m9750 Display/CPU Choice

[DanCole42]

I'm looking to pick up a nice gaming laptop (probably an Alienware m9750).

My choices for a display are:

17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD - Stealth Black
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology - Stealth Black

Does anyone have any experience with the second option? Is the higher resolution and "Clearview" worth $300?

I plan on using the laptop mostly for Warcraft, but want enough power left over in case I decide to move on to something more intensive.

Is getting the dual 7950GTX video cards worth and extra $600? Especially for my needs?

What about the processor? Intel Core 2 Duo, 4MB cache, 667 MHz FSB. The only difference is clockspeed. $150 extra for 2 GHz, $400 for 2.16, and $700 for 2.33. I'll fork over the extra $150 for the 2 GHz, but is the small jump in clockspeed for the two higher end CPUs really worth it?

I plan on getting 2GB of RAM.

Finally, and I know this is a contentious issue... XP or Vista?

I know I've got a lot of questions and that there are reviews all over the place, but I'd rather here from the people in the trenches. Thanks for all your help!

 

[lostandwandering]

First off, I don't recommend Alienware. I have heard too many horror stories to recommend them. I will answer your questions and then give you another recommendation.
1) 1440x900 is a small res for a 17'' screen IMO. I have the WUXGA on my laptop and it is gorgeous. I think it is worth the extra money.
2) A single 7950GTX will be able to handle WOW and pretty much any other game you throw at it. I don't think SLI is worth it for a. the money and b. the heat and the problems associated with it.
3) I'm assuming the base CPU for that laptop is a T5*** chip and not the T7***'s. Get a T7*** chip, it has more L2 cache which comes in handy for games. I have a T7200 (2.0ghz and it is fine for most things but if I did it again I'd get the 2.16 or 2.33).
4) 2gb of RAM is a good decision XP or Vista.
5) Right now I say XP. Vista has too many issues IMO.

Check out killernotebooks.com. They offer a 17'' gaming laptop called the Executioner SR. Great performance and a not so bad price (it is a little high but you get what you pay for). If you want some testimonials check out their forums guruofgaming.com. There is a review of the previous generation Executioner.

 

[DanCole42]

First off, I don't recommend Alienware. I have heard too many horror stories to recommend them. I will answer your questions and then give you another recommendation.

Does anyone else feel this way? I've always thought "gaming" and then thought "Alienware" (which probably speaks more to their marketing than anything else). The reviews for the m9750 all seem very positive...

 

[killernotebooks]

I certainly do!
Seriously, I get many customers from Alienware, so if you do choose them now, rest ***, when you are ready for a new system you will probably come my way.

Check out this Alienware fan club before you buy.

 

[DanCole42]

I certainly do!
Seriously, I get many customers from Alienware, so if you do choose them now, rest ***, when you are ready for a new system you will probably come my way.

Check out this Alienware fan club before you buy.

Any company of sufficient size will garner a dedicated "xxxx Sucks" community, especially in the technology area. I take those comments with a grain of salt.

Maybe in a few years when my Alienware rapes my grandmother and then has an explosive hard drive failure, I'll have enough saved up for an Odachi 😉

 

[yakster]

I'm about to purchase myself a new gaming laptop too. I've been doing alot of looking around and I must say that m-tech http://www.m-techlaptops.com/ seems to me to be the best I've come accross ever.

I'm not a cheapskate but they seem to have everything that alienware has and then some for much less of your hard earned foldings !

Admittedly I haven't purchased one (yet) and if anyone wants to warn me off them please do !

 

[killernotebooks]

You might as well get it from Sager as they are the ones building, shipping and supporting the machine.
MOST, like 99% of the notebook vendors out there are just order takers that pass your order along to the distributor.

 

[yakster]

Are you referring to the alienware machine ?
The M-tech comes in at about 20% cheaper than the Sager duplicate. Better in my pocker than theirs !

 

[killernotebooks]

If you call Sager and ask for them to match the M-Tech price.
If you do that, I would be really interested in hearing the result.
The Alienware is an Arima I believe. You can't go direct on those as the ODM deals exclussively with DELL and Alienchicken so no one else has them and it appears they are special in some way.

 

[yakster]

Actually I must admit I compared the wrong two laptops ! There is still a difference (about $60 in M-techs favour) but nothing really worth getting excited about. Either way it now gives the original poster DanCole42, another two options for him to consider !

 

[lostandwandering]

Actually I must admit I compared the wrong two laptops ! There is still a difference (about $60 in M-techs favour) but nothing really worth getting excited about. Either way it now gives the original poster DanCole42, another two options for him to consider !

DON'T order from sagernotebook.com. I was not happy with the experience. Do I like my laptop? Yes. Was I happy with the ordering process? NO!

So scratch Sagernotebook off the list. Your choices are Alienware, M-Tech, K|N and xoticpc.com <---- They ignored me and I'm not happy about that.

 

[yakster]

Ha ! Roger that ! Cheers for the heads up. Now if only the web marshall here at work would let me go to killernotebooks site........

 

[killernotebooks]

Thing is Law that M-Tech, XoticPC and Sager... they're are all the same.
Sager builds them, ships them and supports them all.
Those other guys are just shells. You might as well get it right from Sager and cut out the middleman.

First you had a problem with the ordering process.
But (and I hope this doesn't happen) if you have an issue or a problem...
Whooieee, then we're going to hear about it.
You're going to have the same thing all over again, except think about this, the first time they we receiving money, now it is going to cost them money. How do you think that is going to go?
Anyone can sell a computer, it's the dead pixels, designing and fabing mods, support, warranty and various other issues that can get you in the long run.

It is how those issues are handled that makes or breaks you. Ultimately these guys are undercutting a high-end product so badly to get sales mostly because they're hurting so bad partially because they don't know what the heck they are doing. It is going to end up costing the them and more.

I predict this will eventually catch up to them and cost both them (and their resellers), and the ODM their reputation. That, or a real distributor is going to get a hold of the North American distribution rights and put them out of business in short order. Capitalism is an unforgiving taskmaster that will right it all in the end. All you need is the catalyst.

In the end, inevitably... you get what you pay for.

 

[lostandwandering]

Thing is Law that M-Tech, XoticPC and Sager... they're are all the same.
Sager builds them, ships them and supports them all.
Those other guys are just shells. You might as well get it right from Sager and cut out the middleman.

First you had a problem with the ordering process.
But (and I hope this doesn't happen) if you have an issue or a problem...
Whooieee, then we're going to hear about it.
You're going to have the same thing all over again, except think about this, the first time they we receiving money, now it is going to cost them money. How do you think that is going to go?
Anyone can sell a computer, it's the dead pixels, designing and fabing mods, support, warranty and various other issues that can get you in the long run.

It is how those issues are handled that makes or breaks you. Ultimately these guys are undercutting a high-end product so badly to get sales mostly because they're hurting so bad partially because they don't know what the heck they are doing. It is going to end up costing the them and more.

I predict this will eventually catch up to them and cost both them (and their resellers), and the ODM their reputation. That, or a real distributor is going to get a hold of the North American distribution rights and put them out of business in short order. Capitalism is an unforgiving taskmaster that will right it all in the end. All you need is the catalyst.

In the end, inevitably... you get what you pay for.

[url]http://www.killernotebooks.com/images/logos/micro_insignia.gif[/url]

Yeah, I know about all of that, and again the final purchase wasn't my choice. The person we talked to at snb.com was Asian and a little difficult to understand (remind you of any other company?). My first thought was, oh crap what have we gotten ourselves into? Trust me, if it had been 100% my choice, I would NOT have gone with snb.com. I'm really dreading any tech issues with this laptop and I am hoping I can fix the majority of them on my own. We'll see how that goes.

Sorry if I seem angry. I just spent 3+ hours in the car.

 

[killernotebooks]

Well you know where the forums are to get it taken care of.