M17x review finally

Which lighting color is your favorite? For the keyboard, I mean.

Is it easy to disable the darn windows function keys so that you don't get tab'd out when you try to check the unit health in Starcraft or Warcraft III?

Which case color would look best with the lighting effects? Black, Silver, or Red? The new red one looks kinda interesting.

 

I'm not trolling. I'm a 40 year old male, married, with one child. I have been saving up forever for a new computer. I'm currently using a 1.5 year old refurbished 17", 1440 x 900 hp dv9260nr notebook computer. I got a good deal on it (vista 64 bit ultimate, tv tuner card, hd dvd drive, twin 120 gb hdd's, 2 ghz processor, 2 gb ram, all under $1k), but it was just to tide me over until I could get the computer I really want.

I've been researching computers for about 3 years now. The technology I want comes out towards the end of the year.

1. 32 nm cpu's
2. DirectX 11 gpu's
3. USB 3.0
4. Intel X25-M G2 160 GB SSD's
5. Windows 7

I'm down to one of four computers.

Desktop:
CyberpowerPC Black Mamba
DigitalStormOnline

Laptop:
Alienware m17x
Sager NP9850

I've pretty much ruled out the DigitalStormOnline one, because for the price it would cost me to fully trick it out (about $8k-$10k) I could get both a desk top and a lap top tricked out from the above options (or two laptops, one for me and one for my wife). That leaves the desktop or laptop question, and if I go laptop, which one of the two that I like makes the most sense.

I like the Sager's 18.4" screen, the 3 drive bays, the availability of the Intel x25-M drive, and the option to get a faster speed dual core cpu than the alienware.

I like the Alienware's resolution of 1900 x 1200, the lighting effects, and the aluminum frame.

I like that for the same price I could get an insanely great desktop from Cyberpower, but then I would sacrifice the mobility.

So I'm still researching things for another few months and plan to buy around Christmas time or maybe shortly thereafter, and I thought it would be good to hear some comments on why he chose Alienware m17x over the Sager.

 

Got it. We get a LOT of trolling around here, unfortunately.

You are asking this in the AW section so 99% of your replies will tell you to go with the M17x.

So, what are you waiting for? lol

I am getting one due to the looks, performance, upgradeability, and WARRANTY

As far as what's coming out Q4/Q1, it doesn't look like any performance products will be released until at least Q2 next year. That is a long ways off.

DX11 is useless to me as developers have yet to use DX10 effectively.

Buy now and you get Win7 free.

I'll get an SSD towards the end of the year when the price/performance reaches acceptable levels for me.

USB 3.0 - not waiting for it but it'll be a welcome addition.

 

You should ask your question in the "Which notebook should I buy" forum.

I chose the AW over Sager because of the looks, size and the fact I could buy it from Dell and have a Dell warranty.

 

hey moo did you try to get a price for two gtx-280's on alienware I call and they say "out of stock" they don't even want to give me a price, if I can get two of those I sell the 260's on ebay thank's

 

i got it for battery and looks and the upgrades that it can receive

now if you want true gaming power go desktop

if you want both then go laptop

 

Ahhhh the DV9260nr days.....that was my last NORMAL notebook haha, then I found the whitebook and now my M17x (it is in front of me!!)

The dv9260nr was a decent piece of tech hehe. If you flash the bios to the new one, you can put 4 gb in and I also upgraded both hdd to 320GB scorpio blacks, it was like rebirth for that notebook

 

However... if you listen to the "HP Health Check" that tells you that you need a new BIOS... and flash the BIOS that you download from that... then it trashes your BIOS and you get a nice series of beeps when you try to boot up.

And since the BGA cpu is soldered to the motherboard rather than socketed... you've just trashed your motherboard.

And since there is no way to re-flash the BIOS once it's flashed... you now have to buy a new motherboard and you are out about $400 because you downloaded and installed incorrect and incompatible firmware THAT HP TOLD YOU TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL!!

Not that I'm bitter...

So now I got the mobo replaced as cheap as possible, with a dv9260 clone mobo... which now has totally different bios from the original, so... blah.

I'm ready to ditch this one and get a nice laptop. I'm gonna have to post in the "what laptop should I buy" and give the entire details and see what people recommend. Earlier poster is right, if I post in the Alienware area about what notebook to buy, everyone's gonna say Alienware.

 

depends if your not looking a gaming laptop i would never say that

 

lol that sucks....I flashed the bios on 3 different machines without a problem at all.... (my whole family all got dv9260nr's haha)

 

Laptop looks amazing Moo man. I'm VERY surprised how much battery life you get out of it, looks like Alienware and Dell finally made a good decision by throwin in an integrated gpu as well. Hell it gets better battery life than my 15 inch.

 

Hah my family did too! Well me and my wife, anyways. Only she didn't flash her bios and just laughed when I screwed mine up.

 

I did all the flashing and upgrading, I am the computer person in my house

 

Ok, so here's my "what laptop should I buy" thread, actually posted in the proper section this time.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5192665#post5192665

 

My quote there looks like I'm rambling but I'm actually replying to his points in a previous post.

 

@Bolas: i already brought up this topic in the sager forum. despite my note to not turn into a flamewar, it did and then got locked. can't find that thread now.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=390687

you posted it in the AW section

 

ah yes thanks for the link.

 

Hey Guys -

Ive noticed that one can play games with the 260m with hybrid SLI (with 9400m) and with ONLY the 260m...

How do I know what im playing with.... I assume, unless you turn hybrid SLI off in the bois, I will be using both in gaming, right

EDIT: im asking in this thread since i see moo, checked his fps in games with sli hybid and with only the 260m... I would love to do this to... so i though I would ask here... sorry if im intruding guys

 

u're either using just the onboard 9400m OR the two 260s in SLI. not 2 +1.

to know what mode u're playing in, switch on sli indicators in the nv control panel. also, the nv sign in ur system tray with the two green arcs tells u whether u're in sli mode or not. dunno what it shows when u're running on integrated.

 

No, I have a single 260m... and moo showed fps in games While using the 260m along with hybrid sli 9400m... and then he did it with just and only the 260m

I dont have that power save state on to where im only using the 9400m... in display it shows 260m... I know how to do that, but using just and only the 260m for gaming, im assuming you do that within the bois.

moo shows this in the 1st page regarding his FPS in games

 

when you have hybrid SLI driver installed save power is intergrated and fulll power uses both

 

The GTX 260M does not support GeForce Boost with the 9400M IGP only HybridPower (switchable/binary graphics).

http://www.nvidia.com/object/hybridsli_notebook.html


Performance would drop if it did because of how much slower the 9400M is than the GTX260M.

 

well it is about 12 pounds......what did you expect?

 

That is Resident Evil 5.

 

Return it and wait for the M15x refresh.

 

we all know how the waiting game can end up though....lol

and the M15x wont be as powerful as the M17x.....

 

Well what could you expect with a laptop with this much power? lol

 

we were talking about the new version that is supposed to come out later this year

 

Yes but you get 21 days so you might want to try it out first.

I'm talking about the new M15x coming out this holiday season.

 

It was Vandit who did the high quality photos right away. Speaking of perspective, I believe the foot is much further away from the camera than the laptop is. It's not a 1:1 ratio in distance.

 

it really is not that much bigger than other 17" laptops....i mean it is big of course, and will turn some heads, but nothing unwieldy

 

Maybe Moo just has feet like a tiny Asian Princess.

Instead of judging based on a foot of unknown size and at an unknown distance away from the laptop why not get a ruler and measure out the laptop dimensions in person.

 

I can take a picture of something beside the laptop if you guys really want a perspective..

Just tell me what you want beside it.

 

Alright, will do. Why ruler? Dimensions are available on the website ha ha but I'll do both.

 

btw the small foot comment is wrong i wear a 13-14 depending on the shoe

 

Big feet FTW!

 

moo is the next shaq o neal.

 

just white, and from the south

 

great post Moo, i'm so jealous of your new rig!!!

 

Moved to Order Status forum.

 

what are you hopeing for >