XPS M1710 vs. Alienware M5750

[VikkiJJ]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and needed some advice. I'm in the market for a new laptop, currently have an Inspiron thats a couple years old and just not robust enough for stuff anymore. I do web design, 3D rendering and (of course) high end gaming. Kind of tired of having to get a new laptop every couple of years so I've just resigned myself to spending a good chunk of change to get something in the nosebleed area.

The two systems I like and am comparing are the Dell XPS M1710, which has Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.16), 17" UXGA screen, 1g DDR2 (667mhz), 512 Nvidia GeForce Go 7950 GTX graphics, 80g 7200rpm SATA hdd, 8x cd/dvd dual layer burner, wireless access and the usual office apps. The second system is the Alienware m5750. The only difference from the above specs is that is has a 256 ATi Radeon graphics card and a 100g hdd...yet its cheaper by about $800.

Now....what I was wondering, obviously, was which was the better system. I've only ever had Nvidia graphics so I don't know if the Ati card is better or not. Even though it has a lower memory, it may have a faster front end, I have no idea.

If someone could give their honest opinion, I would really appreciate the input before I drop a good 3 grand.

Thanks!

 

[TheStu]

Either one that you choose I would get more than just 1 GB of RAM in there. If you upgrade to Vista you will need more, if you game you will need more. Get the 2GB.

What exactly is the ATI card? It makes a world of difference if it is something like a 256 MB x800 Mobile, or a 256MB x1900 Mobile...

The hard drive issue is entirely up to you. I have a 100 GB, am was low on space until I finally moved my music library off onto a portable external that I have. I also dual-boot however, and that chews up about 15GB. So, i can have space, but a lot of my stuff resides off of my laptop.

I have an alienware, and am not terribly impressed with their build-quality. I have had Dells. I have used Dells. I have never had any problems (that can be associated with Dell) with them. I would certainly hope that for the XPS line that they would pull out all the stops quality wise. But YMMV.

 

[gorbs]

i have heard some people have had bad experience with Alienware and Dell. but as Dell owns Alienware now maybe that has changed, support wise. i know that the build time is longer for Alienware than Dell and you have to decide if its going to be a more work or play laptop.

if your going nose bleed then at least the 2 gigs of memory and the fastest processor you can afford. i think Alien uses quality components but its more of a bragging rights thing to have one. have you looked at Falcon Northwest?

 

[IlllI]

i'd say the XPS because i think sometimes you can get coupons and such, which would help lower the price a bit.

 

[ShellGuy]

XPS very rarely has coupons, i would say look at falcon NW or even the dell Insperon series as they have alot of coupons..



Will G.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: clandren
i'd say the XPS because i think sometimes you can get coupons and such, which would help lower the price a bit.

inspirons get coupons (and the last one was mid december iirc)

Originally posted by: ShellGuy
XPS very rarely has coupons, i would say look at falcon NW or even the dell Insperon series as they have alot of coupons..

what's bleeding edge about an inspiron?


OP, how much are both those configurations? i would drop down to the T7200 CPU and get 2gb ram

how much is the 100GB 7200rpm upgrade? it might be cheaper if you buy it off newegg or something