*NEW* M17xR3 Available for order... details and discussion here

the AW website looks pretty much not-finished... if u click m17x classic u see that the price icon is reflected ... kind of wrong? or is that showing only on my pc?

 

Well I was going to hop on and pick an R3 up...buttttttt I got denied Dell credit. Now I have to wait until next month for when I actually have the money for it.

 

i was about to get mine processed BUT now no 120hz screen availability. what gives?

 

Gotta love live website deployments... can't believe they don't seem to have used an internal test site first... then again, even if they did, its likely not the same enough to count.

 

i kinda think they're watching our threads as we are watching their site
we said no to 3D - removed now
we said where's the ATi card advertised - there you have it
ridiculous 32Gb RAM price - no longer listed
hope this would apply for this thread also :wink:

 

next step, crossfire, sli, 1200p RGB screen and extreme cpu

 

i was looking at the dimensions of the R3 and it is: W16.1" x D12.6" x H2.1".
the R2's dimensions are: W14.8" x D12.2" x H1.92". so according to this, the M17x R3 is bigger than the R2.

 

so with this logic any bluray player plays 3d blurays. That is totally false.I own a 3d tv and a ps3 and a 3d bluray A normal run off the mill bluray will NOT play 3d bluray.

 

They failed the copy-paste. Those are actually the M15x's dimensions...

 

that is horrible. looks like they were rushed, now options are appearing and disappearing. Hope they sort things out.

 

Is this true? THe m17x blueray player can't play 3d movies?

 

The M17x can do 3D blu ray, what he failed to mention is that the limitation is not the optical drive but the video processing unit that creates the video output that you see.

 

Pretty poor for a company the size of Dell. They've known forever that these were coming out, you'd think they'd have their web designers on the ball with something ready to go prior to the actual launch date. Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing

 

you need the newest powerdvd or windvd software to play 3d movies on the pc if you have a blu-ray drive.

 

If their webdesigners went to the same school as their techs and reps i fully understand

 

Well I may get razzed a bit but I just placed my order for one of these. Mostly basic specs with an upgrade to the GPU, screen, wifi, and a few other small things. Think I'm gonna do some upgrading myself rather than pay the ridiculous upgrade costs to Dell. Estimated ship date is 1/31/11

 

Congrats Dane 21 days left it does look like your range of laptops(don't get me wrong on this really mean it in a good way)

 

lol..
Looks like Dell loves the number 460.
460 in AW notebooks and now 460 SLI in their new aurora desktop when 580 is the king.

 

Having seen the specs available, I'm kinda glad I got my R2 when I did.

What's the point on having only single 460M and single 6870M as graphics options? They're both weaker cards than the 5870M in the R2. Unless someone finds that there is a second GPU slot and they start offering SLI/CFX, the R3 is not much more than an oversized M15x.

I don't like the change in case material. The R2's anodised aluminium makes a fairly efficient heat spreader, and must play at least some part in the system's cooling. It's also good for helping to protect the system against knocks and bumps. The R3's "soft touch" finish is probably going to be similar to that on the Studio line, with a matte texture that's almost rubbery in feel. It's not bad, but certainly not as rugged as solid metal.

I also don't like how they've change the R3's (and the possible M18x's) screen resolution. Why drop 1920x1200 in favour of 1920x1080? Sure, 1080p is pretty much a standard for video playback, but these laptops can do much more than play video. The new monitors are 90% of the height of the old ones, and the 120 pixels of vertical space are enough for 6-8 lines of text.

I hope that Dell have built capability into the system that we're not seeing yet, or that the M18x rumours come true, because this new system does seem to be a step down from the R2 in so many ways. Sure, the Sandy Bridge CPUs, USB3 and SATA3 are nice, but the change in case material and the apparent loss of the second GPU and HDD slots are regrettable. If the M18x rumours don't come true then Alienware will lose "gaming laptop" credibility.

 

Yeah I know, I don't take it as a bad thing. I loved my M17x-R2 but it was just ridiculously bulky and horrendous battery life. I think I'll wait out the extreme cpu's, possibly look into a 6970 or maybe 470m if it works, slap my ssd in, and the 8gb ram and call it good Here's to hoping Dell didn't screw up again lol. As soon as I get it in I'll run the full gammut of tests at it and possibly throw up a review as well. I'll copy paste the specs:

Soft Touch Nebula Red
i7-2630qm
4gb DDR3 1333mhz
17.3" FHD 1920x1080
1.5gb Nvidia GTX 460m
320gb 7200rpm HDD
Slot Load DVD
Intel 6300
1 year Advanced Warranty

 

^^ Are you also getting the 120hz lcd?

 

I saw that, but it does not appear on the config page

Think I would jump on a R2 with a Sli 460 GPu option

 

Glad to see you back on board and i know if i wanted one person to have a r3 to test and tweak....you are the right guy...enjoy your setup and please bench the r3 out of it.

 

of all the things missing on the R3, I think th RGB LED screen is # 1

I probably order one it it came with the RGB LED screen

 

Your confused. Any bluray player can read the disc the problem lies in the software not all of them are compatible to "stream" the 3D content.

A computer is different, it can read all disc and the software is easily upgraded to stream the 3D content.

What you are describing is a software issue not a hardware issue the hardware for 3D or not is absolutely the same... Hope this helps and makes sense.

 

anybody noticed gpu option for m17xr3? 6870m is the best u can configure right now? dont make me laugh, it's not any (if at all) faster than 5870m

 

What sort of 3D laptop arrives with no 3D screen? Are they seriously going to have no 3D screen at first?

 

Its the price thats the killer....for what you get its some £200 MORE than what the base spec of an R2 was in the UK just a few days ago.....

Talk about making a "more affordable" laptop???? ....dont make me laugh!!.....i would dearly love someone from Dell to comment on this as we in the UK will be paying MORE for LESS.....all Dell have done is remove a gpu, remove a brilliant RGBLED screen, remove the aluminium casing and probably more that i wont list....

And now they expect us to rush out and buy it and actually PAY more???.....NO WAY, NOT FOR ME AT ALL....

Whats that all about eh?

 

No spradhan01, I can't see the point in paying $200+ more than the standard 1080p screen when in reality the 3D capability of the current gpu's probably isn't that great. If I were to go to 3D it would definitely be on a desktop at that price lol. Total upgrade cost for 3D from the standard screen was $350!

Thanks Faiz, feels good to be back on board and I don't even have it yet. The XPS 14 is an awesome rig but just not the same after the rigs I've owned lol. And trust me I will bench the ever living 7734 out of it.

 

The lack of 3D option is most likely a problem on their website or an availability issue which Dell is resolving by not offering the option.

Yes we all agree, it looks stupid on their behalf to advertise the PC as 3D ready and the 3D screen is not even available.

 

But it comes with the glasses

 

shutter glasses run for $120-150

 

This is actually a very true and valuable point that can be easily overlooked

 

Yep, the 3D option was fully available (screen and 3d bundle) a couple of hours ago. I just went in to complete my purchase and my cart "dissapeared" as did the option when I went to rebuild

 

The r3 will get a 6970m by march most likely. That's when clevo gets it too.

 

March is still so far away. I just hate that.

 

For the price (UK) they better be the kind of glasses that are gold plated encrusted with diamonds "kanye west" style...lol

 

For all of the CF/SLI hopefuls....I would not be

Look closely at the pictures on the Alienware site. Only 2 vents on the back (and obviously none on the side). That would be one GPU and the cpu/chipset. No way they are cooling 2 gpus with one fan if it is in the corner like that. I would MAYBE give them 2 gpus on 1 fan IF the fan were centered in the back like in the M17. And todays GPUs are too hot for that to be a feasible option anyway

Sorry folks

Hope that M18x is not a unicorn.....

 

A g73sw goes for 1625 w FHD, 8gb and two hdd. If you use the 3% discount, it's less. The r3 would be 2100 for the same config. I'm disappointed with these releases. =/

 

I'm glad I got my R2. Can't believe the price of the R3 on the AU web site.

Base price with 16GB RAM and a 2820 is AU$3999.

The 3D screen is an option. Spec'd up without SSD or 3D and only a single GPU the unit cost is AU$500 more than what I paid for my R2.

Oh! And the 460M is the only GPU option. No ATI/AMD offering yet.

 

Honestly, to me the M17X R3 is a relatively good buy if there is the 6970M and the wireless HD.

None are available today so no point for me to go further with it. Another few months wait won't hurt me...

 

Let me add a few things here:

1. Dell gives you at home next business day warranty with the R3. Asus does not offer this even though it does have give accidental + 1 year extra by default, you have to deal with the headache of a mail in depot warranty with long turn around times.

2. The M17x-R3 has HDMI In to hook up consoles

3. M17x-R3 will be upgradeable to the 6970M where as the G73 would need a new model to accommodate a new card like the 6970M.

4. M17x-R3 has wireless HDMI to beam movies and games directly to your HDTV.

5. M17x-R3 has alien fx.


The only things I'm not clear about yet are build quality of M17x-R3 vs Asus G73. If I had to place a wager, I'd say the R3 is likely built better.


So even though at first glance they seem equal with the same features, they are not.

 

Joker, I agree with all your points but I did not see mention of wireless HDMI. It was only mentioned at CES but no option is available on the site. Not sure if that is going to be an empty promise from Dell or not.

 

Thats exactly what i pointed out on one thread - the abscence of air vents on the sides...one guy thought they were there for speakers.....

 

But we only had crappy pictures from CES, theses are pictures straight off Dell's site removing any hope

 

I like the NBD warranty. It doesn't have the WHDMI right now as far as I can tell. I know historically they've had user upgradeable GPUS, is this the case here? I haven't read it anywhere. The AlienFx is a fun bell and is something Asus users can do to their laptop/have done as well. Anyway, not trying to start a flame fest, just trying to get to the bottom of where my next purchase will be. As you can see from my sig, I'm due!

 

The supposed air vents on the m17x r2 are just for decoration.

 

Dell News from CES: Streak 7 Tablet, Venue Smartphone, Enhanced Dell Stage and More - Direct2Dell - Direct2Dell - Dell Community

Shows both the 6970M and wireless HD as options so here is to hoping they follow through and these make it to customers as options

 

That's not too far away i guess, the only company i've seen to offer the 6970M at the moment is Eurocom