m1730 for university

I just graduated from high school and I will be going to university in September. As always, I need a powerful laptop, which can hopefully last for four years or longer. I've already been looking for a few days and I'm thinking of getting the m1730 from Dell Canada. Here is the setup I've customized,


The only thing that I am worried is the short battery life, but at the same time I need a desktop replacement. So is it possible to purchase additional batteries?
Is this a good price, or wait for better discount?
I just want to make sure everything is fine before I blow that much money. I appreciate any comments .

 

Are you sure you want something so big? The only real advantage of getting a XPS M1730 over the M1530 is the graphics card so I assume you must want to game on this. If your gonna be playing games like Crysis you'll want a M1730, otherwise you might want something a bit more portable.

 

yes, you can buy more batteries, no i think that's an obscene price, and no there probably won't be a discount. maybe $100 off if you can haggle on the phone.

you'll also rue buying something so big if you plan on carrying that from class to class. and people are going to laugh at you because it's such a silly looking laptop.

 

I am into games fairly much, and I don't plan to carry it from class to class. I will be using the traditional way of taking notes, pencil and paper.

I don't have much experience of haggling over the phone. Any tips?

 

I'm gonna agree with these other 2 and say are you sure you want something that big? If you want to game (and you better wanna game seriously with those specs) I suggest looking at Sagers. I know there was a new one coming out soon, but I don't know if its come out yet or not. Somebody else will.

 

If you want Geforce 8800 graphics and something a bit smaller, look no further then the Alienware M15x. I think it might be your best option as it's considerably more portable then a M1730 (although still pretty thick compared to a XPS M1530) and offers highend dual graphics options. So yeah, I'd say go with the M15x if you want something as fast as the M1730, but it's also smaller at the same time. And you can change the backlight on the keyboard to white on the M15x to give it a more professional look in the classroom, then change it back to blue when you go to the LAN party.

 

I was also going to get a sager... but then today I was able to get a $870 discount from dell Canada!

$520 for no reason

$50 for Canada day savings

$300 through an epp...

You can easily get the $570 savings, I don't know why you only see $300...

Follow this link:

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n17302v_f_2e&c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1

 

there are $100 off laptop coupons from dell.ca floating around usually and those can be found by googling them. the problem is they almost never stack with the discount already on the notebook when you try to apply it online.

call dell canada up, configure what you have with a sales rep, mention you found an online coupon but it doesn't work at the checkout. they'll ask what code you have and for how much, and you tell them. usually at this point they'll apply it manually for you to clinch a sale. mentioning the better coupons that dell USA has might help also.

if that doesn't work, thank them and tell them you'll think about it, call back get a different sales rep and try again till one does it for you. use a different name each time because they save these profiles and other reps have access to them.

 

I looked at the current models, and they seem to have the same price as Dell. Unless the new model is significantly cheaper and have the same specs, I doubt I will buy from them simply because I prefer Dell. Also, I can't spend any higher than $3200, that is why I couldn't get the core 2 extreme. Will Dell release a better and cheaper model of the m1730 before september?

 

July 14 or 15th is the day that Montevina is released, which the Clevo M860TU, a 15.4, and it's larger 17in counterpart (I forget the number) are tied to.

The Clevo M860TU will support an 8800M GTX, so if you're not too rushed I would certain recommend waiting for that. 3k is a ridiculous price, even a moderately-configured Alienware m15x (8800 card, 2.5ghz processor, 1gig of ram, and a bunch of other handy components) costs much less than that.

 

@DFI Fan: The m15x does not offer DUAL graphics options. That's the m17x with dual cards and it's just as bunch of a beast to lug around as the 1730

 

Alienware laptops seem to be significantly more expensive than Dell. I agree that the m15x has a better battery life and all, but after I customized it a bit, the price still went up to 3000. Also, I enjoy using a 17" screen despite the weight.

I saw that one too. It is $100 higher than the one I selected, but it comes with a blu ray drive. So basically, you are paying a hundred bucks for a blu ray drive, which is a very good deal but useless to me since I have a ps3. Is there any ways for me to get the epp discount?

 

if you don't plan on taking it to class, is there a reason why it must be a laptop? you could buy a pretty sweet desktop for under $3200 and still have money leftover.

unless you or your parents work for someone that offers EPP, no.

 

Not if you're smart about it.
What did you configure?
If you added things like Turbo Memory and Alienware RAM (upgrading with aftermarket RAM is significantly cheaper and doesn't degrade your performance)
then that's just a waste of money. Also, if you selected the X900 processor, that's also a waste of money since it downclocks.

"Better battery life" is also a vast understatement. With the $78 smartbay battery (it's cheaper if you order it separately from your machine), people have quoted their usage time to around 7 hours. Definitely very useful when you know that you're going to have to fight for an outlet during class.


EDIT:
Oh, I didn't read that you wouldn't take it from class to class.
I agree with only, why would you invest in a laptop when you would probably save around 2k buying a desktop, which has a lot more upgradability and reliability.

 

I guess Alienware should change their website and make it accurate then, as the following banner on their site claims that you can get Dual Geforce 8800m GTX's.

 

Thanks for those excellence advices. I will definitely try them.

I am not in that much of hurry, but the $300 discount they have now is still something that I don't want to miss, unless of course if they have a better discount after July 4th.

 

@DFI: Well, that's pretty bad of them. They most definitely mixed that up with the m17x.

PCGamer did too in one of their issues (the one with Crysis warhead on the cover), but no the m15x only supports a single 8800m gtx.

 

If you dont want to take it anywhere get a kick butt desktop with a big screen 1080p lcd tv.

 

What euphemism! When has anyone needed an Alienware-esque computer for "school"? Please do cite why you need such an laptop for school. Since you have absolutely no intent of lugging this behemoth of a laptop around to take notes, wouldn't it be quite a bit more efficient monetarily to blow 2k on a desktop with 2x the specs, and the rest on a laptop that you can actually... y'know, place on your lap. However, if you do insist on buying a laptop with desktop specs and weight: haggle. But try to find one that has a decent grasp of the English language, as Dell [and every other company that offers customer service] has a reputation of hiring 99% Indians. Try mentioning other brands that are offering large discounts; mention that you're on a student budget and "only" have 2500 to spend; etc.

 

Yeah you could easily build a smoking desktop gaming system for $1500 with 9800GTX graphics, Quad Core CPU, and 4GB of ram. And then you got another $1500 to spend on a portable laptop like a XPS M1330/M1530.

 

Sigh, wish I had 3 grand to use for laptop... drool...

 

if you waste 3k on that then your a complete fool~

If your so ready to throw away 3k then @ least wait until Montevina roles out & there will be much better deals from dell then what your configured. Wait a couple months then really look around the net to find the best deals. My 2cents @ least

 

Wow, i have never seen this many useless posts in a topic before. In case you guys haven't noticed, hardly any of your posts are actually helpful. The man is asking about the laptop he wants, not a laptop you want. Get over yourselves.

Back on topic. You really won't find a better deal on most XPS laptops because they rarely go on sale. As heavy as this laptop can be, my old laptop was 10 lbs and I carried it around from class to class. Regarding battery life, you don't expect it to last long do you? probably 2 hours since most NVidia drivers downclocks. ~3000 for a 8800GTX SLI configuration is pretty sweet actually, you'll be able to use it for four years definitely, just make sure you buy the warranty.

 

Yeah don't listen to these guys. Montevina won't be a big upgrade. The M1730 is an awesome, awesome computer and certainly a conversation piece. If anything, girls respect size right? Laugh at these fools with their wimpy, underpowered, portable machines that overheat.

You'll be cruising cool with flashing lights and an overpowered graphics system that everyone will be drooling at and that probably overpowers 95% of the desktops that are on campus.

I wish i had the M1730 during college. Now i'm old and working.

get it IMO

 

I currently use a nicely-configured XPS M1730 which I picked up from the Dell outlet at about $2500USD (it was a scratch/dent model, $2800 total with the 3-yr complete care warranty). Battery life is definitely not one of this beast's strong points, but if you can find an AC-power outlet in every class, you should be OK. The XPS M1730's built-in cooling is the best I've ever seen on any gaming laptop.

If you don't have reliable AC-power access, another option is to wait for an equivalent system with hybrid-SLI which will allow a laptop to switch to an integrated graphics chipset when not gaming. The new Nvidia 9000 series mobile GPU's are supposed to have this feature. The Alienware m15x already has this perk (they call it Binary Graphics). Unfortunately AW offers no accidental damage coverage, and their tech-support isn't quite as good as Dell XPS Premiere Support.

How soon do you plan on purchasing your new system?

 

"girls respect size right?" - Lol. I feel bad for you if you really have a girl that even cares. Speaks of her personality.

Anyway, on subject: while everyone saying that $3,000 is a lot of money is right (it is a lot of money), if you want the gaming rig, go for it! I think everyone here is just skeptical because you made it seem like you wanted the gaming computer for college. As if, somehow, note-taking was going to push an 8800GTX to the max. But if you are into gaming (and with this computer, I hope you're seriously into crysis/assassins creed/etc.) it'll be great.

Other than that, lord_shar seems to have summed it up really well.

 

You're right man, the 25% coupon, the 40% coupon, the $500, 600, 700 off coupons; XPS deals are quite rare.

No it isn't. With the X9000 processor and 4 years of warranty, 3000 is a good price. But without it? You've gotta be Michael Dell himself to say that's a good deal. He posted the savings, ~300, people get $300 savings over $1000 laptops.

But yeah, everyone has their own definition of laptops, and yours is quite a bit different from most of ours. It's a great laptop, it's just a sh** deal.

 

For the cheaper XPS systems (m1330/m1530) the only one that really was a big deal was 40% off. The 25% off was nice but it overrode the everyday $500 or $600 off and ended up being not too much cheaper. The same goes for the $500, $600, $700 off.

 

Referring to his 10%/$300 off. Any of the listed is "a better deal".

 

Yea but the way dell sales work sometimes is a little weird. Frequently they'll advertise $500+ off, but if you pay close attention to the starting price (before discounts) it's more expensive than what it normally is in the store. They give you a false sense of a great deal to get you to buy it. The same applies to their m1530/420 buy one get one half-off deal. The prices for the configurations that you have to start at are higher.

I understand what you're saying, and I'm sure just about anything you listed will give a better price. But with dell, you can't always say that 25% off is really 25% off.

 

Well pretty much any "real" deal is better than the "every day online deal" he's getting. Most customer service representatives, even those from India, wouldn't hesitate to give you 500+ off on a 3000 dollar system.

 

read the thread, he's in Canada and those coupons don't exist here.

 

US order ship to CA via third party carrier.

 

if it were that easy, there would be no Dell.ca

with the per pound 3rd party fees, shipping + customs he will probably pay $1000+ more. i already suggested if he had a friend or relative he could trust to buy it that way otherwise he's stuck with the Canadian prices.

 

$1000 for shipping? Shipping a car from Europe to US costs less than that. It's about $20-25 to ship a 20lb package from So. Cal to Vancouver. Shipping shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

read.


if it were that easy & cheap why would Canadians bother buying big ticket items domestically?

it isn't $1000 for shipping alone. if you do it by a 3rd party business in the USA (that is you use their address to ship to within the USA to fulfill Dell's residency req), they will charge you $30+ per pound to ship to you and an m1730 is heavy. how do you think they make money? also they WILL mark the item as a commercial transaction-- tack on another 20%+ of it's cost in taxes, duties and brokerage fees at the border before it hits your door.

 

Right, because you clearly give in to US vendors and let them rip you off 1k for absolutely no reason.

 

uh huh no reasons at all

 

It's quite a feat for him to not to have friends/relatives in the US.

 

that's nice, but i already suggested that on the first page. it's not that out of the ordinary to not know anyone that you can trust to ship $2-2.5k laptop for you. and it's still no guarantee that you won't pay customs/taxes on it if they inspect it.

 

Yeah I see it now, right under the post about legalizing marijuana.

 

...cry more

 

IF, someone has bought this laptop with X9000 processor, 4gb ram, SLI 8800GTX for under 3000 dollars, I'll be a monkey's uncle. If not, I think you guys should shut up about the pricing. Not all of us are poor. BTW: his configuration also includes a BLU-RAY drive that is not in his c/p for some reason. So with his configuration and a blu-ray drive, it comes out to 3100 dollars Canadian. I say that's an excellent price, call in see if u can get it a bit under 3000 and free shipping and ur good to go.

 

First of all, it's not necessary to make comments about anyone's financial situation (good or not). Second of all, it's not so much people saying that the price is ridiculous, more so that they don't think he needs a 1730 for school. In the end it's his decision. I personally think if he's not going to take it around with him he should just get a desktop and spend half the money on a better spec'd system, but that's entirely his decision.

For the record: his optical drive says DVD+/-RW.

 

OK, here's a banana! j/k

I did get my XPS M1730 with x9000cpu, 4gigs RAM, BluRay Drive, and 200gig HD for $2500USD a few months ago, but only because it was a scratch/dent model from www.delloutlet.com. So yes it was possible to get these M1730's near-fully decked out, but there was an element of luck involved (not everyone will have the time / patience / luck to fish out an optimally configured discount model from Dell Outlet). The unit arrived with a few cosmetic issues, but thanks to Complete Care, these scratched components were quickly replaced with new-models. Now my unit looks new except for a big green refurb sticker beneath the laptop.

I could have bought the XPS M1730 new, but the 40%+ savings involved in the total price was too good to pass up.

EDIT: The total price with tax + 3yr complete care came out to $3033.14USD.

 

I'm not making a note of anybody's financial situation, but the previous comments made him sound like a rich snob, which, if anything, is more offensive to people's financial situation then what I said.

And if anybody cared to click on his link (like he says he doesn't know why the picture came out htat way), if people clicked the link of his configuration you would see 500+ dollars off PLUS a blu-ray drive, so yes, it is an excellent configuraiton.

And to lord shar, that is pretty lucky for a refurb, I think that it's probably hard to find a refurb like that especially since I'm not sure if Canada has a refub program. Like I said, I'd rather be helpful then tell him that he's bananas and too baller to spend 3000 on a laptop. I bet half the people in this topic didn't even read his posts.

 

That's an entirely different person. But yes, with the Blu-ray thrown in (~$200), the savings surpasses the half-grand mark. Whether or not that's enough to convince him to pull the trigger is entirely up to him, but by no means is $500 off a $3500 laptop a "great" deal. We're doing nothing more than telling him to be patient and wait for a better deal, rather than settle for less earlier.

 

If the man wants that powerhouse for college and he has the money by all means go get it. However, if you can wait a bit check out the Sager 5796 coming out in a few weeks, will be able to use the Montevina Platform and 9800gtx. And it is a bit more portable than the XPS. Granted it doesn't have the LEDS. But my advice would be dont get the m15x to many heating issues. They way they have their thermal design set up, idling gpu at 70 load 95... sometimes a 100 you will wear that thing out fast.!