MALIBAL VEDA Series (Clevo X8100) 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

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.

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