Question regarding replacement laptop for my m1730 xps

Hi,

I hope i am posting this in the right thread. I was having a XPS m1730 laptop but only having problems with that. Last week once again the laptop harddisk is broken and reported once more to Dell.

Since this is the 7th time a support engineer needs to repair the machine dell decided to swap the laptop, 1 problem remains, a m1730 xps is not made anymore. Dell is offering me a Alienware machine with the same configuration or better if same configuration isn't possible.

Can someone perhaps help me further what should be best choice and configuration in this case to replace my xps laptop?

My configuration right now:
xps 1730 T8300, (1) 250gb 7200 rpm harddisk, (2) nvidia 8700 SLI graphics card and 4gb memory, 1920x1200 widescreen.

When looking at the dell website to configurate a alienware m17x I noticed that they only offer laptops with the I5 and I7 cpu's what's the difference betweem those and what would be best option to request?

1 difference i noticed is that the I5 is'nt giving the posibility for hyperthreating.

Further the only graphic card that would be possible is the ati hd 4870 or dual 4870, would there be much difference with performance when selecting a dual setup with a crossfire configuration?

Many thanks for looking into this and hopefully someone can give me some advice to choice or to watch for.

Regards,
Dennis

 

honestly any single configuration they could give you will way outperform your current machine. you could argue for more though. a single 4870 will thrash your 8700sli, but you could argue that you bought the machine for two cards and likely get a crossfire setup.

 

they still offer dual core... check it out on alienware.com.....chances are that's what you will get... if you do get the dual core you will probably get the Nvidia 260m SLI for the GPU.... if you get i5s or i7s you will get 4870 sli...

 

Hehe, was already thinking that when reading the reviews on websites left and right ...

Will there be something i need to keep in mind, perhaps when paying something additional i would receive a higher setup?

Im not realy familair with the I5 of I7 cpu.. is there alot difference with those cpu's ?

Im living in netherlands, from the configuration site from alienware in netherlands there where no options for a dual core cpu :O, does that make sence?

Thanks in advance.

Dennis

 

the i5 i7 cpu is quad core with a lower clock rate.... however they can be used in turbo mode... which increases the clock rate with single thread applications. I would say that a i5 i7 option is a lot better for the future... More applications will use this technology.

The dual core only has 2 cores.. Although the clock rate is higher does not mean its a better machine... it just depends on what you will be using it for..

Although the options are not available on the Netherlands site... the parts may be available at the manufacturing location. For example, because you are getting a replacement.... it might be a refurbished machine.... If your depot has refurbished dual cores you might get one of these.. if not you will get a new one.

 

Icic, thanks for the fast replys, On the first telephonecall i made with dell it did not sound like a refurbished machine, also they mentioned i would receive another 3 year warrenty that would start over. To refurbished laptops normaly a 1 year warrenty would be given.

Anyway i would be waiting for a call tomorrow and see what they can give me

As i could understand from your post i would be better off with a I5 or I7 cpu

What would you recommend as a semi-game setup, offcoure the best and fastest machine would be the most expencive option, however i never will get that one for free

 

first, go to the dell forum and read the M1730 replacement & owner's lounge threads. lots of info in there. I have a posting on the diffs between the R1 and R2 M17x versions.

You will most likely get the R2 version of the M17x (the i5/i7 + ATI video cards), at least that's what almost everyone has been reporting lately.

What I did was go to the dell website and go through all the specifications for my current laptop and what the respective options were for the M17x: CPU and speed, RAM, HDD, GPUs, video resolution, wireless, optical drive.

Since you're laptop currently has 2 GPUs, you will get 2 in the replacement. If you have 1920x1200, you should get the RGBLED screen. If you look over the info and decide you want the R2 but they don't offer that to you, one thing that would be good to mention is how you're tired of NVidia GPUs dying on you and you want ATI instead. Be polite, firm and keep asking. THey want to keep you happy so as long as you can make a reasonable request, they should give it to you...

As to which specific CPU you want, hit wikipedia and read up on the various models offered and which type of applications they're best for. Match this to what you will be doing. Order the CPUs by preference. And when you call Dell, don't be shy about asking for what you want. It's a negotiation, not a "here's your system, take it or go away".

An that's neat about the warranty. In the US, you don't get an extension with a system exchange...

 

Problem solved, finaly received confirmation of Dell and receive the invoice for my new system.

Will receive a m17x with a I7 620M (2,66Ghz) cpu, dual 1GB 4870 ati crossfire GPU, 2x 2gb 1333 mhz memory, 250gb HDD.

I think i can be happy with this setup as replacement for my xps 1730 laptop .

Can someone resolve this topic?

 

thread closed - resolved.