How portable is the M17x

So i been waiting for the m17x for so long now, and i am having doubts if i still want to get it. I might settle for a M15x even though they only have 1 graphic card.

My main concern with my laptop is the ability to play games and do some uni work. With that in mind, i would probably need to bring my laptop to lectures to type out the notes during class.
How portable is the m17x in terms of carrying it with you all day? have anyone tried to bring it to lecture rooms? do they even FIT on that tiny desk?

I seems i might have to settle for the m15x

 

If I were you I'd get a netbook + M17x. Take the netbook to class and the M17x for gaming. The M15x/M17x are both too big for school work IMO.

 

Depends on the size of the desk
My M17x is very portable. With a nice backpack, can carry it around 7 days a week. Conference rooms, StarBucks, pretty much any public place with a table, even without it at times. When on 9400 can easily place it on my lap with no risk of overheating. 3hrs of battery life.
M17x-R2 will probably have 60-90min battery at most, M15x will have a little bit more.

 

the problem is i got about 4 grand of spare cash, so i probably cant afford another netbook for school. I done some customisation

M15x 3600 AUD
M17x 3900 AUD

so as you can see i can afford just one and cant afford another netbook.

do anyone have any picture of the 2 laptop taken side by side with a average laptop? that would help me alot in deciding

 

Eurika! M11x!

 

If you absolutely must have a top gaming notebook then perhaps you should consider pre-ordering the G73-JH. It's about $800 cheaper than an M17x so it should give you plenty of leftover money to buy a netbook.

 

I also often carry my M17x around with mouse and headphone and stuff. 5 days a week All you need is a good backpack.

To OP, you can search on the forum. We have their pics side by side took by Moo. Im on my phone so I cant help you on that.

It seems a lot of people making thread about M15x vs. M17x these days

 

I carry the M17x 7 days a week to school and work

Also i second the Asus G73

 

In all honesty I would say to build a custom desktop which would run you around $2000 USD for a high end one. Builds can be found here with various amounts of money : http://forum.desktopreview.com/showthread.php?t=235512

I would then purchase a nice netbook or wait a bit for the Alienware m11x to come out which starts at $799 USD and use that as my mobile pc.

Edit: Wait for the G73 to actually ship and for users to test the unit here. There may be issues with heat and stuff better to wait another 2-3 weeks than pre-order a laptop that you might eventually regret. Follow the G73 thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=447140

 

I am so close of ordering a m15x right now. i just talked to my sales rep over the phone and the amazing thing is.... well the m15x is the same price as the m17x r1 here is the specs if u guys can help me decide cause i am really really STUCK between the two.

Both Price is 3648.90 AUD

i have 48 hours to decide before my quote expires


On the right side is the M15X
CPU : Core i7 820QM
HD display: 1920 x 1080
Memory 4 gig: 1333 mhz
Hard disk: 128 Gb Soild State
OPTICAL 8x DVD
Batteries 9 Cell:
Video card 260 GTX
3 year warranty + MS office

On the left hand side M17X r1 ( currently on sale in australia )

CPU: Q9000
HD display 1920 x 1080
ram: 4 gigs 1333 mhz
Hard Disk: 500 gig in raid 0
Optical 8x dvd
3 year warranty
Video Card, SLI 260 GTX
3 year warranty + MS office

So as u can see the difference is i7 processor vs quad core, SLI cards vs a single card. Soild State vs normal hard drive. and of course the size difference.


For me the positive and negative for both Laptop is
+m15x can fit on my class desk
+ more portable and lighter
+i get a bonus 1tb external mobile harddrive ( thx to my bargianing skills for the m15x)

- same price, less performance on gaming?? only 1 card
- 15 inch and not 17 inch screen
- i heard the build feels cheaper then the m17x ( more plastic)

 

The M17x has been having a lot of issues recently with nVidia drivers. I'm pretty sure people are saying to avoid the r1 and get the r2 instead. There is some speculation that the i7's may not have these issues. Some other people who are a bit more knowledgeable than will probably post later.

 

I would go for the m17x. I do take it with me everyday to school and its fine. I would recommend trying to hunt down the xps m1730 backpack for it. Best backpack ever!!

 

Dont go for the M17x R1. it has been marked as defective with the Nvidia SLI. It will give you nothing but problems. If you have to order right now, order the M15x. I take the M15x to uni and it is quite good. I get about 2 hours and 20 mins on the 9cell battery (running in lower screen brightness). Make sure you have plugs at your uni (I do, thats why the battery isnt a problem for me).

 

hey mate how does ur m15x fit on ur lecture desks? is there any spare room left ? if not then i am pretty sure the m17X would not fit on it.
in my uni we just have like this little chairs with flip over tables.

Here is what my uni kinda looks like
Notice one of the desks attached to the chairs near the front of the picture, its about that size so i am worried m17x won't fit on it.

 

I wouldn't count on it fitting comfortably on those tiny little flip tables.

 

The feet for the M17x are in 2 rows spaces 8.5 inches apart. The outer 4 inches of laptop at either side are unsupported. You need a surface 8.5" wide by 10 inches front-to-back to totally support the unit. This is about the same size as a piece of letter paper (8.5" x 11").
I would like to think that a Uni desk was big enough to fit a standard piece of paper on.

it could of course just crush the tiny table lol

 

Well, I am at my masters right now with specialized fields of study and we have huge desks in our lecture rooms (as they usually fit max. 35 people). On the other hand, I never use a laptop during a lecture for the following reasons:

• Its slower to take notes than pencil & paper
• If I takes notes, then those would be diagrams
• I like to scribble
• I find it very annoying if somebody types on a laptop during a lecture.
• Lecture notes are available online

(this has been true for the 2 universities I attended, University of Glasgow and ETH)

I use the laptop inbetween classes or to do assignments.

Looking at the picture your provided, the only thing which would fit there would be a netbook.

 

The M15x Is fine. I have it and compared to my lightweight XPS M1530, it's way heavier but still very portable. I just get looks around class when i take it out since Alienwares are so flashy lol.

 

Alienware helping attention (cough cough s) since 2001 xD

 

Dell has not stated this. Until such time as Dell confirms this rumor, please do not continue to post it as fact. Thank you.

 

+1 BatBoy. Mine works fine. It's not defective. There are some driver issues, but it certainly isn't defective.

 

My system has been changed to one with ATI cards as the nvidia ones didnt work in my system.

Dell no longer sells with Nvidia cards in the m17x make what you want of that

 

I would do the m17x in a heart beat

Better battery
same size
more for the Money

I owned them Both

I would order in the states then ship ... Save so much money

 

Depends on what you want to use it for, if it's for class I'd seriously not recommend it. It's far too heavy/big, if you plan to use it as a portable desktop then go for it. For class I use my macbook pro, it's light and has 7 hour + battery life, I don't know about your classes but some of mine are 1~2 hours and sometimes 15 minutes apart ( doesn't give me much time to charge it ). Plus, having to charge it constantly takes away from the "portability" aspect of it.

I tell you this from experience, I thought I could hog around my m17x everywhere, it's brutal on your back.

 

To get an idea of how portable the M17x is:

Take several bricks and fill a bag with them.

There! Now try it out.

In all seriousness it depends on how heavy the bricks are. At 12lbs (I think it is, if I remember rightly) and at over 2 inches thick it's not exactly a very portable laptop.

If you take it to LANs and the such and travel with it (i.e. to other countries) then it's fine, but for things such as taking 'around town', or use in school/uni, it's not brilliant.

 

As mentioned, the biggest problem will be the battery. I can plug my laptop into the socket during lectures if I really have to have the laptop (that usually means that the lecture is boring as hell).

If you cannot plug in your laptop, then neither M15x nor the M17x are good for you.

 

I'd go with a desktop and an ultra portable, or a netbook. No point in spending more to have a giant laptop that only stays on your desk, take that money and get a desktop that'll trump it.