mbryant25
Battery Life – I realize with G-Sync that Optimus support is not possible but 3 hours is still pretty bad.

3 hour battery life?  Pretty good for a gaming laptop!  Better than some.  Slightly over 4 hours is the average for this laptop's market segment.  Like I said, some in the same market segment are better, some are worse.  Optimus does very little to improve battery life; you aren't really missing out on Optimus.  Optimus saves some power in non-hardware accelerated applications, but actually consumes more power in hardware-accelerated applications than non-Optimus laptops (because the Intel GPU is always on and always playing the middle-man between the NVIDIA GPU and the display).  If it had Optimus, maybe you would see an extra 20 minutes of battery life.  Maybe.  But only if you are using non hardware-accelerated applications.
 
Testing using a Kill-a-watt meter on my Optimus-enabled Razer Blade laptop:
 
With GPU auto-select (default), viewing Google.com homepage in Google Chrome browser uses 30.3 watts total system power consumption.  Forcing the NVIDIA GPU to be enabled, viewing Google.com homepage in Google Chrome browser uses 31.9 watts total power.  6% power consumption increase if NVIDIA graphics card is forced.
 
Doing something simple like Windows 10 desktop with no browser open and ONLY notepad open, default GPU auto-select: 25.5 watts.  NVIDIA graphics forced: 25.6 watts. 0.4% power consumption increase if NVIDIA graphics card is forced.
 
YouTube.com full screen 1080p60 video, default GPU auto-select: 38.2 watts.  NVIDIA graphics forced: 38.2 watts.  Same.  Why?  Because the NVIDIA graphics kicked in for both situations due to the video demand.
 
YouTube.com windowed normal size 144p video (potato vision just to give Optimus a fighting chance), default GPU auto-select: 31.8 watts.  NVIDIA graphics forced: 33.7 watts.  6% power consumption increase if NVIDIA graphics card is forced.  But who is going to watch a video in this way?
 
Since my laptop has Optimus, I cannot test to see how much less power it would consume if Optimus was not a feature.  But, I am sure that the full screen 1080p60 YouTube video would actually consume less power if my laptop didn't have Optimus technology; since in that condition, Optimus makes both GPU's run at the same time -- consuming an extra 1 or 2 watts -- instead of only using one GPU.
 
Optimus?  Pretty much not worth the cost and complexity.  Don't feel like you are missing anything.  A couple less watts in some situations?  Negligible.  The extra cost, complexity, and increased latency?  Not worth it.
 
I am convinced that there is a reason why Optimus is not a common feature.

fetterEsel
I would take the refund and go with something else. I love my sc15 but with how evga is on the warranties for it... I mean it’s up to you. Spend $600 more for the msi with a 1070 and 120hz display is what you could do on newegg

What do you mean how they are on the warranties for it?

I'd like to know more about that too.
 
I know EVGA offers a standard 2 year warranty on their laptops which is typical for other gaming laptop manufacturers.

This is evga’s first laptop market and we already had enough trouble trying to buy a spare charger, and they won’t even let you get a spare battery. I’m afraid if something happens to mine down the road I will be SOL, because they are clearing out of parts and I fear they won’t have anything to replace my laptop with in the future. Other laptop makers are lightyears ahead in the warranty department. If you can get discount codes for alienware look at them, with discount codes you can get a similar or better laptop for near the same price from them and Dell has solid support for laptops. Just my two cents. I have an sc15 and I’m an advanced user so I know more of what I’m doing with mine and I do not recommend evga laptops for newbies, only for advanced users.

Tholden1
I'm returning mine. It's a great laptop for a gamer that doesn't mind being tethered to a power cord. But, I game on my PS4, not a PC. I want better battery life unplugged, while still delivering good performance when plugged in. This has great performance plugged in, but not the battery life.

So pretty much you are saying that you did't actually understand that gaming laptops need to be plugged in?  There is no such thing as a laptop that can do what you were expecting this laptop to do.  

bsem89

Tholden1
I'm returning mine. It's a great laptop for a gamer that doesn't mind being tethered to a power cord. But, I game on my PS4, not a PC. I want better battery life unplugged, while still delivering good performance when plugged in. This has great performance plugged in, but not the battery life.

So pretty much you are saying that you did't actually understand that gaming laptops need to be plugged in?  There is no such thing as a laptop that can do what you were expecting this laptop to do.  

Yes, they need to be plugged in for games or anything CPU/GPU intensive. But not for other things. I know they throttle when unplugged, and drain faster based on activity. But if I want to take it somewhere and edit code (not intensive), I don't want to have to have a power plug nearby.

Did you have issues too or are you just going to eat the 15% restocking fee? I do game a my pc quite a bit but I do so much more and sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and surf the web, send an email, etc. and don’t want to worry about running out of battery or being close to a power outlet.

I most certainly will need to purchase another charger that will stay in my bag while the original charger will remain under my desk. I hate having to climb under my desk to pull the charger whenever I need to go mobile.

mbryant25
Did you have issues too or are you just going to eat the 15% restocking fee? I do game a my pc quite a bit but I do so much more and sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and surf the web, send an email, etc. and don’t want to worry about running out of battery or being close to a power outlet.

I most certainly will need to purchase another charger that will stay in my bag while the original charger will remain under my desk. I hate having to climb under my desk to pull the charger whenever I need to go mobile.

I had no issues at all. It was a solid machine. I will just eat the restocking fee. It was a hard choice but I kept my last laptop for six years before it died (an HP gaming laptop with switchable graphics and a big removeable battery) so I might as well be happy with it.

I was going to keep the additional power supply at the couch for that reason.

Yes, the XPS throttles a lot of you're using the GPU and CPU so firestrike scores were horrible and I would never want to use it for games. In cases where it was just CPU, it was good. And, the battery life is great. If I were a gamer, I would never get the XPS.

mbryant25

Tholden1

mbryant25
Did you have issues too or are you just going to eat the 15% restocking fee? I do game a my pc quite a bit but I do so much more and sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and surf the web, send an email, etc. and don’t want to worry about running out of battery or being close to a power outlet.

I most certainly will need to purchase another charger that will stay in my bag while the original charger will remain under my desk. I hate having to climb under my desk to pull the charger whenever I need to go mobile.

I had no issues at all. It was a solid machine. I will just eat the restocking fee. It was a hard choice but I kept my last laptop for six years before it died (an HP gaming laptop with switchable graphics and a big removeable battery) so I might as well be happy with it.

I was going to keep the additional power supply at the couch for that reason.

Yes, the XPS throttles a lot of you're using the GPU and CPU so firestrike scores were horrible and I would never want to use it for games. In cases where it was just CPU, it was good. And, the battery life is great. If I were a gamer, I would never get the XPS.

Man, I hope I didn't make a mistake by not returning this for a full refund when I had the chance. I just got so excited by the deal and I really do love the way it looks. I'm mostly use my iPad for couch surfing, but typing on it is hard, so sending long emails, programming, etc. is hard on an iPad. EVGA don't let me down.

 
I wish I had the option of a FULL Refund but I'm in lost of 150 dollars because it was "my fault" I got a faulty laptop and I'm not alone as well. These laptops are beautiful don't get me wrong but people standing behind it is terrible. No help at all and they lost my business after 10 years or so of me using them. Just pray to god if you have a perfect laptop from them if not pray again.

starrbuck

mbryant25
I actually tested out the XPS 15 before purchasing the SC15 and had a lot of thermal problems with that but the battery life was phenomenal.

Yes, but the XPS 15 has no G-Sync and only a GTX 1050.  No wonder the battery life is good.

Understood, but I've been playing games my entire life and didn't have G-Sync and never cared about it. Maybe the SC15 will change mind about it. Also, a 1050 is good enough for the games I play now. Obviously the 1060 is more future proof, but I've been rocking a 750Ti on my desktop for years now and it plays everything just fine.

mbryant25

starrbuck

mbryant25
I actually tested out the XPS 15 before purchasing the SC15 and had a lot of thermal problems with that but the battery life was phenomenal.

Yes, but the XPS 15 has no G-Sync and only a GTX 1050.  No wonder the battery life is good.

Understood, but I've been playing games my entire life and didn't have G-Sync and never cared about it. Maybe the SC15 will change mind about it. Also, a 1050 is good enough for the games I play now. Obviously the 1060 is more future proof, but I've been rocking a 750Ti on my desktop for years now and it plays everything just fine.

A mobile 1050/1060 is not equivalent to a desktop version. Max-Q 1060 is roughly equal to last gen's 980M, while the desktop version is closer to a max-Q 1070. Just depends which one they're able to stuff into the laptop. If you want future proof, get a high end card once nvidia's next gen drops. I suspect 1080 will be in the range of current 980/Ti at $400-450.

Tholden1

bsem89

Tholden1
I'm returning mine. It's a great laptop for a gamer that doesn't mind being tethered to a power cord. But, I game on my PS4, not a PC. I want better battery life unplugged, while still delivering good performance when plugged in. This has great performance plugged in, but not the battery life.

So pretty much you are saying that you did't actually understand that gaming laptops need to be plugged in?  There is no such thing as a laptop that can do what you were expecting this laptop to do.  

 
Actually, I think I may have found a laptop that does what I was expecting, and even more.  The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin.  I just got one from Best Buy (8RF model) to try out.  This has a 1070-MaxQ (no gsync but I don't care), the 6-core 8750h cpu, 144Mhz screen, is thin, light, has a thin bezel display like the XPS, and has switchable graphics and a large battery so it is supposed to get 8 hours or better of battery life (I have read it gets about 7 in mixed-use testing).
 
It is about the same size as my XPS.  It weighs about the same, maybe a bit lighter than the XPS.  It has the same type of bezelless screen.  The Best Buy version has a 512GB SSD (not PCIe) from Toshiba.  It has dual-channel memory, 2400MHz.  The keyboard is full RGB, although that really doesn't matter to me too much.  It's still cool.  It's like the XPS 15, a 15 inch screen in a 14 inch body.
 
So far, I really, really, really like it.  It gives me everything I need -- slim, light, fast, powerful, good for gaming (if I ever do get into gaming), good for graphics tasks, good for work tasks, small, seems well built, and a great battery.
 
And it's dead silent when you're not doing anything major with it (like the XPS 15).  Despite "beefy" components, they can shut down the fan, or drop it so low you can't even hear it.
 
I am still testing the battery.  When I got it, it wouldn't charge the battery past 92%.  So, I did a calibration and am waiting to see if it goes to a full charge.  Then, I'll make sure the battery life is decent.  I also like that it has a light on it that changes color to tell you whether you're using the CPU GPU or the dedicated one.  That way you know when the GPU is draining battery.
 
Now, granted, this thing is twice the price of the discounted EVGA SC15.  Although, it's in the ballpark of the original SC15's price.  I kept my last computer for six years.  So, it might be worth the money in the long run for me.  Only a one-year warranty but my credit card gives me two more years.  And, maybe I'll buy Best Buy's warranty too, or some other warranty.

Any kind of warranty is better than EVGA. I might need to check out that laptop and thanks for making us aware of it :D

I love my SC15, the only thing it could have done better was quieter fans.  But this thing games like a beast so I give it a pass.  I got scared at the beginning when I had the crummy Geforce Experience installed but once I had help getting that removed I am shocked how awesome games play on G-sync.  I have to admit I prefer playing on my laptop over my desktop that has a 1080 but no G-sync.  So now I am saving up for a new monitor for the desktop.  G-sync of course.  ^_^