M17x which is the better buy?

Hey everyone,

So my current computer is crap. I have to touch two wires together to turn it on , it sounds like a motor and thank god I've worked up enough money to buy this beautiful machine. I'll make a Youtube video just to show the sheer upgrade I'm making here.

So I have two options I'm considering.

1. 2.8 Duo w/ 1 260m for $1999 via Dell.

or

2. 2.0 Quad w/ 2 260ms for $2099 via Best Buy.

What do you guys think?

 

i'd take option 2...

 

i didnt even think twice... option 2. has sli and a quad and 1 has a duo and no sli... the Q9000 can go to 2.4+ GHz so no bottleneck...

 

screen rez?

 

Option 2 is 1440 x 900, which, to put it bluntly, quite stinks.

 

Then I'll help confuse the OP and say option 1 unless that is also 1440x900.

 

1920 @ 1 GTX260m? no way in hell.

 

900p isnt bad, prolongs game performance? xD

 

Both are 1440x900

From what I've been reading, The 1440x900 isn't that bad.

If I changed it....

1. 2.8 Duo, 1 260m 1920x1200 for $2149

or

2. 2.0 Quad, 2 260ms 1440x900 for $2099

2.0 Quad vs 2.8 Duo
2 260s vs 1 260
1440x900 vs 1920x1200
$0 vs $50

 

Yep. I'd prefer to upgrade the GPUs myself vs the E2E screen. Plus I definately want the screen under the Dell warranty.

 

...you got your answer

the second one

 

I would never even consider sli 260m paired with 1440 x 900. Best Buy is evil

Do it right, get 1920 x 1200 and sli 260m. Take the base CPU, upgrade later.

 

If you're used to 1920x1200 the 1440 screen will look like crap. High rez screen would be priority 1 for me.

 

Agreed.

10 char.

 

You guys overvalue 1920 a little unh?

 

1440 x 900 is awesome, 1920 x 1200 on a 17 in aint that pretty, now buy a 25 in external led monitor and there you go =).

 

im use to the 1440, but i think this whole forum worships 1920. I may need to experience it.

 

TBH with $150 you save with 1440 you can add more $250 and buy a 2233RZ which is the best monitor you can get for gaming

 

Yah unless you actually use your notebook as a notebook and move it around wherever you go.

I have a 1440 x 900 Screen on my desktop, and my 1920 x 1080 screen on my laptop simply blows my desktop away. I was literally astounded when I turned my laptop on for the first time at the quality of the graphics. Granted I have an M17, and I've never seen the actual quality of the LCD in the M17x, but just from a resolution perspective, there's no way in hell I'll ever go back to a 1440 screen on my laptop. I'd personally pick the second option 1 at $2149.

 

It's a DTR u r not going to use it outside every day and when u go outside u can survive with a 1440x900 screen.

 

just get the base config with these changes only (from dell):

sli GTX260m
1920x1200
And if you really want it - backlit keyboard

CPU, HDD, Ram all easily user upgradeable (cheaper to do yourself too)

Without the keyboard, comes out to $2249 and is actually a pretty nice deal (GTX260m is pretty much a fancy 9800m GTX)

 

Since when is the backlit keyboard optional?

 

If i order thru dell im getting this:
P8600
GTX 260M SLI
WUXGA
4GB 1066
1TB 2x500gb 7200rpm raid0
HD's through dell because newegg charges $130 for 500gb 7200rpm notebook drives... dell is cheaper.

im gonna see if i can upgrade the screen on the bestbuy one myself and still have it covered on warrantee... then i just get another 500gb or 128gb ssd...

 

Ya the keyboard isn't an option on this model, That's my bad. I'm used to the M17 where it is a $50 option and just assumed Dell would pull that crap here too.

 

Hey guys, I'm on the dell website right now customizing my (maybe) future m17x and it's letting me choose the 1920 with the core 2 quad Q9000. Is this a misnomer? Am I going to end up paying extra for something I can't use?

 

the q9000 can be upgraded to 2.4Ghz i think so that wouldnt be bad at all, for me its out of this or the 2.8 dual core

 

It's not 900p. 900p doesn't exist.

720p and 1080p (and 480p) are standards that describe both the aspect ratio and vertical pixels, it's not a term to simply describe how many vertical pixels are there.

It is 1440x900 and it is WXGA+ or WSXGA, but "900p" doesn't exist.

 

Regardless of dual video or not, I would still always get the WUXGA screen. Even if you can't drive some of your games at the native res, you can scale down. The I find the NVidia scaler to be pretty good.

Hmm, why else? Well what also sucks is a desktop of 1440x900 at 17". It really sucks in fact. I can't stand 1440x900 even on a 15" (my MacBook pro), it's gotta be at least 1680x1050 for a decent desktop experience for me.

IMO Dell/AW should have made the default 1680x1050 with an upgrade to 1920x1200.