Need advices for a M17x

Hi,

I'm planning to buy an Alienware M17x in the near future. But I am a little bit lost while deciding which compenents to chose.

So I want this kind of laptop in order to run Football manager 12, Formula 1 2011, NBA 2K12, Mass Effect 2, and some other very heavy games. I also want to be able to run a lot of different applications at the same time (word+ppt+Football manager 12+ around 8 internet pages as an example.)
I do not want to exceed $2000.

So My questions are:

Is an SSD hard drive really better than a HDD? What are the major advantages? and the drawbacks? Is it worth the $400 more? (I don't mind about storage capacity, I have several TB in external devices)
Also, concerning the Video card, I was thinking of the 560M, is it a good deal?

Here is the configuration I thought about:

Intel® Core™ i7 2670QM 2.2GHz (3.1GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (4DIMMS)
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
750GB 7,200RPM HDD
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000

Price = $1860 with a cooling system and a Pad.

Is That Sufficient? Will it be necessary to add a SSD or to upgrade my Video Card?

Also, basic question concerning shipment, if I choose the "next business day", does it mean it will be shipped the day following my order or the day after my order has been built?

Thanks a lot in advance for your answers.

And sorry for my lack of knowledge

 

You should try to upgrade the video card to the 6990 or 580m. I will assure you if you are a gamer and want the best speed and quality possible, you will not regret it later. You might be disappointed w/ the 560m within the next 6 months easily.

SSD's arent necessary, though it's a useful upgrade for OS and loading faster for big games.

So try this,

Best gpu + 1080p screen, stock hdd and ram, and upgrade to a ssd + hdd later and more 1600mhz sticks of ram aftermarket.

 

the m17x really doesn't need a laptop cooler. All you really need is to prob up the back of the machine and it runs a lot cooler

If you are planning to add an SSD or ram, i suggest buying them after market because its usually much much cheaper (never hurts to compare to dell prices to other places though)

I gotta say this is the worst mistake i made on buy my laptop. i went with the 1600x900 screen instead of the 1080p screen and the 1080p screen looks a lot better imo i'd go with zoolian's advice

 

Once you use a computer with a ssd and you get familiar to the speed, its hard to go back. I know i can't anymore. The largest advantage is that everything loads faster. The computer just seems quicker, more immediate. I was on my friends 2600k@ 4.8ghz desktop with a 1 TB WS black HDD, and i was losing my patience waiting for stuff.

 

i concur with both Zoo and bigTony...

Upgrade the vid card and screen if you can

Don't upgrade the ram and SSD through dell...do it for a fraction of cost yourself

If you look at my sig, my total tab up to this point $2079 for everything

1875 shipped (after discount through reseller) for:

Core i7 2630
Amd 6990m
4 gigs ram 1333
1080p screen
320gig HDD

Then bought:
M4 SSD $179 shipped
8 gigs of ram $45
core i7 2820 $270 shipped
SB X-fi (free already had it)

SOLD core i7 2630 $290

Grand Total:
$2079

 

Drop everything, max the screen and vid card for your budget, and upgrade the other "neglected" areas along the way.

 

I couldn't agree more with eleven. Absolute lowest specs on everything but the GPU and screen. All that other stuff can be upgraded later for a fraction of what Dell charges. You're also going to pay out the rear end for that 580M. The 6990 is right on par with it, and is much cheaper for some reason.

 

Thanks a lot for all your advices

 

no prob thats what we are here for