M17x or M15x plz help

Hey all, just signed up to this site. Im getting a AlienWare laptop in the next month or so and im just trying to decide which one. My budget is £2800, I have gone though customization on both the m17x and m15x and here are the specs:

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So i guess it comes down to weather its better to have the core 2 extreme on the m15x but only 1 8800 gtx or the m17x with 2 8800 gtx sli but a slower cpu.

Or if theres a better setup for an alienware laptop please let me know but remember i can only spend £2800 MAX.

Thanks all in advance!

 

the x9000 isn't worth the money. if you don't need to be all that mobile, get the m17x. plus it's apparently very good build quality.

 

if you need portability....go with the m15x

if you want a better gaming/multimedia experience the m17x

P.S. as whizzo mentioned above......the x9000 is overrated

 

Ok cool thanks. Could anyone give me some pros and cons of the m17x and m15x please. Im probly going to get the m17x as it is newer etc...

To be honest the system doesn't have to be top of the line fastest in the world etc, it just has to be able to run new games ie cyris etc smoothly. My main reason for buying alienware other than performance is the name, looks and cool features that alienware laptops have.

Thanks again

 

check here

 

^^ thanks mate that was perfect. Guess i should have looked about a bit before i posted.

Thanks

 

i second what whizzo and rezendevous said.

lots of info to plow thru about the 15. the 17 does seem to be a better unit thus far...
then again, it all depends on how portable and how often you will be traveling with the unit...

 

Rezendevous pretty much simplified it the most accurately. The m17x is better but it sacrifices portability for it. A lot of us enjoy our m15x's as well, so really just go with whatever your lifestyle permits.

 

I noticed you're interested in 4GB memory in your m17x. You might also be interested in reading this thread carefully then.

 

Yea if you want 4GB of ram you want to buy a M15x because right now there are no 64bit drivers for the m17x so you will ONLY GET 2GB of RAM no matter what.

Sorry for caps

 

m15x compared to m17x

m15x pros
longer battery life since m17x does not come with smartbay feature

can run 64 bit os

has binary gfx

more mobile

has light pipe

single gfx card
cons

lower build quality

lower performance

m17x pros

higher build quality

stronger performance

2 hard drives... 3 with smart bay

m17x cons

can run only 32 bit for now

SLI for laptops is a nightmare basically because of the drivers

less mobile

less battery life

 

CONS is also only 2GB of ram

 

Hm, wow. Maybe the m17x isn't as much better as it seemed. Both still good machines though, I would say.

 

I agree with what has already been said, I would add that before you can choose which model you like the look/feel of, you really need to decide what you want to do with it.

The m17x is the better machine in the respect of build and performance (without overheating) but, the m15x is the portable option.

Gaming machine - m17x

Mobile "laptop" - m15x

Just my 2p...

OB

 

Just also note that you'll probably save money buying the smartbay battery after you've purchased your m15x (that is, if you plan on getting an m15x.) Buying it as an "upgrade" to your computer should be half the price it shows on the website.

You could also save money by self-upgrading to 4GB of RAM instead of paying for it straight-out during your order. It's a lot cheaper to purchase RAM through newegg than through the upgrade. (I personally saved myself $250 this way, and another $72 off the smartbay battery.)

 

wow, thanks for all the replys about this. Well ive decided to go for the m17x due to the better build, bigger screen and better specs. one last question for you all ive been hearing alot about sli being a pain in the bum lol. and heard most people just turn one of the cards off to save problems. Am i best to go for the sli or should i go for the 512MB NVIDIA® Quadro® FX 3600M single card?

I want the laptop to at least last me a couple of years and still be playing the newest games in a years time (Of course probly not at top settings). So for this reason should i go for the sli setup? or is the fx 3600m single card going to be just as good if not better than the dual 8700m gt (Cant afford the 8800m gtx upgrade).

Thanks

 

The only "problems" if you call them that are that most new drivers don't seem designed for Sli set-ups. I am using the stock drivers with no problems and good performance, a few others are using other drivers with varied success.

If you fancy trying other drivers it's no issue to change them back.

I'd go for the two 8800GTX's but, that's just me (",)

OB

 

what he said....

 

Yeah drivers can really be hit or miss. I tried a few drivers and they were unsuccessful. I'm currently using 177.72 and they are rock solid so far.
Stock Drivers are fine for current notebook SLI though.

 

I might give them a try, did you get any better performance with them, verse the stock ones?

OB