Sager-Alien-Dell...My Opinion

[NINRocket]

If your thinking about these laptops than my advice is this.....

If you need a lightweight laptop (5 lbs lighter than the Sager/Alienware 88 series) with far superior LCD quality (premium UXGA), 3-6 hours of battery runtime (3 with 1 bat, 6 with 2), superior tech support and service(which you'll probably never need) and the option of a real docking station than Dell is definitely the choice. Go with the Inspiron 8200 and the 2.4M processor. Not to mention the fact that the Inspiron still has the DB-9 connector....which I HAVE to have since I use mine for programming PLC's (and which the Sager 56's don't).

If you want a better looking chassis...the Sager 56 is the way to go (or the Alienware knockoff if you want the rad colors).

The Sagers are nice...but....the processor runs at half speed on batteries...unless you bypass the clock speed in the BIOS....which will give you about 45 minutes worth of serious PC power (not acceptable for me....I'm on planes all the time averaging 3-4 hours per flight). The Sager LCD's are average at best. A lot of the gadgets on the Sager's are nifty (MP3 player, card reader) but probably won't be used by most people....and would be considered below average when compared to the same devices on the retail market.

All of the afforementioned Laptops come with the ATI 9000 and 5400RPM ATA Drives....which make for some pretty powerful laptops.

I had the opportunity to play with them all and chose the Dell for the battery speed and longevity along with the far superior LCD quality. The speed in gaming between the 2.8 and the 2.2M processors are insignificant due to the fact that most games are really GPU dependant not CPU. The annoying GHOSTING of 99.9 percent of the LCD's on the market is NON-EXISTENT on the new Dell LCD.

If your going to be wired to a desk most of the time then the 2.8ghz P4 in the Sager is a faster choice.....but why would you want a laptop in the firstplace?????

[custompccases]

Quote:

Originally posted by NINRocket
If your going to be wired to a desk most of the time then the 2.8ghz P4 in the Sager is a faster choice.....but why would you want a laptop in the firstplace?????

haha cuz its a new toy to play with

[pickel]

New Laptop
Added 256 Mb RAM and an exteral floppy and it really screams.
Also has 64 Mb video, DVD's play like a digital flatscreen TV!
Why would any one want a DELL, anywho ????

[NINRocket]

I would agree....they are fun to play with!

I love my Dell..........

Brand NEW Inspiron 8200 with 2.4 Mobile P4 (averages 6 hours on batteries at 2.4 speed)

512 megs RAM

ATI 9000 Mobile

40 gig 5400RPM drive

24X CD-R / 10X CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo Drive

Dell Ultrasharp 15" LCD

Windows XP Pro with Plus

Office XP Pro

etc...........

Look at this system, the price, and compare displays side by side and you'd know why people choose Dell.

Pickel...Most people comparing these systems are looking at 3-D gaming as a deciding factor...the SOTEC 820P that your talking about is probably nice for the price...but would fall flat on its face in all categories against the Dell 8200 and the Saber/Alien laptops that this discussion is about.

[kieran]

i have a inspiron8200 and i love it.
the screen rocks!!!

[lastEvolution]

Is the shift in power for desktop processor laptops when unplugged automatic, or do you have to go into BIOS yourself and doctor it a bit? If that is the case, how do you do it? Plus, check out Hypersonic's mobile system. Like Sager and Alienware, but cheaper. I think I would get that, since I'm not on planes all the time, but I'm not sure I need battery power. I'm considering either Dell 8200 or Hypersonic's Sonic Aviator, because if the battery issue. If anyone has a Sager 5660/Area-51m with 2 batteries, can you tell me how the battery life is? The Sonic Aviator; it's just like Alienware/Sager, just cheaper. Seems good also. The price/performance ratio is nice.

[NINRocket]

The Sager 5660 and its twins use a 4000mah battery for the primary and a 3400mah battery for the secondary, for a total of 7400mah.

The Dells use the same battery for Primary and Secondary. It is a 6600mah battery, for a total of 13200mah...almost double the Sagers. (This is a new battery...formerly a 4460mAh which would still give a total of 8920mah)

The Dells already use significantly lower power because of the P4 mobile processor. The question you have to ask yourself is do you need to run off the batteries? If you just want a nice laptop that would probably give you about 1 1/2 hours at full speed on both batteries then the Sager is the choice. Or if your just going to take it to LAN parties for playing games than either the Dell or Sager would be excellent. I personally need the 6 hour runtimes because I am often programming PLC's at remote locations. (One other note...I think the 6 hour rating is for the 4460 batteries...I've had this thing on for 8 hours straight on batteries with 15% showing)

The only other major impression you would have would be the difference in the displays. Dell has the best LCD on the market PERIOD. NO GHOSTING during gameplay (the blurry trails when your turning that make distant targets hard to see).

Sager may or may not follow shortly with an improved LCD....but for now I think the Dell is the better portable for the money.

[kieran]

power management , i.e. speedstep is activated on my dell, it came like that.
so my 1.8 runs at 1.2 with battery.
apparently though it runs at full 1.8 when neccessary, since even though it displays 1.2 in the sys info, i can score the same benchmark on battery than plugged in.

[goldenbuddha]

I got the Sony GRX-600 CTO with the

2ghz P4-M
1024 MB RAM
16.1 inch screen at 1600 x 1200 native (UXGA I believe)
Swappable DVD burner / CD burner
Radeon 7500 Video
Swappable 60 GB Hard Drive
with 2 batteries inside, about 6-9 hours on time
Windows XP Pro

**I am scratching my head at why there is even a pissing contest with the 3 brands you guys are talking about......**

[NINRocket]

I don't think this sounds like a pissing contest.

Throughout the forum the question of which of these PC's to buy is continuously asked. Hopefully this post clarifies some of the questions people have about the differences in the systems.

See ya'