Alienware M17x, Asus G75vw, MSI GE70

lukejohnson

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Dec 17, 2012
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Hi Guys,

Ive been doing some reasearch and I really cant decide which laptop to buy.

Its between the Alienware M17x, Asus G75vw and the MSI GE70.

Obviously the Alienware is the most expensive followed by the Asus and then the MSI.

I would like to use it primarily for playing World of Warcraft and possibly some other games in the future.

Im just curious which would be the best to get in terms of support, performance and best value for money.

If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

Kind regards,
Luke
 

Pinhedd

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I have an Alienware M17x R3. The build quality is simply unmatched by any of its competitors.

It's definitely pricier but the cooling assembly keeps it cool at all times which extends the life of all the components. The keyboard is top notch too.
 

Pinhedd

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I looked at the Asus laptops when I was shopping around. A friend of mine has one but I had a few concerns:

1. The fan assembly can be quite loud. The M17x is really quiet and only kicks up under the most demanding game conditions, but even then it's comparably quiet. As a consequence, the M17x is thicker and a bit heavier than the G75 series.

2. The fan exhaust on some Asus laptops is to the left of the laptop. On the M17x it is to the rear.

3. The G75 uses chicklet keys. The M17x uses standard keys which I find easier to use.

4. The M17x has two hard drive bays and supports RAID configurations. if you want lots of storage space with the speed of SSDs, grab two Seagate Momentus XTs and put them in RAID-0. They kick ass. Starting with the M17x R4 there is also an mSATA port inside the laptop for an mSATA SSD.

If money is an issue then the G75 is probably a better buy, but if you want a laptop that really kicks ass, give the M17x a shot.
 

lukejohnson

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Dec 17, 2012
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Are the alienwares easy to upgrade if I decide in a year or two Id quite like to add a new graphics card or something like that? If im spening that much on a laptop then I hope it lasts quite a few years.
 

Pinhedd

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Upgrading graphics cards on laptops is never recommended. Mobile GPUs are OEM components which means that every OEM slaps their own VGA firmware on it. It is easy enough to remove, but the varied formfactors and firmware revisions may make upgrading difficult and compatibility hard to guarantee.

The memory, hard disks, and CPU can easily be upgraded though.
 

captainblacko

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May 21, 2012
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the Alienware laptops are good and the benchmarks prove it but the the question you have to ask yourself is are you willing to shell out all that money for one.

for the same price as a entry level M17X you can buy a higher spec clevo unit from sager. The build quality wont be as good, but you get more choices and it wont cost an arm and leg to get a decent laptop.