Why did you buy your Alienware M17X?

I have a few questions ...

1) First, most of you never remove the laptop from your desk, so why did you buy it? For the money, couldn't you have purchased a much nicer desktop? So why did you choose to buy the M17x?

2) How many of you carry your M17x every day? Whether to school, work, or elsewhere?

3)Will the M17X R2 last over 3 years? Should I get an extended warranty? Do I need a notebook cooler? My Dell Rep told me that "internally" (within Dell), Alienware are known to be the most reliable systems, even just as reliable as the Precision workstations. I am just concerned because 1 year warranty seems short. Is extended warranty a good option?

I just purchased a Space Black M17x with i7 Q720M, 5870, 1920X1200 RGBLED, 250GB 7200 RPM for $1940 after tax. Is this a fair deal?

Personally, I purchased the laptop because I can bring it with me to my studies. I needed something powerful and still (somewhat) portable. I am concerned that it won't last over two years.

Thanks all!

 

i believe yes should work fine even though dont have aw yet but owned dell system and for past years still working fine.

 

1) Mine was a warranty replacement for a busted XPS M1730

2) Not everyday, probably 3-4 days out of the week.

3) Definitely get the warranty if you can afford it. It will pay for itself within the first year or so. My history with broken screens, ac adapters, keyboards, GPU's, CPU's and etc. In home care is the best with accidental damage, one night my son knocked my 1730 off the couch and busted the screen, I called Dell and there was an on site tech here by 10:30 the next morning with a new screen. It took him about 25 minutes or so to replace it and he was on his way.

There are other posts about on site tech horror stories, so I always make sure that I schedule my on site visits for when I am going to be home. I never, ever leave the tech alone with my laptop.

I hope this was some help.

 

I use my M17x for my travels, it's my desktop for the Hotel.

I bought it so I can play BF2, COD, Crysis etc and not have to worry about not having the hourse power to play them.

I carry my laptop all the time - and use the orion back pack which is the best method IMO.

Definitley get the warranty look at it as insurance in case the worse happens and considering the price of the M17x system

 

I'm an architect. I used to carry my desktop to meet some clients to present a walk-through etc. So it made sense to buy a laptop.

At first i used a cheap Presario V3000 (I still use it to present sketchup models) Then my desktop's mobo died, and i couldn't replace it as it would be a lot cheaper to just purchase new.

So a powerful desktop replacement made sense. The Dell Precision was what i had initially intended to purchase, but Alienware gave a better deal. Some of the main deciding factors were; build quality, dell warranty, 17" RGB LED WUXGA and bragging rights!

And since its a gaming machine as well, i can play Diablo III when it comes out

 

I haven't gotten a M17x, but here is what I plan to do with it:

1) So I can sit on the couch and use it, then bring it upstairs and use it.

2) I plan to carry it around the house a lot. Sometimes to school, and sometimes to the library.

3) I don't know how long it will last. Lots of people say it's good quality. In terms of still being fast, it should be very fast for ~2 years, pretty fast for ~1 year, fast for ~1 year, and then decently fast for another year. Or at least that's what I predict. You should still be able to use it for general use for ~10 years.

 

Desktops are tempting but don't fit into airplane overhead compartments .

I would be wary of bringing it with you to school everyday though. Twelve pounds may not seem like much, but add even just one book or two and it can become quite a burden. I used to carry a 13" macbook to school everyday, with a few scribblers and one textbook and it became somewhat painful. Granted it was in a messenger bag but I don't think a backpack would have changed it.
If portability is a big issue I would experiment first with a 10 pound weight in your school bag for a day or two.

Warranty is a great idea, especially the accidental coverage. As someone said in another thread "If you have ~2500 to spend on a laptop, you have 300 to spend to make sure it works for 3 years". Motherboards especially like to crap out at the 13 month mark. Dell warranties are actually really decently priced considering what you get. Check the warranty prices at Best Buy especially, and that's not in home, NBD service, and they often take weeks to fix your comp.

Also, if you order over the phone, remember that you're dealing with a commissioned sales person, and by far the biggest commission will be on them getting any warranty. Make them play ball for it .

 

Thank you all for you response. It is very interesting to read about each person's individual reasons/stories. All of your posts were very helpful.

Sadly, my rep I dealt with on the phone said they used to be able to negotiate with warranty but they can't anymore. But he said in a month or two, Dell will send me a warranty offer letter which will usually give me 10% off. I'm looking forward to that I plan to get 4 years extra warranty with complete care.

 

Just get the advanced 1-year now and keep extending it.

 

I use mine on my couch in my home theater room, and in bed. I take it to work 5 days a week. Always get the extended warranty when dealing with Dell. The M17x has one of the best cooling designs out there for laptops, but a cooling pad will never hurt.