if you only had $2300 to spend

If you had about $2300 to spend on a new laptop what would you get and how would you configure it? I definitely want a 17" screen with hi-def, everything else is fair game. I would be open to future upgrades later on, but need one now because my old desk top is caput! Thanks for your input

 

260's
1900 res
rest stock

 

or http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0314770

 

id fork up another 100.00 and see if you can get the same specs that lemon got for 2400.00 flat.

yes, that is a dual 280M in sli in my Sig.

 

How'd you get that config for only 2400?

 

ive been telling everyone. my dell rep maryanne must of gotten laid the night before, because there is no way in hell she would of hooked me up with this deal.

 

this sounds like a super deal to me. If I am correct it specs out at 2724 0n AW site but they are selling it for 2300. Does that sound right? Is there a catch here somewhere?

 

no catch

but they are finally getting backordered, after much excitement over the deal haha

 

I am going to sleep on it tonight and maybe see about getting one from them. I see that you have to pick it up in store only. That means a 90 mile trip one way for me to the nearest store. At least I will save shipping costs! I might go with that unless someone can turn me on to a better deal or config.

 

Wow thats a great deal. How are they selling them so much cheaper then dell? Im waiting to buy a new m15x I wonder if they will run a promo on them too? I dont think theres even a microcenter in my state (Maryland) I've never seen one.

 

In fact there is!
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0314770
Go to the drop down menu in the middle top of the screen.
Beltway/Rockville ring any bells?

 

I can't understand the price difference either. I just checked and the store in NY has two but the one in NJ is out of stock. I think I will call and see if they will have them in stock soon. It sure beats paying Dell's price and then waiting weeks to have it built and shipped.

 

Wow I had no Idea, Its about a three hour drive but it seems well worth it at this point, I'll wait until next week to see if the rumors are true about a new 15 inch. My main problem is my dad has a dell credit account and will let me use it to buy a new laptop also I get a 7% discount through school so I might be stuck buying through dell which I'm not exactly looking forward too. The last experience I had buying from dell was about 5 years ago when they launched the Axom line of pda's ( lol pdas are extinct now because of smartphones). Anyway It was around the holidays and I didn't end up getting my pda until mid january when they sent me a defective unit by the time I got my new pda I think it was febuary. The whole process was a huge headache.

 

You're bragging in the wrong place pal. Most of us here have a similar or better setup.

These are the Alienware boards you know

 

ummm what the hell are you all smoking?

for $2150 you can get the m17 w/ 4850's, an x9100 proc from ebay, 4gb ram from newegg, hi def screen, illuminated keyboard, and the 5300 wifi card

just take off the dust guards from the bottom panel and replace the stock paste for as5 and you're golden.

fyi the 4850's are just as good if not better than the dual 260's in actual gaming fps, plus they have dx10.1 support unlike the 260's.

 

we are smoking the "we like a faster computer" pipe

I had a whitebook, now I got an M17x, I immensely prefer the M17x. After EXTENSIVE cooling mods made to my whitebook (same as M17) the M17x still blows it away in cooling. Now for the rest of your statement, the Q9000 will be much more useful than an X9100 in everything except for benchmarks. The backlight on keyboard (and whole AlienFX system) is far superior on the M17x, and DX10.1 support does not matter unless you play one of the VERY few games that uses it. The future upgradability is also MUCH more present in the M17x as it has MXM 3.0 vs the now obsolete MXM 2.1 that the M17 has. And o ya, this will all be without having to take anything apart yourself and without having to deal with ebay.

SO,he will not be golden, he will be platinum

 

oh, im sorry. you are aware that this price ($2400.00) IS for an M17x, and not a Aspire *cough right?

ask anyone on these boards and they can tell you my specs are more than excellent for the price i paid!

 

You just used the same July E-value code that I did as well as many others....and that price does NOT include the 2 intel SSDs

so he is right.....that is nothing to brag about.....I would say that about 40% if not more of the users here got the same deal (sadly it is gone now but was awesome while it lasted!)

 

actually a 7% added to the already 7% that was available in july with an additional free shipping and a awesome 80$ knock right of the total down to 2.4K flat. beat that? =P

 

ya I did.....

I had the e-value, then 7% EPP then FREE next day air shipping, expedited at factory, AND a FREE Orion Backpack.....and o ya, it was 12 days from ordering to my doorstep - a record I think haha

(I will elaborate that this does not include the ram hdd's or cpu in my sig, I bought those seperate)

After tax and free shipping, I paid $2536 I believe for the following:
Lunar Silver
1920x1200
GTX280m SLI
250GB HDD
4GB 1066 RAM
Blu Ray reader
Q9000
Orion Backpack

 

but back on topic, $2300 would best be spent with the microcenter configuration, this was my backup plan if I missed the E-value code and really is awesome

GTX260m SLI
1920x1200
500GB HDD (7200 rpm)
Blu Ray reader

That is an awesome laptop imho (especially at $2299)

 

^ you forgot the tax above . in california it'd total out to be $2495.00. Ouch!

scook, you beat me with a Blu Ray reader =) (which i personally don't watch blue ray disks nor do i own one)

as a matter of fact, i rarely use CDs in any of my notebooks. if anything, id like it to be removed because i hate the noise the M17x makes when starting up.

oh, and i didnt count the backpack since id hate carying my M17x baby on its side. if i transport it, id rather have it lying flat, cushioned as if it were still on a table. just my take on my baby.

but, by no doubt that backpack looks sick!

maybe i should just rip out the alienhead on my manual book and put it on my JANSPORT ^_^

 

is your $ 2536.00 AFTER tax? Because for me, 2400 is after tax. If it's Before tax, i would then got the system at a ~$2198.00

 

Dare I say....
M17
3870s CrossfireX
4GB Ram
500GB HD
Illum Keyboard
Intel WiFi 5300a/b/g/n
8X DVD-R Burner
$2200

 

Well, I already have a kick system for me. But here's what I would do. My step daughter should be getting her visa to the USA, to finally reunite with her mother, but she's been raised as a commie PRC patriot. So....when she comes to America, I wanna give her a brand new Alienware laptop, as a friendly introduction to the benefits and joys of capitalism....

 

I'm sorry you are aware that I'm awaiting an M17x *cough* right?

edit: I just checked over your specs, and considering your HDDs are not stock (or even available at that size from Dell/Alienware) I'm inclined to believe other components are not stock as well.

 

my price is after tax, was around $2415 before it

 

I think everyone would stop if they didn't see this anymore: "Yeah that's a dual gtm280 with sli in my sig."

 

you go mavrick. believe what you are inclined to. you are right that my 280s arent stock nor is my 1200 screen. oh yeah, i actually bought a q9000 processor and its an es.

 

I didn't mention your other parts. You believe what you want, but I doubt anyone will give you a $700 discount for nothing.

 

Not unlike the 4870's upgrade for the M17 which was suggested "FOREVER" but never appeared, I wouldn't base a decision on "MAYBE, possibly" having upgradeability in the future because its all pure speculation on many peoples part. Hell even when the 4850's came out for the M17, we were unable to "Upgrade" to them per AW. People actually SOLD their M17 because they "THOUGHT" that they could upgrade the GPU's later and weren't able to. Bottom Line: Hype is just Hype until it "MAYBE" becomes reality. Just my opinion.

 

MXM 3.0 is the upgradeability....even if AW does not sell the cards, other brands will and they will be able to be put into the M17x (maybe not under warranty but will still work - most likely)

The reason that people needed the 4850s for the M17 is that you could only do crossfire for multi card and the 4850s were the only cards over the already available 3870s (the 4870's from the W90 were tried, but the BIOS wasnt compatible)

 

Marvie is right.

personally, i wouldnt buy the notebook unless i knew it was maxed out to its capabilities.

 

notebooks are very rarely maxed out when you buy them - new stuff always comes out

it is best to buy a notebook based on what is there today and then just be happy if an upgrade presents itself in the future, but dont rely on it or base decisions on that upgrade when purchasing the notebook all together

 

Exactly Scook9, holding off until the next advance means ya never buy anything....

 

I can live with an old CPU, but MXM 3.0 is really why I sold my whitebook and bought this M17x, having the GPU upgrade option is awesome to me

 

Truly. Especially for gaming, since the GPU is often the bottleneck.

 

Thinking about getting the M17x system from MicroCenter. Saving $400 Sounds like agreat deal. Anything I should be worried about? Was wondering if AW will drop price on the 24th with their announcement. Any thoughts?

 

I got the floor model from the Tustin Micro Center for $1885 plus tax.

If you can, call them and see if they've got a floor model they will deal on.

 

assuming it works well, that is an amazing deal Wests.....WOW...and congrats!

 

Do you think there will be a price drop any time soon? Like around the time Windows 7 comes out?

 

I dunno, but there's always a possilibity of sale event. For example, I'm in Canada and ordered my M17x last friday because of Dell's "Signature" sales event which offered a $440 discount on the M17x.

 

I would not expect any price drop on the M17x until they are getting ready to replace it (not earlier than early next year)