Solved! WANT YOUR OPINIONS !!!! $3k beast........

5abivt

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Ok sold my Macbook pro unibody tonight and i'm looking for a replacement and i want opinions.

My (ONLY) options are:

Macbook pro 17" 2.66 i7, 128 SSD, 4GB RAM (upgrade to 8 myself), 330MGT 512 (meh) 19x1200

OR

Alienware M17x 1.7 i7 Quad, 8 GB ram, 128 SSD, 5870 crossfire 19x1200 screen


My only options are those 2 because to me those are the sexiest beasts there are. One is a gaming beast and the other is a macbook. I lug it to work and back every day. Not a long walk. I watch movies, youtube, browse the web and play games alot of the time. CS source, wow, TFT, COD4 etc. I am almost always plugged in.

I do appreciate the sexiness of the macbook and i was about to order the newer version today (mine was a 3.06 optioned core 2 duo, 128 SSD, 4 Gb ram, 9600 GT 512 mb) so it would have been a slight increase in performance and battery life. I LOVE the screen on the mac and I LOVE the styling. I love its light weight and versatility while still being able to play games. The downsides? I F******ing hate MAC mouse acceleration. GPU still is weak for any high spec gaming.

Now the Alienware I think is downright sexy as a BEast of a gaming machine. I like the ASUS vents in the back, but DO NOT like how its a wedge shape and how the screen folds up where it does. I also hate any screen that has a border so an all glass screen on the AW wins out. I also hear the AW screen is 120hz and is better than apples ???? (If so its an easy decision for me) I would have PC mouse acceleration, beastly gaming but heavy weight and poor unplugged battery life.

The mac is coming specced to $2600 cdn, the Alienware on the u.s site unfortunately for $29ish

My one BIG reason why I'm even asking this is that I sold my mac and realized something. it's too pretty even for me. I had a speck case on it, and a zagg full shield. I pretty much took all it's beauty away. i also made it thicker with the case and it didnt look as good. It forced me to ask if it was worth paying for so much style and covering it all up. This has REALLY convinced me to consider a BEAST machine.


If anyone has other suggestions you are more than welcome to add ANY input here for me. Remember that style has a lot to do with it. I love the Alienware Logo, backpack, the glass screen, the style of the lid and the alien logo of course. I also like the personalized laser etched plate which i'll engrave my Grand marshal WOW toons name in (LOLOLOL Nerd alert haha) :pt1cable: . Looks are huge for me. I'll also be using this machine to tune my 600 hp Corvette so I'd like to be crusing around with a Phat apple logo glowing on the pass seat or a nice Alienware Head . I'm unaware of any other aesthetically pleasing machines...

I'm all ears !!!!!!!!! Give me something to read while Im at work on my (HUGE SIGH) Iphone 4 tomorrow..... Spill your thoughts please !! :bounce:
 

5abivt

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Here is an Alienware spec I copied... off to sleep.... thoughts?

Software & Services
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
VIDEO CARD CrossfireX™ 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870 edit
LCD PANEL 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p) edit
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB DDR3) edit
HARD DRIVE 128GB Solid State Drive edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW) edit
Dell Recommends
Watch High Definition with an internal Blu-Ray player
Upgrade to Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) [Add $150.00 or $4.00/month1]


WIRELESS CARDS Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card edit
Personalize
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1 Year Basic Service Plan, DMLP edit
 

5abivt

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That's a nice laptop. I don't like the screen surround it doesn't look like a 1 piece glass like the 2 that I like. My last laptop was an hp HDX 20" before the Mac. It was so plasticky and cheap. It creaked and groaned so much just like most other pc laptops I've had before it. After having a Mac I just have to have something with good build quality and design. The alienware seems solid but obviously overpriced. I reconsidered an Asus g73 rog or whatever model it was and again I just get turned off by the screen surround.

At this point I'm leaning towards another MacBook again. I think I may just run bootcamp and install xp and play counter strike. The 330m is suppose to be slightly faster than the 9600mgt so I think It's an improvement at least. I'm not sure a 2.8 i7 is much better than a 3.06 core 2 duo when not multitasking but it's an improvement as well. Just can't complain about an up to 9 hr battery life I guess...

I may be trying to see a local person with a g73 so i can feel it in person and then decide
 

raza715

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the one i mentioned have gtx460 in sli and have much better performance, to be honest if you are not business professional then macbook is a waste of budget because you can get a beast with 2x faster performance in same budget. However if you are not a gamer and only want much more battery standby then go with macbook pro, as in battery standby nothing can beat it
 

5abivt

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I ended up going with the AW with the listed specs :)


On one hand Im excited but on the other Im scared since all I see on the AW forums is '1 video card working faster than 2, 4 repacement m17xs in 2 months still not fixed, bios problems, blah blah blah...

Seems like when I get the AW ill have to sit and spend hours looking for all the drivers and stuff. With the mac it was turn on and go... Been debating on getting a refund and going with a mac lol...