Thinking of purchasing a m15x.

Hi guys been lurking the forums for a while now, and have read almost all positive & negatives about the m15x. So i know what i'm gonna get myself into. Now I just have a few questions about the laptop:

1) Is there any reason majority of the people here are using vista instead of XP? XP will give me full use of my 4gb's of ram correct?

2) I occassionally play games so should i go with 8700 or 8800?

3) I'm plan on getting the blu-ray drive, but which screen would everyone recommend? 1440 or the 1900? will i really notice any difference between the 2 when watching movies? I do love the real estate 1900 offers though.

4) Can I actually watch a full BD movie on battery mode using a 9 cell battery?

5) I thinking of getting the Orion backpack unless some1 can direct me to something better other then "Steal me bag".

6) Which headphones can you guys recommend me? I'm thinking klipsch custom 2 or 3 earbuds, or Ozma 5 headphones.


Thanks

 

#1) Not necessarily. There are several reasons why people prefer the Vista over the XP. Perhaps it's because it was a cheaper option, or that the Vista has DirectX10 (which, I might add, is possible for the XP now too), or that the Vista is said to be more stable and secure than the XP. There are plenty of reasons why people would prefer Vista over the XP.

The amount of RAM utilized by both XP and Vista are the same. If you opt to go with a 32-bit XP OS then you'll only be able to "see" 4GB of memory (this includes both the RAM and the video memory.) It's the same way with a 32-bit Vista. Both will only utilize maybe up to 3ish of the 4GB of RAM if you have a 512MB video card.

A 64-bit XP OS will see a lot more but keep in mind the fallacy of conventional wisdom. More RAM does not necessarily always mean that it will make your system faster. It can only utilize so much. This is also the same with the 64-bit Vista. There are no difference to the utilization of RAM between the two OS. It all just comes down to whether the OS you plan to use is 32-bit or 64-bit.

#2) The 8800M GTX has been said to be twice the power of the 8700 (and then some.) Though I don't know if this is completely true, I hold firm to those who have tried it out themselves and have benchmark'd the two graphics cards.

#3) This is all about preference. The FPS for games for the latter may be lower though. I can't really say more than that because I personally have not tried it myself.

#4) What would prevent you from doing so?

#5) I personally have a swiss army backpack for my m15x, which gives off less of the "steal me aura" than the Orion. I'll see if I can still find the link to it though.

#6) If you have the money, get a Bose. 8)

 

1) XP will not give you all 4 gigs of ram unless you run 64 bit XP. After using Vista i really dont see what the problem is with it and why people complain about vista.

2)8800M GTX is alot more powerful and will future proof your system. Sure the 8700 can also run current games on max but the 8800 can run more future games on max.

3)1440 x 900. The 1440 x 900 screen is glossy so you get better colors, the viewing angles are better so you get a better picture with the 1440 x 900 screen. there is no point in the 1920 x 1200 unless you absolutely must have a matte screen or you need that real estate.

4)you should be able to finish the movie before the battery dies.

5)im currently using a The North Face Surge for my m15x. I put the m15x in a Zeroshock III and then i put that in the North Face Surge.

6)i dont really bother with headphones too much so i dont know whats really good on the market.

 

i just got my m15x and i'm so happy with it...

1/I prefer vista now with the service pack much nicer to use and i'm prob gonna go 64bit not sure yet.

2/if your into gaming go with the 8800 hands down its definitely double the power of 8700!

3/for gaming dont get 1920x1200.games at high settings wont run at it and its not even noticable on a 15.4" screen anyway. as for the movies you probably will be able to squeeze a movie into battery life(on stealth). barely any difference in 1440 and 1920 watchin movies.

4/i got the orion backpack too. its sweet. loads of space for your laptop and anything else you need.and of course the chrome alien head is slick!

5/i'm with oceanus i bought bose in-ear headphones. unbelievable quality.100 dollars in apple store. The ozma 7 headphones are also extremely good but expensive..

Well hope this helps.

 

No Point getting 1440 and Blu ray BUT I guess you can HDMI output to a better screen i suppose but 1440 will be definately better for gaming.

8800 hands down is more powerful BUT it is also HOTTER and if you are just occasionally gaming, 8700 is not a bad card.

 

ill just repeat the pros and cons of the 1920 x 1200 screen vs the 1440 x 900 screen to give you a better view of why the 1440 x 900 screen is better. i repeated this about 10 times already so the information is correct.

1440 x 900 PROS

-Faster Response Time
-Weighs Less
-Uses Less Energy
-Brighter
-Glossy which equals better colors
-Better Viewing Angles
-More FPS due to lower Native resolution

1440 x 900 CONS

-Hard to read in the sun because it is glossy
-smaller real estate

1920 x 1200 PROS

-Matte - if you perfer matte over glossy
-easier to read in the sun
-More real estate on the screen

CONS of 1920 x 1200

-Weights More
-Worse Viewing Angles
-Slower Response Time
-Not as Bright
-Uses more energy
-Lower FPS with a higher native resolution.

of course you can lower the resolution but the game wont look as good as native resolution.

watching movies on the 1440 x 900 is better since you get a better picture quality and you wont notice a difference from the higher resolution in a 15 in screen anyways.

 

Thanks for the good info, can anyone else agree to either comment about the 1440 w/blu-ray vs 1900 w/blu-ray? any noticeable difference?

Also since I'm only a occassional gamer which graphic card? 8700 or 8800? It would be nice to future proof my laptop, but I don't really think I will ever put the 8800 to use. But if i ever do play games I would like to enjoy it.


THanks again

 

8800 is worth your money. It's a must in every m15x.

 

hey thanks for the reply, thats what I thought to and thats what i'll get.

Now if only the 1440 Blu-ray & 1900 Blu-ray users can chime in if they they regret either?

 

Hi there. If im given the chance to do it all over again I would go with the glossy screen. More vibrant colors, brighter, sharper and faster response time... not to mention less energy. Nothing beats native resolution when u play games and playing with 1920x1200 is kinda extreme especially on a 15.4" screen. For me, it wont give you noticable difference because of the screen size.

I have a 17" laptop with 1920x1200 glossy and im loving the colors / brightness on this. 1440x900 is just about right on a 15.4" screen. Just my opinion.

 

hey good info there can anyone else chime in?

Now i'm debating on getting either the Orion messenger or backpack. Which 1 will hold all my stuff?
m15x
charger
3 smart bays (battery,hd,bd)
Headphones
and maybe my spare 6 cell (getting the 9 cell)

 

both will hold all those items. messenger might have a little more space but not much room for anything else in either of the bags with allthat in it

 

which bag would be more comofortable to carry around with all that stuff?

 

i havent carried the messenger bag around cos i have the orion backpack but i woulld think that the orion bpack would be. i find it extremely comfortable even after long periods of carrying it around with my laptop etc.

 

backpack ... equal weight on both shoulders

 

Regarding the WXGA+ vs. WUXGA discussion - I personally prefer the WUXGA simply because of the high resolution. The WUXGA offers 44% more space than the WXGA+ - that means you can practically use two Excel spreadsheets or two web browser windows side-by-side.

The vertical resolution is the real advantage - 1200 pixels vs. 900. You have 25% more with the WUXGA.

And I'd definitely go with a backpack for a 15.4" notebook . . . I carried mine around for ~1 mile today with some accessories and it wasn't too fun with an over-the-shoulder bag.

 

any chance any1 has some side by side comparison shots of the m15x 1440 vs 1900?