[-OFFICIAL-] Alienware M17x Owners' Lounge

Found this on Ebay

Ebay QX9300

seems like a good deal?

Im ALWAYS skeptical on buying used electronics...but it doesn't exactly seem used. Buy that for 400 instead of paying 1200 for the upgrade? what do you guys think?

...would a laptop newbie like me even be able to install it, even w/ guide?

 

whys everyone quiet...what did I do...

 

if you have steady fingers and confidence , you can
i dont like engineering samples, did you notice ES ?

congrats on your 100 posts, im not far myself from 100

btw how did you find that code for freeshipping?
maybe some discounts for m17? lol

 

Yes but i'm...not exactly sure what it means xD

...annndd there goes my dignity

Thanks xD and I can try to find some..gimmie a moment

 

you mean that dont know what ES is?

 

No I dont know what ES is xD

 

They are internal Intel procs that are not for resale. ES = engineering sample.

 

Oh

well, all I would care about is if its the same quality as the chip Id be getting from alienware?

...I was really hoping it meant extra special

EDIT: I couldnt find anymore alienware codes, im sowry :<

 

Lol, a bunch of people use ES/QS cpus, just watch the stepping, try to get something close to the retail stepping.

 

That's debatable. If you bought the one in your link you'd be at the mercy of Shirly Fu.

 

if you buy it make sure at the very least its a qgng model

 

I found an OEM version of the processor for $60 more?

same seller

Ebay Link

Qgng model? is that the latest/best?

...how could I even tell that..

 

Looks like it's $160 more

 

errr, yes 160

 

qgng is EXACTLY the same as retail oem. NO DIFFERENCE. both are e0 chips same revisions and all.. save the 160 and get the qgng you will never know the difference..

 

EDIT: Oh I see...if both are the same why is one higher priced?

whats the technical diff? whats the significance of QGNG

 

The Term OEM means alot to some people(peace of mind perhaps) and also resellers of machines thats really the only difference, because technically they are the exact same thing .

 

was an evaluation model before distributed to OEMs.

 

correct the qgng was a "quality sample" verison which is exactly the same as a retail oem chip..

 

Yeah, the writing was on the wall for mine with WoW and the market shift and the good price I got on my W90.

Also Moo'ster, most of the M17's/OCZs being sold are WUXGA+ Panels at those good prices. The OCZ Barebones Xfire WUXGA+ is $1199 brand new. I would have taken the $1100 and sold the other stuff elsewhere (or held onto some of it for your new system).

And last but least, no Warranty on the M17's.

This happens every year. The market shifts and older units flood the market. The trick is getting in before they saturate.

A lot of people who would have picked up a M17 will now wait for the APM17x

 

agree with electro on that one moo

 

arggghhhh i just dont wanna loose alot of money on this thing....cost me 1850 to buy plus tax.

i want at least 1500....AW style counts for something right?

 

I'm just seriously hoping this thing doesn't stop the 4870s coming to the M17. That would be disastrous for me who just ordered mine partially because of the future 4870 upgrade promise...

 

i think it will happen

 

I think you still have a chance to get that on eBay.

 

hummmmmmm i hope imma list it this morning or afternoon i gotta nap because i got the midnight shift today whooooo

 

The problem is:

You hold out for a better price which requires supply to decrease and demand to stay the same or increase.

The problem is new supply is constant (AW still sells 'em)
Newegg has the OCZ Whitebook
Old/Used supply is going up
Prices are going down
Demand is going down

You have to know when to sell and tax really isn't an issue to many. They don't calculate it into the, "new vs. used," price many times.

I mean, you might find a buyer down the road, sure, but then you have to think about time tables and sell depreciation value based on the above factors and when to cut your loses.

Most buyers won't care about the extra lid and other superfluous items. They are looking at bang/buck ratios. How many buyers even here that were interested in M17's are now shifting their drooling over to the APM17x?

I listed mine at $1850 first, then realized I was down to my last copy of sealed, retail edition of Vista Ultimate and then removed that and dropped it to $1549. At that price, based on my costs, I would have closely broke even. I then took the $150 hit and sold it for $1400.00.

T9400, WD 320GB x 2, Intel 5350, WUXGA+, 1yr warranty, 4GB memory.

Like the buyer even said when I accepted his offer, "You JUST caught me in the nick of time. I was already loading up my shopping cart on Newegg."

The used price has to be good enough to make buying new unpalatable.

eBay is a much wider audience with much less savvy buyers. It may be your only recourse at this juncture.

 

you can't get both

 

I bought mine from the same seller, recommended

I have E0 stepping, overclocks to 2.93 without a hitch, runs cool

 

Think of it this way... you already spent the money, so all you have now is a computer that is, essentially, useless for you. Any money you get by selling it is money MADE, like picking up a winning lottery ticket on the street. If you want the new M17x so badly, which I assume you do, sell it for what it's worth (which is only the price someone is willing to pay for it) and you'll be happy in the end.

 

And I thought the devaluation driving a car off the lot was bad!

 

Don't worry Moo as soon as you sell the M17 AW will announce the 4870s for it and drive the value back up.

 

Plus there's always the sticker shock some will get when looking at the M17x and then decide to go with a M17.

 

Moo, might make more sense to keep it, do the 4870 upgrade, then get the replacement for the new M17X.

 

Are you upgrading Rob?

 

I'm not sure anymore now that I was able to repair the graphics card in my M9750.

My reason was two fold for upgrading. Improve the performance in my M17, and have a pair of 3870's for my, then broken, M9750.

I'm happy with the performance of my M17 and my (now my wife's) M9750 is working.

For me, I think I'm just going to enjoy my M17 until I get a new laptop.

EDIT: Maybe I'll get a new M17X when they start showing up on ebay at drastically reduced prices! lol

Maybe Moo will have one on there for cheap then. lol

 

With those specs for $1400 i would have probably took it myself , that was a very good deal for a still great machine. ill have a hard time going backwards though from the W90 but im just not sure i want to plunk down $2800+ for the base machine + 2x280GTXs or atleast till i see the pricing on the M98. I spent $2800 on my W90 with the Qx9300OEM and that was one tough pill to swallow, though when i sold it i got $2500 back so for the month or so i played with it i spent $300 bucks to do so , to bad we cant rent these things lol.

 

@Rob: Too bad the oven trick worked?? lol!

 

Maybe I should just pull that card and tell the wife it's fried for good so I can get new cards. lol

 

The M17 is still a great performer and unless you want bleeding edge tech its not worth it , especially if you already own the M17 . Like you said you play Fallout 3 mostly and i cant see paying that much to upgrade just to play the same game with a better framerate when the game already runs great on your machine . Id wait until Crysis2 ( just announced this morning) comes out before i thought about upgrading , even if you dont want to play the game it will be a good basis on what you need to stay ahead of the curve for the next round of hardcore PC games.

 

So you have no gaming system right now like me? My T60p lasts for about 15 minutes playing FO3.

 

I own an m5750 thats overheating a lot now, so I am getting the new m17x !

 

Last time I bought a new car was a 98 Navigator. I will never, ever buy new again. Everything I buy is always at least 3yrs old so the bulk of the depreciation is out of the way.

 

I have an i7 gaming desktop but i enjoy playing games on a laptop more for the most part because i can move it around the house .

 

I always buy new for the warranty and the longevity.

I also manage to find some pretty good deals so I never pay anywhere near retail.

My full size pick up stickered at $32,200. I ended up getting it off the showroom floor for $21,400.

 

ouch. to add insult to injury, is it a GM product?

 

oh no he did unt lol

 

same here the armada was almost 39k$ sticker we walked out for 26,xxx after everything taxes included

 

I might consider this as well later on in the future. I might be selling my system because of increasing expenses and such (gotta make a couple of sacrifices to pay the bills, etc). Don't know if it's a certainty though. I do want to build up my HTPC and add a 2nd GTX 260 to it once I get everything in order, and seeing as my Samsung is advertised as "3d ready" I might want to put that to the test. I wonder if the 3d technology is synonymous with what nVidia is advertising with the 3d glasses.

Only thing that would turn me off with this system is the seemingly built in slot-load drive. But as much of an upgrade freak I am, it's probably practical seeing as there isn't going to be much advancement in terms of optical technology.

 

If they have different options for optical drives I find it hard to believe it's not replaceable.