Gear Eye: the Sager 3790 laptop

Engadget pal Nick Bicanic liked his new Sager 3790 laptop so much that he threw together this review/rumination for us about the PC and how why he ended up buying it:

I love laptops.

I've been a "laptop-only" professional since oh about 1996, when I owned an Olivetti Echos P120S. Interestingly, the S designation meant that it was the TFT model—back then you had a choice of buying "active" matrix or passive screens; it seems amazing to think about now. What made my quest a little out of the ordinary was that I always insisted on using laptops for tasks they were quite specifically not designed for – such running heavy duty multimedia apps on it like Premiere, Photoshop etc. I was quite stubborn in this regard and edited my first short film in its entirety on the trusty old Olivetti (this was all before the fancy days of FireWire and USB 2.0, mind you).

With that in mind, I've always been on a quest for the fastest machine I could afford (like anyone, really). After the Olivetti I went with an IBM Thinkpad T21 (like many others I imagine, the T series represents the pinnacle of PC laptop engineering). I then moved to the Winbook J4, which had phenomenal sound and was very quick; the Pentium M had been officially released, but I stuck to my guns and only bought "desktop replacements" with screaming-fast CPUs).

And then came the Alienware.

This seems a somewhat inevitable point in a laptop commando�s career arc since they look cool as hell and are just as fast. In September 2003 I bought a 3.2GHz, 1680x1050 screaming demon, which amazingly, is still up there amongst the fastest laptops today. And I got great use out of it, but something started bothering me.

It was heavy. And the batteries didn�t last. And it was so noisy that I had to turn it off when I was watching TV in the same room. At first none of this mattered because it was Alienware�it was the Lamborghini Diablo of laptops�but after a while it just got too annoying. So I decided that for the first time in about 8 years that I would downgrade. I would get something lighter and quieter, something that that was essentially more of a laptop than a briefcase with a screen.

Enter the Sager 3790.

I discovered Sager while investigating Voodoo, a Canadian company that targets laptops and desktops at overclockers and hardcore gamers. They do the custom colors and graphics thing, but they charge a pretty penny for the privilege.

The Sager 3790 is the same exact machine as the Voodoo PC m380, just that Voodoo will charge you $1000 or so more depending on the configuration. I got mine from PCTorque.com, which I strongly recommend.

Let�s talk about this toy though. Yes, it is a Centrino. I got the 2.0 GHz model (hey, I couldn�t downgrade too far), but as you probably know, because of different efficiency levels of the Pentium M and the Pentium 4, MHz cannot be compared one for one. The machine came loaded up with 2 GB RAM and a 7200 RPM internal hard drive, and of course, the requisite array of ports (USB 2.0, firewire, S-video etc). The most impressive part, however, is definitely the bright, high-contrast 1920x1200 resolution LCD screen.

That�s the same resolution as a 23-inch Apple Cinema display, and it�s completely amazing. I know you can get a Dell with the resolution screen, but they�re rather ugly. This thing is thin and light (at least for its class), and has a nice long battery life, claims Dell can nary make.

Plus it�s quiet. You really cannot hear it. The processor flips between 600 MHz and 2.00 GHz as necessary, and the fan noise is almost entirely absent. Sometimes when doing lots of rendering it will kick in, but it never stays on long. Compare this with the Alienware, which not only had a very loud fan on the machine itself, but the power supply (yes the brick) had its own fan which was also noticeably loud.

Is it as powerful as the Alienware I had was? For CPU intensive applications, well, of course not, but it can easily handle all the day�s games and virtually any applications you�ll throw at it. I am still using it for video editing, and while I have to wait a touch longer to render, I can at least hear myself think while I am waiting. This definitely gets my vote as the laptop of the year to own.

[MikeW-Dallas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I couldn't agree more. I too am a long time veteran of the laptop wars. HP, IBM, GATEWAY, SONY, ACER, ALIENWARE and more that I have forgotten.

As a software developer, I have to say that this machine rocks. The 1920x1200 display is awesome. This is the best machine I have ever owned ... and relative to the competition is dirt cheap!

[MikeW-Dallas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I couldn't agree more. I too am a long time veteran of the laptop wars. HP, IBM, GATEWAY, SONY, ACER, ALIENWARE and more that I have forgotten.

As a software developer, I have to say that this machine rocks. The 1920x1200 display is awesome. This is the best machine I have ever owned ... and relative to the competition is dirt cheap!

[jerry levine @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I ordered this the first day it came out (sometime back in August) and I've been amazingly happy. I went with the smaller 6-cell battery - but even as a P-M, it's a power sponge, so I just got the 12-cell. Even with all that, it's still the nicest non-Apple notebook I've ever seen. Built in WiFI, Bluetooth too.

And the screen is marvy!

[TheMatt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

That's, what, $2700 or so for that? Man...grad students shouldn't read this site.

[Erik @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Ya you may drive a toyota thinking its a lexus. But come one its just a toyota.

Save some more pennies and opt for the Powerbook my friend. With Tiger 10.4 coming out sooooon you will absolutly go bonkers wondering why you didnt "switch".

God I love you apple! :)

[Jake G. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I actually have the Area-51m from Alienware. I have not noticed the sound issues you mentioned. Yes, the brick does have a fan on it, but it is not noticeable. The brick in the article might have been defective.

I did have the problem with the heaviness of the system, so I recently purchased (about three months ago) their Sentia model.

It is so light and it works perfect for my needs. Even thought the screen is just 12", it is great. Battery life is awesome. I managed to see 2 full DVDs before I needed to charge the battery. It performs all the things I need and if it does not, I use it's "big brother"

I haven't met anyone who has a sager to be able to test it out and compare.

[Chip Thomas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

It's a shame PCTorque.net is missing out on all this free publicity.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product-price.cfm?ProductType=3790&SubType=S&hdid=40000697&ramid=80000993

I don't know when he bought it or what configuration it was but it's Not $2700

http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/mag_updates.html

[JJ @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I bought a Sager at DiscountLaptops.com about 2 years ago as a desktop replacement. At the time, it was about $1k less than equivelant name brand machines. And it came with all the name brand parts. Mine is a 1.6 Ghz pentium 4, 1GB ram, etc, etc.

I have really loved it, but it is a bit bulky. I am looking for something lighter now as I don't want to go back to desktop land. I will have to look into this one.

[jerry levine @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

My Sager totalled $1800, and I got it from PCTorque
- http://www.pctorque.com

Here were my specs, it's even a little cheaper now:

WUXGA - 1920x1200 screen
P-M 1.7 GHZ
512MB of RAM
60GB 7200RPM HDD
802.11G built-in
Bluetooth built-in
CDR/DVD drive
That's the non-standard stuff. Everything else is standard: VGA camera, SD Card slot, S/PDIF out, 3 USB2 slots, Mini-Firewire, Serial port, 1 PCMCIA Slot, IR, 10/100/1000 Ethernet.

I don't think there's a better deal in the current market than a Sager, really. It's attractive, it's got a mirrored logo on the back of the display, it's fast, and it can run Doom 3 pretty nicely.

[endcrash @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Is there anything like this out there with an NVidia graphics chipset? Also, can anyone give an approximation of battery life with either battery?

[JJ @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Also, I thought I should mention that Sager has really great support. I needed to order a 2nd battery for a trip, and called them up. I told the guy on the phone what I needed. He called their shipping while I was on the line and made sure it was was shipped that afternoon. Pretty good service for a "no name" company.

[michael @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

if u wanna know just say so and i'l tell ya.

[michael @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Hey, im trying to get in touch with Peter Rojas (he has the original post) and /or Mike W Dallas who put up a coment. guys if u reading this please get in touch with me at [e-mail], or if any1 knows their email address can it please be fowarded to me as i have stuff to discuss/ask them.

[al_xipe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Erik, you think your apple powerbook is a Lexus?

Where is the 1920x1200 laptop in apple line of notebooks already?
oh yeah, you need that costly external cinema display to have that kind of resolution ...

You'd have 2 Sager laptops for the price of your PB + display

[funny_guy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Both Apple and Sager are jokes. Don't even use names like Lexus or even Toyota for that matter. Neither apple or Sager are as well built as the Toyo or Lexus.