Give Up???

I am in search for a laptop in which can render anything in a heartbeat, that the display is amazing, incredible features, best video graphics, etc. From the start I wanted an Alienware but with all the reviews that I have heard in a way it has shy me away a lil bit.

The Alienware that I am thinking of purchasing is the m17x R3. With:

Intel Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)

8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)

2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M

750GB 7,200RPM HDD

For a total of $2,663.00. The price really doesn't matter at the moment (when it doesn't pass $3,000.00) because I really don't think on buying a computer for a long time. I know that a desktop can be cheaper and all but I need a laptop, a good one. Thanks in advance people.

 

I've had my r3 for 2 weeks now. I never regret purchasing it! There's some issues here and there but nothing major Nothing is perfect in this world and that includes electronic products good luck! Pretty good cOnfig you have there! Buy it!

 

ditch the 2820qm, its a real waste of money. The 2720qm is a much better processor for the price. DO NOT UPGRADE RAM AN HDD FROM DELL! Do it yourself. I got 16gb ram for just 130. You want blazing speed? Spend what you save on a Crucial M4 SSD. I think you'd be quite happy at that point.

 

"display is amazing"

You will need to look elsewhere. You want a 95% gamut screen which can't be had on Dell.

 

This system can render at breakneck speeds, even the R2. The recommendation though is to use your own HDDs and memory to save money. The M17X R3 is a break neck speed system but if you want faster graphics, you can have the M18X which has dual GPU capabilities and is an aluminium chassis. I have heard that the M17x R3 is also slightly less in quality compared to the R2's screen but I am sure it is great none the less. Personally I use my own external monitor for most things but the laptop screen is great if you know how to calibrate it correctly using the CCC feature of ATi. You can make your screen look similar in quality to RGB but the RGB will always have that *BAM* feeling to it.

The video card you have chosen, the AMD 2GB 6990M is an extremely fast and cost effective video card. The 580M from dell is extremely over priced for the differences there are (PhyX being the main one) and the processor you have chosen is also great as well. As I take it cash is not an issue for you but I will tell you that the difference between the 2720QM and 2820QM processor is hardly noticeable. The only way to see the difference between the CPUs is by doing a benchmark test and the difference will only manifests itself in Physics scores.

I can give my word that the R3 is a strong build in itself except for the plastic chassis which to me may be a personal preference as I find the idea of a metal chassis to be professional. The R3 is a strong and very break neck fast computer to be had but if your really keen on maximum performance I would recommend the M18X if you don't mind the extra 1.1" Inch on the size. And another to save cash, would be to get the stock HDDs and memory and then buy some aftermarket RAM and HDDs. Then you can put your own SSD for super fast boot and load speeds and your own memory which would be cheaper and also faster. Dell stocks the 1666MHz memory but it is overpriced, I am sure some NBR members know where to get the best aftermarket RAM and as for SSDs I would recommend a Crucial SSD for Read speeds. But again, other NBR members may have better recommendations.

I hope I helped, please ask if you need anything else mate.

 

Upgrade the warranty to 4 years and the screen to 1080p. Ditch the RAM and HDD. Keep the i7 2820qm if you need it, but the difference is minimal from an i7 2720qm.

 

M18x @ 4ghz

 

O.K. So to what I have heard it is a good system. But an m18x could be better, the 2820 processor isn't that different from 2720 and to upgrade the HDD and RAM in which I was thinking about doing just that. I will Love to have an SDD and from what I have heard the Kingston Hyper it is a choice and also that Crucial. Thanks People really freaking helpful and by the way is there a way to reply to one at a time reply??? New at this!

 

i think you should look at the elitebooks, with their ips screens and get yourself a spider3

 

I have never heard of them let see =D Thanks..

 

Clevo/Sager. Better screens same or better specs but cheaper.

 

Yes, better screens (for which you pay more). Better customization, NOT better specs, and NOT cheaper. You're buying them from resellers which will offer a 3% cash discount and a few free upgrades at the most, while Dell will provide discounts up to 25% off every once in a while.

That being said, the overall quality of the Sagers is better because the company/resellers can pay more attention to their products. I've owned both Sager and Alienware and I found great things and flaws in both machines.

 

R2 has the best screen ever placed on a laptop. Just saying But Sandy Bridge is definately the better processor over first gen core-i. Though the 920XM/940XMs are no slouch. I have Throttle Stop auto execute via Real Temp on startup, so my system is always running at 85w TDP. Also capable of 6970 X-Fire. If you could get an RGBLED R2 with a low end CPU, and throw in the 920XM/6970, you have yourself a great laptop capable of gaming for years. But really it's all your call.

 

Thanks for the advice, going to take on consideration!

 

hp's dreamcolor 2 is the best screen ever put on a laptop.

HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation - comparison results Small & Medium Business - HP

are you a gamer?

 

I would hope he is a gamer, the R2 RGB screen is the best gaming screen I have seen, but it would be nice if the HP ips screen was good for gaming

 

Yes you can send people messages by clicking on their name and under contact info "Send Private Message" or similar.

 

in case you render with maya/3dsmax and/or adobe CS5, you might wanna consider getting the nvidia 580m (since those applications make use of the cuda architecture).