AVADirect Clevo X7200: Six Cores, SSD RAID, and GTX 480M SLI Yields World's Fastest DTR Notebook
by Jarred Walton on October 7, 2010 12:30 AM ESTLCD Redux
The Clevo X7200 we received for testing uses the same HannStar Display HSD173PUW1 found in 17.3" notebooks like the W870CU, W880CU, and ASUS G73Jh. This is an older LCD using CCFL backlighting, but the good news is you get a great contrast ratio. The not so good news is that the maximum brightness isn't as high as the latest LED backlit displays. We ran the X7200 through our display tests just to confirm there's no major differences from previously tested LCDs (i.e. the G73Jh).
No surprises here: the G73Jh and X7200 results are extremely similar, and any differences we can chalk up to minor variations between panels. The G73 had slightly better color accuracy while the X7200 has a higher contrast ratio. Both have similar gamuts and maximum brightness. While the contrast ratio is lower, the Dell Precision M6500 is easily the best looking panel of this selection. Some will complain that high color gamut displays make images look oversaturated, but I'll take that over the undersaturated 58% gamuts any day of the week. Of course, the RGB LED panels also cost more, but since the X7200 is a premium product we'd appreciate it if Clevo added a truly premium display as opposed to using last year's offerings. (Note that the HannStar panel isn't listed on their site as a current product anymore, likely because it was discontinued a while back.)
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Wolfpup - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
This article seems to imply that the G73jh/jw uses florescent backlighting, but it's LED, right?Wolfpup - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Okay, I've been told the G73jh/w are LED backlit, so that's good.JarredWalton - Saturday, October 16, 2010 - link
The displays in all of these are the HannStar HSD173PUW1. To my eyes, it *looks* more like CCFL than LED, and the brightness levels are pretty weak (maximum of 180nits or so). I can't find any concrete details, but everyone else appears to thing it's LED backlighting so I might be wrong.JarredWalton - Saturday, October 16, 2010 - link
Update: notice the ASUS page:http://rog.asus.com/Product.aspx?PId=32#product_ta...
They simply list it as "17.3" Full HD (1920x1080)/HD+ (1600x900) Color-Shine (Glare-type)", which would be odd for an LED backlit display. Especially when the G60Vx explicitly states LED backlighting:
http://rog.asus.com/Product.aspx?PId=30#product_ta...
mikeev - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - link
Why do you guys never mention the fingerprint sensors on these laptops? I know they're not the most exciting things in the world, but they're pretty nice feature additions. Beats typing in your password every time.Gonemad - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - link
Now, about the power brick... did Furmark just cause a 'thermal runaway' back there? 410W, are you kidding? That's nearly 40% overload on the nominal brick power, no wonder it cried for mommy and called it a day after some time of testing.It raises a couple of questions:
1) In the review itself, it is mentioned about other notebook that would actually drain the batteries when the PSU is topped-out. Clevo should go visit the same idea, now knowing that some extreme usage can compromise the PSU. Call it a 'feature'. Call it 'Overdrive' or whatever; it lets you have all the juice you need even overloading the PSU, but it detects the condition, light up a yellow warning light, and lets you do it for, say, 30 mins before cutting BACK, not OUT, the power drain. It doesn´t shut down, not completely. Again, the battery being used as a VOLTAGE STABILIZER looks good.
Well, then again, the benchmark was a deliberate attempt to overload the thing.
2) Aftermarket an even LARGER power brick, this time full-fledged 500W PSU at 4 pounds or higher. Considering everything else, it is not so preposterous.
3) If Anand dumped the original PSU, but kept it going on a LARGER DC source (a good and nice desktop PSU ought do it), how far would it go? Would something else drop out?
Classic Rock - Sunday, November 7, 2010 - link
I have read in the X7200 User forums that Clevo has offered a "Solution" of combining two PSU's together with some sort of adapter. There wasn't a lot of detail where I read it though. Does anyone know anything else about this? Does anyone know if it is possible to get an aftermarket PSU for this rig?Classic Rock - Sunday, November 7, 2010 - link
Adding to my previous post:http://www.nextcomputing.com/products/mobile-works...