Review Nexoc M512 (Clevo W650EH) Notebook
For the original German review, see here.
The Bavarian company Nexoc allows its customers to choose from quite a number of different components in order to customize their laptops. Nexoc's new multimedia laptop is called the M512; it is available since May 29th, 2013 and is based on yet another barebone of the Taiwanese manufacturer Clevo, the W650EH.
A wide variety of Intel CPUs can be selected, ranging from an Intel Pentium to a Core i7. In addition, the laptop can be equipped with an Nvidia GeForce GT 740M GPU, an mSATA slot with high transfer rates (e.g. for fast SSDs) or even a Wireless WAN module for mobile Internet access.
Our test device comes close to the upper end of Nexoc's range, running on an Intel Core i7-3540M, Intel's fastest mobile dual-core CPU right now, clocked at 3.0 GHz. It also ships with an Nvidia GeForce GT 740M as well as with 16 GB of RAM. The system disk is an mSATA-SSD with 120 GB of memory, while a secondary 1 TB HDD is supposed to serve as the data storage disk.
The Nexoc M512 has to compete against its own sibling, the M507II (running on the older GeForce GT 640M GPU), the Asus N56VB (which sports a GeForce GT 740M as well), Acer's high-performance multimedia laptop Aspire V3-571G, Dell's Inspiron 15R Special Edition, Toshiba's Satellite P855-107 and the Deviltech Fire DTX which offers a great value-for-money ratio.
It seems as if the barebone sector has finally decided to abandon glossy surfaces, which are extremely prone to fingerprints and dirt. This also holds true for Clevo's barebone used for the Nexoc M512, which features only matte surfaces. The lid has a sophisticated design, looking like brushed aluminum. The base unit surrounding the keyboard, as well as the display frame, sports a dark gray metal look. The hinges are well adjusted, keeping the display firmly in place while allowing it to be opened with just one hand.
Overall, the M512's design is pleasantly modest, but likeable. We especially liked several of its smaller design elements such as a white, dotted bar for decoration right above the keyboard and the fact that the base unit flattens at the front, leading to a slim appearance of the laptop.
Build quality is decent. The keyboard barely wobbles at all, but the same cannot be said for the palm rest. The display lid is sturdy, but not torsion-resistant and susceptible to pressure. Exerting force on the back of the lid almost always leads to visible distortions on the screen.
Most 15.6-inch multimedia laptops offer pretty much the same variety of ports. The Nexoc M512 is no exception to this rule, but at least there are a decent number of USB ports on board, with the laptop sporting two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA combo port and a USB 3.0 port.
Most ports are rather awkwardly positioned in the front half of the left and right sides of the laptop, which can be annoying if one wants to use a mouse instead of the touchpad. The rear remains completely unused - even the fan vents are positioned on the left of the case.
Communication
Both 1 GB/s Ethernet and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi are included, the latter reaching speeds of up to 300 MBit/s while optionally operating in the 5 GHz band as well. Reception quality is good, even 10 meters (~33 feet) and three walls away from the router, we still manage to get four out of five bars. Adding a fourth wall only takes away one additional bar.
The M512 also comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and a slot for a Wireless WAN module, which was not in use in our test device. According to Nexoc, this will be available in the future.
Accessories
The laptop ships with barely any accessories except for the obligatory power adapter and a recovery DVD. It is however possible to add numerous additional items in Nexoc's configurator, e.g. different operating systems, laptop bags, power adapters, universal docking stations and external hard drives. The prices are decent, but then again, none of these accessories are built specifically with the M512 in mind.
Maintenance
After the two warranty seals are broken, only a few screws have to be loosened before the interior of the case - and with it almost all relevant components of the system - can be accessed. Now the fans can be cleaned, the HDD or SSD can be swapped and another RAM module can be installed. Its accessibility can thus only be called commendable. Great: It is absolutely okay to break the seals - it does not void the warranty. In order to prevent misunderstandings from occurring, Nexoc suggests that you send them an email if you plan to open the case so that this can be marked down.
Warranty
On its website, Nexoc claims to offer great customer service. On first glance, 24 months of bring-in service look rather like standard procedure. Things only start to get interesting when a closer look is taken at the details of the warranty conditions: For the first six months, Nexoc guarantees a repair within the first three business days - or, alternatively, another unit on loan. In addition, the standard warranty can be modified for a fair price: 24 months of pick-up service only cost 24.87 Euros (~$32) while another year of warranty comes in at 65.45 Euros (~$84).
Keyboard
The chiclet-style keyboard makes use of almost the entire width of the laptop, and includes a full numpad. The letter keys measure 16 x 16 millimeters, sporting a distance of 3 millimeters. In addition, the input device barely wobbles at all, sitting firmly in the midst of the base unit. Together, this leads to a productive typing experience, although key travel falls a bit short of our expectations.
It is easy to type fast with this keyboard. Also, thanks to their stability, the keys have a solid, premium feel to them. We were also quite fond of the full-sized arrow keys (which are often reduced in size on similar laptops).
Touchpad
The touchpad is gigantic, sporting a diameter of 12.5 centimeters (~4.9 inches) - one more than the massive 17.3-inch Alienware M17x R4. Thanks to its large area, it is possible to cross the entire screen without lifting the finger once, even on low sensitivity settings. The surface is also very smooth and works reliably. Unfortunately, the touchpad does not support any multitouch gestures - this would have been a nice feature, especially when using Windows 8.
The two separate touchpad buttons sport some clearances, lacking any premium feel. They even sound hollow while clicking, but at least they work reliably and offer a well-defined pressure point.
We are happy that more and more manufacturers go back to matte displays. Although colors seem a little bit less vivid, the reduction in glare and reflections is more than enough to compensate for this drawback. The matte TN LED screen used in the Nexoc M512 is made by LG Displays, sporting just 1366x768 pixels.
In addition, screen brightness leaves quite a bit to be desired, coming in at an average value of only 209.6 cd/m². Many competitors offer more (Dell Inspiron 15R SE: 278.7 cd/m², Acer Aspire V3-571G: 279.4 cd/m²) and even the Nexoc M507II gets slightly brighter at 218.7 cd/m². In addition, brightness homogeneity levels of just 77% are mediocre as well, leading to darker and brighter spots that are visible to the naked eye.
Neither the sRGB color space nor the Adobe RGB color space is covered, as can be seen at the right hand side of this section. While this may only be truly relevant to professional users, it does not reflect well on the M512's display quality.
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Brightness Distribution: 77 %
Center on Battery: 185 cd/m²
Contrast: 294:1 (Black: 0.83 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 12.25 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 12.58 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
38.88% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
56.2% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
37.95% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 1.97
Contrast and black levels are below average as well. A contrast ratio of 294:1 is just a third of what Acer offers with the Aspire V3-571G, and the same holds true for its black levels as well. At least, contrast and black levels have been improved considerably over the Nexoc M507II, which was even worse, by a factor of two in both regards.
Both the screenshots of our colorimeter-based color analysis and the CalMAN software clearly show a very strong blue tint. On the color saturation screenshot, the difference between the actual and ideal yellows can even be seen clearly with the naked eye. The grayscale is also way off when compared to the definition of sRGB, sporting an average Delta-E value of 12.58.
The M512's matte display should make it an ideal companion for outdoor usage. Unfortunately, brightness and contrast are so bad that direct sunlight makes it very difficult to read the screen, despite no reflections occurring. This problem lessens when the laptop is used in the shade or in bright rooms. Under these conditions, it should not be a problem to get some proper work done with the Nexoc M512.
Horizontal viewing angles are great: Even from a narrow angle, the contents of the screen can still be made out. Vertical displacement is more of a problem: Screen brightness is quickly distorted and for viewing angles of more than 30 degrees, only inverted colors remain visible.
As we have already mentioned, a large number of Intel processors can be chosen for the M512. Our test device comes equipped with a strong dual-core processor, the Core i7-3540M, as well as a current mid-range graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce GT 740M. Next to lavish 16 GB of RAM, it ships with a 120 GB mSATA-SSD as well as a 1 TB HDD. All of these components - with the exception of the GPU - can be replaced with others using Nexoc's configuration tool.
Processor
Right now, the Core i7-3540M is Intel's most powerful mobile dual-core processor. Its clock speed of 3 GHz can be boosted to 3.5 GHz for both cores or 3.7 GHz for just one core, if necessary. When compared to quad-core Core i7 CPUs, every single core is decidedly more powerful due to the higher clock speed. Only when all cores are required for a certain task can quad-core CPUs outpace their higher-clocked dual-core counterparts.
This can easily be seen during our Cinebench benchmark: If just one core is active, the Nexoc M512 takes the lead, while just reaching the penultimate position during our multi-core tests. Still, its performance should be sufficient to run most tasks quickly and smoothly, even in the foreseeable future. We are measuring the same results while running on battery, so users do not have to fear a performance reduction when the laptop is not plugged in.
System Performance
Thanks to its fast SSD, the Nexoc M512 offers far better system performance than all of its competitors. This can be seen in the PC Mark 7 Storage results where our test device tends to be at least 70% faster than the other devices.
PCMark Vantage Result | 17424 points | |
PCMark 7 Score | 5671 points | |
Help |
Mass Storage
It is not only Mushkin's 120 GB SSD that speeds up the system. Considering that it is just a conventional hard drive, Hitachi's 1 TB HDD for mass storage is rather quick as well. Everything runs smoothly thanks to the combination of these two fast disks - even more so thanks to the modest hardware requirements of Windows 8. We are especially impressed by the great results in the 4K-tests that measure reading and writing speeds on randomly chosen 4K-blocks, indicating constantly high reading and writing speeds no matter where a file is located on the disk.
Graphics Card
Nvidia's mid-range GeForce GT 740M model with a core clock speed of 810 MHz has only been available for two months. It is based on the Kepler architecture and has been manufactured using the 28nm-process.
Thanks to Nvidia Optimus, the GPU is automatically and smoothly deactivated whenever the slower, yet less power-hungry integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU within the CPU is sufficient for a given task. Concerning its performance, the Nexoc M512 with its GeForce GT 740M is on par with its competitors, but it is unable to yield much better results than the preceding generation of GeForce graphics cards. Again, GPU performance is the same while running on battery.
3DMark 06 Standard Score | 11107 points | |
3DMark 11 Performance | 2018 points | |
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 63035 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 6005 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 1027 points | |
Help |
3DMark | |
1280x720 Ice Storm Standard Score (sort by value) | |
Nexoc M512 | |
Acer Aspire V3-571G-53238G1TMaii | |
Asus N56VB-S4050H | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Score (sort by value) | |
Nexoc M512 | |
Acer Aspire V3-571G-53238G1TMaii | |
Asus N56VB-S4050H | |
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Score (sort by value) | |
Nexoc M512 | |
Acer Aspire V3-571G-53238G1TMaii | |
Asus N56VB-S4050H |
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value) | |
Nexoc M512 | |
Acer Aspire V3-571G-53238G1TMaii | |
Dell Inspiron 15R SE | |
MSI GE60-i789W7H | |
Toshiba Satellite P855-107 | |
Nexoc M507II | |
Asus N56VB-S4050H |
Gaming Performance
As expected, the results of our synthetic benchmarks hold true in real games, too. The Nexoc M512 is very well capable of handling most games on medium or even high settings in its (low) native resolution. Gaming in Full HD (on an external display) would only be possible with much reduced details, if at all. The M512 even fares worse than the Asus N56VB, which sports the same graphics card, exhibiting noticeably lower frame rates in games such as "Bioshock Infinite".
Overall, Nexoc's multimedia laptop is only suited for occasional gaming- which is a pity, since its fast SSD and the large amount of memory enable extremely fast loading times, as can be noted for example when playing "Anno 2070".
low | med. | high | ultra | |
Battlefield 3 (2011) | 41 | 31 | 25 | 9 |
CoD: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) | 91 | 67 | 51 | 39 |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) | 46.3 | 39.2 | 28.5 | 12.3 |
Anno 2070 (2011) | 59.9 | 45.5 | 30.9 | 15.2 |
Mass Effect 3 (2012) | 37 | 29.6 | 20.8 | |
Risen 2: Dark Waters (2012) | 39 | 29 | 19 | 8 |
Diablo III (2012) | 112.5 | 74.6 | 64.7 | 40.2 |
Dirt Showdown (2012) | 43.6 | 31.5 | 25.3 | 15.3 |
Max Payne 3 (2012) | 47.2 | 38.5 | 26.5 | 10.3 |
Sleeping Dogs (2012) | 58.7 | 39.8 | 24.3 | 3.2 |
Counter-Strike: GO (2012) | 89.2 | 69.8 | 65.2 | 48.3 |
Guild Wars 2 (2012) | 110 | 29.6 | 9.8 | |
F1 2012 (2012) | 156 | 102 | 72 | 24 |
Fifa 13 (2012) | 311.5 | 206.8 | 145.9 | 91.9 |
Dishonored (2012) | 82.5 | 73.4 | 60.8 | 35.2 |
Medal of Honor: Warfighter (2012) | 63 | 37 | 35 | 13 |
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) | 58.6 | 37.2 | 14.5 | 4.4 |
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012) | 75.4 | 64.3 | 48.4 | 24.3 |
Hitman: Absolution (2012) | 52.1 | 29.8 | 15.3 | 5.4 |
Assassin´s Creed III (2012) | 42.5 | 34.2 | 9.63 | |
Far Cry 3 (2012) | 63.2 | 42.3 | 19.6 | 5.2 |
Dead Space 3 (2013) | 131.2 | 69.2 | 46.2 | 29.5 |
Crysis 3 (2013) | 46.8 | 25.6 | 14.3 | 3.6 |
Tomb Raider (2013) | 91.7 | 43.9 | 24 | 7.1 |
SimCity (2013) | 42.3 | 30.1 | 19.2 | 10.2 |
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013) | 216.5 | 76.9 | 41.2 | 15.2 |
BioShock Infinite (2013) | 70.4 | 38.08 | 31.31 | 9.19 |
Metro: Last Light (2013) | 30.62 | 22.79 | 14.08 | 6.05 |
Nexoc M512 | Asus N56VB-S4050H | |
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BioShock Infinite | 31% | |
1280x720 Very Low Preset | 70.4 | 90.4 28% |
1366x768 Medium Preset | 38.08 | 49.9 31% |
1366x768 High Preset | 31.31 | 41.9 34% |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset, DX11 (DDOF) | 9.19 | 12 31% |
Stress Test
During our stress tests, both the GPU and the CPU are put under extreme strain with two separate benchmarks. This is done in order to find out whether throttling occurs, which temperatures are reached and whether the system even crashes.
Both the CPU and GPU clock speeds never exhibit throttling, but the processor gets hot quickly, plateauing at around 90 degrees Celsius (194 Fahrenheit). While not being overly problematic, these temperatures may damage the CPU in the long run. The graphics card remains cooler at around 70 degrees (158 Fahrenheit). Luckily, the system never crashed even after hours of continuous attempts to force it to its limits.
System Noise
The Nexoc M512 is approximately as loud as its competition when idle: 32.8 dB(A). Unfortunately, the fan starts to crank up after around 10 minutes, reaching up to 46.5 dB(A), although it is not even used yet. The fan control software seems rather buggy, neither the M507II nor some of the other laptops such as the Dell Inspiron 15R SE or the Acer Aspire V3-571G have this problem.
We also were not fond of its maximum noise emissions of 48.6 dB(A) under full load. Overall, the Nexoc M512 is rather mediocre in this regard. A glance at the Dell Inspiron 15R SE shows how things could have been better: Although being almost as powerful as the M512, the Dell notebook stays far calmer. Even its maximum noise level registers 5 dB(A) lower.
A BIOS update might help improve the fan control software. According to Nexoc, this is planned for the beginning of June. It is very likely that the first laptops to hit the market will already ship with the improved version.
Noise Level
Idle |
| 32.8 / 32.8 / 46.5 dB(A) |
HDD |
| 34.1 dB(A) |
DVD |
| 34.4 / dB(A) |
Load |
| 45.9 / 48.6 dB(A) |
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30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
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min: , med: , max: Voltcraft sl-320 (15 cm distance) |
Temperature
It should seem sensible to think that the noisy fan manages to keep the case rather cool, shouldn't it? Unfortunately, this is not the case: With a maximum temperature of 53.6 degrees Celsius (128.48 Fahrenheit) under full load, the M512 gets hotter than all of its competitors.
Even when it is not used, it may get as warm as 38.5 degrees (101.3 Fahrenheit). Overall, heat management is mediocre as well, particularly so since the power adapter also reaches more than 55 degrees (131 Fahrenheit) under load.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 44.5 °C / 112 F, compared to the average of 36.9 °C / 98 F, ranging from 21.1 to 71 °C for the class Multimedia.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 53.6 °C / 128 F, compared to the average of 39.1 °C / 102 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 31.1 °C / 88 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(±) The palmrests and touchpad can get very hot to the touch with a maximum of 37.5 °C / 99.5 F.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.8 °C / 83.8 F (-8.7 °C / -15.7 F).
Speakers
The speakers are important for every multimedia laptop. Still, we are not that happy with the performance of the M512 in this regard. The stereo speakers are located beneath the front rim (a dotted white bar above the keyboard is just decoration, having nothing to do with the speakers), but since the rim is strongly chamfered, the speakers are not aimed at the table, but at the air.
Unfortunately, the M512's sound quality was not convincing. The stereo speakers lacked richness, highs and lows, instead focusing almost exclusively on the mids. A Sound Blaster Cinema Software made by Creative is supposed to improve audio quality, but it did not ship with our test device. Still, there are far better sound systems out there, for example on the Dell Inspiron 15R SE.
Energy Consumption
The high base clock speed of the CPU seems to lead to a problem with the excess heat removal system. So far, we have only tested one other laptop with the exact same CPU, the Toshiba Tecra R950. However, the Tecra manages to remain far cooler than the M512. The problem can be seen looking at the energy consumption while idle: 17.1 Watts for the M512 is 3 to 4 Watts more than for laptops with Core i7 quad-core CPUs like the Dell Inspiron 15R SE.
In addition, there is an extreme power demand during standby, something we have also observed to a lesser degree with the Toshiba Tecra R950: 2.6 Watts are required by the Nexoc M512 - mathematically, its 48.8 Wh battery would not even survive 19 hours of standby.
At least, maximum power consumption under full load of 69.3 Watts is better than what most of its competitors offer. Even the Acer Aspire V3-571G, with its weaker CPU and GPU, needs 6 Watts more. So, what kind of battery life can we expect with this unusual energy consumption pattern?
Off / Standby | 0.2 / 2.6 Watt |
Idle | 12.6 / 17.1 / 17.6 Watt |
Load |
55.7 / 69.3 Watt |
Battery Life
With its unusual energy consumption values and a 48.8 Wh battery, the Nexoc exhibits mediocre battery life, which is quite similar to that of the competition. Under full load, for example, our test device clearly beat the Dell Inspiron 15R SE while somewhat falling flat when just being idle.
We have ambivalent feelings about the Nexoc M512. The laptop has a lot of potential and it offers a great value-for-money ratio, considering its powerful internal components such as a high-end dual-core CPU, plenty of RAM and a lot of hard disk real estate. Together with its sleek case, (which does not at all look like a boring standard barebone), good input devices and even an optional Wireless WAN module, working with the device should be great fun.
Still, there are several annoyances with the Nexoc M512, specifically the half-baked fan control system and the high case temperatures (which, to a lesser degree, has also been a problem for other laptops with the higher-clocked Intel Core i7-3540M). The display is a disappointment, despite its matte surface, as is the speaker setup. Audio quality is mediocre, especially in times when speakers in multimedia laptops become both better and more important. In addition, gaming with full details is not truly possible even in the (low) native resolution of the display.
Despite these flaws, may this laptop be the right choice for you? If you do not mind about the noise, are well-equipped with decent external speakers and wish to own a fast workhorse at a great price, then the answer is yes. However, those looking for a multimedia laptop should probably look elsewhere.