Mythlogic Callisto 1512 (Clevo W550EU) Ultrabook Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 24, 2013 12:01 AM ESTConclusion: Best of a Bad Situation
With the Callisto 1512, Mythlogic has essentially done the best they can with what they've been given by Clevo. The W550EU offers plenty of options for boutiques, but if you'll pardon my expression, Mythlogic basically cut out the crappy ones. Nobody wants a low resolution panel or a low capacity battery, so Mythlogic simply doesn't offer them.
As far as the notebook itself goes, the shell is unappealing and efficiency leaves something to be desired, but despite the low gamut, the display will continue to be a strong selling point. 1080p IPS in a 15.6" form factor really needs to be the standard, and it's the kind of standard that only occurs when everyone gets on board. And while higher resolution notebook displays are very slowly beginning to appear in the marketplace, high resolution matte displays are still rarefied. If that's your top priority, the W550EU may be one of your only options.
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Mythlogic has also done a good job of keeping both their website and their options modern, neat, and orderly. This is in comparison to the almost fire sale, Sunday paper double-page ad style of CyberPowerPC and iBuyPower's sites, and the overabundance of confusing options available on AVADirect's site. They're not wasting time with underpowered or questionable value propositions; as far as I'm concerned, the mobile Core i3 should only be an absolute last resort for anyone. Linux fans also take heart: Mythlogic will sell you the W550EU either with no OS installed or with Ubuntu.
Presently, Mythlogic is about one of the only places you can get the W550EU, so that scarcity gives them some leeway. Under the circumstances their Callisto 1512 is probably going to be more desirable than a "sleekbook" from HP or a Dell Inspiron 15z, but you're hanging out in dangerously close proximity to the infinitely more desirable XPS 15, which features standard voltage CPUs but a far superior fit and finish along with dedicated graphics hardware. You're also in the neighborhood of HP's Envy Spectre notebooks, complicating things further.
It's tough not to be ambivalent about the notebook itself. If you're willing to make the compromises, Mythlogic will cut you a good deal at a fair price. The one year warranty seems stingy, but it's really no worse than you'll get at any major vendor, and they'll cut you loose completely after one year as opposed to at least offering tech support. I think Mythlogic has done about the best they can with the W550EU, but the ball continues to remain in Clevo's court to produce notebooks that can compete directly.
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Flying Goat - Friday, May 24, 2013 - link
Yea, I thought the same. Currently, the ASUS Zenbook (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6923/asus-zenbook-ux... is the only system I'm aware of that's really light and has a discrete GPU.SanLouBlues - Friday, May 24, 2013 - link
I've been using a Maingear branded Clevo W150hrm). Looks exactly like the one in the image. It's fast and the display is great. It's not super durable (a battery tab broke and something else broke loose inside the case that I haven't gotten around to fishing out yet) and there's no latch. My biggest gripe is that I still screw up typing on this thing all the time. Right shift, right control, and the arrows are all way too easy to mix up and make development typing a real trial. I miss my Dell keyboard so much. Also it doesn't include the lucidlogix software to let the embedded and nvidia gpus work together. At least it uses regular old phillips head screws.Electromikey - Friday, May 24, 2013 - link
Doesn't the ASUS UX51 cover the bases as far as good display, good graphics, lightweight, etc.? Plus, they often offer two-year comprehensive warranties on a lot of their laptops, so there's that. I know there's a bit of a price difference, and there may be some other things as well, but I'd look towards that direction rather than a "custom-built" ultrabook if I was still in the market.Darkstone - Saturday, May 25, 2013 - link
I don't understand why the sony S15 isn't mentioned in the article. In my county, the S15 is cheaper than the equivalently specced clevo. (unless you opt for a quadcore option, because the quadcore is only available in the GT 640m 2GB model, which is an €170 upgrade).What do you get for that? A vasly superior keyboard and touchpad. Much longer battery life, superior cooling, 300gr lower weight, and probably better build quality as well.
Clevo once again managed to create a system that is just surpassed by the competition in every possible way.
Hrel - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
The thing with ultrabooks is, if I'm spending over 1K on a laptop I expect a dedicated GPU. I should be able to run, at a minimum, every modern game at 1600x900 with smooth frame rates. I don't expect the detail settings to be all the way up, but I don't want to run 720p. MAYBE this will become reality with haswell and the integrated GPU RAM; but honestly I'd rather have an Nvidia chip in there for MANY more reasons than just gaming performance.Hrel - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
I LOVE the Clevo design, I'm entirely happy with it the way it is. Except that keyboard. WHY didn't they use the same one they've been using on their newer 15.6" GTX660M laptops? That keyboard layout is great! This one is damn near useless because of that stupid offput 0 key. Hey laptop people, arrow keys are almost entirely useless, YOU CAN MAKE THEM SMALLER!