Planning on Ordering a new System...

Hello, I'm planning to order a new M15x and I was wondering on your input

Alienware M15x, Lunar Shadow
Intel® Core™ i7 740QM
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit
1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5850
15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED
4GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 2GB DDR3)
500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery

any suggestions for change?

 

Dude...those are awesome specs....I will recommend some small changes,

1. 4GB ram that's good but if you plan on using the Alien for like Photoshop and Video editing and stuff as well, might wanna upgrade to 6gb or 8gb. It helps a lot. If it's solely for gaming, then 4gb is enough

2. 9 Cell for portability (Not a big difference)

3. Again if for media editing and stuff go with a GTX260M if gaming the 5850 is better.

Congratulations and let me be the first to welcome you to our family.

 

thank you for your suggestions

 

If you are getting an alienware then I am going to make the assumption you want it for gaming and not photoshoping.

If thats the case I reccomend you get the better i5 cores rather then the low end i7 one. Most games dont multithread very well so the i5 actually will perform better, and those games that *do* thread, typically only utilise two cores anyway, so the i5 will still do better. Yes for general windows based multi-application spamming like listening to music while reading your email while world of warcraft is playing itself, then the i7 is better...but really...

Save your money. Get better performance. i5 core

I would also (if you are into gaming mostly) NOT get the higher detail screen.

Basically, having a higher res screen means in order to have a nice picture aka run programs in the native resolution, your gpu/cpu will have to work harder. If it isnt up to the task you will end up with worse/choppier graphics then if you had gone with the lower res screen. So unless watching movies is why you are paying $2000 for this laptop, skip the full hd upgrade and save yourself performance.

These two things will not only bring the price down, but they will actually make it a better gaming system. If games are not your main concern then this doesnt apply...but really why are you getting alienware if thats the case?

 

Just thought I'd add, I agree with the above poster, the 5850 is a better card and its also significantly cheaper.

Also 4gb ram is plenty.

On the battery note I think its personal choice. I dont see myself lugging around this 4kg expensive machine out into the garden, so a power point is always going to be avaliable. I mean at full power even with the bigger battery, for gaming its just not going to give you long enough regardless.

With the money you save here, and on the core,card and screen, you could jump your gpu right up to the 5870 (I think thats the one).

 

If you don't truly need Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit I'd suggest going with Home Premium instead and spending the difference elsewhere. Windows 7 Comparison Chart linked to below.

Windows 7 Comparison Chart
Which one is right for you? - Microsoft Windows

Watching Blu-ray's via the 1920x1080 LED screen is a thing to behold. The money you'd save going with Home Premium over Ultimate could go towards a Blu-ray drive instead. Upgrading the drive yourself later on requires taking most of the laptop apart, so it's a great upgrade to go with up front. I purchased my M15x primarily for gaming, but have ended up spending just as much time watching Blu-ray's since upgrading the drive myself here recently.

 

thanks. The blue-ray is a good idea since my school laptop is getting ultimate anyway

 

I second the bluray, I just got my drive of ebay and it looks stunning on the laptop!

 

how good is the reader?
will it look good transfered onto a 1080p tv?

 

it will look great on a tv. I dont think a blu ray drive is all that needed tho. There are plenty of torrent sites you can download x264 1080p blu ray rips and even full untouched bluray .iso's that you can play in a virtual drive. Maybe I'm the only person on this site that downloads torrents cause it seems no 1 ever mentions it. I've got over 1TB of 1080p movie rips and they average about 13GB per movie. PS3 is better to play blu rays off of anyways. If you subtract the cost of the blu ray drive upgrade from the cost of a ps3 you are almost halfway there. Might as well get a really cool gaming system + the blu ray drive for a little more then the blu ray drive upgrade. Plus you wouldn;t have to get it now you could save up and in a few more months just get a ps3 to play games off of and blu rays.