Need advice about an Alienware laptop I'm thinking of buying (RE: Processor and Vid Card)

Hello,

I'm thinking of buying the Area-51 m15x Alienware laptop but I have a limited budget and I need to decide between 2 hardware components to keep the price as low as possible. The laptop comes standard with the 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT vid card and the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB) processor. I can choose to upgrade to the 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT or the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB) and I was wondering what would be the better choice. Both upgrades are exactly the same price. I will mostly be doing Photoshop and other creative/pro studio work (it will be my college PC), but I will be doing some gaming once in awhile. Also I will only get 1 gig of RAM (1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB), but it's OK with me because I can upgrade later. Obviously I would like both upgrades, but my financial situation only allows for one so I would like to hear your opinions on the matter. Right now I'm thinking the processor upgrade is the better choice for me. Thanks in advance for your time.

 

You should upgrade the GPU as you said you game. You have a better shot upgrading CPU on your own later if you so choose later than the GPU. Have you considered getting an XPS 1530 to save money? I mean if I was getting a 8600m GT I would just get it and have better CPU and more RAM. Only reason I would get the 15x is because it has better GPU's.

 

Yea actually I was planning on getting the XPS M1530 because I can get a much better deal, but now I'm considering the Alienware because of it's great reputation and because it's within my price range ($1,600ish), although I kind of get less stuff... But at least with Alienware I know I'm paying for supreme quality. I've been reading reviews about the M1530 and lots of people have problems. Like I said I probably will be doing more working than gaming. Also the m15x is just so much cooler hehe

 

Em... wasn't alienware taken over by dell
Get the 8700m gt. A 2.1GHz core 2 duo is plenty for photoshop and anything like it.

 

Dude, DON'T.
It`s better to either wait for the Clevo M860TU or get the Gateway p-FX series .It`s a 17 incher, but you can`t beat the 1200$price tag and the power it houses.

 

The m15x does not have a very good reputation on these boards. Head over to the Alienware section, and you'll read about a lot of problems.

Maybe they have all been solved, but I've heard enough to say "no thanks."

 

OH MAN ... you haven't considered the TAX and the delivery charge ...

 

I`ve been following up the pase on the m15x.
There are only a few users which are 100% satisfied, others have :
-GPU downclocking( YES, STILL)
-screen wobbling
-case cracking
-lid screeching
-overheating and frying motherboards.

At the moment, shelling out that much money on the m15x IS NOT WORTH IT . You don`t want to have to send it to repairs monthly.

 

Actually I have, right now I'm looking at the grand total (tax and delivery included) plus my 5% student discount and with one of the upgrade choices above it comes to $1,747 USD. A bit over my original price range but I can manage. Thanks for your input though, and everyone else too. Right now I still have not made a concrete decision, but it's going to be either the M1530 or the m15x. Please keep the opinions coming, I appreciate it.

 

Arent you glad that you came to notebook review.

The m15x does have its problems, and the fact is the m15x and the xps1530 are both one in the same. How is that, well both are manufactured by quanta, so they boards are made out of the same materials, and the chassis are both made out of the same thermoplastics.
You should really check out the alienware section, because alienwares reseller ratings, and their customer support/tech support is quite a bit behind dell's.

AS eleron mentioned, the Clevo M860tu is going to be a nice alternative. Clevo makes the best gaming computers, so you know that you will be getting an excellent product. The new 860tu will be released to the public soon, so I would hold out for a while.
If you cannot wait, the Clevo M570ru is a much better gaming alternative to both the m15x an the xps1530.

K-TRON

 

There is no such thing as supreme quality on PC/laptop. Almost all PC/laptops in the world in build by about 5 ODM in Taiwan and China.

 

Thanks for the info K-Tron, I knew this was a good place to ask. How handy google and the internets is haha. I understand that no laptop is perfect and each has it's share of problems. The Clevo M570ru looks pretty nice, but I'm looking for a 15" laptop. Over the past year I've been looking at different choices and I've pretty much narrowed it down to the m15x and M1530. I probably will end up getting the M1530, because for $1650 I can get a 2.4 processor, 256 nvidia, 320GB HD, and 4 freakin gigs of RAM lol, as well as a logitech wireless mouse and a belkin messenger bag. Also a 3 year warranty, and I have heard about how fantastic Dell support is.

 

While I have never owned either notebook, here are my two cents:

I find that the main reason people go for the m15x is because you can outfit it with the highest end GPU's found in a 15" laptop chassis (8700 and 8800). However, a m1530 will weigh less (by quite a lot IIRC) and will run much cooler as well as being cheaper (for the same specs). If you need the graphical power in a 15" laptop by all means go for the alienware, but otherwise I would recommend the m1530 as it is more well-rounded and portable.

 

Yea that's a good point about the GPUs. Since I'm not a heavy gamer I don't really need it, and buying an Alienware with the lowest GPU isn't worth it. Thanks for your input everybody, I've decided to go with the M1530.

 

Niko are you aware of SAGER NP2092 Custom Laptop (Built on Compal JFL92) from XoticPC? Other than having a 8600m GT w/DDR2 it stacks up very well against 1530, cost/quality.