I finally received my 9860 on Tuesday and immediately pulled it out of the box and started getting it up to speed. Here's the basic specs of it:
Sager 9860C
17" WSXGA
3.2Ghz CPU
1Gb Ram
80Gb HD
Optical 1: DVD Rom/CDRW
Optical 2: Dual Layer DVD+-RW
TV Tuner
Wireless/Bluetooth Combo
Integrated Webcam
Let me say right off - this baby is beautiful!!!! It's quite a hefty machine, but it is more than worth it!!
To start with, I installed the OS and all the drivers. Whatever you do, make sure you install them in the order the Installation CD tells you to. Otherwise...trouble!!
Once the OS and drivers were on there, I could finally start installing actual applications. The first thing to go on there was Symantec - no viruses and a decent firewall. From there, I added stuff like Microsoft Office, Winamp, Azureus, WinDVD, Nero, Roxio, DVD Shrink, etc…. No problems with any of these. The only problem I had was with Doom 3. It crashed right at the end of the install. Anyone else have a problem with this?
Of course, once I got the system up and running, I immediately went and checked for dead/stuck pixels. I can happily report that my 17"WSXGA is Pixel Perfect!!
LCD Screen - Absolutely gorgeous. I found a couple of different desktop backgrounds to put on there just to see how well the LCD performed. I am very, very satisfied with this one!
3.2Ghz Processor - This is a fast machine! I almost went with the 3.4 or 3.6, but decided against. I think I made the right decision because this computer is more than fast enough for me.
1Gb RAM - Glad I went with the 1Gb instead of 512Mb. I only had 512Mb in my Alienware and I can definitely tell the difference.
80Gb Hard Drive - I went with this one since it's SATA. Although I know that technically, this one is better than the regular ATA drives, I can't say that I notice a real difference in it. It's definitely fast, but I don't really know how to compare the drives.
Dual Optical Drives - I went with Dual Optical drives so that I could do Disc to Disc copies. My Alienware Area 51M didn't have this and I truly missed that feature. I'm glad that I decided to get dual drives in the laptop because I'm doing away with my desktop. The drives both work really well, although the DVD+-RW drive would only burn a DVD at 4x. It might just be the media I was using, but I'll have to look in this one a little further.
TV Tuner - Works great, sounds great, looks great. What more can I say?
Wireless/Bluetooth Combo - Haven't done anything with the Bluetooth yet, but I have a Wireless network set up and the WiFi card immediately connected. With the Alienware, I had a lot of problems getting it to stay on the network, but this card has great range and fantastic connection. No problems here!
Webcam - I only messed with this a little bit. As long as you have good lighting, the webcam looks good. If you've got less than superb light, it comes through quite dark. You can still make out the shapes and stuff, but you can't see details at all. Not a feature that I was greatly concerned about, but it's nice to have.
I couldn't get Doom 3 installed, but I did manage to get Half-Life 2 installed. Running on High settings, it looks and works great! The game is not pixelated at all and there's absolutely no lag. It makes me think I'm looking at it on a high definition TV!
The fans don't run all the time, only when gaming or other resource consuming tasks. When surfing the net, they're not on. Overall, the 9860 runs pretty quietly. I'm very happy with it.
I have to say that I give this a 2 thumbs up! The service through PCTorque was fantastic, the 9860 itself is amazing! The laptop is big and heavy, but I expected that with a DTR. I had thought about going with the 3790, but ultimately decided that since I wanted a laptop that would last a few years and act as a DTR, I went with the 9860. I think it's one of the best decisions I've made in my life!
Sager 9860C
17" WSXGA
3.2Ghz CPU
1Gb Ram
80Gb HD
Optical 1: DVD Rom/CDRW
Optical 2: Dual Layer DVD+-RW
TV Tuner
Wireless/Bluetooth Combo
Integrated Webcam
Let me say right off - this baby is beautiful!!!! It's quite a hefty machine, but it is more than worth it!!
To start with, I installed the OS and all the drivers. Whatever you do, make sure you install them in the order the Installation CD tells you to. Otherwise...trouble!!
Once the OS and drivers were on there, I could finally start installing actual applications. The first thing to go on there was Symantec - no viruses and a decent firewall. From there, I added stuff like Microsoft Office, Winamp, Azureus, WinDVD, Nero, Roxio, DVD Shrink, etc…. No problems with any of these. The only problem I had was with Doom 3. It crashed right at the end of the install. Anyone else have a problem with this?
Of course, once I got the system up and running, I immediately went and checked for dead/stuck pixels. I can happily report that my 17"WSXGA is Pixel Perfect!!
LCD Screen - Absolutely gorgeous. I found a couple of different desktop backgrounds to put on there just to see how well the LCD performed. I am very, very satisfied with this one!
3.2Ghz Processor - This is a fast machine! I almost went with the 3.4 or 3.6, but decided against. I think I made the right decision because this computer is more than fast enough for me.
1Gb RAM - Glad I went with the 1Gb instead of 512Mb. I only had 512Mb in my Alienware and I can definitely tell the difference.
80Gb Hard Drive - I went with this one since it's SATA. Although I know that technically, this one is better than the regular ATA drives, I can't say that I notice a real difference in it. It's definitely fast, but I don't really know how to compare the drives.
Dual Optical Drives - I went with Dual Optical drives so that I could do Disc to Disc copies. My Alienware Area 51M didn't have this and I truly missed that feature. I'm glad that I decided to get dual drives in the laptop because I'm doing away with my desktop. The drives both work really well, although the DVD+-RW drive would only burn a DVD at 4x. It might just be the media I was using, but I'll have to look in this one a little further.
TV Tuner - Works great, sounds great, looks great. What more can I say?
Wireless/Bluetooth Combo - Haven't done anything with the Bluetooth yet, but I have a Wireless network set up and the WiFi card immediately connected. With the Alienware, I had a lot of problems getting it to stay on the network, but this card has great range and fantastic connection. No problems here!
Webcam - I only messed with this a little bit. As long as you have good lighting, the webcam looks good. If you've got less than superb light, it comes through quite dark. You can still make out the shapes and stuff, but you can't see details at all. Not a feature that I was greatly concerned about, but it's nice to have.
I couldn't get Doom 3 installed, but I did manage to get Half-Life 2 installed. Running on High settings, it looks and works great! The game is not pixelated at all and there's absolutely no lag. It makes me think I'm looking at it on a high definition TV!
The fans don't run all the time, only when gaming or other resource consuming tasks. When surfing the net, they're not on. Overall, the 9860 runs pretty quietly. I'm very happy with it.
I have to say that I give this a 2 thumbs up! The service through PCTorque was fantastic, the 9860 itself is amazing! The laptop is big and heavy, but I expected that with a DTR. I had thought about going with the 3790, but ultimately decided that since I wanted a laptop that would last a few years and act as a DTR, I went with the 9860. I think it's one of the best decisions I've made in my life!
