Eurocom Monster 1.0: Clevo's Little Monster
by Vivek Gowri on May 18, 2012 4:55 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Clevo
- Eurocom
- Ivy Bridge
- Kepler
Good Things in a Small Package
I love the Eurocom Monster. There’s no other way to say it. This isn’t to say that it’s a perfect system, because it isn’t close. The design is dull, the screen is miserable, and apparently the design team forgot that cooling is part of thermal design. It’s crazy that this system exists, and that’s why I love it. Like I said in the introduction, the spec sheet reads like a pipe dream—it’s the kind of thing that makes me giddy inside. The power/size ratio of the Monster is absolutely mind boggling. Having a 4 pound laptop that has nearly as much power as my desktop? Sign me up, yesterday.
It used to be that this kind of insanity was routinely served up by the likes of Alienware—anyone remember the original M15x from 2008 with the 8800M GTX? That one was also a 90C special, something with way more horsepower than cooling. That Alienware doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Between killing off the M11x and the relatively tame M14x (it’s potent, but not as out there as it could be—the GT 650M and IVB quad match the W110ER, but it’s two size classes up), I think Dell’s bean counters are putting a bit too much sense into a brand that used to be all about pushing boundaries (not to mention thermal envelopes).
I’ve been torn by the Monster. I’m a guy who really appreciates industrial design—I’m a fan of Apple notebooks, I loved the Razer Blade, hell, I even own a Dell Adamo. The Clevo appeals to absolutely none of those senses—it’s boring, doesn’t really look great, and generally doesn’t feel like ID was a huge part of the design process. It’s not an offensive design, but not one that’s particularly pleasing in any way. However, I’m also someone attracted to the crazy and unusual things in tech, and the Monster exemplifies those qualities in every way. It’s quirky and weird and in some cases not particularly functional. The computing horsepower is probably overkill. And I want one immensely.
Should you buy one? That depends. The upcoming Ivy Bridge replacement for the Sony VAIO SA will probably be a more well-rounded system (in fact, I’d argue that the current one is as well) with a better screen, a better design, better battery life, more portability, but way less computing power. And I am certain that there are a number of other upcoming IVB-based systems that similarly combine portability and GPU power, but I predict that none of them will hit upon a combination this potent in a package this portable. If it meets your needs and you know what you’re getting into from a design and thermal packaging standpoint, you’ll be as thrilled as I am.
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ijozic - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Thanks for a review of this little thing; was waiting for something like this to replace my portable Acer 1810TZ, although I'd need a better matte display and a backlighted keyboard.But, just had to note that I don't really see why all the cries after the M11x. Personally, it looked like a very thick laptop designed around a 14" 4:3 screen with a 11,6" screen fitted instead. While I like the Clevo's effort, I wish it was made with a nicer design, better materials and a higher quality screen (though admittedly, there aren't seem to be any available in this size apart from the matte option used on some variants).
ImSpartacus - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Don't get rid of that 1810TZ. It's a goddamn gem.Darkstone - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
I digged up the specification sheet of the M11x R3 display you tested: it features an advertised contrast ratio of 500:1. In fact, i have never seen a datasheet with an contrast ratio below that.Saying that the matte display is better than the standard glossy display based on a number in a datasheet, is just not right. Those numbers are never accurate for budget LCD's anyway.
Menty - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
True, but saying the matt screen will be better than the glossy one is basically 99.99% true. Glossy screens are almost entirely terrible if you don't live in a dark cave, regardless of the numbers on the spec sheets.plewis00 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
This isn't necessarily true. Glossy screens are not terrible depending on the other specifications, I'd go as far to say contrast ratio and colour gamut are more important factors - the Dell XPS 15 1080p B+RGLED is a stunner however you look at it and I can compare that to my work Dell Latitude E6400 with a matte screen and I can't stand it, it looks dull and washed out.That said the Alienware M11x R3 was everything I wanted and expected from a computer like that with the exception of the screen - I loved the low idle power consumption meaning you could watch videos and browse the web in bed or on the sofa without heat being an issue.
JarredWalton - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
We're trying to get a version of the laptop with a matte LCD in for testing. It almost certainly can't be worse than the glossy display, but is it better? As you point out, datasheets often "lie".I've seen LCDs advertised as 500:1, and what I found in testing is that if I measured white at max brightness and black at min brightness, I would get around 550:1. The problem is that the LCD didn't even support dynamic contrast, which would at least make such a claim partially true. So the LCD in question was something like 250 nits white/1.25 nits black at 100%, and 80 nits white/0.47 nits black at 0%.
I've got another laptop actually in house where the max brightness is 430 nits, but black levels at 100% are 1.66 nits. Drop to 25% brightness and you get 108 nits/.42 nits. Using the same "dynamic" range, the manufacturer might claim 1000:1 contrast, when the real contrast is closer to 250:1.
prdola0 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
I wonder if Asus comes with something similar/better. I would give my fist-born for a 11" 2core Ivy Bridge/GT640M Zenbook-style machine with Optimus, an Intel SSD 120GB inside and a matte screen with something like 1280x720 or so. Thunderbolt would be a great addition as well.Since this 11" Clevo is possible (although at the limit of thermals), my setup with smaller/slower CPU & GPU should certainly be possible too. Drop the D-Sub and Ethernet ports, leave just mini HDMI and Thunderbold and some USB 3.0, add backlit keyboard, and it is a bestseller.
htwingnut - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
I own the Sager brand of this and have to say it is one sexy mini beast. A couple things to note is that if you just prop this laptop up at the back, temps can drop as much as 10C at load. The screen is a bit miserable, and should have been matte by default. It's impossible to use outside or with any kind of lights on in the background.Otherwise it runs like a charm. 60-80FPS in BF3 on high. Can even crank out games at 1080p without much issue.
bennyg - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
I had a G51J that spent a LOT of its life with its GPU nearly boiling water. Sure it's not great, but the fact it survived 22 months without skipping a beat means high temps are somewhat tolerable. I made damn sure it sat on a cooler and the fan grilles and vents were cleaned every few months though. Ironically, it died when I ran over it... the base was resurrected minus a couple of ports and lives on as a ~50W HTPC now :)Every laptop with intake vents on the bottom benefit from being propped up or a cooler.
Meaker10 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
I think they could have taken the current M14X and slimmed it down into an edge 14" machine (tiny bezel).The 650M (which had GDDR5 btw instead of DDR3) at a native 1600x900 would be awesome.