MALIBAL VEDA Series (Clevo X8100) Review

Clevo X8100

Review Summary:

Fastest notebook as of February 2010.

Pros

• Fastest notebook we've tested
• Good design
• Very good build quality

Cons

• Pricey

MALIBAL VEDA Series (Clevo X8100) Full Review

 

The MALIBAL Veda Series notebook is an high-performance gaming machine built from the Clevo X8100. Offering an Intel Core i7 processor, dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M graphics cards in SLI, up to three internal hard drives, and a gorgeous 18.4" 1080P display this notebook is built for one thing ... speed. In this review we see how well it stacks up against the competition and if it is worth the steep pricetag.

Attentive readers will note that the MALIBAL Veda Series is based off the Clevo X8100 notebook which is a hardware refresh of the older Clevo M980NU. Since it shares the same chassis some of the content remains unchanged from our previous review of that Clevo notebook.

MALIBAL Veda Series (Clevo X8100) Specifications:

• Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• Intel Core i7-920XM Processor Extreme Edition (2.00GHz, 8MB cache)
• 18.4" WUXGA HD LCD display at 1920x1080
• Two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M 1GB GDDR3 memory
• Intel 5300AGN Wireless
• 8GB PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 (4GB x 2)
• Two 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSDs in RAID 0
• 2X Blu-ray Reader 8X DVD+/-R/2.4X DL Super-Multi Drive
• 220W (20V x 11A) 100-240V AC Adapter
• 12-cell 69Wh 14.8v 4650mAh Lithium Ion battery
• Dimensions (WxDxH): 17.28" x 11.77" x 1.73"
• Weight: 12.34lbs
• 3-Year Labor, 1-Year Parts Warranty
• Price as configured: $4,069 ($2,379 Starting)
• Available at the MALIBAL website

Build and Design
The Clevo X8100 has a stunning mirror finish covering the back of the display and area surrounding the keyboard. The surfaces are completely flat, with a scratch resistant sheet of plastic covering the tinted layer. The screen cover is metallic grey with a centered backlit tribal logo and black trim on the top edge. The logo lights up blue by default, but can be changed by pressing the backlight color switch on the touch-sensitive multimedia panel. Inside the mirror finish has a black base color, playing in with the multimedia buttons and touchpad. Compared to other gaming systems we have seen, the Clevo X8100 really stands out with its elegant design.

Build quality is excellent and a huge step up compared to prior models like the D900F. The plastic chassis feels rigid, barely flexing at all when you carry the behemoth around. The mirror-like finishes are scratch resistant, keeping the notebook looking very clean over time. The screen hinges holding the 18.4-inch display feel strong and durable, keeping wiggling to a minimum. When closed the hinges help to keep the lid shut under spring tension, with only a hint of lift when the notebook is carried in the vertical position. Some minor flex was noted around the palmrest and keyboard, but on larger notebooks this isn't uncommon.

Inside the notebook all user-upgradable parts are easily accessible through three panels. The largest panel on the back of the notebook uncovers the processor and two graphics cards, with an open mini-PCIe slot. The two smaller panels uncover the battery, storage drive, and boot drives. No "warranty void if removed" stickers were found anywhere inside this notebook.

Screen and Speakers
The X8100 uses an all-glass style display, which given the overall design of the notebook actually works pretty well. While some additional reflection was noted, the screen at higher brightness levels was able to drown out most of the reflections. One thing also worth mentioning is there was no dust present underneath the screen cover on our review unit, which the same can't be said out of a lot of all-glass displays. The panel offered on this gaming notebook is a WUXGA 16:9 1920x1080 model, which offers excellent color saturation and above average viewing angles. Colors looked very bright and vibrant, a requirement for any gaming system. The screen appeared to have a quick refresh rate, as no tearing or smearing was noticed while we were testing games on this system. Vertical viewing angles were fairly good, offering a 20-25 degree viewing sweet spot before colors started to wash out or invert. Horizontal viewing angles were good out past 70 degrees, where reflections started to overpower what you could see on the display.

Speaker performance seemed lacking, and even though notebook offered an onboard subwoofer, it didn't produce much bass or midrange audio. Peak volume levels were fine for a small dorm room if you were watching streaming video or listening to music. External speakers or headphones would probably be the best option for this gaming system, and the notebook comes packed with outputs for most audio systems. For easy home theater hookup, you can use analog line-out, coaxial digital out, or even HDMI for both digital video and audio.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Taking advantage of the wide footprint of X8100, Clevo managed to fit in a full-size keyboard with enough room left over to still fit programmable macro keys next to the keyboard. The keyboard keys are roughly textured matte-black, and designed similar to Chiclet-style keyboards. I found the keyboard to be very comfortable while typing, and but with average support. We did find some flex towards the center of the keyboard, but only under very strong pressure. Individual key action was smooth, with a very soft click when pressed.

The X8100 included a large Synaptics touchpad, but in one of the most interesting designs we have seen to date. It is flush mount with the mirror-finish palmrest, so it is like sliding your fingers around on a sheet of glass. Out of the box when the surface completely clean your finger had a tendency to stick in place and not slide as easily, but once it got a small layer of oil from your hands, it worked great. The borderless design does take a while to get used to, as there is no "bump" to warn you that you are about to slide off the surface. Overall once I got use to the look and feel I found it to be pretty nice. The touchpad buttons are on a cutout seesaw style button under the touchpad, with a fingerprint scanner located in the center. They didn't offer much in terms of a good throw distance, but the feedback was still very good. When pressed the buttons had a soft, but precise click that tells you when the button is activated, but doesn't announce it to everyone in the room.

Ports and Features
Port selection is excellent with three USB ports, an eSATA/USB combo port, Firewire, LAN, CATV, four audio jacks, DVI-out and HDMI-out. Expansion slots include a SDHC-card reader and ExpressCard/54 slot.

Front: Indicator lights

Rear: AC Power

Left: DVI, two USB, LAN, HDMI-out/in, SDHC-reader, Optical drive, Firewire-400, ExpressCard/54

Right: Audio jacks, CATV, USB, eSATA/USB combo, Kensington Lock slot

Performance and Benchmarks
System performance was phenomenal in every way. The Clevo X8100 finally managed to bump the ASUS W90 from our "fastest gaming notebook" spot which has been held for almost one year. This configuration of the X8100 includes the Intel Core i7-920XM Extreme Edition processor clocked at 2GHz, 8GB of DDR3 memory, two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M graphic cards in SLI, and two Intel X25-M G2 SSDs in RAID 0. Our configuration even supports one additional hard drive if you want to expand storage with a standard high-capacity hard disk.

Synthetic benchmarks put this notebook well into the desktop-performance category. We had no problem maxing out every setting in games at the native 1080P resolution of the screen and maintaining very playable framerates. We used Left 4 Dead 2, Call of Duty: World at War, and BioShock to get an idea of real world gaming performance on this notebook. Each game had vertical sync disabled, anti-aliasing disabled, all detail settings turned to the maximum, and the resolution set to 1920x1080. We saw an average of 88FPS playing throughLeft 4 Dead 2, 130FPS playing BioShock, and 81FPS going through the starting level of Call of Duty: World at War. It is pretty safe to say that you should have no problem whatsoever playing a modern game on this notebook.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune storage drive performance test:

The system also scored P12877 in 3DMark Vantage and 12686 in PCMark Vantage. Here are a few in-game screenshots in case you're curious about the gaming performance of this notebook:

Heat and Noise
During heavy gameplay the internal cooling system kept surface temperatures at reasonable levels. We didn't put much stress on the lower side of the notebook given its weight, as it would probably crush your levels if you used it as a laptop. If your legs felt up to the task we found the bottom of the notebook to warm up considerably during game play. We feel most of this was cause by the restriction of airflow since your legs end up covering one or more of the air intakes. The palmrest while gaming stayed right around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with the ASDWX section of the keyboard getting close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Noise was above average, as it had to handle cooling for the processor and two graphics cards. Under normal activity the fans come on occasionally, which is noticeable even if you are not sitting in front of the computer. While gaming the fans kick on full time, ramping up in speed when the cooling demands are higher, then backing off if the load is reduced. I probably wouldn't recommend gaming at the front of the classroom or in a quiet library.

Battery Life
Battery life was pretty weak when compared to other large notebooks, but not all that surprising given the quad-core processor, dual graphics cards, two SSDs, and an 18.4" display. In our battery test with the screen set to 70% brightness, wireless active, and Windows 7 on the Balanced profile, we managed to get 1 hour and 27 minutes out of the X8100 before it shutoff. Power consumption during the test hovered between 37 and 42 watts.

Conclusion
The MALIBAL Veda Series or Clevo X8100 is the fastest gaming notebook we have reviewed to date. Although there are multiple companies that offer custom gaming notebooks based on Clevo designs, MALIBAL deserves credit for building one with this much power. With its Core i7-920XM processor, two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M graphics cards, and two Intel X25-M SSDs there is nothing this notebook can't handle.

Compared to most boutique notebooks the X8100 offers a beautiful design and great build quality with tons of expansion possibilities. If your wallet is deep enough this gaming monster starting at $2,400 will easily knock the socks off anything you have used previously. While our configuration topping $4,000 is more than just a bit extreme for most buyers ... the price becomes much easier to swallow by choosing a slightly slower Core i7 processor, normal hard disk, and less RAM.

Pros:

• Fastest notebook we have ever tested
• Good design
• Very good build quality

Cons:

• Pricey

Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support 
Upgrade Capabilities 
Usability 
Design 
Performance 
Features 

* Ratings averaged to produce final score