The Highest-End Notebooks, 2009

Clevo W870CU Design

There are definitely aspects of the W870CU design that we appreciate. Besides being less bulky, we are pleased that most of the surfaces aren't highly reflective. The palm rest and LCD cover are covered with matte plastic instead of glossy plastic, which is a nice change; they'll still show fingerprints, but it's not as bad as high-gloss models we've tested previously. The LCD is still glossy, naturally, as it appears most notebook manufacturers are convinced users aren't interested in matte LCDs anymore. If you disagree with their assessment of the market, please leave a note in the comments! Besides the good aspects of the design, there are several areas where we feel the W870CU is flawed.

Expansion options are similar to the M980NU and D900F. There are four USB ports, an eSATA port, and dual digital outputs -- DVI and HDMI. Accessing the ports on the left and right sides isn't a problem. Unfortunately, we can't say the same for the rear panel. In striking contrast to the other notebooks, Clevo includes two of the USB ports along with the Ethernet port, HDMI port, and power adapter on the back of the notebook. This in itself isn't a problem, but the cheap plastic cover only serves to get in the way. Every time we need to connect/disconnect the power or Ethernet cable, it was inconvenient and we are very concerned about the long-term durability of the plastic cover. Considering the poor battery life, blocking access to the power socket isn't beneficial and shouldn't have been done.

The construction on the notebook also feels somewhat chintzy in another area. The raised plastic section below the LCD isn't firmly connected to the rest of the chassis, with the right edge loose on our notebook. The remainder of the notebook is fine, but the rear panel and "Style-Note" bar should be re-examined. We also did not like the touchpad; for some reason, it just didn't work as well as we're used to.

In another change from previous Clevo designs, access to the internals is provided by removing one large panel on the bottom of the notebook. This is useful if you want to upgrade several components at once, but if all you need to do is upgrade memory it's less convenient. Since most users will probably get 4GB of memory and stick with that for a long time, this isn't a serious concern. On the bright side, the bottom panel is secured by quite a few screws and plastic latches, and it fits snugly into the rest of the chassis.

The battery compartment is another oddity, with a strange geometry. Considering the size of the battery, the capacity is more than a little surprising. We would have expected at least 65 Wh or more for this sort of system, but our test unit came with a 42 Wh battery. That's smaller than many other notebooks, including entry-level laptops like the Gateway NV52 and NV58! One of the hard drive bays is under the battery, so if you order a system with a single hard drive/SSD it will hopefully go into the other location, allowing you the ability to easily add a second drive.

Cooling for the CPU, chipset, and GPU is provided by two HSFs, with a rotary fan similar to what we see in the M980NU and D900F. There's definitely a difference in the cooling arrangement, however, as one large HSF cools the GPU and chipset while the second HSF handles the CPU. While the W870CU isn't as large as the D900F or M980NU, the reduced size actually appears to put more pressure on the cooling subsystem, with the result that the system tends to run louder than the other two notebooks. Of course, if you're looking for a silent notebook, you wouldn't be happy with any of these high-end options.

Finally, you may be experiencing a feeling of déjà vu looking at the keyboard. Yes, it's another standard Clevo reference keyboard. We've seen the same keyboard from Clevo for at least a couple years, and we complained about the layout back then. It's not the worst keyboard in the world, and we actually acclimated ourselves to using the Fn + Cursor Keys combination for Home/End/PgUp/PgDn. The number keypad layout on the other hand continues to baffle us. Perhaps we're the only people who actually use the number keypad on occasion?

Ultimately, while the W870CU has some good features, the design and layout are definitely our least favorite of the three notebooks we're looking at today. This is a case of two steps forward, two steps back. The W870CU has matte panels on the palm rest and LCD cover, which is great, but they're still plastic. Unfortunately, the cheap plastic cover over the rear ports and cheap construction on the "style" bar counteract the other elements. Performance and battery life are also lackluster, and while you can't do much to improve the performance short of adding a second GPU (something that would require a completely different internal design among other things), Clevo never should have shipped this with a 42 Wh battery. We see that size battery in netbooks that consume about 1/10 as much power! What's the point in trimming a few ounces from a nine pound notebook anyway? It's still heavy any way you slice it.