LF....Laptop

[seroth77]

I am in the market for a laptop upgrade and have been searching the blogs, youtube, google, etc for a decent gaming laptop.  I don't want it to be bulky and cumbersome.  Just something nice that I can sit and play games like Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Star Citizen, etc instead of being tied to my desktop.  Star Citizen is going to be a beast so I am not expecting to play it on top settings at all just a setting for enjoyable game play.  

 

I read reviews on New Razer Blade Pro and it looked to be a match but after reading reviews on Amazon, it looks like the laptop is fraught with problems.

 

A nice sized, non-bulky laptop with:

16 GB RAM

Intel i7

Nvidia Series GPU (The newer the better)

Hard drive space, I don't care about (128GB SSD with 500 GB) is fine for me.  I can always attach an external if I need to store files.

 

15-inch screen size (4k preferred but not a must have)

 

The price for this dream laptop is $1500. 

 

Any ideas you guys have please share and let me know.

 

Thanks in advance

[Enderman]

MSI GS series

 

the blade pro is 17"

the blade is 14" and has pretty much anything you want, but costs $3k

[exercutor5]

snip

 

http://www.sagernotebook.com/Gaming-Notebook-NP8657-S.html

 

You can have the choice of a G-Sync panel for a little more. I highly recommend this laptop.

[seroth77]

http://www.sagernotebook.com/Gaming-Notebook-NP8657-S.html

 

You can have the choice of a G-Sync panel for a little more. I highly recommend this laptop.

 

I took a look at the reviews on it and they said that there was a problem with the IPS panels and HDMI?

[seroth77]

MSI GS series

 

the blade pro is 17"

the blade is 14" and has pretty much anything you want, but costs $3k

 

Thanks for the info, I find that the MSI laptops are super bulky.  Is there on in particular that you found that isn't?

[Enderman]

Thanks for the info, I find that the MSI laptops are super bulky.  Is there on in particular that you found that isn't?

The GS series...

they are all 0.8" thick

jut choose the one you want based on price and specs

[seroth77]

The GS series...

they are all 0.8" thick

jut choose the one you want based on price and specs

 

 

I took a second look and they are all running 5th gen i7's.  I noticed the Sager runs 6th gen.  Has MSI upgraded from Broadwell to Skylake yet?

[Enderman]

I took a second look and they are all running 5th gen i7's.  I noticed the Sager runs 6th gen.  Has MSI upgraded from Broadwell to Skylake yet?

dont think so, net yet

its barely any difference anyway, if you really want you can wait until they do

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

I currently have a review sample of the GS60 Ghost pro 4k.. so if you have any questions let me know

 

review up in a week ish maybe

[seroth77]

I currently have a review sample of the GS60 Ghost pro 4k.. so if you have any questions let me know

 

review up in a week ish maybe

 

If you can give me a brief summary of the review.  I am looking to pull the trigger on a laptop no later than Friday.  As with all products, there have been tons of good and bad reviews based on product, support, etc.  I just need something rock solid.  If possible, in your review, can you speak on Star Citizen and see how it plays on GS60 please?  What settings did it run the most optimal, etc.  

[seroth77]

dont think so, net yet

its barely any difference anyway, if you really want you can wait until they do

 

I took a look at the CPU benchmarks and the Broadwell still dominates the Skylakes that are out now.  I honestly can't wait.  SO I will go with Broadwell.  I will take another look at the MSI boards now.

[ShadowCaptain]

If you can give me a brief summary of the review. 

 

there is no summary, I have not written it

 

pros - thin, light powerful, great display, plays games great, ok build quality

cons - hot, lacking battery life, flexible display, meh speakers

 

pretty much what you expect from a thin laptop, they all have compromises 

[exercutor5]

I took a look at the reviews on it and they said that there was a problem with the IPS panels and HDMI?

 

Which reviews? I have the Haswell 980M one and I don't have any problems with the IPS panel and HDMI.

[seroth77]

Which reviews? I have the Haswell 980M one and I don't have any problems with the IPS panel and HDMI.

 

ByErez Cohenon April 14, 2015

Size: 8GB RAM + 1TB 7200RPM HDD

I have purchased the computer directly from XOTIC-PC (which are the ones selling this through amazon here as well).

The computer Specs are GREAT.

The price is also GREAT.

so why the 3 stars?

First of all, and most important the IPS screen version of this computer seems to have a design flaw, causing the HDMI cable not to work (relevance: March 2015). This does not get picked up by the XOTIC-PC or sager Quality control and thus the computer gets shipped. - This might be an issue that has already been solved, but if you bought this and ended up seeing this problem, I hope you found this thread. There is a solution (taking the computer back cover off) - and more information can be found on this forum post which I started a few months back (linked at the end of the review). To that extent- simply make sure that this issue was solved before buying the new system.

But these things happen... The reason for the threestars are due to the availability of the support. XOTIC-PC are extremely highly rated for their computers and prices since they simply offer good services and excellent computers- that is what the three stars are for. EDIT: I have also since been contacted by the head of the support team to try and mitigate the problems I have been running into with the return process. However, most the reviews I now retroactively find online are of people who get a fully functioning computer (do as I did and check it out on google). I sadly had to go through support ,and refund for this specific computer. The support team is extremely professional and very nice. yet the availability and the length of the process ensured that I was "computerless" for the best part of 3 months.

As I mentioned above, upon finding out that the HDMI does not work I contacted the support. XOTIC-PC support works on weekdays at normal work hours and send/receive (mostly receive) emails 24/7 . To that extent, I have found that no matter how fast I replied to support emails, I would get one reply a day - which of course makes any support process very difficult. Sadly, I was also unable to get them on the phone more than once (although I had the opportunity of getting their voice messaging service a few times ). After receiving a replacement system, with the same problem as the first (i.e. even when I pointed it out to the support, the computer was not quality checked for the HDMI port) - I decided to return it. Sager return policy makes the process take about 2-3 weeks, including paying for the shipment, and checking the laptop for extremely fine cuts and bruises. 2-3 weeks of not receiving your price back (on this sum of money) can be pretty tough since you would want a new computer by then.

So - instead of going on and on about this, what I have learned from the above:

1. I loved the price, I hated the support timing (not the people as I have all the compliments in the world for them). I took that gamble when I purchased this computer, and I did not know what I was going into. You simply can't appreciate fast support enough in an age where we are constantly dependent on our computers for both work & joy. (let's be honest, if you are buying this kind of computer you are reliant on it on an hourly basis)

2. Do your research very carefully. Price & Specs are not the only thing you should consider when buying a machine that will serve you for the next 5 years on an hourly basis. If I had waited a while, I might have run into posts like the one I posted about the design flaw - you don't want to be the guy posting the "design flaw" posts, you want to be the guy who sees them before you bought the computer.

3. If you are ordering THIS particular laptop, regardless of XOTIC PC (as indicated above in amazon) and SAGER make sure that you take as many images as you can when it arrives - you want to be 100% sure that it is FLAWLESS when you get it- and I mean FLAWLESS! - if there is a single out of place hair on your keyboard, report it, because otherwise you won't be able to know if you damaged it - and if you forget this, you might end up paying a lot of money when you end up (hopefully not) refunding this. This issue with Sager refunds has been discussed online in more details around various forums - so check it out before you buy (and not after like me...)

4. READ THE FINE PRINTS! - I read "we have 24 hour support" and thought it meant "we are available 24 hours". That is not the case, fine prints mention that you can email them 24hours support, and they answer within 24-48 hours. It is not their fault, it is mine for falling to that trap. To that extent, they have truly shown me courtesy throughout the entire time, but at the end of the day, i simply wished things would have moved faster.

5. Be lucky. Because this would have been such a great catch if everything worked perfectly fine out of the box

I ended up refunding this computer (or rather, the replacement system I received) due to the design flaw. Sadly, the support experience I went through left me wanting. I truly wish this was one of those "one-off" cases, and that if you purchased this computer it will go better for you!

Otherwise, I would be happy to answer any question!

Thanks!

"My HDMI port doesn't work" thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/sager-np8651-dual-monitor-problem.772186/

[exercutor5]

snip

 

I think this one is just a one-off incident. You would most probably not find more complaints like this one.