Sager NP5135 - Official Review

PrometheuSBoxeR

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
288
Here is my original post http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1555167

Official specs of the laptop:

Display: 15.6” Full HD LED Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video: 1GB DDR3 Nvidia GeForce GT 425M GPU with Optimus Technology / Embedded Intel HD Graphics with Shared Memory up to 1.7GB
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-560M Processor ( 32nm, 3MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz / 3.20GHz Turbo Mode )
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 2 X 2GB
Harddrive: 500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
Optical Drive: 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Wireless Card: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module\
Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth V2.1 Module
Battery: Smart Li-ION Battery Pack (6 Cells 62.16WH)

Price: $1007.00 Shipped

I received the laptop, and decided to do my own personal review on it. I have never done a review of anything before so bear with me.

The packaging and shipment:













The packaging was great, everything was included. No marks or dents, or anything of the sorts. The screen was layered with 2 protective sheets.

Initial thoughts:







My initial thoughts were nothing but great. The laptop itself feels very solid, it's about 5.6 pounds I believe for the 15.6" screen. The screen folding up and down is very stable, it's secure at any degree angle. The finish is a interesting texture. It's a hard plastic of sorts - it feels a little grainy.

Keyboard and touchpad:

The keyboard is fairly solid. I have big hands and I'm a bigger guy, I think I've always been a heavier typer. I feel a little flex in the keyboard when typing, but it's not to the point where it feels unstable. I would say it's expected. The backspace key does have a very tiny squeak I think it might just need a little lube of sorts. I decided to mess around in Word and just test out my accuracy and words a minute. I can type pretty darn fast, I usually type at around 110 WAM on a regular keyboard, I didn't feel any slowdown on the keyboard. Occasionally I would tap the touchpad with my thumb and it would cause me to break apart the sentence and would have to pause for a moment. (I have always been a mouse/keyboard kind of guy), I hooked up my mouse and easily disabled the touchpad with a push of a button, and it's much better to my standards)

The touchpad is not multi touch, so if you are used to a mac by holding 2 fingers on it and such it will disrupt the mouse. I didn't get a chance to mess around with the touchpad drivers and such, i'm not 100% sure on all the support options yet. Overall, it is a solid touchpad after some mild use you get used to it. I like the keyboard, but there is a tiny amount of flex. I personally would rather have 0 flex at all. I'm a little biased because I like keyboards.

After installment:













I did a clean install of Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate Edition, I had to install the wireless driver - then I got the rest of the drivers through the internet seeing as I always go for the latest. (Half the time the disks they send you are 10 drivers old) One thing that confuses me and I don’t like is the fact that you must get the 425M drivers through Sager’s website. I tried to install the drivers off Nvidias site with 0 luck. It says hardware is undetected. I called up Sager and they said they do not support Nvidia drivers, so I must get it through their website. Which I did without problem, and installed just fine. Just something I’ve never experienced before. It’s advertised as Nvidia Gefore 425M, but obviously it’s not Nvidias.

I ran 3DMark06 with the integrated video card and got a score of ~1600
I ran 3DMarks06 with the discrete video card and my score was ~6500

Display and Screen:



I am very very pleased with the screen of the laptop. It’s crystal clear at 1920x1080. Honestly, it’s a little too small for my liking at 15.6” so I decided to mess around and put it at 1650x1080 which I am a lot more comfortable with. Through the option to keep the screen resolution to scale, it looks great even not at native resolution. I played a little bit on SC2 with Medium settings at 1650x1080 and was pretty happy with the results. I’m biased because I’ve experienced first hand serious gaming on a top notch desktop, and you really can’t compare the two.

Conslusion:

For the price, it’s really hard to beat the laptop. It’s fast, it’s battery is decent, it feel solid, the screen is great, and overall it’s a nice laptop with a above average video card with Optimus. Which I might add - Optimus worked just as expected, swapped seamlessly between tasks. Sager’s support was responsive and nice, they seem very reachable via the phone. I did this review at work, so it’s limited, and I’m not a avid reviewer to begin with, but if you have any questions I’ll try and answer them.

Also note, Sager offers a 30 day full refund, minus shipping if you aren’t satisfied.
 
looks pretty nice.....dont know if i would go for it (then again i dont think ill do anything other than a business line model ever again)......nice for price


question though, what the hell is up with all the companies out there putting apple like fucking keyboards on their dam consumer laptops......i personally think it looks fucking retarded, and would be more of a hassle than its worth.....just my opinion there
 
How are the vertical viewing angles compared to other laptops?

I think the viewing angles are pretty sharp. Looking from above it and down is great, side to side both ways is great. When you start getting past eye level and raise the screen above you, it starts to fade quickly. Not sure if that helps. All in all I think you'd have to be looking at it from some pretty sever angels to not have a good clear picture. The screen is very friendly in terms of being angled forward or backward.
 
What a great looking machine, I'm a big fan of the ultra-high resolution and at a price like this its almost in a class of its own. I was just in the process of buying it as I ran across this post.

While I no longer play computer games, I'm looking for a nice mobile and productive computer that around or under $1000. I just had a few questions -

-How's the battery life? I found no mention on how many hours it's expected to run for with a fresh battery
-How loud is it? (can you tell it's on when its powered up, is the fan noisy under pressure etc.)
-Does it get particularly hot after its been on for awhile?

Thats about it... coming from a gaming background I know its pretty hooked up in terms of specs, and aside from the potentially heavy battery usage it seems a perfect all-around fit. Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks for the review --- I ended up getting one!

And now I am having the same graphics driver issue. Can you describe in detail how you were able to update the driver?

Also -- did you have issues with your webcam driver as well?
 
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