M17x or M14x on a tight budget questions

Basically to act as a desktop replacement for a year or so until I start building my own for gaming.

One big catch: current budget = $1500, and please note I'm buying directly from Dell because I have an account with them. I mean I appreciate any replies to my threads, but please consider my situation before responding with "Get a desktop/MSI/asus for cheaper".

So, all that considered, my options are coming down to a 100% standard M17x (I'm talking bare bones here. No upgrades, not even the resolution) or a slightly beefed up M14x with the i-7 2600, 6 gb of ram, geforce 555M 1.5 gb, and 1600x900 screen.

I should note that a good selling point, for me at least, is the fact that the M17x is in it's 3rd hardware revision form compared to the M14x being brand new. Maybe I'm completely wrong to think this. Let me know what you guys think.

Also, is the 17 inch screen a big waste if I don't get the 1080p? I'm more concerned about the high heat issues in the M14x more so than the size. If the performance will be no different on the M17x, I'm ok with that so long as it handles the heat better as I will be running it as my main rig and I do quite a bit of gaming.

Thanks in advance.

 

spend a 100$ more and upgrade the screen and buy the m17x r3

 

Reasoning behind this? Obviously a better resolution looks better, I knew this before posting.

I've never been one to care about the quality of my PC screen, desktop or laptop. Right now I'm staring at a 7-year old 14" Acer LCD screen and I think I've gone through about 4 desktops since buying it. I never even had a HD tv up until this year.

 

Screen upgrade for me is a must. It makes a big difference on a 17in laptop. My m14x ran warmer than my m17x r3.

You will get a performance burst in the m17x but its larger. Both had good build quality are very similar. m14x has a much better keyboard if you ask me (I type aot).

 

Would I notice that same performance burst in the M17x even though I'm not upgrading it at all? Size is not an issue as it's a desktop replacement for me.

 

I'd call in and get a discount either way you go.

 

Its more than just resolution its a much higher quality display.

 

That and the 1600x900 display on the m17x seems to have errors for alot of people in the corners and edges.

 

Understood. I'm comparing 1600x900 and 1920x1080 wallpapers right now and I can barely notice the difference. I should probably note that the quality of my display is practically at the bottom of my list of concerns. At the top is heat management, reliability and performance.

Here's the specs to make this easier:

M17x

• Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
• 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6870M
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
• 17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED

M14x

• Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.9GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
• 1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
• 14.0" High Def+ (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight

 

Not sure if you are willing to go the refurbished route but dell outlet is another option if you are on a budget and have a bit of patience. I picked up the following setup for about $1400 after discounts.

M17X R3 Nebula Red
Intel Core i7 2720
1.5GB GTX 460m
4GB DDR3 1333
750GB 7200RPM HD
1920 X 1080 60Hz Display

My system arrived in pristine condition four days after placing the order. Apart from an issue with dell sending me the wrong ac adapter (this was resolved in the first week) I am a happy camper. Its a bit more of a gamble over purchasing new but worth it in my opinion if you can save a few hundred bucks.

 

I have definitely considered this, but I'm not really one to buy refurbs. Never have been. The Dell Outlet seems to be out of M17xs at the moment.

On a side note, what if I plan on hooking my M17x up to a 23" LCD monitor since it will be rooted to my desk basically? Then what's the point in upgrading the screen?

 

Higher and much better resolution, that's about it. Though the 6870 is kind of an old card so...it's up to you.

 

Well if I connect it to a new 23" monitor, what's the point in paying $100 for an upgraded screen I won't be using?

As I said, I'm not really taking this laptop out of the house. 99% of the time it will be on my desk with my desktop and monitors. If I planned on traveling with it a lot and really making use of the attached screen I would upgrade it.

As for the graphics card, the 6870 is better than the 555m that comes in the m14x right?

 

At this point, the m14x sounds better. Though you may want to upgrade to the 3Gb version of the 555m.

 

Dont get the m17x with the 6870 card. Atleast get the 6970. Yes it cost more but the performance jump is much improved.

 

I just found a nice m17x with the 1080p screen, 8 gb of ram and a 450m for 1300. on the Dell Outlet. I started to order it and got an error, went back to look for it again and it was gone. Wow, that was fast. It was Dell Outlet New, not a refurb or scratch and dent just a canceled order I guess. Oh well, too bad. I don't feel too comfortable ordering a refurb but an unopened or canceled order would be fine by me.

The M14x still seems like a fine choice. I've heard the 3gb 555m is a huge waste of money and shows no performance increase over the 1.5 due to the processor.

 

I really should have stressed the budget more. I thought it was enough adding it to the title of the thread.

Upgrading the graphics card is NOT an option for me. I'm asking which of these 2 machines in question would be better based on the specs I provided. Period.

 

Here they are again in case you missed them:


M17x

• Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
• 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6870M
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
• 17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED

M14x

• Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.9GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
• 1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
• 14.0" High Def+ (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight

Assuming NOTHING about the above specs could be changed, what machine would you go with?

 

the m14x. Portability and a bit more gpu power.

 

If thats it you can spend get the m14x. Seems the m17x is out of your range for a good configuration.

Side note--Try calling online you can get it much cheaper.

 

Gonna try this tomorrow at work. I tried chatting live via their website and got nowhere. They even lied to me about having no coupons available. I found one myself online and posted it to them in the chat and asked if they forgot about that one. Their response was "oh yes I must have overlooked that one, I'll apply it to your cart now" so I told them to forget it and closed the chat. I don't like being lied to about a measly $50 rebate.

 

Everyone saying to get the M14x: the 555m in the M14x is integrated and can't be upgraded. I understand that the 6870m in the M17x base model IS upgradeable.

Wouldn't you consider this to be a big plus?

 

NO-Weak end card plus 900p resolution doesnt work IMO on a 17in Alienware. The screen cant be upgraded easily.

 

A weak end card that can be upgraded, and I will plug the M17x into an external monitor.

 

I can conclude that, because you intend to build your own machine in one year anyway, it would be far wiser to simply buy the upgraded m14x, which in this case is mildly better than the bare-bones m17x.

Then simply save your money until you are prepared to begin building your new machine. Rather than buy the m17x, wait a few months, upgrade the GPU, then build your new machine.

 

Well I'm not planning on starting the build until around this time next year and I could probably push off that projected date if I was able to upgrade the GPU on the M17x. I don't play games with very demanding graphics either.

I've been checking the Dell Outlet and found a decent M17x:

Processor: Intel Core i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Alienware M17x R3 Laptop
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (4 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
1.5 GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
17.3 inch Wide FHD (1920x1080 120Hz) WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle

This particular machine is marked "Dell Outlet New" which means it's a canceled order or return that's never been booted up. It comes to about $1350.00 after the discounts, so it seems to be a pretty good deal.

 

I would say that price is above its market value. I got my same system in signature for around the same price (this is minus the two hard drives it only had one).

If your doing the outlet route watch it often. It took me awhile to get the deal I wanted. Keeping looking at it and one will come up if you go the outlet route.

 

The outlet route seems pretty good to me right now. I can get the m17x with upgrades that I wouldn't be able to afford if it were a new system. The fact that it's an outlet new system rather than a refurbished one eases my mind a good deal about ordering from the outlet.

How about yours? Ever had problems? Have you had to use your 2 year advanced warranty?

 

I have bought 2 m15x systems, 2 m11x systems, and 1 m17x r3systems from the outlet. The m17x r3 came defective but since Dell has such a great warranty policy they fixed the system when it broke and ended up replacing it after a few more hardware errors.

The thing about outlet systems is they often come in Like new condition but at times a bad system arrives. If so you can simply return it or get it replaced by Dell. Out of all the systems above only had issues with one which was fixed by Dell. All the others looked brand new.

 

Were they marked as Certified Refurbished, Scratch and Dent, or Dell Outlet New?

 

One scratch and dent the rest Dell outlet. Zero where ordered new.

 

I don't trust outlet. What if it takes you 2 months to find the problem the original person had? For m17x there is a good chance they just wanted to upgrade the GPU though.

 

The machine I'm talking about is not used. It's marked "Dell Outlet New" which means it's a canceled order or it was returned before being opened. The person who originally ordered it never turned it on.

 

Well back to the m17x r3 or m14x. I still wouldnt get a m17x r3 with the 6870 or the 460 card or 900p display. If those are either of the options outlet or new I would go with the m14x.

 

What's wrong with the 1080p display? The 460m is ok, better than what would come soldered onto the motherboard of the m14x. At least it's upgradable on the m17x.

 

1080p screen is 2nd best screen on the m17x series. The top one being the rgbled which isn't on the r3 T_T.

It's worth it to save up money for a better gpu than the 6870 if u want the m17x w/ the 1080p screen.

 

1080p and the 6970 gpu were my must haves. Everything else just gravy.

 

Sorry I meant the 900p screen. Would never get that on a 17in machine.

 

Well Dell has a pretty nice promotion going on now on their XPS 17s.

• Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics with Optimus
• 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
• 17.3" FHD (1080p) with 2.0MP HD Webcam
• 2 Year In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis
• 90 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

It's coming to around $1200 after all the promotions and coupons taking $400+ off.

 

if you are on a tight budget, this is the better route to go.

But if you still want that Alienware, i would try going to a reseller and see what kind of a discount they can give you. That's what i did and saved a little more than 10% on a M17x R3

BTW...6870m on base alienware m17x > GT 555.

 

I thought base was a 6 970m which is MUCH faster than a 555m.

 

no the base card on a stock $1499 configuration at alienware.com comes with the 6870m

 

It wasn't when I ordered it was a 460m. Next upgrade was 6970.

 

i'd prefer the GTX 460m to the AMD 6870m because 460m can be overclocked to about 470m which is > gtx 560m

But the 6870m is whats currently offered at the alienware site in the base config

 

While I like the look and feel of Alienwares much better than the XPS series, I'm more concerned about 3 factors (in this order):

Heat > Upgradability > Performance.

The nice thing about the XPS 17 besides the price is the free 2 year warranty. The big con is the graphics card cannot be upgraded. I almost just wanna go with that base model M17x. At least I can upgrade the GPU. The 1080p display isn't as important to me. I was just at Best Buy looking at 900p and 1080p FHD screens to compare the 2 and I did notice a difference, but I'm not the type to be concerned with that at all. It just doesn't bother me. Hell, I'm still using a 17" LCD from like 5 years ago with my desktop.

 

Get whichever one you can find the best deal on. Unless you play super duper FPS games like Crysis/Metro/etc., you're not gonna need the hardcore GPUs that the 17x offers. If you play SC2, then it's mostly CPU anyway, and you can prolly play it on High, which isn't too different from Ultra graphics.

 

Something was wrong with the store display then (no surprise) if anything everything should be smaller with more information on the screen. If you run lower than 1920x1080 on the 1080p screen its possible to actually look worse than 1600x900 on the 1600x900 screen.

 

Hi

If "Heat > Upgradability > Performance." are you concerning factors, then the M17x wins over the m14x, as the graphics card is upgradable in this machine, and since it has a 240w PSU the CPU should be upgradable also which gives performance..

Heat has already been answered.

About the screen resolution, the writing on my screen is tiny and get difficult to read at times, so a higher resolution is not necessarily a bad thing also games should perform better at the lower resolution.

Although I would personally go for the higher resolution, but if you'll be using an external bigger monitor for most of you gaming then that should be fine to.

It all about what you want .

 

There is another difference, the xps apparently only turbos one core to 2.9ghz where as the alienware turbos all 4 cores...2 cores in use to 2.8ghz, 3 cores in use to 2.6ghz and 4 cores in use to 2.6ghz

I was told this in another thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/605992-m17x-2630qm-turbo-2-8ghz-only.html

 

Thanks.

The bare bones M17x just seems to be the best way to go between my 2 options. Upgradable GPU, manages heat better, better stock processor and only coming in around $250 more than the M14x. I am holding out for some good coupons though.