UK Resident about to take the plunge

Hey guys, haven't posted in a while, but it's good to be back. I am literally on the cusp of ordering my M11x R2, I just wanted to, well, voice a few worries. First of all Engadget seems to be 'hinting' at an imminent upgrade to the R2 with this post:

Alienware M11x starting at just $599, but not for long -- Engadget

My machine will be the top of the range version: i7, 4GB RAM and a 256gb SSD. With the Tactx Mouse and Headset, plus the Alienware sleeve it'll run me in the region of £1700

I'm going to phone them and try to bargain them down. My question is:

Is this the worst time to buy or the best? I understand that any SandyBridge versions are going to be delayed, and I don't really want to wait until august.

I don't mind paying for quality, but £1700 seems a little steep. I guess I could always go for a Momentus Hybrid drive, but I would be disappointed in myself for the performance hit that would otherwise not have happened if I'd gone all out for the SSD...

Any suggestions guys?

 

If you can wait, then wait. If not, then go buy

Though if you want to save a few bob, drop the Tactx stuff and buy cheaper alternatives...

 

Heh, you're right of course, but I am fussy about all the peripherals matching! So I'll try and get the Tactx stuff thrown in. I noticed you changed your SSD in your sig. Did you have any problems with that operation? Certainly putting in my own SSD would be significantly cheaper, but I do want the Alien effects and command centre etc which I assume would disappear if I took out the original HDD?

 

Oh lordy, thought you were putting in your own SSD.

Personally I would recommend buying an SSD elsewhere. Switching the HD's over is easy, then all you need to do is boot off the win7 recovery disc and install it.

You can download all the drivers (inc wallpapers, command centre etc) off Dell's support site, so there's no issue of loosing anything.

 

Brilliant, is it really that simple? So I could theoretically get 500GB SSD and install it myself using the provided Alienware restore disk that comes in the box?

 

Get the SSD separately and then just clone the old HDD onto the SSD. All the alienware stuff will be there. You can also do a clean Win7 install and then just add all the components manually afterwards anyway (by downloading from Alienware, or it might be on the DVD it came with).

Also. £1700 is steep. I payed £1050 (without an SSD) way back in August when prices were at their peak (i7, 4GB, 500GB HD), and more recently other UK buyers spent £950 for the same configuration.

 

Sorry I should've mentioned that price includes 3 years warranty. Without I could get the configuration down significantly, but I guess installing your own SSD voids it?

 

Not at all

 

mmm. This is very good news I now got one configured, with all the luxuries, but sans the SSD for a much more reasonable ...£1262 inc Tactx but only one year Hardware support

COLOUR CHOICE Alienware M11x Soft Touch – Stealth Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.20 GHz) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
MEMORY 4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048] edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Drive edit
EXTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive edit
BLUETOOTH Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Module - European edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Antivirus Software edit
SERVICES AND SUPPORT 1Yr Next Day Hardware Support included with your PC

 

Looking good, Though you do understand that the Hybrid SSD's don't perform as well as the full fat ones???? Though I have one in my work lappy and it performs ok for the price.

Edit: Check your PM.

 

It is up to you to decide... but since you are prepared to pay up to £1700 for the m11x - are you absolutely sure you need the m11x at all? If the size / power ratio is not the only important factor in your decision - you might want to look for something better within that amount.

For example I bought my m11xR1 in October for about £600 - and since my display lid hinges broke down after about 3 months of careful desktop usage I cannot help but think that I somewhat overpaid for an item that unreliable.

 

If it's going to be a primary unit I would wait, sandybridge offers great performance per watt and the GFX is bound to get updated.

Your machine would be obsolete even faster than normal.

They might even bring out an M11X before april since it will only use 2 sata ports that can be put on the 6Gbps ports which are unaffected.

 

@corto

Well I try not to let fear control my purchase decision, but, the price I quoted was with the SSD. After some excellent advice I have decided to go with a far cheaper HDD and change it over at a later date.

The reason I'm choosing an M11x is not solely for the portability, but the fact that I am able to specify it to a satisfactory level, given it's price point.

In an ideal world I would want an M17x, but it's counter-intuitive, from my point of view, to 'nerf' an M17x with a lower specification simply just so that I can get it in my price range.

I'll use the M11 as my 'test bed' for build quality, reliability, performance and service before upgrading to the far more serious purchase of an M17x.

I do, however, envy that you acquired yours for only £600!

 

@ Meaker

Yes, that's why I posted on here, yours would be a very valid reason for holding off. Still, a new version brings newer problems.

The Dell Alienware site here in UK is very buggy at the moment. Something is definitely going on. If Engadget is right and it's all stock clearance then I think your forecast is probably accurate.

 

Hm - if the portability is negligible, you can get a better specced Clevo W170HN for less than £1000. Moreover, a Clevo probably won't fall apart in your hands all of a sudden.

Mine was an R1 (c2duo processor), so yours is supposed to be more expensive. But yes, it was a lucky coincidence nevertheless - some sale in currys or wherever.

 

He said it was not the sole reason for doing so.

Anyway the hinge issue would be fixed in an R3.

 

No, I'm afraid it has to be Alienware as I find the design wins me over the most (superficial I know). I understand that on paper other laptops offer better bang for buck, but for me I like a company that goes for bold design statements and 'opinionated' looks rather than pure utilitarianism...
I will check currys to see if they have any in the metal, thanks for your input.

 

Since Baerius is planning to get an R2, this information is irrelevant, but yes, it would be better to wait for the release of R3 as you advised.

 

An M15X would be faster.

 

I know the hinge issue is a massive one, affecting many users, but for some reason, I find that it doesn't put me off, I understand it's a rather random occurrence? I simply trust that the hinges on my version will be robust enough, if they are not, then one year hardware warranty should solve it, no?

 

Well I was saying wait for an R3.

Sandy bridge + 540M or 550M would do very well.

I think they would want to stick with optimus but if not a 6670 would be nice.

 

As far as im aware it goes beyond the 1 year warrenty, especially in the UK I think since its so easy to prove its a design issue that even out of warrenty they would be obliged to fix it even up to 2 years (possibly more).

 

Then the m11x is a great choice - its design is indeed attractive and the build quality (save for the hinges) is quite good.

But then there is much sense in waiting for the release of the R3 since the hinges are supposed to be fixed by then - and it is by far the biggest problem this laptop has (at least for me it is).

 

Hinges + sandybridge + new GPUs = wait

It should really bump it up a performance class.

 

Initially I thought the same, yet after my own hinges happened to be one of the random occurence ones, I tend to think otherwise. Taking into account the number of unhappy m11x users who post on this very forum, and that some of them had their hinges replaced up to 4 (!) times, I would imply that this occurence is not merely a random one.

I am not too worried with my own hinges being out of order, since I am going to reinforce them myself as soon as I get to some dust-proof area - and I would definitely have a nice portable powerhouse after that.

I won't risk the replacement, since I've read a lot of horror stories concerning dell technicians replacing the display lid with a sub-par, refurbished displays full of gaps and scratches - and, however mediocre the screen is, my own display lid is solid and in mint condition. So I am not going to put my trust into some other random occurence originating from this source.

 

If you can wait another 6-12 months, sure.