Good time to buy a notebook

[avalanche0316]

Hello everybody,
I am trying to decide if now is a good time to get a notebook. I have a homebuilt machine that keeps having problems, and I need something reliable that I can use for school. I want something portable because I am studying abroad soon and I am really into high end gaming. I was looking into getting a Dell m1730 because my dad has one and it looks sick. Dell has pretty solid customer support in my experience, but I know there is alot coming down the road in terms of quad-core, windows 7, and new video cards (tho this admittedly will always be the case) my question: Is now a good time to buy a gaming laptop? and what do you think of this quote from Dell

XPS M1730 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9500 (2.6GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
Memory 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
Video Card NVIDIA® SLI™ Dual GeForce® 8800M GTX with 1GB GDDR3 Memory
Hard Drive RAID Performance: 400GB (2x200GB) 7200RPM Free Fall Sensor
Combo or DVD+RW Drive CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Sound Options ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Sound Card
Wireless Networking Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965a/g/n Mini Card
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft Works
GAMING LCD Logitech® GamePanel Display
Primary Battery 85 WHr Lithium Ion Battery (9-cell)
Warranty & Service 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
Bluetooth and Wireless USB Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)

TOTAL:$3,454.00 (plus a 7 percent school discount, so about 3,200 final price)

 

[frozenlead]

That's a fairly large price, but the specs don't include a screen. what resolution is it's panel?

Maziar had a rather nasty experience with this Dell, the GPU's can't seem to take the heat. I'm surprised they're still 8800mGTX's. Are you sure they don't sell models with 9800mGTX? The difference is minimal, but the power and heat savings might prolong the cards.

 

[lostandwandering]

That's a fairly large price, but the specs don't include a screen. what resolution is it's panel?

Maziar had a rather nasty experience with this Dell, the GPU's can't seem to take the heat. I'm surprised they're still 8800mGTX's. Are you sure they don't sell models with 9800mGTX? The difference is minimal, but the power and heat savings might prolong the cards.

Remember that that is an SLI system, so the price is pretty fair.

Taka a look at the offering from Sager, It's the NP9262. Uses 9800M GTX's and desktop CPU's. Just another option.

There is also a laptop from OCZ that just came out that uses Crossfire and is pretty sweet looking. http/www.killernotebooks.com/nagamaki/nagamaki_order_page.html

 

[avalanche0316]

Hey do you guys have any thoughts on the new alienware m17. That computer looks alot like the ocz in that it uses crossfire. I have heard mixed things about dual HD 3870s, like they cant keep pace with even a single 9800GT. The upside is that alienware configuration is significantly cheaper than anything else on their site. Has anyone heard anything, its enticing. Though I do want something that will run high end games for a good while (it doesnt have to run crysis at 60fps, im realistic).

 

[avalanche0316]

I am having a hard time choosing between the alienware m17x and m17. The m17x is alot less ugly, is nvidia based, is a bit more pricey, and may not accept quad core upgrades in the future (the sales person didnt know). But the m17 is cheaper and ati based and i dont know how i feel about ati since they underperform nvidia regularly. I can get a crossfire m17 for under 3k but if i want an sli 9800GT on m17x i have to go to about 3.5k. what do you guys think, maybe a single 9800gt?

 

[lostandwandering]

Nope, Xfired 3870's perform very well. I've seen them score 15K on 3dmark06 which is damned good for a laptop. http/guruofgaming.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2294

The M17 from Alienware is the EXACT same system as the OCZ. I personally hate Alienware. I called them to ask some questions when I was looking for my laptop and I was pretty shrugged off.

 

[BrettWD]

If you get the AW m17x with the Single GTX 260M GPU can you buy another one later on and install it yourself? Can you also add another HD at a later if you only had 1 to start with?