M17xR3 or M18xR1?

I'm looking into upgrading from my M17xR1. Would you guys rather have a M17xR3 or wait for the fabled M18xR1? I've read it's supposed to be released it May, but obviously until Dell says it's going to be released it could be anytime.

 

If you are patient, want the latest and greatest, can afford it and want to risk the possiblity that it may not appear or be late then M18x

 

I would wait for the M18x. The R3, IMO, is not built as good as I hoped.

The R2 build quality is far superior to the R3. I am sure the M18x will hopefully bring back that quality.

 

IMO Wait for the second coming of Christ, may be he'll get you a m20xr4....

Dude, its speculations... your waiting for.... nothing

 

I'm waiting for the m20xr5 personally.

 

You have to ask yourself the following 3 questions:

1. Does the weight and noise of the M17X R1 bother you?

2. Do you need 2 GPU?

3. Do you need metal construction versus high end rubberized plastic?

If you answer yes to the first question and no to the second one then go with the M17X R3.

If you answer yes to the number two and three question then wait for the M18X.

 

m18x r1 10char

 

The weight doesn't bother me. Once I put it on a table it weighs the same as everybody else's laptop. I don't "need" 2 GPUs, but it's certainly useful to have. As long as it's not cheap thin plastic, I'm good either way.

 

From your answer the M17X R3 is a pretty good choice then.

 

Even if it does come out, the m18x would be well over 3k if taking into account the current r3 prices.

would you really pay this much extra in order to have a larger less portable laptop, that noticeably can run only a hand full of games better than the already extremely powerful r3?

If you really NEED it, buy a sager 8170 with a desktop i7 990x and 2x 485gtx gpu cards

 

There's been no confirmation of the M18x. I'd get the R3 now.

 

I would also look for dell posterous.
Their info has been matching up until now.
They have added 485m sli to the list as well as same power brick as of R3.
So its upto op if he wants to wait.
M18x speculation is not baseless at all imo.

 

Think of this. Right now and over the past several years there have been a limited number of discrete carry options for any AW 17" system. Wait until the M18x is released and you'll have 1 option. The fanboy backpack with the AW logo.

I might need to get a custom tailor to make me a discrete bag that doesn't look like total crap.

 

Wait a couple of months. If the worse thing happens (the M18x doesn't get released) then pick up an R3, it won't likely cost any more than it does already.

In the best case you'll have the M18x or the R3 with either a 6970 or 485 option to choose from.

Nothing to lose in waiting a bit, it's a lot of money.

 

The waiting time for the r3 is sooooooo long that by the time you get it the m19x will be out.

 

It's absolute bs that the r2 has better 'build quality'. The r3 uses different materials which are plastic but the build quality is just as good if not better. For a company to not have done anything better on a new product after a few years is unrealistic. The tolerances and design is probably more advanced on the r3 (although admittedly I didn't have my r2 long enough to notice much and my r3 does have a few flaws here and there).

The r2 is heavy yes and people will ALWAYS feel heavy=quality. It's true for many items we buy. I'm not saying the r2 is inferior in any way it's a solid machine it just uses materials that people seem to prefer for a big machine.

 

here we go again bikering between models..
@OP you should be the only one capable of answering that question based on your needs/time frame.

cheers

 

The R3 uses a bunch of thinner plastic everywhere, which explains all the flex we see in the palmrest, keyboard, and the lid cover...

I would say that is enough for me to say that the quality of the chassis is nowhere near the R2. The R2 uses anodized aluminum in the chassis vs plastic on the R3. It is understandable though since they made the R3 lighter and thinner. But I would definitely say the R2 is built better in terms of quality. I would take the extra weight anyday for a better feel to my machine.

The components, obviously, the R3 is better, having newer technology. Even the majority of R3 owners say that the R2 had far superior build quality.


But I am not going to argue over that. Its an opinion. Having used both machines next to each other, I can tell the difference any day.

M18x FTW.

 

Of course R2 has better built. I saw and touched both side by side.

 

You have no idea when m18x will be available. You will suffer from waiting every single day. Just go with R3.

 

That is opinion. But how about we just stick with the facts when comparing the two machines:

The new Sandy bridge processors in the r3 are much faster than the previous gen i7 in the R2.

To say "far superior build quality" without owning the r3 is probably misinformation and bias.

R3 is lighter and has much longer battery life with the 6970m than the R2.

The only way the R2 can compete with the 6970m is with dual 5870m...and with the well known cons of owning a dual gpu set up, the 6970m will arguably provide a much better experience.

Just based on performance alone I would go with the R3. But the longer battery life really cemented my decision to go r3. What use is a laptop without decent battery life.

 

If you are not in a rush might as well wait and see if the m18x pans out. If the m18x does not happen then at least the backlog on the m17x will be shorter and hopefully the WiDi will be out in the m17x.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/562455-alienware-new-model-speculation-thread.html