New Alienware m17 discussion

Ah man, so it's really DDR2? I was hoping that was just a typo. A 256-bit mobile card with DDR2 is blasphemy.

 

AHHHHH I wish this was a 15"! 17" Is too big for me. Everything about this laptop is top notch from my perspective. The only flaw I see is the lack of alienFX. But they still manage backlit keyboard anyway. If this was a 15" I would have ordered this thing the day it came out regardless of any $40 giftcard *HINT*I AM STILL MISSING *HINT*

 

why is it called the whitebook when even the non-alienware one is black?

 

I would definitely buy this laptop but what puts me off is its weight.

It's 9.5 (4.3 kg) base weight so if you add a bit more I suppose it hits the 10 lbs (4.5 kg) mark plus you have the adapter 1lb, all this adds up to 11 lbs (5kg). **** that's heay.

Right now I am torned between this beauty and the sager NP5796 which is 8.35 lbs (3.8 kg) + 1.5 lbs power adapter (0.7 kg) in total 9.8 lbs (4.5 kg). This IMO is more decent in terms of weight. However the Sager even with the 9800M GTX has less performance than the 3870 crossfire and is also 500 dollars more expansive so again I don't know what to do.

 

I would say go with the M17 despite your concerns. How often do you intend on carrying it around anyhow? It is a great machine, my only qualms with it really are the chassis and the lack of smart bay. Regardless, it gets my vote in your case. 1.2lb difference is not that great, IMO.

 

Dont know where you got that, the MSI GT725 has a 3850. Its gDDR3, 256 bit and has 512 MB vRAM and gets around 6000 in 3dmark06, similar to my laptop. I got that score from notebookjournal.de, ill post link when i get to my computer.

I doubt any 4000 series cards will appear until next year, at best. Dont get your hopes up.

 

Does Alienware allow overclocking on the M17?

 

Again, NO. OCing will void your warranty.

 

The source is listed with the 4850.

 

Yeah I started to think the same but I just did a but of research and I found out that the M17 power brick is 2.5 lbs (1.1 kg) . Which makes quite a difference.

2.5 lbs!!! hope I am wrong but apperently the OCZ Whitebook has this type of power adapter. So the M17 is in total 12.5 lbs (5.7 kg) while the NP5796 is a bit less than 10 (4.5 kg) .

 

Again, how often do you intend to lug it around? Personally, if it's the only thing in my bag, I wouldn't mind. That's me though.

 

Whats the chasis like for this, is it plasticky?.

 

No, Arima use magnesium for the W835 (m9750), so they should do the same for W840DI (m17)...

 

Well right now I have an E1705 with a 7950 GTX inside and even considering the power brick is not a problem to carry around once/twice a week on long distances. Although I often move around the house with it. I think it weights about 9.5 lbs with the power adapter. I really wouldn't like my laptop to be heavier than that. So this is were my dilemma comes in…

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_box_(computer_hardware)

 

you would be better off not getting the m17,but getting a sager where you can config it more for your money and it is video card upgradeble

 

I thought the M17 is the cheapest already.

 

how 'bout some research before you post? the m17 is the same barebone that KN and XoticPC sell. the video cards are upgradable, and the pricing on the m17 is fantastic. in fact, AW's price is half a grand better than KN's for a similar config, and it beats XoticPC's price by about 50$ as well.

 

That's what I was saying; M17 has a very good price/performance ratio if not an excellent one. I mean if you just put the 2x3870 cards it is just $1650, that’s a gamers dream! Indeed some may say that in game performance is not the same as with the 9800M GTX, but I am sure with a bit of driver tweaking it will get you where you want to. But the downside is its massive size and weight. The Sager NP5796 would be a good option but if they would drop the price by... hmm 400$-500$?

 

Can anyone please answer if the M17 chasis is plastic or more a more solid metal like the new macbooks?.

 

chassis is probably magnesium, but the body is matte-coated plastic.

 

just so you know, no one received a M17 yet, AW might have different paint job than other OCZs.

 

The mobile 4800 series will probably force Nvidia to drop the price of the GTX by a couple hundred dollars. Well, I hope so.

 

Yeah, most likely, but it will take a while untill we see the 4800 series on the market, I would expect that next spring. ATI has been particulary lazzy when it comes to new products on the mobile market.

 

If you're getting this, just get the dual 3870s and leave everything else at minimum. You can get the processor and RAM for a cheaper price from online retailers like Newegg. The 3870x2 is currently the most powerful graphics card. At under $2000 it's a killer deal.

 

lol.

This question humors me.

I think by "chassis" you mean "case" or "shell"... which is to say, the OUTSIDE of the computer. the chasis is inside, where components actually get mounted... most high end systems (I believe macbooks use this) use a magnesium alloy. it handles heat very well and is very rigid and durable. the outside of the system is just for aesthetics mainly. on macbooks, I believe it's actually a Plastic shell wrapped in aluminum... and the aluminum is cheap, as far as I can tell...

A friend at school has a few-year-old macbook pro, and the aluminum is (and has been since he bought it) coming away from the plastic casing in the corners... also, the edges of the aluminum are uneven and almost wavy.

to fret over what they put overtop of the hardware to make it look nice is like fretting that the car you wanted came in blue and not teal like you wanted.

 

I am trying to decide if the CPU upgrade is worth it.

I do a lot of VBA and Java development, but that stuff doesn't really require too much CPU power. My only concern is game performance.

Let's say i get the Dual 3870's, 3GB RAM

Does anyone have any idea what the FPS difference in Crysis would be with the...
Intel® Core™2 P8400 2.26GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
vs.
Intel® Core™2 T9400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) (+250$)?

I don't care about bragging rights.

Thanks for reading!

 

only if you have 300 to 500 buck lying around for a cpu upgrade

 

the 6mb cache makes a difference, and you would probs get 3-4fps because your cpu would be able to handle the physics side of the games better

 

Regarding the price...

Same spec
cpu 9400
mem 4gb
hd 320gb 7200
dual 3870

rkcomputers.......2285$ + tax + shippment
alienware...........2424$ + tax + shippment

Unfortunatelly I am located in the same state as RK Computers and I have to pay tax, people living outside NY don't.

Also RK is shipping configs, like others (xotic, killer), without OS.

AW's shippment options are much more expensive, fed-ex 76$ and 140$ compared to RK's 15$-90$.

So talking about price... you can see the difference...


edit:

Alienware

Subtotal: $2,424.00

Shipping & Handling: $76.33

Tax: $209.40

Order Total: $2,709.73

 

max the config and compare it with killernotebooks.

 

CNet has already done a hands-on review of the M17 with the 3870 x2 and a P8400, seen here.

 

Almost the same spec (diff is 9500) on killer is 2779$... crazy

Xotic is at 2419$

In the end... I'll go with xotic... my brother lives in Brooklyn and I don't want to pay taxes... Anyway I am still between two... Sager np8660 and OCZ whitebook...

 

hl guys!

Do think its possible to buy one with a single hard drive, and than install an SDD myself.

Thanx

 

hey everybody, this is my first post on these forums and im lookin for some of you computer smart people to give me a quick answer please.

so im in the army and am set to deploy soon (cant say when, i know its retarded) and im lookin at getting a decked out m17 laptop to feed my gaming while over there the only question i have is the processor choices and which one is going to produce the best GAMING results. anyways im split between these 2 options please tell me which one will be best for me.

intel core 2 extreme X9100 3.06GHz (6MB Cache, 1066 MHz FSB)

or

intel core 2 extreme quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB cache, 1066MHz FSB)

 

extreme X9100

 

I agree with getting the X9100. The QX9300 is way overpriced right now, and overall the game development sector is just starting to program more games for dual-cores, so who knows when there will be enough games taking advantage of quads to make it worth the money.

Right now the x9100 is raw power.

 

I'd like to see some benchmarks for the QX9300 - I really want a quad in a laptop (Photoshop etc.... but don't want to be limited for Gaming) - tempted to pull the trigger on this...-

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Fusion Red
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB

 

Photoshop do very fine with x9100.

 

How much will the X9100 run in newegg is it cheaper than from AW?

 

Yep - but QX9300 will do better- just need to know how much of a "game" sacrafice there will be if any... bad enough stuck with ATI

I run qx6700's on the desk and quad is king for my work-flow in Light and Photo shop. Read the c-net review - but no benchmarks for these 2 proc's. I'd like to see some 3dmark's among others.

 

I don't know if this has already been discussed but I think an easily overlooked feature is the Fingerprint Reader. I definitely think this is a plus. Being able to just slide your finger as a password is worthy of win imo.

 

I was actually surprised the m15x didn't have a fingerprint reader. We have facial recognition now which is cool but having all 3 options (keyboard input, facial recognition and fingerprint reader) would have been very nice.

 

facial recognition = you can crack it with a photo
fingerprint is good tho...

 

how about 3 security combine to pass log in?
now that's like the one in Mission Impossible.

 

sure, it'll only take half an hour to log in every time

 

Anyone know of any benchmarks of performance between a single 3870 and dual 3870s?

Looking at getting one of these as my next laptop, i do like to game but im not sure if one 3870 is gonna be enough to pull 60fps minimum on modern games, COD4/5, UT3 are the ones im usually playing.

 

I believe the 3870's are supposed to come close to 8800M GTX level performance. If this is the case, it should run all of those fine.

 

IMO finger print scanners on laptop's and palms never seem to work as intended. I don't think I ever used them on my thinkpad' hp ipaq' etc... it was more hassle than it was worth.

 

I'd like to see the CNet Alienware config compared against the Toshiba X305-706.

Very similar specs and price that will provide a good comparison of ATI 3870 (x2) vs. nVidia 9800GTS SLi.