Super Heavy Weight Boxing Champion... of Cyberspace
Written: Jul 08 '05 (Updated Jul 09 '05)
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Pros: Powerful portable PC. Lots of extra features for gamers, telecommuters, digital enthusiasts, and home users.
Cons: A portly 12 pounds. Short battery life.
The Bottom Line: This notebook is great for the power user who wants portability. Don't plan on carrying it with you on a day to the airport, however.
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| peachjam's Full Review: Sager NP-8886 Supra (pnbs-8886-3) PC Notebook |
Super Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of ... Cyberspace
At a mere (cough, cough) 12 lbs. you may wonder why someone wouldn't just buy a desktop computer and save the weightlifting for the gym. But there are a dozen good reasons why a Sager Notebook computer may fit the bill for the serious gamer, the digital editing enthusiast, the processor-heavy business user, or even a home user who doesn't want to wait around for applications to run.
The company I work for part-time purchased this laptop for me for a special project we were working on at the time. Being a telecommuter, I needed something that could be used at home or at work, both at my 'cube' and in the conference room with other users. These are things you just cannot do with a desktop computer. On the other hand, most notebook or laptop computers could not handle the heavy computing that this notebook has done over the past two years.
WHAT'S TO RAVE ABOUT WITH A 12 POUND NOTEBOOK COMPUTER?
1. Faster than a speeding bullet…
Boasting a 2.8 GHz processor, (Intel® Pentium® 4 2.8GHz (533MHz FSB) Processor with 512KB on-die Cache) there [was] no other notebook to compete with the speed of this notebook. I just checked Dell's website and their fastest notebook they offer TODAY is 2.13Ghz. I purchased this notebook two years ago. Sager now offers up to 3.8 GHz in a notebook. I believe the processors used in these notebooks are designed for speed not battery life (see cons below) and possible is the same processor used in desktop computers. This factor means dual cooling fans underneath, a whopping power supply (with its own cooling fan inside), and added weight.
2. More powerful than a speeding locomotive…
With 1 GB of memory (added as an option), having many applications open at a time is no problem for this notebook. I routinely have Excel spreadsheets open with thousands of lines of text utilizing macros. The database system we use is processor heavy. My old 800 MHz laptop (Ashton Digital - see my review from years ago) took 1.5 DAYS to do a database conversion. This laptop did it under 2 hrs. The combination of memory and processor is powerful.
3. Able to leap (view) tall buildings in a single bound (screen)…
Sagers were some of the first notebooks to break the 15" barrier for screen size. The 8886 has a 15.7 inch diagonal screen using the standard aspect ratio (not widescreen). The TFT Active Matrix screen is very clear and very large for a notebook. It is very pleasant to work on for long periods of time.
4. It’s a desktop…
How many desktop computers have you used that have a TV tuner built in (with a remote control)? How about SD card or Sony Memory Stick built in? An IEEE-1394 port (Ultra high speed port for connection to certain digital video cameras for recording)? The 40GB hard drive is not outstanding, but still nothing to sneeze at by today’s standards. Four USB ports make your home office very flexible. I can have my mouse, PDA, Digital Camera, and Scanner all plugged in at the same time. Other digital media blessings include the S-Video-Out and S-Video-In as well as S/PDIF out and microphone in. (I’m sorry to say that I have not used or tested any of the TV or digital video capabilities of this notebook).
Another great desktop feature of this notebook is that it actually has a built-in numeric keypad on the keyboard. Anyone who punches in lots of numbers on their keyboard knows the value of a separate numeric keypad. Because of the wide screen, Sager was able to fit numeric keypad just to the right of the enter key. Although the 4th column of the keypad is distributed above and below the numbers because of space, it is easy to adjust to. The + and – keys are moved above the 8 and 0 keys respectively. Normal laptop users know the frustration of trying to use the ‘in-keyboard’ keypad whereby 9 letters on the keyboard are translated to numbers.
Lastly, and most important for many PC users is the very adequate ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB DDR video card. This will keep gamers very happy as they trot their Sager over to their friend’s house for a multi-player game of intense graphical entertainment. Until we got a permanent DVD player at home we used the Sager’s built-in DVD system to watch excellent quality movies. The sound system is only adequate, however. Plugging in to some quality external speakers makes up for it. The built-in modem and built-in Ethernet card allow connection to most networks or Internet services. Unfortunately, this notebook at the time did not include a built-in wireless device. I instead use a Linksys wireless PCMCIA card for access to my home and office wireless network. The PS/2 port allows connection to external keyboards or mice (of course the USB ports allow this connectivity as well), and an external SVGA port allows the connection of an external monitor. When I work from home I have monitor, keyboard, mouse, Ethernet, and printer cables all plugged in so that in essence, I am working at a high-powered desktop. If only I had a docking station to get connected instead of having to plug in 7 cables every time I come home.
5. It’s a Notebook…
Portability is relative. 12 pounds means nothing once you plop this monster onto the desk at your office. I don’t recommend throwing it over your shoulder for a day at the airport, however. But for the $2,000 price tag the airport traveler will likely be getting a 2 lb. ultra-thin notebook with barely enough ‘oomph’ to run Outlook and Internet Explorer without coughing. This Sager notebook is not for the jetset executive, but rather the moderately mobile IT professional or Gaming Geek. – or the way-cool dad. We have also used it “on the road” while traveling with our kids in the van to keep the kiddo’s entertained. Just remember to bring the 300 Watt Power inverter because the battery will last a mere 2 hours at best. (The battery itself probably weighs almost 1 pounds). Remember the 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive of the past? This notebook has it. The InfraRed port allows linking to modern PDA devices, printers, and some IR cell phones.
Speaking of laptops, this wide notebook actually fits quite nicely on your lap. The dual cooling fans will keep your legs rather warm, but you won’t find that you have to keep your knees locked together to keep the computer from tumbling to the floor. The 2 ½ inch thick profile of the notebook makes typing on your lap an ergonomic exercise. Put it on a desk, however, and you might find your wrists or arms getting tired from the high profile.
For audiophiles, there is both the built-in audio controls and LCD readout on the front edge of the notebook as well as a portable, removable MP3 player with included belt clip and headphones. The built-in audio can be run with the notebook turned off, but with a CD in the drawer. The removable MP3 player includes a 32MB SD card which can also be used for external storage. The MP3 player uses its own AAA batteries when not plugged into the notebook.
Earlier I alluded to the battery life. ‘What battery life’ is a good question!?!? It certainly is nice to be able to unplug this monster and compute on the porch for awhile, but it won’t be long until you’ll be looking for that power chord. I just purchased a new battery after two years and I can get about 2 ½ hrs on the new battery if I’m doing only moderate computing. But do some heavy processing where the dual cooling fans kick in, plus plug in the wireless PC card, and you could shorten that time to 1 ½ hours. After the battery drains it can take a frustratingly slow 3 ½ hours to recharge the battery (with the Notebook turned off) or up to 5 hours (if you are still using the notebook).
6. NO, IT’S SUPER SAGER!
The reliability of the 8886 has been excellent. I did send in the notebook for service after dropping it. Apparently the motherboard cracked. www.powernotebooks.com fixed the notebook under warranty, even though I explained the accident. A few of the letters on the keyboard have worn off with use, but I don’t think this is abnormal. One day as the battery was just draining to 0%, the computer suddenly shut off. After a reboot the hard drive gave some odd errors. I was able to eventually reboot and continue working but would occasionally have hard drive problems. Fortunately, I was able to burn CD's to backup my crucial files before swapping out another hard drive. I blame the battery for this problem, and I'm still not sure if the hard drive is bad or if it just messed with some of the files when the computer shut down prematurely (possibly during a disk write). I also replaced the power converter after leaving it under a pillow on the bed while watching a movie. The power converter 'melted' -- literally. I smelled melted plastic first, then noticed the notebook had switched to battery power. After pulling out the extremely hot power converter from under the pillow I noticed that something inside had melted and that it was too hot to touch. The extended warranty (3 yr.) that was purchased with the notebook was able to cover the replacement power converter, included next-day shipment to my house.
As far as bundled software, the Sager comes with the basics. My Notebook came with Windows XP Pro which has worked fine with one exception. When I use the included MP3 player (internally) and copy files to the SD Card, I began to notice that my CPU is running at times at 100%, even with no other applications running. The guilty service was a file called: cisvc.exe. If I "End Process" on the file, then the CPU returns to normal and everything works fine. A search of Microsoft's knowledge base showed that a bug in Windows XP caused the service to endlessly search for a removable drive (or something like that). I was anxiously awaiting the fix for this problem in XP Service Pack 2, but was dismayed to find that my version of Seagate Crystal Reports 8.5 is not compatible with Service Pack 2. So for now I have unstalled SP2, and use the USB cable to load files from my SD card on the digital camera instead of plugging the SD card into the MP3 player to download my pictures. It works just fine that way for me so I don't mind not having SP2.
A CD with InterVideo WinDVD 4 was included with the notebook (and installed) for viewing DVD's. It has worked marvelously and without errors. A copy of VcAfee Virus Scan 7.0 is included with a 1 year license. I have not used it. A CD with Quicken 2003 New User Edition is included. Because I already had a version of Quicken (the new user edition does not import previous Quicken data) I have not used this version. PowerNotebooks.com also includes their own CD with 15 software titles including: OpenOffice.org 1.01 (a Microsoft Office compatible office suite), Britannica 2003, World Tours Golf 2002, Zoner Draw3, Laplink Gold, Rand McNally TripMaker Essentials, Eudora v. 5.1, MusicMatch Jukebox 7.1, Riptide PhotoStudio, Stuffit Standard, RealOne Player, iOrganizeIt, iAnnotateIt, iCaptureIt, and iClean. Because I already had a copy of Microsoft Office and because I don't generally play games on my notebook, I have not used any of these bundled softwares, other than the DVD software.
The main software that I use on this PC is Microsoft Office 2003 Professional (including Outlook, Excel, Access, and rarely PowerPoint). I also use Seagate Crystal Reports 8.5 quite extensively at work. These have all worked without problems, although I have not been able to migrate to Windows XP Service Pack 2 because of compatibility problems with Crystal Reports.
In summary, the Sager 8886 Notebook could rightfully be called a portable PC. The modern term is probably ‘Desktop Replacement Notebook’. It is very heavy for a notebook computer, but for short walks between your home and your car, it can be just the ticket for the serious gamer, telecommuter, digital enthusiast, or vacationing family. In short, I believe it is the best of both worlds.
Thanks for reading.
Troy
15.7" SXGA Active Matrix Display (1280x1024)
Intel® Pentium® 4 2.8GHz (533MHz FSB) Processor with 512KB on-die Cache
1024MB 266MHz PC2100 DDR
40.0 GB 5400 RPM Ultra DMA Hard Drive
8x DVD / 24x10x24 CD-RW Combo Drive
Smart Li-ION Battery
TV-Tuner with Remote
ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB DDR
Built-in 3.5" FDD
Wavetable 3D Stereo Advance AC97
Touchpad with Scrolling Keys
2 Type II or 1 Type III PCMCIA Slots
Infra Red, Wireless Fast IR interface
4 USB 2.0 Ports
1 IEEE-1394 Port (6 PIN)
Other Ports:
1 S/PDIF out & microphone in
1 infrared
1 headphone
Sony Memory Stick port
1 parallel
1 Serial
1 PS/2 keyboard
1 SVGA video
1 S-Video-Out
1 S-Video-In
1 RJ-45
1 RJ-11
Integrated 10/100Mbps Ethernet LAN
Integrated V.90 56K Fax/Modem
Microsoft® Windows® XP Pro Edition
Auto Switch 110/220V AC Adapter
AC power cord
Multifunction Remote Control
Coaxial Connector
User's Manual
Utility CD
Dimension (H) x (W) x (D): 2.25"x14.17"x11.77"
Weight: 12.0lbs. with Battery
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2000
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
peachjam
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Member: Troy Funte
Location: Titusville, PA
Reviews written: 84
Trusted by: 112 members
About Me:
I'm a family man, which actually keeps me off epinions more than I would like.
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