Clevo P150HM
Review Summary:
The Clevo P150HM delivers extreme performance in virtually any game if you can afford it.
Pros
- Extreme performance
- Beautiful screen
- Fingerprint-resistant exterior
Cons
- Mid-range battery life
- Horrible touchpad surface
- Expensive as configured
MALIBAL Lotus P150HM Full Review
If you're in the market for a 15-inch gaming laptop with the latest and greatest hardware then the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM, a fully customized version of the Clevo P150HM, might be exactly what you need. Keep reading to find out what type of notebook you can buy if you have $3,500 to spend.
Our review unit of the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM (Clevo P150HM) features the following technical specs:
- 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit GlassView Display
- Intel Core i7-2920XM, 2.5GHz, 8MB L3 Cache
- 16GB PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 4 SO-DIMM
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M 2GB GDDR5 graphics card
- 80GB Intel X25-M SATA2 SSD
- 6X Blu-ray Burner 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
- Intel 6300 Ultimate-N 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Card
- Warranty: 3-Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 USA-Based Support
- Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Web Camera
- Integrated 9-in-1 Card Reader
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Standard Black Carrying Case
- Weight: 7.0 lbs.
- Dimensions: 14.75 x 10.1 x 1.25-1.8 inches
- Price: $3,554.00 (Other configurations available at MALIBAL.com starting at $1,374.00 with Windows 7)
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If the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM looks familiar to you that's because it is actually a customized version of the Clevo P150HM gaming notebook, which is available from various custom notebook resellers in a variety of configurations. Like most Clevo-based gaming notebooks the P150HM is a boxy and heavy beast that tips the scales at seven pounds. The unassuming exterior doesn't have the multi-colored LEDs or stylized lid found on most gaming notebooks, but the durable chassis holds some impressive high-performance components for playing any game on the market.
If you don't want to carry a 17-inch monster gaming notebook then this massive 15-inch system might be the perfect solution.
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Speaking of the insides, if you want to open up this notebook and upgrade the RAM or hard drive yourself, then you'll find plenty of access panels to do it. Keep in mind that one of the main reasons to buy a Clevo-based gaming rig is to pay professional custom shops to build your notebook exactly the way you want it. However, Clevo makes it easy enough for anyone to get inside these notebooks. The team at MALIBAL was kind enough to outfit our test system with a full 16GB of RAM and a fast 80GB solid state drive (SSD), but if you decide to handle these upgrades yourself, the only thing you'll need is a screwdriver.
Ports and Features
Port selection on the P150HM is extremely good for a modern 15-inch gaming notebook. The system has two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port, one FireWire port, audio jacks, DVI output, HDMI output, Ethernet, and a media card reader. MALIBAL gives you several choices for an optical drive and our system came with a 6X Blu-ray Burner and 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive. Most importantly, I didn't get the feeling that the ports were "squeezed" into the notebook (a common problem with notebooks that have so many ports).
Port selection on the P150HM is extremely good for a modern 15-inch gaming notebook. The system has two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port, one FireWire port, audio jacks, DVI output, HDMI output, Ethernet, and a media card reader. MALIBAL gives you several choices for an optical drive and our system came with a 6X Blu-ray Burner and 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive. Most importantly, I didn't get the feeling that the ports were "squeezed" into the notebook (a common problem with notebooks that have so many ports).
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Just about every modern notebook on the market uses a Chiclet-style (island-style) keyboard and P150HM is no exception. The raised keys and slightly recessed keyboard tray includes a dedicated number pad and gives you a little extra space between each key to avoid typos. Individual key action is smooth with adequate feedback and minimal key noise. I'm not too fond of the way the arrow keys cross over into the area for the dedicated number pad, but you get used to the key location after a few days of typing.
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Touchpads have always played second fiddle to a good external mouse, but a well-built gaming notebook should make the best of a bad situation. In the case of the P150HM, the touchpad surface makes a bad situation even worse. Although I love the rubberized paint used on the majority of the notebook, covering the touchpad with it might not have been the best choice. The rubber texture acts almost like a brake pad--causing your finger tip to stutter over the surface and making it difficult to move the cursor (or control a game character) using a fluid motion.
If it wasn't for the that rubber texture the touchpad would probably be just fine. The touchpad buttons are separated by a dedicated fingerprint reader and the buttons have shallow feedback with quiet clicks.
Screen and Speakers
The MALIBAL P150HM has a glossy 15.6-inch LED backlit display with a 1920x1080 screen resolution. This is better than the 1366x768 or 1600x900 screens used on many budget 15-inch notebooks, but we expect to see a full high definition display like this on a notebook that costs more than $3,500 as equipped. The display in our review sample features a better-than-average contrast ratio of 692:1 with good color saturation. Brightness is fine for normal indoor use and limited outdoor use as long as you stay out of direct sunlight. The screen showed a maximum brightness of 260 nit in our test lab. Default colors were a bit "warm" (orange) out of the box, but you can tweak the color settings to get perfect color. Horizontal viewing angles are good and the vertical viewing angles are average as the screen washes out when viewed from above and inverts when viewed from below.
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The P150HM features stereo speakers located above the keyboard and a dedicated subwoofer on the bottom of the notebook. Audio performance is better than average for a general purpose laptop and on par with what we've heard from 15-inch multimedia notebooks like the Dell XPS 15.
Performance and Benchmarks
One of the biggest reasons to buy a customized notebook like the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM is to get the latest and greatest components available. While most notebook manufacturers offer customization options, companies like Dell and HP only change their processor and graphics card options on each notebook a few times each year (if at all). Custom resellers often offer the latest processors and graphics options as soon as the parts become available.
One of the biggest reasons to buy a customized notebook like the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM is to get the latest and greatest components available. While most notebook manufacturers offer customization options, companies like Dell and HP only change their processor and graphics card options on each notebook a few times each year (if at all). Custom resellers often offer the latest processors and graphics options as soon as the parts become available.
In the case of our review unit of the P150HM, the Intel Core i7-2920XM processor with 2.5GHz clock speed and 8MB of L3 cache offers blazingly fast performance. Any processor like this one that can deliver wPrime benchmark results in less than 10 seconds is basically in the same performance range as a fast desktop processor. Although the P150HM might not be the fastest PC on the planet, it is fast enough and has enough graphics capability to handle any modern PC game at any setting.
The P150HM made short work of Windows boot times and level load times in various games thanks to the optional 80GB Intel X25-M SSD. The system would suffer a bit of a slow down with a slower hard drive, but hard drives do offer more storage for games and all of the hard drive options are cheaper than this low-capacity SSD.
wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):
PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
PCMark Vantage measures overall system performance (high scores mean better performance):
3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark Vantage measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
Gaming frame rates (higher frame rates indicate better performance):
Heat and Noise
Gaming notebooks are notorious for generating massive amounts of heat. The problem has always been that high-performance CPUs, graphics cards and RAM all generate a significant amount of heat -- even more so when those components are stressed. Although the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM does a pretty good job managing heat, there are still a few areas on the bottom of the notebook that could lead to "lap burn" after hours of playing your favorite game. During normal usage (low or idle CPU activity) the P150HM stayed reasonably cool to the touch. The keyboard and top panel were among the coolest we've seen on this type of notebook. Unfortunately, the areas near the CPU and GPU heat sink either came close to or exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gaming notebooks are notorious for generating massive amounts of heat. The problem has always been that high-performance CPUs, graphics cards and RAM all generate a significant amount of heat -- even more so when those components are stressed. Although the MALIBAL Lotus P150HM does a pretty good job managing heat, there are still a few areas on the bottom of the notebook that could lead to "lap burn" after hours of playing your favorite game. During normal usage (low or idle CPU activity) the P150HM stayed reasonably cool to the touch. The keyboard and top panel were among the coolest we've seen on this type of notebook. Unfortunately, the areas near the CPU and GPU heat sink either came close to or exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Fan noise was nearly constant with the fan cranking up the speed to keep the components cool during gaming. While idle the fan is unlikely to bother most gamers who are familiar with the noise that cooling fans produce, but if this is your first gaming notebook then be prepared for the sound of a distant jet engine when this notebook really gets going.
Battery Life
In our tests with the screen brightness reduced to 70%, wireless active and refreshing a webpage every 60 seconds, and Windows 7 in the "Balanced" power mode, the MALIBAL P150HM stayed on for just 2 hours and 21 minutes. This puts the P150HM roughly in the middle of the pack compared to gaming notebooks we've reviewed in the last year. Although this certainly isn't horrible for a gaming notebook of this class, we had hoped that the latest generation of Clevo gaming rigs would deliver a minimum of two and a half hours in a standard battery test. You can expect less than an hour of battery life if you're trying to play a game while unplugged.
In our tests with the screen brightness reduced to 70%, wireless active and refreshing a webpage every 60 seconds, and Windows 7 in the "Balanced" power mode, the MALIBAL P150HM stayed on for just 2 hours and 21 minutes. This puts the P150HM roughly in the middle of the pack compared to gaming notebooks we've reviewed in the last year. Although this certainly isn't horrible for a gaming notebook of this class, we had hoped that the latest generation of Clevo gaming rigs would deliver a minimum of two and a half hours in a standard battery test. You can expect less than an hour of battery life if you're trying to play a game while unplugged.
Battery life test results (higher scores mean better battery life):
Conclusion
Every time Intel releases a new high-performance processor or Nvidia and ATI announce new graphics cards you can rest assured that a new Clevo custom gaming notebook will soon be announced. MALIBAL was the first to supply us with the latest generation P150HM and this notebook clearly offers jaw-dropping performance in virtually any game.
Every time Intel releases a new high-performance processor or Nvidia and ATI announce new graphics cards you can rest assured that a new Clevo custom gaming notebook will soon be announced. MALIBAL was the first to supply us with the latest generation P150HM and this notebook clearly offers jaw-dropping performance in virtually any game.
Unfortunately, as with all custom gaming notebooks, it's extremely easy to end up with a jaw-dropping price tag as well. The team at MALIBAL can build a pretty impressive P150HM for less than $1,500 ... but don't expect it to perform like our $3,500 test rig. The latest Intel processors and Nvidia GPUs pack an amazing amount of power in a small space, but the less expensive configurations are probably the smarter choice if you're willing to settle for "awesome" instead of "Holy freaking $%@#!"
Pros:
- Extreme performance
- Beautiful screen
- Fingerprint-resistant exterior
Cons:
- Mid-range battery life
- Horrible touchpad surface
- Expensive as configured
Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support
Upgrade Capabilities
Usability
Design
Performance
Features
Price/Value Rating
* Ratings averaged to produce final score
Software & Support
Upgrade Capabilities
Usability
Design
Performance
Features
Price/Value Rating
* Ratings averaged to produce final score
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