PC MicroWorks rolls out Black-Hawk XR5 "super notebook"

It may not be much to look at, but PC Microworks' new 17-inch Black-Hawk XR5 laptop certainly looks like it has the specs to get the job done, including room for three SATA 300 hard drives and a pair of NVIDIA's new Geforce Go 8800GTX graphics units in SLI mode. Otherwise, you can expect a range of configurable options, including your choice of Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processors, up to 4GB of 800 MHz DDR2 memory, and an optional Blu-ray burner, to name a few. Look for this one to start shipping sometime next month, with PC MicroWork's default system setting you back $2,779 (although some of those aforementioned options will cost you considerably more than that).

[I Cook on My Notebook @ May 29th 2008 5:47PM]

It may not be much to look at, but AC Microworks' new 17-inch Black-Hawk XR5 Extreme Jesus Powered Heating Unit certainly looks like it has the specs to get the job killed, including room for three SATA Jesus hard Crosses and a pair of Satans new Lava Go Flame graphics units in Pie mode. Otherwise, you can expect a range of not in any way configurable options, including your choice of Core 2 Lava or Core 2 Jihads Scud Storms, up to 4GB of Jesus MHz DDRGod memory, and an optional Light-ray burner, to name a few. Look for this one to start shipping to Churches and places that need extreme heating sometime next month, with AC MicroWork's default system setting you back 1 Family (although some of those aforementioned options will cost you considerably more than that). Possibly your virginity.

[mushrooshi @ Nov 16th 2007 11:45PM]

For that thickness it better be super.

[Tony @ Nov 16th 2007 11:46PM]

Is that thing portable?

[pinchies @ Nov 17th 2007 7:14AM]

lugable.

[chadow @ Nov 16th 2007 11:51PM]

Hmmm....looks and sounds like something Sager Notebooks would already have.

[JohnTitor @ Nov 16th 2007 11:53PM]

Sager is a manufacturer of Clevo laptops and this definitely has that Clevo look to it
and here I was worried Alienware might finally over take Clevo gaming-laptop thrown

[ipodrulz @ Nov 16th 2007 11:53PM]

"including room for three SATA 300 hard drives and a pair of NVIDIA's new Geforce Go 8800GTX" ... they have room in there for me!

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 17th 2007 12:03AM]

That's more like a sketchbook than a notebook

[Jeremy K. @ Nov 17th 2007 12:23AM]

...and only weighs 20 pounds!

[Darryl @ Nov 17th 2007 12:24AM]

You mean textbook? Or phonebook?

[Ellianth @ Nov 17th 2007 12:50AM]

shit, you beat me to it. Lol

[Jacob @ Nov 17th 2007 12:34AM]

And the battery lasts *how* long?

[Deuz Augustine @ Nov 17th 2007 1:05AM]

There is no battery. They took it out so they could put a small convection oven inside of it.

Nobody's going to use this thing on battery power.

[coffee @ Nov 17th 2007 1:05AM]

sager np9261, refresh
11.5 lbs, 12-cell battery will prob give you 1.5 - 3 hours.

[BubbaGumb @ Nov 17th 2007 2:03AM]

but the thing i wanna know is

Will it Blend???

[Cormin @ Nov 17th 2007 2:07AM]

yes! vote this man to the top!!!!

Will it blend???

[Reader @ Nov 17th 2007 2:15AM]

Why would you do that?

[majortom @ Nov 17th 2007 2:16AM]

so what were the chances marketing could get four models who looked alike?

[Tony @ Nov 17th 2007 2:49AM]

Clearly you havn't seen a lot of shops in your time.

A few tips:
Look closely at the pixels.
Observe the reflections.

[maveric101 @ Nov 17th 2007 3:51PM]

clearly you havn't heard a lot of sarcasm in your lifetime.

a few tips:
person seems stupid
person says something ignorant or unlikely

gg n00b

[Tony @ Nov 18th 2007 12:49AM]

"gg n00b"
Need I say more? You embarass yourself.

[Bernhard @ Nov 17th 2007 8:54AM]

See the large surface area on either side of the touchpad? Thats for cooking...

[Deuz Augustine @ Nov 17th 2007 10:15AM]

I was a fool! It's not a convection oven, it's a griddle!

[Glen @ Nov 17th 2007 9:14AM]

sager 9621, out for a while, old news. the battery is treated more like a 30-minute UPS - you don't run these without a/c around

[ar1985 @ Nov 18th 2007 1:38AM]

I'mma use it as an ironing board in the morning

[Gabriel @ Jun 22nd 2008 4:16PM]

Of course a monster notebook like this will be beefier than the rest, but that is one heck of a performance notebook! I'm embarassed to say it would put my full tower desktop to shame :(

[Mattyx99 @ Nov 18th 2007 6:32PM]

And I thought my Toshiba X200 was good. This one even comes with a hot girl inside, cause theres definitely enough room.

[Charles Hurley @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:36PM]

My feelings on my experience with PCMicroWorks and their BlackHawk laptop (10/2007-1/2008):
They delivered the laptop fast within 5 days I was totally stoked on the laptop and PC MicroWorks!
They delivered it with incorrect hardware (ABG instead of ABN) and didn't notify me which they said was my fault because I ordered the laptop without an OS and they normally put the paper in the box as part of the OS (Now you start to see my problem is with PCMicroWorks and their employees, it’s never their fault always the customers).
The laptop immediately black screened and locked up when put in SLI mode for Vista x64 which I explicitly asked if it worked and they said yes (Obviously they never tested it or did and decided to lie to me anyway).
They blamed the video problem on NVidia saying NVidia told them it worked so they shipped it. They also blamed this on me not ordering an OS for them to have installed (Oh by the way there site offers the laptop without an OS as the default choice). They also blame me for getting 4GB of memory and said the problem doesn't exist with 2GB (they never ask me to take out any memory to fix the problem? Also once again their site offers the 4GB upgrade for free at the time I ordered).
They promise me a working driver in a week or so and have me disable some features to get SLI to work which it never does.
Then they ship the new driver which basically has the same problems not as pronounced but still present.
After over a month they finally offer to swap the cards temporarily for 7950 which are not DirectX10 which is the main reason I bought this system and how it is advertised on their website.
I said I would take the cards if they would upgrade the 8700 to the 8800s coming out for my trouble and they would not commit but did send the 7950s.
Now during all this two SATA drives fail one after the other. They overnighted drives to replace them.
I have now spent more money and time on this laptop than it cost me originally ~$5,000.00.
Also the customer support is terrible. They are overly aggressive, blame the customer, refuse to take ownership of the problem, follow through is terrible; don't follow their written or oral agreements.
Back to the video problem so I hadn't heard from them in over a week so I decided to call and either say give me the 8800s with a working driver or take the laptop back. The customer support person was terrible. First off he started complaining about me wanting to game with the laptop, buying it without an OS again, and various other absurd, unprofessional , and just plain ridiculous statements like "we are taking care of you by going out of our way to do such and such" etc. This guy was unreal. He taunted me and finally after I told him I wanted to return the laptop offered the 8800s and told me I would have to get a new motherboard too. I told him no thanks not only do I not want it because of what has transpired (Especially the conversation with this customer service manager) now I really know PCMicroWork’s marketing gimmick of being upgradeable is totally mis-leading seeing you have to change the motherboard to upgrade video cards.
I tried to get a hold of upper management but they refused to let me through.
Needless to say I returned the portable and they gave me a full refund and all shipping was at their cost. They drew out the refund return (during the holidays the worst time for me to tie up 5K of mine, affected my 8 year old daughter’s Christmas) and once again broke their written agreement on that. Even though they think they made me whole they are not even close with the time I invested.
I write this because before I bought the laptop from PCMicroWorks I searched for info on the company and their support and found little to none. If someone had written an article like this I may not have made the purchase.
There are plenty of other companies out there that sell similar systems based on the exact same core Clevo system that will provide much better customer service and support and not waste your valuable time and money.