Hypersonic Aviator CX7 laptop @ [H] Consumer

Their tech support makes me scratch my head and go "huh?" They tried hard, but failed to live up to my expectations. Especially since it was a laptop. I'm one of those people who have no problem getting into a desktop machine, but pale at the thought of cracking open a laptop. It sounds like they need to do more testing on some of their hardware choices.
 
Good article.

Were you guys able to buy an extended life battery from them?

I cannot agree with the score of 10 for gaming from a laptop that you can only play one hour and during that hour you have shitty frames! Isn't the whole point of a laptop to be free from cords/ desks?

Maybe the tech support was hung over from new-years :D
 
Interesting review to say the least lmao

Sounds like you lot had some fun with this one :D
 
Too bad about their support, but they did send a new notebook after it was confirmed the previous one was faulty - I like that. This review really gets to the guts of a company and exposes both good and bad points that they need to work on. It'll be interesting to see a follow-up article to see how things have improved (or not) for this company. :)
 
I do wonder about the building experience of the people putting these systems together, when they screw up technical support is left to clean up the mess and usually theyre underqualified to fix anything remotely complex (thats why they're on phone support after all). So the company gets the bad rap on both counts. Also the battery life on this unit seems rather abysmal in my opinion. Excellent article otherwise.
 
JOESKURTU said:
I cannot agree with the score of 10 for gaming from a laptop that you can only play one hour and during that hour you have shitty frames! Isn't the whole point of a laptop to be free from cords/ desks?
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I would like to just poke my head in here and respond to that one if I could. Chris, Brian and Kyle always do such a wonderful job, but my years of retail experience might help me shed a little light on this one for you.

I noticed earlier than when the article was originally posted it was called a desktop replacement which is completely correct.

Over the past three years or so we have been seeing a serious shift in the design and targeting of the laptop design in general.

We now have our 'Desktop Replacement' models, which are big beastly machines that give you the same power of a full sized tower. People generally buy these who are looking to save some desk space but still maintain full functionality (IE gaming, large screen etc).

We also have our 'Portable' niche in the market now, these laptops are designed to be low power consuming, smaller form factor "on the go" type machines.

You certainly would not expect to see the same type of performance out of a portable generally. This unit was designed to be a space saving desktop with its large screen and immenities if you will. Generally, this was the first question I asked when a person came into my place of work and we went from there. We also sold quite a few of these big machines because people wanted the power not the portable.

I'll let Chris and Co. explain their rating system and why they rated it so well, but I hope that sheds some light on the differences we see every day in the laptop designs.
 
I like how they managed to refrence the underpants gnomes in the review. Overall the review was good and it seems like hypersonic did try to help you guys out. I'll be interested to see the next one you all review from them(if/when) to see if they were really having the issues they said they were and if they fix them.
 
Rich Tate said:
I would like to just poke my head in here and respond to that one if I could. Chris, Brian and Kyle always do such a wonderful job, but my years of retail experience might help me shed a little light on this one for you.

I noticed earlier than when the article was originally posted it was called a desktop replacement which is completely correct.

Over the past three years or so we have been seeing a serious shift in the design and targeting of the laptop design in general.

We now have our 'Desktop Replacement' models, which are big beastly machines that give you the same power of a full sized tower. People generally buy these who are looking to save some desk space but still maintain full functionality (IE gaming, large screen etc).

We also have our 'Portable' niche in the market now, these laptops are designed to be low power consuming, smaller form factor "on the go" type machines.

You certainly would not expect to see the same type of performance out of a portable generally. This unit was designed to be a space saving desktop with its large screen and immenities if you will. Generally, this was the first question I asked when a person came into my place of work and we went from there. We also sold quite a few of these big machines because people wanted the power not the portable.

I'll let Chris and Co. explain their rating system and why they rated it so well, but I hope that sheds some light on the differences we see every day in the laptop designs.
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Thank you for adressing this.

I am not too familiar with these new "Desktop Replacement Models". *( I thinks to myself isn't that what a SFF is for?)

Anyhow, what is the deal with the loss of frames? Was it zapping so much power the battery could not discharge fast enough to maintain the amps the video card needed?

I would love to have one of these me machines *IF* it can perform the way it does plugged in while unplugged. If that is not possible then I have a hard time seeing $2,600 leave my account.

*Personal opinion
 
I have a laptop, and a SFF computer.

Low battery life aside, a laptop is still a laptop and no matter how small you get that SFF computer, laptops will always be easier to lug around, if only because they've got integrated monitors.

"Desktop replacement" laptops are really designed to be machines that sit around and are used, essentially, like a desktop would. But if you, say, wanted to go to a LAN party, or take it on a business trip, you wouldn't really flinch at that.

If you're a coffee-shop WiFi head, or you need a longer battery life, or you intend to take your laptop from class to class, then you probably aren't in the market for a desktop replacement.

I love my SFF computer, I hate my laptop. If I was to go to live somewhere for a month or longer, I'd probably want to bring my SFF computer. But any less than that and I'll take the laptop -- and my laptop has a dead battery.
 
Did the reviewers notice whether the keyboard got hot to touch during intensive CPU/graphics stress, e.g. gaming or the torture test? I've found this to be a nuisance (not a real problem) on a quite a few laptops. Used a contact thermometer on my own Latitude C640 (with oc'd Mob Radeon 7500) during 3DMark 2001 and parts of the keyboard held almost 60 C, which is above the pain-perception threshold.
 
JOESKURTU said:
Anyhow, what is the deal with the loss of frames? Was it zapping so much power the battery could not discharge fast enough to maintain the amps the video card needed?
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Here's the issue with battery-powered gaming:
Laptop parts (in this case, specifically, the Pentium M CPU and the mobile 7800GTX video card) are designed to detect battery mode and switch to a Low Power mode to save on battery life. A 1.8GHz Pentium M CPU will throttle itself down to 600mhz or so in order to save on power. The video card will also deactivate some of its features to save on power. These power saving features really help battery life, but obviously would really hurt gaming performance. There are ways to force this hardware to run full speed even on battery power, but my guess is that a battery would only last 20 minutes or so during an intense game, with full power to the CPU and video card, not to mention the fans trying to keep it all cool and the DVD drive loading levels, etc.
Unfortunately, today's laptops are really designed to be run on battery power only during light usage times (internet, word processing). The dream of running FEAR at 1680x1050 in the park just isn't really possible at this point, unfortunately.
 
jebo_4jc: agreed. Unless, of course, JOESKURTU can help develop a new type of battery that will make an 8 hour+ gaming session possible. :eek:
 
I just wanted to comment that I really like the fact that you are including your Scoring Legend at the end of your reviews- it really clarifies things.

It shows that you are actually more critical than I expected (not a bad thing- you should be). For instance, I thought a 7.5 would be an average score, rather than substandard.

Keep those reviews a-comin'!
 
I wonder what the overall score may have been if the tech support was better?

This is a point of the majority of the reviews that I have seen at [H] over and over again. A computer of any type is a big investment - especially OEM systems, and as such they are not just hardware, but the entire support infrastructure that enables the end user to justify the monetary outlay. I build my own and would not pay the inflated prices for the premium computers out there - If I were to, I would expect beyond fabulous service and response time.

Is great tech support the holy grail of OEM systems? Often searched for but seldom found.
 
1c3d0g said:
jebo_4jc: agreed. Unless, of course, JOESKURTU can help develop a new type of battery that will make an 8 hour+ gaming session possible. :eek:
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Why not make a hydro-electric fuel cell laptop that never needs to be charged?
Unfortunately, battery/ power is not my area of expertise and who knows if a fuel celI that small is possible. I do believe that if someone made a fuel cell small/ efficient enough that the gamers of the world could propell it to a consumer level that would make it affordable for all.
 
Great review. I am now eagerly awaiting new OEM reviews to seperate the winners form the chicken dinners. [H]ardocp is the shit.
 
JOESKURTU said:
Why not make a hydro-electric fuel cell laptop that never needs to be charged?
Unfortunately, battery/ power is not my area of expertise and who knows if a fuel celI that small is possible. I do believe that if someone made a fuel cell small/ efficient enough that the gamers of the world could propell it to a consumer level that would make it affordable for all.
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If I had to hazard a guess, I'd think we're about 20 years away from that technology.

Other than weight and expense, however, I'm also willing to be it's because one of the byproducts of Hydro-electric fuel cells is water. (IIRC)
 
real quick to the editors of the article. i am sure you are aware that hypersonic is simply a reseller of Sager brand laptops, which naturally the CX7 is.

however, hypersonic is considered by most to be a less than stellar reseller when compared to some other resellers like www.pctorque.com and www.discountlaptops.com

these are both considered to be the best two companies to buy a sager from in terms of tech support and company reliability.

and i think they are a little bit cheaper too...

all told, great review, as always.
 
jarhead: and Sager is a reseller of Clevo. What's your point? :rolleyes: TBH, it's this "we sell Sager!!11!1!, therefore we are so much better than you" attitude from a select few companies and its users (notably PCTorque, DiscountLaptops etc.) is what keeps me away from them. :mad:
 
From the Sims 2 part of the Gaming Ability page:
25 and 16 are the squares of 4 and 5, respectively.
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What is the opposite of respectively? :p

Another great OEM review. I was actually a little disappointed when I saw the picture of the laptop that it did not have the pink-camouflage paint job. That would have been funny.

I do have a question. When the review period is over and you contact the OEM to return the machine, do you ever have discussions with the company to find out why there were problems or offer suggestion on what they could do better?
 
milktoast said:
I do have a question. When the review period is over and you contact the OEM to return the machine, do you ever have discussions with the company to find out why there were problems or offer suggestion on what they could do better?
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We try to convey every possible detail of our experience in our articles - that's why they're so involved! If a company wants to fix something, the info they need is inside our evaluations.
 
It has been addressed already, but as someone who owns a "desktop replacement" laptop (specifically the Dell Inspiron XPS2), I can comment on the whole battery lilfe issue and gaming.

When plugged in, nVidia's Powermizer feature offers three levels of performance: Maximum Performance, Balanced, and Maximum Power Savings. Basically each setting adjusts the clock speed of the GPU (on my Geforce Go 6800 Ultra, Maximum Performance runs at the default clocks of 450MHz core / 1100MHz memory).

On Battery Power however, the only options are Balanced and Maximum Power Savings -- so right away there's no way you are going to get maximum performance when running the laptop on battery mode. Once power drops to below 20% or so, it will automatically switch the GPU into the Maximum Power Savings mode, which reduces clock speeds even further, and explains the absymal gaming performance in this situation.

While it would be nice to be able to select maximum performance, the hit on battery lifetime would make this very illogical. Consider this: My XPS2 has an 80W/hr battery (which is pretty big anyways), yet the AC adapter is rated for 130W. That means I'd get just more than 30 minutes out of the system if it was running full tilt all the time.

As for the Hypersonic system, it probably uses a lower-capacity battery, as the specs are similar to my XPS2 overall (the GPU is different, but it does have the same power consumption as the 6800 Ultra). My XPS2 gets about two hours of standard use (and/or DVD watching).

Great review though -- and yes I would have docked points for that kind of support as well.
 
I'd like to say something about Hypersonic's support. Being the family's computer guy (I'm no expert, but I've been able to get done whatever needs doing), my father-in-law came to me when it was time for a new work computer. He wanted something that would still work well (in the telecommunications industry) at least 4 years from purchase. This was the summer of 2004, and I figured the best way to get what he wanted was to get an AMD64 based desktop replacement.

I noticed that someone wrote that Hypersonic doesn't resell Sagers, they resell Clevos. That's not all! They also resell (or did) Mitacs, and I didn't bother to look at other models. I chose the Hypersonic Aviator AX6 for him. Voodoo sold the same computer, but the fancy paint job was mandatory with them, optional with Hypersonic. That saved hundreds which I applied towards an extended warranty. I figured that a $3000 laptop is not something that you want to mess around with, especially considering it would be over 1000 miles from me. So I pick up the 24/7 on-site tech support, bringing the total to almost $3400 (1 GB ram, AMD64 3400+, XPPro, etc). Imagine my surprise when during initial use, the thing started shutting down. It was 11 on a Friday night, so I thought it would be a great chance to test the quality of service the father-in-law would receive.

To summarize the call, they had no idea how to help, and wanted me to run the restore disc. Too bad that didn't work. The next day I used a different computer and figured out that the computer came to me with a virus. A very quick fix and it was running very nicely. I had been told that they'd send me a new recovery disc. Monday I had a message on the machine from the tech support saying that they needed to confirm the need for a new disc before they mail it, so please call them back - they forgot to leave a number though. A day or two later I got a similar message, this time with a telephone number. Calling the number resulted in what seems to be a telephone sex line (seriously!). I've chewed on the staff several times over their 24/7 tech support. Turns out that they use a 3rd party service for this, like many oem's, but still......

Fast forward a few days, and the father-in-law is due to fly in and pick up his laptop. I decided to make one last run on it, to make sure it's ready for him, update windows, etc. The computer wouldn't turn on! At this point, let me say that Hypersonic has some good tech people, if you call during regular business hours. I'm on a first name basis with someone whose name I won't share, let's call him B. I called Hypersonic and told them that they could overnight a new computer to me, or refund my money and I'd buy a Dell. Of course they found me a new one, but this one had issues and wouldn't run either. This is when I met B. He helped me figure out that the hard drive had come loose, which was easy to fix, and the computer then ran well. I figured this was partly my fault, making them rush one to me and not allowing them to "burn it in".

It ran well until the ethernet port quit working a few months later. They paid shipping to get it back, but they had it for a week or two longer than expected. Turns out the replacement motherboard they'd put in was faulty as well! At this point I expressed concerns about the hardware, and got them to extend the 3 year warranty from the point that the new motherboard was installed. By this time, B and I were on a first name basis.

The computer ran well for about a year, and then wouldn't turn on anymore. This time I started asking for a credit of our purchase price towards a different model. I was never rude, never swore (though I wanted to), and never raised my voice. I still got the customer service rep so mad I thought she'd hang up on me. I Sexplained that the quality we'd received was disgraceful for the amount we paid, and that the broken down computer had been partly responsible for the in-law's retiring a few years earlier than he planned (true story, but it doesn't really belong here. I'll be glad to share if really necessary) he told me that she had no supervisor or superior, and that we'd get no assistance with this balky computer, "which we're happy to fix for you". I told her I knew they'd fix it - I'd paid a lot for that service!

At this point, I look like a real jerk to the family. The father-in-law is very happy with the computer when it works, but it's had a lot of down-time. Well, some time last year, the computer decided that it would only work when plugged in. With our motherboard history, I was less than excited about this. To date, on-site service had never come on-site to do anything! Turns out they wouldn't be able to do much except swap hard drives or ram anyway. I suppose my expectations were just too high. I had to experience with this level of computer or service before. I called B at Hypersonic, started my normal introduction, which he interrupted. He knew exactly who I was. This speaks highly of B, but not of the product which has led us to talk so much. He thought it might be the battery (I was dubious) and shipped one out to us.

Lo and behold, the battery solved the problem! Knowing that tech support can be a miserable, thankless job, I called B and started in with my customary introduction ("calling for the father-in-law......."). He again interrupted me and said "Don't tell me we have another bad motherboard!". I said no, but that I thought he deserved to know that the battery he sent me worked, and I really appreciated his help. The relief in his voice almost made me laugh!

So, if you get the right guy, he's fantastic. If he reads this, I know he'll know who I am. However, I warn you to do your research before buying from one of these boutiques. So many of their products are simply whitebooks that they don't have a lot of control over, you'll want to compare the track record of similar machines. I mentioned I could have bought the same model at Voodoo. It would have been about $800 more, if I remember right. I could have built the same thing myself for about $2300, but I thought that Hypersonic would have the edge in quality assembly, and that the 24/7 warranty would bail me out. Turns out buying through them was a great idea, because they have to stand behind the hardware for me.

My reason for writing this is simple. You did a great job writing a review of the experience. You haven't had to chance to experience ownership all that long (or have you? I didn't read the entire review). I've had some ownership experience that I think is worth sharing. I feel that Hypersonic does a good job of selling powerful computers, but I also think that you shed some light on a tech support policy, and some corporate policies (poor hardware choices) that could really use some work.

I don't mean for this to be a flame against Hypersonic, and I'm sorry it got so long. Still, I've had quite an experience, and while I wrote a lot, there's even more to tell! In the end, I think there are two things that are important to share. 1) My father-in-law is quite happy with his computer. It's extremely fast and powerful, and when it works it works great. Leaving work wasn't what he planned, but he's in his mid-60's and it probably extended his life by quite a bit, getting him out of that stressful environment. 2) I would NOT buy from Hypersonic again, at least not a notebook. My experience with their quality just makes me question the value. From what I've read, the Sager product line and warranty is superior. I don't bear a grudge against Hypersonic, and we've have 6 to 8 months of good service from the computer lately. I just think that I would have appreciated an honest evaluation of their service and products, as I've tried to present here, when I was choosing what to buy. I think they try hard, and want to sell good products, but I think they need a little work still.

I apologize for the length of this post, and any poor grammar or spelling. It's taken me a long time to write (I wanted to check my records to keep my facts straight), and I just don't feel like re-reading the whole thing. This is only my opinion and the situation that I experienced - others may have far better luck. Or worse, which is why I wrote this warning. So please take this post with a grain of salt, and I hope it can help somebody.

See ya!
 
Timba: Thank you for sharing your experiences - that's alot of information and I'm glad to see a "second opinion" of sorts. Your experiences aren't too far from ours, so it's good to have a second "data point" to know that we're on the right track and our experience wasn't an anomoly.

As for how long we had the computer, I believe we had the Hypersonic Aviator CX7 in-house for about 6 weeks, if I recall correctly.
 
Timba,
Whats interesting is that you mention multiple MB replacements. I had the same experience but with Widow PC. I wonder if it is just Sagar/Clevo?! Long story short, my experiences reflect the ones you had with Hyper but slightly worse. Mine is used for business as well and the last straw came when Widow blamed me and accused me of purposely damaging my laptop. It seems as though customer support and quality control are seriously lacking these days.
 
Guys,

Glad there's some value to our experiences. I figured if you had problems, almost 2 years after we bought the one we did, that it's an important thing to talk about. Clearly, they have some problems that they're either unaware of, or they're unwilling or unable to correct them.

As I recall, Sager, Voodoo, Hypersonic, and (I think) Alienware all build or built laptops based on whitebook computers available to all of us. If you look here, you'll see that my father-in-law's AX6 is a Mitac 8355. I gave a lot of thought to building it with an M-Tech 8350, but the on-site warranty was really attractive. I'd still recommend getting the extended warranty, if only for the component coverage.

The whitebook approach is pretty attractive to me. A very computer-proficient friend was recently looking into getting a new, powerful laptop. I found a website, www.geared2play.com, that I thought was really interesting. They have a bunch of Asus based whitebooks that I almost talked him into. I also like their warranty. While it's probably worded too bluntly for a lot of people, I like to hear things straight. After my experience with Hypersonic's 3rd party warranty people, this quote from Geared2play's warranty page made me laugh out loud: "Onsite Warranty:
This service is a great idea for vendors who have no technical knowledge or have no competent technical department. We have never offered this service. Just like a dead pixel policy it is usually a waste of money for the customer and a great way for the vendor to make extra margin."

Sooner or later I'll want to pick up a laptop for myself. When that time comes, I'll head to the custom built Asus laptops at Geared2play and see if they're still as impressive. If you're thinking about a computer like this, check out the custom built laptops here. When I priced out the friend's laptop, Geared2play was so competitively priced that I'd consider just having them build it.

To be fair, I don't know anyone who's bought a computer from them, so they could be as bad as anything else. I just liked what I saw, and I've been a fan of Asus since I built my first computer. I did read the reviews, though, and compared the builds to competitors. I just wish I could have talked my friend out the one he bought (HP!). Then we'd know first hand. :)

Thanks for giving me a chance to try to help someone out. I read more of your review and thought that it's very even minded (objective) and accurate. Keep up the good work!
 
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