Getting Alienware laptop and would like your input please

I currently have an Asus G73JH which is a little over two years old and I'm about to upgrade. I bought my daughter an m11x R1 for college and I was impressed with the design and build quality. Therefore, I had always planned for my next laptop to be an Alienware too.

My perfect next machine would be an m17x with dual 580m cards in SLI with a 3D display. That doesn't exist so I'm leaning toward an m17x with a single 580m and 3D display. Here's what I plan to order in about two weeks:

Alienware M17X
i7 2760
580m
120 Hz display and 3D glasses
BD Reader/DVD Burner
Whatever HD it comes with
Whatever the minimum RAM config is

I plan to run 16GB of RAM but I will order it seperately and install it when the laptop arrives. I run a lot of virtual machines at work so more RAM is better but I'm not willing to pay Dell upgrade prices for it.

I am not ready to pay the kind of prices they want to large SSDs and not willing to live with a small one so I think I will either use my Seagate hybrid drive that is currently in my G73 along with a 750GB 7200 RPM drive or I will purchase a 750GB hybrid drive in addition to the RAM from a third party like NewEgg.

Is the 3D as wonderful as I think it will be? Everything I read around here seems to indicate that those of you who purchased the 3D version really enjoy it.

Do you have any advice about the configuration?

I know from reading here that I should call to order so I can pursue the best possible price.

Is there a new model right around the corner that is going to be better? I know there is always a new model but what I'm asking is if there is a new model that will come out in February or March that you guys may have heard rumors of already. I don't want to wait six months but if we are forty-five days away from a better model I can certainly wait. There's nothing wrong with my G73 except its "old" and slow relatively speaking.

I appreciate any input you may have. I only buy one every few years so I try to buy a really good one. I don't think I chose well when I got this Asus so I would like to do a better job this time.

 

Looks like you are pretty good config and buying the ram and HD separetly is always a good thing. As to a newer model coming out soon, ivy bridge doesnt ship till may from what i understand( i could be wrong though). Its only supposed to be a 10%-15% performance jump with an enphisis on power saving. On the graphics side of things, the 7970m will prob come out with the ivy bridge refresh, that shouldnt bother you though as it cant be used with the 3D display. No clue what nvidia has planned on there release times though. Hope this helps you out some.

 

you hit the nail right on the head when you said to go with the minimum ram and HDD choices. Dell charges a huge premium on these upgrades and its a ripoff. These two are easily replaced by yourself at a fraction of the cost

To save even more cash, you could probably go with the core i7 2670 and then if the need arises, upgrade that aftermarket again for a fraction of the cost. For gaming, the core i7 2670 is more than enough. You will not see any gains going to the 2760 in games unless you're running benchmarks. An extreme processor would look sweet in your laptop and they are easily found here or on ebay cheap. You can use my CPU guide in my sig to see how easy it is to do yourself.

3D is great. Its really one of the few recent innovations in gaming. But as BigTony alluded to, just be aware that you may have to make some compromises in game resolution and/or graphical settings to have the game run smoothly

Aside from that...the alienware m17x is a beastly machine compared to your g73

 

Coming from a former prospective G7x buyer who agonized over which to buy, I have been nothing but happy with my m17x. I think the advice others have given about processor ram and hdd are spot on and you're best served by deciding what your budget is and going from there. Personally, I advocate the best screen and GPU and perhaps other peripherals you can fit in that work for you, the rest is so easily attained and installed.

 

Thank you all for the input. I will follow your advice and get the 2670 CPU. This makes perfect sense. After asking these questions, I have been browsing the owner's thread and reading the recommended threads int the first post. I have learned a lot. I knew I would. I'm quite an expert on the G73 series and am intimately familiar with the vast amount of expertise in these forums.

I'm going to spend a week pondering the build and shopping NewEgg for day one upgrades and then pull the trigger on an order. Picking a new laptop is one of the small joys in life. Thank you.

 

Problem with the 3D M17 is that you lose integrated graphics functionality because it won't work with the 120hz panel. If you plan to use this computer for work you'd have to lug the power adapter around all the time. Not sure how much battery life you'll get running the 580M all the time with lowest possible settings I'd guess 3 hours or so but with the intel graphics you'll squeeze out at least 2 more hours. If your not constantly near an outlet 3D becomes a burden.

 

I may not be an M17x owner but I did choose between the M18x and the M17x. It was also one of my options when I was deciding to buy my G73SW.

I think your configuration is rather reasonable. If the price difference for the CPU upgrade is justifiable in your opinion, I say go for it. I think it would be a good idea for VMs.

For your HDDs, maybe it'd be better to get the 750GB hybrid drive from newegg.com for your primary drive, and the regular drive for the secondary drive.

For the 3D, I'm not a big fan of it so I may be biased. I really don't think it's worth it. This really depends on what you want.

For the Bluray reader, I personally stuck with the DVD burner cause I don't think the upgrade is worth it. Unless of course you wanted to watch bluray movies.

 

I'm ordering an extra power supply so I don't have to lug one back and forth to work. I really struggled with whether to purchase an m17x or an m18x. In the end, I decided that the 3D would be a lot of fun so I think that's what I'm going to order. My G73 has the worst battery life in the history of laptops so I suspect this one will be an improvement. I rarely ever use it on battery. I'm going to ponder it a little more over the weekend and call them on Monday. Thank you for the input!