area M15x

Ok Tuseday I will be ordering a Area m15x. Due to problems of the Area 5550i

With $2700. With 3 year warrintee. What would be a good setup.

One of my ideas is go for high end cpu and 200GB 7,200RPM (16MB Cache) so I dont have send it back for upgrades. Wait a month or 2 and upgrade the Low end gpu and Ram.

Or Work on a Mid range M17X With a mid range core 2 2.5ghz

 

u can't upgrade the gpu1 its soldered on i believe. u have to replace the entire mobo! go for a 320gb 5400 as it is just as fast. the cpu is strong enough for any game, though a t9300 should be as high as u want to go. anything else will be overkill.

 

thats only for dell i think. i took out the 8800 in my laptop. i can confirm at least the 8800 is not soldered on.

 

the gpu is not soldered in although the integrated one is

 

The GPUs can be upgraded. I already talk to a tech about it.

Things you can upgrade from your home

GPU
RAM
HARD DRIVE

If I buy Ram and hard drives. I might be able to get them cheaper somewhere else.

 

RAM you should definitely upgrade from somewhere else, HDD not so much but if you have a particular unique drive you're after then you can also do it. All of the upgrading is simple, it's just a question of whether AW's warranty allows it (and you've already identified those things they do allow you to upgrade vs. those they dont)

 

you can get ram and hard drives cheaper at newegg.com

 

This will be the best price to performance value you'll get for $2700 with a 3 year warrenty.

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Red (change to whatever you want, you can customize it once you get your system anyway, this is just the color that it ships with)
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB
System Drive: 320GB 5,400RPM (8MB Cache) (if you think need more space/speed go with a more expensive HD)
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service

The total is $2,649.00. That leaves you enough left over to pay some of the taxes and use that money for extra RAM from NewEgg. Alienware is also offering free shipping all summer on all of their systems.

 

What about the M17X

Dual 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT – SLI Enabled
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB
Windows Vista® Ultimate with Service Pack 1
200GB 7,200RPM (16MB Cache)

$2,699.00

 

The 8800M GTX will be around 2-2.5 times faster than SLI 8600M GT. Definitely get the m15x rig if you're going for power.

 

Yep. what he said

 

the hole reason for the m15x is the 8800m GTX ... cpus are overkill atm even fairly slow duels... while GPU's are already been maxed out by many applications.

 

I am looking at a few things.

I could stay with the 2.1ghz cpu and upgrade the gpu to the 8800GTX. Then upgrade the cpu in 6 Months. Plus buy the ram and a better hard drive online.

M15X has a heat issue. A pritty bad one to boot. That worries me.

M17X I have not seen any reviews on. But the laptop being Bigger. and has a bigger screen. So it Power or Size and hard drive space.

I was basicly going to buy Low end on the m17x. Which is still faster then a Area 51 5550I Max out.. I will not see any slow down. Then buy the Dual 8800 GTX in 5 or 6 Months and a Core 2 2.8 ghz. For upgrades. Which will give me a Monster.

I want the systems max out. I just dont have the funds to buy the whole upgrade right off the boat. But I know I can upgrade all the parts in the systems.

 

I believe choosing the m17x will be the best choice for you since you want to go AW.

My opinion is that m17x will be a system solid and reliable,a system like XPS M1730 with a much better cooling control than m15x (i believe..).
The reason is more bulky than the photos we saw on release back in Nov 2007 is bec prob they had the same problems m15x is having and RD dep. redesign it on M1730 standarts.

So if i was in youre position and just to be sure of my choice i would wait to check the first m17x reviews before i pull the trigger.Afterall you could always upgrade the m17x with 8800GTX's in the future.

 

I am kinda in a Vine. I have to make my choice on Tuseday. I will be ordering it. Once I get the Laptop 15 or 17 Inch. I will be sending my old laptop back.

 

Thats a problems then bec we can only make assamptions having no reviews,what i believe the correct descission is that you have much better odds geting a more solid system if you go on minimum config on an m17x.

 

Hay DevlReD I ask about that yesterday. The CEO of Alienware seid wait untel monday on the skull cap. At the time I was looking at the Area 51 M15X. It going to be one Solid color. Silver m15x or Black m17x.

Not sure on the M17X but I would guess both would have it.

(USA) area

 

Look,the new skullCap will get release at 24th of June,m15x is 100% will get the new skullcap design what i thought after waiting all this time is that if there m17x skullcap designs get release will be on the same date because they still didnt release the m17x in UK and Europe for a reason,so what i think is the reason is that atm they stuck up in new chassis designs for m17x Europe customers as well and they will release it on the same date.

Now my opinion about saying that m17x will be a more solid system is based on what i believe about the system itself and how they change the system since the release date back in Nov,not about the looks. I believe will be a system similar and based on XPS M1730,with an AW cover,if that is and im right then is a winner system having reliability,power and the AW looks that XPS M1730 dont have.

Since you dont have enough time waiting for checking the first reviews then if i was in youre position my choice would be a black riplay m17x with minimum config and in the future save some money and give that beast 8800GTX's heart.

 

Don't buy any notebook and plan on upgrading the graphics; getting the m17x with lower-end GPUs then planning to upgrade them to 8800M-GTXs is a bad idea because it will cost you so much more later on down the line. If you can't afford the m17x with the cards you want, then I recommend picking the m15x.

 

Yea, Chaz is right. I think that the best decision would be to go for the best GPU right now when it's cheaper. Later on if you do decide to upgrade it will cost a ton more money even for a single video card. That's why I went with the 8800 and the 2.4GHz CPU. I learned my lesson from my m5550. Atol you should go for the m15x. The battery life is a lot better you can get over six hours with the smartbay and integrated graphics option.

 

Hay Chaz and dhoang417 I listen to you to a point. Grapics is not the main issue I have with alienware M15X. It the Picture Quality is. Scott pritty much seid it all. He has a Valid point.

The Clearview Technology which Scott talking about is not a issue. I will not be near a light. But the Display choice is a issue.

Yes I do want a high end system. But I do not have the funds for a high end system. But the system I am getting is faster then my old system. Plus some extra power.

I will talk to them today and see what they can do.