16in battle - Fujitsu N5010 vs Sager 8890

[///Manuel]

Sager's 8890 seems to have quite an advantage over the N5010, UXGA, RAM, etc.

How about reliability? Fujitsu's has incredible reviews from CNet while Sager's are hard to find...

Whatcha guys think?

EDIT: Looks like tons of CNet reviewers have had bad customer service experience... vs Fuji's were a lot better!

[DanyB]

I think the Sager 8890 whith the Fujitsu's lcd screen would be my dream notebook.

[Chirality]

Sager 8890 with Fujitsu's LCD would probably not run for 10mins with battery power and would overload any power grid. The Fujitsu's screen uses dual lamps to produce the extra brightness.

[FriedToast]

But it looks dang good! If the Fuji had 2 or 3 HD bays, I'd be all over it. But, it doesn't, so I'm stickin' w/ Sager (well, until I change my mind again in a few minutes...)

[///Manuel]

I think I'm gonna go with the fujitsu, simply for reliability reasons. Sager's customer service quality seems way too low. I don't care for technical service but more for return / insurance reasons...

[Shai-Hulud]

Well my n5010 finally arrived today and it is very nice but unfortunately this notebook must go back. It has a very noticeable and disconcerting stuck pixel about 2 inches left of center. I tried to ignore it but its like trying to ignore a huge red nose pimple or a piece of lettuce on somebodys teeth. Its absolutely impossible to not notice.

The search for the perfect notebook continues I guess.

[///Manuel]

You'll not get another one? Dead pixels seem to happen but Global Computers are pretty good about it...

[droo]

I got my N5010 from Global with no dead pixels. As far as my needs go, the Fujitsu is the perfect laptop.

[huangn]

I got my N5010 from Global Computers. If there are any dead pixels, I haven't found them yet. I keep getting faked out by dust on my screen, though. That glossy surface seems to attract dust like moths to a flame! I begged Global to check my machine for dead pixels before shipping it to me. The packaging looked intact and undisturbed (of course, they're professionals), but I didn't find any dead pixels, so I got what I asked for.

I am concerned that the black on the start up screen isn't very black at all, no matter what the angle or the brightness setting of the monitor. Is it supposed to be jet black?

[droo]

I wouldn’t worry about it. Black is relative; once your operating system fires up you will notice that black looks much blacker than other LCD screens or even many CRT monitors. It’s the contrast that really matters, and the 600:1 contrast ratio helps quite a bit. I noticed that the black on the Sony Xbrite screen is even less black when booting than the N5010, the Sony bleads more light.

If you are really concerned about the black, turn the LCD brightness down. It starts out much brighter than other LCD screens anyway

[KPEddison]

I got my N5010 from Global Computers. If there are any dead pixels, I haven't found them yet. I keep getting faked out by dust on my screen, though. That glossy surface seems to attract dust like moths to a flame! I begged Global to check my machine for dead pixels before shipping it to me. The packaging looked intact and undisturbed (of course, they're professionals), but I didn't find any dead pixels, so I got what I asked for.

I am concerned that the black on the start up screen isn't very black at all, no matter what the angle or the brightness setting of the monitor. Is it supposed to be jet black?

When you initially start up your computer during the boot-up, your windows drivers and video drivers are not recognized until you get into windows. Therefore you must adjust your settings for each step as windows loads. For my desktop I have to adjust my monitor approximately three times, boot, pre-windows, and windows itself. On my desktop when windows starts to boot and I see the settings are not as I like, I immediately hit pause/break on my keyboard to freeze-frame the screen (so i can take my time adjusting). I then adjust the brightness and contrast or whatever else needs adjusting. When done hit enter to continue loading windows. If you see another portion of boot-up that is not to your liking hit pause/break again adjust the screen again and hit enter when done to continue. Repeat as necessary until windows loads. When completed your settings will remain uniform the next time you start up your computer. You should only have to do this once. I have not tried this on a Laptop but this is the way I always adjust all of my desktops and it has always worked. It is worth a try and I hope it works.

Later
KP :dude:

[huangn]

Hi, KPEddison. Thanks for the tips. We hadn't heard from you in a while. Have you gotten your long awaited lappy yet?

I appreciate your tips for adjusting the monitor. It actually makes me feel better just to know that my monitor isn't faulty. I have no real need for a deep black startup screen before I get into Windows. I just wanted to make sure I didn't have a lemon.

You mentioned adjusting the contrast. As far as I can tell, I can only find buttons to adjust brightness. Am I missing the contrast control? I would assume all of us just want as much contrast as possible.

[Chirality]

I think KPE is relying on his desktop experience. AFAIK only Dell laptops have contrast control. Even so the Dell contrast control function exactly the same as brightness, so it's useless. Furthermore I think KPE is adjusting the settings on the monitor rather than the software settings. However the monitor does not keep separate settings for each load screen. Adjusting the screen of one load sequence should adversely affect the quality of the other screens AFAIK. If this is not correct, or if there is a way to accomplish this correctly please let me know.

[KPEddison]

Hi guys:

I'm not sure if laptops even have a contrast adjustment as deltawalkerl states above. I guess my point is that the boot-up screens will normally look different than windows because the custom drivers haven't loaded yet. But it is good to know that this is quite normal. If so you might try to adjust the brightness at each stage if possible.

Also Hello huangn. My new Laptop is scheduled to arrive next Thursday Feb 12th at the latest. Hopefully then I will be able to help with Lappy questions since I will finally own one. :dude:

Take care

KP

[KPEddison]

I think KPE is relying on his desktop experience. AFAIK only Dell laptops have contrast control. Even so the Dell contrast control function exactly the same as brightness, so it's useless. Furthermore I think KPE is adjusting the settings on the monitor rather than the software settings. However the monitor does not keep separate settings for each load screen. Adjusting the screen of one load sequence should adversely affect the quality of the other screens AFAIK. If this is not correct, or if there is a way to accomplish this correctly please let me know.

Actually I am adjusting the monitor at each stage so you are correct with that point. But the thing is with my desktop as with all my desktops, the settings are retained for each stage of boot-up, and the settings at one stage does not adversely affect those settings of the other stages. When I load up my computer it is completely uniform throughout the boot stages. But you bring up some valid points. I would imagine that the monitor retains the settings the same way it retains separate settings when I change the resolution, or color depth. I am using a CyberVision c92 19" monitor. I am not positive why it works, I just know that it does. Thanks for the input.

Later

KP

[Shai-Hulud]

You'll not get another one? Dead pixels seem to happen but Global Computers are pretty good about it...

I had mixed feelings about ordering another one. Although the screen is huge and nice to look at (other than the dead pixel that is), I had a hard time getting used to the overall size of the machine. My last 2 laptops have been the 15.4" variety and I really liked the widescreen aspect for watching movies and tv programs that I downloaded off the net. I was hoping that the 16" screen of the n5010 would be similar but it was not, its just BIG...besides, the guy at Global told me that they didnt have any more in stock and Fujitsu was delaying shipment on any new models because they are doing some kind of an upgrade. Instead of waiting, I opted to make a clean break of it and Fedex'd it back this morning. I'll probably keep the Gateway m505xl that I currently have for a little while but the search still continues.

[Chirality]

The 16 inch screen has approximately the same width as the 15.4inch widescreen (12.8inch vs 13.1 inch). You gain some height with the 16inch (9.6inch vs. 8.2inch). So just think of the 16inch as a 15.4 inch with some extra height, which is nice when using Windows programs. The SXGA+ screen also has way more pixels than WXGA. You can't lose with the 16inch screen.

[FriedToast]

The screen is a major factor in me wanting a Fuji over the 8890. However, the Fuji can't keep up w/ all the extras that the 8890 has (multiple HDs, card reader, internal wireless, etc., etc.)

However, the 8890's history of ghosting issues w/ the 16" screen scares me away. I saw some pre-Clear View Fujitsus last week with what looked to be severe ghosting problems and they were just horrible to look at. The only thing worse was a Dell 1100 that was nearby. Gah.

So... go for the Fuji? (altho' they want about $3300 for one here in Japan) Go for the 8890 and pray for no dead pixels/ghosting problems? Wait for the 8790?

*sigh*
For now, I wait.

[droo]

besides, the guy at Global told me that they didnt have any more in stock and Fujitsu was delaying shipment on any new models because they are doing some kind of an upgrade.

Hmmm... I wonder what they are upgrading. See, the minute I buy somethine a better version comes along....

[Shai-Hulud]

The 16 inch screen has approximately the same width as the 15.4inch widescreen (12.8inch vs 13.1 inch). You gain some height with the 16inch (9.6inch vs. 8.2inch). So just think of the 16inch as a 15.4 inch with some extra height, which is nice when using Windows programs. The SXGA+ screen also has way more pixels than WXGA. You can't lose with the 16inch screen.

Its true that the 16" screen has more real estate, however, the view still sports the same 4:3 ratio as the 15", so when viewing movies in widescreen format, you still get the 2" borders, which I could not get used to again after owning a couple of 15.4" wxgas. Also for the game that I like to play, Madden 2004, the widescreen format looks so much better than the 4:3 format. I'm thinking that my next notebook will be the Abs Mayhem G1.

[Chirality]

Even with the 15.4inch screen you should get a border, since the ratio is 16:10 not 16:9. If you don't get a border that means the movie is stretched vertically. I personally would prefer keeping the original aspect ratio and have some border.

[Shai-Hulud]

A 1" border still looks a lot better than a 2" border. :) Also out of curitosity, when I changed the settings to widescreen viewing on the n5010 while watching a movie, the borders, instead of being black, changed colors to a dark purple.

[Chirality]

A 1" border still looks a lot better than a 2" border. :) Also out of curitosity, when I changed the settings to widescreen viewing on the n5010 while watching a movie, the borders, instead of being black, changed colors to a dark purple.

That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard! I've got to see this for myself. I think I am going to head to JandR and bring one of my DVDs.

[///Manuel]

I completely agree with the vertical real estate regarding windows applications. My laptop will be used primarly for development and I need all the vertical real estate I can have. That's why I was interested in UXGA screens where the resolution can be cranked up to 1600x1200.

The guys at Global Computers have been of no help so far. I left them 2 emails and called them once. They are showing rather incompetent skills so far. A guy frmo premiopc.com I have been talking to has been far more helpful so far.

[ZetaGauss]

The guys at Global Computers have been of no help so far. I left them 2 emails and called them once. They are showing rather incompetent skills so far. A guy frmo premiopc.com I have been talking to has been far more helpful so far.

I ordered an N5010 from Global Computers on the 4th, and I was told that they are currently experiencing a delay because Fujitsu had a hiccup in its supply of 3.0GHz HT Pentium 4's now that the Prescott's are out.

Fujitsu just started advertising availability of the 3.0GHz processors again, along with 3.2GHz processors (it used to say "out of stock" here: http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=N5). I emailed Global Computers again, so hopefully I'll know more soon.

[KPEddison]

I ordered an N5010 from Global Computers on the 4th, and I was told that they are currently experiencing a delay because Fujitsu had a hiccup in its supply of 3.0GHz HT Pentium 4's now that the Prescott's are out.

Fujitsu just started advertising availability of the 3.0GHz processors again, along with 3.2GHz processors (it used to say "out of stock" here: http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=N5). I emailed Global Computers again, so hopefully I'll know more soon.

ZetaGauss:

When I spoke to Global Computers on Feb 6th, they said Fujitsu would be out of stock of the N5010's until Feb 18th. Hopefully this means that they are back in stock now, or will be soon. Let us know what you find out from Global when they E-Mail you back.

Later

KP

[ZetaGauss]

ZetaGauss:

When I spoke to Global Computers on Feb 6th, they said Fujitsu would be out of stock of the N5010's until Feb 18th. Hopefully this means that they are back in stock now, or will be soon. Let us know what you find out from Global when they E-Mail you back.

Later

KP

I just received two emails from them, both saying that I should have the notebook by the beginning of March. That's still quite a wait, though, considering that I could have had it by now.

[photogeek]

I am considering the N5010 'coz of the fab screen reviews and the worldwide warranty. I gather that they are also well built and reliable. However I do agree they dont spec out as well as others ( eg only 64Mb VRAM) I need to a screen for accurate photo/video editing, a sharpe, crisp screen with accutate colors. Has anyone tried to color calibrate the Crystal View screen?

I am also checking out the AMD Athalon 64 based machines (Voodoo Envy, Hypersonic etc) Maybe my ideal notebook would be the Fujitsu Crystal View screen, AMD64, 128Mb ATI, 7200 hard drive, 2Gb RAM etc etc

[huangn]

I have only crudely calibrated the monitor with Adobe Gamma. I have pictures posted at http://home.cinci.rr.com/nancyandgreg/N5010 comparing the LCD to my CRT at various viewing angles. At this point, more sophisticated hardware (like Spyders) and software is still too expensive for my budget.