dell m1710 or 1730

I just ordered a m1710 which is why im in a hurry on which laptop i really should buy. I have about 3300 to spend. Please help me on which i should choose. .

thanks,
stephen

 

What specs did you order for the m1710, and where do you live? For a few hundred extra, you can double your hard drive and get dual 8700s (future proof) with a slightly better CPU (2.2Ghz instead of 2.0Ghz).

 

Cancel and reorder!

 

^ I was in the same position as the original poster - return and reorder is what i did.

 

Call up to return, you will be given incentive to keep your order. Bargain and see what is the best you can get for the new notebook!

 

XPS M1710, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7600 (2.33GHz/667MHz/4MB)
17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA with Black LCD Cover
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 677MHZ,2 DIMM
512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX
100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

here are the specs i ordered for the m1710

 

For about $3000USD, you can get a m1730 with T7500 2.2Ghz Cpu, all other specs similar, but with a dual 320 Gigabyte hard drive system set up in Raid 0. That's way better than what you have. Go and try and configure what you can on the Dell site.

If you're not taking it to school with ya - go for the xps m1730.

 

I canceled my order. Now I need help on which laptop to choose i have about 3400ish to spend. I need a laptop for gaming and school. I do not care about mobility because or battery life. I will mainly be in my appt plugged into the wall. I basically want the best laptop overall for my money.

thanks!

 

Give craigslist a chance also.

I've seen dna's spec w/ 4 yr complete care for 2500 bucks in nyc area. Not sure what HD he had though.

 

Ok. My opinion:

1. Definitely wait till the 19th of November (only 5 days left) to see what the the new alienware laptops are like.

2. If they are too expensive, then put an order for the m1730.

 

Oh yeah, I've read alienware had 8800M's on their configuration page, then took them off, so I don't think you will have to wait alot for better GPU option on the M1730. Wait a bit longer and you don't have to face buyer's remorse lol.

 

I was talking to a dell represenative and they were helping me build a laptop.

they gave me the setup for the price of like $3289. But I told them i could only spend that much with the tax included. He told me he could do that price and with the tax included, so technically he gave me the computer cheaper. Is he tryin to trick me or are they allowed to lower the price some to sell it to me?

and should i talk to more people tryin to get the best deal?

 

Don't tell them how much you have to spend. Always lowball the hack out of them.

BTW wait for the 8800M SLI option for it. It should be alot powerful than the current model.

for example, configure one on Dell web, and take off about 2-30% off.

 

Well, I really want it now lol. Is there any way I could just upgrade to the 8800M SLI...or do u even know when it comes out and would it even just go over my price range anyways..I think I might order the 1730 tonight, not sure the config yet, any suggestions..

 

The new graphics card will be 400-500 mroe so i wont be gettin that. But is the default graphics card in there now still real good??

 

You will be able to upgrade through Dell spare parts in time, but it will cost you another 500 bucks (just a guess, but I'm guessing it will be more assuming single 8800M was 500 bucks @ alienware. It may well be close to 1k, but only time will tell).

 

Hardcore series basically starts @ X8XX's. 8700 is not a hardcore card, but it is above average.

 

is the m1710 graphics card better?

 

M1710 has single 7950GTX card. If you compare it to a single 8700M card, it is better card hands down, but M1730 dual 8700M (SLI), and at lower resolutions, the SLI is better, but at higher resolution, M1710's card has more advantage over the SLI due to it's limited memory bus.

8800M is supposed to have x2 memory bus of the current model btw.

GL w/ your purchase.

Bottom line is

You can't play Crysis w/ medium/high settings w/ M1710.

You may play Crysis w/ combo of low/med/high settings on M1730 - 8700SLI

You have a good chance to play Crysis w/ high settings on 8800 SLI

 

I prefered the Dual 8700s knowing the 7950GTX is a little faster.
Dual 8700 > Single 7950.
Plus it will be upgradable to 8800 cards, which I don't think the m1710 will be able to do.

 

so bottom line to me,

get the m1730, spend bout 3300 on it

and i have a good laptop that will last me a while i can upgrade if i want....

correct? =p

ps, it seems when im customizing the 1730 it seems cheaper than the m1710, shoudl that be a worry to me that im not gettin the best i can get for 3300

 

Sapphire Blue
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7700 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition - English
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE Size: 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA®SLI™Dual GeForce®8700MGT with 512MB GDDR3 Memory
WIRELESS CARDS Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965a/g/n Mini Card
BLUETOOTH OPTIONS Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Prim
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition

How does this look for a sweet laptop?

 

^ Looks better than the m1710 setup for sure.

 

It is known that a 5400rpm drive slows the system down at about 30% of the overall performance, you should really get a 7200rpm drive even if that means a lower hd like a 200 GB and i guess its a bit more expensive but u can save it from taking the sound blaster software off. Beleive me you are not gonna beleive it when u see that is nothing but a sigmatel with cd of the audigy with a player and a sound editors software thats what u get!! not an AUDIGY sound card at all!!!

 

The 320GB 5400 runs about the same performance as a 7200rpm... thats due to the doble layer use... its slower, but the difference is negligible... maybe peaks are like 67 vs 62 mb and average 51 vs 46 .... its not like in the past anymore...

 

I take mine to school!!