err... i think you may have gotten the wrong idea... the 2.13ghz processor that the ixps2 houses, is not the pentium 4 2.13ghz w/ht. it is actually a totally different type of pentium, which in its own category is top of the line.
if you realize, there are 3 different processor types nowadays, pentium 4, pentium m (or more often known as centrino, but that's actually the name given to the whole package) and finally the celeron. the processor that you're looking at in the sager, is actually a desktop processor that is the newest flavour from intel, running at 800mhz fsb. while the pentium m 2.13ghz that you see in the ixps2 is actually running under intel's latest package called alviso. and it is faster at best and equivalent at worst to the 3.4ghz processor in your sager. you may want to do a little bit more googling before making a mistake with your purchase. and by the way, the graphic card in the ixps2, the nvidia geforce go 6800 ultra, is currently the fastest graphic card in the market.
If you have not, I would do some serious research on Sager and Clevo (the notebooks they sell are built by Clevo of Taiwan) before you accept delivery of the notebook.
I think you should be fully aware of the facts before you make a decision(possibly flawed because you didn't have all the information).
Like the previous poster pointed out, there are different chips beings used in laptops nowdays, and if you want to compare, you have to compare like with like. The one in the Sager is a desktop CPU in a laptop chassis, and as can be expected with the P4, it gets VERY hot, and draws a lot of power from the battery. Expect the laptop to be heavier, hotter, and noisier than the Dell XPS2/9300. The battery life will also not be all that good.... That particular Sager is aimed at the desktop replacement market where the laptop is pretty much not meant to actually mobile all that much.
The Pentium M in the Dells XPS2/9300 are the latest in Intel's lineup, and are pretty much top of the line. You can't just compare the Mhz/Ghz rating of the chips as they have different architectures, etc.. The Pentium M is a lot more efficient and 2.13 will match the 3.4 in a lot of things if not better it. I think that the desktop chips are better at floating point than the laptop chips though. The Dell laptops you mentioned are meant to be more mobile, they'll be lighter, battery life will also be much better. I believe a similar Dell laptop, the 9200 has been reviewed somewhere to last 5 hours on the battery.
I'm not saying the Sager is a bad buying decision, it all depends on what your particular needs are. I myself am getting a Dell Inspiron 9300 soon.
I too have a Inspiron 8100 from about 3.5 years ago, and I haven't had a bad thing to say about it...even with minor issues on the laptop(fan bearings wearing out, etc..), I had warranty fix it all next day.
Even with the $1000 off XPS notebook coupon you're not interested? And you can get a 3 or 4 year warranty with compltete care to protect that investment? It's up to you, but when it comes to an expensive notebook, I want a long warranty. Don't need an $800 LCD going bad at 14 months and having to eat it. Desktops are modular and do not need such coverage.
Update on my new toy. It arrived last Thursday, a mere 4 DAYS after I custom ordered it. The display is awesome and it's everything I expected it to be and then some. Everybody at work has been dropping by to take a look. I have Doom 3 cranked up to the max resolution and it plays great.
Only drawback, and I expected it, is that's this is no lightweight. At nearly 12 lbs it is certainly heavier than the old Inspiron 8100 I was used to carrying back and forth to work. 12 lbs will not cause any hernia issues, as some have said. Also, the desktop CPU does not generate that much heat. Someone said it gets "HOT". A little warm, but we're not talking 2nd degree burns here.
Portablez.com has a 30-day, no hassle money back guarantee. That's not going to happen. I love this thing. Maybe if Dell had offered a dual layer DVD drive in their custom configuration, a second optical drive bay, a faster CPU and a few other things I'd have an XPS Gen 2 sitting on my desk right now. We'll see what they have in 3-4 more years when it's time to upgrade once again.
I've also got an 8k series (I8200) notebook that has been performing well, but decided several months ago that I wanted a better machine for gaming. I checked out some of the ones made by Clevo, including the Sager that you purchased. I was pretty impressed with their specifications and features, as well as their performance as tested in a gaming magazine (CGW). I hadn't begun researching the Dell XPS 2 until a couple of days ago and, like you, thought that it would be hard to equal the performance of these Clevo laptops with a "meager" 2.1 GHZ. But, after a little more scouting around I found this comparison at tomshardware.com that sold me on the gaming performance of the new XPS: http://www20.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050224/dell_xps-05.html#direct_x9_halo
Also, I found a uesful Dell cupon at notebookreview.com that gave me $750. off. After finding out that this notebook was now only going to cost me $2,436. , I made the purchase last night. It is now available with a dual layer DVD writer as well. There will be some sacrifice in features and I will have to wait til mid April, but in the end I hope to be pleased with this (my third) Dell notebook. Good luck with your Sager, though.
P.S. Is anyone interested in an I8200 with 1 year left on warranty?
I wonder how much of that is due to the Ultra card and how much is from the processor technology? I'd still like to see how it matches up in speed comparisons with things such as spreadsheets, etc.
I ran across another thread recently that people might want to consider before they buy a 32-bit CPU based XPS. Here is what one person had to say:
My only hesitation when it comes to the XPS2 is the fear that we're getting pretty close to finalizing XP64 and Intel has already moved all their desktop CPUs to include 64bit support. AFAIK the Pentium M does not support 64 bit code. So here I am ready to drop down nearly 4K (CAD) on a notebook that won't be supported by windows or software that will be coming out next year. That's a little concerning to me.
As posted before return it and get one from one of the above.
Even though the 32-bit technology is being phased out and 64-bit is already available on some mobile systems? I paid an extra $145 for a 3.4GHz 64-bit CPU instead of the 32-bit option of the same speed. I figured it was a good investment for new programs being written to use it.
I've read good reviews about the Sager and a co-worker has a year-old ProStar (made by the same company) that has never given him any problems. Also, the portablez.com where I bought it through seems to have a good track record of standing behind their product. I had never heard of Sager until last month and was initially reluctant to buy one for that reason.
I did a lot of Google research before deciding on my purchase. I looked carefully at Dell, HP, Alienware and VooDoo before deciding on the Sager 9860. Go to the VooDoo website and configure one with every option available if you want to see what you can get for $11,500 in a laptop. I laughed.
As posted before return it and get one from one of the above.
Even though the 32-bit technology is being phased out and 64-bit is already available on some mobile systems? I paid an extra $145 for a 3.4GHz 64-bit CPU instead of the 32-bit option of the same speed. I figured it was a good investment for new programs being written to use it.
I've read good reviews about the Sager and a co-worker has a year-old ProStar (made by the same company) that has never given him any problems. Also, the portablez.com where I bought it through seems to have a good track record of standing behind their product. I had never heard of Sager until last month and was initially reluctant to buy one for that reason.
I did a lot of Google research before deciding on my purchase. I looked carefully at Dell, HP, Alienware and VooDoo before deciding on the Sager 9860. Go to the VooDoo website and configure one with every option available if you want to see what you can get for $11,500 in a laptop. I laughed.
It will take along time before 64bit software becomes mainstream, years down the road, more than likely you will be buying another laptop before that happens.
I have never heard of them either and making a judgement on the experience of one person you know an a few posts on a website for a almost unheard of company?
I have never heard of them either and making a judgement on the experience of one person you know an a few posts on a website for a almost unheard of company?
Sager and ProStar have been around for a bit. Just because they don't spend bucketloads of money on advertising and catchy phrases like "You're gettin' a Dell, dude" doesn't mean they don't have a quality product.
I know one person at work who has a Prostar laptop. I know three who have a Dell. None of them have had any major complaints about their machines. On the other hand, I have read MANY complaints about Dell this or that online and not just here on their community forum website.
I'm not going to bulk to much at your purchase, but more so at you falling into the 64bit marketing hype. Firstly 32bit will take a LONG time to be phased out simply because their is no real use for it on the desktop. Combined with it will take the mainstream computer base years to convert over.
Don't forget either that since their is no 64bit version of Windows out yet, theres less developer support. Without developers coding stuff for the OS you really can't know how the chip performs in 64bit...
Other than that you are allowed to choose what you like ;)...
but more so at you falling into the 64bit marketing hype. Firstly 32bit will take a LONG time to be phased out simply because their is no real use for it on the desktop. Combined with it will take the mainstream computer base years to convert over.
Don't forget either that since their is no 64bit version of Windows out yet, theres less developer support. Without developers coding stuff for the OS you really can't know how the chip performs in 64bit...
Other than that you are allowed to choose what you like ;)...
And when the 64-bit applications start arriving next year I won't have to spend another $3,000 on a new laptop that supports it - I have it already. This is why I chose 64-bit over 32-bit, because I didn't want to buy into some hardware that will be a dinosaur next year.
BTW, you guys need to check out places like notebookforums.com if you've never heard of Sager and get away from this Dell exclusive community once in a while.
Riddik51
11 Posts
0
March 10th, 2005 04:00
hope you like your new machine.
if you don't want your inspiron, you can send it to me-pm me.
ethanweku
2 Intern
•
454 Posts
0
March 10th, 2005 09:00
err... i think you may have gotten the wrong idea... the 2.13ghz processor that the ixps2 houses, is not the pentium 4 2.13ghz w/ht. it is actually a totally different type of pentium, which in its own category is top of the line.
if you realize, there are 3 different processor types nowadays, pentium 4, pentium m (or more often known as centrino, but that's actually the name given to the whole package) and finally the celeron. the processor that you're looking at in the sager, is actually a desktop processor that is the newest flavour from intel, running at 800mhz fsb. while the pentium m 2.13ghz that you see in the ixps2 is actually running under intel's latest package called alviso. and it is faster at best and equivalent at worst to the 3.4ghz processor in your sager. you may want to do a little bit more googling before making a mistake with your purchase. and by the way, the graphic card in the ixps2, the nvidia geforce go 6800 ultra, is currently the fastest graphic card in the market.
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
March 10th, 2005 10:00
ghostdunks
33 Posts
0
March 10th, 2005 10:00
Like the previous poster pointed out, there are different chips beings used in laptops nowdays, and if you want to compare, you have to compare like with like. The one in the Sager is a desktop CPU in a laptop chassis, and as can be expected with the P4, it gets VERY hot, and draws a lot of power from the battery. Expect the laptop to be heavier, hotter, and noisier than the Dell XPS2/9300. The battery life will also not be all that good.... That particular Sager is aimed at the desktop replacement market where the laptop is pretty much not meant to actually mobile all that much.
The Pentium M in the Dells XPS2/9300 are the latest in Intel's lineup, and are pretty much top of the line. You can't just compare the Mhz/Ghz rating of the chips as they have different architectures, etc.. The Pentium M is a lot more efficient and 2.13 will match the 3.4 in a lot of things if not better it. I think that the desktop chips are better at floating point than the laptop chips though. The Dell laptops you mentioned are meant to be more mobile, they'll be lighter, battery life will also be much better. I believe a similar Dell laptop, the 9200 has been reviewed somewhere to last 5 hours on the battery.
I'm not saying the Sager is a bad buying decision, it all depends on what your particular needs are. I myself am getting a Dell Inspiron 9300 soon.
I too have a Inspiron 8100 from about 3.5 years ago, and I haven't had a bad thing to say about it...even with minor issues on the laptop(fan bearings wearing out, etc..), I had warranty fix it all next day.
linetest
59 Posts
0
March 10th, 2005 11:00
RoadiJeff
1.2K Posts
0
March 15th, 2005 01:00
Update on my new toy. It arrived last Thursday, a mere 4 DAYS after I custom ordered it. The display is awesome and it's everything I expected it to be and then some. Everybody at work has been dropping by to take a look. I have Doom 3 cranked up to the max resolution and it plays great.
Only drawback, and I expected it, is that's this is no lightweight. At nearly 12 lbs it is certainly heavier than the old Inspiron 8100 I was used to carrying back and forth to work. 12 lbs will not cause any hernia issues, as some have said. Also, the desktop CPU does not generate that much heat. Someone said it gets "HOT". A little warm, but we're not talking 2nd degree burns here.
Portablez.com has a 30-day, no hassle money back guarantee. That's not going to happen. I love this thing. Maybe if Dell had offered a dual layer DVD drive in their custom configuration, a second optical drive bay, a faster CPU and a few other things I'd have an XPS Gen 2 sitting on my desk right now. We'll see what they have in 3-4 more years when it's time to upgrade once again.
HToad
1 Message
0
March 15th, 2005 11:00
I've also got an 8k series (I8200) notebook that has been performing well, but decided several months ago that I wanted a better machine for gaming. I checked out some of the ones made by Clevo, including the Sager that you purchased. I was pretty impressed with their specifications and features, as well as their performance as tested in a gaming magazine (CGW). I hadn't begun researching the Dell XPS 2 until a couple of days ago and, like you, thought that it would be hard to equal the performance of these Clevo laptops with a "meager" 2.1 GHZ. But, after a little more scouting around I found this comparison at tomshardware.com that sold me on the gaming performance of the new XPS: http://www20.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050224/dell_xps-05.html#direct_x9_halo
Also, I found a uesful Dell cupon at notebookreview.com that gave me $750. off. After finding out that this notebook was now only going to cost me $2,436. , I made the purchase last night. It is now available with a dual layer DVD writer as well. There will be some sacrifice in features and I will have to wait til mid April, but in the end I hope to be pleased with this (my third) Dell notebook. Good luck with your Sager, though.
P.S. Is anyone interested in an I8200 with 1 year left on warranty?
RoadiJeff
1.2K Posts
0
March 19th, 2005 02:00
jankerson
2.8K Posts
0
March 19th, 2005 11:00
RoadiJeff
1.2K Posts
0
March 19th, 2005 22:00
jankerson
2.8K Posts
0
March 19th, 2005 23:00
It will take along time before 64bit software becomes mainstream, years down the road, more than likely you will be buying another laptop before that happens.
I have never heard of them either and making a judgement on the experience of one person you know an a few posts on a website for a almost unheard of company?
RoadiJeff
1.2K Posts
0
March 20th, 2005 02:00
Frazell
307 Posts
0
March 20th, 2005 04:00
I'm not going to bulk to much at your purchase, but more so at you falling into the 64bit marketing hype. Firstly 32bit will take a LONG time to be phased out simply because their is no real use for it on the desktop. Combined with it will take the mainstream computer base years to convert over.
Don't forget either that since their is no 64bit version of Windows out yet, theres less developer support. Without developers coding stuff for the OS you really can't know how the chip performs in 64bit...
Other than that you are allowed to choose what you like ;)...
jankerson
2.8K Posts
0
March 20th, 2005 15:00
Yes I agree 100%.
RoadiJeff
1.2K Posts
0
March 20th, 2005 17:00
And when the 64-bit applications start arriving next year I won't have to spend another $3,000 on a new laptop that supports it - I have it already. This is why I chose 64-bit over 32-bit, because I didn't want to buy into some hardware that will be a dinosaur next year.
BTW, you guys need to check out places like notebookforums.com if you've never heard of Sager and get away from this Dell exclusive community once in a while.