Buy or not a Alienware m15x

Hello. I am a new user of this excellent forum.
First, tansk to all people that help with very helpful comment.

I have a question. At the present i am not a permanent gamer (becuase my college life over & i have new job ), but i am very very demanding user for normal application (i hate the sand clock or wait for my application). And i like play Unreal Tourmanent 3 with decent resolution & details.

i have US$2200 for buy a laptop. I am interesting in a Alienware m15x, becuase this brand is #1 in all strongest tests (test with heavy games).
My configuration is:

Intel T9300 (2.5GHz, 6mb L2 cache)
1Gb Ram (i will buy 4GB from newegg in US$90)
Nvidia 8700 GT 512mb
Intel Turbo memory 1Gb (becuase i hate sand clock & wait)
another specs are the defaults

1). Is ok buy a m15x with this specifications? or i can buy another laptop with similar specs & similar performance more cheap. (Dell XPS 1530 dont have a 512mb vieo card so, i dont want buy a laptop with 256 mb video card, and Dell 1730 cost similar to m15x so i prefer a alienware to dell but i am not sure if alienware is better that dell)

2). i had read that m15x have many problems with touchpad, keyboard and his functionality of switch nvidia video card and another card. Are these very annoying problems?

3). my configuration for m15x is very poor compared to mx15x with:
-intel x9000 2.8Ghz ,6mb L2 cache
-same 4Gb ram
-nvidia 8800 GTX

4). What another laptops (with US$2200 dollars) can i buy with a similar performance to m15x (please recommend me serious brands, i have seen very strong & cheap gaming laptops but i dont trust in this brands). Please if you have link with tests and results where i can see the performance of the laptops (better compared to AW m15x) send me i will be happy

pls help me !!!! my e-mail is [email protected]

Thx to all!!!

 

Welcome to the forum andresf02

I do not very much about other brands so I will try to answer you Alienware related questions. I do not have an m15x myself, but I have been on the forum for the last 6 months and have been monitoring it's journey.

1) I think your specs are good for what you want but many users have said that once you get the 4GB of RAM the extra TurboCache memory doesn't give as much of a boost as it would if you had 1/2GB instead so you might want to drop that and go with something else - AlienFX keyboard maybe ?
I'm not sure about the Dell laptops so wait for someone else to comment on that, sorry.

2) The only problem some people have with the touchpad is that it is smooth and has no borders - but you can fix that by placing the included alien sticker on the touchpad, which adds traction and makes it easy to use.
With the keyboard, uptil a month back there were complaints about keyboard lag but I don't recall users receiving laptops since having any problems with that, so don't worry. They also seem to have fixed the keyboard flex near the arrow keys (may only be in the Skullcap model though, any new Ripley users want to confirm this ?)
Many users seem to have less than accurate/responsive touch controls though. Apart from that, I don't think anyone has had problems switching between the GPU and the integrated graphics, can you be a little more specific ?

3) The extreme processors have been said to experience downclocking (not good) and ¾th of configs these days take the T9300 like you.
The 8800 GTX really beats the 8700 GT - don't remember by how much... Maybe 3 times ? However the 8700 GT should be able to handle Unreal 2003 quite well

4) Can't help you again.. Sorry
I have heard that the m869TU from Clevo/Sager is coming out in a week.. Others might recommend that, though maybe only for heavy gaming..

Hope this helped (and didn't bore you )
L8rs !!

 

yeah, the m860tu is on it's way. i'd take a look at sager resellers in general if i were you. you can get a lot more bang for the buck than with AW.

 

Thanks for reply and for you comments Wraithers, really helpfully.
So you think that my configuration is "just ok" or is "really good". I dont want have to buy another laptop in 1 year.

And Vista recognize the Turbo memory like Ram? bescause Vista 32bits only see 3.5Gb of 4Gb i know that, but if i buy 4Gb + 1Gb turbo memory this is like 5Gb Ram and Vista only recognize 3.5 Gb?. Thx!!

 

Less than a week before Clevo M860TU is official for orders.

It will probably be the best 15.4" with 8800M GTX for the money.... with so many vendors.

... and its using the new Montevina platform with new 45nm Core 2's and DDR3.

 

Hi andres and welcome to the forum.

the 2.5 processor is what i had and is fine.
i had the 4gb of ram and also the turbo cache and to be honest its a waste off money if you are going to upgrade to 4gb ram. the turbo works in the background and is meant to make things slightly faster but not if you have 4gb ram. it doesnt add itself to the ram to make it 5gb
im not sure about the 8700gt as i had the 8800 so come on all you 8700 owners, its your turn to give some advice on this graphics card.

 

eh, 8700 should be fine, it's probably not nearly as difficult to cool compared to the the god that is the 8800.

in related news, seagate has announced 7200rpm 500gig 2.5" HDD's for Q4.

 

I have this exact config on my machine. According to reviews/tech sites with 4 gigs ram the turbo doesn't make a big difference except it does help some (battery life and slightly faster boot etc) its barely noticeable though. In benchmarks you can get a bit of a boost also but again not very noticeable.

The 8700 is a fine card I think it runs fairly cool and I can run power hungry games on medium settings with little or no lag many things will run on high.

 

Thx to all for replies

one more thing!!!

i am not planning buy AlienFX (keyboard lights). But, m15x without AlienFX feature do not have any light? or have just one color?

When i am customizing my m15x, i choose BLUE Color and i dont Choose buy AlienFX feature. So my keyboard dont have any light or have just one color (Blue in this case)?

 

You do get all the colors but and if you don't get the lit keyboard then you'll have no lights on your keyboard. Drop the turbo memory and get the keyboard!!! Its well worth it IMO.

 

I think you should get everything stock (turbo memory doesn't help at all) with an 8800M GTX, it'll be 2.5+ times faster than what you decided on now.

Which would you rather have, a CPU that's around 18% faster (won't really make a difference in most games) or a GPU that's two and a half times faster, which will show a big difference in games?

 

thar confug us fine for your ut3 and running cpu intensive programs. i do recommend taking turbo memory for the light keyboard. the light up keyboard is one of the best things about the m15x. it is also a major selling point. you can always buy turbo memory later for cheaper

 

OMG YOUR NOT GETTING THE ALIENFX?! THA... okay sorry for the caps. But the AlienFX is what sold it for me The lights are just so pretty . Nights on just having red lighting in a dark room, playing a bloodfest game. Awesome. Weird, but awesome.

 

Ok you convinced me guys i drop the turbo memory & get AlienFX.
I saw the new Clevo M860TU and.......is amazing!!!!!!!!!! i cant pay this laptop but is amazing. I did not know that brand (I am from colombia so, this brand dont exist here lol, the best is Alienware for us -.-") but his laptops are very powerfull. Furthermore if new laptop come with DDR3 memory, i will not buy a laptop with DDR2 memory, so i will wait for more brands with DDR3 memory for prices competence. Thx guys

 

ddr3 memory is going to be more expensive than ddr2 so you should consider that into your budget.

 

yep. much more expensive, because only the very newest and most exensive notebooks will be needing SO-DIMM DDR3 RAM. but as with everything, prices will drop once it becomes mainstream.

 

Just to add my opinion:

2) I've had my M15x for a short while now, I havnt noticed any keyboard lag (maybe I dont type fast enough?) I havnt had any problems with the touchpad, or in fact any part of the machine as a whole. The secondary graphics card works great - and I'm getting 2:30 to 3hrs on it.

3) I have the same specs as you (if you drop the turbo memory and go for the alienFX) and its amazing - i seriously considered the 8800mGTX, but my budget wouldnt allow it without seriously comprimising on the CPU, but the 8700mGT doesnt dissapoint at all.

4) I know you've had a lot of recomendations for sager but just to throw in another idea - if your willing to drop down to the 8600mGT then Rock ( www.rockdirect.co.uk) are a well known UK based laptop company who I was seriously considering before opting for the m15x. Their Pegasus 680 with the 8600mGT and same specs as your AW comes to £1100 which is quite a bit cheaper. The only issue with it is that it doesnt come with the secondary GPU that the M15x does - so for the sake of battery life I went for the m15x, and the fact they managed to loose my order when they were taken over (they went into administration recently and were bought by stone group). Think they will ship worldwide aswell, although warantee is only valid within the EU. Cant say much else for them, as I've never bought from them - but just annother suggestion

 

rock's a clevo reseller too

 

I have an 8700m Gt and it is passable. I can play COH at 32 FPS, C&C 3 at 29, TF2 at 118, HL 2 at like 230, all at highest settings at 1440X900. It however, will noticeably lag at higher resolutions,and is by no means future proof.

 

Please read the Clevo Guide, it will tell you everything that you every want to know about Clevo and their vendors.

If you know Alienware or Voodoo PC, you know Clevo.
(since many boutique brands have re-branded Clevo notebooks over the years)