Refurbed M17x R2

well i'm looking for a powerhouse gaming laptop since my G51 is old (yea, a year old is old for me haha) and im looking between the asus g73, msi gx660 or the m17x. found an m17x with:

i7-720QM
1920x1200 screen
dual 500gb hd's raid 0
4gb 1333 ram
dual 5870's
blu ray
total: $2,200

neither the g73 nor the gx660 offer the dual gpu's. was wondering your thoughts on if it's a good deal or not

 

does this have the RGB LED screen ?, if not get it,

otherwise looks like a nice config.

 

RAID 0!! RAID 0!! Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

 

well i could take it out of raid 0 when i get it right?
and its just an LCD... is it really necessary for the rgb led or does it just make the blu ray look even better?

 

You can't undo a RAID 0 without reloading the system.

And, there are two versions of the 1920x1200 LCD--traditional (old-style) backlighting and LED backlighting. Your order acknowledgement will say RGBLED in the display line if you have the newer display. I've seen both, side by side, and the RGBLED is really, by far, superior.

 

well let me ask this then... is it worth it for:

i7-820QM
1920x1200 rgb led
dual 4870's
4gb 1333 ram
dual 500gb hd's raid 0
blu ray
total: $2400

so... $200 more for RGB LED instead of LCD but dual 4870's instead of dual 5870's

 

Yes. The i7-820 is a much better CPU, and the RGB LED is a clear winner.

The dual 4870's, while not TOP of the line, are certainly still very fast and I'm sure you'll be happy with it. (not to mention, no problems with the dual 4870's right now)...

 

definitley get the RGB LED screen, it puts the regular screen to shame

 

cool guys thanks for the help

 

since your buying refurbed one....my questions is.....

i'm wondering is it worth it to get a refurbed one, or getting a brand new one.

because i'm not sure if i decide to get refurbed one it will crap out on me in a year or quicker then a new one etc, i'm just very cautious when it comes to refurbed ones.

 

This is where Dell's warranty comes into use. You can always extend it when your warranty is about to end. If it craps on you within a year, you can always have Dell try to fix it as all refurb units have 1 year warranty (I think). If they cannot fix the laptop, they'll simply send you a brand new one. This is why I have been buying laptops from Dell for the past 7 years now.

 

Hmn I thought WUXGA's on R2's are all RGB's.

Even though my service tag doesn't say it's RGB(it only says LED, WUXGA), I knew it was because it looked so good. Upon little bit of research, I did find out it was RGB by the part number.

Either way, make sure to get 3 years of warranty on it on your purchase since it usually cost more to add it down the road.

 

Yes, there are some M17xR2's with standard CCFL backlighting. I discovered that firsthand when receiving a previous M17xR2 from the Outlet. Apparently, there was a short period of time, when the R2 first came out, that Dell didn't offer RGBLED yet. So, if your order just says WUXGA, but no RGB or LED, then you're getting a standard panel. I've seen it...it looks rather anemic compared to the RGBLED version.

 

To be fair, you don't know if a brand new one is going to "crap out" sooner than normal, either. You can save substantial money on a good deal at the Outlet. Not all systems at the Outlet are a really good deal, though. It takes patience and good timing to find the "needle in the haystack". With the use of a good coupon, you can save up to 50% off!

Yes, it is a gamble. But, like others have said, you have a 21-day return guarantee if it's not working right off, and a normal 1 year on site warranty to get it fixed should it break down the road.

 

FWIW, I bought my last computer (Dell desktop) on the outlet 6 years ago and never had a problem with it. Granted that was a long time ago and laptops and desktops are different animals but it worked out well for me.

So.... I bought an R2 on the outlet yesterday - but now I'm panicking because I don't know if it's the LED 1920 x 1200 or the regular CCFL one. I thought it was the RGB but now I need to log on and find out if it is or not. If not I hope I can cancel my order because that was one of the reasons I chose the one I did.

 

I was looking at both side by side yesterday and I frankly did not notice a difference. I have the R1 1920x1200 and my friend has the R2 RGB and both of us didn't notice a difference.

 

So, week-long lurker / first-time poster / new AW owner here. Hi all!

I also went for a refurb M17xR2 using the 20% coupon and 2% DPA offer (funny, the Outlet didn't offer the usual 3% that the Home store has) with the following specs for around $2400 with tax:

i7 820qm
8 gb 1333 RAM
1900x1200 RGBLED
Crossfire 4870
128 GB SSD
Intel 6300 Wifi
Blu-ray drive
Space Black
Windows 7 Ultimate
3yr advanced warranty

Essentially, it has everything I wanted plus some, but I keep getting hung up on the 4870s. Really wanted the 5870s, but I just couldn't get one to show up when I was trying to snag one last week. Reading around the forum, it sounds like I should be just fine with the 4870s... it just keeps nagging at me though.

Anyone else get their delivery date bumped back? I was originally supposed to get it on the 10th but it has since changed to the 15th.

 

Well, damn. Problems abound with my order since last week. My estimated delivery date was delayed again to the 20th, and then yesterday I got an e-mail saying that I had to contact Dell to confirm that I still wanted my order, lest they automatically cancel it. So I called to confirm, and asked what was taking so long to process and ship my order. The CS rep gave me some run-around about verifying that the laptop is in working order, has all the correct parts, etc. But, he was able to upgrade me to next day shipping for free, which I guess was nice.

Today, I checked my order status to find out that it had been changed completely -- my original refurbished m17x r2 was swapped with a different one, the invoice amount ($2400) was the same, and the delivery date was changed to Sept. 17th. The differences between the new and old configs are:

i7 920xm
1900x1200 non-RGB
128 GB SSD RAID0
3yr basic warranty

Everything else was the same as before... so the processor and hard drives got upgraded, the display got downgraded, and the complete care warranty is gone. I've been on the phone nearly all evening with several different reps, hoping to get some answers as to why this happened without notification (and how to get the warranty upgrade back on my order), but I'm getting nowhere. I do know that I can add the complete care for up to a year after my order, but I know that's going to cost more than if it were originally part of the order.

That display downgrade (It is the non-RGB, right? Part number MW24N on my order details) is bugging me too. Is it worth keeping the order as-is and dealing with the less-than-stellar display?

 

I would not accept the down grade period

 

RGB is a MUST imho.

 

Some other here (not myself), have said side-by-side, they couldn't tell the difference between RGB and non-RGB. I don't believe them, but still, they might be close enough. And, yes, MW24N is the non-RGB.

I've ordered a couple M17xR2's and a few other Dell laptops during their "end of summer" blowout sale, and it is taking them a few more days than normal to ship. In the past, when I've had the double-delay emails sent, my order is basically gone. Not sure what happens to the unit I chose, but there ain't no gettin' it back!

Obviously, the 920XM is worth some money, but the non-RGB is $200 less, plus your loss of Complete Care.

That's a hard decision to make. You can always accept it, let it ship and look it over. If you don't like it, call them and act all shocked that the system isn't what you originally ordered!

Good luck!

 

I don't understand how one can't tell the difference between RGB and non RGB.

The first time I saw my M17x's RGB screen, I was like holy crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am I high or something??!!! x)

 

Can't you ask them to swap the display to RGB? That way, you have the xtreme cpu, dual ssd in raid 0, and RGB. I normally don't support this idea, but it was rude of them to change your order.

 

Yup, I think so too. Isn't that like breaking a contract btw?

 

SaruSaruSaru - if you bought the refurb from the outlet store, I would cancel the order. Some how your unit got sold out from under you. The LED screen is a must have, you would be sorry not getting it. Just keep looking for a better deal. The 4870's are just fine they are the second best GPU's you can get. Unless your into benchmarks you will never know the difference. As far as warranty I bought a R1 Q9100 from the outlet store and had some problems Dell could not fix. Except for 2g ram and the Intell 6300 that I installed, they replaced it with a bran new R2 in spec's below. So ya Dell gives you a great warranty best around.

 

+1 to the RGBLED LCD screen being worth it. First thing I noticed with my new R2 was now much brighter and more vibrant the color was on compared to the R1's (albeit excellent) 1920x1200 straight LCD.

The 720QM is a tad slow, but this is all relative. In my benches I've found that with the i7's load distribution across all threads that it runs slightly better than a T9600 2.8ghz Core2Duo for games, but with less overall CPU load. With my dual 5870s I can run Crysis Warhead at 1920x1200 maxed if I don't mind the occasionally dipping below the 30FPS mark in high action areas (I have nearly identical specs to your first post).

-Byshop

 

Thanks for all the feedback, much appreciated!

As luck would have it, a small batch of m17x r2s came through the outlet store along with another 20% coupon, and I managed to cancel my existing order and grab a new one (though I couldn't purchase with DPA via the website, so I had to phone in my order this afternoon). New specs:

Nebula red
i7-920xm
4 gb 1066 ram (Newegg, here I come...)
128 gb SSD RAID0
Crossfire 4860
1920x1200 RGBLED
2 yr warranty with completecare
intel 6300
blu-ray drive
Windows 7 Ultimate

Priced out at around $2700 with the 20% off. Couldn't convince him to give me the DPA discount, ah well... I'm finally satisfied with the order, so here's hoping that it won't get double-extended and changed again!

UPDATE: OMG it actually shipped... ordeal = over! Should arrive tomorrow according to FedEx, whoo hoo!!!