M17x refresh buyers- why not wait for ATI 5870's??

Just wondering? Some of you I see are selling your old m17x's (or returning them) to get the i7 core, rgb led, and ati 4870's. Just curious why not wait for the gddr5 5870's?

 

I'm waiting. Takes so long to get out here, by the time my R2 gets here the 5870's would be a few short weeks away

 

The 5870s are not a massive release in the notebook market. They'll give 15%-20% performance increase over the 4870s. Plus, there is no guarantee for them ever being released on the M17x, never mind when or for what price.

That's what I'd think about it anyway I'm sticking with my M17 for quite a while.

 

Don't forget to add this to the list of new things...

 

hey mandrake is the performance sub-menu only available for the i7 920xm?

 

Dell have said that they will have dual GPU DX 11 notebooks soon (quoted from CES). I would wait, because two 5870 cards will cost the same as two 4870s IMO. Not a bad upgrade for 30 days of waiting.

 

I'm guessing the sub-menu will be there for all the procs but something like the CPU Vcore option may be limited to the 920XM.

 

i'm with you lewvig

 

I would have waited if I had another notebook to use. Plus I'm moving back to California for a month before I move to NY so that puts an address to ship it to in limbo. The 5970's will hopefully come before winter and still be MXM 3.0b.

 

5970's

 

It's my wishful thinking. ATi must have something else up their sleeves to counter nVidia's next big release in the summer (not GTX 285). Are you keeping the M15x witcher?

 

I think between now and cebit we'll see a lot of new things.

 

I was thinking of buying, but now I'm waiting for the new GPU's, USB 3.0, SATA III, the Clevo X7200, etc.

Hopefully CeBIT will clear things up.

 

no i am going to use it for now until i get my m17x

 

In any case, if people buy right now, they will regret later. Because I mean, the current CPU and screen refresh don't present a exceptionnal upgrae too. icore 7 doesn't seem to be a huge improvement when we play game regard to QX9300. Even if the screen is a good change, they still removed the Blu ray options.

Personnally I would keep the current version which can run every game in high details. And I will wait for 1 or 2 years before changing completly my laptop.

Many people are returning their laptop or selling their laptop just because icore 7 CPU. I understand their feeling, they just want the PERFECT laptop in the world. But what about then? Once you buy the new refreshe one, ATI 5870 will be released, and let's guess what will they do, returning their laptop or selling it once again......And this is ENDLESS. Laptops are always being upgrade, it is normal, you should not change computer because there is a little refresh. I would change only if there is really a lot of upgrade.

 

If I had a 4870x2 M17x the only thing that would have compelled me to sell it for this refresh is the RGB LED display, that's how important it is to me. The GPU upgrades, especially the 5870, doesn't seem like it will offer much of a performance leap so it's not a big concern. So you're right, if the RGB LED isn't a big deal for you and the DPC latency isn't a problem, there's no reason to rush out and ditch perfectly working (and expensive) M17x's for this new one.

 

Which is the only reason I returned my M17x for a full refund before my 21-days was up. So many problems with the dual 280m configuration, bluescreens, and not to mention the latency problems. It kind of worked out perfectly for me. I can now get the refresh with i7 and ATI cards. If I stick with the 820QM processor and not get the 920XM it will actually cost less than what I paid for my original M17x. Plus get the RGB display to boot!

It has already been mentioned: Whether you wait for the 5870s or buy now there will always be another upgrade coming out AFTER you buy. So why not buy now? It's just an endless cycle no matter what you do.

 

You are right. Just return your laptops if they really have serious problems.

It won't cost you less because of the 250$ RGB LED upgrade. But we can ignore the Blu Ray option upgrade which is not avalaible anymore.

 

i think if the i7 was the only refresh i won't sell my m17x but the rgb led screen is a must have now my eyes deserve that

 

There were 2 blu ray options available when I placed my order today (french Dell pages), 1 read and one read/write.

When I went to get prices just now, I found they had removed the M17x totally. A new refresh coming tomorrow? Or maybe just putting all the options back on?

 

Yes weekly refreshes lol

 

Oddly enough, the european sites still have the bluray options.

But I agree, a good screen is really the meat and potatoes of a laptop. You can upgrade most parts at a later stage, but the screen usually stays. In my old m15x the high resolution screen was awful. At full brightness it would be almost half as bright as a my wife's cheap Sony. That was really a pain to use.

If I was buying a 17 inch laptop, I would pull the trigger right now. The new ATI cards will probably end up being 10-15 % faster, which wont help you to run games faster if they are already slow. If a game runs at 15 fps, then the ati cards might get you to 17-19 fps which is still not that playable. If the fps is around 60, the ten percent increase will not be noticable.

So yeah, you either can pull the trigger now on a perfectly good system, or wait forever for upgrades as there is always something new around the corner

 

+1

I'm waiting! For exactly the reason stated above.

 

trust me the difference between 26 fps and 30 fps is very noticeable.

 

Maybe they added that option later. I looked at the Dell siteweb 13 hours ago. So things have changed. so much the better!

 

Here are my 2 cents regaring waiting for 5870 in M17x or buying now.
I say just go ahead and buy now, because if you keep waiting you will never buy anything.

When March comes and they release 5870 (who knows if that will happen for sure - plus they won't be much faster than 4870s) you would think that you will be finaly ready to by M17x but then around that time more M17x rumors will start circulating regarding USB 3.0, a better i7 quad core extreme CPUs (Arrandale maybe) or even the rumored mobile i9 six-core mobiles. Also NVIDIA will probably announce thier Fermi mobile cards to compete with 5870 and so on and so forth.

People on this forum will start rumoring/speculating that a new M17x refresh will come again in June, then in June more rumors for Oct. referesh will start and they will keep coming and you will keep waiting. Before you know it it will be January of 2011 and you will still be waiting for the next refresh.

That's what happened to me (i've been waiting and waiting for better laptops since last year) but last week I finaly decided and got a brand new M17x-R2 (i7-920xm, 4870XF, RGB LED, etc.) -I was done waiting and I'm relieved that I finaly got laptop !!! Feel free to agree or disagree with me...

 

I agree, all your points are real. Wait for 1 upgrade, you bet you'll be drooling at the next. Financially, buying a cutting edge laptop is not very smart.

But I am not upgrading from a M17x R1, I'm upgrading from a 3 yr old laptop I will be happy with the 4870 anyway

 

Some of you really think the 5870s will be "free", and that Dell won't charge +$$$ for a 'GTX whatever' -> 4870 -> 5870 upgrade path?

 

because you will be waiting for forever, the fact with laptop is you are always buying outdated tech, by the time 5870 comes out, a new annoucement of anothe refreash will be around the coner. its a never ending loop. I waited already too long for the i7, so i cant wait anymore.

 

I'm not in the same boat as many others. I'm upgrading from a laptop that has a single 9800m GTS in it and a T9600 CPU. Dual 4870's and an I7 CPU is gonna kick my current rigs . Not to mention the RGB LED screen is also gonna be a massive improvement.

I waited for the M17x refresh as I was originally gonna get the original M17x early January. So waiting for yet another update just seems silly for me.

 

We are talking about people who return their laptops to Dell because new version is realeased. You'd better talk about these people. I want to say that why don't they keep their laptop which are already too powerful and wait for the next refresh to get their "perfect laptop with upgraded graphic card". Some people may really have problems with their current one. Other no.

 

because everyone's situation is different. Most will have their own personal reasons.

 

I'm waiting since last year. First until W7 release & now for the DX11 CF cards. I can wait another 2 months.

 

I have installed all the latest updated drivers and software on my current M17x and no sign of the performance setup you show.

When is this suppose to come?

 

That's for the M17x-R2, not the M17x-R1 (the one you have).

 

Ok, so it will be on my new PC not the old one...

 

lol yeah. You didn't opt for RGB LED?

 

I get your point, but just needed to rectify one part. . . at least for us UK owners.

Actually, here in UK, the Radeon Xfire 4870s were the £200 CHEAPER option than the more expensive 280m GTX SLi, which the previous owner of my laptop asked for instead of the ATi Crossfire. (Mistake!) At least I have leverage on Dell's department here, when it comes to that issue, incase I get sick of Nvidia.

 

Of course I did. My sig says LED screen... There is only one option of LED screen on the M17X so I guessed people would understand. I will edit my sig if it's confusing.

 

True, I figured the other two might be LED as well. If they're still using CCFL that's a shame.

 

They are... 10 char

 

m17x with i7 have no mode Stealth Mode? Because looks like intel have problem with the energy of the i7?

 

+250 (the cost of upgrading the screen) is a lot less than +650 or +1000 (depending on if you get the 720 or 820, which both benchmark better than the qx9300).

My original m17x was about 4200 with tax. qx9300, dual 280's, crappy screen, 4gb 1333mhz ram etc etc. also, i made the dumb choice of choosing space black, which was nothing but a fingerprint magnet after picking it up and moving it from one place to another, EW, eff that, no thank you.

my new config was 2600 after tax, epp discount, and haggling. You can't beat a better performing system for that much cheaper, with GPUs that don't stutter and a screen that doesn't dim against your will like its mentally retarded. I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase.

Some people are willing to wait for the 5870's... that's cool beans. But right now, after running on a netbook for the past 3 months (and even longer if you count the period between when I sold my m1730 and when I purchased my first m17x, which i had for less than 21 days) not ordering this computer isn't really an option for me (especially when I've got a sweet LAN coming up next month).

 

Do you think dell will ever release a newer m17 just like alienware had before? A slightly cheaper gaming machine? Besides the m11x but just something similar and no not the m15x either if someone is going to say that. Do you guys think it is worth it get a m17?

 

Witcher, I have an m15x I am sitting on that is due to be returned via RMA while waiting on an m17x-R2, do you have an agreement to return yours to Dell or are you going to sell it on the open market?

My order is likely to be canceled, so I am up in the air what to do. I hate to return the m15x then have no laptop for another month, I really do need one at this point....

 

Can we even buy from dell? Have'nt been able to get anyone on the sales line for 3 days now.

 

Where do you live? I think you had called to Technical Support or CS. They may goes else where when we need them but sale reps are always available and ready to rip you

 

I am able to access the EPP...what other discount/haggling did you do? What did it get you? Did you order purely by phone? What was your strategy to haggle on the thing?

Thx

 

Woop! Who's waiting on the CYM LED screen refresh?

Only another god knows how many years!

Just keep buying and returning notebooks til then. You'll be fine.

 

I live in the US and I've been calling the 1800-www-dell number and I always get the voice mail and a message saying "the sales team is not available and we are closed due to inclimate weather. please leave your name and number .. blah blah blah.