Would you get an AlienWare 51m or Dell 8600?

[Descartes]

I know this is essentially comparing a desktop-replacement with something more mobile, but which would you get? They both have similar configurations aside from the processor and weight, and the price difference is negligible. I placed an order for the 8600, but I'm already dissatisfied with everything (they messed up my order already).

So which would you get, and why?

 

[Frightcrawler]

I wouldnt get either.
I would get a Sager in your shoes. Sager has better support than both of those machines and the build quality is good too. Alienware and Dell both have mediocre service, but the Alienware is manufactured by the same company as Sager (Clevo). This means their build quality is somewhat the same. But you pay more for alienware because of the paint job.
(It may not look like a difference at first, but configure a similar Sager laptop with the specs the alienware has and you will notice it).

Judging by your post, you seem willing to swap weight interchangably (Alienware weighs more), so a Sager is perfect for you.

Sager's HQ

 

[Abhi]

I own the 8500 (8600 with a P4m). Its a decent machine. Mine is about 5 months old and its been close to perfect so far.

Which config have you opted for ... and for how much $$$?

I too have heard good things about sagers btw.

 

[KevinH]

Hmm,

Well, let me ask you something...how important to you is performance? Likewise how important is portability (battery life, etc.)? I'm asking this because the former offers performance while the latter offers portability. THat said, I own an 8600. I had to work to get the PERFECT screen as it was delivered with a subpar panel. I say that with a disclaimer though because as far as LCD's go, short of MVA's, Crystal Views and Sonys (which, yes I have had the pleasure of owning), Dell lcd's are the among the BEST in a laptop...period. I got the 8600 as it was a good balance of performance and battery life. Once again, let me repeat that I had to get mine to where I was 100% happy with it so there are definitely some issues quality-wise that you may want to address.

If I were looking at a laptop NOW though, I'd got for the Hypersonic CX6 or any of its iterations. This badboy is a centrino+ATI 9700 at less than 2 grand. It's kind of a no brainer. Check out this site here: Talk Notebook. It's run by PCTorque which is a Sager reseller but they are really awesome and the community really knows there stuff.

 

[ForceCalibur]

Neither.

One feels like sh*t and looks cheap.
The other performs like sh*t and looks immature/pathetic.
One is heavily overpriced.
The other has some of the worst tech support ever.

Both are priced higher than some very competitive resellers.

I would go with Sager, Powernotebooks, Chembook, eMachines, Cyberpower, etc anyday.

 

[Descartes]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I really like the Sager 5690 as well, but I'm a little concerned about weight, the fans being on the bottom, etc.

I REALLY like the Hypersonic CX6, but the 1200x800 resolution just won't work for me. This would be my choice is the res of the screen was higher.

Now I'm not sure what to buy!

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Abhi
I own the 8500 (8600 with a P4m). Its a decent machine. Mine is about 5 months old and its been close to perfect so far.

Which config have you opted for ... and for how much $$$?

I too have heard good things about sagers btw.

I opted for the 1.7GHz SXGA+, 512MB 2 DIMMS, 60GB 7200k drive, and the 128MB 9600 Turbo. I left everything else default. It came out to about $2k.

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
Neither.

The other performs like sh*t .

On what basis are you saying that...

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: Abhi
I own the 8500 (8600 with a P4m). Its a decent machine. Mine is about 5 months old and its been close to perfect so far.

Which config have you opted for ... and for how much $$$?

I too have heard good things about sagers btw.

I opted for the 1.7GHz SXGA+, 512MB 2 DIMMS, 60GB 7200k drive, and the 128MB 9600 Turbo. I left everything else default. It came out to about $2k.

Sweet config bro...

IMO let the machine arrive. See how you like it. If u dont... return it within 30 days. Simple.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Abhi

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: Abhi
I own the 8500 (8600 with a P4m). Its a decent machine. Mine is about 5 months old and its been close to perfect so far.

Which config have you opted for ... and for how much $$$?

I too have heard good things about sagers btw.

I opted for the 1.7GHz SXGA+, 512MB 2 DIMMS, 60GB 7200k drive, and the 128MB 9600 Turbo. I left everything else default. It came out to about $2k.

Sweet config bro...

IMO let the machine arrive. See how you like it. If u dont... return it within 30 days. Simple.

Thanks. I was quickly falling into a state of analysis paralysis (i.e. doubting my purchase decision), so that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Abhi]

lil advice... trust me on this.

as soon as the get the machine... update the bios... format the hdd.. reinstall windows and install the latest drivers....

only then will you get a feel of your machines potential...

 

[KevinH]

Here you go bud.

PowerNotebooks PowerPro


This has just about everything you're looking for. ATI 9700. Centrino. SXGA screen . Low Price.

For what it's worth, this rig is the same as the Voodoo M360. The ODM as reported at talknotebooks is the Compal CL56. That said, you'll save $1300 going with Cybernotebooks. To be honest, this is DEFINITELY the book I'd get if I had to do it all over again.

If you decide on the 8600, just a little warning. I "heard" that the return policy has been shortened to 21 days. In addition, the day starts ticking per the date on the invoice which is generallly a few days earlier before you have the book in hand.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Abhi
lil advice... trust me on this.

as soon as the get the machine... update the bios... format the hdd.. reinstall windows and install the latest drivers....

only then will you get a feel of your machines potential...

I'm scrapping XP Home and all the other nonsense they put on it, and I'll install XP Pro with all the newest drivers. I hadn't planned to update the bios, but based on your suggestion I will do so. Thanks!

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: KevinH
Here you go bud.

PowerNotebooks PowerPro


This has just about everything you're looking for. ATI 9700. Centrino. SXGA screen . Low Price.

For what it's worth, this rig is the same as the Voodoo M360. The ODM as reported at talknotebooks is the Compal CL56. That said, you'll save $1300 going with Cybernotebooks. To be honest, this is DEFINITELY the book I'd get if I had to do it all over again.

If you decide on the 8600, just a little warning. I "heard" that the return policy has been shortened to 21 days. In addition, the day starts ticking per the date on the invoice which is generallly a few days earlier before you have the book in hand.

Good machine definately...

The 9700 rocks. However, a rig configured close to his dell, 1.7ghz, 60 gb (5400 rpm), 512 mb ram, 9700 (drool) = 1834$ with CC.

Quote from dell site: You may return your new system up to 21 days from the date of invoice.

 

[dsaewra]

Of your choices, the dell.

However, if I was looking for a desktop replacement, I'd go with one of the emachines a64 laptops.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: KevinH
Here you go bud.

PowerNotebooks PowerPro


This has just about everything you're looking for. ATI 9700. Centrino. SXGA screen . Low Price.

For what it's worth, this rig is the same as the Voodoo M360. The ODM as reported at talknotebooks is the Compal CL56. That said, you'll save $1300 going with Cybernotebooks. To be honest, this is DEFINITELY the book I'd get if I had to do it all over again.

If you decide on the 8600, just a little warning. I "heard" that the return policy has been shortened to 21 days. In addition, the day starts ticking per the date on the invoice which is generallly a few days earlier before you have the book in hand.

More options!

I'm actually really tempted to get the Sager 5690, because the specs on the V model are just insane for the price. I'll give all of these options some more thought.

 

[ForceCalibur]

The underperformer, I was refering to ALienware. Take a look at some benchmarks and reviews, I believe theres one on Anandtech. For the price, your not getting the performance period.

As for the Dell, I was refering to its lackluster body (cheap plastickiness, not an issue for some people), as well as its outsourced INdia tech support. Suck. Performance is up there though, with the obvious lack of the latest GPU on its 8600, which is why Iwould NOT consider a Dell in this case.

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: KevinH
Here you go bud.

PowerNotebooks PowerPro


This has just about everything you're looking for. ATI 9700. Centrino. SXGA screen . Low Price.

For what it's worth, this rig is the same as the Voodoo M360. The ODM as reported at talknotebooks is the Compal CL56. That said, you'll save $1300 going with Cybernotebooks. To be honest, this is DEFINITELY the book I'd get if I had to do it all over again.

If you decide on the 8600, just a little warning. I "heard" that the return policy has been shortened to 21 days. In addition, the day starts ticking per the date on the invoice which is generallly a few days earlier before you have the book in hand.

More options!



I'm actually really tempted to get the Sager 5690, because the specs on the V model are just insane for the price. I'll give all of these options some more thought.

Absolutely . If you actually spec out the 5690 vs the PowerPro the prices are ~ similar. Bear in mind that the battery life of the 5680 series is from 1-1.5 hours vs the 3.5-4+ hours you'll be getting with the Centrino.

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
The underperformer, I was refering to ALienware. Take a look at some benchmarks and reviews, I believe theres one on Anandtech. For the price, your not getting the performance period.

As for the Dell, I was refering to its lackluster body (cheap plastickiness, not an issue for some people), as well as its outsourced INdia tech support. Suck. Performance is up there though, with the obvious lack of the latest GPU on its 8600, which is why Iwould NOT consider a Dell in this case.

Agree with you of the looks of the dell ...

BLue and silver... yech....

I think i ll try and paint the blue parts of my 8500 soon..

 

[jcwagers]

It seems that Dell is having 10% off on their laptops. I configured a 9100 with 3ghz P4, 512mb ram, 128mb Radeon 9700, 60gb 7200rpm hd, and with free shipping and the 10% off, it comes to 1850.12 with tax. I don't think that's a bad deal. That's the cheapest that I've seen so far.

jc

*edit* That configuration I did was with a 1 year warranty. If you remove the completecare, it comes down to $1742.95 which is a NICE price for this thing.

jc

 

[Frightcrawler]

The good thing about dells is that you can make yourself happy (cheaper machine up front) by buying only one year of warranty. Then, dell notifies you when the warranty is almost over. At least they did for my old 1.33 ghz williamette desktop .

(still running btw, surprisingly. I have never reformated it yet either!)
Strange how some things just work out fine.

 

[jcwagers]

There also seems to be an additional 5% off coupon that expires 4/9/04. That brought the price down to 1646.13 shipped. I'm QUITE tempted.....honestly.

jc

 

[Abhi]

Sweet deal jc...

 

[Abhi]

Taken from rasputinj.com

Inspiron 9100 Notebook deal @ Dell Home

Get the Inspiron 9100 Notebook loaded with

Intel Pentium 4 2.8ghz, 512MB DDR RAM. 60GB HD, DVD+R/+RW burner drive, XP Home, 64MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY? RADEON? 9700 AGP 8X Graphics , 1 year warranty, 15.4 inch display

on sale for

$1799 -15% off coupon code -$250 mail in rebate = $1279.15 w/ free shipping and no tax in most states

 

[jcwagers]

I think so too. I'm not sure whether to jump on it or not. I would like to.....that's for sure.

jc