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    Guidance required for buying Alienware for the first time.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012.

  1. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    Hey forum :p

    Im an Indian, and alienware laptops are heck crazy expensive in india, IDK why?... so im ordering one from US from my uncle.

    The thing is im not really rich, but i want an alienware laptop.

    My budget is : 1700. or max 1800$

    The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

    here when im customizing the laptop,
    im stuck...

    i have a choice either to get 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 , or 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M?

    so please tell me, will 4gb ram be enough for playing MW3, skryim and other new games? including crysis and battlefield 3? cuz now i can go with 1.5gb nvidia one?

    or should i go for 8gb ram and stick to the 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6870M? do u think 1gb amd will be enough for all those new games???


    please help me ,im freaking confused.....




    AND BTW, do you think they ever have a sale? or discount period on alienware?


    im buying in May.
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012
    #1
  2. YodaGoneMad

    YodaGoneMad Notebook Deity

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    Alienware does have sales, right now they have 15% off if you spend some amount, other times they give upgrades for free or reduced prices. A few times a year there are really good coupons that might take 20-30% off.

    As for a config I would get:
    Intel® Core™ i7 2670QM 2.2GHz (3.1GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
    4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
    2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
    750GB 7,200RPM HDD
    17.3-inch WideFHD
    Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000
    8X Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

    And then go to newegg.com and buy 8 gigs of ram, for probably like $40. Total price will be a bit over $1800 but you get a REALLY nice laptop.

    EDIT: Also, go read this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/456885-aw-dell-ordering-advice-how-save.html you will easily save a significant amount of money following the advice in that thread, and can probably get the config I showed above for like $1600 giving you plenty of money to get the ram upgrade and even pay to ship it all for less than $1800.
     
    YodaGoneMad, Jan 19, 2012
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  3. ValkerieFire

    ValkerieFire God Follower

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    I agree with what yoda said. Do NOT upgrade the CPU, the standard one is fast enough. Don't upgrade ram, your uncle can order it from newegg for less.

    DO: upgrade to 1080p display & get the best video card you can get.

    Everything else doesn't really matter. The display is hard to upgrade later and video card upgrades are expensive, so get a good one from the beginning.
     
    ValkerieFire, Jan 19, 2012
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  4. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    Yoda...

    your config is : $1,974.00....

    too expensive...
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012
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  5. Serephucus

    Serephucus Notebook Deity

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    Take the stock configuration.

    Upgrade the screen to the 1080p one.
    Upgrade the graphics card to whatever the best one you can get is.

    Anything else you can upgrade down the line yourself for a lot less money (RAM, hard drives, wireless card, etc.)


    Also, make sure your uncle calls, and orders it over the phone. Usually you can get at least a 10% discount if you haggle for it.
     
    Serephucus, Jan 19, 2012
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  6. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    that itself is $1,974.00

    the 2gb nvidia card is 325 + the base one.
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012
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  7. YodaGoneMad

    YodaGoneMad Notebook Deity

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    YodaGoneMad, Jan 19, 2012
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  8. insertcreativity

    insertcreativity Notebook Guru

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    Hey dude I can check the site i got my r3 see if they have the same deal i got.

    580m 4gig ram 1080p 2670qm for only $1765 new, it was a steal for me imo, same thing configured on dell site at the time was like 500 more.

    i think my specs for my r3 in the sig (i upgraded ram and got ssd though, rest is stock)

    checking the website now, if its there want me to PM you or post here?
     
    insertcreativity, Jan 19, 2012
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  9. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    pm would be nice :)
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012
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  10. YodaGoneMad

    YodaGoneMad Notebook Deity

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    Oh man, totally forgot to mention the outlet!

    You can buy really nice M17x R3 computers, complete with warranty, from the outlet for big savings.

    Dell Factory Outlet

    It refreshes every hour at the 40 minute mark, watch it for a few days, I guarantee you can get a 580m, nice processor, and probably even more ram and such all for like $1650.
     
    YodaGoneMad, Jan 19, 2012
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  11. ValkerieFire

    ValkerieFire God Follower

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    Galbatrox, are you a Eragon fan?
     
    ValkerieFire, Jan 19, 2012
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  12. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    nope, but my best friend was, and so he was galbatrox8 and i was 9 :p
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012
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  13. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    how comes its cheaper at factory outlet? are they 2nd hand?
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 19, 2012
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  14. Serephucus

    Serephucus Notebook Deity

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    No it isn't. The stock R3 is $1,499. Adding the screen, that's $1,649. The best graphics card you can get and still come under $1,800 is the 560M, so that brings it to $1,749.
     
    Serephucus, Jan 19, 2012
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  15. ValkerieFire

    ValkerieFire God Follower

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    I don't think I would pay extra for a 560m, I would save the money for 6970/6990/580m to get at a later date.

    Some are refurbished, others are "scratch and dent"/minor cosmetic damage, others are new but never shipped or returned before opening.
     
    ValkerieFire, Jan 19, 2012
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  16. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    base price = 1,499.
    FullHDScreen=+150 $
    2gb Nvidia 580m=+ 325$

    total : $1,974.00

    how come it comes under that price for u? 0.0

    so u mean i can get the base MX17 R3 product and then i can upgrade the graphic card? i checked , newegg doesnt sell 580M...
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 20, 2012
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  17. Serephucus

    Serephucus Notebook Deity

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    Why are you adding the 580M? I said to add the best graphics card you could afford, not just to add the best graphics card.

    If you add the 5 6 0M, it's within budget.


    Newegg is typically bad for the more obscure laptop parts. Check XoticPC, eBay, etc.
     
    Serephucus, Jan 20, 2012
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  18. galbatrox9

    galbatrox9 Notebook Consultant

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    oh ok, i misheard you :p i thought the best there is :p
     
    galbatrox9, Jan 20, 2012
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