should I wait for the R3 or get the R2 now?

i can get a M17x R2 for 2,199 with 8gb ram and

should i buy the R2 now or is the R3 worth it

 

Lol, you expected an answer in two minutes?
It's personal preference, really. I plan on waiting though. With the new revision probably a month away, it wouldn't hurt to wait. Depends on your situation. Do you absolutely need one? if not, then wait to see how things pan out.

 

right now the r2 is $700 off on alienware.ca and it comes with 8gb ram and 2.93 i7 processor for $2200.

if i wait for the R3 do you think it will be more expensive but only have 4gb ram? cuz i need that 8gb ram but cant afford to pay more than $2500

 

Get the r2 with the $700 off. The r3 will be much more expensive since it is a new model.

 

I bought that exact model off alienware.ca. It was too tempting to resist. The only upgrades I got were the RGB screen and the Nebula Red. Absolutely get the R2 now if price is an issue for you. But you must get the RGB screen upgrade to make it an even $2500.

 

I agree with Viper. The new model will cost more, since the Alienware brand is not about keeping technology constant and letting the price gradually fall. Their whole aim is to stay on the edge and keep the price high. It's a high-end boutique brand, and they want you to spend in the low to mid 4 figures.

However, might I suggest just keep saving and waiting? I have never seen a situation where a person wasn't made wiser, and technology made better, by a longer wait. You can keep saving your bucks, educating yourself on the latest tech and its particulars, and you will be ultra-primed for the right decision with even more money in your pocket later. You might have a sudden realization that there is a better technology (USB 3, Bluetooth 3, they are coming, you know) that you want/need and is worth waiting for...?

 

I really don't expect the R3 to be much faster than R2 if at all. Reasons:

1. Sandy Bridge will be locked down so compared to an unlocked 920xm/940xm with Throttlestop, SB will lose every time.

2. M17x-R3 will likely sport 460M SLi + Crossfire 6970m. Crossfire 6970m should be about 10%-15% (maybe 20% in some cases) faster than 5870s. In terms of FPS, thats hardly anything.

Other reasons I'm unsure about the R3:

1. The touch panel is damned ugly and childish (gateway fx rip off as has been pointed out by others)

2. May not have RGB LED.

3. Untested and like other past Alienware models, will likely have a lot of growing pains. The R2 is now a fairly solid system after 1 year of updates and support from Dell. Those reps that gave us excellent support for the M17x-R2 are now gone so R3 won't likely get the same treatment.

4. Price, the R2 is priced right.

5. It may be built of cheaper materials and no longer be aluminum like the R2. This is one point I'm very curious about.


But at the end of the day, you have to decide what you want and when you want it. Personally I'm not interested in the R3 at all because I have an R2 but if I were to decide on both, I'd still wait it out for reviews of the R3 before making a final decision.

 

As always, well put Joker. And don't forget that you can always upgrade pretty much anything aside of the RGB display and graphics cards after the fact for a lot less money.

 

Most of the people saying the R3 will not be better than R2 are pretty biased since they own a R2.

Personally... if you wait... and hate the new R3, you can still buy the old model. They will likely still have inventory of the old model which they will discount even more since its a old model.

It can't hurt to wait...

 

One thing I can tell you is this... the R3 will be about the same price for a similiar spec R2 now.

r3 will prolly come with 8gb standard, and since sandy bridge quad cores start at like 2.0ghz... you get lot more speed from gpu.

 

I couldn't wait... ETA is 1/6/11 but I hope to see it sooner.

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Space Black M17x - i7 740QM - 8GB DDR3 - UXGA RGB LED - SLI GTX 285M - 1TB Raid 0 7,200RPM - Windows 7 Home Premium - 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive - Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300

 

Hay man take easy, I'm waiting for the last 6 month, we almost there, 18 more day

 

The R3 will undoubtedly be better than the R2 because it's a newer platform. Consumers that want the newest tech, regardless of if it's leaps and bounds above what's already out, will drive the price of current tech into the ground. The R2 may be infinitesimally slower than the R3, but the price of an R2 will plummet. That means the guys that are willing to have the slightly older tech (me) get hooked up. On the other hand, if you are trying to get rid of an R2, you probably won't get what you want out of it.

 

I waited 8 years to buy my Alienware. Let me tell you it was really worth the wait. LOL! The longer you wait, the better you'll feel when you get your PC.

 

R3 will be close to R2 normal prices, just like R2 was to R1. Probably a slight price bump. And if there was no real performance gain a new revision would be pointless. Again speculation.

 

Of course there will be a performance gain, that would be silly to introduce a new model that doesn't offer that much. At stock speeds, SB will outperform the current Clarksfield chips across the board. At the extreme end, they probably won't. The GPU's for the R3 will also be faster but again, not by anything earth shattering. Mobile GPU gains have been stagnant for years now, if you go as far back as the 9800M GTX to now, the gains aren't that substantial.

 

It think it's too early to assume R2>R3.
I agree that the R2 screen is absolutely amazing but R3 with SATA3, USB3, SB processor, new design, new SSD options etc...and let's no forget new GPUs.
We already know there are 3 screen options, the RGB was a strong selling point, I am sure they thought about this (but you never know).
I remember the same discussion between R1 owners and R2 potential buyers. In the end the R2 was clearly a winner. Not saying that it's a revolution but R2 over R1 if you have a choice is no brainer.
Also Dell is getting more experienced and they already have tough new gaming SB notebooks coming at CES (MSI) so they need to keep the crown . R1 was the first worldwide Alienware model: many mistakes were done...Now it should be smoother in my opinion.
To me, the biggest battery and new lighter design is EXTREMMELY appealing because I move a lot and this is important for me.

 

Flaws in your argument:

1. Dell has gained experience with R1--> Dell has been making gaming notebooks for a long time, well before their Alienware acquisition. Nothing has changed, they continue to release gaming notebooks with serious bugs that need a year to iron out or never get fixed.

2. R2>R3: Nobody has claimed this. The argument is that R3 will bring with it some gains but with it limitations including a locked SB (thus making it slower than an extreme clarksfiled chip, this isn't a debatable point, its a fact unless Kevin somehow updates TS for SB). Graphically R3>R2.

3. We don't know there will be 3 screen options. Where have you seen Dell confirm this? Nobody knows what they will offer, we can only guess. My guess is that RGB LED is gone for good but may be replaced by B+RG that is found in lesser Dell models (e.g. XPS series).

4. SATA 3 would be nice but again, unconfirmed. USB 3.0, meh who cares. Newer SSD options don't mean anything unless Dell has wised up and fixed SSD performance with this new chipset. We all saw how R1's SSD performance was much better than R2.

5. People made the same R1 > R2 debate: Not relevant here. R1 was a disaster and defective from the start. R2 is not in the same boat.

 

The R2 was a disaster from the start, but they fixed it finally

I wouldn't buy an R3 until the initial reports come out on whether or not it's a complete train wreck.

 

Maybe I was too straight sorry, I have no arguments.

I have no idea what will pop up from CES in alienware booth. I speculate based on rumors we found.

Everything we know is based on a couple of pictures from Chiphell and the blog from this dell insider guy.

So far he was right so I give him some credits (a NBR member asked him about screen and he told us about the 3 options).

I owned a R1 at the really beginning, I took all the parts out and put back everything a couple of times and the notebook worked like a champ.
Of course maybe I was really lucky but R1 and R2 are far to be "disaster" IMHO .

Concerning the dell/Alienware evolution, maybe you live in the USA so nothing changed for you.
From Japan, the support has greatly improved recently so while I would have never bought a XPS, M17x was acceptable for Japanese standards.
In my opinion they have improved recently, I used to find their gaming notebooks crappy compared to the clevo ones. The new XPS line while not the best for gaming is also really appealling. haha I am dell fanboy now

 

I wish you do some research on How long it took everyone to get there M17x R2 when it frist came out. For me It came out Last year and I order It took almost 3 Months to get.

 

too much stuff to read but $ for $ r2 wins

 

Nobody knows the pricing yet...
He might be able to get entry level SB and crossfire 6970 within its price range. 3 weeks !

 

The pricing will be starthing 1799.99

 

I was in the same boat but for me.. I can NOT wait at all. I'm being tortured every day having to use this iPhone to kill time because I sold my MacBook and can't watch movies , my top gear episodes or play wow or cs source on my breaks/ lunches lol. I jut can't wait 3 or more months for a new machine. Here's more reasons why..

1. The r2 is for a good price on Dell.ca I got the rgb, Xfire, 8gb, br, and ssd and 3 year advanced for $2700. I don't think I'll be able to score that on a brand new model.

2. For what I use it for the r2 I plenty fast.

3. It looks great to me and there's nothing that bothers me about it. Unless the new r3 looked like or was made from billet aluminum like a Mac I'd wait. I think we know it is not.

4. Laptops are sort of like cars. How long should you wait? There I always a faster model or revisions In the works. I don't think the r3 is going to b like the corvette c5 zo6 405 go to c6 zo6 505hp in one year but then again the price reflected the increase. If you just HAVE to be with the latest tech then wait. If you are not driving a bugatti veyron ask yourself why you are satisfied with what you are driving now.

4. I think it's safe to say the r3 is an evolutionary update so it's not like going from a MacBook pro to a unibody was.

 

Buy the R2 now. The R3 will be overpriced for the small hardware upgrade, and it's likely not to be released until April of next year.

 

I can Wait!

 

I don't see how the mx17 is 700 bucks off atm o.o

 

Why does dell.ca only offer the 920xm? =/

 

Not three month, 2 weeks buddy !
Then you'll have all the information, be happy with your R2 or be glad you waited because it finally worth it.
Except that, everyone has an opinion but nobody has any clue on R3.
To me R2 is clearly better than R1 and R3 has new gpus, new cpus, new design etc... Come on! Look the differences between R1 and R2? R3 looks like a new M17x.
It might be a disaster, crappier, awful (and I'll gladly jump on a R2 at first official announcement of the R3)...but it might be a AW "millesime" and I'll be glad to have waited.

2 weeks!!! Anything else is pure biased opinion and wishfull thinking.

 

It is $700 off on the Canadian site. Obviously this is a global company and prices will vary by country.

 

Says the guy who owns a R2. LOL.

For someone who owns a r2: r2 rules... r3 sucks

Alienware will most likely release the new model at CES 2011. That is 2 weeks away.

A base model of r3 should be 20% faster than the base model r2 for the SAME price.

2 weeks for 20% increase.... I would wait!

 

Hope they would start offering R3 after the next day of CS3.

 

i would wait..r3 specs r simply awesome...