Questions

Hi, I am new here. I am thinking about buying an m14x and have been reading the forums and looking at the different configurations and have a few questions.

First, I am looking at the difference between the SATA hard drive and the SSD hard drive. The cost is pretty big so I am wondering if there is a huge notable difference? I do have a Macbook Air so am familiar with the quickness of the SSD and like it. I ask because I notice in all the specs listed on the forums that many are getting the SATA drive.

Second, is there a noticeable difference with the screen upgrade? Bestbuy seems to have a decent price on this model but with the SATA and without the upgrade.

Third, if I order it configured with purple, is it possible to change the color in the future? I read that you could but it wasn't clear.

And not spec related...I currently play WoW on an iMac which has to be set at the lowest settings. What kind of things could I expect in terms of improvement if I were to play with the Alienware (yeah, this is the convince me to buy it question haha).

Thanks for your help!

 

1)SSD all the way (buy after the fact and install yourself its really easy)
2) i havnt seen the 720p screen but there were a couple of screenshots... Buy the upgrade its worth it....
3) its def possible to change the color of the keyboard lighting (if you chose red casing your stuck with it i like black but thats up to you)

4) this thing will play wow on high and not even take a hit.... what kind of imac do you have and what vid card.... macs really cannot game.

 

My graphics on my iMac: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256 MB
I get about 20-30 fps in Stormwind
I played a bit on my little Macbook Air last night and it was fine but I imagine I will be able to play better with a computer made for gaming. I've never done so though so have no idea what to expect.

I'm interested in going with the black as well

 

For the keyboard lighting, OF COURSE you can change it, I order mine config as Red, but now I'm using a Orange-Yellow Morph.

For WoW, you dont need to worry about it, as their recommend req is HD2600/GF8600, and your M14x have GT555M, although it will not be as powerful as the desktop side, but it is powerful enough for you to get decent fps. BUT one thing is before you run the game you'll need to whitelist/force the game to run under the nVidia GPU otherwise it will auto run on Intel iGP.

Oh and another thing is that, when comparing system, try look at its spec against the other, I believe your MBAir will have nothing compare to M14x, so dont need to worry much, for game that is release BEFORE 2011, but those After or Within 2011, you might want to worry about it abit as it will not run at high with Maximum resolution e.g Battlefield 3.

 

1.SSD all the way if you can afford it...dont buy it from Dell...they are overcharging ..get it from newegg not even bestbuy
2.900p screen ..IMHO is a must...720p isnt that great.
3.The software you use to change colors is AlienFx...you can you this anytime to change colors...they just ask that question so that the firm time when you switch it on ....what color would you like to see.
4.WOW seems to be working great...several people have reported this on the forums here...so i dont see a big issue with that also.Hope this helps
Cheers...and good luck with your alienware

Oh btw...one last question...you might not wanna get the one from bestbuy...the last i checked ..which was like 3 months ago...it was 1499$ ...which is a big rip of in terms of price...cause a very similar config which is mine...except for the 750gb hdd ...but hey ..i have a better screen (900p) and a 3gb graphic card (which is a waste of money...but i got it as part of the deal)....the whole thing..i got it for 1199 $....so unless you are a silver member and plan to go with the 18 month zero interest installments or even 24 to 36 months (yes they can do that..if you request them...i got a 36 month..zero installment for my macbook air )

 

Thanks everyone

I have no idea how to install a hard drive. I know my father does though so I could always have him do it!

 

Dude...installing a harddrive is pretty easy...just dont screw up the orange ribbon of the optical drive..i suggest....you watch a few youtube videos and then go about it