Alienware m15x or Sager NP8660

Hi, I just want to know between these two laptops which one would be the best to choose for multimedia purposes? My budget is around 2000-2500. I want a good laptop that would last me for a long time. I read some reviews about the Alienware m15x and there were some bad comments on it like screen crack and all that kind of stuff. I really like the look of the Alienware m15x than the sager np8660. The problem is the np8660 is not even out yet and i really need a laptop. Besides no one really know how good the NP8660 is since nobody has use it yet. I don't want to risk buying it and then something happen. Cuz to me new things always has problems until their later release. So please let me hear your advice.

 

exactly, no ones know. You just answered yourself.

 

Alienware laptops look amazing, but are massively over priced.

 

The M15X has many known problems and is more expensive than the NP8660/M860TU. But the NP8660/M860TU isn't even out yet, and may have many problems as well.

Unfortunately, to me, the most logical option is to wait until it's received and reviewed by others.

 

yea, noone knows...but clevo/sager has a pretty good track record in terms of quality. we're just hoping the np8660 also follows through.

 

What is your definition of Multimedia purpos?

 

youve only got just over a week before the 8660 hits the streets.
taking into consideration of my horror story with the m15x i must admit if i didnt have the problems with it that i had then i would say it was the dogs dangley bits. i really miss it now its gone. the one thing the m15 has going for it is that it has the bling factor and also is the only computer with the smart bay option for extra battery/hard drive.

as spexc31 states above, clevo/sager have a very good track record.
im waiting for the first couple of reviews before i order one myself.
if your not desperate for a computer straight away it might be worth waiting a couple of weeks before you decide.

 

personally I will wait for the Sager laptop to come, if your not in a rush. And wait for the review to come out.

 

i think i'll wait like you guys suggest. but does anybody know when it comes out? the last time i checked, it said early August. Now it says mid August? What's next? About the Alienware m15x. Do you guys think it has improve at all since it first came out? I know the m15x came out in Feb. and there were so many complaints. But it's August now which is 6 months after it released already. Wouldn't it be better after all that complaints? Or Alienware just ignore about the complaints?

When i said Multimedia which mean gaming, music producing, and other things related.

 

M15x is still a toaster even with the newest BIOS. let's see what's gonna happen to NP8660.

 

Just wait a week or so for the NP8660 launch and reviews with the rest of us. If you go Alienware now, you'll need to spend ~$2500 to "sorta match spec" with the ~$1800 Sager. Price out a $2500 8660, and you'll see how much more you can get for your money.

If the reviews are favorable, then the Sager will be the 15-inch laptop to beat.

You already know about the m15x's problems, so I can't recommend that unless you just must have the laptop right at this moment. A lot of people, this poster included, have really high expectations for this laptop. I just hope Clevo pulls it off. Hey, if it comes out buggy as all get out, you can then just go with Alienware, Toshiba, or Gateway.

 

Are you a heavy gamer, all ways the top notch games etc... Also the m15x heating problems cannot be fixed because it is mainly due to the fans and the chassis they use, and they wont be changing that anytime soon.

 

not really a heavy gamer, the only game i wanted to play on my laptop is supreme commander that's all. i'm a big strategy fan so that's all i play. but i would do a lot of music production on it.

 

Then I'd have to urge you to consider something else than either of these. Maybe check out the Asus G50.

 

If one is aware of the customer service related problems and design/quality issues of the m15x, I don't know how he/she could ever consider it.
I'd rather have my old notebook (presario 2716ae) than any modern alienware system.
I don't know how good or bad the 15.4" Clevo system will be and I would still choose it over the m15x.

 

I'm getting the m860tu for gaming, video editing and sound creation. Why would you direct the guy elsewhere? This machine is much more future proof than what you are suggesting to him.

 

m860tu is prob going to get OWNED by the m15x in battery life...
but we have to wait n c..

quality wize many hope the m860tu to be the same as other clevos.. which would put it quite far ahead of the m15x is rigidness and durability.

after having a m15x lid pop and crack at me in a store i decided that the battery life was pointless if it was going to feel that bad.. i would always use it on a table.

 

Depends on which one you think has better cooling

m15x:

8660:

 

Agreed. I don't think there would be any other 15" laptop out there that would be as powerful as the m15x and the NP8660. Getting either one is the only way i could do a lot of multimedia tasks that i've been wanting to do. The reason i consider the m15x even though i know it has a lot of problem is because of it's looks lol. Who doesn't think the m15x looks cool? And beside the laptop itself pack a lot of punch for a 15" laptop. If it didn't have any problem like people been complaining, I would've got it a long time ago.

 

omg teh alienware obvviously it has 2 fans!

I like the new M860TU chassis design, you can reach almost every component through just one panel. My M37EW has a different panel for each component = screw nightmare.

I can vouch for the build quality of Clevos, they may be ugly but they are built very solidly. Possibly why they weigh so much, the plastic is pretty thick and rigid.

 

I'm actually planning to buy a custom skin from skinit.com. A photoshop painting I did for my company logo. Great for looks to the plain m860tu and great for advertising.

I was initially looking at the m15x myself. But all those problems with it just turned me off. I don't need 5+ hours battery life to write up a paper and surf the web, because if I wanted to do that for that amount of time, I might as well be plugged in instead of damaging my eyes looking at a dim screen for such a long time.

 

The NP8660 didn't really catch my eyes in the beginning because of it's plain look. If i didn't do research about it i wouldn't even know that it is equal to the m15x. Cuz i did a lot of comparison between the m15x with other 15" laptops and it seems that the m15x is a really powerful 15" laptop. But if i were going to get the NP8660 i think i would do the same as you would Deathwinger by getting a skin for it. I think xoticpc.com has some cool skins and paints design too. I always wonder why sager or alienware didn't make these gaming laptops with metal or aluminum cases like the business laptop line?

 

lol...

I mean, seriously, LOL!!!

Obviously you haven't been by the Alienware forums, and seen the plethora of testimonies of how ineffective the m15x 2-fan cooling system is.

One fan or not, Clevo's reputation will most certainly guarantee that they have MUCH greater success cooling these componants in a 15.4" chassis...

 

o think he was being sarcastic..

 

I like the plain view because I am thinking about using it in med school, it would fit in just fine ...

 

I honestly have to say though, the Clevo fan doesn't look as big as I was expecting. I thought it would be like a 80mm fan but it doesn't really look that much bigger than the Alienware's.

 

doesn't matter, I will have external fans ready if there is a problem with heating, maybe go buy a small desk top fans...

 

i still hate the way the clevo has its fan... why is it not mounted to the main chassis ... I can just tell that at some point in my clevos life im going to forget to plug the fan in.

 

IMO, the fan configuration differences between the m15x and the m860tu arent the biggest deal. If you look at the heat pipes on each of them, you will notice that the m860tu's are GIANT in comparison.

 

And also more expensive. It's overkill for what he wants use it for. He could save a grand and still get something that suits his needs, regardless of how much we like the 8660.

 

Alien is to expensive, I would rather buy the cheaper one that has higher settings (Clevo M860TU).

 

there was a news about more faulty Nvidia chips (8800M is one of them) so go with 9800MGT on M860TU is safer

 

Judging by what your needs are, I would say the power of both of those laptops is overkill. These are only necessary for hardcore "notebook" gamers (aka top of the line current and future games) and intense rendering/processing kinds of projects where laptop mobility is still needed. Someone suggested already to take a look at other notebooks and I would say so too, unless you're completely comfortable with your budget, I'd recommend checking something else out. But if you want to spend an extra 500-1k or so, go ahead.

 

I would not call it overkill, its a safe bet for people who plan on keeping their laptop for 3+ years

 

I agree MKang, I also plan to upgrade CPU myself after about 2 years

 

wow you guys really give a lot of opinions. i just want to say thanks at first. second my budget is around 2 grands. Other than the m15x and the NP860 what other laptop would you guys recommend? Cuz i don't think there would be any 15" laptop out there that would be close to m15x and NP860. Unless you talking about 17" laptops then there are a lot with decent price. I saw a 17" gateway gaming laptop that cost around 1500 which has everything.

 

Actually a 9800M GT has been shown to be a rebranded 8800M GTX, which is based on the G92 (?) core. One of the affected ones.

No one is safe

Not the point though. Fenrir, some other laptops you should look at are the Sager NP2096 or MSI 1651 something like that. Both are 15.4" laptops with mid-range video cards (9600M GT). These are cheaper, smaller, lighter and probably last longer on a single charge. I believe both are available with extended 9-cell packs can't remember.

 

I believe in nVidia, they will figure something out to make this work out just fine...

 

Is the 9800GT really affected?

I thought the 9800GT was a G94 core and 55nm process while the 8800GTX was G92 core and 65nm process.

I really hope the 9800GT's are not affected with the 8-series problems...

 

9800M GT = 8800M GTX = G92

G94 is only 9600M GT as far as I'm aware. But the Inq article suggests G94 is affected as well.

 

sometimes it is frustrating people keep telling you the opposite even after you explained things ...

Peace.

 

it seems like the NP860 is about to be ship out soon to the people who ordered them back in July. Wow i can't wait to see their reviews. Anybody in here order the NP860?

 

You know you could just go to the NP8660 Order Dates and Status thread to see...

 

for 1/3 the price you can get a superior rig from sager. furthermore, sager treated me on a level that is unsurpassed in the industry- I worked direct with a salesperson that calls me direct with updates regarding my account and backed up with confirmation emails if the call is missed. I have to say, the team at alienware was a little ****y and when I asked them the big question: "your laptop is coming in at $1400 more than sager, and the hardware is inferior- what am i getting for that $1400?" my reply was: " a 200 point inspection before it leaves us and a lighted keyboard, the alienware name...warranty...." basically alot of hot air in my view. my advice is to build a system online at sager's site then build the same system at alienwares site the call the respective companies and talk directly to the sales teams. If a little alien head is worth a grand plus to you the go for it-

 

Personally, I would go with the Sager.

Sager has an outstanding history of quality. And you can't beat their prices.

 

I would go with Sager too. The NP8660 has the same displaysize, everything to upgrade seems easy accessable (even the fan!), looks very nice and not as chunkish as the m15x - and the most important it's much cheaper. If you are an europe customer you can save 600€ (!!) for the same configuration

For I don't know what reasons the price of the m15x has increased exactly 100€ for europe countries!
The price of the base config has always been between 1.240€ - 1.260€ - for the time of the last 4 months! And now it's between 1.340€ - 1.360€. Therefore only the 20€ differences seem to be the exchange fluctuations. That does not explain however where the additional 100€ came from. Not even the base hardware was upgraded!

Since there is the np8660 as a new competitor I'd expected the m15x to become much cheaper - certainly not more expensive! - but it did...
well, I just can't think anything other than it's a "Rip-off". Though USA/Canada customers may not be affected by the weird and unlogical behaviour of this company.

 

Sager NP8660 (built on Clevo M860TU) is a much better system. And it is now available.

Good Luck on your search!

 

its more expensive in the US too...I called alienware and asked why and apparantly I stumped the salesman.

 

I knew coloured LEDs were kind of pricey, but I didn't realize...

 

Alienware is just Dell milking the 'brand conscious'. That said, I have yet to understand what the problems were with the 860TU that prevented it from being shipped in mid July when Intel fired the starting pistol. Were Clevo really making sure all issues were put to rest, or are they releasing now under duress from marketing but against the advice of some engineers?? Not something we'll know from reviews.