Need some serious advice about my Alienware 17

Hi, so ehm...I'm new to this site and English is not my native language so please excuse me.
I'm having some issues right now and i need all the help i can get.
First my Alienware 17 specs is GTX 765m + i7-4700MQ + 8GB Ram + 900p resolution - i dont know if theres any differences between this and the 1080p (yes it's the basic specs; i got it as a gift from my parents)
So my problem is, i go to college and i want to carry my laptop around...almost every day...and as much as i love my laptop but its too heavy and big.
I want some advice see if i should keep it for further use (is it up-gradable for the cpu and gpu ?) or i should just sell it and get some 15" gaming laptop (i also did some research and narrow down to Alienware 14 or MSI GT60 + or sager or if you can give me some other options)
So...any suggestions will do. Thanks !

 

Selling 17.....

IF your 17 was for example worth 1000units, now you will sell it for only 700 units ( whatever dollars or punds )

Another thing you should consider is to buy a small netbook, or 12 inch XPS converbitble. And leave your 17 at home for gaming.

This is not good idea and I assume you are nop playing games when at school ?

 

actually i still want to play high demanding games...and i think i want at least 15" laptop. I dont mind carrying about 6~7 lbs but alienware is like 9-10 lbs without the adapter already.

 

Selling or trading is always possibility.

Alienware has a trade-in program. Check it out. There's a link on the top of their site. I don't know much about it, but I believe they offer you credit towards another system. The AW 14 may be better suited for you.

Don't get ripped off, though! Let us know what they offer you first.

 

i just checked it and it says "Expired"...also i think AW 14 is quite thick for such a small size...

 

Exactly....which is why as much as I liked the 14, I could never go for the r1/r2 and thus have stayed loyal with the 17 I.e r4. I would say keep the 17 and get some tablet , no matter which brand of laptop you buy there would be a compromise on power (true gaming) vs. battery life,& the 17's have been known for their cooling capabilities.

In the end if you want gaming and want portability, get your self a gigabyte p34/p35-something and back it up with a console, otherwise a good spec'd 17 should sat you very well, I know I finally have a r4 I am proud of...knock wood

 

Amen.

I use a surface pro tablet in conjunction with my m18x, and that is just about perfect... with cloud storage now, having two computers isn't a hassle at all.

 

see i did think about keeping it (love the cooling system and overall it looks ) but im not sure if mine (with this specific specs) can be upgraded in the future (like with better cpu and gpu) 'cause i spoke to some "Alienware Experts" from Dell and they said mine cant be upgraded

 

The GPU can be upgraded. The CPU can be upgraded to any fourth generation Haswell CPU (i.e. 4800MQ, 4900MQ, 4930MX). Almost everything is upgradeable in the system, but none of your upgrades will be covered under the Dell warranty, unless you buy these upgrades from Alienware's Upgrades and Parts department. You can even upgrade the screen to 1080p. However, these upgrades will cost you a lot of money through Dell or Alienware, and you may be better off selling your system and just buying something else.

 

thanks so much for this...also, if i dont care about the warranty and get those upgrades from Ebay. Will it worth it ? well i would assume Ebay will be cheaper than Dell department ?

 

It may be difficult to find parts for the AW 17, but they're out there. eBay may have some...it's a good place to start.

 

so the bottom line is you think i should just keep it and upgrade it in the near future ? i mean its heavy and big and all but i dont mind carrying it if i really have to. and i love the cooling system and its structure amazes me. just that i wanna know whats the other options out there.

 

I'm not sure, this is for you to decide. Upgrading it is a possibility. You have a base AW 17 and upgrading it may require you to spend more than a thousand dollars (depending on the hardware you want). You may be better off moving onto something that better meets your needs.

Upgrading also has its risks. You may buy something off of eBay that is claimed to be working, and it fails, then what? There's no warranty. You're out of X dollars, which could be hundreds. If you don't mind taking these risks, keep it and upgrade it. If you decide to keep it, I recommend speaking with Dell and seeing how much upgraded components will be.

 

year i guess its a higher risk...thanks for the suggestions.

 

OzZz, I've survived enough college to get 3 engineering degrees, and a number of parents have hired me to help choose and setup laptops for college students. Plus I appreciate high-end machines. So perhaps the following will be helpful.

Do enough research to figure out what you need and want before you buy, or waste money. The choice is yours. That applies now as much as it did before your parents bought the 17. If you decide you don't want the machine, and you're within the return period, then return it. That will recover more money than selling the machine.

You need at least one machine that will be under warranty for as long as it takes to finish your degree. Otherwise, if the laptop breaks down, then it will take too much of your time, and perhaps money, to fix or replace it. You don't need that when you're trying to get ready for finals, for example.

You can usually extend the warranty up until the current warranty expires. And if onsite service is available, I recommend it, because it can reduce repair times from two weeks at a depot, down to one day, where the technician comes to wherever you are. You can usually add onsite service, if available, as long as you're currently under warranty.

I also recommend accidental damage protection if available, but check with your parents to see if this is covered under their homeowner or renter's insurance, which will also usually cover loss due to theft or fire (which the laptop manufacturer won't cover). Sometimes, all you have to do is tell the insurance company that you want to cover the laptop, and they'll do so for a lot less money than the laptop manufacturer will charge.

I haven't recommended 17" laptops for college students, because most students don't want to carry that much extra weight all day. HOWEVER, if you NEED high-end performance, then the 17" machines have several advantages. Laptops like the Alienware 17 have much better cooling systems than 15" machines, which means that their processors can draw more power, which means that they can run a lot faster.

So you can buy the 15" MSI machine, for example, whose cooling system is probably already maxed out by its current processors, and is no faster than what you have now. And in a year or two, that MSI machine will be considered a dog, performance-wise. But the Alienware 17 has cooling to spare, and so you'll be able to upgrade to faster processors ( particularly the GPU), to probably double its current performance. Plus, if you follow anti-static procedures, and research what you do before you do it, you can learn a lot by upgrading it yourself (BTW, if a reputable seller sells you a processor that's bad, you can usually return it). Unlike most manufacturers, Alienware will NOT void your warranty for doing that, but you'll have to reinstall the original processor if the laptop breaks down and you want full warranty coverage.

So most people who have high-end 17" laptops (including professionals like myself), have a second smaller/less-expensive laptop that they carry around. The advantage is that warranty coverage is less expensive on the smaller laptop, plus it means you always have a backup laptop if one of the two machines breaks down. For this machine, you might check out Asus, which consistently has the second-highest customer satisfaction rating for laptops, just behind Apple. And it may not cost much more than what you'd lose by selling the Alienware 17.

Good luck!

 

thank you so much for this...it helped...i guess i would stick with it and find some tablet or ultrabook for school.
out of curiosity, what 15" gaming laptop would be best ? considering the cooling and performance and maybe some lesser weight.
and also, i know this is not relate to the post but will this Corsair Cmso8gx3m2c1600c11 8GB 2x4GB 204P DDR3L SODIMM 1600 Laptop Memory | eBay works with my laptop? (i tried using low voltage rams from lenovo - my friend's laptop - and i got BOD)

 

I've carried my m17x to class for the past couple years and the weight really isn't a big deal. I can take notes in class, as well as play the latest games. I started with a base model back in the day and slowly upgraded it to suit my needs as well. If you can handle the weight, your 17 will spank most ultra books out for years to come. Just my 10 cents.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

lol yeah it felt so good the first time i brought it to my lecture hall. i was told to turn off the lighting during lecture because "it steals focus" (by my professor)

 

Turning off the lights will also help you save battery

 

In addition to Alienware and Asus, for gaming machines I would check Sager/Schenker/Clevo (Clevo manufactures for Sager/Schenker) which offers some interesting configurations including the dual-fan 15" Sager NP8265/NP8265-S ( Clevo P150SM, backlit keyboard), NP8255/NP8255-S ( Clevo P157SM, no backlit keyboard, 2 HDD bays instead of 1, larger), all w/optional GTX 780M and RAID. For candidate machines, check the detailed reviews at notebookcheck.net, notebookreview.com, in addition to other reviews. Look for reports of throttling of higher-speed processors, and see how well users have been able to overclock them (if at all), to get an idea of the effectiveness of the cooling system. See whether the manufacturer's forums contain repeated serious complaints about the machine (Sager's forum is on Notebookreview). And check the manufacturer's customer satisfaction rating for laptops here (ratings are available for the larger manufacturers like Dell, Asus, etc.).

If the candidate machine is sold by amazon or newegg, look at reviews there. The 1-star and 2-star reviews can quickly tell you of any serious design flaws, although you have to separate complaints of design flaws from complaints due to user inexperience or unrealistic expectations. Look for patterns of complaints, versus isolated instances of failed machines. See how well the manufacturer resolves users' problems. For some brands, buying direct from amazon (versus third-party sellers on amazon) may provide a better return policy than buying directly from the manufacturer itself, so check the return policies.

Be absolutely sure of the specs of the machine you're buying. If specs/warranties aren't correct in writing on a quote, invoice, or product information page, then it will be much harder to complain if they ship you a machine w/incorrect specs or warranty. Don't trust what you're told over the phone, if it isn't in writing from the seller/manufacturer. Computer sellers/manufacturers are notorious for telling you one thing over the phone, and then later denying what they said.

I'll let Alienware 17 owners answer your memory question, as I haven't researched memory for that machine. A "What memory should I buy for my Alienware 17?" thread probably exists somewhere around here, and you can search for that.

 

Any low voltage memory should work fine with the AW 17.

I would just stick with the AW 17. It seems you really like everything about it, except the weight, which isn't something you should throw it away over. The build quality of the AW 17 will exceed any other laptop on the market (from other manufacturers).

 

yeah i really do...considering its my first Alienware and all.

 

Also with the 765 and 900p display you will always have better battery supply than the ones with the 780. I'd say leave the display buy a relatively cheap full hd display at college and use that, the gpus's cost will keep falling in time, and I can bet you that within a year and a half you'd nearly be able to pick up a 780M for a bargain

And honestly as a very old school gamer, I need to play games fluidly I never bothered with resolution that much, so again methinks you'll be ok,

As f ar as rams go if any real concerns go corsair they always report a detailed compatibility with specific oems hardware.

Get a cheap win8.1 (?RT or a cheap used net book even, plenty of power, to get you through a day of notes)