M17 or HP 18t

Hello,

I play some games like Metal of Honor, and like to watch HD streaming video from Netflix and fox.com

I have about 2600 dollars to spend and wanted to know if the M17 be the choice and why?

Thanks for the help.

Frank

 

No True PC Gaming Overload would buy an 18" notebook for just the 9600M GT.

That is all.

And what the hell? HP is charging +$249 for a 1GB 9600 over the 512GB 9600? That's absurd.

 

Can you explain this furthur? I do not understand your comment.
Are you saying the HP 18t is a better choice?

Thanks
Frank

 

No, in short. The 9500/9600 is a mid-range card with sub-par performance on the large screen beasts. It would be a great choice with a 9800 series in it, similar to their old dragon laptop. The M17 is a great choice, or a OCZ Whitebook even, (as it will be cheaper for the exact same hardware setup). If you want a 17" + setup, wait a bit or go used. There is a SICK HP Dragon for sale in the BST area of the forums and there should be a new Clevo 18" coming soon, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

I also thought about going apple, but I hate to duel boot to play games and I like Quicken better on windows.
SHould I wait on the M17?

 

If you are looking at doing moderate to serious gaming, go with a system with the high end ati or nvid cards. If gaming is simply recreational, then dual booting with mac (or parallels), or going with a less powerful notebook is the better idea in an effort to save you some money.

 

What do you think of the OCZ W840 over the M17?

 

OCZ Whitebook lets you overclock without voiding warranty. Alienware doesn't. But with OCZ dropping the W840 DI, no idea where to get the 4870s if they're supported once they're finally out. Might be easier with Alienware. I like the idea of the matte finish on the M17 though.

The Sager NP9262 seems within range as well, but if you're willing to wait a couple more months for the new Clevo models, might as well wait.

 

I sent Alienware two emails with pre-sales questions and none were answered. Makes me wonder how support is.

 

support is good and bad
the white book has been discontiued by OCZ and other resellers except Alienware and i reccomend the alienware m17 it has serious gaming power and media power and can hold 2 hard drives lots of storage
go for it

 

+1 for M17 -- Gotta love CrossFire, 2 HDD bays, matte black finish, and that free Alienware hat!

The dual 3870's of the M17 make that single 9600 on the 18t look like a joke.

 

no kiddin for videos games high rez anythign heck even 1 3870 PWNs the 9600

 

Skip the second 3870 and get yourself a 4870 next month.

 

yea that is good advice but he said he wasnt a heavy gamer

 

Do keep in mind that this is on the Alienware forums, so pretty much all replies will be pro-M17.

Try posting on a more neutral area as well to get a bigger picture, such as the "What Notebook Should I Buy?" boards.

 

alienware is now the only place to get the whitebook so its the best price for performance out right now

 

I saw Medal Of Honor but thought World At War. My bad.

 

lol the 3870 would still pwn it 4870 would squish it

WaW would run medium settings on a 3870 right?
hows nazi zombies work online ? any good?

 

Depends on the cost for me.
Also, is the M17 loud because of the fans? I would also like to watch movies from time to time. That is why I was looking at the HP 18t.

My Son loves Metal of Honor, that is why I play mostly that. But I may also get into more demanding games in the future. I feel bad, I bought him an HP desktop for Christmas and now I am looking at Alienware.

Thanks

Frank

 

Well, how about this? If you just wait a couple weeks for March, Alienware will be getting the new graphics cards in anyway, then you won't have to bother with the added cost of buying it later. One or two 4870s will come in well under your budget of $2600, and even one is likely to outperform two 3870s.

 

I think that's good advise, lot of money to spend,may as well wait and get the best config.

Thanks

 

I can personally speak about HP support. It SUCKS!! I got the HDX18. I had nothing but problems with it. Plus there were some cosmetic issues as well. I was told they would fix the mobo and other stuff, but told I would have to live with the cosmetic stuff. I didn't spend that amount to live with it.

 

Sorry to hear that. I would be upset also after spending that kind of money and told to live with it.

I am trying to decide on the Area 51 desktop or M17.

Regards,

Frank

 

price vs power is no brainer the desktop. you will be able to get the most power out of for the lowest price with a desktop.
the real desision is desktop or laptop

 

The 24" monitor is around 650 dollars which brings the desktop over the cost of the M17. The desktop has only one video card.

 

ASUS W90Vp, w/dual Mobility Radeon HD 4870's

look at that laptop is a amazing laptop 3 slots for ram 2 hard drive slots and 4870's!!!!! ohhh yea and shuld be right in your budget its a 18.4 inch whoot and allows overclocking through 4 preset configs

 

i doubt a single 4870 will outperform two 3870's....especially in crossfire supported games

 

theres 2 4870's in the asus and he is not a heavy gamer so the 4870 would be good enough for him, but what hes talking about spending he can get 2 of them.

 

World at war runs relatively spotty on the HDX18 on max settings. Its playable, but there is significant (albeit still playable) slow down in the graphics intensive areas.

Check out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/benchmarks,30.html

for further info.

Otherwise, I currently own both and am returning the Whitebook for various reasons, none of which have to do with performance, build quality, etc. Everything about the Whitebook destroys the HDX18, except the Whitebook has:

- less screen real estate (you start getting used to the 18.4 inches)
- worse bluray software/hardware (no bluray writer for instance), even if it displays WAAAAY better than on the HP
- speakers are tinny, and dont sound real great even just listening to sports radio
- the space between the touch pad and the mouse button is extremely inconvenient.
- I bought the HDX18 for 30% off, so there was a significant price difference.

Some more, which Ill get into when I have time to post a full comparison.

Hope this helps some.

 

What was the deciding factor for the HDX18?

 

Honestly, my reason for keeping the HDX over the Whitebook is totally unrelated to either notebook, and/or my experience with both.

Using the HDX for over a month, and the Whitebook for only 3 days now, I can tell you 100% that in any other situation I would choose the Whitebook over the HP. Even with the "sketchy" reseller I chose.

The HDX18 isnt a bad notebook. I just dont think it compares to the Whitebook. Even if the extra screen real estate is that important, I think the soon to come ASUS w90 is a better choice.

In my opinion, the only reason the HDX might win over either notebook is if you have a 30% off coupon for HP.


Also, heres some bad news for you that may point you in another direction: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=352388

 

lol i threaded that on the AW section and i suggested the asus like last page trying to get him to get the best for his money. but my final statement is to wait for the asus w90 its the best buy so buy it lol i wont go back to hp there issues in finished products and manufactored defects ..ughhh pcworld ranks it like 2 to last lol