Saving £££ in the UK buying ANY Dell/AW system OR accessories - please contribute!

im still loading stuff up on it right now, its a really impressive set up though. Got the samsung ssd into it no probs....now just need some time to play some games

 

I am sure you will be able to max everything out completely with your setup! - gonna be some serious gaming fun going on at your house! lol

 

hey im a new user so I cant send pms yet, i'm interested in a m17x laptop mainly for playing wow, diablo 3 and football manager, maybe even replacing my home console if im that impressed by my purchase.

I live in the uk and am pretty sure the exact spec i want but i am having trouble deciding on HDD options. I was thinking about either the msata boot drive+ 500gb HDD or the 256 SSD, just looking for advice and differences between the 2 before i order thanks in advance

 

Latest deal on the Dell site as of this morning for anyone who didn't know.

^ This plus a % discount from a calling a rep might make for a decent deal. I'm sure even then that Stevie's contact could probably do better, though!

 

So its the 28/06/12 when the GTX680m is announced as an option , or maybe the anticipated horrendous price will be offset by keeping this offer running ??

 

Depends on how much you value space vs. speed. In a lot of cases where you see someone considering a mSATA, they are planning on having the mSATA in combination with a mechanical hard drive, allowing said user to have a fast Windows/programs drive as well as mass storage for files.

You will still see benefit from a mSATA drive in the terms of extra storage space, though your current SSD will likely be faster than whatever mSATA drive you're looking at.

Hit me up when you have PM priveledges so we can help you get a decent price on your machine!

 

Looking at the prices Dell are charging, for example £300 for a 256gb SSD which can be had for half that amount I'm now confused about which way to go regarding my M18x order.

Spec the hell out of it and hope I get a good deal to offset the ludicrous cost of upgrades , or minimal spec and add the upgrades myself. I wanted the full 4 year cover but that wont cover the upgrades I would of fitted myself.

Thats the dilemma. Min spec and no cover , or full spec and hopefully get a deal closer to the price it would cost me to upgrade anyway And yes I do intend to spec 680m sli as well

 

That's the thing. If you dont get 'em from Dell, you wont have their backup. A good example of this would be regarding SSD's - quite a few members here ran into problems with the Sata ports supporting 6gbps - ports were dropping speed randomly but Dell would only offer assistance/diagnose problems if the SSD's were issued by Dell - bottom line, they wont troubleshoot aftermarket problems with aftermarket upgardes - they willl just say "you dodnt get 'em from us so we cant help"

Also, if you are planning on 3 or 4yrs warranty, your Dell drive would be covered for those 3-4 yrs whereas an aftermarket upgade may not have that much warranty.

I know that its a cost thing but if I could afford to buy everything from Dell, I would be doing so for peace of mind. That and not having to chase other manufacturers should something go wrong with an aftermarket upgrade!

 

I understand what you are saying Stevie but surely Dell must look at their pricing policy regarding upgrades. If the upgrade prices reflected anywhere near market prices plus lets say 10% installation costs then I wouldnt be having this dilemma

When I get my quote from your agent chap (minus a huge discount ) I'm going to do my sums and actually work out if it would be easier to buy and replace any defective bits myself. For example 2 x 250gb SSD's = £300 so yes I can replace a defective SSD brand new in this case if the need arises and not have the initial outlay plus the Dell service cover costs. Plus dont forget the manufacturers warranty.

I spec and build desktops for friends and referrals so like to think I know my way around computers

 

I wasnt really referring to the SSD's being defective - it was the mobo that was the cause of the ports dropping speed as other memebrs had transferred the same SSD's to another machine and they ran at 6gbps Sata III.

The point I was trying to make was that if you DONT configure with a "Dell bought" SSD, they wont investigate why your aftermarket drives are dropping speed, even though its a know random mobo issue.

Upshot of that being that they wouldnt replace your mobo, they would just say "its your aftermarket drives that are the problem"

 

Whoop, my M17x is being shipped - due date is Monday which is 4 days early \0/

Now do I book a day off or just wait until the weekend after to see it in all it's (hopeful!) glory?!!

 

Hmm the msata + 500gb dual drive does sound more appealing right now. Would i be able to install a game on the msata too or is it purely for my o/s?

 

Depends on the size of your OS install and the size of the mSata - assuming the mSata is 64gb+, you should have room for a few bits and bobs on there too.....

 

Hi,

I am a newby too so no PM priviliges and I am not sure what I need to get one.

BUT I try to configurate and buy a Alienware M18x for my daughter and thats the point.
I have to pay ruffly 3100£ for (in my eyes) good configuration but I hope of course for more less price option.

You know I am not really techguy and my daughter isn't this too for this I don't want aftermarket pices because of lack of knowledge.
To speak with Dell Customer Service about discount isn't helpfull after all.

So , somewhere around can help in my case?

 

Firstly, welcome to NBR!!

Well, you have come to the right place to get a good deal for your daughter!

Basically, to get PM access you need to have made around 5 posts on NBR - you just made one so get a few more under your belt and you will be able to send and receive private messages.

If your budget is around £3100, you should be able to get a superb spec on something like an M18x R2 - do you know which machine you are looking to get for your daughter? - M17x R4 etc.....

I can do my best to help you put together a system specification if you like and my rep can hopefully get you a good price once you have decided waht machine and spec you want to go for.

Feel free to post back here or PM me when you have access.....

 

Hey guys Stevie Jones and his rep have helped me out with a fantastic deal.
I originally wanted an M17X R4 with the 65gb SSD + 500GB HDD, however this has been discontinued, so I'm having a 256 GB SSD instead, and will use an external HDD for storage.

The spec is as follows:
Processor : Intel Core i7 3720QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Display : 17.3" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD 1 SR
Memory : 8192MB (2x4096) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel 1
Hard Drive : 256GB Dell Mobility Solid State Drive 6Gb/s
Optical Drive : DVD+/-RW (Read/Write)
Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M
Sound Card : Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro
Wireless : Killer Wireless-N 1103
Software : English Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, One Note)
3 Years Next Day In-Home Service with Premium Phone Support

Should be with me within 2 weeks, cannot wait - will post pics once it's here

 

Mine is now as far as Poland (to watch the match?) from China, getting excited now.

If you're on the fence wondering, I can recommend Stevie and his personal rep for offering a superb individual service

 

Thanks for you warm welcome.

I am sure about the modell, so far I prefer the M18x-R2 because of the capability to be long time on top.
I think my daughter is some kind special because she is a gamer and thats not all, she likes egoshooter.
In my opinion they are much overrated but for this kind of game you need so much power you can get.

I came up with a config.
2X4gb Ram 1600Mhz because I haved heared is much cheaper to buy later bigger ones.
Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M SLI™
because I prefer NVIDIA but I am not absolutly sure this card provides more power then the ATi option (my IT-guys are german based and they fighting now for 3 days about this matter )
1TB 5,400rpm SATA 6Gb/s HDD// the space is the point // games need space, right?
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) ist enough... I think
DVD+/-RW (Read/Write) she has a blu ray player.

Intel® Core™ i7-3820QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
this I m worry most because this looks like noit enough.

then of course full accident and next days support cover for 3 years.

Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 with Bluetooth 4.0 because my It guys told me with the Killer you get perfomence problems thru throttel effects, what ever this means.

First Problem, I am looking for the Nebula Red version but the UK give me only the black version choice. That sad

okay now your turn.

 

Sounds like you have most things covered, my friend!

The 7970m are the most powerful choice right now. They are ALOT more powerful than the Nvidia 675m's. They do currently have driver issues but I have faith that they will get sorted out pretty soon.

Dell have announced the release of the Nvidia 680m gpu and will be available for the M18x R2 by the end of the month - they are predicted to be a little bit better than the 7970m's but not significantly. Price also may be ALOT more than the 675m's or the 7970m's.

If your daughter is just into gaming, chances are she wont benefit by upgrading the cpu to an extreme processor - most games are constrained by gpu power and not cpu power - best for you to get her a machine with the best gpu option rather than spend money on an XM.

Other than that, looks like you have all bases covered - including warranty, which I strongly suggest as a prerequisite as if something does go wrong, it would be quite expensive to repair outside of warranty. Peace of mind is better than epty pockets.

Great stuff! - Thanks for taking the time to post back on the thread that yo uindeed got a great deal. Congratulations on your new machine! - look forward to pics when she lands!

 

thanks steviejones133, for your advice. I will change the Nvidea to the Ati option. voila the price drops for 25£ surprise....

But Still 3175£ and you know I love my daughter and she get only one time 21 but I still prefer a cheaper option.

Three years earlier a car and drivinglicence and now the big gaming Laptop. I think my wife is right I am crasy.

 

Hahaha, I feel your pain!

Thing is, although you see a list price online of £3175, I am imagining my rep can get you that a good few hundred pounds cheaper, certainly below £3k.

Obviously, I can't promise the exact level of discount as that's down to him, but once you have PM'd me with your contact details and system spec's that you want, I can forward your details along to my guy who will contact you to arrange a good deal for you - that, I promise.

 

Ahh somewhere understud me.

I don't expect the BIIIIIG discount you know I am fully aware of the price and was ready to pay in full but then I discovered this webside and curiosity kills the cat.

I wait for the PM rights.

Properly to join a other thread too.

 

With a few more posts, you will have access to PM's and then we can get the "money-saving" ball rolling for you!

 

Hey I was just wondering if your rep can only help people who are ordering from the UK or would I be able to get a discount if I was ordering from Germany also since it will be ordered off the UK site ?

 

As long as you can provide a UK or Irish address to ship to, my rep can assist you with your order. I dont think he can place an order for a machine that has nothing to do with UK&Ire.

 

Hello!

I was thinking about XPS L702x (FHD AG, GT555m and NBD) but atm Dell offers GT555m only with 3D LCD and resellers don't have NBD, only CAR. So i changed my mind and now I'm looking for M17x4.

Because I wasn't looking at AW before it is hard to me assess if that price is attractive. Here is a config - maybe someone more experienced with AW prices can look at it.

 

8GB of Ram is enough for gaming, if your looking to upgrade it to 16gb regardless then you may as well just get the standard 6GB.

The dual 7970m crossfire is roughly twice as powerful as 675 sli. Though if you want to stick with Nvidia, the 680m will be released before the end of the month and they are suppose to be on par with the 7970m if not a little better, though they will likely cost substantially more.

Hardrive wise 1TB is more than enough, infact 500gb is enough for me.. and I have wow, starcraft, rift, diablo, crysis, swtor ect and barely half full.

As for processor, any of the available processors will be fine for gaming, your graphics card will bottle neck the system before the processor.

As for colour red is available, its only not available for the m18x R1. Steves rep is pretty good, I would expect 12-13% off at least if your spending £3k.. since you can get 10% with generic codes as it is.

 

I am a sad panda

 

If you know someone in the UK, maybe a friend or relative could help you out with an address.

Also, have you looked into a freight forwarding service such as BundleBox that would give you a UK address and then ship the system on to you in Germany?

 

hey! this is my 5th post...i will shot you a PM right after this...see what your rep can do for me.


can somebody tell me how many posts do i need to make before i can PM?

 

PM received and replied!

 

I would go with a 7200rpm drive over the 5400rpm one. Subject to a decent discount . ....,the 750gb drive is £50 cheaper and the 2x500gb £60 more expensive. 750gb is alot of space


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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?jk1t2h

 

Hi im new to the forum and I was wondering how long it takes from order to receiving your shiny new Alienware

Thinking about getting an m17x r4 to replace my 2 year old macbook pro 13 plus my ageing desktop

 

Hello, inquisiter. It really varies depending on the stocks of the parts you configure your system with, check out the order status sticky in the M17x subforum to get an idea.

 

Firstly, welcome to the NBR Forums! - I am sure you will find lots of useful information here and many people willing to help out. When you have time, take a moment to familirise yourself with forum rules.

Ok, to answer your question, it normally takes around 2-3 weeks from order to delivery. This is a general EDD (estimated delivery date) given by Dell shortly after your order is confirmed.

Fromy my experience in the past, having had 10 systems delivered from Dell, they normally arrive well before the EDD but it's given as a guideline, not a concrete promise.

 

Thanks for the info
Will give the rules a quick read

 

For my own personal experience having just used Stevies contact I can tell you I placed the order on 01/06, EDD was 26/06, but it was delivered to my home on 17/06.


If only I was home to see it - not back until Friday!!

Oh and watching the UPS tracking as it wings it's way over from Shanghai is a lot more exciting than it has any right to be

 

Im looking at an M17x R4 with a single 7970 or an M18x R2 with Crossfire 7970. Ill fire you a PM when I can Steve if thats OK

Matt

 

Sure thing Matt, pretty sure that my guy will be able to save you a fair few quid of either machine!

 

Next time you speak to your rep tell him to get the 680m listed so I can spec a system ! Plus I want in before the rush !!

 

Hahaha - trust me, as soon as I know theye are available to configure even if not online, I will be shouting it from the rooftops LOL

 

Thanks for the reply Steve Looking forwards to speaking with your rep!

Matt

 

PM received and replied - let the money-saving commence!!

680m's are up on Dell USA....$350 over a single 7970m on the 17x and $550 more than Crossfire 7970m's on the 18x......I reckon the same kinda cost for us guys but just change the $ for a £.

Nvidia extortionate pricing continues....

 

If that pricing is anywhere near , I'm out.

Will build a desktop instead for half the price

 

Still not up on Dell UK.....

 

They probably saw the reaction to the 680m pricing Well hopefully anyway

 

I hope you guys are correct and that it WAS a proverbial "toe in the water" to test reactions....they still appear to be live on the US website as of now...

 

10% off alienware valid till the 27th

3LKFZZ$6SCLTVB


enjoy all


Still weighing the options of buying a outlet one or buying a new one fully kitted out over 2-3 years

 

HI,,im new to the thread and i have no clue how to PM you ref giving my details.
Would you be able to PM me so i can give you them and get on this saving scheme boat...cheers

 

Make 5 or more useful posts and you'll get PM privileges