Alienware M18x

[Kessian]

Greetings all,

Time has come to replace my aircooled PC with a laptop. I am thinking of going with an Alienware m18x. Obviously this will be used for going out of house, but when at home will be connected to my Dell 30".

The specs are as follows:
i7-2760QM 2.4GHz (3.5GHz Boost, 6MB Cache)
18.4" 1920 x 1080 WLED LCD Panel
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 Memory
2x 750GB 7200RPM Raid 0
2x Radeon 6990M Crossfire

Cost: $2968 (Before GST)

Questions:
1) What do people think of this laptop, and the overall quality of Alienware nowadays?
2) What do people think of the specs? Is there anything you would change?
3) I have the option of upgrading the cpu to the i7-2860QM 2.5GHz (3.6GHz Boost, 8MB Cache), which would bring the total to $3241. Is it worth upgrading to this processor. I can't seem to find any reviews for the comparison between these 2 processes in real world environment.
4) Would the laptop be able to play games and full spec at 2560 x 1600 on the monitor?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Matt

[Bolas]

Greetings all,

Time has come to replace my aircooled PC with a laptop. I am thinking of going with an Alienware m18x. Obviously this will be used for going out of house, but when at home will be connected to my Dell 30".

The specs are as follows:
i7-2760QM 2.4GHz (3.5GHz Boost, 6MB Cache)
18.4" 1920 x 1080 WLED LCD Panel
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 Memory
2x 750GB 7200RPM Raid 0
2x Radeon 6990M Crossfire

Cost: $2968 (Before GST)

Questions:
1) What do people think of this laptop, and the overall quality of Alienware nowadays?
2) What do people think of the specs? Is there anything you would change?
3) I have the option of upgrading the cpu to the i7-2860QM 2.5GHz (3.6GHz Boost, 8MB Cache), which would bring the total to $3241. Is it worth upgrading to this processor. I can't seem to find any reviews for the comparison between these 2 processes in real world environment.
4) Would the laptop be able to play games and full spec at 2560 x 1600 on the monitor?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Matt

I think the configuration is a good one. I think you probably don't need to spend the $200 to upgrade the cpu, the speed isn't that much more and the larger cache doesn't make that much difference in most applications. I think it's unlikely you'd notice the difference between the cpu's.

8GB of memory is plenty for gaming, and if it's in 2 sticks, you could always add 2 more from Newegg later if you find you need more memory.

I think the gpu's are the right choice.

IF you were going to spend any more money on this, I would put an SSD as the boot drive and leave a 750 GB as the data drive -- that upgrade would be noticeable but would add a big chunk to the cost.

Something else to consider, Dell occasionally gets refurbished laptops in at much cheaper prices. It's possible you could find exactly what you want for a configuration but at a much cheaper price and ready to ship if you check their outlet store regularly. That's where I found my dream Alienware m17x.

I saw an Alienware m18x in person at the Microcenter in Minneapolis, MN. I was very impressed with it. It looked and felt amazing. I doubt you would be disappointed with it.

I put up a couple polls on various sites about laptops in the $2800-$3000 price range, and Alienware m18x came out in top on all polls by a decent margin. I decided to go with the m17x because I don't actually need the extra weight and power consumption of two gpu's for the games that I play (League of Legends, Starcraft II, Civilization V). But if you're playing first person shooters, then the Alienware m18x is a better choice.

You would be able to play games on 2560 x 1600, likely with full eye candy or close to it. I would say "good to great" performance on 2560 x 1600. Does your monitor have display port in? Or how would you connect it? Make sure that you don't need a powered dongle or you are talking another $100+ expense.

[Kessian]

Thanks for your reply,

Checking out benchmarks, it seems that there was no point on upgrading the cpu

I believe the 8GB is in the form of 4 x2gb sticks, but will ask if they can supply 2 4gb sticks for future proofing.

The GPU's come standard for the m18x. I wouldn't spend the extra to upgrade to the 2x 580s.

In regards the the SSD, i will eventually put one in down the track, but will no way be purchasing it through there site, it costs a ridiculous amount to have one installed.

I noticed your poll thread, was a good read

Connecting would probably be in the form of HDMI cable i guess?

[Bolas]

Connecting would probably be in the form of HDMI cable i guess?

HDMI would work, if your 30" monitor has that for an input.

My 30" NEC MultiSync LCD3090WQXi's have only DVI-D for the inputs, if I remember right.... so HDMI doesn't work so good. Might want to check the inputs on the monitor.

Also, some kinds of input don't support full native 2560 x 1600 resolution for some monitors, so make sure that if it does have HDMI, that the full resolution is supported over HDMI. Just some traps to avoid.

[Kessian]

My monitor has quite a few HDMI inputs, im sure it would be able to support 2560x1600 through hdmi? Its a dell WPF3008

[Bolas]

My monitor has quite a few HDMI inputs, im sure it would be able to support 2560x1600 through hdmi? Its a dell WPF3008

Ah, you've got a Dell WFP 3008? Those are awesome. You are set. That has DisplayPort. Use that for connection and you are done. DisplayPort is the best possible option for connecting your laptop to your monitor, and both have the connection.

The Alienware m18x has:

(1x) Mini-Display Port

All you need is a Mini-Display Port to Display port cable (inexpensive) and you can do a direct connection to your big screen. DisplayPort is what you want, it's better than HDMI. Use the DisplayPort instead.

[Kessian]

Cheers for that mate, hopefully will be ordering it next week.

[bigKr33]

To piggyback on this thread, I plan on buying an m18x to replace my current laptop in my sig (I will be selling it fyi). I like my laptop, but I am an enthusiast. My msi runs all my games decent except for battlefield 3. It could barely run on low settings at 1080p, and the picture lagged a lot in gaming. What has stopped me from pulling the trigger on an m18x is the graphics card options. I read a couple of reviews, and in particularly the one on anandtech.com when they compared both sli and crossfire configurations. The crossfire 6990m's seem to be the best option considering the cost and how closely they performed to the 580m's. My only grip (and this is my experience with ati) is the stability of ati cards. I bought a 5870 a couple of years ago and it was a nightmare, and needless to say I returned it within the first week of use. Soon after the gtx480 came out and that made a world of a difference in stability which eventually led me to get the gtx580 which I still have now.

Anyone have experience with crossfire mobile chips? Thanks

[Bolas]

Some tricks for getting cheap prices on Alienware laptops...

1. Shop the outlet store, prices on refurbished are about 2/3 of the prices of new, but still have the same warranty.

http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/alienwa...474&redirect=1

2. Use the October clearance coupons to get 25% off the outlet store prices, effectively cutting the price in half.

http://content.dell.com/us/en/dfh/d/...43&lid=1937257

3. Dell tends to get new refurbished units in between 8am and 9am on weekday mornings. These are available for sale but not yet displayed on the web site. So... call the company during those times and snap up the m18x's before someone else does.

1-866-492-6721

4. Make sure that you enter your payment information correctly. I had a typo in my credit card expiration date that caused me to have to re-enter an order. During the wait to re-enter the credit card info, someone else bought the unit I wanted *sob*

Hope this helps. I was able to buy a second laptop with the money I saved on my first laptop.

[bigKr33]

You know I thought long and hard <-- about it. Reading up on the m18x seems to be more problems than its worth. Too many issues with multi-gpu laptops, and for the price I don't think its worth it anymore. So now I have plans to build a 2nd desktop instead. Thanks "Bolas" for the reply.

[Bolas]

You know I thought long and hard <-- about it. Reading up on the m18x seems to be more problems than its worth. Too many issues with multi-gpu laptops, and for the price I don't think its worth it anymore. So now I have plans to build a 2nd desktop instead. Thanks "Bolas" for the reply.

I came to about the same conclusion -- I wanted a single gpu laptop, and ended up with the refurbished m17x R3. I'm quite happy with it.