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anyone else disappointed in the 8890?

post #1 of 27
9/4/03 at 1:08am
Thread Starter 
yah...this whole video card drivers thing is just ruining this laptop for me. on top of that it just seems like it locks up a lot. i dont know. just wondering if anyone else out there is having as many problems as i am with this laptop. i just expected a lot more out of it than this.
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post #2 of 27
9/4/03 at 1:27am
I'm not having any lockups...what are you doing when you get these? The only problem I have is with the keyboard (sager is sending me a fix) and the vid driver (better ones will be out soon). Overall I'm very pleased with my decision.
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post #3 of 27
9/4/03 at 1:42am
Quote:
Originally posted by ayasin
...and the vid driver (better ones will be out soon)...
Don't bet on it... I'm still waiting for bullet-proof video drivers for my M9 in my 8887.

I don't blame Sager/Clevo, per se, but ATI. Man, I hope they aren't slipping back into their "We royally suck at drivers" mode again. Just when you think they have that bad reputation beaten...

I hope Clevo is looking to nVidia or another mobile vid card provider, just as insurance against ATI's ineptness.

-myrkat
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post #4 of 27
9/4/03 at 2:27am
I'm feeling the same pain you are. First things first..

I love my 8890. I believe it's worth every penny I paid for it.

HOWEVER

9/10 games I played today crashed at some point. At first I thought it was the game itself, so I went crazy with patches. Then I found out, through these forums, that I should use the non-WHQL ATI drivers. After that, games work a little longer now, but STILL freeze. Nearly every game, freezing in the exact same way. I'm almost positive its the video drivers.. but if anyone else has suggestions, I'm all ears.

When the 8890 DOESN'T crash, though, its beautiful... amazing performance, insane framerates. I simply want it to run a little smoother.
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post #5 of 27
9/4/03 at 8:06am
I've played for hours GTA-3 vice city- Metal of Honor- UTourn.-Postal 2, not one lock up, not on hick-up. sorry to hear the problems! I'am very happy with this speed demon 8890.
Using the video drivers that were already loaded on the machine.
Hope you fix this issue!
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post #6 of 27
9/4/03 at 8:46am
I bought my 8890 with no OS. I installed XP Pro & the 7.93 drivers & DX 9.0b.

I have not had a lockup yet & this thing is incredible. I have used an awful lot of laptops(my wife has a Powerbook)& this is hands down the best one I have ever used.

My son played Mafia from beginning to end with no lockups & was playing MOH last night with no problems at all.

I had it running for eleven hours straight recently doing some very heavy Photoshop work with no problems at all. I always use it on a laptop desk to help keep it cool, so I'm sure that helps.

~John
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post #7 of 27
9/4/03 at 8:54am
The only problem that I have with the video driver is the blochyness in the IE toolbar. With my color scheme this is only noticable if you really look for it. I'm pretty sure a fix for this will come along, but even if it doesn't, it's not a showstopper for me.
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post #8 of 27
9/4/03 at 11:59am

3DLockups == hardware problem

Check out some of the other threads here. If you are consistantly locking up in 3D games, it is extremely likely you have bad/not up to spec RAM.

If you don't mind crawling around in the laptop, remove half of your RAM and try again. This is what I did and Sager is now looking at my machine to see what's up. I think (just a guess) that a bunch of the RAM that they got was not up to spec. I could run with either one of my SODIMMs, but not both at the same time.

My totally reproducible crash to test with is to run 3DMark03. I would always lock up during the first or second CPU test, the ones that are after the first 4 graphics tests. If you lock up there, your system has a hardware problem, undoubtedly.

If you don't feel comfortable working in the laptop, call Sager and let them know what's up. They are really terrific on the phone.. very helpful.
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post #9 of 27
9/4/03 at 12:10pm
There are some instances where dual channel memory 2 sticks of ram don't work well together. If 2 sticks of ram are slightly different they can cause problems when working in dual channel mode. If you look at places like newegg.com they sell matched pairs of ram for dual channel boards. My guess is that sager isn't testing to see if each stick works well together. Its a very small percentage of ram that has this problem and since you've been able to use either one but not both I'm thinking this is your problem.
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post #10 of 27
9/4/03 at 12:52pm
Actually, I think you are right. I think this is what Sager suspects as well. I just hope that when it comes back again that all will be well.

I am totally in love with the machine and am not at all disappointed with it at all, just to add my opinion to the thread. This machine has totally replaced my desktop in my mind. I hate losing it for a week, or even a day for that matter!

Luckily for me, I don't actually need to travel in the immediate future, so sending it back for repair is not too tragic, just annoying.
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post #11 of 27
9/4/03 at 2:16pm

Just sent in my RAM

Overnighted both 512 RAM Modules to Sager yesterday. They have received it and I hope they will overnight the replacement RAM back to me today.

Very disappointing to me to be without my 8890 which ran beautifully when it wasn't crashing. I hope that it is indeed a Bad RAM problem and not something more serious. As I appear to be further along with this "repair" process than others, I will keep you all posted.
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post #12 of 27
9/4/03 at 2:27pm
wessam,

Glad to hear that your RAM is being sent out. I had already gotten an RMA number from them and had sent the laptop itself out before one of their guys called and suggested I wait for a RAM swap.. Oh well.. Hopefully when I get mine back it will be running perfectly. Please let us know if you are good to go after your RAM arrives.

Ed
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post #13 of 27
9/4/03 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally posted by myrkat
Don't bet on it... I'm still waiting for bullet-proof video drivers for my M9 in my 8887.

I don't blame Sager/Clevo, per se, but ATI. Man, I hope they aren't slipping back into their "We royally suck at drivers" mode again. Just when you think they have that bad reputation beaten...

I hope Clevo is looking to nVidia or another mobile vid card provider, just as insurance against ATI's ineptness.

-myrkat
Well, the latest drivers from ATI and S-Seven are pretty darn close. I did not experience a single lockup since installing those drivers, that with hyperthreading installed (but not DX9).

Yep, I guess you 8890 guys will need to wait out a little before getting an alternative... By the way which catalyst version is shipped with the 8890 ? I haven't read the other 8890 threads, but you may want to try the S-seven / Cat 3.6. My .02 cents
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post #14 of 27
9/4/03 at 8:35pm

Haven't got the RAM yet

Ed:

I requested that since I went to the trouble of spending $25.00 to overnight the bad RAM, which should not have been in my $4000 computer in the first place, would they be so kind as to overnight the good RAM back.

The reponse 5 1/2 hours later was:

"I have the tech handle the RAM for you."

I can tell you one thing, these guys do not believe in phones. My conversation with them has been pretty one-sided, me asking them, and them responding many many hours later. One two minute phone call last week could have saved a lot of wasted time. I am quite displeased with "e-mail customer service".

Was thinking of buying 1-2 more Sagers but now I am re-considering.
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post #15 of 27
9/4/03 at 10:21pm
MoRbiDStAr
I don't know if this would help you are not. I just installed Omega's newer xp2472a drivers -WOW I'm glad I did, notice right away a little more speed, more vibrant colors. Nice bump with these drivers for me.The ATI 6378 that came on the 8890 were not all that bad but I glad I put these in. You don't have to mod these drivers. I just uninstalled the ATI 6378-then used a program called driver cleaner to remove any leftovers, then installed the omega's. I had these on my desktop Epox 8rda+ 3200+ raid with a ATI 9700 pro and this 8890 blows away the epox with these omega drivers.
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post #16 of 27
9/4/03 at 10:46pm
wessam,

I hear you on your concerns, but look at it this way: these laptops are bleeding edge technology, especially in the laptop form factor. There are bound to be a few problems. If we were smart and had patience (hehe, which I am severly short of.. ;-), we would have waited a month to put an order in til after the initial run was finished.

As far as the emails go, I called them on their 800 number, left my number and a tech was in touch with me in an hour or two. Not too bad. About what I expected..

I personally will hold off final judgement until I get the laptop back next week.

You gotta admit: the product itself is *such* a sweet piece of hardware!!
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post #17 of 27
9/5/03 at 1:28pm

Still Waiting for a response

A phone call returned from an actual human being? No such luck for me even though I called first and then begged them via e-mail to call me back. I am lucky to get a non--responsive, barely one line return from these guys, in a 36 hour time frame. Never once have they directlly answered my question, which I have kept simple and straightforward. No apologies, no offer to pay shippiing for their mistake, and don't kid yourself, it's their mistake. I would much preferred pushing the date back and getting it right, then rush it, and blow it, which they did. If this is what $4,000 buys me, fuggetaboudit!

By the way, this is no reflection on Adam, who reponds promptly to any problems.
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post #18 of 27
9/5/03 at 1:48pm

Just Got My One-liner Back

"You will receive the replaced RAM on Monday"

That's customer service for you. No tracking number; no apology, no sorry for the delay in getting back to you. No offer to reimburse the overnight shipping ($25). FWIW
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post #19 of 27
9/5/03 at 2:35pm

s-seven

are there s-seven drivers out there for this?
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post #20 of 27
9/5/03 at 4:04pm
I have not had a single crash or problem with my 8890 other then the keyboard issue and the fix is on it's ay to me. I've played mass games for many hours straight, did some graphics desgin (PS, Bryce, Poser) and not a single crash or problem. I don't even see the IE blotch effect that some are seeing.

After reading all these posts, I'm feel fortunate everything works great on my 8890. I think you all who have crashes in games should be calling Sager and getting RAM replaced.

I am so happy with my 8890. This thing kicks ***!!!!
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