Quick: Should I get the M14x or....?

[bonedaddy77]

M14x feels small and light to me compared to m17x. I'd think the extra screen real estate would be nice trade off for slightly bigger machine than the 11x

[ColdMetal]

Basically I'm looking at two configs right now.

One is complete base package M17x for about $1200. At the very most Id have enough money to upgrade the resolution. That's it.

The other is a M14x with upgraded resolution, bluetooth, Killer wireless card, i7 processor. Hell maybe even throw in some other random shyt. $1200-$1300 is my budget.

I plan on upgrading other things myself. Opinions?
Specific questions I have
- How bad is the 17" monitor without upgraded resolution?
- Any good benchmark/comparisons for the two GPUs?

Which would you buy?

[reaversedge]

depends on your precision, m11x is more mobile, m14x has more performance. bottom line is what you really need, imo m14x is still on the mobile side, its not that big and it kicks more performance compared to m11x.

[Syredisa057]

M17x R2 is the better option for gaming. Plus you can always add another card. The screen is better as well. Unless you really need the extra portability, the M17x is the way to go.

R2 can use SLI? i don't know about that..

[reaversedge]

R2 can use SLI? i don't know about that..

R2 does. R3 doesn't. so much for 3D eh?

[bigtonyman]

the 1600x900 is an alright screen, but you can definitely tell the 1080p one is better when you look at them side by side. My advice would be to upgrade the screen and then the GPU if you can. The Gpu and the other components can be upgraded down the road, while the screen can't easily (I've found out the hard way). There isn't any 1080p screens available other than straight from dell for a ripoff price. Hope this helps you a bit

[lovethai]

i think the biggest drawback on the m14x is the graphics card. nvidia gt555 is mediocre at best and already struggling to run 2010/2011 games at higher settings.
in battlefield 3 its about 50% slower than 560gtx (which is just overclocked gtx460) and i think new games in 2012/13 might be barely playable on this card.
i would go for the m14x in a heartbeat if the 560m gtx was the upgrade option, unfortunately you have to get m17x if you want really top graphics card which will last you 2-3 years.

[kglahm]

I'm considering buying an alienware for my sake of studying and gaming. Due to my low budget, I decided to go with a manufacturer refurbished one (Alienware is durable, so I hope it is not bad even it is refurbished, judge me if it is wrong.) I just want to get the most bang for my bucks, so please help me make the decision, as I have tried to analyze some myself.

Here is the Alienware M14x (1300$):
-- 8X DVD +/- RW Drive
-- Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
-- 14.0 inch HD (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor (2.4 GHz,w/Turbo Boost,6MB Cache)
-- 8 Cell Primary Battery
-- 4 GB Dual Channel DDR3 (1600MHz)
-- 3 GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M
-- Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
-- Wave Systems Software
-- 750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
-- Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
-- Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Panzer software version 1.2
-- Intel Wireless-N WiFi Link 1000 a/g/n 1x2

The pros and cons as of my analysis:
Pros: Cheaper, Good CPU (better than 2820 score over all), Light weight
Cons: not that good GPU (judge me again if im wrong. I heard that mobile GPU is not upgradable because it is soldered into Motherboard. CPU and RAM however can be changed) , not full HD resolution, wireless card

Here is the M17x specs (1500$):
-- Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
-- 320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
-- Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
-- 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (4 DIMMs)
-- 1.5 GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
-- Intel 6250 Wireless-N (2x2) Half Mini-Card
-- Soft Touch Nebula Red
-- 9 Cell Battery
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2720QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz)
-- 17.3 inch Wide FHD (1920 x 1080 60Hz) WLED Display

Pros: More features (bluray, wireless, FHD), more memory, better GPU
Cons: More expensive, CPU is less in performance, memory frequency is 1333 Mhz (i can change it I bet), not that much hard drive (minor detail, i can get an external for 2tb for all my movie collections), Red color (I like black better)

What I expect from my laptop:
1. GPU performance, as I'm a heavy gamer (CoD, FarCry, WoW...) This and CPU are most important for me, since I heard from many people that these 2 are hard to upgrade
2. CPU performance as I often do multiple things at once (open 15 tabs of browser to read news, then listen to music while game is still running in background, with YIM on talking along with Skype. Occasionally open 15 tabs at once to find source to write my paper, so word is opened as well)
3. Battery life - I'm in school most of the time (mon-fri, 8-4) and I try to finish my craps there as much as I can using a laptop, so I wont bring the power cord. 5-7 hours battery life (no gaming or movie) is AWESOME. I still dont know if the M14x or M17x squeeze out more.

So, I know it is a long and complicated Thread, but i'm a new geek into this whole thing, so I hope to hear some informative feedback from everyone. Any question? please ask
Thanks

[RubberCrow]

I'm considering buying an alienware for my sake of studying and gaming. Due to my low budget, I decided to go with a manufacturer refurbished one (Alienware is durable, so I hope it is not bad even it is refurbished, judge me if it is wrong.) I just want to get the most bang for my bucks, so please help me make the decision, as I have tried to analyze some myself.

I had the same decision before me but had different criteria. I chose the m14x. Going the refurbished route shouldn't be a concern, they've generally been good machines (look at how many Ebay sellers are raking in the cash by re-selling them!) but I found that the difference in cost of a refurb versus having exactly what I wanted built specifically for me wasn't enough to sway me.

Here is the Alienware M14x (1300$):
-- 8X DVD +/- RW Drive
-- Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
-- 14.0 inch HD (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor (2.4 GHz,w/Turbo Boost,6MB Cache)
-- 8 Cell Primary Battery
-- 4 GB Dual Channel DDR3 (1600MHz)
-- 3 GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M
-- Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
-- Wave Systems Software
-- 750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
-- Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
-- Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Panzer software version 1.2
-- Intel Wireless-N WiFi Link 1000 a/g/n 1x2

The pros and cons as of my analysis:
Pros: Cheaper, Good CPU (better than 2820 score over all), Light weight
Cons: not that good GPU (judge me again if im wrong. I heard that mobile GPU is not upgradable because it is soldered into Motherboard. CPU and RAM however can be changed) , not full HD resolution, wireless card

My advice is to dump the 3gb video card and stick with the 1.5gb. There's tons of threads around here about it, the extra RAM doesn't give much of a benefit to the card at all. The only possible thing is that it might make you a bit more "future-proof" with the non upgradable card.

Also, don't bother with the Sound Blaster software upgrade. I'm a pro audio user and have been a professional musician and recording engineer for a LONG time now and there has yet to be a single thing that Creative/Sound Blaster has done to improve anything on anything. It's just not necessary. However, I was happy with the fact that Waves has included some of their plugin software with the RealTek control panel. I am a very happy Waves user (I have several thousand dollars of Waves plugins and use them constantly, great products) and the addition of the MaxxBass works out really nice for headphone gaming. I won't use it for audio work, as you want as flat of a response as possible, but it's great to hype up the sound for fun!

You are correct that the GPU is not upgradeable in the m14x, but it is upgradeable in the m17x. And while it's not a 1080p screen, for it's size that's totally fine. 1080p would require magification for most users, or require you to sit way closer and less comfortably than you'd want to. For outputting to an external monitor or HDTV the card can still handle 1080p though. So just snag a 27"-32" monitor/TV and hook it up to that for movies and such.

I bought almost the same machine you did, and after tax I paid like $1270. But, mine was only a 500gb drive, the 1.5gb GPU and did not have the Sound Blaster software. Everything else is identical. If you dumped those three things, you could get your costs down even further and not suffer any in terms of performance.

Here is the M17x specs (1500$):
-- Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
-- 320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
-- Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
-- 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (4 DIMMs)
-- 1.5 GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
-- Intel 6250 Wireless-N (2x2) Half Mini-Card
-- Soft Touch Nebula Red
-- 9 Cell Battery
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2720QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz)
-- 17.3 inch Wide FHD (1920 x 1080 60Hz) WLED Display

Pros: More features (bluray, wireless, FHD), more memory, better GPU
Cons: More expensive, CPU is less in performance, memory frequency is 1333 Mhz (i can change it I bet), not that much hard drive (minor detail, i can get an external for 2tb for all my movie collections), Red color (I like black better)

One pro you did not mention: Upgradeable GPU.
Another pro you did not mention: An additional bay for adding a second internal HD. (You can specify the m17x to have 2 HDs in a RAID array, so I'm only assuming there's another bay in there that can house it!)

One con you did not mention, although it may not matter to you: The size/portability. For me the m14x is absolutely perfect in size. Not too big, not too small. I'd love a bigger screen, but that's what my external monitors are for. I'd much rather haul this around back and forth to work, sessions and studios than an m17. Your mileage may vary.

Dell sells their memory and hard drives with a high markup. It would have cost me something like $120 to upgrade from 4gb of 1600mhz RAM to 8gb. Meanwhile I can buy that same RAM for $40-80. It's convenient getting it all in one shot, but that $40 could go to a notebook cooler, mouse, or bag.

What I expect from my laptop:
1. GPU performance, as I'm a heavy gamer (CoD, FarCry, WoW...) This and CPU are most important for me, since I heard from many people that these 2 are hard to upgrade
2. CPU performance as I often do multiple things at once (open 15 tabs of browser to read news, then listen to music while game is still running in background, with YIM on talking along with Skype. Occasionally open 15 tabs at once to find source to write my paper, so word is opened as well)
3. Battery life - I'm in school most of the time (mon-fri, 8-4) and I try to finish my craps there as much as I can using a laptop, so I wont bring the power cord. 5-7 hours battery life (no gaming or movie) is AWESOME. I still dont know if the M14x or M17x squeeze out more.

1. GPU wasn't as big of a deal to me, plus I was upgrading from a 6 year old desktop that only had a 256mb card, so even if I could upgrade the video significantly, I probably wouldn't have. I don't play the games you play, so I can't comment on those, but I can say in the three days I've owned my machine I have played Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 on my m14x on native resolution (900p) at absolute max settings and haven't seen a single glitch yet. Granted, these games are not Skyrim on max, but still it has been awesome for what I do. I haven't even hit 70C on my CPU temps and I don't have a cooler yet.

2. With the i7 you're really not going to make a dent in the CPU performance with those programs. Again, I do audio production. I use a LOT of resources when doing this. We're talking 60-100 tracks of audio in Cubase 5, all with 1-4 resource hogging plugins from Waves, Softube, PSP Audioware and Steinberg. These mix sessions would bring my desktop to a screeching halt and I'd have to turn off any parallel effects sends and automate tracks to turn off unused plugins just to be able to hear what I was working on. Now those same sessions barely use 10-15% of my available resources.

3. I can't really speak much about the battery life except that as long as you manage your power settings properly you should be okay. The power supply for the m14x is definitely not small, but it's not horribly bulky either. It's usually pretty easy to find a place to plug in somewhere if you have to. It's always nice to have it around.

So, I know it is a long and complicated Thread, but i'm a new geek into this whole thing, so I hope to hear some informative feedback from everyone. Any question? please ask
Thanks

This site is an excellent resource on things, but you just have to remember to take things with a grain of salt and that your mileage may vary. My advice is based on having my m14x since Saturday and it's now Tuesday night, not a lot of experience there. But I work nights and midnights and especially on midnights (like now) I have plenty of time to kill. I read damn near every single thread in the Alienware section of this forum both before and after finally ordering my m14x, and even with all of that information it still came down to what my needs were and what I thought would work for me. My main concern was heat with the m14x, and eventually I realized that the only real option to find out how it handled complex mix sessions in Cubase was to buy one, install everything and see for myself how it held up. So far it holds up amazingly well.

So my final advice to you is to determine whether the upgradable GPU is necessary for you, whether the size and portability matters, and to hold your breath and take the leap!

[kglahm]

I had the same decision before me but had different criteria. I chose the m14x. Going the refurbished route shouldn't be a concern, they've generally been good machines (look at how many Ebay sellers are raking in the cash by re-selling them!) but I found that the difference in cost of a refurb versus having exactly what I wanted built specifically for me wasn't enough to sway me.



My advice is to dump the 3gb video card and stick with the 1.5gb. There's tons of threads around here about it, the extra RAM doesn't give much of a benefit to the card at all. The only possible thing is that it might make you a bit more "future-proof" with the non upgradable card.

Also, don't bother with the Sound Blaster software upgrade. I'm a pro audio user and have been a professional musician and recording engineer for a LONG time now and there has yet to be a single thing that Creative/Sound Blaster has done to improve anything on anything. It's just not necessary. However, I was happy with the fact that Waves has included some of their plugin software with the RealTek control panel. I am a very happy Waves user (I have several thousand dollars of Waves plugins and use them constantly, great products) and the addition of the MaxxBass works out really nice for headphone gaming. I won't use it for audio work, as you want as flat of a response as possible, but it's great to hype up the sound for fun!

You are correct that the GPU is not upgradeable in the m14x, but it is upgradeable in the m17x. And while it's not a 1080p screen, for it's size that's totally fine. 1080p would require magification for most users, or require you to sit way closer and less comfortably than you'd want to. For outputting to an external monitor or HDTV the card can still handle 1080p though. So just snag a 27"-32" monitor/TV and hook it up to that for movies and such.

I bought almost the same machine you did, and after tax I paid like $1270. But, mine was only a 500gb drive, the 1.5gb GPU and did not have the Sound Blaster software. Everything else is identical. If you dumped those three things, you could get your costs down even further and not suffer any in terms of performance.



One pro you did not mention: Upgradeable GPU.
Another pro you did not mention: An additional bay for adding a second internal HD. (You can specify the m17x to have 2 HDs in a RAID array, so I'm only assuming there's another bay in there that can house it!)

One con you did not mention, although it may not matter to you: The size/portability. For me the m14x is absolutely perfect in size. Not too big, not too small. I'd love a bigger screen, but that's what my external monitors are for. I'd much rather haul this around back and forth to work, sessions and studios than an m17. Your mileage may vary.

Dell sells their memory and hard drives with a high markup. It would have cost me something like $120 to upgrade from 4gb of 1600mhz RAM to 8gb. Meanwhile I can buy that same RAM for $40-80. It's convenient getting it all in one shot, but that $40 could go to a notebook cooler, mouse, or bag.



1. GPU wasn't as big of a deal to me, plus I was upgrading from a 6 year old desktop that only had a 256mb card, so even if I could upgrade the video significantly, I probably wouldn't have. I don't play the games you play, so I can't comment on those, but I can say in the three days I've owned my machine I have played Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 on my m14x on native resolution (900p) at absolute max settings and haven't seen a single glitch yet. Granted, these games are not Skyrim on max, but still it has been awesome for what I do. I haven't even hit 70C on my CPU temps and I don't have a cooler yet.

2. With the i7 you're really not going to make a dent in the CPU performance with those programs. Again, I do audio production. I use a LOT of resources when doing this. We're talking 60-100 tracks of audio in Cubase 5, all with 1-4 resource hogging plugins from Waves, Softube, PSP Audioware and Steinberg. These mix sessions would bring my desktop to a screeching halt and I'd have to turn off any parallel effects sends and automate tracks to turn off unused plugins just to be able to hear what I was working on. Now those same sessions barely use 10-15% of my available resources.

3. I can't really speak much about the battery life except that as long as you manage your power settings properly you should be okay. The power supply for the m14x is definitely not small, but it's not horribly bulky either. It's usually pretty easy to find a place to plug in somewhere if you have to. It's always nice to have it around.



This site is an excellent resource on things, but you just have to remember to take things with a grain of salt and that your mileage may vary. My advice is based on having my m14x since Saturday and it's now Tuesday night, not a lot of experience there. But I work nights and midnights and especially on midnights (like now) I have plenty of time to kill. I read damn near every single thread in the Alienware section of this forum both before and after finally ordering my m14x, and even with all of that information it still came down to what my needs were and what I thought would work for me. My main concern was heat with the m14x, and eventually I realized that the only real option to find out how it handled complex mix sessions in Cubase was to buy one, install everything and see for myself how it held up. So far it holds up amazingly well.

So my final advice to you is to determine whether the upgradable GPU is necessary for you, whether the size and portability matters, and to hold your breath and take the leap!

Thank you for your information, I really appreciate your help!
I made up my mind and decided to go with a m14x one. About my decision, I have an awesome desktop (not strong, but will soon upgrade to core i7-3930 - currently i5 and GTX 480 as soon as it come out) with a 23 inches full HD LED screen, so if i spend more money on the m17, i would have to dump my desktopp away. So i decided to use the difference in cost to upgrade my desktop instead (23 inches is definitely BETTER than 17, just no 3D).
Thanks again