Is m1730 still a good one??

What do you think of the m1730 ? Anyone has it? I need something like a beast..

Any problems faced. Is Dell a good brand regarding quality like Sony for example? Should I get something like a DDR3 laptop? because the only thing that this laptop lacks is the DDR3 RAMs. What do you think about the built quality? Is it delivered fast ??? how about screen quality?? What about the Video cards. how are they better. Does the keyboard flex. Any thing else you might have on your mind will be very helpful to me. I am comparing this to the M17 and the other workstation laptops..

 

the M1730 is old technology.

no real hope for future upgrades:
- platform: previous Intel Santa Rosa platform
- CPU: supports only up to 800MHz FSB, topped out at X9000 (dual-core).... no quad-core support ever.
- RAM: supports only DDR2-667 .... not really that important since it can still get 4GB which is plenty
- Videocard: non-standard (non-MXM), proprietary ; tops out at 8800M/9800M
- PhysX card means nothing now since Nvidia has already bought out Ageia and includes the PhysX supports in their Geforce drivers.

if you get a great deal on it, it might still be worth it since it can still game well... but dont count on future upgrades.

Other similar 17" systems that are more up to date and viable for future upgrades (like quad-core CPU support):
- Arima W840 DI (aka. Alienware M17, OCZ Whitebook, etc...) ..... 17" with mobile quad-core support, dual ATI HD 3870 and dual HDDs
- Clevo D901C (aka. Sager 9262, Pro-Star 9194, etc....) ..... 17" with desktop LGA775 quad-core support, dual Nvidia 9800M GTX, and three internal HDDs
- Clevo D900F (aka. Sager 9820) ...... 17" with desktop Intel Core i7 processor support, Nvidia GTX 280M, and three internal HDDs.

 

Cleavo's w/ SLI setting prices are pretty much out of reach compared to current M1730's price, and it's warranty support.

If you don't plan to sell the system at all, I'd go w/ AW.