Hard Decision

OK so in short my M17x got messed up and Dell will contact me about a system exchange (essentially getting a new M17x). But I have heard a lot about the M17x soon possibly having dual 4870 GDDR5's and also a price reduction in SSD's. So my question is: Would it be better to get a new M17x now? Or ask for a refund and wait for the new mobile gpu's, less expensive components, and possibly all the bugs to be worked out of the M17x right now before ordering one? The wait doesn't bother me too much as long as I can get it this year.

 

if time is not a factor then wait...
but as mentioned before buy myself and others...the pc world changes every day.
for what you wait today, will be outdated tomorrow...a cycle one can get caught in and never get out of.
again, if time is on our side, wait it out. although the nvidia cards generally have better driver support.

 

The way I figure the current cards will play anything you want at high setting for 12-18 months (and you can always overclock to get the max gaming life out of them).

If the 4870's come out they should be available as a spare and you can upgrade down the track or by then something else will be out that's even faster and you can get that!

 

SSD's are getting more expensive right now as flash memory chips are increaseing

 

Wouldn't the present SSD's get less expensive as they become more cost-efficient to produce? I'm not talking about the larger ones. And also, how much would it be to potentially upgrade the M17x to the new 4870's. Cause it might just be better to get some 260's (or 1) to upgrade later instead of paying the premium on the 280's right now.

 

Just buy the laptop and enjoy it....

If an upgrade comes out and you think you "need" (used loosely in these forums when talking about hardware upgrades haha) it then get it. Otherwise you don't have to.

Any upgrade that comes out is not going to make what you got perform any worse....and these perform wonderfully from what I have heard. You will be waiting forever, first it will be 4870's, then you will have to wait for i7, then you will have to wait for Radeon 5000 series and/or GT300 chips.

Just get a laptop and be happy lol

 

Don't buy a laptop without the parts you want, especially the graphics cards. I suggest getting the best config you can afford. What is your budget? Also, what kind of system would Dell offer you?

 

^ agreed

This is why I bit the bullet and got GTX 280m SLI over 260m's (that and with the deals and such was only 100 more)

 

Haha guys I've already seen the power of the beast. I've had my M17x for about a week before problems started on it and I had to send it back. But I was just wondering if its worth the wait for the 4870's? Anyone know the performance increase from the 280m?

 

10% at best increase. but lacking in driver support compared to nvidia

 

In my opinion playing the waiting game is just pointless. If you're waiting, might as well wait 6 months and get an i7 gaming laptop. Then again, might as well wait longer after that and get the next big thing, and so on, and so forth. Computer technology is currently advancing so quickly that playing any sort of waiting game is usually pointless. At least it will be until 2012 when computer technology advancement has been predicted to slow down due to the sheer amount of cost there will be to keep on shrinking the insides of the processors.

 

Judging and buying a gaming laptop based on its ability to Overclock (aka Overstress) the components of it IMHO is also pointless. It should run everything you throw at it, and be compatible with whatever things you want to use on it immediately and in the near future as well. For me the decision is based on how I intend to use it now, not what I can "maybe" put in it in the future or "how much i have to OC it to get it to run what i want". If it doesn't run what I need, and do what I need right out of the box, I should have saved and spent more on it. Again, this is just MY opinion, and others have theirs for sure, and some people like to tinker around and see what their computer's limits are, and thats all well and good too.

The answer, IMO is what do you want it to do for you? And make your decision based on that.

 

^ Also agreed

I ordered my M17x knowing that no matter what happens in the future, I will still be very happy with my machine. I am not banking on any sort of upgrade. A lot of whitebook/M17 owners did that and were VERY disappointed. Based on what is currently available though, the M17x is easily the best laptop in the world in every way except modest looks and weight haha

 

Ok I understand what you guys are saying. The thing is I am heading to college in the fall. Now that I have the choice to either return the laptop for a brand new one or a refund, I am still at odds as to whether to get this again or possibly a gaming desktop (i.e. Dell XPS 730x H2C). Would the desktop be a better buy for use in college? Preferably from experience to those already in/have been in college would you have gotten this sort of gaming desktop or the M17x? Because my main thing with the M17x is the portability, which will allow you to like go over to friends' dorms and such and other places that dragging a 30+ lb. desktop +accessories would be difficult. That's why the laptop is most appealing to me, but the desktop as well due to sheer power. I am an avid gamer, but not a "hardcore" gamer as well if this has any impact, and will not spend all my free time gaming. Thanks for all the support guys!

 

From what you just said above i would stick with the M17x as it fits the bill for everything you need. Portability when needed and plenty of power . Desktops are great and i can see the allure of wanting that kind of power over a laptop but in the end i think you will get far more use out of the M17x.

 

for me a laptop has been a must in college (going into my senior year in sept). I have a desktop, but it has always been viewed as the toy and does not have to be working (unless for some reason laptop is down)

Definitely get the laptop for college use, it will do everything you need it too

 

Is it possible to change your order on return? I think I might want the 512gb SSD RAID 0. Is there any benefit to that?

 

just disgusting HDD speeds If you can afford it, DO IT

 

Haha "disgusting"...I like the sound of that.

 

You should.

When I got some more in the bank, I am gonna get just 1 of those ssd's then a 500gb on other bay for storage

I am not a music junkie like most people appear to be, so that is more space than I will need for a long time.

 

Yea I got my old 4 year old tablet with ~40gb HDD space for my music so I'm basically using it as an external storage. Then I've got the "Beast", with 512gb SSD hopefully, and then a netbook for school haha.

 

Just remember you can wait for a few more months, but by than there will be even something better to wait for, and than you can choose to wait again, and then there will be even something better to wait for after that, and on and on and on...

There will always be better technology, and better deals. My thoughts are, just get it now, because in a year or two I'll be buying a new one anyways.

 

Won't have much time in a few years...gonna be heading off to med school