student gamer, m14x?

I'm 17, and I need a great laptop for college. I like Alienware, but I have never owned one. Please help me figure out if getting one is a good idea.

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
I think about $1800 would be good

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

a. Netbook; 10” screen or less
b. Ultraportable; 11" - 12” screen
c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
Massachusetts, USA
4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

a. Like: Alienware, MSI
b. Dislike: ???

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
heck no
6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
university work, entertainment (including gaming)
7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
It will commute with me to school 3-5 times a week
8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Skyrim, Battlefield 3, World of Tanks
9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
unsure (enough for a class or 2)
10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
I already saw the M14x and M18x in person and liked the a lot, I would order from Dell
11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Windows 7 64-bit
Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. Click here for Screen resolution information.
1600x900 or higher (I will not me messing with native resolution to increase FPS or anything)
13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
It doesn't really matter
Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
the practical part of me says no, but the gaming part of me says yes, I think the gaming part is winning
15) When are you buying this laptop?
as early as next week, as late as May
16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
3-4 years

Notebook Components
17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
750gb would be good if it isn't an SSD, I don't need an SSD but it would be cool to have
18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
school requirement is an optical drive, no use for Blu-Ray

The requirements the school has is this:

Processor: 2 GHz or greater
Memory: 2GB
Hard Drive: 80GB
Optical Drive: 24x/10x/14x CD-RW and 8x DVD combo
External Ports: (2) USB 2.0, VGA
Operating System: Windows® XP, Windows® Vista, Windows® 7
Video: 128MB non-integrated video memory
Multimedia Package: Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, line-in, microphone jacks, and s-video output.
Battery: High Capacity Lithium Ion Battery with AC pack
Network Adapter: Integrated 10/100
Wireless Networking Adapter: Integrated 802.11 b/g, WPA Certified

I just need to make sure the ports and everything are there on the M14x, I know that the internals are all set. So as long as the M14x is double or triple as good as this computer, then great!

Dell Inspiron 1420 Overview & User Reviews - Laptops - CNET Reviews

If you managed to get this far down, you are awesome and thanks.

A few final notes.

1) I like the MSI G series as well, but I don't know if it is portable enough to go with books and other things.

2) I don't really like Sager, but don't dislike them either

3) My mother is pretty adamant about me not doing anything to it after I buy it, so it needs to come fully loaded to begin with.

4) I'm not an extremely hardcore gamer, but I do want things to work very well for the money. I also have a desktop that I *tried* to build on my own. Let's just say it didn't work out as well as I wanted, but it does usually work.

I can't believe how long this turned out to be. I will talk to my dad about it when he gets home tomorrow. I am excited now

PS: I'm not the play now, study later type. It's just if I can get an awesome computer I could use to it's potential, then why not?

 

the alienware m14x should be a great companion for you... you said that you are a gamer, yes? how often do you play? may i suggest that you put a lot of research on the m14x before you do the purchase... im saying it so that you will be aware of the current issues of the laptop.. but.. if you can deal with those, then welcome to the club...

 

Had my M14x Since August 2011. Been great. Just hope your not the person who gets the troublesome models every so often

 

Well I could wait for the R2 refresh if it is going to happen within the foreseeable future. That might fix the problems. On the other hand, it will be more expensive then too. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it or not to wait. The only glitch I know of is that it can't game off battery without being plugged in without crashing. Of course not many laptops can do that anyway. I play on a fairly regular basis when nothing else is going on, like my HS robotics club.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/625546-m14x-issues-fixes.html

I can just do these standard updates and it will help quite a bit it looks like. If there are problems, my University (I get to say that now ) Has a solid IT department that deals with Dell regularly.

 

For the price your looking at why not look at a sager 15 inch screen. Get a better gpu and ssd for that price and hdd.
M14x looks great and sounds incredible for a laptop of its size. But your a gamer. If you want high graphics the m14x won't max games out. Unless you tinker with settings.

 

i personally lug my m17x r3 to school and back every day. It was a pain till i got a decent backpack, and now the weight doesnt bother me at all. Might be worth a look because it has more power, good battery life, and a larger screen.

 

Well what about the MSI GT783? It's a bit lighter then the M17x R3 and it looks pretty awesome still. It has a GTX580m as well. I really like that as well but I can't really afford it with a spare battery. Hmmm, MSI GT683, Alienware M14x, or M17x R3, Sager NP8150, it's really tough.

 

I'm also a student gamer, and the M14x is a good choice if you want portability while give you good performance at the same time, however if you want to better performance you may have to sacrifice portability for it and get the M17x which I plan to do so when the M17xR4 release.

 

Do your classes offer electrical ports? If so, then you could go for a 15 inch Sager or MSI. If not, I would recommend the m14x unless you dont mind bringing around like 3 extra batteries for 2 classes

It is pretty hefty so you will have to adjust to carrying it around. I find that in my backpack, its feels like just one more textbook. Youve been around for a while so you pretty much know what gaming will be like. You can look on my YouTube in my sig for videos. Pretty much most modern games at 1600x900 and Ultra settings if you turn AA off. You will have to learn to tinker with settings. If you got a 580M Sager or MSI, you probably wont really have to.

I know you know most of the information so I think you just need to decide for yourself. If youre okay with a pretty much carry-able desktop, and want the gaming power that could easily last 5 years still playing Medium, go for a Sager or MSI 15 inch. Theres always removable batteries and such if you really need them. If you just want to be able to game, while still having the average portable, long lasting notebook, but dont need huge bursts of performance, go for the M14x

 

I could plug in at the library or between classes or something. This settles it. I'll try to go with a 15.6" MSI first and if that doesn't go over well with my dad then I'll go with the M14x. Let's see here... estimated 2-3 hours of battery life/battery*2 batteries = 4-6 hours. That's plenty. I still want a backlit keyboard but there aren't any on 15.6" machines. CURSE YOU DELL, WHY NO M15x YOU GROUP OF COOPERATE IDIOTS, WHY?!?!? YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD JUST CANCEL ONE OF THE BEST GAMING LAPTOPS OF ALL TIME AND PEOPLE WOULDN'T NOTICE?!?!?! MICHAEL DELL, BURN LIKE THE INTERNALS OF A COOKED M14X!

Basically I'm looking for a GTX580m in a 15.6" with a backlit keyboard but it doesn't exist.

 

the new clevo model has all this..... i think. or the old clevo model has all this miuns the backlit keyboard

 

Yeah, got carried away there for a sec. It doesn't matter that much. I just think it was a dumb idea to get rid of the M15x. Why they didn't just make it lighter like they did with the M17x is beyond me. Anyway I could go for a Sager, I'm not too picky I guess, I'm just not the biggest fan of the design. Well all this is good info, I'll think about it. Thanks a lot all.

 

go for the bigger brothers then... the m17x r3 should be able to give you what you want... quite heavy but I have a friend who's been carrying his m17x around and he's damn proud of it... he's quite a show off tbh... lol!

 

The m17x can get up to 4 hours of battery if you install the modded bios for the nvidia cards or get the 6990m with manual switching so you can toggle the intergrated graphics. No other laptop with a 6990m or 580m can do this. also, alienware m17x r-3 form factor isn't really all that bad considering what it has inside and with a decent backpack I don't even notice the weight anymore. Its still about the same weight as the m15x and slimmer but just a bit wider to accommodate the larger screen. Hope this helps you out.

 

Well I only have 1 last question. Is the i7 2760 worth $150 more then the i7 2670 Dell recommends? I can get the M14x if I don't get better i7, but I don't know if I can with it. I would love an M17x, but when you have gotten suggestions like Dell Latitudes or the dreaded "most people just walk into Best Buy and get one," I don't want to push it. Besides, I'm starting to question why I am getting a "gaming" laptop at all.

 

Not really, I would go for the 2670. I think Dell recommends the 2860 anyways, which isnt worth it

 

I agree, tbh I got the i7 2720QM and the 2670QM's clockspeed is exactly same as the one I had, and 2.2Ghz is consider fast for a multitask power-user like me. So the 2670QM is more than enough, and as a matter of fact, with the heating issue the M14x current having, I dont think 2860QM is a good choice.

I guess Dell recommend the 2860QM is maybe because of the market sale of that CPU, since most users here are getting (or suggest to get) either the 2600QM or 2700QM series instead of the 2800QM. So to boost the sale, they may have use the recommendation method to do so, it is all about marketing if you know what I mean.

 

I noticed no difference when video editing/photo editing or Civ 5 between the two processors listed above. They where in different machines but still saw zero real world difference.

 

I'm a sophomore in College and the M14x has suited all my gaming/school/traveling needs due to the portability and power. I wouldn't buy the m17x since lugging it around campus would be a drag i honestly think the m14x is perfect for students that want power/battery and portability. I get like 4 something hours on balanced and you could get more in power saver. I play all games that i want on High/Ultra when i tweak certain settings so go for it imo.

 

This is exactly what I need to hear, thanks! So this means I can get the M14x for under $1600 including a backpack. That is a pretty awesome deal when you think about it.

 

glad to see your sticking with the alienware brand, hope you like the m14x if you get it.

 

i bought the m14x as a refurb from the dell outlet website and got a lot better specs and warranties for the price rather than brand new - and from past and current experience my refurbs look and act brand new. save money and get the best specs via refurbs if you ask me.