- Nov 15, 2006
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Getting board sitting around waiting for a job call and realized how nice it would be to have a gaming laptop (sitting around doing nothing but reading for close to 2 weeks 4,000 km from the gaming PC gets tiring).
I'm basically looking for a high end desktop replacement laptop for games and some movies/music. Also hoping that there might be some upgradability, though I don't expect much (graphics card, cpu, ram is what I'm hoping for). I don't do much photo/movie editing, mostly just games.
I'm willing to spend the money because a car is not a option for me and I need something for the future in way of portable entertainment when I go out to the middle of no where in a work camp in the oil sands of Canada for anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months at a time working 7 days a week (look up camps at the Syncrude website).
The other thing I have been wondering about is if something better is due out in a few months, I don't mind waiting.
Here is what I am currently looking at (it'll be 2 months minimum before I get it):
* Dell XPS M1730 ($4,708 Canadian, warranty not included)
http://www1.ca.dell.com/conten...a&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1
(anandtech review) http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3242&p=9
PROCESSOR
Intel® Core? 2 Extreme X9000 (2.8GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
DISPLAY
17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
OPERATING SYSTEM (the Canadian site doesn't give the option for having both the USA one does)
Genuine Windows Vista? Ultimate Edition
MEMORY
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE
RAID Performance: 400GB (2x200GB) 7200RPM
GRAPHICS CARD
NVIDIA® SLI? Dual GeForce® 8800M GTX with 1GB GDDR3 Memory
WIRELESS CARD
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N
BLUETOOTH
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
SOUND OPTIONS
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
PHYSICS ACCELERATOR (no option to leave it out)
AGEIA? PhysX? Physics Accelerator
* Alienware Area-51 m17x ($5,614.00 Canadian)
http://www.alienware.com/Produ...ges/notebook_m17x.aspx
Graphics Card
Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX ? SLI Enabled
Display
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology ? Black
Processor
Intel® Core? 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz ? 2 x 2048MB
Operating System
Windows Vista® Ultimate (no option)
Hard Drive
500GB (250GB x 2) 7,200RPM (8MB Cache)
Wireless
Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card
External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
Warranty
3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
* Sager NP9262 ($4198.00 US, only left out the back pack from the price)
http://www.sagernotebook.com/p...customed.php?pid=29175
Display
17" Wide Viewing Angles WUXGA LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1200)
Processor (Desktop CPU)
Intel® Core? 2 Quad Processor Q6700 / 8MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB
Graphics Card
Dual Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Video Memory in SLI mode
Operating System
Genuine MS Windows® VISTA ULTIMATE 32/64-Bit Edition (only 2 gigs of ram offered with XP)
Memory
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 X 2048MB
Hard Drive
Two 200GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive in RAID-0
Sound Card
Built-in Intel® High Definition 5.1CH Sound System
Wireless Network Card
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
Warranty
Sager 3 Year Limited Parts & Labor Warranty w/Three-Day Shipping Both Ways Paid + 30 days No Dead Pixel Insurance
Alienware looks to cost more for less it would seem, but it has everything I want still. I'm wondering if anyone knows some reason why this would cost more, is the cooling superior? More durable? Something I missed?
I don't like the idea of buying dell for anything high end (I'll probably have to format the damn thing to get rid of all the bloat ware) but they'll get my money if they are the best.
I used to mail myself my desktop, but that is no longer a option.
If there is something better out please do tell.
Thanks for any help you guys can give me.
Tech Specs of Nivida cards (desktop and mobile)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...Units#GeForce_8_series
Tech Specs of relevant Intel CPU's (desktop and mobile)
http://www.intel.com/products/...2xe/specifications.htm
I'm basically looking for a high end desktop replacement laptop for games and some movies/music. Also hoping that there might be some upgradability, though I don't expect much (graphics card, cpu, ram is what I'm hoping for). I don't do much photo/movie editing, mostly just games.
I'm willing to spend the money because a car is not a option for me and I need something for the future in way of portable entertainment when I go out to the middle of no where in a work camp in the oil sands of Canada for anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months at a time working 7 days a week (look up camps at the Syncrude website).
The other thing I have been wondering about is if something better is due out in a few months, I don't mind waiting.
Here is what I am currently looking at (it'll be 2 months minimum before I get it):
* Dell XPS M1730 ($4,708 Canadian, warranty not included)
http://www1.ca.dell.com/conten...a&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1
(anandtech review) http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3242&p=9
PROCESSOR
Intel® Core? 2 Extreme X9000 (2.8GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
DISPLAY
17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
OPERATING SYSTEM (the Canadian site doesn't give the option for having both the USA one does)
Genuine Windows Vista? Ultimate Edition
MEMORY
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE
RAID Performance: 400GB (2x200GB) 7200RPM
GRAPHICS CARD
NVIDIA® SLI? Dual GeForce® 8800M GTX with 1GB GDDR3 Memory
WIRELESS CARD
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N
BLUETOOTH
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
SOUND OPTIONS
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
PHYSICS ACCELERATOR (no option to leave it out)
AGEIA? PhysX? Physics Accelerator
* Alienware Area-51 m17x ($5,614.00 Canadian)
http://www.alienware.com/Produ...ges/notebook_m17x.aspx
Graphics Card
Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX ? SLI Enabled
Display
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology ? Black
Processor
Intel® Core? 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz ? 2 x 2048MB
Operating System
Windows Vista® Ultimate (no option)
Hard Drive
500GB (250GB x 2) 7,200RPM (8MB Cache)
Wireless
Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card
External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
Warranty
3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
* Sager NP9262 ($4198.00 US, only left out the back pack from the price)
http://www.sagernotebook.com/p...customed.php?pid=29175
Display
17" Wide Viewing Angles WUXGA LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1200)
Processor (Desktop CPU)
Intel® Core? 2 Quad Processor Q6700 / 8MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB
Graphics Card
Dual Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Video Memory in SLI mode
Operating System
Genuine MS Windows® VISTA ULTIMATE 32/64-Bit Edition (only 2 gigs of ram offered with XP)
Memory
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 X 2048MB
Hard Drive
Two 200GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive in RAID-0
Sound Card
Built-in Intel® High Definition 5.1CH Sound System
Wireless Network Card
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
Warranty
Sager 3 Year Limited Parts & Labor Warranty w/Three-Day Shipping Both Ways Paid + 30 days No Dead Pixel Insurance
Alienware looks to cost more for less it would seem, but it has everything I want still. I'm wondering if anyone knows some reason why this would cost more, is the cooling superior? More durable? Something I missed?
I don't like the idea of buying dell for anything high end (I'll probably have to format the damn thing to get rid of all the bloat ware) but they'll get my money if they are the best.
I used to mail myself my desktop, but that is no longer a option.
If there is something better out please do tell.
Thanks for any help you guys can give me.
Tech Specs of Nivida cards (desktop and mobile)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...Units#GeForce_8_series
Tech Specs of relevant Intel CPU's (desktop and mobile)
http://www.intel.com/products/...2xe/specifications.htm