I just bought an m17x

[1] Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX – SLI Enabled
Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology – Black
Includes AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design!
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 320GB 7,200RPM (16MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Warranty: 2-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Microsoft Office Suites: Microsoft® Office 2007 Small Business – Factory Installed!
Includes Basic + PowerPoint, Accounting Express and Publisher!
Power: Additional Battery - Alienware® m17x 12-cell Lithium-Ion Additional Battery
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Personalized Nameplate
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Smooth Mylar Touchpad
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Graphite Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead Glow (Widescreen)
Wallpaper: Alien Cyborg (Widescreen)
Wallpaper: Alien Schematic (Widescreen)
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: Calendar
Sidebar Gadgets: CPU Meter
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

I never thought in my life I would have the guts to actually place the order.

I was really confused on the system drive, but when I was talking to the sales rep. he told me to get the 200GB single rather than 240GB RAID 0. He told me that it was faster (8 vs16 MB chace)
And for the optical drive, he told me the only difference between the dual layer and the 2x dual layer is that the 2x is a burner whereas the dual layer is reader. Is there a difference in speed?

Your thoughts..

 

Wow how much did you end up paying for the system?

 

wow congrats, that thing is going to be fun

 

including shipping to Canada + free alienware alienarmor aluminum case + GST + PST = CAD$6701

I know that's really really really unbelievably expensive, but I really hope its worth it

 

Your f'in crazy bro, I though $3500 was overdoing it.

 

Congratulations, that is a BEAST of a machine. Very expensive . . .

What kind of estimated ship date did they give you?

 

Hope you love it

 

wow you maxed out on the laptop. congrats on the purchase. some corners i would of cut is that i would of gone with the t9300 since someone here said that the m17x will not support overclocking with the extreme processor. i would of also bought 1 gig of ram and stuck 4 in by myself. other than that good luck with your system. you might want to pick up a smart bay battery later down the road since extra battery life is never a negative.

 

people were laughing when i told em I spent $3200 on my laptop. lol

 

it seems like for ship date, whatever they tell you, add another 1-2 weeks to it because items always go on backorder especially for these laptops

 

BIGphutte,

I know. Please don't make me feel bad

Chaz,

Thanks. The sales rep. said that I might get it early June or if I am lucky I can get it late May.

XPS1330,

Thanks. I hope so too

exiled,

Thanks. I didn't want to complicate things and I might have lose the warranty. Plus, I am not looking to overclock the laptop.

Ricky_S,

Why were they laughing? What did you get?

HaloGod2007,

Let's hope not. Since this is new, I doubt it will have any delays.

 

@Bebar - Installing new ram is actually very easy and AW always puts up guides online of how to do it. You could cancel your order and just order another one. Here are 3 things I would change.

1. Processor: While the 2.8 is a good processor, it was DESIGNED for overclocking. It is not worth paying that much for a gimped processor. I would go for the 2.6.

2. Upgrade the ram yourself and save some money.

3. Upgrade the Hard Drive yourself if you can as well.

Well don't let my comments deter you at ALL. That laptop is kick ass man, and you are jumping on the 8800GTX SLi train which is a good train to be on . Very nice purchase man, I really hope you enjoy the laptop.

 

Thanks a lot man. I might consider your opinions. I still have to deal with the payment issues at the moment.

 

congradulations on the m17x. Yeah, like Stone said, you should upgrade the ram yourself. You'll save some money. But, I don't think it should matter since you are spending that much already.. Enjoy fraggin' with it.

 

What you got there is a monster!! A MONSTER!!! GODZILLA!!! and awesome specs as well as freaking expensive!! cant wait to see your review on the notebook and also some cool pics... Hope everything work out well for you!!

 

2 x dual layer is just meaning it writes at 2x times the speed on dual layer cds

which no one uses or owns.

I would not pay extra for this

 

Thanks for clearing it out for me. As you can see, I got the dual layer blu-ray

 

k well this isnt good either

dual layer which is a format that didnt take off....

is entirely obsoleted by blue ray.

So they say dual layer blue ray now.

Anyhow dont worry about it.

 

how what a price.

very nice specs though, but dam that is expensive.

 

Congrats on the purchase!!! Looks awesome!

And I am confused by this statement. Why would a single HD with a 16mb cache make it faster then two drives with 8mb caches in a Raid 0 configuration?

Anyone have more insight on this statement?

 

congratulations my friend on your purchase....you bought a beast of a laptop. I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. Finally someone has ordered i was about to ask why isnt there anyone starting a thread with i bought the m17x .. congrats again

 

You're wrong there I'm afraid, go and buy a pc game or an xbox 360 game. They both use dual layer DVDs.

Blu ray may have a higher capacity but the drives cost a fortune, blu ray also supports dual layer for 50GB of data as opposed to the 25GB of a single layer disk.

Congrats on the buy OP, would have ordered one myself but it would have taken too long, I've already had my m1730 for a month.

 

Incredible rig, man. We're all looking forward to a review!

 

I haven't posted here in a while, but this is some seriously funny stuff. Why, if the technology is obsolete, and never "took off" - do I own over 30 Blu-ray's which are Dual Layer, 50GB? Please, take your ignorance somewhere else.

 

maybe you're obsolete? nah jk... i think stamar was referring to dual layer DVD's... which is of course utter BS as well...

 

Congrats man. I'm seriously considering almost the same rig. Please share your experiences in working with Alienware in the ordering process. I'm curious about your conversation with them, as I intend to just order via the web. Do they call you to confirm?
Forum, please share your thoughts -outside of the obvious costs- of the same rig but with the Solid State drive as primary then 200GB 7200 2nd drive for storage?
Also, any thoughts on the two different screen resolutions?
Thanks!

 

Ok, here's the specs of what I am Planning to buy. Please tell me what you like/dislike.

[1] Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX – SLI Enabled
Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology – Black
Includes AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design!
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Indigo
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital/Analog (ATSC) MiniCard TV Tuner with Express Card Media Center Remote Control

System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 64GB Solid State Drive
Smart Bay: 500GB 5,400RPM (8MB Cache) Smart Bay
Optical Drives : 2x Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Burner (BD-R, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
Available on Windows Vista Only!
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
Mobile Essentials: Belkin® AC Anywhere 300W Vehicle Outlet Adapter
Mobile Essentials: Razer Lachesis™ Mouse
Mobile Essentials: Alienware® Ozma 7™ Headphones with S-Logic™ Technology
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Security Software: Norton Internet Security™ 2008
Microsoft Office Suites: Microsoft® Office 2007 Professional – Factory Installed!
Includes Small Business + Access!
Games: Crysis
Games: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Games: Half Life 2: Orange Box
Featured Games: BioShock
Featured Games: Flight Simulator X
Featured Games: Battlefield 2142
Productivity & Benchmark Software: 3DMark®06
The standard in 3D benchmarking
Power: Additional Battery - Alienware® m17x 12-cell Lithium-Ion Additional Battery
External Storage: 500GB Seagate Free Agent External Hard Drive
Security: Targus Combination Notebook Security Cable
Flash Memory: 4GB Alienware® USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Mobile Bags: Alienware® Odyssey Backpack
Alienware Apparel: Alienware® Limited Edition Chronograph Watch
Alienware Apparel: Alienware® T-Shirt (Size XL Black)
Alienware Apparel: Alienware® Women's Fitted T-Shirt (Size LG Black)
Alienware Apparel: Alienware® Visor (Black)
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Personalized Nameplate
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Smooth Mylar Touchpad
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Graphite Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Large Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D (Widescreen)
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: CPU Meter
Sidebar Gadgets: Weather Forecast (default location)
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Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

 

@p5surf

thats quite a bit of assessories you're ordering. On the lachesis mouse i really recommend you try this mouse out before buying it. it has a really weird grip on it. the grip is either you love it or you hate it. i would also buy the flash drive from somewhere else since its way cheaper if you dont buy it from AW. i would also change the ram to 1 gig and then upgrade it to 4 by myself. i would take turbo memory out too since it just decreases boot times and increases battery life slightly. i doubt you will notice a little increase in battery life with the m17x though.

since your buying all this stuff with it..im guessing this is your first comp? good luck with your new computer if you plan to buy it.

 

i wouldnt get a SSD, whoever was thinking of getting one. SSDs are way to expensive at the moment and ony have a limited amount of write capacities. they also have very slow write speeds.

 

OP, grats on your new system... it is an amazing setup...

best wishes for years of joy of owning your bad-ass machine...

 

Listen guys,

I have to be honest with you. I am not really a computer genius. When I do receive the laptop, I don't know how to review it for you. I never worked with benchmarks before. In fact, I just learned what benchmark is a month ago. I not a gamer, but I will be once I get this bad boy. I already got Crysis, but never played it. I have player Counter-Strike before and I intend to get CS Source. I love computer and I always follow the new technology that comes with it (CPU,GPU, etc.) I never owned a laptop before.

What I own right now is An Acer desktop which I've had since 2003

Pentium 4 at 2.67 GHz
512 MB RAM Memory
64 MB Nvidia GeForce MX/400MX
120 GB hard drive

So you can see how awful my desktop is, but surprisingly it still work, but once I get the m17x, this desktop is out of the window.

 

bebarhood, you deserve a new computer.

 

babarhood, i think benchmarking is over-rated. people here can kin of get their own idea of how good it is. What we would really want to see in your review is how the system is physicly, how good the packaging is, how loud/hot it can be, any defects you notice.

pretty much just open it up, describe what you see, and give us your opinion on build quality.... then play some games.

 

Congrats on the purchase!!! Looks awesome!

And I am confused by this statement. Why would a single HD with a 16mb cache make it faster then two drives with 8mb caches in a Raid 0 configuration?

Anyone have more insight on this statement?

 

I also pulled the trigger on this laptop myself. Should be getting it in about 3 weeks. Went with X9000 and SLI 8800

Bring on that Fallout 3....

 

Nice job lads, beautiful system.

Really thinking of getting one myself and possibly trading in my m9750.

But if i was to do that i'd go all out again and it would just cost a fortune as exampled here in this thread. Cannot really afford it but i still want to.

Debt magnet..

 

/nods...

your personal experience... likes and dislikes...
nobody expects a full blown out review like what Chaz does... tho you may attempt to do so to share your experience with us...

pics... lots of pics... that's always fun to look at...

 

RAID 0 promises a lot on paper and gives impressive benchmark results for transfer/write rates, but in real life it only gives an unnoticeable ~3% performance increase. Seek time is actually increased on a RAID 0 array so the performance can actually decline in specific instances.
I recommend staying away from RAID 0 arrays because since the data is striped across two drives, you double the risk of data loss.

In everyday usage, the 200GB 7200RPM drive is going to be more responsive than the 120GB 7200RPM x2 RAID 0 array. Assuming both the 120GB and 200GB hard drives have two platters, the 200GB drive has higher data density per platter and is going to be faster - the data heads don't have to travel as far to access data.

In essence, the Alienware rep was right but for the wrong reason, if the only reason he gave for the better performance was the cache. 8MB vs 16MB . . . not going to make much of a difference.

 

Congrats.... an absolute beast of a machine!

I take delivery of my m9750 in the next day or so and can't wait for that Christmas morning feeling of unwrapping it and plugging it in!

I hope it is all you hoped for (and more importantly paid for!)

 

Congrats....................... that's a beast of a laptop. Looking forward for some pics.
hope u'll enjoy it

 

Thanks Chaz... Just what I was trying to figure out.

 

After looking at my specs in the first post, do you think it is worth to get the Turbo Cache Memory (1GB). Is it worth it? Will I notice any difference?

 

Alot of people will tell u its no difference. But I say there is some difference.

With intel turbo I notice an increase of transfer speed to my external USB HDD, It can go up to 27mb/sec in transfer speed. With my old Asus using the same HDD (100gb 5400RPM) its only 9mb/sec - 14-15mb/sec. Tested using at least 200mb per file. I transfer 30gb in a very short time. But with small files, I dun see any differences.

For normal usage. No diff to gaming, photo editing, email etc..

 

excuse my ignorance, but how in the world does TM influence your transfer speed?

 

I have tested many notebooks with Intel Turbo Memory and have never noticed a difference using any of them.

There's no substitute for a fast hard drive and a lot of real RAM.

 

I know that the sound card on the laptop is not that good, so I decided to pick up a sound card. Which of these 2 do you recommend?

1) X-Fi Surround 5.1

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=17751

2) ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=16642&nav=0

 

Actually you would be surprised how good the integrated graphics have gotten over the years . . . I would not recommend buying an external sound card until you have the laptop and you know for a fact the integrated won't work for you.

 

The integrated soundcard on the M15x is GREAT! The built in speakers are not. As Chaz said, try it first, but with headphones or external speakers.

 

Is there any harm of keeping the AC power connected to the laptop 24/7? What is the best way to guarantee my laptop is not going to heat up on me?

 

anyone can answer the question?