Dell called and cancelled my R3, is the R2 they offered in it's place worth it's salt?

Dell rep called today, told me that my R3 (that had been processing since 25th Jan) has had to be cancelled due to the Sandy Bridge chipset flaw. According to him, R3s won't be shipping now until April at the earliest/May at the latest.

He then took me through a proposal for an R2 M17X that could be with me inside of four weeks should I wish to go with a 'healthy alternative' (did make me chuckle!) which would be on par to my R3 order at a slightly more expensive price (and that as this wan't my fault - Dell would be picking up the tab).

My (cancelled) R3 order specs are below, as well as the R2 specs he offered. I decided to go with it, for want of not being without a laptop until April/May, and was just wondering what you guys think? Was this a good deal? I know the R3 offered more in terms of upgradability but also I now have the option to buy a second 5870 for crossfire right?

The rep was particularly adamant that the display screen being offered to me with the R2 was vastly superior to the one in the R3, dont know if thats true but will miss the option of having 3d gaming

Any input would be appreciated.

R3 Specs:

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2630QM (2.00Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M w/ Optimus Technnology
6144MB (1x2048 + 1x4096) 1333MHzz DDR3 Dual Channel
320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
17.3in WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Blu-Ray ROM combo
Intel® Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 802.11a/b/g/n card

R2 Specs:

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 840QM (1.86 Ghz, 8MB, 4C)
Single 1GB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]
320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
43cm (17") Wide UXGA (1920x1200) - Beyond HD (1200p) RGBLED
Blu-Ray ROM combo
Intel® Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 802.11a/b/g/n card

 

If the price is the same or very close to the R3's I would say yes. The R3 with a 2g and 4g wont run at duel channel. The R2 is worth a lot more and much more powerful with the second GPU added. But bottom line is your money your wants. All I can add I love my Red 840 and would not trade it for anything. Well maybe?

 

I would consider doing it, if you are absolutely sure you are not interested in 3D gaming in the near future.
The RGB LED they offer you for the R2 is a dream, you will never want anything else the rest of your life again once you had that screen.
The 5870 is a great card, and you will be able to add a 2nd one in the near future if you please. To me this looks like a really nice offer and a splendid setup.
I would however take a quick look to the Dell Outlet, maybe an M17x-R2 with a similar setup is waiting for you there for a great price.

For me the only reason to consider an R3 would be 3D, in all other aspects i prefer the R2 due to the minimal upgrades GPU wise available for the R3 atm.

 

All i can personally say that if it wasn't for mobility and 3D I wouldn't go for anything else than R2... it's still much more powerful. but if I don't get a deal for an R3 in nearest day-two, I'll go with R2 for sure.
Once again, if you don't need mobility then screen quality, perfomance and many other things are better with r2, but thats IMO

 

The system they're offering would certainly cost more (~$2700) than the R3 system you created but that's including the ridiculous $625 upgrade cost from the 740QM to the 840QM. Other sites offer that upgrade for $200-$300. Even if you lowered the cost of that upgrade to a realistic level, the system is still worth about $300-$400 more than the R3 you purchased.

Looking at pros for the R2 vs R3:

R2:

1) You would get the R2 much sooner. 2-3 months waiting on a new laptop is frustrating.

2) RGB LED screen is better than the one offered with the R3.

3) 1200p screen I'd consider better than a 1080p screen.

4) An extra 5870 card would improve the R2 to high-end performance.

R3:

1) The Sandy Bridge processor looks better than the 840QM and runs cooler from what I hear.

2) 3D would be fun to play around with.

3) The R3 is lighter and thinner (more portable).

4) The R3 has a little longer batter life (but not much more with the 460/3D)

If Dell is offering them at the same price, it sounds like a good deal. But if you really need the portability and are excited for the 3D, waiting for the R3 might be a better choice.

 

get the r2 and drop the processor from i7 840qm to i7 740qm or even better get the i5 and get a second video card instead. You will not be able to tell a $600 difference in processor upgrade except in your wallet. You will on the other hand notice a big difference between single and dual video card and at only $350 a much better decision then processor. Instead just pick up a 920xm on ebay like i did minutes ago for less than $400 shipped. Now that is an upgrade you can feel in butt dyno. . So save your money and get a much better laptop by getting second gpu upfront which will save you $200 versus trying to do it aftermarket and ordering all the parts and hoping it works and you did not get 2 master cards. Get the i5 chip and the money you save put that on a 920xm ES and second video card.


cliffnotes:

Ditch 840qm and swap to crossfire 5870 and i5
Pick up 920xm ES on ebay

 

^^^^^^ completely agree with faiz23
You will notice the best benifit by having dual 5870's.
If you can't swing the 920xm on ebay then get the 740qm instead of the 840qm and still get dual 5870's.

D.

 

+1 for faiz23. You will need Crossfire 5870 more than 840QM, and it helps you sell your R2 easier later (if ever you decide to upgrade)

Btw, I am in the same situation here. My R3 order was cancelled, now based on my previous R3, Dell's offering me this R2 for $2300 shipped (tax included)

What do you think ?

 

He isn't configuring that laptop, they are offering that laptop with those specs at the same price as the R3 would have been.

 

considering you are in the UK...I cant recommend the dell outlet. That is a good deal. If you aren't into upgrading or too computer savvy, negotiate a 740qm OR (better) offer to drop the ram to 4gig and add a 5870 and you will buy that day. CF 5870 and 840 is much more powerful. That would be a great deal. The build quality alone and RGB is worth it. He wasn't lying about it being "healthier". The only real replacement to the R2 is when dell/AW offers a CF/SLI with SB and 485's and 6970's. However that may be a ways off and first run buyers will have to do a lot of patching/bios flashing etc to iron out the kinks that come with any new highend desktop replacement. The R2 is amazing power for today and even most of "tomorrow's" games.

 

Right, but I guess its negotiable because 840QM is a $625 upgrade from 740QM - That's enough for crossfire and save some $$

 

ask for a weaker processor, less ram and a Second 5870 for CF in return.

 

What kind of pound amounts are we talking about here?

 

You should get them to put the 1920x1200 rgb lcd screens.

 

Did you not read the specs? It is showing them offering the 1920x1200 RGB LED screen. Look at the bold below quoted from him:

 

Holy. I need to get some sleep. I thought I saw the non rgb lcd's, Sorryy.

 

hi guys, I'm new here.. i used to read the forums, but need a advice now, and had to register My problem is, i live in Serbia, Europe, and here alienware is sold by third-party sellers, who order alienware laptops from Germany or the UK. there is one m17x R2 for 2-3 months now in one shop, and because they cant sell it, the price dropped for about 200euros which is about 300$. the specs are:
Intel Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB L2 Cache),
6GB DDR3 1333MHz,
500GB SATA 7200rpm (2x 250GB),
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - Dual CCFL,
ATI CrossFireX™ 2x ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870 1GB,
DVD RW Dual Layer, windows 7 ultimate, 3-year warranty... the price is 2150euros or in dollars 2900$ (in Europe computers are more expensive then in the US) My question is, should I buy this? or wait for R3? is R2 with these specs worth the money?

 

You can get an R2 for about $2300 now, 4GB ram, 740QM, 5870Xfire, and 1200P RGB - very tempting. I want to see the price of the R3 with a 6970M first, and also try to negotiate a better deal on the R2 .

EDIT: Noticed Torai got the same deal, I guess Dell just gave him that. You should ask for a better deal because of the hassle you had to go through with your R3 order.

 

That deal took me 1 hour and a half. Actually I paid $2400, but that included a $111 cable. I was hoping a R3 with 485M and 3D too, but I just cant wait. That's the problem

One bad thing about the R2 is that it does not have SATA III while there are a lot of new gen SSDs coming soon. Is the OCZ Vertex 2 still the best for sata II right now? Or should I pick up an Intel 25M ?

 

What kinda $111 cable are you buying?

 

DisplayPort to Dual-link DVI my friend

 

OCZ recently switched their sandforce SSD to 22nm NAND, so they're pretty much slower than noname ssd's now.
I bought one and feel totally ripped off.

32nm read - 180+
22nm read - ~40ish

 

I decided to get the Intel X25-M instead. I am willing to give up a little speed for reliability - I've seen so many bad reviews about the OCZ failure. And, for a R2, SATA 6GB/s is useless, so I think intel is the best choice for me.

 

Costs $86 on Newegg.
Newegg.com - Accell B087B-003J Mini DisplayPort to DVI Dual-Link Adapter

 

A little off topic, but that is MINI-displayport to Dual link DVI

 

Review the different specs between the two systems. Review the information on both systems which is listed in this forum. Make a decision for yourself.

reminder -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/551755-r2-vs-r3-debates-no-more.html

Posts have been removed - please see above link.

Thanks.