M17 or M17x -Need some advice pls-buying new

Looking for a AW laptop for my son, really need to stay below 3k on the unit. The M17 has an edge on price (included a setup for each), I looked at the M17x but the price goes up fast. Would it be wise to get the M17x with less or the M17 with more?

Whats the advantage pro n con the the video cards.
M17-Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™
M17x-Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
'
Thanks in advance for any info!

Product Detail

[1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 T9400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital / Analog (ATSC) TV Tuner with Adapter
Memory: 4GB« Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB

System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW )
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
The World's First 450 Mbps Wi-Fi Adapter!
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Blue Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D
Wallpaper: Alienhead Glow
Wallpaper: Alien Cyborg
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
RSS Feeds: Alienware News:
Get the latest Alienware news delivered directly to your desktop!
Time Zones: (GMT - 7.00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)


[1] Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology – Black
Includes AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design!
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Blue
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital/Analog (ATSC) MiniCard TV Tuner
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (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: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
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
Avatar: Alienhead 3D
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

 

I would go with m17-it will be a lot faster.

 

I wish I have a dad like you.
yeah, m17 is better deal. The crossfire need a little more knowledge than the nvidia card to use it to potential, but it's faster.

 

LOL... Thanks...

I am leaning towards to M17!

 

Happy with my M17X. But the M17 has more potential and can be upgraded.

 

I ordered as follows, the M17. Removed the Blue-Ray player as he does not need it, has a PS3. Up-graded the hard drive and added a carry case.

[1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 T9400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital / Analog (ATSC) TV Tuner with Adapter
Memory: 4GB« Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB

System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 320GB 7,200RPM (16MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Laser-Etch Your Label Directly to the Disc!
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
The World's First 450 Mbps Wi-Fi Adapter!
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Games: Crysis Warhead
Productivity & Benchmark Software: 3DMark®06
The standard in 3D benchmarking
Mobile Bags: Alienware® Orion Messenger Bag
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Blue Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D
Wallpaper: Alienhead Glow
Wallpaper: Alien Cyborg
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Time Zones: (GMT - 7.00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)

 

That´s a really nice config. The m17 is an awesome laptop.

 

Good choice. I removed my Blue Ray player as well. I'll probably upgrade the drive as the technology becomes more widespread, but I didn't need it now.

- F

 

Yea the Blue-Ray would be nice but tried to have it built towards gaming and not watching movies. As far as being a good Dad in getting this for my son, I may just wrap up my Dell XPS1730 in exchange for this beast; it will be very tempting as the XPS is only 2 months old and you better believe I will be test driving the M17 when it shows up.

Very appealing indeed!

 

For those interested, portables4gamers compares the M17x to the M17 (well, kinda, it's the Arima W840-Di, but it's pretty much the same thing as the M17). It's translated from french to english:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://portables4gamers.com/?p=5142

 

ichime nice review people think becuase the 3870s score low in crysis they are weak. well lemme tell u 3870 >>>>>> 9800gt/8800gtx in everyway besides nvdia fanboy games.

 

(ichime)

Nice review done there on the two cards, happy the ATI is making a move with laptops, nVIDIA was/is becoming over expensive.

I am hopeful that the T9400 2.53 will be enough and not become the bottleneck of my system if pushed.
On that note is the motherboard different from dual CPU's to quad on the M17, if you were to upgrade later?

 

I'm considering a similar config Juice - same proc and most of the other things the same. Seems like a decent processor - wonder if it's not enough for the rest of the tech?

Anyone w/ an M17 - how has it fared? I'm presuming the M17x doesn't have the plastic/hinge issue that I'm reading about the 15" - how about the M17?

 

hold on about those reviews tho, it seems that SLi wasn't working properly in some of those tests. We're trying to figure this out in the OCZ section.