new comer having question on buying alienware m17x

im nre to this forum, and i really cant decide to get a r3 or r2, can i have some opinion from u guys, main use would be gaming and photoshoping, video editing included but not a lot, other then these i also have some questions,
1. is r3 availble for one day shipping?
2. if i want to buy a r2, where can i get it from, i don want to buy it from ebay, last time i brought a laptop from e-bay, when i contact dell for tech support, after reading them my service tag, they told me that this is a laptop that is suppose to ship back to dell cuz the owner had an replacement, my fd kept the laptop but he don have tech support, poor him><, so how i can prevent the same problem if i want to get a r2?
3. the readon that kept me from buying the r3 is cuz that they don have dual video card, i wonder is aw gonna add them in later? if so how late? or do i really need dual video card with that 460? im not really good with video cards so?
thank you in advence!

 

1. 1day shipping=overnight shipping I believe? Cost extra though, or you can haggle with rep for it.
2. r2 isnt available anymore I believe, try dell outlet for refurbished models. Ebay is still the best bet for an amazing system at a amazing price. I dont know much about transferring the warranty, some of the more experienced guys could brush you up on that.
3. r3 is a single gpu laptop. dual gpu is NOT coming. The "unconfirmed m18/19x" might have dual gpu, but that is all speculation. Unless you want 3d, you could get the 6970m which is close in performance to CF 5870s from the r2. the 460m is still a very powerful card though, capable of maxing out many games, except those like metro and crysis.

Hope this helps

 

1. definitely yes..in some cases you can get free next business day shipping ($69 value)
2. the alienware website is not offering the r2 anymore, but maybe you can buy it from the dell outlet..
3. r3 is not designed for dual video card setting..the single video card(ATI HD6970) in r3 is decent enough though..

 

1. Yes. You can even get that for free. Visit this first:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/456885-aw-dell-ordering-advice-how-save.html

2. R2 is at its end of life. Not sure about availability but you can try calling Dell. If they say no, then the only way you can buy a R2 is through Dell outlet (refurbished), in our forum or on ebay. There're a couple of R2s on sale right now:

Notebooks and Desktops for Sale

3. R3 is not capable of dual GPUs and it will never be. Depends on what game you play, 460M is pretty much everything you need on most situation. Plus, you can go for the 6970 which is a monster.

Between R2 and R3, decide for yourself. I had the same question and had to make my own decision.

 

R2 is still available in the UK.

 

thz for all the fast reply, ur comment really helps, also i have read the how to save money thread, thz again for the help, i actually think that m17x r3 is cheap comparing with r2, maybe is prepare for the m18/m19, that is just a simple noob thought.

 

actually its not. Like many folks have said, R3 is not an upgrade of R2. M18x will be

 

And then we all upgrade Torai? Not me personally I think my wife will disown me

 

Lol. I would say no. 18.4 is too big and heavy for me (im a dwarf) and I dont need dual GPUs.
But, who knows for sure, right? =) Will you ? LOL

 

ooh I will give it serious thought.... but that will end when I see my wifes disapproving face lol

 

lol my gf is having problem between m and the m17 too, she said i spend too much time on reading stuff abt it