quality, but I'm a real perfectionist when it comes to visually appealing, high quality displays. I had the wuxga ultra-sharp and it was only sub-par quality at best.

I have now ordered a 3790 sager to replace it, and it is set to arive begining next week, so hopefully everyone here, is right about the quality. To me, it seems like everyone here is here because other big named brands leave them dissapointed (like I was).

Now the sager is actually a bit more expensive, but you can get away with free shipping, and even no tax if you live in cali. Not to mention you get extras beyond what the dell offers (8600vs3700) with the card reader, 4 speakers, web/video cam, bigger "base size" hard disk, 3USB port, all legacy ports arn't removed, radeon 9700 video card instead of older 9600, and the ethernet supports gigabit ethernet!

"Now the sager is actually a bit more expensive, but you can get away with free shipping, and even no tax if you live in cali. Not to mention you get more bang for your buck (8600vs3700) with the card reader, 4 speakers, web/video cam, and bigger "base size" hard disk"

Lets look at the "bang for your bucks" factor, shall we? There isn't a computer manufacturer out there that can compete with Dell when it comes to value (given that you take advantage of Dell constantly changing promotions). Case and point, Dell recently offered a $500 coupon code off of any $1499 or more laptop. On top of that, there's a $200 rebate that you will get back with the 8600. I couldn't resist such a sweet deal and jumped in and ordered a second I8600 for my sister. Here's what I got and you tell me who has the "bang for the bucks" advantage, Dell or Sager:

Inspiron 8600
Intel® Pentium®M Processor 725(1.60A GHz/400MHz FSB) 15.4 WSXGA+, Microsoft® Windows® XP Home EditionQty: 1
Unit Price: $1,517.00
Inspiron 8600Intel® Pentium®M Processor 725(1.60A GHz/400MHz FSB) 15.4 WSXGA+
Memory256MB DDR SDRAM 1 Dimm
Video Card64MB DDR NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go5200 AGP 4X Graphics
Hard DriveFREE 40GB Hard Drive
Power AdapterAC adapter - 65w, 19.5v
65W
Operating SystemMicrosoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
WHXP
Network CardIntegrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
INTNIC
Document ManagementAdobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
ADOBER
CD ROM/DVD ROMFREE 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive with Sonic RecordNow Upgrade!
Wireless Networking CardsDell® Wireless 1350 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps)
Productivity SoftwareProductivity Pack including WordPerfect®
ICORELM
Security SoftwareNorton Internet Security™, 90 day trial
Digital MusicDell Jukebox - easy-to-use music player and CD burning software
Primary Battery72 WHr Primary Battery
Limited Warranty, Services and Support1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr Technical Support
Internet Access Options6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Digital Imaging or Digital PhotographyPaint Shop™ Pro® Trial plus Photo Album™ Starter Edition
Personal Finance SoftwareMicrosoft® Money 2004 Standard
Dell Media ExperienceDell Media Experience



Dell Home Customers: Save $500 on select Inspiron notebook purchases $1499 or more! (affiliate only online offer)
Expires on 2004-10-07 15:00:00- $500.00

Save $200 with mail-in rebate. Price shown before rebate.Qty: 1
Unit Price: $0.00



ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTS AND COUPONS

Dell Home Customers: Free Ground Shipping on any Dell Inspiron order greater than $649!!
Expires on 2004-10-14 05:59:59- $49.00

Sub-Total$1,017.00
Shipping Discount-$49.00
Shipping$0.00
Tax$0.00
Total$1,017.00

So after the $200 rebate comes backl...I'll end up paying $817 dollars for a 15.4 WSXGA/1.6 dothan laptop! I dare you to find a similar specs laptop for this price. Sager's 3970 is better than my present I8600 IMO but when it comes to value for your money, Dell wins handsdown.

There is a huge difference in quality between a sager and a dell. The dell are generally cheaply made and are ugly. Without the rebates the price isn't that great, and the rebates aren't always available.

Go ahead and say it already

Yes if you buy a Dell you are severely mentally handicapped and should not be aloud to interact with society

I beleive bang for the buck, was a bad choice to call what I was talking about. I meant to convey that while you do pay more for the sager, you get more in return, that goes above and beyond what the 8600 can even add as options. As such, i've adjust my posted also.. thanks for pointing it out.

As for your deal, that is a Smoking deal!! When i was ordering my dell 8600, i waited almost a month for a deal to come like that, but it never did, till about 1.5 weeks after I got my system. I finally orderd on a 'pretty good' deal, but nothing crazy. Similar system to yours but with wuxga, dothan, and bigger HD. And it was 1,450 after % off coupon.

I'll sound cliche here but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, my friend. If you are REALLY into looks then hop over to MAC and get a powerbook. As far as Dell quality, I've had mine for more about 9 months now..no problem yet. I do have a problem with the excessive use of plastic tho. You get what you paid for in life...most of the times.

I have had my notebook for about 3 months now, no break downs as well. I was only released about mid July. As for quality, it doesn't feel like plastic and it feels like it could last at least 5 years. As long as a car doesn't appear and drive over it.

I have to give Dell some credit. My last laptop was an Inspiron 8200 that I bought in June 2002. It was outstanding: 1.7 PM, 1 GB of RAM, 15" WUXGA, 40 GB hard drive, 64 MB GeForce 4 440, and a CD+-RW/DVD drive. Paid a pretty penny for it, but it served me well for two years. Still managed to play Doom 3 (althought it didn't look good!!). I just sold it to finance my 3790 purchase.

My only complaint was that the plastic construction wasn't great. But I never had to send it in to (or even call) tech support. Anyway, I got lucky and had a great experience. I hadn't heard of Sager until after I bought the laptop. I pretty much knew from then on that I would go with a Sager next.

I love that squirrel!

If you post in the sager section people will say " Go sager!"
If you post in the Dell sectin people will say "Go Dell!"

In my signature there is a link to my gallery. Unless you're going to do that to your dell, I say go Sager for the reasons stated above. If you Must buy it now and need performance graphically or you're under a budget then go with dell and don't look back.

It is NOT looks that Maya and other are talking about. It is build quality. A major difference. Dell computers are much more likely to break down, have pieces come off, scratch more easily etc... Sagers will be better than Dell's in build quality guaranteed.

I'll try to be as objective as possible ...

Support. Sager has better customer support it's true (esp. thru PCT), but Dell's isn't terrible, you just have to know how to talk to a tech.

Price. Sager's have a constant, low, reasonable price. With Dell you can wait for coupons and get a really good deal.

Quality. Aesthetics can be debated, most say Dells are fugly and Sagers are sexy, but that's a matter of opinion. Sagers have very good build quality, Dells are a said to be "plasticy" but they're sturdy machines nonetheless.

Performance. Two machines with identical parts will perform the same, that's common sense. A 9100 (w/ 9700) was on par with a 8790, etc. Sager gpu's tend to be clocked a bit higher (the 5690 especially) giving an edge in performance over many similar laptops. Right now, the Dell XPS with the 9800 (8 pipes, 256MB) is the most powerful laptop. As most of you know, the Sager 9860 will be out soon and it will probably have the 6800 (12 pipes?, 256MB) which should be more powerful than even the 9800.

Extras. Sager laptops known for having the option for a lot of "goodies", multiple hard drives, integrated camera, and internal tv-tuners for example. Dells have all of the essentials, but usually not much more. Sager is more geared toward so-called power users, Dell toward the general public.

Warranties and policies. Dell has tons of warranty options, Sager has a one year standard warranty and they let their resellers select other warranty options. Due to Dell's size they can offer on-site tech support which is a big plus for some people, others might not care. They both have fast turnarounds for repairs so that's a plus for both of them.

So, the answer to Dell vs. Sager is ... it depends. It depends on what you want or what you need. Take the time to examine both carefully, go with whichever suits you best and don't try to let other people decide for you.

Oh yeah, and AW sucks

agree'd

Heck, I am typing this message on that same spec laptop. This Dell has been a workhorse for me. In fact, to this day many computers have better CPUs GPUs etc... but the general combo of features that came with this laptop are harder to find today. I am a fan of high-resolution screens, so UXGA or WUXGA is something that I demand. I also like the dual battery slots on this old dell which makes it heavy, but I can go unpluged for a number of hours.

Yet, I have hopes for the new dell 17 inch WUXGA and hoping that sager comes out with a few models to choose from with a 17" WUXGA as well. I even almost went down the Sony route, but I didn't feel like paying for such a premimum for what they give. (nice screen though)

As far as comparison on the 5690 to the iXPS, from one who has owned both, and returned the iXPS and now owns the 5690, here is my review that somewhat compares the two. The iXPS I had only had the 9700 GPU, so that it obviously something to consider. After about 5 months, my opinions pretty much remain the same and if I were purchasing one right now, it would still be a Sager. Take it for what it is worth.

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=26760

Ok, I've gotta get in on this one. This situation is kinda like comparing my Porsche Carrera 4S to my friends corvette. He tells me the 'vette' is the best bang for the buck. I tell him he's only referring to affordability. I bought the Porsche so it stands to reason I could have afforded the corvette. The only thing is, my 1996 Porsche still retains some 60-70% of it's original value. The same cannot be said for the corvette and that's pretty much the difference between Sager and dell...in my opinion of course.

Just my .02
Kevin