The Sager NP2850S was the first notebook computer I ever bought on my own. Through work, I'd used Compaq, IBM and Sony. My business partner had a 1 year old Sager and raved about it otherwise I might never have considered it since I was unfamiliar with the brand.

It turns out Sager has been around for awhile and customers have been pretty happy with their products. Their components are from leading manufacturers and their warranties are very generous and reasonably priced. Here is their Web site: http://www.sagernotebook.com/

It is important to note that I found this computer too heavy for me to carry around (I travel all over the US) along with paper files and such. It weighs over 7 lbs and closer to 15 with battery, cords, mouse, case, etc. It was a great machine, though, so, in August, I gave it to my Dad who didn't mind its size.

Ordering
After much shopping around in stores and on the net, I pretty much knew what I wanted with regard to processor speed, memory and hard-drive capacity. Since I do some desktop publishing and am used to very large desktop monitors, I felt it critical that I have a monitor no smaller than 15" and Active Matrix Display was a must. At the time I bought my Sager (Feb 2001) there wasn't a model with a smaller screen, but that wasn't a minus for me. (Sager now has smaller screen sizes.)

Since I knew what I wanted, the on-line ordering process, directly from the manufacturer, was a breeze. It was quick and easy to order the customized machine I wanted. Shipping was cheap ($35) and I had my computer in a couple days.

Setup
The packing was flawless and set-up was a piece of cake. The unit itself seemed huge. As soon as I turned the computer on, I was dazzled by the display which was crystal clear and superior to any laptop I'd ever seen. The keypad was roomy and had a nice feel. The touchpad was fine, but not terribly comfortable to use. I quickly purchased a USB mouse and used it whenever I used the laptop (except on a plane).

The "deluxe case" that came with the Sager NP2850S was thin and flimsy and offered little protection. The single pocket barely held all the power cords and didn't offer enough room for disks and the mouse I had to carry. With dimensions over 15"x11"x1.5", it turned out to be very difficult to find a computer case big enough to accommodate it. Finding a roomy brief case/computer case combo (what I really wanted) was impossible, but in retrospect, this was probably a good thing as I wouldn't have been able to lift it anyway!

A problem that surfaced right away was a very irritating high-frequency whine that often occurred when the internal fan kicked on to cool the unit which, by the way, gets very hot while the battery charges. About the noise, customer service didn't "get it" when I described the problem. They said they test all equipment before shipping and they thought they would have heard it but they invited me to ship it back to them (at my cost) and they'd check it out. I first asked them to send another battery for me to try (a long shot, I know, but I didn't want to bear shipping expense until I ruled everything out). The other battery didn't eliminate the problem so it had to be sent back to have the fan checked and fixed. Customer service was friendly and easy to deal with even though reps were a bit hard to understand (heavy asian accents).

Features and Specs
I don't normally list specs if they can be found on the manufacturer's Web site, but Sager isn't presently listing the specs for this model so I'll provide the basics. My Sager NP2850S had the following:
* 15" Active Matrix LCD Display
* Pentium III, 700 MHz processor with Intel Speedstep Technology
* 192 MB 100 MHz (2 DIMMS)
* 20.0 GB Ultra DMA Hard Drive
* Internal 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
* 8X Max DVD-ROM & Software MPEG II
* Smart Li-Ion Battery (Lasts 3-4 hours!)
* FXM-2850, 56 K V.90 Internal Fax/Modem
* Integrated 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN
* 3 Year Warranty from Philips Mangavox

Other features:
* only one USB port
* parallel port
* PC card slots (with very easy removal button)
* Infra red port (very useful)

A Big problem for a laptop with a DVD player: NO TV OUT!

Ease of Use, or Lack Thereof
This machine is very powerful and handles any job with ease. I had no trouble at all with performance, stability and power management. The DVD player was spectacular and the screen size allowed me to use the laptop screen, itself, for small group presentations. The same "wow" would be impossible with a smaller monitor size.

Size
General use in an office or at home wasn't a problem for me, but I encountered some challenges trying to use this big laptop in front of me in my car, or on an airplane. In coach seating, the Sager NP2850S took up more room than was comfortable for me and I couldn't open the screen 90 degrees if the person in front of me reclined.

A Drive
Disks occasionally stick a bit in the A drive. Once in awhile, a Word or Excel file saved by me would open as "garbage" for someone else. I understand this might be more of a problem of Windows ME (I should have chosen Win 2000 Pro). Resaving the file seemed to correct the error.

Overheating
Not unlike other brands, when using the laptop for an extended period of time, the palm rest area becomes uncomfortably hot. Again, it should be noted that this happens with many brands, however, my NEC Versa TXi (see my other review) does not ever get hot under my hands.

Keyboard
The keyboard has a nice touch and is roomy which is great especially for people with bigger hands. Though I found the backspace/delete keys to be in an unusual place and slightly inconvenient place, I got used to it pretty quickly.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2279
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: Greater than 15
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20