Serious second thoughts about my order. Help me!

Hey guys, thanks for looking at this!

Today I pulled the trigger on what I felt at the time to be a sweet deal.

M11x R2
Hard Drive - 250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Memory - 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz
Processor - Intel® Core™ i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency) - Overclockable
Monitor - 11.6-inch WideHD 1366x768 (720p) WLED
Weight - See attached file
Color - Alienware M11x, Soft Touch Stealth Black
Operating System - Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Wireless - Alienware M11x a/b/g/n 2x2 MIMO Wireless
Warranty - 1 Year Basic Plan

All for $1,282.93 with tax and free shipping.

=======================================================

Now, I am about to be a college student. This means I qualify for EPP. The sales rep, who I really recommend, didn't allow me to use my EPP with this deal. He said that the 8 gigs were a promotion, and, I mean, if you configure the system above, it come out to around 1700$ without EPP.

Still, I am having serious second thoughts!

1: Should I just forgo the RAM upgrade, and go for 2GB under my EPP cost, then buy 6GB more of 1x2GB RAM sticks (Noted: Only two RAM slots)? Will this work okay?

2: I really would like a SSD. I don't want 256GB as Dell sells. You can get a 60GB from newegg for only about 100$. Should I just change the HD to the 5400 rpm 160GB, then buy a cheap hard drive enclosure, and use it as an external hard drive?

Will that setup work?

So, looking back, using my EPP, I can get:

M11x R2
Hard Drive - 160GB SATAII 5,400RPM
Memory - 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz
Processor - Intel® Core™ i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency) - Overclockable
Monitor - 11.6-inch WideHD 1366x768 (720p) WLED
Weight - See attached file
Color - Alienware M11x, Soft Touch Stealth Black
Operating System - Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Wireless - Alienware M11x a/b/g/n 2x2 MIMO Wireless
Warranty - 1 Year Basic Plan

For only 1007.10$!!! (without tax)

Then, the Exclosure + SSD costs 165$ from newegg, and then 6GB of RAM costs around 120-140$. So essentially, assuming I bought 120$ of RAM, my new setup only costs me 10 more dollars than the original (plus the tax)! I gain an SSD for security from falls/jostling and an external for backup!

Is this a good idea? Is this feasible?

PROS? CONS?

Thanks guys! You rock!

Edit: Yes, I am aware that the M11x does not have an esata port, making the external enclosure idea somewhat limited by the power of USB 2.0. Yes, It is somewhat depressing :/

TL;DR Version:

• Is it possible to save money by lowballing your original system and buying third party RAM? Yes.

• Is it possible to lowball the ordered Hard Drive, then swap it out for a faster SSD, then use the old Hard Drive as storage device? Seems plausible, any dissent?.

• Does ordering the M11x with 4GB of RAM mean that it only comes with one stick or two? Not known yet.

Thanks again!

 

There are only 2 ram slots, so 4 sticks of 2gb won't work. Do you need 8gb of ram, though? If you do, you're looking at about $200 ($100 each) for two 4gb sticks.

I'd probably go the second route as long as 60gb is big enough for all your games and programs

 

That's exactly what I did. And on top of that I got 25% bing cashback when it still existed.
So i bought that system for $800ish.

Remember there are only TWO RAM SLOTS. So you ahve to buy 4gb*2. I'm upgrading mine to 2gb*2.

I have a Intel SSD already, so I'm just going to put that in once i get my m11x.

 

Ah! Thanks so much guys!

Going off of that, I found

Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory Model 996644

for only 200$, so only 80$ added to my estimate.

Would this RAM operate with the M11x? What is the Cas latency, pin number, and speed allocatable for the M11x mobo?

 

you also will never use 8gb of ram..

 

I too got the M11X R2 with the 8GB RAM promotion. Instead of the i7 I got the i5 and if I had it to do all over again I would have gone with the better processor and would have done the RAM upgrade myself. It was only because of the promotion and the discount that I received that I pulled the trigger on the deal. I didn't want to push my luck with the discount that was agreed upon. I will eventually get an SSD to replace the 250GB HDD when I get the money and I think there will be a price drop when the new ones come out end of 2010.
If you are having second thoughts and there is still time to change... do what will help you sleep at night.

 

Hey,
I just bought an M11x (waiting for it to get here) with similar specs as that one. I have a couple suggestions.
First, that price doesn't feel right. I made one up with the same stuff under epp and i can get it down to 1249. Dell EPP saves you a ton of money if you take time to browse the epp site for coupons.

Second, id stick with the 4gb of ram if its mostly a school or casual gaming laptop. If you wanna upgrade ram that's fine, but after reading alot of stuff on here, it doesn't make sense unless youre gunna OC the machine (in which case buy better ram) or do alot of intensive work(where 8gb will be a noticable difference).

Third, SSD's are really nice but think about it this way. It wont speed up games at all, only the operating system and other stuff and 60gb isnt that much space if you want it to last a long time at college. If you do the SSD route, drop the cash for a 160gb intel or something comparable. Personally, I opted for the Seagate momentus XT. The hybrid only runs 125$ on newegg and it makes your basic operating system feel quicker while giving you 500gb of space. Then again, if you dont mind losing some portability to lug around an external hd, then maybe the 60gb is the way to go.

Lastly, there is a thread around these forums with advice on how to order from dell. It is extremely helpful. Read through that thread and then call until you get a really nice deal. I got an M11xR2 with i7 and 4gb of ram for 949$, which gave me just the right amount of cash to add a nicer hard drive and buy anything else I may want for it.

 

I have been on DDR2 4Gb for the last couple years on Vista, which hasn't been the best experience.

Most of my computer use is either game oriented, multimedia (photoshop and premiere), and even on idle I use many applications.

I asked my rep if the EPP got me anything, and he gave me the reason that "The EPP program is most oriented towards our lower end systems". Although there were some deals, I really did not feel they were as good when I heard them compared to what I got my laptop for. Now I am having second thoughts, yeah.

I will be using my M11x heavily for non-gaming uses, and lightly for gaming uses, hence why I didn't go for a M15x. I need the portability for classes, but I detest and loathe, and I am willing to spend extra money to prevent it, computer lag. Thankfully, 7 sounds like it addresses memory well.

The reason I really want a SSD is because I am anticipating that my laptop will be going with me everywhere, and sometimes, it will fall. I stated in my OP that I will be using the HD they ship as an external and file storage, and the SSD will be primarily for OS and application resources.

Yep, I really studied that thread well before I ordered. Unfortunately, although I got a US rep, he wouldn't allow me to use my EPP to discount the promotion laptops further. His reason was that "Alienware laptops are like Ferrari's; you really don't see them in the clearance bin until a new model comes out."

 

This should be in the order discussion, but I'll post and give you some input

I ordered the i7, 4gig, 320gig HD, bluetooth, all for $952 + tax, free shipping NBD

You can probably talk yours down more, I see since you only got 2gigs of RAM. I think the setup the lady gave me was with 2gig originally for $920?ish. Don't remember off the top of my head.
But posted earlier, that there's only 2 ram slots, is why I went with 4gigs so I wouldn't have to upgrade for a long while.

 

Dang! I really feel like, although he was nice, my rep didn't give me any room to expand my options.

***Oh, I nearly forgot, do you guys know if the 4GB of RAM ships with 2x2GB, or 1x4GB? If it's the latter, then can you please recommend a stick that would be compatable? That seems like it would save me the most money overall

 

it's 2x2gb in mine so it can run dual channel

I had the 10% EPP, $100 coupon, free i7 upgrade promotion, free shipping coupon. Also 320gigs was the minimum hard drive I could get

I had a lot of the goodies lol

 

1: Did you order through the phone? How did you get them to add your EPP to the promotion? My rep wouldn't let me.

2: Thanks for solving my RAM issue. Unfortunately, it seems, that buying a M11x with 4GB of RAM mean that you get 2 sticks. Not saying that a bad move on Dell's part. Last time I remember, using Dual Channel increases performance by 10-15%, at least that was the case for DDR2.

 

as for the memory, vista and 7 handle things totally differently - 4gb really is a nice amount for 7...

 

Edited: Blah I need some time to think over things.

 

My desktop pc that handles almost every game out there only has 6GB of ram, what the heck do you need 8GB on something like an m11x for? Just a question

 

I'm starting to question it myself the more I think about it.

As it stands, I really only have enough money (I'm going into college freshman year) for 2/3 things: Warranty, SSD, or 8GB RAM.

Obviously the warranty is selected, although somewhat grudgingly.

That leaves either upgrading to 8Gb of RAM, or using a 60GB SSD with the shipped HD as an external.

Still on the fence about what to go with.

 

How much is the warranty?

 

200$ for the RAM.

159.99$ for the Warranty at Squaretrade.com.

100$ for the SSD, but I am going to by imaging software and hardware, bumping the price to 180$.

 

^ah ok, I was going to suggest Squaretrade. Make an account first because they send out 20-30% off coupons every couple weeks. (You can wait because you don't have to get their warranty as soon as when you receive the laptop, though if you don't get it right away, it doesn't kick in for 30 days, but since the m11x will be under Dell's warranty, that shouldn't matter.)

 

Excellent advice, thank you.

Have you used sqauretrade yourself? I really would like a personal opinion on how they do.

 

I've bought a warranty through them on three laptops now(and a pair of headphones and a midi controller) over the last 6-7 years , but of course buying those warranties has meant I became the luckiest person in the world and haven't had any problems, so I can't comment on how they handle a claim. Their terms are if they can't fix it, they'll give you what you paid for it, so keep in mind you won't necessarily be issued a replacement like a warranty direct from Dell provides (but a year from now I'd rather have my money back anyway, since the laptop will be cheaper). Reviews around the Internet are overwhelmingly positive, also. Check out Nextag: SquareTrade Reviews at NexTag.com 1114 positive reviews out of 1152 with nearly every one on the front page praising how fast they filled out the claim. The amazon listing is similar, with 22 of 26 rating it 5 out of 5: Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: SquareTrade 3-Year Laptop Warranty ($600-700 Items)

 

You would definitely benefit more from that SSD than 8GB of ram. Faster load times, faster boot times.

 

At first I also wanted to max out the RAM, then I realized the i -core upgrades were weak little ULV processors. And the rationale I used to talk myself out of spending the extra cash for the extra RAM is that, by the time you will actually need 8gb of RAM that ULV i-core processor will be such crap that no amount of RAM will make any difference...perhaps I am wrong but 4gb of RAM should be okay for at least a couple years and by then these processors will be sooo behind the curve. Please inform me if my logic is not sound, the last time I bought a computer was when Gateway still had retail stores.

Anyways, I recently ordered a Mx11 R2 i7, 4gb RAM, 320GB HD, +BT, with free overnight shipping upgrade for 957, plus 10X reward points on my cc so like 857 shipped

Perhaps if you could had gotten in on the 25% BCB on 7-29-10 then maybe upgrade your RAM but even at 25% off it's still a rip off. I would upgrade my version of WIN 7 over the RAM on this thing.

 

I would go for that warranty over the RAM...from the forums I am convinced these things will need new hinges/screens every 3-4 months. Also, you do not need a SSD. I may be one of the only people who does not want one, not yet at least. I realize this is not first hand info but my sister and her boyfriend both work as project managers/computer enginners for Lockheed Martin, and they advised me to stay away from SSD right now. They said nobody even knows how many times you can write to them before they crap out and that they are unreliable in other ways. I know someone else who pulls IT security for a firm that has contracts with the DOD and he says the same thing. Just wait it out, in a year SSD's will be cheaper and probably more reliable. Of course, my sources may just be biased or had bad experiences with SSD but I will take the word of two masters degrees and 1 Phd over anyone in any forum.

 

Since no one has asked the OP, how are you getting such a low price to begin with? And, what is this 8GB promotion? I don't see anything online regarding this, and the best deal I see is a $1099 i7 with 4GB and 320GB HDD.

How are you people getting better deals and especially sub-$1000 for i7 systems? Do I have to call and actually order by phone?

 

Go to this link and check out the first greyed out/expired slickdeal

Slickdeals.net: The best coupons, deals and bargains to save you money!

this is how I got my i7, 4gb, 320gb HD+ BT for $957..I placed the order online, throughout the entire checkout process it said $957.40, even when I hit SUBMIT ORDER. Then, I get an email saying I owe them some $1300+. I called Dell, complained ALOT threatened to buy a Vaio Z, canceled that order, and after 2.5 hours and speaking to about ten different people I placed the order for $957. I was actually eligible for the 15% off EPP based on my employer so it's not like I had to lie or anything like when people used the fake Boeing code a while back (think they got 25% off, a better deal than I got but many orders got canceled).

One day later there was also this 25% BCB deal that I was not aware of 'til yesterday:

Alienware m11x i7 4GB Ram 831$ + tax after BCB - SlickDeals.net Forums

these people got my exact same build for about $120 less, of course, providing BCB worked for them. So I paid more but it was guaranteed, no waiting for my BCB.

Dell kind of sucks, even when they have these sorts of deals I am convinced they limit it to the first X number of people then kill the deal. I feel really bad for the people who spent the $1300+ for the build I got. IMO these things are only worth about 900 or so TOPS, so I just got mine for the price it should have been to begin with. That's how I see it at least, but I am cheap. I still feel for $1300 someone would be better off with an Envy with a "real" i-core processor, optical drive, better audio, better resolution, better gpu, etc (note- some people claim nearly 5 hours of battery life with the new Envy14 so it's not that much worse than the i7 Mx11). Too bad I think HP makes crap and they price gauge like crazy. Last I looked they jacked up the price of "my" Envy 14 build by 100 bucks overnight because school was starting and they wanted to rip off the students presumably.

Ps do we know if the "hinge"/"screen" issues have been figured out? If not then this laptop is not really even worth owning. I hope they fixed it.

 

Just a thought about warranties and such...if you use a VISA card it extends the manufacturers original warranty by one year. My parents actually used the VISA warranty for a stove they bought at SEARS and ended up paying nothing to get it fixed. Only catch might be that in order to prove to VISA that something is wrong with your purchase item you need a tech to evaluate the item first. Not sure how this would work with a computer, you might end up eating the cost of the tech evaluation.

and by VISA card I mean credit card, not debit, although this should be obvious

 

You have to ask yourself....self...what are you wanting to do with this netbook?

At the minimum, I would get from Dell the 4gb, i7(why not?! best in class), 250GB.

Once at home, I would upgrade only the HDD to hybrid or SSD. BT can be done aftermarket too.

 

It may only be 11", but I don't think this qualifies under the netbook category. Netbooks, by general consensus, are only powerful enough to browse the internet, check email, run web-apps, etc. No HD media and no gaming I think are the two biggest distinctions between a netbook and a notebook.

The M11x, obviously, does both of those things well.

 

Very true. I'm not entirely concerned about the SSD's ability to read/write. My primary reason for wanting it is better security against falls, as a traditional hard drive has moving parts.

I really don't like the Envy 14. It almost feels like a troll face computer for how much they are selling it. Additionally, I feel it does not have enough ports.

I shall try and get my price sub-1000$ to 950$. I even asked my rep if there was any way he could do that with a promotion.

And what the hell is BCB and how is it getting people 25% purchase price?

 

You're right! You may be one of the few that doesn't want one!

Your reasoning, though, like swiss cheese, is full of holes. You're basing your opinion, like you said, on second hand info. Have these Phd's and Master Degreed people had any first hand experience with SSD's, or do they sit in their offices all day reading tech journals? Who knows. I do know that everyone on the forums and hardware review sites DO have first hand experience (many with a year+ of use and testing) and I have yet to read anyone complain about reliability of SSD's. All SSD's have manufacturer warranties and the SSD itself will probably outlive the notebook it is put in.

You say no one knows how many times you can write to a SSD before it craps out? The manufactuers and engineers do. That is how they know their drives will outlast their warranties. Can your highly educated family and friends guarantee that any given spinning hard drive won't "crap out"?? No they can't. So, given your logic, stay away from hard drives. They could crap out! It's common sense that anything mechanical has a higher chance of failure than anything 100% electronic. Failure-free is not guaranteed in anything in life. But, give me a SSD over a HDD any day. I have them in all my notebooks, desktops and netbooks. Not a single failure yet. Would I ever go back to traditional HDD's for the sake of reliability? Never.

Don't be afraid of SSD's. Do your research, pick a good brand with a good warranty, and you'll be fine. You'll certainly be amazed at the speed gained by your decision, and you, too, will wonder why you waited so long.

 

I'm really sad I didn't discover BCB until after it died
It's wierd, too, because I have been on/off this site for the last month and this is the first thread I saw it :/

Well, anyways, I just canceled my order.


Thanks guys.

 

Eh, my "highly educated" family and friends talk like they've used SSD and in the end, recommended I wait on getting one. I did not go all into why they made that recommendation because they would have gone on forever. But as for regular spinning hard drives, I have dropped my ten year laptop a billion times and no problems, that hard drive must be blessed by the gods themselves. Typically, my logic revolves around picking the cheapest option because like you say, there are no guarantees in life.

For me, regardless of anyone's opinion on the matter, they just cost way too much right now and I think this is part of why my family/friends told me to hold off for now. Perhaps my friends/family are just as cheap as I am lol.

 

only reasons for buying the SSD from dell is its a good price compared to buying one after you get the notebook, improved performance, and/or if you are in high vibration environments constantly.


Next harddrive I get most likely will be a WD 10k rpm unless the SSDs come down in 6 months.

edit:

As for failure rates, with how many SSDs have sold in the retail market in netbooks I'd say if there was a write issue overall it would be known by now..

 

go for a 7200 rpm hd... dont put money into a 60GB SSD... I just got an m11x and and after spending a DAY on it, I've used 130 GB of my 250 GB HD... 60GB is laughable...

Stick with 4 GB ram, 250GB 7200 rpm (or bigger) HD. You won't be dissapointed.

In a few months, if you find an SSD on sale, you can always upgrade.

 

She's talking about the Boeing EPP 21% off coupon that you could stack with $100 off and free shipping coupons (got me an I5, 4gb ram, 320gb hd, bluetooth, for $810.12 shipped ), but that expired a month or two ago.

And BCB is a Bing cash back deal, but that expired on 7/30 I think.

Both were "slick deals" listed on a popular deal website. If you don't need the laptop immediately, it might be worth holding off and keeping an eye open there.

 

You could always buy a 4 GB stick and end up with a 4x2 configuration. Or buy the laptop with 2 GB and end up with 5 GB with a 4x1 configuration

 

Perhaps. Seems like now your basing your decision to shy away from SSD because of price, and not due to the recommendations of your family/friends??? I'm confused as to what the real reasons are!

 

For you, it's laughable. For others, it would take them years to load on 130GB of data. Not everyone keeps their entire music and videos library on their 11" notebook.

For those, a 64GB SSD might just be the answer to their performance nirvana.

I, personally, have dual RAID 0 256GB SSD's in my M17x, but I just worked on an M17x with dual RAID 0 500GB 7200RPM Hybrid HDD's, and the performance difference is night and day. We both have i7-820QM's, and 8GB RAM. It's just SSD vs HDD. Night and Day difference. SSD kills the HDD, and that's just noticing boot times and app launches...no benchmarking or tests.

Just curious if you've ever had a fast SSD in a computer? So many people have an opinion against SSD's, yet have never owned one. Interesting...

 

never owning a ssd does not preclude me from having an opinion on them. i am using 91.1 GB on my current hard drive. so at minimum i would have to get a 100 GB SSD and that might not even be enough given the actual capacity versus advertised capacity. So lets say i get a 128 GB ssd, the cheapest one on newegg is $240; a size i would feel comfortable with is 160 GB but again the cheapest one i am looking at is $400! that is too expensive for my opinion. maybe some people don't mind trimming down their capacity or spending a lot of money. but at this point the cost is simply to high

 

Are you referring to my comments, or are you just feeling the need to share your opinion??

 

There is a saying with cars and I think it applies with computers.. Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?

 

both

i can absolutely have an opinion on something without owning it

 

Who said you couldn't? Not me!

My point to xninjagrrl was that she was basing her decision on other people's opinions, without having any firsthand experience herself. Her decision was based on technical issues which haven't been proven or shown to exist, not personal financial issues, likes yours. Just because you feel spending $80K on a Mercedes to drive to work is too much is no basis for having a negative opinion on Mercedes. OK, you feel the value isn't there. Others don't. Same with SSD's. Obviously, many people have the money to spend on one. Most do not buy a 64GB SSD as their only drive. SSD's are a great option in larger notebooks that can handle TWO drives. One SSD for OS and one LARGE HDD for data. It's a dream team combination.

But, thanks for sharing your opinion!

 

don't want to get in argument about it or anything, i think many people are also of the opinion that 100 GB for $300 or whatever is not sufficient given the cost, whether they have owned one or not

 

What do ya want, I'm a girl, we reserve the right to change our minds from one minute to the next Ultimately though, it's both of those things (ie: engineers telling me to hold off and my penchant for being cheap= no SSD for me right now).

Also, Annul, I think you did the right thing by canceling that order. A $1300 Mx11 is kind of ridiculous imo, especially if you're a broke college student with $1300 to his name. If I were an 18 yo college kid and needed a lappy for school, as much as I hate to say it, I would probably get a little macbook on sale for 850 or 900 and save the rest of my money. At least you'd be guaranteed a 10-hr battery life for those days where your morning class goes from 8-10, then you have a break until your class from 2-4:30, the Mx11 would be begging for a wall outlet by lunch time..of course, you won't be doing much gaming on a mac so pros and cons...hope you find what you're looking for, school starts soon!

 

So true!

Well, if you ever start to get the urge to have an SSD, look around for deals. They are there to be had. I know it's not much, but good, fast, 64GB SSD's can be as cheap as $100 on sale. If you use a small notebook or netbook mainly for email, internet and a few primary programs (like Office, etc.), 64GB is plenty. At that price, you can "experiment" with SSD's and see what all the fuss is about!

@Annul,
If you are on a budget, look to the Outlet. They don't have any Core i-series M11x's yet, but you can get the high end Core2 SU7300 for about $700 (with 15% off coupon) there, with 4GB RAM. You can always upgrade RAM or HD --> SSD later. Heck, they even have a 256GB SSD model with SU7300 for $972 after coupon. That's a killer deal!

 

One other thought for those shying away from SSD's because of the price...you can find Samsung 256GB SSD's (new models with TRIM) on ebay for $350. Brand new and sealed. Not a bad deal!