Aurora ALX or M17x?

I need to know which one I should get. I'm currently at home and don't plan on moving around that much--maybe from table to table around the house. Both will cost around the same; though, the ALX will be significantly faster. Desk space is something I'd like to consider, that's why I'm leaning toward the M17x. But, for almost the same price--cheaper in fact--I could get the ALX which is, obviously, faster. Help, please.

 

Unfortunately, this is a question that can only be answered by you. Do you want a gaming system with the most power possible or occasional portability?

It is kind of like asking someone if you should buy a motorcycle, a car, a van or a pick-up truck. It is all about personal preference & the needs of the owner.

My wife & I have a non-ALX Aurora, plus an M17x each. The comfort of using my M17x on a tray, while relaxing in my recliner, took a higher priority than sitting at a desk, in an uncomfortable chair, to have a slightly noticeable increase in speed. Since a desk takes up so much space, & we rarely used it, we ended up getting rid of the desk a year ago. The Aurora is connected to the HDTV in the den. When it is not used for gaming, it is used as the family's DVR, media server for the home network & as a netflix player.

 

Nevertheless I say M17x ^^

rev3 of course: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/538863-pics-m17xr3-sandybridge-benchmark-you-may-wanna-c.html

 

sit on your butt all day in one spot=desktop
sit on your butt all day in different spots=laptop

 

That's exactly what I think, inap. I'd love a PC that could do anything; but, having it all there (i.e. M17x) in a nice case that you can just tuck away is pretty appealing, too.

 

if you wait for a nice outlet coupon, you can prolly get a sweet M17x at a killer price, and with the money you save you can prolly build a decent desktop too. the alienware desktops are nice but way too overpriced imho.

 

I'm OC. If I knew it wasn't brand-spanking new, I wouldn't enjoy it... as much. I'd rather just go the whole nine yards.

 

hahaha ok, well either way good luck.

 

hrdyeus, Listen to me closely.
While I love my M17x and I totally agree with Tazalanche about sitting in my recliner. The M17x is and has always been a fickle beast! Unless you comfortable working on it all the time, go with the ALX. My R1 is decked out and still is No match for my ALX!

 

The desktop will be much better performance-to-price.

I would avoid getting the ALX model though, since it costs a lot more for no reason. I got an i7 930 2.8ghz, ATI 5870, 6 GB RAM, 1 TB RAID0, X-FI sound card (regret that) all for $2200 versus the laptop in my sig for $4000.

The desktop gets perfect frame rates on virtually every game I've thrown at it. Never had a problem. It runs near-silent even while playing games.

The laptop has had dozens of problems with the bad drivers, Vbioses, battery issues, etc. It sounds like a 747 taking off when the fans kick on.

 

I have all the Pc's in my Sig and I don't use my M17x R2 anymore, it just collects dust so I gave it away to my brother to use which he loves. He brags to all of his friends that it's a HandmeDown, which it is technically speaking. But I love my current setup. When using a desktop combined with a 27 inch screen nothing, ABSOLUTELY nothing from a laptop can touch this. I use my m15x gen 1 in bed and at work with very little problems. M17x are over-rated IMO. I don't think most m17x users have both that system and a desktop. I'd take a powerful desktop combined with a m11x or m15x anyday over a single M17.

 

Lol........................... :laugh:

 

Never buy gaming desktops prebuilt, they will always be over priced. With that said. For the same price of my desktop, the M17x is only roughly 1/2 to 1/3 of the performance with no more upgrades available. If you decide on the M17x, which is smaller (duh) just be sure you'll want it for the next couple of years.

M17x = smaller, portable, no more upgrades (that we know of), no control of parts or quality of parts installed, can play most games maxed out (1080p).

Desktop = larger for sure unless it's a SFF, you control quality of parts, highly upgradable, extremely powerful (for same price of a laptop), can play any game maxed out (1080p).

Performance will depend highly on the parts you pick.

 

Save some money but sacrifice nothing. Get the ALX and an M11x. In fact, go lower - go a standard Aurora and an M11x and save even more. Then you can game on the move, and have a kick monster when you want to lock yourself away and get engrossed (My wife yelling at me to stop yelling at Dragon Age on the M11 is what tends to drive me into my office).

 

OP, please post over @ http://forum.desktopreview.com/. Thanks.