Alienware or MSI???

brady23

Purchasing a new laptop. Kinda settled on MSI or Alienware. Can afford a manufactured refurbished Alienware or a new MSI online.

Budget is 1100-1400e.

Spec is basically the same except MSI has GTX570m and more RAM compared to Alienware's 560M.
Is the difference significant???
I am kind of tempted more by Alienware(design obv).

Also does anyone have experience of purchasing a manufactured refurbished computer and also if I do purchase from the USA are people often caught to pay taxes and customs or is there a way around this???

Many thanks in advance!!!

Jaafa

What are the two models your looking at?

brady23

Jaafa wrote: »

What are the two models your looking at?

There are a couple of options from sellers but these 2 are my preferred.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-GT780DX-405US-Gaming-Notebook-nVidia-GTX-570m-I7-2670qm-CUSTOM-16gb-1333mhz-/330669493328?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item4cfd700c50

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Alienware-M17x-R3-i7-2760QM-750GB-12GB-1600MHz-1080P-1-5GB-GTX-560-Bluetoot-/170771969823?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item27c2cd771f

AlmightyCushion

brady23 wrote: »

There are a couple of options from sellers but these 2 are my preferred.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-GT780DX-405US-Gaming-Notebook-nVidia-GTX-570m-I7-2670qm-CUSTOM-16gb-1333mhz-/330669493328?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item4cfd700c50

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Alienware-M17x-R3-i7-2760QM-750GB-12GB-1600MHz-1080P-1-5GB-GTX-560-Bluetoot-/170771969823?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item27c2cd771f

Your first problem is that there is a very good chance they won't ship to Ireland. If they do ship to Ireland chances are you'll get hit for vat and customs duty. If you get hit for customs and vat expect to pay about 30% on top of the price.

Jaafa

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Your first problem is that there is a very good chance they won't ship to Ireland. If they do ship to Ireland chances are you'll get hit for vat and customs duty. If you get hit for customs and vat expect to pay about 30% on top of the price.

This is very true.

Try these guys instead http://www.computeruniverse.net/products/e90434412/msi-gt683dxr-i7810blw7h-w7hp64.asp

AlmightyCushion

Is it possible to get a gaming laptop that doesn't have an over the top garish design with lights that would make a boy racer envious?

jesus_thats_gre

This guys is really good - myself and a friend have both bought from him before:

http://stores.ebay.ie/MADLapTOP?_rdc=1

Should give you a discount for dealing in cash off of ebay and meeting in person too.

Jaafa

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Is it possible to get a gaming laptop that doesn't have an over the top garish design with lights that would make a boy racer envious?

Tis difficult, Asus would be closest maybe, even then they look very.... distinctive.

demanufactured

Dont buy the "Alienware".
Alienware doesnt exist anymore. that POS dell is not worth the money.

The MSI or ASUS gaming notebooks are much better.

cookie1977

i've an alienware m14x and i think it's great. dell may have tappered their performance but they're still great machines and yes they do light up like a christmas tree

brady23

Yeah kinda heart set on alienware, they bought ship 2 ireland i have been in contact with both sellers they both seem ok with agreeing to put a much lower purchase price on the laptop so if I do get caught the customs will be lower.

I was also speaking to the guy from madlaptop who offered a 6% discount for purchasing without ebay and collecting in person!!!!

AlmightyCushion

brady23 wrote: »

Yeah kinda heart set on alienware, they bought ship 2 ireland i have been in contact with both sellers they both seem ok with agreeing to put a much lower purchase price on the laptop so if I do get caught the customs will be lower.

That might not work. Customs could demand you show your invoice/receipt to verify the price.

pieface_ie

That might not work. Customs could demand you show your invoice/receipt to verify the price.

+1
Be careful

Happened to me when I ordered an item from Asia, it was genuinely priced at €10.99 but they held it at customs until I provided a paypal receipt.

partyatmygaff

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Your first problem is that there is a very good chance they won't ship to Ireland. If they do ship to Ireland chances are you'll get hit for vat and customs duty. If you get hit for customs and vat expect to pay about 30% on top of the price.

It'll only be 23% (On the laptop AND shipping cost). There's no duty on laptops, only VAT.

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Is it possible to get a gaming laptop that doesn't have an over the top garish design with lights that would make a boy racer envious?

The only thing that comes to mind are workstations like the Dell Precision series or HP Elitebook series. They'll be much more powerful and much better built than any gaming laptop.

Jaafa

partyatmygaff wrote: »

The only thing that comes to mind are workstations like the Dell Precision series or HP Elitebook series. They'll be much more powerful and much better built than any gaming laptop.

What kind of GPU would you find in them though? Can you get the likes of a GTX560m-590m or Ati 6990m?

partyatmygaff

Jaafa wrote: »

What kind of GPU would you find in them though? Can you get the likes of a GTX560m-590m or Ati 6990m?

Nope, you'll get the professional versions of the same card instead. For example, the Quadro 2000M instead of the GTX560M, the Firepro M8900 instead of the HD6970M. They're more or less the same cards except more stringently tested and with slightly different drivers.