all set to buy a 8886-v... but...

Sagers are great! There quality has changed a lot over time, and it is the best laptop for the money.

As good as sites like CNET are (and I do use them a lot), they are strongly biased towards the major name brands. That's at least in part do to the fact that they receive a significant amount of revenue from those brands. Obviously this forum is going to have some inherent biases, but the on the whole people here are relatively fair and objective (and are more than willing to point out the negatives of Sager systems). See the following thread for an example: http://sagerforums.com/forums/showth...ight=dell+8200

I've done several months of research myself, and IMHO, the vast majority of negative comments out there are about older models. Anything newer (last 6 months) is getting fantastic reviews. Personally, I have yet to read about anyone's total dissatisfaction with their product (or component) - just frustrations that some features may not be available (e.g. internal wireless). It's very strange, and I've been taken back by the amount of positive (and lack of negative) comments that are out there for the current models. Given the level of passion, you'd almost think these people were Mac users instead of PC :-).

I have only just purchased a 5660 (is anxiously waiting at home for me to open right now :-), so I can't speak from experience, but if Sagers were as bad as some people say they are, there's no way the ratings would be so high at ResellerRatings.com. I would at least check out the following:

PowerNotebooks: http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1980.html

PCTorque: http://www.resellerratings.com/seller3048.html

As you probably already know, AlienWare's Area 51 laptop is identical to the Sager 5660, so you will want to check out reviews of those laptops as well. I bought mine from PCTorque, and if the machine turns out to be as good as the service, they'll definitely have another very positive addition. I was also wondering if they're too good to be true, but so far have concluded that the reputation appears to be fact, not fiction.

Sager is relatively unknown, and the big name brands would prefer to keep it that way, otherwise the Sagers would dominate.

Sager resellers generally have great customer service; powernotebooks and pctorque are the most renowned, (see richlivi's post) and it is possibly due to the fact that they have more time and less people to deal with.

The warranties can be extended, but resellers, like PCTorque, offer replacement and tech support for life.

If you're talking about the Better Business Bureau saying Sager has a "spotty past," there was already a thread on that. (http://sagerforums.com/forums/showth...usiness+bureau) They're not reliable, as they are a business as well.

Finally, the experience your friend had was probably due to overheating. There have been some complaints about it in these forums, but your friend probably could have just sent it in for replacement. Sager and its resellers are nice people, and if you give them a try, you won't be disappointed.

If there was anyone here to be mad at Sager here it would be me because my 8886 died two weeks after I purchased it. But I'm not mad at all, Sagers tech support is AWESOME, they had fixed my lappy and had it back to me within 3 days!!! All companys can have faulty products, thats a fact, but the quantity of faulty things is what you look out for, and I've only heard of two cases of Sagers dieing (mine and some other guys). So (i have to cut this short) you have nothing to worry about. Sager is a great company with a great product at a great price.
Ill comment more later or if any of this is unclear im writing in a hurry lol. cya

I haven't bought my own sager yet, but I have searched high and low for any info on sagers I can find. This forum has giving me more valuable information than any where else on the web. I think that most all those who post here tell you just what they think! Good or bad! I have a dell ( be it a desktop ) and their service is ok. From what I've seen on this forum PCT seems to go to great pains to stay on top of every problem that may come up and try his best to resolve it asap! Just look at the posts on Dec. 25! The man was still taking care of customers ,on Christmas! When it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, its the service that counts! Anyone can sell you a computer. And yes I will be spending my hard earned cash to buy a sager (8886) for PCT! By the way not only do they seem to have great service, they have the lowest prices!

Everyone has pretty much covered the bases. You should keep in mind that every company is going to have a few people who just get mad and post bad reports about them... Take a look at forums all over the web and you can see a TON of bad reports about Dells, lol. I was horrified at some of them... The point is, Sager has been in business for like 17 years... all they do is sell laptops, and usually only the people who have had problems get mad enough to voice it, so you get a one sided story. In recent months, Sager products have been unquestionably high quality, I know this because I am using one right now that impresses EVERYONE who sees it. Not to mention the price from PCTorque for it... Try Dell on for that, lol, and you will receive some dissappointment. Also, consider that Alienware sells the same model as one of the sagers, and I doubt one can ask for more "big name" than that... it is the exact same model, so Sager obviously has respectable products. I would not hesitate do buy from them, especially considering hard earned money will get you much more from them than anywhere else.