Alienware or RockDirect?

Elem

I'm currently on the market for a high performance laptop. I was looking at both Alienware and RockDirect. The same spec laptop is in and around the same price, but for stability and quality which of the two is better? Warranties ect?

Voodu Child

Alienware make three laptops at the moment:
The M17x is overpriced, I havent heard anything bad about the build quality but the price is ridiculous.

The M15x has had some well-publicised problems. First the GPU seems to produce more heat than the cooling solution can handle, so there were a lot of problems with overheating/downclocking. It was fixed with a BIOS update, but basically the laptop is running right on the edge. And also, there were a lot of general build issues, hinges cracking, parts expanding/cracking etc.

The M17 is pretty new, I havent heard any major complaints yet. It seems pretty good.

Rockdirect sell laptops made by Clevo (big Chinese company), google should turn up reviews etc. The same machines are sold by a whole rake of re-sellers in the UK and Europe, so search around for prices.

Elem

So, I should go with Alienware?

patpark121

Currently looking at that myself.
I'm going with Alienware once i decide on final spec. Agree they are WAY overpriced, but then again it won't be just used on excel & powerpoint. And at least if there's anything wrong with it, (hopefully not based on reviews of 2 people whom i know got the M17 for christmas)it only has to back to Athlone.

Voodu Child

Elem wrote: »

So, I should go with Alienware?

I can't tell you what to get, I dont know your budget etc, but the M17 looks pretty good. Its €1200 for the base model (1xAti HD3870) which isn't bad, though you might want to upgrade to Crossfire and 1920x1200. I would definitely go for the 64-bit OS.

Note that Alienware fix their prices in sterling rather than euro, so the exchange rate is in your favour at the moment.

If you're spending that kind of money, I'd also look at the Dell M1730, ive seen a tonne of refurbs at good prices on ebay.

Elem

voodoo_child wrote: »

I can't tell you what to get, I dont know your budget etc, but the M17 looks pretty good. Its €1200 for the base model (1xAti HD3870) which isn't bad, though you might want to upgrade to Crossfire and 1920x1200. I would definitely go for the 64-bit OS.

Note that Alienware fix their prices in sterling rather than euro, so the exchange rate is in your favour at the moment.

If you're spending that kind of money, I'd also look at the Dell M1730, ive seen a tonne of refurbs at good prices on ebay.

I'm looking at a budget of around €3000. Does vista 64bit not have alot of problems running certain programs?

TheLoc

Elem wrote: »

I'm looking at a budget of around €3000. Does vista 64bit not have alot of problems running certain programs?

Go for Mac if your going to spend that much.

Elem

TheLoc wrote: »

Go for Mac if your going to spend that much.

I'm going to use the laptop for games as well as work, that's why im looking at high preformance laptops. Do macs run games?

Voodu Child

Elem wrote: »

Does vista 64bit not have alot of problems running certain programs?

No, not any more.

Your GPU(s) will eat into the max addressable ram (4Gb in a 32-bit system). Not a big deal on low-end systems, but when you've got 2x 512mb cards, you can kiss goodbye to at least a gig of ram (out of the max limit).

It just starts to make sense to look at a 64-bit OS, especially for a high-end user where you might start to think about needing more than 4Gb in the future.

Do macs run games?

There's no mac laptops available with high-end (8-series or equivalent) GPUs.

Elem

voodoo_child wrote: »

No, not any more.

Your GPU(s) will eat into the max addressable ram (4Gb in a 32-bit system). Not a big deal on low-end systems, but when you've got 2x 512mb cards, you can kiss goodbye to at least a gig of ram (out of the max limit).

It just starts to make sense to look at a 64-bit OS, especially for a high-end user where you might start to think about needing more than 4Gb in the future.

Alienware do a max of 4gig of ram, how would i know if they can be upgraded at a later point?

Voodu Child

Elem wrote: »

Alienware do a max of 4gig of ram, how would i know if they can be upgraded at a later point?

The M17 is based on the pretty much the latest Intel chipset, DDR3 ram 1066Mhz FSB. Id be extremely surprised if it didn't support at least 8Gb.

I have seen the exact same machine (OCZ Whitebook) offered with 8Gb ram.

Even my Santa-Rosa laptop supports 8Gb ram, despite the 'max ram' on the tech spec being 4Gb.

I would imagine they don't offer it currently because 8Gb of DDR3 ram is prohibitively expensive at the present time. Though you should research it thoroughly yourself if its an issue, try some dedicated forums for a start (forum.notebookreview.com have an alienware section)

The 64-bit OS doesnt cost any extra, so it just seems to me like a good move in terms of future-proofing.

TheLoc

Elem wrote: »

I'm going to use the laptop for games as well as work, that's why im looking at high preformance laptops. Do macs run games?

Oh right. No i don't think so. well they do but not amazing graphics. XPS are good for games I think. I don't know too much about it though.