Should I buy this brand new m17x r2?

so ive been contemplating buying a new laptop forever... i used to have a i5 2500k desktop rig i built, but i got rid of it because i really need a portable solution. as in, i can move it from room to room.

I used to use a macbook aluminum as well, and have for almost a month now, been using my dads old macbook air.

case in point, i see this cool little thing on newegg, with dual 5870s and a last gen i7 quad core. Im thinking its a decent price.

im curious to know 3 things.... how will this perform for the new star wars mmo and world of warcraft?

Newegg.com - DELL Alienware M17x (m17x10-1847DSB) NoteBook Intel Core i7 740QM(1.73GHz) 17.0" 6GB Memory 500GB HDD DVD±R/RW Dual ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870

will the processor and gpus handle 1080p dslr footage on Adobe Premiere work? as in rendering and putting semi-proffessional videos together?

and how is the battery on this thing? If i wanted to take it out to a coffee shop or library for a study sessoin, how will it treat me?

thank you!!

also feel free to put in your thoughts and opinions!

i am also contemplating getting a g53sx with the gimped video card, or a g73 for like 1400 bucks.

 

A few issues I see with the R2. Crossfire while it'll be nice for gaming, isn't supported with Adobe Premiere, so it would be semi useless. You would also need a much stronger processor. The 740qm is decent, but not enough power for rendering quickly.

Few options you can consider.

You can buy that, and buy a processor aftermarket, preferably the 920/940xm's. They're easily overclockable.

Many of our users have also upgraded their 5870's to dual 6970/6990's, as shown in this thread.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-6990-your-m17x-r2-single-gpu-crossfirex.html
Those cards are much more powerful, and will be able to work much faster, although crossfire will only help in games, not with Adobe Premiere.

The alternative, and easily more expensive depending on your choice.

R3 w/ better processor, more ram, a top of the line single gpu.

M18x, extreme processor, dual 580/6990's.

A word of caution though. Overclocking will generally wear most computers out much quicker than using them in stock form. Just keep in mind.

 

DO NOT get that laptop, in short if you can't get an R2 with the RGB LED do not get it at all. Especially at this stage in the game, that's a huge must. How did I determine this wasn't an RGB LED? the resolution was too low. Any R2 owner would/should agree with me here especially in 2012

 

I have an R3 without a RGB LED and the screen is wonderful. I don't think it is a necessity unless you already have become use to such a screen, and become attached to it.

More importantly I've noticed that they haven't mention the screen resolution in the Newegg description. It just says it is a 17". Find out what the resolution is "in writing" (i.e. by email) before buying. This tends to be what some people will miss if not looking for it, and is usually the reason why some laptops look like a really good deal. Be wary of laptop ads that leave out essential information (especially for a gaming laptop).

 

it says it in DETAILS not Description, you don't need to email them like this guy is saying... Just use your eyes go into further detail, literally... also the non RGB LED is going to be a CCFL Screen and a 1440x900 resolution which screen kinda sucks, especially when you consider that it weighs like 11 lbs and you have a less then average screen compared to the current standard. Plus look at my sig. I have the R3 and the R3 is still at least an LED, more precisely a WLED. Take it back a generation and go to CCFL then get back to me on the R2 CCFL Screen. Don't talk about an R3 screen which is WLED and talk about how an RGB LED isn't necessary....

You're like driving a BMW sedan specifically a sports coupe 335i and talking about how you don't really see the difference between that and a M3. When you really need to get into that mini-cooper or Z3 roadster and talk about how it's close or similar to that M3. IN short the OP will wanna hear it from the R2 users not the R3 users...

 

rgb is a must have

 

Missed that link at the bottom, but that is why it wasn't on the front page, because it not the best res screen you can get for the m17x R2. Hence it looks like a good deal on the surface.

Chill dude. We are talking about a laptop LCD, not a life or death decision. I had a CCFL on my Sager D901c (1920x1200 res) and it was great with rich colour. It just isn't a big deal, and not everyone prefers the RBG. However this isn't really relevant since the LCD resolution isn't the best.

 

Get one of the R2's at the outlet then.

 

RGBLED ftw! No screen compares unless its that HP IPS screen. R3 and M18x screens pale compared to the RGBLED!

I also second checking out the Outlet. an R2 has way more potential than an R3 does, but it still falls just a little behind an M18x in the processor department.

 

Can someone guide me interms of like wled 1080p screens and fhd?

 

Pass on the 900p LCD. It should be 1080p with screen this size. At 900p my eyes can see the grain size pixels. You will too if you are video or photo editing - very annoying. Plus if u can get the rgb led.

 

Alright for the original poster CCFL is the oldest screen type on laptops of any decent standard (Meaning able to play todays games) Any older is probably not going to be able to play current game lineups. Followed by that is WLED which is a move away from traditional LCD monitors and then RGB LED's which have RED GREEN AND BLUE lights as compared to the WLED's white light. Thus on the RGB LED the Red's greens and Blues come out very strong and vibrant while the wled although is an LED will look a tad bit white washed as compared to a RGB LED. WLED screens are still good and the average user should be satisfied with them.

Lastly the resolution. 15 inch laptops and even some 13/14 inch laptops have a 1440x900 resolution. It's a pretty low resolution on 17 inches and up thus image quality will be low and icons on the windows desktop will look bigger then usual . On 17 inch systems it's generally suggested by the general public on notebookreview to at minimum go with a 1080 resolution. The argument that games will perform better on lower resolutions as it is less stress on the GPU is true however you can always lower your resolution and play around with setthings like AA to compensate for this. In the end it's assumed that you're probably going to browse the web do some work like web-browsing and document writing and just basically hang out in the windows environment quite a bit and it is during those moments that you will see the large difference between a higher resolution monitor as compared to a lower resolution monitor.

Hope that answered all of your questions.

 

Well, a few things. First, I will agree with Darkloki that in 2012, one should not buy a R2 without RGB. So if you are going to buy it, you had better do in the next two days. You can install your own RGB for cheap (I installed mine for about $180). Or you can just buy a whole replacement bezel and screen online for around $300 if you're not feeling savvy enough to tear into it. So whatever price you pay for it, you had better factor in the cost up making that upgrade. Because lets face it, even if you buy it today, if won't arrive until 2012.

 

I agree with Loki and the others. A R2 without a 1200p display is not a good choice in today's market. It will also be hard to sell when you don't want it anymore.