buying m14x but want some advice

[Staff Sargent]

Ok first off I am not being lazy asking these questions and second please ignore the typos as a internet tablet isn't easy to type on.

Ok going to tell you all a little bout me and then ask stuff. First I know I should get a desktop but it just wont work. I suffer from a kidney issue so a portable power house is what I am looking for. I will be doing some photoshop, bryce renders, converting dvds I get as gifts and of course gaming. I will be getting the largest HDD I can to hold my movies and tv shows for those times I spend in the hospital. My old machine was well bargin crap but I still tweaked it and got it to do most everything including playing americas army for hours at night.

Now I want to get the best bang for my $$$. I can see the ram upgrade would be best done by me.

So should I get the second or highest cpu? Sorry can't remember numbers

Is there much diff in the wifi 1x2 and 2x2?

I have build exp. So taking it apart isn't an issue so should I upgrade the thermal paste?

I have read the fan is a little noisy at times, anyone thouht about replacing it with a silent mode fan? I found one that might work but costs about $45 just not sure the power connections are the same. After I get my rg I will check unless someone is willing to snap a pick for me.

Any other upgrades suggestions? Money really won't be a limiting factor and I am dead set on alienware and this machine since the size is great and offers a little more then the 11 which I had been set on. I have tried to research the cpus and find reviews but like I said before this 7" tablet doesn't lend well to indepth research.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions and I can't wait to own my first alienware (as soon as the logging company pays up for making our greyhound bus eat the back end of the logs)

[Stevenxowens792]

@Sargent - Thanks for posting man! Let me try to explain some options and hopefully add some clarity to what might work out.

1. If you are going to game, no substitute for SSD. This can be purchased on your own and replaced easily.

2. The notebook comes with one HDD and one optic drive. You can easily purchase a bay to hold an extra HDD in place of the optic drive.

3. Wifi - Well... in my opinion it doesn't make sense to buy top of the line wifi adapters if you only have mainstream to modest internet connectivity (DSL or Lower end Cable/Fiber)

Really this choice should be based on what connectivity you have available to you.

4. The 2630 baseline cpu is great, but I think If I could do it over I would have grabbed the 2720. It's a good bump up in power for only 150 bones extra. My reasoning is games are really starting to push the cpu's harder... its always a balance between gpu and cpu. If your at 100 percent GPU all the extra cpu in the world doesn't matter. Im a little torn but for MOST gaming instances so far the 2630qm is plenty to keep the nvidia 555 busy.

5. Multimedia - kinda sucks that we dont have a blu-ray drive in 9mm slot drive that will fit. You can use the external ASUS drive for blu-rays and I have verified it works (since i have one) and it looks great even at 720p rez.

6. Fan noise - it's there. I would rather have noise then heat so it's my personal pref. If you can find a quieter fan then please let everyone know and I think many would probably be cheering your name!

I hope this helps...

Good Luck on your choice!

StevenX

[Staff Sargent]

I was talkin to the wife about my laptop of choice so she went to alienware to check out the options and asked why I wasn't getting the m17 well On that idea was wondering if anyone had both the m14x and the new m17x r3 and could take a side by side photo so I could compare. Thanks to anyone who can help.

[Stevenxowens792]

Sorry Sargent, I only have the m14x now. The m15x sold over the weekend. If you google I think one of the initial reviews of the m14x did a side by side of the other units. Maybe it was the alienware reveal in the beginning of april/end of march. The m17x-r3 is still going to be quality. The kicker is that if you make that jump you've GOT TO GET THE 6970.

Think about it this way... Do you ever look at the folks that buy a car, maybe a mustang or camaro and say to yourself "Why did they buy a v6, if you want muscle car get the v8!" Same idea as the m17-r3 is a powerhouse and the 6970 is the way to go!

It's worth saving a few extra weeks or scrimping on lunches for a month or so to get it. The m14x was just a cost vs size vs weight WIN for me. Otherwise I too would have grabbed the m17xR3 and been flying the 6970 highway.

Good Luck,

StevenX

[Staff Sargent]

Well I am specing out the m17 after I write this. Money sure isn't a factor. I was on a greyhound bus that met a logging trucks rear end at 65 back in dec. The money I get from that will be buying my alienware. Size is probably the biggest factor for me as it will be on my lap a lot or traveling with me to the hospital or the odd tech jobs I still do.

Edit: just saw its 11.68 lbs no thanks

Edited May 23, 2011 by Staff Sargent

[Stevenxowens792]

Sargent - I am sorry sir about the accident. Wouldn't wish that on anyone. I hope they get your monetary recourse settled quickly. I can say that i have weighed my m14x with the scale that my wife used for selling ebay stuff. It comes in at just over 6 pounds.

Best Wishes,

StevenX

[Staff Sargent]

No ned for the sir got that enough during my six years in the army and I was enlisted. Most ot us in the accident were only minor injuries the driver on the other hand....

As for weight alienwares site lists the 14 as 6.4lbs but after messin around on alienware.com I see that they claim 9.6 and 11.6 lbs so not sure which it is. 9 is about what my old laptop was so would be normal. 11+ is just to much.

[mw86]

Welcome to Tech Inferno Sargent, the M14X has good portability compared to the M17X you mentioned. It's an honor to have you with us. How far do you stretch your battery Steven when your not gaming?

[Stevenxowens792]

About 4 hours (give or take)

[Michael]

Seems like the battery life of the m14x, m17x and m18x is about the same... nice!

[Jimbo]

Seems like the battery life of the m14x, m17x and m18x is about the same... nice!

At least for those with an m18x

[mw86]

IGP lends an amazing hand at that. I really think they did a wonderful job at giving us an acceptable battery life.

[Staff Sargent]

Didn't want to start a new thread but was just on dells order page and they have changed a lot now that they have the i5 avail. seems I will have to make the order over the phone since I want to make changes they don't have options for and who knows what they will be when I order. I even looked at one comfig and the only ram options were 6 or 8. I hope things improve on the site as I totally hate ordering things by phone can't stand sales people trying to sell me stuff I don't want or need.

[Stevenxowens792]

Staff - Military discount will help a lot. Please for the love of god don't get the I5. I quietly try to explain to folks in other places that most gameplay needs the true quad or 8 threads. If/when you need more battery, clock the I7 down or go into msconfig and disable a few threads from 8 to 4. It's not worth the 100 discount to lose the power you get with the base model 2630. i just tried dragons age (origins) and yes I know it's a couple years old but even on my old machine I could NEVER hit 70 fps on high let alone ultra on the old machine. I am running a constant 45-65 fps with spikes in the 70s and that would NOT have been possible with the I5. This is at ultra with 2xAA/AF Yes, most games are GPU intensive but it really seems like lately (witcher 2, bfbc2, homefront, etc..) games want more CPU.

I have no idea why they offer the I5, maybe/eventually they want to reach a sub 999 machine with the m14x. Unless I had no option at all would I get the I5 with this machine. Just look at the m11xR3 folks and the troubles they have been having with Witcher 2 getting it to even play on LOW. The video card is less powerful but so is the CPU.

Good Luck and I hope you get your settlement soon.

Best Wishes, StevenX

[Staff Sargent]

Thanks Steve, I wouldn't touch the i5 either. Granted I don't know what some of those settings are or just dont know the initals but as hard as I will game (not to hardcore and super fine images in game don't faze me) I will put it though some major workouts with my artwork and using to rip and convert digital movies.

As for $$$ I will have @ least a nice $3,000 laptop budget. Shoot I am looking at a 500GB SSD and they run almost 1k. My last online config was $1768 of the m14 and I would have no issue spendin that.

I do know its about 1-2months away and I can't wait to stop typing on a 7" tablet screen. The only hing that will suck is I am about 6 years behind in the FPS game world right now but that will change soon enough.

[Jimbo]

$1k ssd ftw!

[Staff Sargent]

Just before I moved I had 3 Usb hdds plus the drive in my laptop. Think I had somewhere around 700 movies. I spent a lot of time in the hospital and converted my DVD colletion, bought a few digital copies and got way to many as gifts to past the time. I had widdled it down to about 450 digital copies to take with me all the time but that drive had a serious accident so I will have to start over.

I want an SSD as my main drive but would need the optical to convert or copy the digital versions. I have thought about moving the 750gb drive into the opt. Bay but read iit won't support it so the next best option is the largest SSD I can find and right now its a 512GB that runs about 900 give or take, granted that's more then I would like to spend but the $$$ isn't the issue just not sure its worth it at this time. I might go for a smaller drive and just be more sellective of my movie collection or find a USB HDD case I can have a security cable attached too.

Either way I will post the final specs of my rig when I get it and finish off any upgrades I do as I know I will be picking everyones brain about getting the best FPS out of my games.

[Staff Sargent]

Ok going to drive you all nuts. I seriously like the m14 but as I am left handed and use my mouse in that hand I use the arrow keys like oters would the wasd keys. I also used the keypad just right of the arrows for other game commands. Granted this is a small issue. But the m17x offers this extra keypad and I think other more power specs. The biggest thing keeping me with the m14 is weight. I had a compaq cq60 which weighed about 9lbs and if the m17 is about the same it will only be worth it if I can config it to be worth the size increase. The 3D means nothing to me, saw a 3D movie and wasn't impressed and felt ripped off. So onl if the vid is better and everything else for that matter.

Anyone one here have both? Any advice? I will try and compare them but don't see much comparisons online yet.

[Stevenxowens792]

Sorry Staff. I dont have both. I had the previous m15x model and I can tell you that their was a big weight difference between the two. It sounds to me that customization is important for key mapping. You might want to wait for the m17x with the 560GTX (gddr5). A bit more performance and a bit more weight but larger keyboard for a more friendly "look and feel" for left handed gaming.

Good Luck!

[Staff Sargent]

When is the 560 coming out? Peesonally either vid cards they offer now is a major upgrade compared to my last system so it will be a matter of size wnd weight more then anything I think. My problem is I know the money is coming so I have to much time to shop around. Basically though its down o the 14 or 17 alienware at this point and totally personal as to which one and they both have strong and week points.