Thinking about a Sager.

[attk mast3r]

I have been doing research for my next upgrade, and I have found very few that fit the criteria I want...but I did happen across a Sager, the NP8651 to be specific, and while It seems amazing and fits all but a few specs, it is an off-brand and I'm not sure if I trust it. The biggest advantages to me are it has a full aluminum chassis, it has a 4K screen option, and it has a 970M which is more than what I expect to find in my price range. The comparable options are the 4K Acer Nitro V 15 or a Lenovo Y50 4K. Both use plastic, both have significantly weaker GPUs, both are thinner and lighter, but both are known good brands. From the looks of it, it really does look cheap, which concerns me considering I have owned two Toshibas which fall apart if you look at them the wrong way. I really don't want to pay about $1500 for something that will break easily. While this is aluminum...I really don't know this company well enough to conclude anything. The specs really appeal to me, and I'd love to give this a go, but I really don't want to end up with broken parts a year down the line.

Also, I will be getting this from XoticPC, are they a good company? They seem like it. LPC digital seems to be cheaper though, would they be a better option?

I have also read some thread, but they're outdated, don't address any aluminum builds, and are mixed.

Thanks in advanced for any and all help.

 

[volcanoscout]

In no particular order:

Sager - if it's an "off-brand", as in not Dell, Lenovo, etc, it's a well known brand in the gaming community and has been around for a long time. It's no fly-by-night. They specialize in no-frill builds with high-quality components. After owning several big-name-brand laptops, and working on many, many more, I bought my first Sager (NP8690) in 2009 and proceeded to beat the crap out of it for almost 6 years, including four military deployments to places no computer should ever be subjected to. In all that time, I had to replace the battery (just plain worn out) and a hard drive (drop-tested it one too many times). That's it. I just retired it as a daily-driver; upgraded it to an SSD and 8GB 1600MHz DRAM, clean OS install, thermal paste replacement, and have turned it over to my oldest son (8) who promptly dropped it, spilled milk on it, and is currently having a ball playing educational games on it. I've had several ToughBooks that didn't last half as long. For a replacement I bought an NP7338 (click on my avatar for details).

LPC - I have no personal experience with LPC, but have read many rave reviews about their customer service. For identical models and options, their prices are usually very close, if not identical, to XoticPC. When I checked, the NP8651 pricing was identical. Not sure about pricing on add-on services though as I didn't look at those.

XoticPC - Bought both of my Sagers from XoticPC. Their customer service through purchasing, delivery and support has been outstanding. When I bought my NP7338 (for work), I was in a jam for time so it was a rush order, couldn't tell them till the last minute where to ship the sucker, and wasn't the nicest person on the phone, and it didn't even phase them. They stayed polite, efficient and patient, and the laptop showed up at a convention center an hour before opening, just like they promised. Unless things at their company change radically for the worst, I'm pretty sure I'll be buying my next laptop from them too.

If you haven't read it yet, I've linked a great review from HTWingNut at Notebook Review. When it comes to Sagers, he's on it.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/765376-sager-np8651-clevo-p650se-gtx-970m-htwingnut-s-review.html

Okay, sorry for the novel but I hope it helps. If you decide to go with a Sager, from either distributor, let me know and I'll share a few tips that might save you a few bucks.

 

[attk mast3r]

In no particular order:

Sager - if it's an "off-brand", as in not Dell, Lenovo, etc, it's a well known brand in the gaming community and has been around for a long time. It's no fly-by-night. They specialize in no-frill builds with high-quality components. After owning several big-name-brand laptops, and working on many, many more, I bought my first Sager (NP8690) in 2009 and proceeded to beat the crap out of it for almost 6 years, including four military deployments to places no computer should ever be subjected to. In all that time, I had to replace the battery (just plain worn out) and a hard drive (drop-tested it one too many times). That's it. I just retired it as a daily-driver; upgraded it to an SSD and 8GB 1600MHz DRAM, clean OS install, thermal paste replacement, and have turned it over to my oldest son (8) who promptly dropped it, spilled milk on it, and is currently having a ball playing educational games on it. I've had several ToughBooks that didn't last half as long. For a replacement I bought an NP7338 (click on my avatar for details).

LPC - I have no personal experience with LPC, but have read many rave reviews about their customer service. For identical models and options, their prices are usually very close, if not identical, to XoticPC. When I checked, the NP8651 pricing was identical. Not sure about pricing on add-on services though as I didn't look at those.

XoticPC - Bought both of my Sagers from XoticPC. Their customer service through purchasing, delivery and support has been outstanding. When I bought my NP7338 (for work), I was in a jam for time so it was a rush order, couldn't tell them till the last minute where to ship the sucker, and wasn't the nicest person on the phone, and it didn't even phase them. They stayed polite, efficient and patient, and the laptop showed up at a convention center an hour before opening, just like they promised. Unless things at their company change radically for the worst, I'm pretty sure I'll be buying my next laptop from them too.

If you haven't read it yet, I've linked a great review from HTWingNut at Notebook Review. When it comes to Sagers, he's on it.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/765376-sager-np8651-clevo-p650se-gtx-970m-htwingnut-s-review.html

Okay, sorry for the novel but I hope it helps. If you decide to go with a Sager, from either distributor, let me know and I'll share a few tips that might save you a few bucks.

A very thorough and detailed answer, it cleared up any questions I have. I will definitely go with this one when the time comes in a few months. Thank you so much for your help.

I will go probably go with Xotic as well.

 

[volcanoscout]

I don't think you'll be disappointed. A couple of notes for when you buy:
- if you're considering upgrading the RAM and/or drives, shop around first. It may be cheaper to take the stock base option and upgrade them yourself. I took the base option single 8MB 1600 DRAM and 750GB HDD, then replaced them with two 8MB 1866MHz Corsair sticks and added a 500GB SDD - saved a bunch over the cost of the in-house upgrade. You've got different drive options but you get my drift.
- you'll want to price-check other stuff like the OS, but there's usually not much to be saved versus the hassle.
- pass on the IC Diamond option. If there's one gripe I have about Sager, it's their production thermal paste application - my 8yr old can do it better (and has, lol). You can do the same job that XoticPC or LPC would do, but it'll cost you about $10 and 20 minutes using the same IC7 Diamond Carat paste. And you'll have the satisfaction of knowing it was done right. I've repasted a bunch of Sagers (among others) in the last few years and typical peak temp reduction is around 10C.

-Sager is no-frills, but Xotic has all kinds of bling options if you're into that. I didn't have anything done to my 7338, but I sent them a cool pic that they turned into a graphic lid wrap - it looked awesome and was done very well. I figured it would be shredded inside a year, but it still looks great. It ain't cheap, but if that's your thing they can do it up right.
Edit: the lid wrap was on the NP8690. Past my bedtime and I'm starting to leave out sentence parts.