The Highest-End Notebooks, 2009
by Jarred Walton on October 14, 2009 3:10 AM ESTAVADirect Clevo D900F Design
The basic external design of the Clevo D900F hasn't changed much from the Clevo D901C. It is a very large chassis with a 17" WUXGA LCD. AVADirect does offer custom paint jobs if you don't like the default colors, but the core features remain the same. Here's our pictorial overview of the system to get us started.
Some people like flashy in-your-face notebooks, and the grey/black aesthetics aren't likely to please such users. Those who prefer stylings that are more subdued on the other hand will be right at home.
In terms of expansion ports, it's a little odd that all of the USB ports come off the right side. This can be a bit irritating when you connect the mouse and have to deal with the cable jutting out the side of the laptop. It's not a huge issue, but it would have been nice to get at least one USB port on the other side of the system. We're also still stuck with a total of four USB ports, and while we never had a need to connect that many devices we have heard a few users ask for a couple more USB ports -- especially on large desktop replacement notebooks. One area where Clevo/AVADirect deserves some accolades is in the inclusion of two digital video ports, one DVI dual-link and the other HDMI. We didn't receive any dongles to convert the DVI into VGA or the HDMI into DVI, unfortunately, but such dongles should work.
Looking at the rear of the system, it's easy to understand why there aren't many expansion options on the back. Almost the entire rear of the laptop is dedicated to cooling vents for the hot CPU, GPU, and chipset. The D901C used two of the ventilation slots for graphics cards, while the D900F dedicates two large HSFs and one smaller HSF to cooling the CPU and chipset, with the GPU getting its own large HSF. Obviously, keeping a 130W TDP CPU and 24W TDP X58 chipset cool is no small task. Clevo essentially crams a large desktop cooling solution into a notebook chassis, and in practice it works reasonably well. The D900F isn't a silent laptop by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't generate any more noise than other desktop replacement notebooks that we've looked at. Even with a heavy CPU load (i.e. 3D rendering), the system runs stable. The bottom and back of the chassis definitely get warm and you won't want this system sitting on your lap, but we can say the same about any other desktop replacement notebook.
There are a few continued sore spots with the Clevo design. One is the keyboard, which still has an odd arrangement for the number keypad. Placing the decimal key at the top left of the number keypad means that anyone used to a standard 10-key setup will invariably hit the wrong button without a lot of time spent adjusting -- and every time you use a regular keyboard you'll need to readjust. Considering there's ample room for a different arrangement, we wish Clevo would make the keyboard a bit wider and give us a standard 10-key layout -- that means oversized Enter and Addition keys on the right, a large Zero key at the bottom left, with the decimal point sitting between the Enter and Zero keys. We would also like to see dedicated Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys, and again that shouldn't be difficult considering the size of the chassis.
Our other complaint is that Clevo continues to offer a glossy LCD as the only option. We have heard from so many users that feel glossy LCDs have no place on laptops that we're very surprised high-end notebook manufacturers don't even provide matte displays as an option. The Dell Precision M6400 gives users the option of choosing a matte display, and since the D900F uses the same size LCD panel it could follow suit. It may be a bit more difficult for Clevo to go that route, since they don't typically sell direct to customers and rely on partners with rebranded notebooks -- i.e. AVADirect -- but we really would like to see fewer "mirror finish" LCDs on notebooks and laptops. The LCD on the D900F also isn't as bright as other current laptops. It's not dim, per se, but 156nits is nowhere near as bright as the 200 to 250nits we see on most other notebooks. The palm rest also has a shiny surface, and we would prefer a matte exterior to avoid fingerprints (at the cost of "pretty" photos).
None of these complaints qualifies as a deal breaker, at least in our view, but considering the wealth of customization options available for other components, we really would like more choice in these areas.
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7Enigma - Thursday, October 15, 2009 - link
Jarred,Ignore these people. They exist in a bubble that revolves around only what they perceive as useful....to THEM. For the rest of us, even though many of us will never need/want a system like this, it is enjoyable to read about how far (and how far left) they have come.
What's funny is some of these same people will ooh and ahh over the latest $600+ gpu or $1000+ cpu knowing they also will never buy one of these.
This is a tech site. The purpose is to review and discuss new technology, regardless of what mainstream appeal it has. If that was the case you should only be reviewing sub-$300 cpu/gpu and sub $500 monitors as that is what the vast majority of us purchase. While your at it, forget about hydravision, large capacity SSD's, 3D LCD's/goggles, etc.
Keep up the good work and try to ignore the trolls. That extra 10min you use to respond to a post like this could be better used GETTING SOME OC NUMBERS ON THE LATEST GPU! (hint...hint) :)
hybrid2d4x4 - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
I, for one, appreciate the review, even if the products are not relevant to me- I'm sure there are people out there that do want a high-end all-in-one/laptop. At any rate, I did want to chime in with a suggestion of what I'd like to see in upcoming mobile reviews: non-cookiecutter netbooks such as the ION-based ones (ex: HP Mini 311), or ones that stand out from the crowd by virtue of better screens (matte), battery life, passive/quiet cooling, etc. Basically, keep doing what you're already doing, as you've already had articles on the Asus 1005HA and CULV. Also, any word on the next-gen Atoms with the new chipset and IGP?mac2j - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
I understand the difficulty in getting samples of new high demand models.But if you want to know what a really useful comparison would be:
High-end Core i7 laptops (Envy 15, XPS16, M15x, MSI etc):
Aesthetics vs performance (business v multimedia v games) vs battery life vs extras vs cost
I'd be willing to bet that would be extremely useful for a lot of people and widely cited across the net.
Personally I ordered a Studio XPS 16 (820QM) almost a month ago and I'm still waiting for it so I'm sure it would take you a while to collect all the samples from the relevant companies... but it would be worth it IMO.
5150Joker - Saturday, November 7, 2009 - link
All the laptops you listed are junk. None of them can hold a candle to the Clevo W860CU and they aren't anymore aesthetically pleasing.HP Envy: overheating mac rip off that doesnt have an optical drive.
Dell SXPS 16: gets so hot you can cook on it while using it. Say goodbye to your sperm count.
Alienware m15x: competitor to the clevo series and fails. Overpriced, underperforming and poor quality control.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
Here's me posting my comment for the laptop makers to please offer better choices on LCDs. Its about time to replace my T43, am I really going to have to move from a matte IPS screen to something worse?mac2j - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
Why compare a bunch of notebooks that no one buys? The total 2009 sales for every notebook in this article will be in the thousands.How about comparing high end notebooks people are actually (trying to) buy.
HP Envy 15 vs Dell Studio XPS 16 vs Alienware M15x vs MSI Core i7s etc ....
The choice of systems and the timing of this article makes it a useless waste of space.
TheQuestian - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - link
Irony.5150Joker - Saturday, November 7, 2009 - link
Your post along with several others here is a waste of space.GeorgeH - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
Super-CPU? Check.Super-GPU? Check.
Super-HDs? Check.
Super-RAM? Check.
Super-LCD? Wait, what?
The LCD situation on these laptops is ridiculous. The most important component in any laptop is the LCD screen, and the second is the chassis and keyboard - component specs come in a distant third.
As long as I have a choice I will never, ever own a laptop with a glossy screen and a native resolution less than 1920x1200 (for ~15" and up.) I don't care if a laptop has the fastest components ever, if you interact effectively with it you might as well be using a "regular" laptop. If you're using these for work, the few seconds you save using faster components to render and compile your projects will be lost many, many times over in human inefficiencies due to interface issues. If you're using them for gaming, you'll get awesome FPS and ability to use super high detail settings that'll be wasted on a dull, reflective screen.
It's crap like this that makes people switch to MacBook Pros. The components are lousy, the prices are lousy, and the company's policies are lousy, but you get a laptop that's a pleasure to own and interact with. Regardless of your feelings towards Apple, you have to admit they know how to build a laptop - as a complete piece of hardware the MBP is matched by only a handful of PC laptops (mostly "business class" models that the average consumer doesn't even know about), and surpassed by none.
warezme - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
Uh, hello??Macbook Pro's have glass glossy screens. You just contradicted your own statement. And for convenience and ease of use, Apple needs to master how its touchpad works and right clicking because it just doesn't work. But if you are going to give points to your system on aesthetics alone I suppose you will learn to live with it dude.