Birthday gift for husband. Any changes I should make?

Hello. I am making a purchase for my husband's birthday. As I know next to nothing about the inner workings of computers, I thought I'd ask. I was planning on purchasing the m15x but now that the m17x is $400 off + an additional 20%, I need to know if the specs are good enough for his purposes. He is working towards his PhD in archaeology so he uses various programs for generating maps (Canvas, GIS, etc..), but mostly word and pdf files. He also plays games (RTS, RPG, FPS) but mostly on consoles since his laptop is way outdated. I'd like for him to be able to play PC games again so he can do this during downtime on campus. I know that he is looking very forward to Diablo III as well but who isn't?


Space Black – Anodized Aluminum
Intel® Core™2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 Year Advanced Service Plan
Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M, 2GB – SLI® Enabled
17-inch WideXGA+ 1440x900 (900p)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
1TB - 2x 500GB 7,200RPM - RAID 0
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

I can get this system for $1460 (by ordering through AAFES - no tax and free 2-3 day shipping), which seems like a great deal considering the retail price.

Will this meet his needs based on my description? Does he need 8GB of ram? I've read about some issues with the 260M, is this a concern still? Thanks ahead of time for the help.

 

No No No.


I can't log on to AAFES since I got out the service long ago, and forgot my father's ID and password x).

Choose I-7 cpu configuration. What you chose is generation 1 system. 2nd generations systems come with i7 CPU's.

Make sure to choose WUXGA (1900x1200 RGB)!!!!

8G of RAM is nice, but upgrade other parts I mentioned instead.

4870 (dual!!) 5870 dual if you can afford it.

3 yrs of warranty if you can afford it.

 

took the suggestions right out of my mouth. 4 GB is plenty for now and is easily upgraded later on

 

Will make a phone call since there is no option for an i7 showing up online, not with that $400 discount attached to it anyway. Thanks

 

if you are looking to save money check the outlet site and get a better spec'd system. it still comes with warranty. thats what i did

 

Via Dells program (and some haggling) you can get a Alienware M17x R2 (New revision) for about 2200 with the following spec's:

Nebula Red
Core i7 720
RGD LED 1900x1200
4G of RAM
5870's Dual
BLU-Ray
1 Year ADV warranty
That added network card.

You could remove the nebula red and the network card to deduct 150 and invest that in more warranty.

 

Have that spec, great choice!

 

Don't bother with blu-ray. The money is better spent elsewhere.

Same as the dual 5870 - yes it's awesome to have, but currently not really worth it, especially considering it's currently plagued with problems.

The i7 quad-core processor will help a lot with generating maps.

8GB of RAM will certainly help for his applications, but is pricey and probably the last thing you should upgrade.

Here is what I would recommend on a budget:

Intel® Core™ i7 720QM
1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
4GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 2GB DDR3)
1TB Raid 0 (2x 500GB 7,200RPM HDDs)

Basically that's the default configuration on Dell US, with the addition of the RGB-LED screen and a bigger hard drive selection. $2,299.00 before tax/discounts and haggling, 1 year warranty. I'm pretty sure they still ship for free regardless.

Next in line for upgrading would be the dual 5870, then the RAM, if you feel like dropping a bit more on it. Keep in mind that a system like this should easily last 5 years, and this is something that will most likely be getting a LOT of use for the money you spend.

A thousand dollars is like three weeks salary for most people, and the system will be noticeably better for the rest of its lifespan. You know what they say, buy cheap, buy twice.

 

Sorry, but not having SLI on a system that was made for defeats purpose of having one imo. I wouldn't even think about getting a single GPU on M17x.

 

that is the exact spec i got from the outlet for $1769 shipped to my APO

and i also agree about getting duals on the m17x its a big notebook might as well utilize dual GPU's

 

In my opinion, go for the dual video cards with the original purchase. That is not an easy part to upgrade later - not because they are physically difficult to replace (they aren't) - but because it is damn near impossible to pick up aftermarket crossfire 5870 cards for a reasonable price. Maybe in six more months this will not be an issue, but for now it is not easy to do a self-upgrade on that.

Also, to support what was said previously - you want to get a system with the i7 CPU. These are the "R2" systems, which were introduced in February. Anything with a Core 2 Duo CPU is going to be an "R1", which was the previous model. There is nothing really wrong with the R1, but why would you pay good money for a system that is already outdated when you get it?

 

Thanks for all the input. Just a couple more questions. Budget isn't too big of an issue as I had planned on spending around $2500- $2800. Stumbled across that $400 off plus 20% so I should have known that deal was too good to be true. Going to call and see what type of deal I can get for:

Space Black
Core i7 720 or i7 820 - any reason to get the latter processor?
8G of RAM
Dual 5870's - CrossfireX or the other cards? Big difference?
1TB Raid
3 Year ADV warranty
And of course - plant a tree.

 

I'd suggest lower cpu, and lower cpu, since you can get the best processor for a half the price of what Dell has.
DO NOT FORGET THE WUXGA screen.
dual 5870 are the best Dell has so go for it if u can.
I think 4gig of ram is enough, and can be easilty upgraded cheaper than Dell has.

 

OMG!, Your husband is the luckiest man in the whole world.

 

Current prices for 8G of aftermarket memory is about $200 for 1333. Currently you can also buy a 940XM processor (the best you can have in the R2 for now) for under $600.

So I would opt for 4G of 1066 memory and the 720QM CPU and just do the aftermarket upgrades for memory and CPU to save the money.

Unless your husband isnt very comfortable opening up the laptop... the CPU requires a little bit of "scaryness" because you have to take a lot more out and mess with thermal paste etc. But memory is VERY easy to put in yourself.

 

Looks like a great laptop. i7 720 is fine. 8GB of ram is overkill...4 is fine. Go with the Dual (crossfireX) 5870's. Also get the 1920-1200 RGB screen. That screen is a must have.

 

Dam all I got for my last bday was a pair of shoes from my wife.

 

4GB of RAM is fine for gaming and general use (in fact, FPS will not be effected at all over 3GB of RAM), but memory-heavy applications will benefit greatly from having double the RAM.

Again, like many people have stated, it is much cheaper after-market and very easy to install.

 

Damn, last bday I didnt have a wife...

 

In the long run you're better off. I'd rather buy the M17x myself than deal with that constant headache.

 

I think that you should buy the best that you can get with the money you have. Call Dell, tell them that it is a present for your hubby and how much you can spend and let them tell you what you can get. You might get a pretty good deal directly from them. I'm getting my hubby a maxed out Aurora desktop for his birthday in January. I have 2 Alienwares and I'm very happy with them. I think he'll be very happy with the Aurora.

 

Like others have said for a 17" laptop get the 1920 x 1200 (MAKE sure it is RGB LED (not the regular LCD), your husband will thank you).

Get the R2 version from the Dell Outlet, get the fastest i7 processor you can afford. Single 5870 video card would be fine, dual would be better, again comes down to what you can afford.

Do not worry about memory or HD, your husband can upgrade these on his own for much cheaper. Even if he can't there are places he can take it, but he should be able to it is relatively painless.

So to recap:
go to Dell Outlet
1920x1200 has to be RGB LED!!!
Core i7 (fastest processor you can afford) - these are in the M17x R2 version
5870 video is preferable
do not worry about memory
do not worry about HD

 

Everyone's pretty much on the money. the important bits are the RGB LED, and the dual 5870's.

the i7 720 (it's the 740 in aus now, geez the US are behind) is fine, 4 gigs of ram is fine. hard drive capacity is personal preference, i'd never use even 640gigs let alone a terabyte (which i have).

So to summarise.

1920x1200 RGB LED
core i7 720
dual 5870's
4gb ram
whatever raid 0 storage you want

you are best off spending as much as you can now, so if you are below budget, the 820/840 cpu first, then the ram up to 8 gigs. seriously though, you will hardly notice a difference between 4 and 8 gigs of ram for most purposes bar serious photo editing. if it was my choice i'd go for the best cpu over 8 gigs of ram.

 

In the AUS now the standard RAM setup they give is 8GBs. Too good lol.

 

plus 1tb raid 0 and 740qm. but the base price is $2800 aud

 

The M17x prices are beginning to fall because of the time of year. I have been told by an enthusiast retailer that the 6000 series cards will be introduced with lightning (faster than usual) speed in Oct, Nov, and Dec. The mobile cards should follow suit. I would expect the M17x to be fitted with 6000 series cards early in 2011. If you buy a 4 series card you will be two generations out of date within the next 4 months. The 5870 will be replaced with a 6 series card with 3 to 4 times the tesselation. No matter when you buy a gaming laptop the cost will be 2 to 3x the cost of a desktop for equivalent performance.

This system is utterly plagued with problems so I can't with good conscience recommend it for someone working on their PHD. The generic Catalyst monthly driver updates so beloved by other communites simply don't work on this system as they should. That means when a new game comes out you will have to wait months and months for Dell to update their drivers. Expect 2 or 3 updates for the life of the product.

Raid 0 is a popular choice among gammers but for an academic it could be a disaster. What this does is save part of the data on one HDD and part of the data on the other HDD. If one HDD fails both are lost. With raid drives it is alot easier to make a simple mistake that turns quickly into a disaster. Would not even consider Raid 0 for any student. Personally I would keep the academics on one computer and the games on the other.

This system is far too heavy to be portable and taking it on field trips or to the library would be like carrying a few bricks around. Dell has discontinued the 4GB option in many countries. The whole purpose of windows 7 64 was to utilize more than 4Gb of ram. A 32 bit operating system will perform better with 4Gb of ram than a 64 bit system with 4GB of ram because the 64 bit system uses more ram. You need at least 6G to acheive notable performance increases with a 64bit operating system.

A lot of people on this forum talk about upgrading this or that later down the road but it really isn't cost effective with a laptop. Laptop parts like LCD or GPU are 2 to 3 times that of a desktops and laptop parts never fall they remain constant whereas desktop parts continually fall. Laptops also depreciate in value super fast so it just doesn't make sense to plan on upgrading down the road.

 

Despite all the opinions being thrown around here......read the OP....he is using the system for Archeology work which most likely includes 3d renders or ground images and such (memory intensive stuff) - not just gaming like the majority of us.

I would recommend:
i7 720qm or 820qm
8GB Ram
Dual 4870s
1920x1200 RGBLED Screen

Rest is preference. I recommended the 4870s because the gain is not huge going to the 5870s but the 5870s are far more trouble with drivers and game support for the time being. Diablo 3 has been in development for years....I doubt it will take advantage of DX11 (the only real reason to pick the 5870s right now) since StarCraft 2 did not. Another place you can cut some cost if it is still too much would be to get a single graphics card. Having 2 is nice and all but for games by Blizzard 1 card is easily enough (and most other games). He will also be able to enjoy longer battery life. As for the Blu-Ray, get it if you watch Blu-Ray movies otherwise it is unneeded.

Hope this helps and you have a lucky husband!