Tempted by the M18 but will wait for the second coming.

Im a current M17 R2 user and this is my first AW. I have been very impressed with the product and as a big gamer it has served me well.

I have been following the development of the M18 with great interest. Dell is planting a flag for Desktop replacement after what seemed a lot of ponitification. My problem is one of price and justification. Having already shelled out £2k+, I cant really justify spending another 3K+ 18months down the line for a new box. That is simply extravagance, even though I could 'afford' it.

I think progressive Laptop gamers will face this issue and this is the achilles heel in Dell achieving higher sales. The existing AW owners are their potential best customers but Dell doesn't help its cause by levying a huge price differential on the machines outside of the US. Its like exchange rate doesn't even exist and the dollar is parity with Sterling.

So, I like many others will wait for the R2 D2, which I hope will be a better model. My GTX 260m is a sturdy horse and we will just have to plod on a little further.

 

Spoiler

How come you ended up with a 260m in your R2, unless you have the first Dell release of the M17x.
IMO if your current rig suits your needs then there's no reason to upgrade.

 

/blog ???

In the tech world, there's always something better if you wait. Sometimes you just have to jump right in.

Thanks for the update nevertheless.

 

tl;dr
10char

 

I might just hang on for C-threepio or one of his buddies....

 

Another point about waiting for the R2 version of the M18X is normally you get a few bugs with any new R1 release, these tend to get smoothed out on the R2 machine.

I'm in a similar boat, i wanted the M18X but instead ive bought and R2 M17X to put me on for a couple of years, i'll then go for the M18X R2 but only if it comes with an RGB LED screen or something very close to it.

I just feel at the min that its not worth the money because of the screen and also because its an R1 release which can come with a few bugs like with any new release.

 

@Katalin: I bought the early version of the R2 and I was on a budget . The options was 260M or 260M SLI / 280M. A little before the 5870's came out. Bummer. I play high end games, like Arma2 ,shogun and Crysis 2 so I need more firepower.

@Stig :I agree on the screen issue. What's the point paying for 4 gig of GPU if you cant display it in all its glory?

I'm hoping the R2 will have an 485 SLI and RGB option. We are seeing the 6970's due to the pricing points. However, I prefer Nvidia and their prices will settle down. I dont think they will like to lose market share to their main rival either.

I do rate the M18 and for me my rig is a Desktop RIP. So the size is a bonus, why stop there? I just feel guilty about spending that kind of cash in less than a two year time period.

 

Bugs will be there with every release.

Bleeding edge is always about blood/$$$. But if you're smart enough you can minimize the expenses when upgrading to next gen. Sell the system every 6 months (with after market upgrades) to recover most of the spent money. Every new release is 5-10% less expensive, so you can further minimize the impact on your budget.

For example, I got a M17XR1 for 3k when it was first released. Then, due to stuttering issues, it was replaced for free with a M17XR2 9 months later. Sold the R2 6 months later for 2k. Purchased a M18x for 2k . Lost 1k over a span of over 2 years. And many people here manage much better (I'm still a newbie).

 

that's another thing, if it turns out the the r1 has bunch of bugs, you'll only have to put up with them for another year-ish until the r2 comes out. assuming you grabbed up an extended warranty, you may end up with a r2 for free.

not saying to plan on this though lol. just speculating (like others are speculating that all the 'bugs' are a reason not to adopt the r1)

plus, i'm thinkin the 18x will be a nice improvement over my 2.0ghz dual core pentium, 3gb ram, integrated graphics, 1366x768 inspiron

 

I'm waiting as well. Sandy Bridge doesn't really offer a lot more performance that what's in my x7200 and 6970s are actually a bit slower than my dual 485ms. I'd still consider moving to an m18x with an RGB-like screen, but no love there.

I'll wait for r2 or even an Ivy-bridge revision before upgrading.

 

The “Ivy Bridge” processors are being demo’ed now and scheduled for full production this year. Products containing Ivy Bridge processors will ship in 2012.

 

well waiting for the m18x got me bored. if you want nvidia buy a desktop, their notebook gpus are horribly priced. its actually disgusting. ill never spend $900 on GTX 485msli OR 580m sli

 

In all seriousness I can't stand posts like these. Cool Story Bro! You're not going to buy the new laptop, I'm not sure why it warrants a thread. You're wasting precious internet space.

In my opinion when it comes to technology you can wait, but you will always be a step behind. For example, let's use your theory of "I'll wait till the next processor and video card". You have now waited till January 2012 and the Ivy bridge processor is either about to be unveiled or is strongly rumored. HOORAY You waited all this time and now you will be SO happy! Problem is that while you waited this entire time something has happened. Intel has looked ahead about 2 years with a product roadmap. They have their next 2 years planned, maybe even longer! AUGH! Suddenly this product roadmap for 2012 is leaked and shows the NEW replacement for Ivy Bridge set to debut Q3 12 and my God it is going to cut bread. Now you think to yourself, "I plan on keeping this laptop for a while I better wait for the next group of tech". Thus completing the VICIOUS cycle of technology.

My thought behind my purchase was interesting because I thought the same things. "Should I get this now or wait a little for a possible revision" or "Should I just drop a little on an R3 now and get the M18x next year"? At the end of the day I thought to a recent transaction that happened with my iPad Gen 1. I got an iPad last year for my birthday and fell in love with it. For browsing and portability it is amazing because of the size and weight. I knew I had found my new netbook, but I also new that Apple will update 1 time a year with all of their products in each Quarter and a new iPad would surely come. I knew that I would want the new one because I wanted a nicer screen eventually and faster. January came and I knew the iPad 2 would be announced by end of February so I listed my iPad 1 on ebay and sold my 64GB iPad for $650. I lost $50 on a $699 purchase and got to enjoy the iPad the whole 8 months I had it. iPad 2 paid for.

M18x for the next 9 months and I'll sell it. You are also not thinking about the fact of the end of the world in 2012. I'm going out happy with a M18x!

TL;DR Post by me

 

Great post and skillfully puts into words the random collection of thoughts I have when I read posts like these. Wheh I read posts like these I usually get annoyed that I just wasted time reading it, then ponder if the post was just a troll, then realize responding to it would be a further waste of my time as there will be another dude that posts the same trash tomorrow.

BTW I'm a huge fan of selling my equipment a month or so before the refresh as you described. I sold my macbook pro 17 just before the recent refresh and go most of what I paid as well.

 

tl;dr
10char