Is this a good deal? Can I do better?

Selik

It's an Alien laptop that I've configured on their site that I'm considering buying..... The total is 2391euro which is I think is pretty good for the specs I'm getting. The main purpose of the laptop will be for music (gigs etc) so I need alot of RAM, processing power and a very good soundcard. Here are the specs:

1] Area-51® m5500

Display: Alienware® m5500 15.4" WideXGA 1280 x 800 LCD - Xeno Grey
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition UK with SP2 - English
Warranty: Aliencare Free Phone 1-Year 24/7 Warranty
Processor: Intel® Pentium® M 780 2.26GHz 2MB L2 Cache 533MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 PC-4200 533MHz - 2x1024MB
Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA GeForce™ Go MXM 6600
System Drive: 100GB 7200 RPM ATA100
CD/DVD/RW: DVD-Burner: 8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24x CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA
Keypad: Mobile Keypad - English
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Wireless Network Card: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 network connection
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - £50 Value - FREE!
Free T-Shirt: Alienware® T-Shirt - White - XL
Free Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
Free Alienware Mousepad : Free Custom Alienware® fUnc Mousepad (a £10 value)

kc66

I wouldn't pay that. Even if it is making you money.

Selik

kc66 wrote:

I wouldn't pay that for what you're getting. Even if it is making you money.

Ok well where can I get a better deal? Bear in mind although I'm no clueless on this sort of thing I'm no expert either. I've done a bit of research and have also been looking at laptops from Dell, Acer and Mobius. This one just seems like the best one for my needs (although pricey). It's not necessarily going to make me money as what I'll be doing is more for fun and that fact that I love it, if I make anything ever it's a nice bonus.

If you know of any good sites/shops in Dublin where I can get similar spec please do tell!

kc66

Well maybe its not too bad... I just configured a similar spec on dell and it was only a bit cheaper. Do you really need that much Ram? If you toned it down a small bit on dell it would be a lot cheaper.
I haven't bought laptops from these but they are good value for a lot of stuff:
http://www.jaguarcompsys.ie/

Selik

Yeah I kinda do need that much ram as I've be running various music software that's very ram hungry and I don't want to leave anything to chance ya know? I want the laptop to last for up to 5yrs as well and in 5yrs I'm sure 4gb ram or even 8gb will be available (commercially) in laptops. I can knock a 1000euro off if I halve the ram and downgrade the processor but that kinda defeats the purpose...

Thanks for the link I'll check it out.

Selik

Hmmm, configured this off the annoying Dell website. It's so random with the amount of so-called deals they have on. You've no idea of the price of anything until you've gone through all the screens and gotten rid of the crap they select for you(ie the warranty for 300)

Base Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2.0 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB) edit
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows®XP Media Center Edition 2005 edit
Operating System Backup & Recovery PC Restore recovery system by Symantec edit
Dell System Media Kit No Resource CD edit
Cover It with Dell Support Services 1-Year Collect and Return service edit
Dell Media Experience No Dell Media Experience edit
Memory 2048MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024) edit
Hard Drive 80GB (7.200rpm) Hard Drive edit
LCD 14.1 inch WXGA (1280x800) LCD Panel True Bright edit
CD/DVD Drives 8X DVD+/-RW with Software (No Media) edit
Floppy Drives No Floppy Drive Option edit
Primary Battery 6 Cell 53WHr Primary Battery edit
Additional Battery - Ships Separately None edit
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 7.0

kc66

How much?

Selik

Around 1700-1800euro I think. Pretty good deal. I tryed to configure one of their m90 laptop brands and it came out at nearly twice that price which was a total rip off. RAM was only 1 gb on that one too. It's so hit and miss with dell, I wish they just had a bare bones base model that you could configure from scratch. That would probably be too simple and efficient for them though. I'm sure they snare loadsa people with dodgy deals (as in you just need top play around with the configurations on various offers to find the best deal).

I also wish they would offer options for internal soundcards as the standard ones they provide in notebooks are usually piss. Not too big of an issue though as I've already got a 24bit 5.1 external usb one anyway but it's always nice to have one built in.

wingnut

If you are going to be running power hungry music programs etc, I would look at the core duo processors. That and the fact they are the minimum requirement for windows vista, so anything without them will be out of date in the next two years.

A core duo is like two processors so will work well as your tasks are intensive and 'mission critical'. Don't go for the entry level (1.66) get the 1.84 or better. Have a look at the Dell outlet store. The Acer travelmate 8204WLMi Core Duo notebook is worth a look. I picked up a decent spec Dell with a 1.83 duo and a 256mb go 7800 from the outlet store (linked off main website) for 1471 with a three year warranty and backpack.

I think the 8204 with a decent PCExpress sound card would be the donkey's

Acer 8204 c. €2350:
# Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology
# Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2.0GHz)
# Intel® 945PM Express chipset
# 15.4" WSXGA+ Widescreen TFT LCD Display
# 120GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
# 2GB DDR II RAM
# DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
# Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection
# 56Kbps Modem
# Gigabit Ethernet & Bluetooth®
# 5-in-1 card reader
# ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1600 512 MB HyperMemory™ (256 MB of dedicated; 256 MB of shared system memory)
# Acer OrbiCam Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Camera
# Acer Bluetooth® VoIP phone
# 9-cell Li-ion battery
# Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

Selik

Thanks wingnut I'll check that out. What site did you configure those specs for the Acer? Is Windows Vista gonna be a replacement for XP then?

popinfresh

You could always buy a laptop with **** all ram. Then buy some off the net. What was it, Dell charge like 150 extra for a 512 instead of a 256. but u could buy 512 laptop ram for less than 100. I think so at least. Maybe Dell have very uncompatable mother-boards

jimmycrackcorm

What power hungry music programs will you be running? After all most of the processing is offloaded to the sound card (get a specialist laptop card - for that).

Core duo would be a good bet seing as it will allow you to run your music software smoothly while other softyware is running.

Selik

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

What power hungry music programs will you be running? After all most of the processing is offloaded to the sound card (get a specialist laptop card - for that).

Core duo would be a good bet seing as it will allow you to run your music software smoothly while other softyware is running.

I don't know yet but initially a program called virtual dj which is similar to Traktor (google of you like). Followed by Ableton Live and then maybe some music production software like Reason & Cubase. I'm keeping my desktop for the time being but I could sell it in a year or two so it may well turn out to be a replacement for that!

penexpers

No way do you need 2GB of ram to run Virtual DJ/Ableton live/Reason/Cubase. I think Ableton Live/Reason/Cubase will happily run on a 1GB, Virtual DJ on even less (I had it running on my 6 year old PC with 192MB of RAM). A speciallist soundcard is needed too. Get rid of the Audigy and get something from the likes of M-Audio.

Selik

penexpers wrote:

No way do you need 2GB of ram to run Virtual DJ/Ableton live/Reason/Cubase. I think Ableton Live/Reason/Cubase will happily run on a 1GB, Virtual DJ on even less (I had it running on my 6 year old PC with 192MB of RAM). A speciallist soundcard is needed too. Get rid of the Audigy and get something from the likes of M-Audio.

I hear you, and I know that but I'd like to be on the safe side considering I'm probably going to hang onto the laptop for 4yrs+. I can't afford any ram or processor issues if and when I get any gigs although I plan to use cd decks as well when I can afford them (hurry up SSIA!)

B00MSTICK

1 gb of RAM is abt 80 euro IIRC, that alienware is a terrible price.

Shiny

wingnut wrote:

The Acer travelmate 8204WLMi Core Duo notebook is worth a look. I picked up a decent spec Dell with a 1.83 duo and a 256mb go 7800 from the outlet store (linked off main website) for 1471 with a three year warranty and backpack.

I think the 8204 with a decent PCExpress sound card would be the donkey's

Acer 8204 c. €2350:
# Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology
# Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2.0GHz)
# Intel® 945PM Express chipset
# 15.4" WSXGA+ Widescreen TFT LCD Display
# 120GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
# 2GB DDR II RAM
# DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
# Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection
# 56Kbps Modem
# Gigabit Ethernet & Bluetooth®
# 5-in-1 card reader
# ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1600 512 MB HyperMemory™ (256 MB of dedicated; 256 MB of shared system memory)
# Acer OrbiCam Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Camera
# Acer Bluetooth® VoIP phone
# 9-cell Li-ion battery
# Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

I completely agree with this laptop choice.

I would sell my Ferrari 4000 in a heartbeat to get my
hands on this.

Winning Hand

The newly updated dell xps m170 with dual core/7800 is far better value. Will be ordering one myself in the next few weeks

Shiny

Just checked the dell website.

The xps m170 actually is pretty
good value alright.

It will be interesting to see the
Turion X2's in action.

I want.

plonk

Get the new dell xps its a very good laptop

Bob the Builder

I suggest Dell...A cheap, yet reliable make
HP: expensive, branded name but top quality goods

as for 2.26GHz....This lets you down and is not designed for productive work

Forget cheap and crap t-shirts, desktop enhancements (download.com does better) Alienware Mousepad (You buy pro laptop, u buy pro equipment)

My hint is 4.00GHz (plenty)
80GB max storage
Wireless internet b/g
Essential nVidia Graphics card

€2391 is a lot of money, be honest with yourself! Can you get anything better but cheaper? Are you willing to be fully responsible?

I am 13 and my parents bought me a laptop when I was 12 because I wanted one, but then decided to buy me an expensive one because it was the best in the shop but the fact was I got what I paid for and the computer did exactly as it said on the tin (€2200).
I got 5.5GHz of RAM with mine (2.25GHz x 2) and I have yet to see my computer crash, or freeze

Selik

Thanks, I'm deffo not gonna bother with the Alienware laptop now. Come to think of it, the logo looks a bit naff as well...

I think it's a toss up between a Dell and one of the Acer lappies, some of them look sh!thot and they don't seem to be too ridiculously priced.

Selik

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_TravelMate_4672WLMi_Intel_Core_Duo_LX.TAJ06.0/version-1.asp

Well, looks like this is the lappie I'm finally gonna go for after all, if anyone has any reason to advise me different or knows where I can get a better price let me know pronto as I'll be ordering in about an hour from now!

zonda

sony vaio laptops seem to be more reasonable now also :
some of their new range of centrino duos can be viewed at :
http://shop.sonystyle-europe.com/SonyStyle/b2c/deeplink.do?countryId=IE&s=external&ss=notebooks&langId=EN&campaignId=LEC-LP05NAVIE

happy_acid_face

The new Dell XPS m1710 is one of the best laptops available at the moment. You can configure it to a much better spec than the alienware one you first quoted for a hundred or so less (buy the way, Dell bought over alienware a few months back) .

Don't be off turned by the fact that it is marketed as a gaming laptop. Games push computers to the limits so if a laptop is good for games, you can be sure it will be good for music programs.

I wont go into real detail here but if your interested try reading this article by an independant laptop review site. Its very good! If you're willing to spend the money then this is the laptop for you!

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2887&review=Dell+XPS+M1710

Peter