I've been looking at the Sager NP5792. The thing that bugs me is this $200 for 30 days protection for dead pixels on the website customization page for ordering. What a cash grab!! ...oh and makes me a bit cautious when they will only give you 30 days protection for that.

So question to all, how many have received Sager laptops with dead pixels?

My two Sagers both came with zero dead pixels. I didn't pay for the zero dead pixel policy on either.

first 2090 i got shipped with a glossy display and had two dead pixels. i was very unhappy with the glossy display so i returned and waited untill matte displays were back in stock. i paid an extra 120 for the matte display but it shipped with zero dead pixels!

i dont understand how resellers are able to get away with shipping us displays and it being ok as long as there isnt x amount of dead pixels. for instance neweggs policy is like six before they will accept a return. one dead pixel and we should be able to immediately return, its our money! we shouldnt have to pay extra for a policy. i couldnt imagine booting a machine and every time looking directly at the dead pixel, dealing with the imperfection, knowing id wasted so much money on something and just having to deal with it because of a stupid policy. the shit unjust! the only imperfections im prepared to deal with are of my own cause.

Dead pixels are from the manufacturing process. . . so you have them or you don't. So if you don't see them inside 30 days then either there arent any or 1 in 2,304,000 was simply not noticable. Now since they are a result of the manufacturing process, LCD manufacturers have minimum requirements to meet on the LCDs. . . and it isnt 0 dead pixels.

I'm looking at a 5792/3 as well. I'm also evaluating the m15x. It seems that alienware has a built in fee for dead pixels. I'm having a hard time finding specifics, but i beleive there is already a premium paid through them for a pixel guarantee. I think it's not Zero though.

This is how i see it. The sager retailers give you a choice between saving a buck and taking a chance, or paying for a guarantee that is quite possibly better or at least the same as the big names.

cash grab or not, it's hard to find another machine in the same league of the 5792 for a better price.

The Sager looks pretty good for the most part. I've been comparing the Dell m1730 vs the Sager NP5792. The thing I like with the Sager is a choice for a 1680x1050 res screen and not be locked into taking the 1920x1200. I generally like to run my games on native resolution and not having to throttling down the graphics res. Plus Sager seems to have some good options. I hear the Sager is built more durable and Dell feels flimsy and hear Sager (Clevo) has lower quality components. I currently have a so called low quality ESC G736 and has served me well for 5 years. So would be nice to see both of these laptops in action. If the Dell agents know what they are taking about Dell appears to have older technology under the hood besides the obvious 8700M video cards. Although the system should handle next generation CPU and hopefully release an 8800M SLI version later.

However that being said if I match Sager's technology (customization options) to the Dell's options it is pretty close in price depending on your choices. The problem is I would have to pay for the shipping for Sager and possibly customs fees from going US -> Canada where Dell is including this cost. Not to mention I do get a bit of disco for Dell through my company. So in the end I can actually save a few bucks on Dell. Oh... can't forget that $200 dollar option is ontop of the price so makes the Sager that much more expensive. If Dell or Alienware have included the dead pixel in there price then they are coming in at a cheaper price than Sager.

Dell m1730 customized:
Intel Core 2 T7500 (4MB 2.2GHz / 800 FSB)
Vista Business
2GB DDR667
8x DVD+/-RW writer (Not sure if Dual Layer)
200GB SATA (not sure is SATA150 or SATA300)
512MB Dual 8700M in SLI mode plus PhysX
Intel A/B/G/N WiFi
BlueTooth 2.0
9 Cell Battery
Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software
Mini USB Modem
17" WUXGA (1920x1200)
S-Video Out
Logitech Game Panel and Luminated Keyboard
8-in-1 Card Reader
I think that was it. There are some other items for HDMI using DVI adapter and whatever but for the most part that's it.
$2,689.00

- 12% discount
no shipping fees

Sager NP5792 customized:
Intel Core 2 T7500 (4MB 2.2GHz / 800 FSB)
Vista Business
2GB DDR667
8x DVD+/-RW writer Dual Layer
200GB SATA300
512MB 8800M (not sure if there will be an SLI ability)
Intel A/B/G/N WiFi
BlueTooth 2.0
8 Cell Battery
Sound Blaster 3D (Azalia 8CH)
Built in modem
S-Video Out
Firewire
17" WUXGA (1920x1200)
Fingerprint reader
7-in-1 Card Reader
$2,629.00

+$200 for LCD protection
+ shipping and whatever fees

All in all both are looking pretty good but I'll probably end up going for price point. Decisions decisions!!

anyway, getting back to the dead pixel thing. I'm hoping others will put in their 2 bits if they got dead pixels or not. If there is only a few posts then their quality probably isn't that bad and can feel confident to bypass the $200 option.

I have a work laptop, my personal laptop, an lcd on my desktop, 2 lcds at work, an lcd tv, and i see a constant stream of laptops, tablets, and lcd monitors at work. In the past 3 years, i have never, NEVER even seen a dead pixel. I guess they happen. I've just never seen them.

Your discount gives you a good deal on the dell, but it doesn't have an 8800. I don't think the 8700, even in sli can compete with the 8800. I'm not sure how important gaming performance is in your decision.

Alienware, and i think Dell, recently started charging sales tax where i live. While i feel better about the warranty with them, and would pay a few hundred extra, the sting of the tax makes the sager a much more affordable option for me.

i would bypass the 200 insurance. most resellers have a 30day refund policy. if your machine ships and you arent happy just return it. its less of hassle wasting 30 to ship it back than to potentially waste 200.

dead pixels have been a serious threat from my experiance. fifty percent of the displays ive gotten have had dead pixels.
1st sager 2090 glossy display, 2 dead pixels
2nd sager 2090 matte display, zero dead pixels
3rd olpc, 2 dead pixels
4th samsun 941bw, zero dead pixels

So far FPS is pretty close with 8700M SLI vs 8800M GTX single. Dual 8700M isa total of 64 stream processors vs 96 on the 8800M. I think the PhysX is a culpret in lowering frame rates on different games. The PhysX adds particles that need to be rendered adding load to the GPUs. I read a review with Ghost Recon. The PhysX card didn't really impress me that much because you have to blow stuff up to get the use out of it. Cool concept though. It will be awesome when / if the 8800M SLI is released for the m1730.

Regarding pixels, I've been in the IT industry for a long time. I've come across a very few dead pixel LCDs. Most of them I found on lower end ECS laptops. If Sager comes from a lower end MFG even though they are rated pretty good they may tend to buy the cheaper LCD batches. That's my theory anyway. LCD mfgs still have to look at the screens to make sure they work. They must be able to see a dead pixel right off the get go.

Purchased an 8790 (thru Sager via PCTorque) & a 5760 directly from Sager. Neither w/ the pixel coverage. Neither had dead pixels.

Did find a lit (red) pixel on the 8790 after a time, but it was all but unnoticeable.

I just received my 2096 and I'm happy to report that it has no dead pixels. My Dell had the screen replaced like 4 times and 3 of them had dead pixels.

I've owned two notebooks in the past and both had at least one dead pixel. Gateway simply gave me a new laptop same day(this was before any policies regarding dead pixels ever exsisted). My Dell developed two dead pixels over the course of 2 years. Not noticeable unless your looking for them. It's just the nature of lcd screens I'm afraid. All you can really hope for is that any dead pixels you might have aren't in the center of your screen.