Clevo W170HN - worth it?

[Rpger28]

In January of this year my desktop spectacularly died in a power surge (protected by exterior surge protector and surge strip). I haven't replaced it, and now I'm planning to go desktop-free for some time.

I need a laptop with a 17" screen capable of some light gaming, video editing/encoding, personal entertainment, and moderate portability for business use.

I wish I could find something with a 1920x1200 matte finish screen, but glossy 1920x1080 seems to be the thing right now :\

So far, builds based on the W170HN seem to be the closest match. I wish I could find something similar without having to go custom, but I've yet to see anything.

Anyone know any other options? I'm not really willing to wait for the new HP probook/elitebook to arrive in 17" size.

 

[mnewsham]

Over at XoticPC a lot of their models allow you to change the screen (for a fee) to matte type, if you are interested.

 

[Rpger28]

Yes I had noticed that. The $220 to do it seemed a bit much when added on top of everything else

But thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Rpger28]

I've tried to find some direct comparisons of i5 vs i7 sandy bridge chips, but I'm coming up blank so far.

Commonly available on the notebook I'm looking at is a choice of a 2.5 ghz i5 vs a 2.0 ghz i7. Faster i7 chips are available, but of course they are usually listed as $200+ upgrades.

If you had to choose between the two above, which and why?

 

[BCool]

I am also debating between the 2, and looking for input.

 

[Surutcra]

I've tried to find some direct comparisons of i5 vs i7 sandy bridge chips, but I'm coming up blank so far.

Commonly available on the notebook I'm looking at is a choice of a 2.5 ghz i5 vs a 2.0 ghz i7. Faster i7 chips are available, but of course they are usually listed as $200+ upgrades.

If you had to choose between the two above, which and why?

those i7 mobile chips are quad core the i5 mobile are dual core. The i7 2630qm is the one you want.

Also about the $220 upgrade for the screen. Its worth it, you get twice gamut rating, the color quality difference is huge. I just purchased the 15" version with the 1080p matte finish 95% gamut (these look on par if not better then those vaio, apple or other high end screens on the market). This is a fairly cheap upgrade because you're just paying for the actual equipment upgrade you're not paying a premium or anything on top.

Don't buy until you're 99.9% sure on what it is you're investing in. These Clevo based notebooks are top notch, and xoticpc is a great place to buy them, call them up if you have any questions.

 

[Rpger28]

I bought an NP5170 (Clevo W170HN) late last week. I'm probably looking at about 2 weeks from time of order to arrival.

I stuck with the standard glossy screen, since I do not typically deal with bad lighting situations. The $220 might have been worth it, but the matte screens were backordered with no known arrival date.

I went with Xoticpc based on the recommendations of friends and others. So far I've been pleased with their customer service and speed of response. I hope everything keeps going this smoothly.

Edit: Nearly forgot. I went with the 2.0ghz i7. Most people seemed to conclude that the extra cores/cache would benefit my usage patterns more than the extra speed on the available i5.

 

[Arclight615]

I purchased a Sager/Clevo NP8170 frm XOTIC. It is currently being shipped. Will arrive Thurs.

=====================
03-18-11 Phase 1 Ordered
03-24-11 Phase 2 (Sent for Custom Building / Testing / Burn In & Final QA)
Phase 3 (DNA)
04-05-11 Phase 4 (Shipped UPS)
ETA: 04-07-11 Thurs