Need advice. First Alienware laptop.

Hai. I'm planning to order the Alienware M11x laptop from dell. I don't know a lot about gaming laptops, so I would appreciate the help. The games I'm planning to play on the laptop is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops.
The starting price for the M11X right now is $1,099 with the savings. I'm planning to use this laptop for 3-4 years. Is 4GB of ram enough? I don't have a lot of money and it costs $280 more to upgrade to 8GB. :[
What's the mobile connectivity? Do I need it if there's wifi at school?
Is the problem with the hinges fixed now?
Thanks!

 

--I don't play MW2 so might be out of touch with this issue, but there are quite a few threads on how one cannot play it online with the M11x R2 because Punkbuster detects a cheat when there is none and kicks you off.
--4gb of ram is enough. More will not help with any game.
--Mobile connectivity is if you want to pay for a wireless broadband. You don't need it if you have wifi.
--The hinge problem is NOT fixed. I strongly suggest you factor in the cost of a warranty for the length of time you think you will own it when deciding if the M11x is worth its cost.

 

Do all M11X Laptops have hinge problems?
EDIT:
I talked to a representative today,
"I would like to inform you that once an issue is reported to us, our Technical Team resolves it at the earliest so that should not be the issue with the latest Alienware systems that we have available to order"
Me- Do you know if there's been any reports recently regarding the hinges?
Rep- As per the information we have, the latest systems should not have the said issue

What do you guys think?

 

I don't have hinge issues at all, but I am very gentle. I do use my M11x every day. I have the R1 though but I am able to play COD without issues.

 

Go read the hinge thread. Customer Service reps have been told to lie. This was confirmed when what they said was brought up to one of the techs involved in the hinge investigation that comes on this forum, and he confirmed what they said about it being fixed is not true.

As for the spread of the problem, consider that the problem is big enough that Dell has told CS reps to lie.

 

If they admitted to an issue, it could open the doors for a lawsuit... how messed up is that. Optiplex all over again.

 

Customer reps hardly know anything, but just tries to make the convo short as possible.

I remember M1330 over heating and it's mobo replaced 4 times in 3 years, and every time it was replaced, they said the newer mobo I got was revisioned ones.

 

No hinge issue so far.

As for gaming longevity, it can play Crysis on High. The Medal of Honor beta opens up either next week or the week after that and I plan to take part in that to test this little guy. I do plan on purchasing Black Ops and that'll test the hardware even more. CoD4 plays like a dream on native res with everything up. I haven't tried World at War or MW2 so i can't really comment on that.

4 gigs is perfectly fine. When I get my first real gaming rig (Alienware Aurora) I'm going to have no less than 9 gigs but I know I won't fully utilize all of it. I use this laptop for school (excellent battery life) and play (crysis on high <3) so I'm sure it'll be fine.

As a last word keep in mind, that with all technology, it's obsolete as soon as you open the box.

 

3-4 Years? quite impossible.. At least wait for the R3 to come out before you attempt this :/, or go for a sager tech, tessellation at its best with notebooks .

 

It's going to be a weekend gaming laptop. (Mostly homework & research)
Will it really not last 3-4 years? :\

 

Does any computer last 3-4 years? As fast as technology evolves, that's next to impossible. Sure it may be running in 3-4 years, and if it's kept up well, it'll be running just as well as the day you first got it. However I sincerely doubt it will be able to handle the games 3-4 years from now (handle them well at least). Most computers built today wont.

This laptop can handle all the newest games made today on around medium settings. 1-2 years from now, That may be a medium/low setting, and eventually just the low settings.

For a laptop that is mostly homework/research you may be overpaying if you get this. You can get a decent netbook that may even be able to do some light gaming for around $400 You may be better off with that. With the m11x, you're paying for the most powerful 11.7 inch laptop made today. Will it game as well as a beefed up 15 or 17 inch? definitely not. With the m11x you're paying for portability.

I guarantee 3 years from now though (probably less than 1 year), this will not be the most powerful 11.7in laptop, and since we're only playing games on medium settings now, it's only going to get worse as graphics get better in the future. "future-proofing" is a myth, there is no way to do it, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Plan on upgrading or getting a new gaming machine every 2 years or so no matter what you buy