OCZ Whitebook vs. M17

3All right, since I've heard the news about the 4870 I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on one of these. I've decided to either get the M17 from Alienware or the Whitebook and remaining parts from Newegg because both vendors offer financing and the price is about the same for my desired setup. I know both notebooks are essentially the same but each one has minor differences leaving me in a dilemma. I'll list the pros/cons of the differences below.

M17 has ugly black design while Whitebook is a fingerprint magnet that is hard to keep clean (but looks good)...

M17 display is 1920x1200 w/ Clearview; Whitebook 1900x1200?

M17 only offers 1 color for illuminated keyboard; Whitebook offers option to choose from 3 colors

M17 is ready to go out the box; Whitebook requires formatting and installation of own software with the possibility of bad hardware

TBH, I'm having a really hard time deciding which one to choose. I'm leaning towards the M17 because it is safer but the Whitebook would leave me with more customization options. I'm not even sure what brand of hard drive and RAM Alienware supplies with the M17...

Please tell me which one to buy.

 

m17 is ugly? .. i think the ripley lid design looks absolutely classy

display is the same for both .. you can order the whitebook from other vendors too like xoticpc .. but since money isnt a factor, just pull trigger on one

 

Dude..where did you do your research? You're way off base. Lemme clear this up for you.

Your first remark is accurate.

2nd Remark, The M17 offers 1440x900 or 1920.1200 - The Whitebook only comes 1920.1200

3rd; Both offer Red, Green, Blue, and Off. Just depending on your mood for the day..

M17 is not ready to go anymore than a Whitebook. You can order the Whitebook with or without software installed, just like the M17. And, the possibility of bad hardware lies in any computer you purchase, however I haven't seen ANY Whitebook owners complain about tape being left on their GPUs, causing overheating and escalated problems. M17, 3 that I have seen so far. There's quality control for ya.

M17 is in no way safer, and if you're the type of user who NEEDS support cause you're computer illiterate, then stray FAR from AW. You will just end up frustrated and upset. Any reseller of the OCZ is 10x better than AW when it comes to Customer Service and continued support. Good luck getting the M17 in less than a month, cause everything is "backordered" and they're having "problems" with the builds. Oh, and if you are considering an Extreme CPU, then you may want your moneys worth and buy the unit which allows it to overclock like it's meant to - Whitebook - without voiding your warranty. Do a bit more research, the answer is obvious.

 

Simple. If you want to show off to your friends and family, go with the M17. If you want to get maximum performance without completely voiding your warranty, go with the Whitebook.

 

I have the M17, only because I wanted an Alienware for a long time.

However, if name is not a matter then I would get the Whitebook.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. Alienware makes it seem like you can only have one color. Also, all the specs I've seen for the Whitebook say 1900x1200 resolution. It would make sense though unless Alienware actually modded the display to be 20 pixels wider.

 

ok...or you can completely ignore all the effort I just saved you from doing research.

Sorry, I'm normally in a better mood.

 

everyone always writes 1900x1200 when they mean 1920x1200, people are just stupid. 1900x1200 is not a display mode used anywhere.

 

It'd be easier if people refered it as 1200p, but that idea was abandoned because 16:10 is not a HDTV aspect ratio.

 

I'd suggest just getting an OCZ Whitebook that you can overclock. When you get an extreme CPU, it is actually meant to be overclocked until a company who doesn't want illiterate people tying up their phone lines decides to put a BIOS that doesnt allow for OC'ing. Because of this, it shows that Alienware doesn't care about true performance as much as a smaller vendor. I'd go with a smaller vendor because usually there is better quality control and more support. It's like being in a class with 50 kids compared to 5. Which one will you get more help and attention from?

 

as everyone has said they are the same thing. personally i prefer the matte finish on the m17. but other than that id go for the ocz.. i wish they would offer the ocz with the matte finish

 

hi all

any reason why the bios cannot be changed in the m17 to the ocz,

 

If you like a prettier backlit keyboard and really cant stand glossy and really like the alien head stuff and would rather pay a couple extra hundred dollars for the same config options, minus the freedom to overclock, then go with the AW.

Otherwise, the Whitebook pretty much matches or beats M17 in every other category.

 

It voids the warranty. Besides that there's no reason.

 

I think it's kinda funny AW owners voted for the OCZ in the poll..

 

Me too.... Cause I would be typing on it now

 

Yeah, wish the whitebook came with matte, too........wipe, wipe, wipe

 

better in what? exactly the same specs... same motherboard... it's not an intelligent question.
About the appearance? everyone has is own opinion about it... some like it some don't..
The only thing that I like more in the M17 is the non mate finish. But with the overprice of AW I can get a whitebook painted or coated as I like. You can get it like you want from several vendors without voiding warranty but if you make any cosmetic alteration to the M17 the warranty is voided.
There's really no strong reason why people should buy the M17.

 

Actually, I made a cosmetic mod to my first Whitebook, and when I RMAd it, they didn't say anything about it. Just sent me a brand new unit. Sooo..depends on who you do business with. Xotic took care of mine, no questions asked. Not gonna say what mod I did, but it would likely have voided the warranty elsewhere.

 

Ah, that word "modded" is so overused. You can have "modded" drivers and "modded" applications but I hate how people ask me to "mod" their iPod shuffle to have a screen or to "mod" their mobile's screen to be 3" larger.

 

well, all it means is "modified", so any modification is a "mod"...

 

Well, I was really referring to how easy people can think a mod of that proportions would be.

Off topic: I don't think you're supposed to have 5 bars of rep. It should be 6 bars (with one light green bar).

 

and what might that mean?

 

The guy mentioned that Alienware could have modded the screen to have an extra 20 horizontal pixels..

And that something like that would be unnecessary and difficult. (And false)

 

no, i was referring to the OT part, about my rep

What exactly do the dark green/light green blocks mean, anyway?

 

Oh .

One dark green bar means 100 rep points (not counting the bar you get by default). You get rep points when someone gives you reputation. The amount of rep they give you is indicated by the number next to your bars. So if some newbie repped you, your points would go up by 1. But if say Chaz repped you, you would get 125 points (as points you can give out is based on your posts).

So if you had 325 points, you would have 4 dark green bars. But the system makes it so when you reach 4 bars, you need 200 more points to reach the next level, which is another dark green bar and a new light green bar. From then on, you can't get dark green bars but only light greens. Those are worth 200 points each. The most you can have is 11 bars in total.

Very confusing, took me a while to get.

 

Nice explanation. I had no ideas what those bars were all about....uhm, rep for you

 

Tell that whole "11" prospect to Chaz.. dude seems to have more than 11

 

no, he only has 11

 

really? looks like a TON more Im only 5 away!

 

+rep for that because Ive been wondering how this stuff worked for awhile now.

 

How I have more rep than you is astounding, I've done hardly anything lol.

 

You're friendly, and people like you.

 

Which is still driving me batty. That system with 1440x900 is perfection, but as of yet, still only Alienware has it.

 

Why would you want the lesser of the 2?

 

OT: How are you liking that QX in your system Electrosoft? How are your temps and such and does your BIOS allow you to adjust the multipliers? A MSI-1722 with a QX9300 is definitely a sleeper (i.e a base model Dodge Charger with a 6.1 liter Blown Hemi V8 with a double shot of Nitrous)

Back on topic: I'd pay $100 for anyone who can get me an M17 keyboard gonna start adding more cosmetic mods even though the state of our economy suggests otherwise

 

Gotta help feed the economy the ichime stimulus package.

OT - Gonna go play Crysis multiplayer for the first time - Wanna see what that's all about.

 

E-Wrecked, might wanna lessen the last line of your sig. Were only allowed up to size 2 .

 

WUXGA+ on a 17" is just too extreme for me even with scaling. 1080P support is ok, but so much content is meant for 720P and many blu-ray movies are coming in 720P and/or don't even fill the screen on my 60" Sony. I find 1680x1050 right on the edge, and 1440x900 perfect IMHO. The screen on my daughter's MX8711 is rocking, and better GPU support for native resolution is the icing on the cake.

I've been looking/waiting for a non Alienware WXGA+ Whitebook for sometime.....still waiting.

I haven't had a chance to really do some objective testing on the 1722 w/ a Quad Extreme in it. I'll probably do that later tonight or tomorrow and see where it stands and see how it stacks up against my M4400 QX9300 and old scores from my HDX18T QX9300 along with temps.

LOL, I just noticed E's sig....hilarious.

All he needs now is an SUV and lifts in his shoes.

 

I understand what you're saying.. just swap out the screen And.. I like the new sig. Hey! Yours is also hurting my eyes! Sucks being near sighted

 

Great thread! I can't choose too!

Is m17 upgradeable?
Do m17 and OCZ share the same WUXGA display?

I'm trying to convince myself that I can live with OCZ fingerprint magnet finish

 

OCZ = Flextronics/ Arima
Alienware = Flextronics/ Arima

go figure... lol OCZ FTW

 

I just wondered if AW equips m17 with Truelife displays

 

no such thing as "truelife" its simply something dell came up with as a name for a glossy display. there is not such thing in reality. its either glossy or matte.

as long as dell and alienware have the same model screen they will be exactly the same

 

I wouldn`t put it like that Z.
Assembly can make a world of a difference...

 

okay im mean if you have 2 lg displays for instance. one is glossy and one is matte. there is no other difference. same for samsung etc.. you know what i mean. all these terms describing the glossy coating on displays is a joke. they are just a glossy display. dell does not add anything specific to them to make them "truelife".

 

I would like to know if the 1440x900/M17 is glossy or matte, their site says Clearview Technology (I assume is glossy?) for the 1920x1200 res, but not for the 1440x900.

I wouldn't want a matte screen, but as mentioned above 1440x900 >1920x1200 on a 17" screen.

 

To back up what zfactor said:

http://www.screentekinc.com/dell-truelife-lcd-screens.shtml

http://www.screentekinc.com/pixelbright-lcds.shtml

 

I'm not aware of what TrueLife really stands for, but from my own experience TrueLife displays stand out quite a bit. Some laptops in our office sport glossy displays, but no one would match my TrueLife. It's not just my subjective opinion, that's what everyone in the office think. If only I wasn't too lazy to dust it more often

 

Well, that might be because you have a superior panel, not because of TruLife...

Dell's Marketing team wins again.