If you were to buy a new laptop now, XPS M1730 or Alienware M17X ?

I had virtually decided on a XPS M1730 with a X9000 Extreme processer, Bluray read and write drive, 6GB ram, 1920 x 1200 screen, 640GB hard drive of ram, Nvidia 1GB 9800M GT Graphics (2x512MB in SLI mode) etc

I then started to read this forum about Dell taking over Alienware and i read up on the Alienware M17X, i have natural concerns with whats going to happen with the XPS gaming brand now that Dell have taken over Alienware to be its gaming division.

1. What sort of XPS customer care will i get in the future now that Dell seems to be putting most of its gaming resources into Alienware, will Dell carry on to manufacture parts for the XPS M1730 in the future just incase something goes wrong and how long for ?

2. If you had the choice to buy at this present time would it be an XPS M1730 or would you save up and spend a bit extra on the Alienware M17X, i want to get it right and to have no regrets.

Any input will be appreciated.

 

AW's, CS's always seems to know nothing! Sometimes they aren't even here in the US. But I do belive that they also have a crew called Roswell, whom are AW's top experts! I would say like all companies sometimes you get the good and sometimes you get the bad. As for getting what systems, If I at this present time, I would still get the XPS! Yeah the AW might be more powerful after you spend and arm and a leg, and yeah it's more faster overall. It's also the 1st of it's kind! Let the bugs and overheating problems go away! Maybe in a year then buy it when it's half the price! By then your XPS would still be rocking!

 

My biggest concern is about parts, how much longer will Dell continue to make new parts for the XPS gaming range as i don`t want to buy an XPS M1730 now and then in maybe 3 years time something may go wrong and then i`m struggling to get a part for it, what will the XPS aftercare be like in a few years time considering that everything seems to be geared towards moving to Alienware ?

 

seeing how those specs aren't available on dells u.s. site anymore id go with alienware BUT since i bought mine a few weeks back on the price "glitch" im a happy owner of a red m1730. but seeing m1730 is available on the uk site with all the goodies i would go with the cheaper of the 2.

 

Would depend on the budget....

Unlimited would lead to AW.

 

Well as stated a couple of times already, the gtx280s are nowhere the desktop counterpart. Remember that the 9800gts are rebranded 8800gtxs, so who knows how close the gtx280 perform to the 9800gtx. There will definitely be a performance gain but the question remains how much gain. Don't let the marketing fool you. Also which one appeals to you more? I like the xps super fancy light setup than the toned down AW one.

And yeap, as mentioned above, go with price unless you have 4k you want to quickly throw somewhere.

 

depends on what you want to spend.

 

If Dell doesn't have the parts to fix your computer in 3 years, they will replace it with a comparable (and probably newer) model.

 

Hmmm...that MX17X is sweet. And, the 1730 still is...

How much do you want to spend on either one?


Cin

 

As above get the XPS 1730. Cooling issues have been sorted. LCD screen SDK s'ware is done. 99.99% of issues are sorted. It'll play just about any game at HR. base model gets 11,000 3d Mark outta the box. An excellent knowledgable and helpful owner bases available. Particularly the NBR Owners lounge.

Only issues I have left are unfixable - Lightfx interferes with audio.

In 3 years time who cares about parts unless you are a collector. Dell will either repair, upgrade or cashback they always have and I bet they always will, that is why they are the market leader. Luv'm or hate'm. Have a read through the NBR owners lounge (nearly 1500pages) of people and see how many are in "The Beast Club" because Dell upgraded their 1710's. (this poster puts hand up to receiving full cash refund. Then next day buying cheaper than orig 1710 but twice as powerful 1730 )

If you get the AW -> you are the CS guinea pig and I bet you'll spend more time sorting problems and building up an owners base than gaming. Lotsa people love that cutting edge stuff. Do you?

 

My budget is between £1500 - £2,000 UK, thats around $2.400 - $3,200.

If need be i could save a bit more if the new Alienware if its worth it but i tend to agree with what someone said above which is to let Dell/Alienware sort out the early niggles then maybe look at getting one in the future once the early teething problems are sorted, i think i will get the M1730 for now which seems good value for money and get an Alienware at a later date.

 

So, your going with the 1730, then..

You will definitely be able to get a great deal with your stated budget!!

Either way, both are great lappys!


Cin

 

M17x = New wave of gaming system
1730 = Been out for ages and is quite long in the tooth.

Dell is phasing out the pure XPS line (the AW brand will remain and the M17x will be Dell's replacement for the 1730).

I had an M1730 and it was a fantastic computer. I am awaiting my M17x so I may be impartial

Anyway, now that Dell is servicing the M17x all my worries were laid to rest and I get the best of both worlds (ie avoiding AW's terrible customer service and warranty's, yet getting their awesomely designed system)

 

I agree with sleey. A lot of the parts will be similar but there are some major difference between the two. The obvious one being the M1730 is using the Santa Rosa Platform while the M17x is using Montevina. New Montevina based procs ares still being release like the new T9900 and the P9700. You won't see anything new on the Santa Rosa platform since it's now being phased out.

Plus the M17x gives you switchable graphics to help save battery life for when you actually want to run it on battery. Then (and most important to some) the MXM gpu slots are the "latest and greatest". The 260s and 280s can be upgraded in the future.

I will qualify this by saying I'm an ex-M1710 and M1730 owner so my background is Dell and not AW. I'm really happy that the M17x will be covered by Dell's warranty. It made my decision an easy one.

 

dude the m1730 is out there for so long and there is a reason for that...
because its good and reliable

so if i were u i would get the xps

just get the AW if u can afford the dual 280GTX ... then it will worth the money

so in the end i would either get the xps maxed out or get the new m17x stock but with the dual 280GTX
so if u have the money to just upgrade to the dual 280GTX then u should ge

 

^^

I am not going to disagree with that (reliability).

 

I am very happy with my 1730. I 100% agree with Mandrake - the new M17x is the way to go. I look forward to ordering one in the next few months.

If I were faced with a purchase of either 'The Beast' or going with the M17x today, I would without a doubt go with the M17x. I would opt for the default CPU, HDD and RAM. I would upgrade the GPUs to the 280m and up the LCD to the 1920x1200 one. I would also go with the 4 year with Complete Care. Everything else would be default as they can be upgraded later. Just my choices though.

 

With some of the posts its left me more confused as to which direction to take, with some people saying that the Santa Rosa Platform is old now and the Montevina on the M17x is the way to go.

Can someone give me the quick differences between the Santa Rosa platform and the Montevina platform and why the Montevina platform is the way to go ?

While i`m here, whats the main differences between these processors, is quad the way to go and why would i need to add £429.99 for option 2 when thats only Core 2 Duo over option 3 which is included in the build price and is quad core ?


1...Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9600 (2.80GHz,1066MHz FSB,6MB L2 Cache) [add £179.99 or £5/month1]

2...Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9800 (2.93GHz,1066MHz FSB,6MB L2 Cache) [add £429.99 or £12/month1]

3....Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9000 (2.00GHz,1066MHz FSB,6MB L2 Cache) [Included in Price]

4....Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9100 (2.26GHz,1066MHz FSB,12MB L2 Cache) [add £509.99 or £15/month1]

5....Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX9300 (2.53GHz,1066MHz FSB,12MB L2 Cache) [add £69

 

This wiki will list the specs of each Centrino platform. Link.

Just Scroll down and look for Santa Rosa and Montevina. You'll also be able to read about the up and coming Calpella platform.

This is very debatable. The biggest difference is the QX9300 is an Extreme processor compared to the rest. These processors are built to overclock. If you don't care about overclocking then the best bang for your buck is the T9600. It runs at 35W just like the T9800 but it's much cheaper and just .13Ghz less speed.

Many will disagree with me but I personally prefer the X9100 which is an Extreme Dual Core processor running at 3.06Ghz. It's overclockable like the qx9300 but less overhead (2 cores vs 4) and more raw speed. If I planned on running virtual machines consistently on the system or any other app that would improve greatly with more cores then I would choose the quad. The only problem is that it's not a default option with the M17x so I bought a Dell OEM x9100 off of eBay.

 

Mandrake, thats really appreciated. I`m just trying to get the best bang for my money like anyone would do, i`m not a heavy gamer but i like to do occasional gaming, i have to decide between the M1730 and whether the new Alienware is worth the extra money.

 

Assuming the M17x is as good as advertised it's going to be hard to make a wrong decision. I did a lot of FO3 gaming on the M1730 and had a blast.

I know in England it costs more. The UK people in the Alienware thread seem to be getting a 10% discount by just asking for it.

 

What i think i will do is to hang back and wait till the majority of people have recieved their Alienware M17x machines and see what the consensus seems to be, i want to make the right decision given the money that i`ll be laying out and this seems the sensible option.

Can i just ask this, lets say i bought a fairly basic model M17x would the processor be easy to replace in the future, i know things like optical drives, hard drives, memory and graphics cards seem easy to replace, what about the processor ?

 

It's easy to replace the CPU also...

 

I'd get the M17x with maxed out specs - that is if I do not own the M1730...