Should I get m17x now

Hi

I am thinking of either getting an M17x or an apple MBP, I have some questions before that
Is the cross fire 5870 worth it? I heard there are driver issues etc
how is the screen quality?
Is the premium, worth it over ASUS G73? same specs
so far everyone says the customer support is horrible is it still the same?
Is there anything I need to know before I order it (In Canada)

 

I don't have the 5870 I'am sure they work better than mine in stock dell drivers, if I had them I'd leave stock until better support, no big deal.
LEDSCREEN, wow unreal clear ultra bright never seen anything like it on a laptop!
Worth the money? every penny!
Customer support? well remember most here in the forums are extreme case's and even then I have seen eveyone taken care of in the end.
Took me 7 weeks to get a R1 replaced with this R2 but was worth the wait.I have owned Qusmio and Asus gaming systems when this work's right nothing is close.
Good luck on your choice!

 

Thanks for the help,
I heard alienware might add the new 480M into their laptops, is it worth the wait?

 

I would not wait for it, not enough difference.

 

Is the cross fire worth 300 CAD?

 

I would say not double maybe 50% better, but future proof you system for games down the road. Friend has 5870 single bench marks 13600 my 4870 CF same bench mark 17075 as an Idea.

 

Gaming, Everything - Alienware M17x

Pretending to write a script at starbucks - MBP

and the CF 5870s are worth it, Drivers can be rewriten, you'll never get raw graphics power like them in a MBP.

 

I'd buy it again after having it a month.

Just make sure you get the advanced warranty.

 

If that is what you are choosing from I don't think you have a clear understand of what your needs are. Once you figure that out your choice will be simple.

Dual 5870s is worth it over a single card if you like to benchmark these systems. Not worth it otherwise because it introduces new headaches to the system. Gaming performance is great with just a single card and you'll have less issues.

The G73 build quality is crap compared to MBP or any Alienware system. Plus it's 5870 has the most issues (heat and GSOD) along with the worst performance compared to other 5870 cards. My suggestion would actually be to get a M15x with a 5850 unless you really want a 17" screen.

 

I would have to agree with Mandrake 100%, the two systems are too different to even be competitors. The M17x is a raw power rig/portable desktop. The MBP is slightly better than a standard computer at 3x the cost, but with a good build quality and good products. I have had both the G73 and the M17x just like Mandrake has and I have to say the M17x is worlds better than the Asus. But it sounds like you need to decide what you NEED out of a laptop and decide from there.

 

some one offered me a gift any laptop in this price range, so I won't be paying.
MBP and Alienware are the best I found in this price range, spec wise I would say Alienware but the MBP is great for use too ( I got an old one)
I am not sure which to get as either will fulfill my daily needs
I guess which is more reliable will be the one.
for the size, I drive everywhere ( I live in Dubai) I will at most have to carry it like 3 min or less so I don't care if it weights a lot

 

care to explain more?
I heard a lot of "it died" issues, I will be in 6Canada for a month, I will absolutely have no time to replace it, I need something I can buy and forget about it breaking

 

You're not going to get the same gaming capability out of the MBP so if that's important to you then it's an easy decision. It's like deciding between a monster truck and a Toyota Prius. They really serve two different purposes even though they are both cars.

 

If weight and size are of no issue then by all means get the Alienware....

 

You forgot fan noise. Some people are sensitive to that kind of thing.

 

Haha true and if you live some where hot and your playing games expect to have a machine that sounds a like couple hair dryers going full blast ...


The M17x is still my favorite laptop interms of build quality and features but the noise is just a killer... Some people dont mind it though and i wish i were one of them...

 

If I decide to get an Alienware these will be the specs
System Color Nebula Red - Anodized Aluminum (Is this really worth 100$?)
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Security Software McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
LCD Panel 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
Memory 6GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
Hard Drive 1TB Raid 0 (2x 500GB 7,200RPM HDDs)
Video Card 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
Internal Optical Drive Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Cards Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology (Is this worth it?)
Sound Options Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

Total: 2650 Canadian Dollars

The question now is, should I buy a longer warranty? I will just buy it from Canada but I live in Dubai, I heard Dell's standard 1 year warranty is international
2 Year Basic Service Plan + $199
3 Year Basic Service Plan + $294
4 Year Basic Service Plan + $424
1Yr Ltd Wty with 1Yr NBD Onsite Serv with Accidental Damage Service and 1Yr Tech Support + $69
2 Year Advanced Service Plan + $279
1 Year Premium Service Plan + $98
2 Year Premium Service Plan + $308

I am very thankful for the help you people offered

 

Specs look good ...

Is the Red worth $100 ? thats all subjective .. Some people love it and others will say why would you spend money on a different color... There are plenty of pics floating around of all 3 colors to help you decide ...

Warranties are always tough answer for other people but id say if your going to be moving the machine around alot then certainly get complete care incase you drop it etc....

 

I am also considering getting a similar laptop configuration however instead of the 1TB Raid 0 drive, I was thinking about the 256GB Solid State Drive. Is there much difference between an SSD and HDD drive? I am considering SSD only because I read that its more reliable and quieter but if these are the only advantages then I'd much rather go for the 1TB HDD as 256GB may be a little small for the amount of games I'll have.

 

alienware sales told me that the basic warranty is international, now another one tells me I need to buy 3 years advanced warranty for it to be international... what is this..
also the website says there is 15% fees on returns but this sales guy said there are no fees, who should I believe

 

I bought the extra warranty the SSD is faster i put steam and my games on the second 500 7200rpm works great

 

15% restocking fees can apply to returned machines but its really on a case by case basis.... If you call and just say i want to return it with no explanation as to why they you might get hit with a restocking fee...

If your having issues and just tired of dealing with a busted/troubled machine then you should not have to pay anything and most likely wont....

Not sure on the international warranty thing but i would call a couple more sales reps just to confirm whats what...

 

Hi fire storm

I believe the G73 is only single 5870. If you are into FPS than I recommend dual cards. Microsoft has decimated the PC gaming market with xbox the past few years but with the latest GPU's, falling prices, and windows 7 64, should help boister interest in PC games again and hopefully some really great games. The M17xR2 is a better build quality with aluminum as opposed to plastic. The driver issue is overblown as the stock drivers were written in May 2010. The stock drivers are superlative for me. I think the Alienware RGB LCD are top of class.

 

If you like Red, it's worth every penny, the anodizing paint is slightly reflective and isn't matte like the silver or black finishes are, so in the light it's a 'look at me' sort of thing. I *almost* want to say it's got a metallic sparkle look in it, without the sparkling effect. It's definitially not a solid color, but definitally not a true metallic. Very interesting and a great departure from the other two colors.

well, that rather depends on what games you play really...

If you want to play FFXIV or the two newest total war games along with a few other big titles you're SOL currently. There's absolutely no over blowing how serious of a fault it is nor how long it's taken so far. Keeping GPU drivers updated in a gaming rig is absolutely necessary, and currently, we can't without cheating essentially.

 

Crossfire 5870 works in the vast majority of games I own and the performance is easily in the 60-90+% range over a single 5870. The biggest drawback is that some games that are not optimized with Crossfire profiles tend to have a horizontal flickering effect, as if the display is operating at a lower refresh rate. This can be alleviated by running RivaTuner's DirectX Refresh Override program that forces vsync + triple buffering. Out of all the games I own, only 2 have so far exhibited the horizontal line effect.

Mass effect 2, bad company 2, dirt 2 and other newer games do not have this problem because of the Crossfire profiles. If you are a gamer, crossfire 5870 is worth it as long as you know how to handle the hardware. There's plenty of information on this forum to get your system in peak performance but it's definitely not for everyone.

 

I haven't had any flickering, however the problems I have exhibited seem to stem specifically from the m17x and I can only guess it's because of the 10.5 drivers. My desktop with a essentially half the hardware power plays the games I mentioned above flawlessly. The difference being it uses an nvidia card. Were not talking about 5-10fps difference here, rather ffxiv will not even start(nor will the benchmark) and the total war games take between 2-10minuits per loading screen( I've actually timed this)

 

Probably due to the Crossfire profile or lack thereof like I mentioned. BC2 has had bad loading times as well until 10.6. It works fine now.

 

BTW Lozz, I downloaded FFXIV's benchmark (its lame that it only runs in windowed mode) and it worked fine with 10.6, haven't tried with the stock drivers. According to the FFXIV website, the 2002 score is considered low. I'm chalking it up to a crappy nVidia sponsored game and the fact that the benchmark runs in windowed mode.


Edit: Looks like it's been discussed already: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...575-final-fantasy-xiv-benchmark-cant-run.html

 

I played the beta today on my desktop and it ran fine
I do have an Nvidia GPU

 

So I decided to upgrade a little to these specs

System Color Nebula Red - Anodized Aluminum
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Security Software McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
LCD Panel 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
Memory 6GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
Hard Drive 1TB Raid 0 (2x 500GB 7,200RPM HDDs)
Video Card CrossfireX™ 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
Internal Optical Drive Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Cards Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
Sound Options Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

Upgrade Services & Warranty
2 Year Advanced Service Plan
Standard Nameplate (Alienware M17x)
Mars Red
AlienGUIse Theme Manager with Breed Theme
Alienhead 3D
Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Automatic Updates: Critical Updates Only

I heard some problems about screen flickering on M17x R2, is it something to worry about?

 

thanks for posting a score at least. 2000 is what I get with my GTS250 desktop with a 3.6ghz Phenom. The benchmark is horrible although as you found out. Beta testers have confirmed that ATi cards run just fine at high settings. The last Benchmark was way out of whack for what the game actually needed except in high pop areas or 80man instances. I would expect some of the same this time around. Espically since a machine with 1600 shaders is only bearly able to play a directx 9 MMO LOL

 

I will go with a cheaper CPU and get a 920 or 940 on eBaaayyy for $400 to $500 with unlock multipier. 1TB raid is good, but I had the SSD + 320GB 2nd HD (extra hd not used). I probably will choose a single 500GB and buy a Intel SSD or something else if I can start over again. But if you need the storage other than speed, then go with 1TB RAID. forget about the memory upgrade, you can get better RAM at cheaper price.

the rest is all good.