M17..better for cheaper than M17x ?

I've made two computers, trying to total as close to $2500 as possible.

M17:

Dual 4850's
Core 2 Extreme X9100 3.06GHz
1200p Screen
4gb RAM
RAID 0, 2x 250GB HD's
Ultimate N 5300 Wireless card
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)

M17x:

Dual GTX260M's
Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
1200p Screen
4gb RAM
RAID 0, 2x 320gb HD's
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)

Ok, they both have the same amount of RAM, similar size HD's, same screen. The M17 has a better and more OC'able processor. I'm not sure about the video cards, but I think they're very similar in performance.

So, if I can get better performance for the same price out of a M17, why not?

Note: I don't plan to upgrade these laptops in the future, so I don't care about the upgradable part of the M17x.

 

m17 has no future upgrades, while m17x has the future proof upgrades
pick one. m17's motherboard is old there is no gurantee that the newest cpu or newest videocards in a year or 2 will be upgraDABLE FOR M17, m17x is a really new motherboard with tons of opportunies to upgrade in a year or 2 ahead. your choice.

 

I guess I'll be getting the M17. I will be getting it for Christmas, so unless some crazy deal for the M17x comes around, I'll be getting a fully loaded M17.

 

The GTX 260 in desktops is more equivalent to a 4870, but NVidia has a lot of rebranding going on right now so I'm not sure if that carries over exactly. I think the M17 you picked would have a bit better futureproofing since it has a quad, but the T9600 should be able to handle everythig (except heaving video editing/encoding) right now. I would go with the M17x personally because of the better video cards, bigger HDD's, nicer look (IMO), better battery life with the Binary GFX feature, and the ability for you to sell the T9600 and buy a quad if you felt like you needed the extra power a few years/months down the road.

 

I notice you could probably knock about $300 off the m17 if you buy your own 2nd hdd and 2x2gb ram.

I like the m17's screen not having that piece of plastic over it like the m17x.

I prefer the annodized aluminum case and apparant build quality of m17x.

 

yea get the Hard drive and RAM off newegg.com

and the M17 is the better deal here

 

Both laptops have p socket processors and doubt either will upgrade to 32nm i7 or whatever it is.

As far as gpu upgrades go, who knows?

 

yea i was gonna comment on that

people are way to in love with this laptop it won't last forever .... they may or may not release a MOBO upgrade who knows ...(it would be required for 32 nm CPU's)

i doubt they will to make a new model and make more money


GPU's are a different story

 

the m17 is a better spec as you place it now, neither machine will get the i7 so the Qx9300 is the most that you will get out of the cpu side of things

if it was me i would get the m17 as by the time its outdated you will need a new machine with i7 anyway to get the most out of whatever is out at the time which is not something the m17x can do

so in this case the future upgrading of cards is irrelvent

 

How said that M17 is not upgradable, you can upgrade the ram to 8GB, the HD to 1TB, the VGA to 2GB crossfire, the processor to the latest one QX9300 and so and so...

 

The trouble is that the M17x could see future graphics card upgrades (just like the M17 now has 4850s) whereas the 4850s is the very best the M17 will take. The M17x also has a longer battery life (with the 9400m) and to some looks better. Some people also prefer the Edge2Edge scren on the M17x. However the M17 arguably is quite a lot thinner and lighter making it more portable, and a bigger battery for longer on the go gaming (still short at 45-60 minutes).
The M17x's charger however is a LOT smaller and lighter than the M17. Still doesn't balance out the weight though.

I could create a plausible argument for getting either laptop.

If you were outside of the US though I'd say 100% get the M17. I can get a LOADED M17 (X9100, 4850s, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM added in myself, 1920x1200) for the SAME price as the ENTRY LEVEL M17x (Single 260M, Q9000, 4GB RAM, no idea what hard drive).

Just depends what you're looking for really.

 

the M17 is VERY close in width to the M17x

weight doesn't matter they are both heavy and @ this much LBS 1 pound is barely noticable

ALSO theoretically the M!7x AC adapter will work in the M17

you never use both GB's only one of those

 

Ive been using the M17x adapter in the m17 for 2 days now i forgot to mention that .

 

told you Quad

but noooooo " i unno ....."

 

Well it was me risking it in the end so i wanted to be sure . i knew it would fit all along just wasnt sure it was safe and even rob didnt know if it would be .

 

...:d


.....

 

Hey, I'm just glad to see people reconsidering their opinions on the M17's instead of discounting it due to "potential, maybe, possibly, no-one really knows for sure" graphics cards upgrades. It really is still a top-notch machine.

 

ha, I wonder then if the M17 adapter will work on the M17x....

 

It might work but the difference between the 2 are the M17x adapter is rated at 3.5a and the M17 one is rated at 3.0a . I dont know enough about that sorta thing to say if its ok or not but they are both 240w PSU.

I took a chance and quite frankly was a bit paranoid i was going to kill the M17 in the process but i really would like a smaller PSU for the M17 for travelling so i chanced it .

 

usually if it needs less Voltage ur good but more and it usually doesn't work

common sense to me but i am not good with PS .... i just am using common sense here....

 

Well unless the machine is at a full draw the M17 PSU should work so even 3.0a should handle it no problem . Just using common sense here .

 

Hmmmm....the reason I ask is the Army dudes actually have a couple AW M17s, (not M17 claymore mines haha), so I been tempted to see if I could borrow one of their adaptors while I still wait for just one of my replacements to get here....

 

I would say its worth a shot . If its not supplying enough power right from the get go it might honk at you telling you the right powersupply is not inserted like my XPS 1710 used to do when i used a 90w PSU from my 1705.

 

Yeah....and at the very least I could recharge the battery daily lol...

 

Lol yep and theres always that to