Alienware m17x R3 questions

I am debating on buying an Alienware m17x R3, but am worried its life expectancy will be short for the use I intend it to have. I will be carrying this thing around my campus 4-5 days a week and every so often back and forth to a friends house on weekends. I need this laptop to last me 4 years at least. Do you think my laptop would take 4 years of constant moving?

What is the longest anyone has owned an Alienware laptop?
Have the AlienFX stayed in full functionality in that time?
Hardware is not an issue in terms of HDD, ram, OP drive. I can change upgrade myself.

Also anyone know if Alienwares are stolen more often than any other laptop?
I am afraid to have this on campus if it is the Escalade of vehicles.

Also if you can please stop by my buying a laptop thread to help me choose a laptop I need quite urgently.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...9-buying-laptop-urgency-two-mind-already.html

 

Usually Laptops last for 5+ years these days. I.e if you're keeping everything in stock mode.

My math book got stolen in school, not my Toshiba satellite. You can use the locking mechanism that comes with the laptop. There's also a GPS kinda think in the Bios that shows the location of the laptop....somebody check me on this one.

 

Thank you for the reply. Yes I will keep everything in stock and will have cooling mats/pads/elevation objects to keep good circulation. Its quite disheartening to have something stolen, but its bound to happen to anyone. If GPS is functional I will definetly be looking into that.

 

Get a 4 year warranty, problem solved. If something stops working, they will fix it. You will probably get upgraded to a newer revision by then. In terms of getting stolen, regardless of brand, don't leave it sitting anywhere. You can use a kensington lock as well. Macs can be very expensive too, and lots of people take those with them to campuses.

 

Who would probably want that?

RIP Steve Jobs....PC already misses you.

 

=> me.... i'd totally take a free mackbook air. it would make a nice buddy for my m17 for non-compute heavy tasks, it'd be very nice to have something that small and light

 

I've tried macs once...copy pasting a file from USB to Desktop felt like an EVENT!

 

Fractaleon, these laptops are quite durable...as long as you don't abuse them (i.e., drop them, spill water on them lol etc). I move mine around quite a bit.

I went and scanned your other thread on what laptop to buy...if you are a gamer, you really have 2.5 choices.

Alienware, Sager and the Half choices are the Asus g74/The new MSIs with 570m

I say they are half choices because the vid card on the G74 is the gtx 560m (which isn't enough for the games you want to play). The new MSI's with the 570m are better...and with a little overclock may be enough for you. I've seen those as low as $1200 with the 570m which is a good price

I chose alienware over sager because alienware generally don't skimp and their warranty is pretty good, for example, you have a dead pixel, they replace the screen (i didn't like the fact that you have to pay $70 for a dead pixel warranty from sager and its only good for 30 days). And the next day in your house warranty is convenient

If you do decide on the alienware, the most cost effective options are to get lowest ram option, smallest hard drive and the 6990m. But do get the 1080p screen option. The ram you can upgrade cheap yourself (8 gigs of ddr3-1333 can be had for $40 currently) and a good SSD like the 128gig M4 can be bought for ~$170 so don't pay through the nose for them through Dell. These are easy upgrades you can do yourself

 

I also carry mine around 3-5 days to class. These things are build to holdup. I have only had my system about 5 months but everything still looks new with no signs of wear.
Most of the students at Miami Oxford have no clue what the thing is so I never worry about it being stolen. If you had a ipad it would show up missing before anyone would touch the Alienware. These are just im opinions but I never worry about my computer being stolen on campus.

Upgrade warranty if possible as accidents do happen.

 

4 year is a bit expensive, but I will see. If I do get an m17x I'll probably be glued to it 24/7. I am more worried it being stolen from me directly, as in being confronted by anyone bigger than me. I am 5'3 and quite lacking in muscle. I could use the laptop itself to fend myself off but I end with the same outcome lol.

Yes I am more inclined with alienware, though I have not been able to call anyone from XoticPC for a quote (liking the no taxes, CA ). I just got a really good quote for an m17x (not sure if we are allowed to post so I won't) but I want to see what price I can get for an NP8170, the only thing is I can't wait till Monday to call, by then I'll probably have payed for the m17x.

Thank you for the information.

 

obviously ymmv, but in my experience most people see a big laptop and assume it's old... => any new good laptop has to look like a macbook in the eyes of the uninitiated.

def. recommend extending the complete care warranty - if you go through the reps in the deals thread, they arent nearly as costly as you might think.