My New Alienware Area-51 m17x specs

Hi everyone, I'm heading off to college and bought the new Area 51 m17x and customized it a lot for my graduation gift. My specs are below, but my question is: How long should this computer last me, and how long before it becomes obsolete? Also, does it have enough memory? Thanks. I'm kind of a n00b at this

[1] Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX – SLI Enabled

Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology – Black
Includes AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design!

System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Red

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB

Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1

Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital/Analog (ATSC) MiniCard TV Tuner with Express Card Media Center Remote Control

System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 128GB (64GB x 2) Solid State Drive

Smart Bay: 200GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) Smart Bay w/ Free Fall Protection

Optical Drives : 2x Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Burner (BD-R, DVD±RW, CD-RW)

Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card

Sound Card : External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card

Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service

Security Software: Norton Internet Security™ 2008

Microsoft Office Suites: Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007

Featured Games: Battlefield 2142

Productivity & Benchmark Software: 3DMark®06

Productivity & Benchmark Software: System Mechanic®

Port Adapters: HDMI to DVI-D Adapter

Port Adapters: FireWire Adapter: 9-pin (1394b) to 6-pin (1394a)

Port Adapters: HDMI Cable: Connect to any HDMI display

Mouse: Gaming Mouse - Razer Lachesis™ Mouse

Power: Vehicle AC Adapter – Belkin® AC Anywhere 300W Vehicle Outlet Adapter

External Storage: 500GB Seagate Free Agent External Hard Drive

Wireless Routers: Netgear® WPN824 RangeMax™ Wireless MIMO Router

Security: Targus Key Lock Notebook Security Cable

Flash Memory: 32GB Patriot USB Flash Drive

Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap

Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad

Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder

Alienware Extras: Alienware® Personalized Nameplate

Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card

Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Protective Cloth Sleeve

Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Keyboard Diagram Overlay

Alienware Extras: Area-51® m17x Smooth Mylar Touchpad

Avatar: Alienhead 3D

Window Style: Red Window Style

Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers

Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D

Wallpaper: Alienhead Flat

Wallpaper: Alienhead Logo

Power Plan: Power Saver

Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On

Sidebar Gadgets: CPU Meter

Sidebar Gadgets: Weather Forecast (default location)

Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

 

"Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX – SLI Enabled"

*Drool*

Man unless there are some significant leaps in technology in the pipeline then this should last you several years! In terms of RAM - you are completely set for the forseeable future. The spec of your machine is something waaay outta my price range, you're gonna have lots of fun with that demon machine!

 

What was the damage?

 

Yeah, my argument was that if some people get cars worth a couple thousand dollars for graduation, then they can spend about $8000 on my laptop. I was worried because I printed out those specs for some kid at school who knows computers and he read them, and just walked away. i thought it was because it sucked and I was freaking because I spent all this dough, but I guess he was just jealous

 

Damage? I bought it new?

 

damage=money you paid .lol

 

Oh, my bad. Like I said, new.

With shipping and stuff it was about $8,600

Also, is this Solid State Drive all it seems cracked up to be from what I have read online?

 

That's a bit.Enjoy your system

 

Holy smokes, that is one expensive notebook. You could have saved a significant amount of money upgrading the memory yourself and getting a non-Extreme processor, but oh well. I'd think your computer should be good for several years with those specifications. Make sure you buy a heavy-duty notebook lock and keep it locked up at all times.

We'd love to have some benchmarks of this machine when you get it. What is your estimated ship date?

 

It's great but, to be honest, you are just throwing money away.
Don't get me wrong, the computer is great... But buying external HD from AW, mouses, programs, etc... It's really just giving money to AW for nothing. You could get all those nice add-ons for half a price (2X64GB SSD is another waste of money at the present time).
Appart from that, it does look nice... But again, and don't get offended with what I'm going to say, it just looks like you opened the webpage and selected the most expensive things you could select, without really thinking about it.

 

Yeah... who are you anyway ?? Prince of Saudi ??

 

Maybe, I could have bur then I would have to learn how, lol. Ship date is like mid July, it sucks.

 

Yeah, maybe I did do that, but you know, I figure you get what you pay for? But I did read about each part before I clicked it. I just liked what I read.

But why is the SSD a waste now? I was really hesitant about it, but the fast start-up I liked.

 

That would be true, because....

He doesn't even know the power his own laptop on order packs....

So I can't help but question, are you really that much of a gamer ? Or an enthusiast ? That you would even bother to know the capability of those specifications ?

Not always, my friend.

 

Does it matter? If it lasts me through college and I can uuse it as basically my entertainment in my dorm, it's good enough for me.

 

man,do you need that?what games will you play?

 

SSDs are a too brand new technology and, therefore, quite expensive. Like BD drives. You should have gone with cheaper solution (for both) and upgrade at a later stage, saving yourself probably more than $1000.
With half of the money, you would get a laptop with exactly the same power.

But, don't let these comments detract from your happiness. It's just that you could have bought 2 M17x for that ammount of money.

 

Yes, I was really close to not getting it and now I guess I should have come here first. Ah well, too late now. But thanks, I won't let it distract me. Maybe I overpaid, but since they aren't going to help me much in college, they can overpay for this.

 

That does matter depending on what kind of "entertainment" you're looking for... ?

Exactly... what games ?

 

Movies, huge amounts of music, fast internet browsing, games

I've been eager to play Crysis and Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 and hey, I want to put them on max graphic settings. Ok, I prolly could have gone cheaper and still been able to, but whatever.

 

you can get the same by half of that money and give the rest to hungry african kids...or to ME!

 

I'll be more careful and send you the rest in about 5-6 years when I replace this one. Let's just say I am Alienware's dream: A kid needing a good grad gift with no computer experince past ctrl alt delete

 

this system will be outdated in 2 years...

 

Maybe, but I'm keeping it for 5, you see.

 

Any system is going to be outdated within a relatively short amount of time, but that doesn't make it unusable or slow. It only means that you don't have the latest technology. My laptop is using 3 year old technology but it still works fine for almost any modern application. Given how far ahead hardware is than software, you should be good for a long time with your m17x.

 

Listen man you will enjoy your new laptop regardless what the naysayers are posting. I do agree that you did pay an arm and a leg for it but if you got it to spend why not. I also do believe in the SSDs being top performers as my friend has one in his laptop (OCZ version). The read speeds are amazing its jus that the write performance is slower than standard hard drives. This laptop should hold you over for at most 2 yrs. Enjoy it when you get it and dont forget to post pics and benchmarks here when it arrives!

 

my point is that you can buy 2500-3000$ sager which will play every game at high and update in 1-2 years...

 

Thanks, and I will do all of that, just don't look for it before mid to late July. Glad to hear I didn't mess up with my SSD.

 

Thank you, and point taken.

I plan on taking some classes in college to help me learn all about this stuff so rest assured, I will never make the same "mistake" (and I use that term loosely) again.

 

hell that's an expensive buy!
you could buy a clevo with a desktop quad core and the same everything for half the money.
I guess this is where alienware makes all their profit XD

 

you can still cancel your order !btw,look at www.xoticpc.com ,they have very powerful notebooks at great prices.

P.S. i m not sager fan boy or AW hate-er,i think both of them are great,but i try to save you money...in this case more then 4000$....

 

Lol, I don't think I'm quite going to cancel.

Me: I'm cancelling my laptop because I made you overpay.
Mom: Good, now you can get a $500 one.
Me: #^$#* @#*$&*!!!

 

nope,i think it is going to be this way!

You:mom,i m going to save you 4000$!
your mom:great,thank you!

 

Lol, maybe but I want it. I went to that site and looked at the Sager. I have never even heard of them, but I likey! I have a lot to think about...

 

well,sager is re-branded clevo with excellent(it is true,look in sager forum) build quality and customer support.and their rating is 9.99 of 10!

 

That is impressive...

 

a little explanation.

Sager 5793-portable gaming rig with 8800gtx and extreme CPU
Review here-" http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=215922 "

Sager 9262-most powerful laptop on the earth-it has desktop QuadCore CPU,3X HDD,and 8800gtx SLI.
Review here-" http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=246003 "

 

Well, Crysis will play close to very high I think but not quite maxed up in my opinion. And internet speed depdends on your internet connection .

That's an amazing system; I hope it gets to you flawless unlike the rest of us who have had problems with the M15X.

 

Then what on earth do you need to put it on max? A supercomputer?

 

Interesting reads that I wish I had read sooner.

 

its not late...

 

Could you guys imagine if he gets a computer that has all the scratches, wrong name-plate, dents in the chassis, melting light-pipes, wobbly screen hinges, downclocking CPU and GPU.

FOR $8000+ !!! OMFG!

Dude, for $8000 if I got that lemon, I'd storm down in Miami and light the AW headquarters on fire!
(just kidding of course, but I would do it!)

 

Yep a super super computer, ha ha.. Though thats only if you paln on gaming in 1080p with full effects and shadows, otherwise on lower resolutions it'l bang out high frame rates no prob.

 

lets hope they don't release it with Montevina days after this arrives on his doorstep.

 

man i'd be pissed if I spent $8000 and only got 328gigs of hardrive space (thats including the SB HD) even If i got faster boot times.

 

When FadeToBlack said something like "Sli for $700 ? For $700, you can also get seriously laid!"
^^ That has a whole new meaning here with this guy

 

Running vista with only a 120 gig hard drive? and lets face it is, the smartbay is just a nice looking external.

I'd seriously reconsider the ssd's and the ram and anything other than what's bolted to the lappie. Use the spare cash to buy a giant monitor.

 

Why not use that kind of cash to buy a massive 16GB RAM server !? (hypothetically speaking, ofcourse!)

 

so are u canceling?

 

Come on guys... leave the guy alone to enjoy his moment!