The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Drive Options: Which one should I choose?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Kattmandu, Jun 6, 2014.

  1. Kattmandu

    Kattmandu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Included in Price
    1TB 5400 + 80 mSATA HDD

    + $98.00
    2TB RAID 0 (2x1TB 5400RPM) + 80GB mSATA SSD Caching

    + $196.00
    256GB mSATA SSD Boot + 1TB 5400RPM SATA 6Gb/s


    Capture.PNG
     
    Kattmandu, Jun 6, 2014
    #1
  2. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,700
    Messages:
    8,323
    Likes Received:
    3,820
    Trophy Points:
    431
    Just get the cheapest option. You should almost always upgrade storage drives aftermarket. They all come with their own 3-5 year replacement warranty, and usually perform much better than Dell's SSD's.
     
    J.Dre, Jun 6, 2014
    #2
    Kattmandu likes this.
  3. Kattmandu

    Kattmandu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Yeah, that's the direction I was leaning towards. I think I'll leave the cheapest option selected. And when I decide to replace the 80GB mSATA, I can buy one with good reviews, like the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 256GB, for less money and still have the 80GB as a spare.
     
    Kattmandu, Jun 6, 2014
    #3
  4. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

    Reputations:
    827
    Messages:
    2,278
    Likes Received:
    104
    Trophy Points:
    81
    +196$ for a 256gb msata and a 1tb hdd is actually pretty cheap.... I would go for the preset option there over buying my own drives...
     
    ejohnson, Jun 6, 2014
    #4
  5. Kattmandu

    Kattmandu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Both the first and last configurations include a 5400rpm 1TB hard drive. So the extra $196 is just the extra capacity SSD. It's actually cheaper to buy one from Amazon and replace it myself. (See image below)

    Capture.PNG
     
    Kattmandu, Jun 6, 2014
    #5
  6. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

    Reputations:
    827
    Messages:
    2,278
    Likes Received:
    104
    Trophy Points:
    81
    That is pretty cheap, been awhile since i checked out msata drives
     
    ejohnson, Jun 6, 2014
    #6
  7. batfuse

    batfuse Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Another option: get the baseline option and purchase an 250 gb samsung evo ssd. They are going for ~$135.
     
    batfuse, Jun 6, 2014
    #7
  8. Kattmandu

    Kattmandu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Where are you finding the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 250GB for only $135? Current price on Amazon is $159. Or are you talking about the non-mSATA version?
     
    Kattmandu, Jun 7, 2014
    #8
  9. Kattmandu

    Kattmandu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I'm thinking that the 80GB mSATA is a cache drive and the 1TB 5400 is the boot drive. If that's the case, I'll most definitely be changing that setup as soon as it arrives. I'd like to get a 256GB mSATA as the boot drive and maybe a 1TB 7200 for a secondary drive.

    Do all Alienware 17 hard drives have the 9.5mm z-height or do some come with the 7mm z-height?
     
    Kattmandu, Jun 7, 2014
    #9
  10. batfuse

    batfuse Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Sorry. I was referring to the a regular SSD, not the mSATA.
     
    batfuse, Jun 7, 2014
    #10