Confused, what to take???

Hi guys, 4 quick questions that I need before buying.

1 :Alienware M11x Soft Touch – Stealth Black ----Is this soft rubber touch only inside the laptop where you put your wrist or is it now outside , so tell me if i am wrong, the metal look has been taken away, and everything is rubber now???

2 : Is the batterie life with the I5 the same to the core 2 duo of the R1?

3 : Can i still switch between both gpu´s or this optimus thing does that for me.?

4: I7 is to much for me , so the prime question is is the I5 worth the money, cause I can get more ram , more harddrive space + an external drive for the I5 , what should i do but the problem is --- read the last sentence and tell me


I love gaming but i have a big rig at home so do I take the R1 or R2.
When I play y play Rockstar games.


Thanks for your infos guys!!

greets peter

 

1 :Alienware M11x Soft Touch – Stealth Black ----Is this soft rubber touch only inside the laptop where you put your wrist or is it now outside , so tell me if i am wrong, the metal look has been taken away, and everything is rubber now???

I believe it is on the outside as well but I am not sure since I do not have one yet.

2 : Is the batterie life with the I5 the same to the core 2 duo of the R1?

Not sure, hopefully someone with experience can help you with this.

3 : Can i still switch between both gpu´s or this optimus thing does that for me.?

It will automatically switch gpu's for you but you can also do it manually.

4: I7 is to much for me , so the prime question is is the I5 worth the money, cause I can get more ram , more harddrive space + an external drive for the I5 , what should i do but the problem is --- read the last sentence and tell me.

Just my $.02 but I'd say splurge a little for the i7. The RAM, HD, and external drive can all be upgrade by you at a later time. Also, if you upgrade these yourself you can save a boatload rather then going through Dell, the CPU you can't upgrade without voiding the warranty assuming you can just swap it out without having to upgrade the motherboard as well.

 

1 :Alienware M11x Soft Touch – Stealth Black ----Is this soft rubber touch only inside the laptop where you put your wrist or is it now outside , so tell me if i am wrong, the metal look has been taken away, and everything is rubber now???

No one knows yet.

2 : Is the batterie life with the I5 the same to the core 2 duo of the R1?

Theoretically core i-series will have slightly more battery life in everyday applications and slightly less for intensive ones when they ramp up their speed. It should be about the same overall - no way to tell for sure until we see some tests.

3 : Can i still switch between both gpu´s or this optimus thing does that for me.?

Optimus does it for you, though with optimus you can configure the profiles yourself that determine when the switch happens.

4: I7 is to much for me , so the prime question is is the I5 worth the money, cause I can get more ram , more harddrive space + an external drive for the I5 , what should i do but the problem is --- read the last sentence and tell me

I would get the i7. If you're going to upgrade to an i-series i5 isn't really worth it, going by what others have been saying. You can easily upgrade ram + harddrive yourself at a later date without voiding the warranty.

 

2. The UM series of core i5 & i7 are design to consume very little power; under idle, this should get you more battery life. Under normal load, this should do somewhat of the same, maybe 1/2 hours in differences. Under full load, I might expect less. But, I have to say also that both core i5 & i7 should be more powerful than SU7300, meaning it would stress less under load.

4. Well, no body very know this. There are a few things to consider. First, as other said it's a matter of budget and the upgradability. If you can spare the upgrade now, you should as there isn't an option to change that yourself later like HD or RAM. Two, it's a matter of personal taste. Not everyone need the upgrade. If people already own SU7300 and think it's fine, then I suppose i7 isn't needed either. Three, this actually sprung from another thread. And I think in a way it might put some people into another perspective on the $150 difference even though we have no idea in performance factor.
core i5-520UM run at 1.06, 1.86 under TB, and about 2.2 under TB & OCed.
core i7-640UM run at 1.2, 2.26 under TB, and about 2.6 under TB & OCed.
check other thread for detail.
So, in other words, you can think of both i5 and i7 are the same CPU, but you pay $150 for overclockability. I know it's not exactly the same thing, but that's just another way to look at things.

 

Thanks for the reply´s guys.

So freeman, you say i5 and i7 are the same if you don´t overclock the system. is that right???

I don´t want to overclock it anyway. So is the i5 the right one for me?
In other words the games i play the most, are Cpu hungry like gta IV or rta games.

After reading the 3 answers i think i´l go for the i7 and get the hdd and ram afterwards. .... omg this is so difficult. I need space for my movies and photos and 2 gigs of ram seems to less for me.
Ok I will wait 2 more months until I get the money, so I can get the full package.
The soft touch gimmick is getting me crazy, hopefully they dont take out this metal case, i think it´s beautifull as it is.
(black one).

 

If you're playing CPU hungry games then you really, REALLY want to be going with the i7 and overclocking it. When the CPU is the bottleneck you need to do everything to squeeze as much out of it as possible or it WILL hold back framerates by significant amounts.

 

For sure, upgrading RAM from 2GB to 4GB w/ Dell make sense. It's one thing that Dell didn't very overcharge you. Checking w/ newegg, 2GB stick is about $50 anyway. Unless you want to get 8GB of RAM, 4GB should do just fine.

 

my opinion skip out on HD upgrade from dell they are overcharging...hold off and if you need a hard drive bad and you are in the States use this 320gb 7200rpm for $35 (factory refurb w.warranty).... Take the 4gb upgrade that is all you would need for now if you are trying to stay in a budget...DO THE I7 UPGRADE. i think the cpu is not user replaceable as easily as we want to....Wait for SSD to drop in price or get a ss-hybrid drives. Take the bluetooth update since it is very cheap and the module alone is $10-$15 on ebay.

You also need to think resale i personally would rather buy a laptop that has the stronger processor and bluetooth and pay the slight premium in the used market versus a non upgrade. You might be paying $150-$200 right now extra but that means you will sell it easier. Lastly you need to try to get the best deal stop wasting time on the internet and call in with a game plan get some sort of epp discount even AAA if you need to sign up but try to use like others have boeing discount if you have a friend or family or retired family. Use the $100 off code and get free shipping...If for any reason you have an issue with dell or the system call in after delivery and they might offer you a courtesy credit

http://www.frys.com/product/6277630