Returning the m14x.

I am thinking about returning the m14x and paying the difference for the m17x, I love the m14 but I feel that I would like to have a bit more screen.
Do you guys think its worth it?

 

I'm considering canceling my m14x order for the m17x as well...May as well just use a netbook in university.

Or even the m18x.

 

I suggest you to go to your local computer store and find a 17" laptop. Hold it and feel it to see if you really need that much more screen, and think about how bulky it will be to drag around before you do it.

 

I will be at some point sell my m14x once I found a good deal on a m17x r3. I feel if you want the extra power and screen size its worth the price. From what I have read battery life is similar on both machines.

I had a m15x so weight/size im use to.

 

I know how a 17" laptop feels. Thats not the problem. I don't need more power, the m14x has enough power for me, I will probably get same specs on the 17 if I decide to go through with it.
The thing is I will be honest and I love high res, I love 1080p res on good tv or monitor but if I put the m14x on 900p everything is too small.

Anybody did this though, do they know if I will be charged the 15% restocking fee or if dell will be nice and just accept my return because I am paying extra and getting the 17x ?

 

I think for an overall laptop, the M14x is great. 4.5 hours non-gaming battery life, great performance when plugged in, and it's relatively portable. Can't beat that. Anything bigger would be a hassle to carry and anything smaller would be too small screen size and sub-par perforamnce.

 

yes the m14x is a great laptop, but another approach that i've been considering is a laptop better dedicated for gaming without the portability draw backs, asus g73 or m17x, and a cheapo netbook for portability. The larger laptop would be better for gaming, and the netbook better for portability. I have a 2 year old hp dv3 that gets 8 hours of battery life, and i still bought the m14x. Though i love my m14x to death, i cant help wondering if i should've just bought a better gaming laptop and just use hp for portability. I don't even use my hp anymore, and it's in great shape. Everyone before they buy the m14x should consider this idea. I mean, why buy something (m14x) that does gaming and portability good, when you can have something that games and does portability perfect(M15/17x Asus g533/73 and a netbook)

And for those of you who want to game on the go...Seriously? you get about an hour or so of life and the cpu/gpu are at a lower clock rate, which hinders gaming.

 

i agree with you niko, I almost never game on battery. I do sometimes take my laptops to friends or work to game little bit in breaks but i can easily use the adapter there. i have been thinking about m17x or m18x and an iPad 2.

 

will there be a egpu option for m14x? vidock or thunderbolt in the future??

 

WELL.... my buddy has the m17x r3 with the 460m.... its huge! and heavy and i beat him in our 3dmark06 scores 1500 something to 1450 or something... yes i did overclock and he did not but realistically the m14x in my eyes owns the m17x and ya the 3d he never uses it anymore it was a cool hey look at me i can wear goofy glasses for 30 minutes...

Really I do recommend you look at the m17x physically before you buy it.

 

Good idea to look at a laptop at least in the same size category. If you come from a smaller computer its difficult to get use to the larger size. Its a preference thing. I like the larger size and extra real estate (Screen).

If you get the 6970M card it will outperform the 555 card by a huge margin.

 

From what I read in the last few days thats also a factor that I take into consideration to return it for, the 555 is ok but its not what I expected. The rep said of I do want the m17x with 6970m then it will take up to one month for the EDD because it seems that they are running low on 6970 stock.

ted264, I don't have where to look at the m17x unfortunetly but aside from the display I am a little bit dissapointed with the 555 video card, I have the same specs as you do except for the SSD. Can you tell me how much did you overclock your video card and what cooling are you using now ?

 

yeah i agree. My friend has the m15x and even that's too big and heavy for portability. But it games great, and even though it's not practical for everyday portability, the m15/17x are great for taking to places. Like gaming at lan parties, taking to another place, etc. (i.e. not walking around with it)

 

I wish I could find a photo of the M17x side by side with the M14x but no such luck.
Do any of you know what I will have to do to send the M14x back? First, where do I have to send it? Do I pay for the shipping? If yes how much it would be roughly?
I still have 14 days to decide what to do so I think I will take advantage of that, I just need the new one to arrive before early August.

 

Just ordered a m17x r3 from outlet which will arrive Thursday. Once it comes in I will get some pictures if my m14x doesnt sell before then.

Here is my m14x side by side with a m15x which is similar to the m17x r3 in size.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/586158-my-view-m14x-vs-m15x.html

Here are some good pictures of a side by side also. From what I have read the m15x/m17x r3 are very similar is size and weight.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/578252-m14x-m15x-3.html

For returns ( http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/dells_sat_policy?c=us&l=en&cs=19)

 

15 percent restocking fee. Means if you paid 1500 for the m14x, they'll take 250 out of your refund, so you'll get back 1250. If you really want to return it, it's your call, but i wouldn't advise it. M14x is still a great laptop. It's just built on a compromise on being both portable on a daily basis and gaming. But if they didn't charge a restocking fee, id get the m17x and leave it at home, because there's no sense why anyone needs to take the m14x around if they have a netbook/smaller notebook.

 

My understanding is that they dont charge a restocking fee if i pay extra and get the m17x. Or did you mean if i send it back for the money?
What about the m17x, is it that big? I mean at home i dont care and if i takr it at work or to friends or whatever i dont care again because i just throw it in my car but if i travel to visit my parents or something and i have to fly. I played with a 17" before but this is bigger than regular 17" from what i understand.

 

And also the sales rep said they dont do engravings anymore, is that true?

 

The m17x isn't portable on a daily basis, but you can take it around with you. Not like walking with it or traveling. But like if you want to take it to a friend's house, lan party, to work, its manageable. Basically if you don't need to be on the move often, like for school. And could always get a cheap 200 dollar netbook for portability along side the m17x. That's what i should've done.

 

I mean an external could easily fix that problem. The thing is this thing has an excellent screen, its portable, and is very powerful. I never really understood the point of a 17 or 18 inch laptop...you might as well buy a desktop that will one, be cheaper, and two be way faster for your money. I guess I could see my self getting a 17 inch if it sat on my desk most the time and needed to be transported once in a while, but otherwise it wouldn't be my choice.

 

Now the rep is telling me that he is recommending the nvidia 1.5 460 card even though I said I want the 6970 ATI. I said to him that I wont take the nvidia and also that with the exact config he told me I can get it off amazon for 200 euro cheaper. He hasn't replied yet to the e-mail I sent. I know I am returning the m14x for an upgrade but I still shouldn't get ripped off. Also he sent me a quote for the full price of the m17x which is over 1900 euro and asked me if I am purchasing it today, I was hoping that I can send the m14x back and when they process my request I just pay the difference. I already paid over 1500 for the m14x last week by wire, now he wants me to send another 1900, I am not that rich

 

Just to put my views on this subject and not offending anyone, but some of you say that you can disregard the portability factor over the performence factor and hence you are swapping the M14x for a M17x. My question is wouldn't it be better then that you get a desktop instead or assemble your own (which hopefully is cheaper and better performance)?

Note: I have completely overlooked the portability factor and I know it would be impossible to drag your desktop to a lan party etc

 

If you need occasional portability (like once a month), do what I've done, build a small form factor desktop. I opted for the Shuttle which is quite small, not much bigger than a four slice toaster, and uses all desktop components. I have an i5-2400, GTX 460, SSD + HDD, and 8GB DDR3, all for < $800. Buy a 15" or 17" monitor, keyboard, mouse for on the go, throw in a dufflebag, and away you go! No it's not nearly as convenient as a laptop, but if you're just taking it from one desk to another on occasion (like from school to home or occasional LAN gaming), it's a good alternative.

In any case I'm in a dilemma now too because I went from using my Sager 17" notebook as my primary PC to now using it part time, and it's over powered for what I need it for now. Also like my M11x R1, but don't need two laptops and the M11x screen is too small to use as my primary laptop. Looking for something to replace both, and the M14x is looking quite tasty at the moment.

 

My bes advice for you would be to get the M17x, but then buy a 12 inch AMD Fusion netbook. Sounds like a good combination to me