Suggestions on what to buy...

So I got this eGift card burning a hole in my virtual pocket and I need to know what to spend it on. It's $316 ($200 + 5%) and I know I'm getting a Vertex 4 256GB SSD. I just need to know what else I should get to go with it. I'm open to any suggestions. I may or may not take them but I will look at them and see if it is something I want. Right now nothing pops in.

 

Backpack? Decent gaming mouse? Maybe an external monitor or somthing. Not exacly sure what you are looking for.

 

a good mouse and headset is a must for any gaming laptop.

 

Let's start with this, what don't you have?

Sent from my SGH-T999

 

A good notebook cooler. Its a little thing that makes a big difference.

 

I bought the AW keyboard, Headset, and messenger bag from the eGift card i received.
So far everything is good

 

Yea. I did this more to see what you would get then get ideas from it. Anyways I don't need a keyboard, already got a mouse, case, headset, and external display. I don't have a cooler but if I did get one I'd need it to be easily transportable for work and home. I also want a NAS for central storage but I may just keep that on the back burner since the cost is still prohibitive especially combined with the SSD I do want. A co-worker suggested a spare brick but I'm not sure if that would be worth it.

 

When I got my XPS M1710, I ended up getting a spare brick for that so it was easier to transports between work and home. I just depends on how much travelling your R4 will do.

 

Well after a bit debate (I honestly didn't think about a cooling pad at first) I decided to get a cooling pad along with the SSD. I settled on the Targus HD3 Gaming Chill Mat which is designed for up to 18". The reviews look positive for it.

P.S. - I do a lot of travel but I also take my brick everywhere. If the brick does happen to die they will likely overnight a new one under warranty (as long as I extend it as planned) as they have done so in the past.

 

Good and simple cooling mat...I like it. Only reason I got the 2nd brick is I took my m1710 with me to work everyday and having to unplug and pack up my power brick 4 times a day got really annoying.

One thing to consider also is spending the money and getting the ODD to HDD conversion caddy, and the eSATAp Sata conversion kit. I spent $60 for the two and I have no regrets. I can have my SSD along with my 2 x 750GB drives (RAID 0) and still use my Optical drive as a SATA without needing a bunch of cords to hook it up. God love newmodeus.

eSATA-USB cable (eSATAp), connect SATA optical drive externally [slimSATA-eSATAp-C06] - $24.95 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

2nd HDD or SSD Caddy for Alienware M15x (replaces optical drive) [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-NF] - $43.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

 

There is a very good chance I'll do that later on. At the moment it isn't on the roadmap as getting to it is a bit laborous. I already have the former item as I got a bluray drive to run externally that I lug around. For the most part I need to disconnect the display assembly from the rest of the system and really get into it in order to pull the optical drive and put in a normal HDD. I guess I'd have to do that for the mSATA adapter.

The only issue I would have is that doing Raid 0 against the ODD bay would likely hold back the speed as it will be capped at SATA2. From what I was reading the ODD bay doesn't do SATA3 where as the main bays do.

 

Very True. But if you're using the Vertex 4 for OS and programs, what would you be using your RAID array for that would require SATA III speeds?

 

Just good speed. Since the drives would be data only I would be more willing to do Raid 0 on them. I'll never do Raid 0 on a OS drive. Getting Raid setup would allow me to relocate my Diablo 3 install there (currently it will have to be on the SSD or loaded in ram on a virtual drive to keep the micro studders away).

EDIT: On that note I just realized that both my 750GB drives are SATA2 anyways... >.<
Now if they could only get this to 9.5mm form factor :drools:

 

Yeah, there's always a catch. I remember Tsunami telling me that even in RAID 0, normal hard drives can't saturate the SATA controller to level 3 speeds anyway. So its kind of a moot point. Just because the motherboard can run SATA III doesn't mean the HDDs will ever reach that speed.

I just looked at that 2TB notebook drive (if you can even call it that). 15mm high, Whoa!? I'm not aware of any consumer notebooks that can take a drive that thick. I know the 1TB drives are the correct size for our Alienwares, I installed this one in my friend's R3 and recently in my neighbor's R4. I think they work pretty good except every time the heads park you can hear them go "klink-klink".

Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD10JPVT 1TB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

A projector, that's what I'm using my card for. Nothing beats a 120" screen.

 

I'm going to get the M18X orion backpack. Cheaper than the M17X one lol and more space. I couldn't decide what to do for my 200 dollar gift card though as the back pack will use up most of the 5 percent gift card I got.

I wanted to get an SSD but they pretty much only have OCZ and most people seem to say that Samsung, Intel, Crucial, and others are better. Should I still get an OCZ? And if so, Agility 4 or Vertex 4? I've just been reading a lot of problems about them and not sure if its worth it even though its pretty much free or if I should get another for cheaper off NewEgg.

I WISH they had an affordable priced 3D screen lol or a tablet!!

Thanks for any input!

 

If I remember it right, the reason why many OCZ SSDs have failed because of the Sandforce NAND. The Vertex 4 is utilizing Intel NAND, so it may be more durable. I personally think SS 830 or Intel 520 is a much better investment since it's expensive and you need it to last for quite a while =P.

Try to buy something like internal/ external HDD, cooling pad, USB hub, keyboard, mouse... You don't really need a specific brand for these things. I'm sure it will somehow add up to $200. If not, you can always give away LOL.

 

The Crucial M4's and the Samsung's are getting better reviews than the OCZ, mostly in part because of the sandforce controllers.

 

Yea... Unfortunately I don't have the space for one.

Vertex 4 get great reviews from what I've seen. I didn't research the Agility 4 at all. It's odd that you got 2 separate gift cards. Mine came combined...

P.S. - I can always use more gift money.

Actually it was a Sandforce controller. Not NAND. They use an Everest 2 controller solution for the Vertex 4 though. Much better 4K read/write performance over the priors.

The sandforce controllers have poor 4K read/write performance which makes them suffer in real world performance. They are fine on large files but small files take forever. At least that was the case in the Vertex 3 benchmarks. That issue is greatly reduced with the Everest 2 controller that the Vertex 4 uses. The drive also benched extremely well (among the top) with non-compressible data.

OTOH It is possible they fixed it but OCZ has been on top of any performance issues and have tried their best to optimize it.

EDIT: Further reading found that the chipset in use in the Vertex 4 might be a Marvell-based solution similar to what is in use in the Crucial M4 and Samsung drives.

 

As far as I know, the Sandforce controllers offer better speeds but in turn, they make the SSD less reliable over time. That's why many people have their SSD failed in a short amount of time.

I honestly will stay away from OCZ as long as I can. Probably grab a SS 830 when Black Friday comes. Samsung have been the one provides internal SSD for MBAir since 2 years ago. I think they are pretty reliable in order to so.

 

I rephrase myself: the Crucial and Samsung SSDs are getting better reviews because they do NOT use the sandforce NAND controllers. As far as I know, the OCZ uses sandforce only in the Vertex 3 and Agility 3 models. The Vertex 4 and Agility 4 models use Indilinx controllers, while Samsung uses their own controllers, and Crucial uses Marvell. Intel and Kingston are the only two I see still using sandforce in their SSDs. Now I've only read about the horror stories with the sandforce controller, but I've never had those problems myself. I have a Kingston HyperX SSD in my R2. It uses a sandforce controller and I've never had a moment's problem with it since installing it last February. Here is the article warning people about the sandforce controllers: AnandTech - The SandForce Roundup: Corsair, Kingston, Patriot, OCZ, OWC & MemoRight SSDs Compared

 

I'll stand corrected in some areas.

 

I already have all other accessories and they don't really have any coolers or lap desks that fit an M17X R4 (if someone knows of one, link please!).


Sadly, Dell only has a small selection of SSD's and most of them are OCZ, Kingston or PNY. I'm assuming OCZ is the best out of what they offer. I want to wait until black friday since hopefully they'd have a deal but my gift card expires before then!

 

Don't go paying a Dell markup unless you have to. Newegg or Amazon will have a better selection for a better price. If you insist on going with an SSD from Dell, wait for them to go on sale.

 

Well the whole reason of this thread is because we have Dell gift cards. So that would not be possible.

 

Ill get that too if I had spare cash >

 

I agree with radji. OCZ has a history of defective SSDs. I would not buy them unless I have to. SSDs have been around for a few years but you don't really know how long they will last. People go with SS or Intel simply because they have less defective SSDs. It does not mean their products will last longer than a HDD. I bought an external 2.5" HDD 5 years ago and it still works. After the USB cable broke, I just popped it in my caddy drive =P. SSDs are expensive and you definitely want them to last for quite a while, if not longer than a HDD.

You may think the Dell gift card is free cash but ultimately, it came with your AW purchase. You paid for it so it is your money after all. And you can always sell your gift card for real cash.

 

For all the stuff that Dell has for sale, I found it very hard to spend my $319 in gift cards from my m17x r4 system. I ended up with:

Razer Naga Epic
Seagate 3TB USB 3.0 external drive
Targus HD3 cooler

The first two arrived this past Thurs and Fri. The cooler arrives tomorrow. Taking a little while to get used to the Naga Epic. It's 2x the size of my Orochi and feels so weird to game with.

 

Funny how I think that the Naga is super small. Damn, Orochi must be miniscule.

 

That is a good way to spend the gift card.

I would definitely buy the Naga Epic if my 2010 Mamba was not broken. I'm very tempted to sell it and get a Naga because it fits my hand perfectly. For some people that are used to small/ mobile mouse, it may feel weird but once you get used to it, you never want to touch a smaller mouse. It also depends on how you use your mouse. I'm claw type so ergonomics mouse is perfect for me.

Did you check if the HDD 3.0 gonna work with R4 USB 3.0 port? I would be sad if Dell sold you a 3.0 HDD that is not going to work with R4 USB 3.0 port LOL.

 

That is true. I could of done that. I already had my mind set on the OCZ drive though well before I got the card and after doing my research. I didn't see any indications that there was a high defect rate with them just that they had issues with the Sandforce controllers in them before.

 

Yeah, the Orochi is super small. I'm a fingertip style user, and am apparently quite addicted to it. All of the Naga literature says it takes people about 18 hours to get used to it. I've got 14 more to go! At first, while playing a game, I thought it was the side buttons that were causing things to feel wierd. No, it's definitely the size. The mechanics of using my whole hand to move the mouse are so different. With the Orochi, my wrist can rest in place w/o moving. With the Naga, that no workie. I do love having macros set up for some combo attacks though.

I fretted quite a bit over which external drive to get. I had read all about the USB 3.0 issues w/ the WD drives and was going to be damned if I spent $150 on a drive that wouldn't work. BUT... the Seagate 3TB drives don't work with Windows Backup System Image creation. I chose to got the route of a more complicated backup method over a drive that just wouldn't stay connected. Transfer speeds have been really high so far. Sometimes over 200MBps.

 

Word has it that it's the Western Digital SES driver causing problems. If you don't install the driver then the issue doesn't happen anymore. Not sure though as I don't have one. What I do know is that the USB 3.0 drive I tried here worked fine.

 

I don't move my wrist a lot either. But I utilize the high DPI so that even if I just move my mouse a little, the cursor is able to move far than how it moves in low DPI.

 

I already have. 1 TB external and a naga epic. Try switching the grips. If you're wired, take it off even. Please let me know how the chill pad is! I think it's the only one dell has that may fit lol.

Also, how would I sell the gift cards? They say cannot be traded as I think I have to be on my email to use them. It seem other brands are more reliable but Dell just doesn't carry other brands lol.

 

I've been playing with the grips to figure out which works best now. Settled on the middle one for now.

You use your email address to access the gift cards, but they're then presented as a card # and PIN. That information is what you'd sell to someone.

I'll let you know how the mat is. It arrives tomorrow. I'm using the tray for a Cooler Master Notepal U2 right now. I enjoy that it's on a tilt. The HD3 is not, but will sit on my lap, so it's a trade off, I'm sure.

 

I never liked the tilt so I got the mat instead. I rarely ever have the laptop on my lap anyways. The Targus HD3 is supposed to fit our model. There was a review that indicated the M17x R3 worked well and the R4 is the same size chassis.

 

Yeah I want something I can use on my lap and most coolers don't seem to be intended to work that way lol.

Isn't there a giftcard exchange site or something?

 

Wow, them Razer Naga Epic and Razer Orochi are goofy looking mice. I can't see myself getting anything other than a traditional looking mouse. I use a Microsoft Notebook Mouse 4000.

 

Yeah, but what are its poll rate and DPI abilities?

 

Well, it fits the r4 perfectly. I'm not sure I like the lack of slant, but it will take some getting used to. The fans are audible at full volume AND it takes up TWO USB ports. I'll only be using the fans while gaming then. If I no like it, I'll sell it and get the Notepal U3. It does sit on the lap well though.

Still working on getting used to the Naga. Have to adjust to letting my hand rest on it rather than using my finger tips. What a challenge!

 

As far as audible goes are they better or worse than the internal fans. They have sometimes kicked into high gear for me and it gets rather loud.

 

I think they're pretty loud. Not the same loud as the super high RPM of the GPU fan. My Notepal U2 was completely silent.

 

Also, I'd rather get the Samsung 830

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW: Computers & Accessories

 

I would get that too if I could with my gift cards.