[Solved] Can't decide...iBuyPower vs Alienware

[J.Dre]

Hey everyone, it's solved!

 

[Ken g6]

Have you considered building your own desktop? Standard parts make the system cheaper and upgrading simpler. You can get a nice, small case to make it more portable.

You have a huge budget, so if you build a desktop, you should be able to save some of it to upgrade your GPU in a couple of years - they get relatively obsolete before CPUs do.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Any reason why you want a laptop at home as a desktop replacement? The M18x is gonna cost a lot more than a standard desktop ...

For the laptop, the M14x are nice and portable, but they still have the premium pricetag ... although you do have the budget 😛

 

[lehtv]

Lunacy to even consider two laptops. If you really have that big of a budget, get a nice 2560x1440 Dell IPS, leaving about 4-5K for the systems. 2K will build a nice custom 670 SLI gaming rig for the Dell monitor, the rest spend on a laptop. Personally I can't imagine needing a gaming laptop besides a gaming PC, I'd just get a laptop with good battery life and DisplayPort to use with the Dell 2560x1440 monitor when needed. E.g. Lenovo ThinkPad T420 $1850 (14", displayport, up to 15h battery life with 9-cell battery). Replace HDD with 256GB Samsung 830, for instance.

Alternatively get a 27" 120hz monitor.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Personally I can't imagine needing a gaming laptop besides a gaming PC

Maybe he wants to game at school ... Me and a few friends do, cause we have lot's of free time in between classes (when we don't have homework of course 🙂 )

Although I do agree with your suggestion for the desktop/laptop combo

 

[Remobz]

With your type of budget then I suggest you buy iBuyPower.

You can clearly get MORE for your money with iBuyPower.

Of course, if you have lots of spare time and want a little challenge then build your own.

 

[Remobz]

Maybe he wants to game at school ... Me and a few friends do, cause we have lot's of free time in between classes (when we don't have homework of course 🙂 )

Although I do agree with your suggestion for the desktop/laptop combo

Oh yes, FREE time eh.......

Back in the 80's, we would go in a secluded area of the school and smoke some ciggs😀

Nowadays, kids can play computer games on laptops🙂

 

[J.Dre]

Thanks for the replies. But what do you guys mean by choosing neither, can you clarify? If you mean actually building my own computer from parts, I don't think I have the time to do that, nor the skill to do so. I can only replace storage drives, memory, optical drives, fans - basic stuff.

Lunacy to even consider two laptops. If you really have that big of a budget, get a nice 2560x1440 Dell IPS, leaving about 4-5K for the systems. 2K will build a nice custom 670 SLI gaming rig for the Dell monitor, the rest spend on a laptop. Personally I can't imagine needing a gaming laptop besides a gaming PC, I'd just get a laptop with good battery life and DisplayPort to use with the Dell 2560x1440 monitor when needed. E.g. Lenovo ThinkPad T420 $1850 (14", displayport, up to 15h battery life with 9-cell battery). Replace HDD with 256GB Samsung 830, for instance.

Alternatively get a 27" 120hz monitor.

You make a good point, I have also said to myself that purchasing two laptops is sort of ridiculous, but they are for different purposes. Having a laptop as a desktop replacement makes it portable. But you're correct, building a desktop is cheaper. My current laptop actually has a 256 GB SSD from Samsung, the 830 series you speak of...it's great.

Now that I think of it, I could get an even better graphics card with a desktop for the same price as an SLI laptop...hmm, not sure what I should do.

Any reason why you want a laptop at home as a desktop replacement? The M18x is gonna cost a lot more than a standard desktop ...

For the laptop, the M14x are nice and portable, but they still have the premium pricetag ... although you do have the budget 😛

Yeah, I realize that it will cost more. But I want something portable, not so permanent. Maybe a laptop/desktop combo is the best option for me, especially in the long run...

Have you considered building your own desktop? Standard parts make the system cheaper and upgrading simpler. You can get a nice, small case to make it more portable.

You have a huge budget, so if you build a desktop, you should be able to save some of it to upgrade your GPU in a couple of years - they get relatively obsolete before CPUs do.

I have considered it, yes. I've taken many hours building laptops online on Alienware.com and iBuyPower.com, and have seen that I can get very nice desktops doing so.

Maybe he wants to game at school ... Me and a few friends do, cause we have lot's of free time in between classes (when we don't have homework of course 🙂 )

Although I do agree with your suggestion for the desktop/laptop combo

Somewhat true, schools have amazing internet, ha ha. Or I want to be able to chill at a starbucks between classes. I'll consider the m14x or m17x and a desktop.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Somewhat true, schools have amazing internet, ha ha. Or I want to be able to chill at a starbucks between classes. I'll consider the m14x or m17x and a desktop.

I actually have a m17x R3 ... the performance does not disappoint although after lugging it all day around school, with 2-3 classes a day, breaks in between from 8am to 5pm, I get annoyed that it's so heavy D: but considering the amount of stuff I get in the m17x I don't regret it, but I certainly wouldn't mind if it was a bit lighter 😀

 

[J.Dre]

I actually have a m17x R3 ... the performance does not disappoint although after lugging it all day around school, with 2-3 classes a day, breaks in between from 8am to 5pm, I get annoyed that it's so heavy D: but considering the amount of stuff I get in the m17x I don't regret it, but I certainly wouldn't mind if it was a bit lighter 😀

So true...I can't imagine carrying around an extra 11 pounds (plus books) all day, ha ha. But I'm sure it's a bad ass laptop.

Have to watch out for thieves also...don't let it out of your sight!

 

[davidthemaster3]

Have to watch out for thieves also...don't let it out of your sight!

Maybe that's why it's so heavy 🙂

Also, why do you need such a powerful desktop? Very few games take advantage of 4 cores and even fewer 6 cores ...

Answer the question in this sticky if you want advice 🙂

 

[J.Dre]

Maybe that's why it's so heavy 🙂

Makes sense :sneaky:

Also, why do you need such a powerful desktop? Very few games take advantage of 4 cores and even fewer 6 cores ...

Hmm, no specific reason besides school, programming and gaming. On the other hand, I'm a firm believer in that saying, "You get what you pay for."

---

Does anyone have an M11x from Alienware? They seem perfect for portability, but they're very small. I've always had 15.6" laptops...

 

[krnmastersgt]

How on Earth do you have such a tremendous budget for this?

Anyways I'd suggest just getting a very light and portable laptop for the sake of taking notes in class and whatnot, good battery life is a good idea too if you can't routinely plug in your laptop in every class.

Then do as lehtv suggested and build a REALLY nice desktop, with everything included for around ~$3k. There is no reason to spend a huge amount on a laptop and THEN get a beefed up desktop, you'll find that gaming on a desktop is infinitely more comfortable and that the important things for your laptop (as a student at least) are durability, weight, and battery life.

 

[J.Dre]

How on Earth do you have such a tremendous budget for this?

Hmm, I've actually never worked a day in my life (for someone), which is not something to brag about... it's harder than hell to get a job these days because I have no "job" experience with retail stores and what not. I suppose you could say I'm an "entrepreneur" of sorts, ha ha.

Save, save, save...now I can spend. Plus school is basically free with decent grades.

Anyways I'd suggest just getting a very light and portable laptop for the sake of taking notes in class and whatnot, good battery life is a good idea too if you can't routinely plug in your laptop in every class.

Then do as lehtv suggested and build a REALLY nice desktop, with everything included for around ~$3k. There is no reason to spend a huge amount on a laptop and THEN get a beefed up desktop, you'll find that gaming on a desktop is infinitely more comfortable and that the important things for your laptop (as a student at least) are durability, weight, and battery life.

That's what a lot of people seem to think is the best option. Maybe I should listen 😀 ... I should probably keep my current laptop to save money also. It's still good, purchased it last summer, but it's definitely not a gaming laptop...🙁

 

[lehtv]

You already own a laptop? Is it not good for everything but gaming?

 

[J.Dre]

You already own a laptop? Is it not good for everything but gaming?

Yes, I suppose it's good enough, at least for school. I just put an SSD in it also, so that helps.

I'm getting into a lot of PC gaming, development, etc. and I want a better laptop, just not sure what to get...

 

[krnmastersgt]

Once you have a really nice desktop, you'll see that there's little need for your laptop aside from school-work related things. Unless you're big on gaming in someone else's place/small LAN parties you really have no need for a gaming laptop.

 

[soulcougher73]

Why not just buy a gaming laptop and a nice monitor to plug it into when not out and about? Seems like that would save tons of money.

 

[J.Dre]

Why not just buy a gaming laptop and a nice monitor to plug it into when not out and about? Seems like that would save tons of money.

That's exactly what I was planning on doing.

 

[ElFenix]

gaming is so much better on a desktop


frankly laptops at school are generally overrated. half the class played poker or otherwise f-ed around on the laptop during class.

 

[krnmastersgt]

gaming is so much better on a desktop


frankly laptops at school are generally overrated. half the class played poker or otherwise f-ed around on the laptop during class.

Not sure about what you think but I genuinely use my laptop for all my note-taking and whatnot. Not to mention my professors seem to use more and more online material/powerpoints and such so having a laptop handy is invaluable.

Though if they are being particularly boring, there's always flash games and facebook.

 

[soulcougher73]

That's exactly what I was planning on doing.

Oh sorry. Thought I read you were looking for laptop and gaming desktop.

 

[J.Dre]

Oh sorry. Thought I read you were looking for laptop and gaming desktop.

Yeah, I was considering that as well. The m14x and a desktop, or the m14x and an m18x, or keeping my current laptop and getting either an m18x or a desktop.

Three different scenarios, ha ha...confusing myself!

 

[krnmastersgt]

I honestly think the choice is simple:
Keep current laptop just for school usage, build a decked out desktop for some seriously nice looking gaming on a 27-30" panel at 2560x1440 or thereabouts.

 

[ElFenix]

Not sure about what you think but I genuinely use my laptop for all my note-taking and whatnot. Not to mention my professors seem to use more and more online material/powerpoints and such so having a laptop handy is invaluable.

Though if they are being particularly boring, there's always flash games and facebook.

if you've been using one responsibly then carry on then 🙂