SSD and Fingerprints!

This is my first post so I might as well make two topics in one. I am going to be ordering my first ever Alienware/Laptop on the 19th and have just two questions! ( I think )

Currently I'm planning on going with

i7 740QM
6gb RAM
Xfire 5870s
1920x1200 RGB
256GB Samsung SSD

I will be using it for school/games.

I want to know if anyone would recommend 1TB Raid 0 over the 256GB SSD. MY current desktop has a 500GB HDD and I never thought I would use it all but have filled up 400GB of it so... I'm not too sure if 256GB is enough. I know I can add in another HDD but I wont be doing that, at least not for a while. Mostly I am concerned about noise/power consumption/weight with the 1TB HDD. So just give me your opinion and information on why you think what you do.

The other question I was wondering about is weather or not the different colour cases affect the fingerprint problem. Not that it will bother me too much anyways, but I haven't decided between red and black, so if getting red reduces those oh so noticeable fingerprints that would be a plus.

Side Note: The red option is down for us Canadians so I probably wont be able to get it even if I want to :[

I have been reading through these forums for the past few days and they are VERY informative. I'm very impressed.

 

Use your desktop for major storage and only keep what you use on the SSD.

 

Yeh chiefs if you really want the red you will have to wait until they get stock back up unfortunately.

Also about the hard drives you could do one SSD in the 1st main slot; use that for your OS and games and other fast stuff that you need and then get a 2nd larger hard drive 500gb or more for the 2nd slot to use as storage. Thats the best way really to utilise your hard drive options. Unless of course you really want to do the SSD RAID 0.

The rest of your notebook spec options look great chiefs. So all good to go. Oles.

Cheers.

 

Go with a ssd for boot and a secondary hd for storage and you may even consider swapping out your dvd of there isnt room for the second drive.

Dont pay the big bucks associated with having the ssd included and look at another much cheaper for your boot drive and install it yourself anyway.

 

I can't speak to fingerprint issue on the red version, but I have the silver and a friend of mine has the black. Fingerprints are impossible to see on my silver case while the black one shows every print and smudge. It may not bother some people but fingerprints drive me up a wall and I am definately happy I went with the silver, otherwise I would probably spend more time wiping it down than I would using it.

 

Black is bad about showing fingerprints. You have to have REALLY dirty fingers to have your prints show up on the red. If/when I get an M15x to add to our swarm, it will definitely be silver.

I agree on the suggestions of getting a decently sized single drive with the system & then buying an SSD to replace it, putting the hard drive that came with the system in the secondary hard drive bay. I am waiting for a decent brand/model 256GB SSD to drop to under $250, so it will be a while for me.

 

You get a 500GB config from Dell then buy a SSD later on and use it as primary disk. That's your best bet. When it comes to M17x you can pass anything except: RGB LED, XFX or SLI config and SSD

 

I've found that it's better to upgrade the HDD and add an SSD later from a source like Newegg for less money. Get a 500GB drive for example now, then buy whatever SSD floats your boat later on. You may end up paying less than what Dell is charging, and getting a drive that performs on par or better for less.

 

I've got red and have no problems at all with fingerprints. Even with slightly sweaty fingers I don't notice any marks.