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I'm trying to price out a 17" gaming laptop and not having a ton of luck. I decided to check Alienware for a giggle, fully expecting their prices to be ridiculous.

[1] Area-51® m9750

Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB Nvidia® GeForce™ 8700M GT
Chassis: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology - Stealth Black
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 24x DVD-ROM/CD-RW Burner
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Sound Card : High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Mouse: Razer Copperhead™ High Precision Gaming Mouse - Chaos Green Edition

Has anyone else ever gotten an Alienware? Am I better served to try elsewhere for a gaming laptop? They have free shipping to Canada right now, and like I said, the price is expensive, but also isn't crazy. I priced out a new PC that came in around the same price.

Well what's the price?  :grin:

Just over $2,500 including shipping and GST... 

/duck

Seems reasonable, assuming you're cool with losing the speed of a desktop for the same price. No idea how that gpu runs, but 1900x1200 is a honkin' lot of pixels to be pushing.

A MacBook Pro would run you about the same, with less mem but better optical drive (DVD burner):

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1680 x 1050 pixels
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB SDRAM

I'm going laptop because work will contribute a large chunk of the cost with it being considered my 'oncall' laptop as well. My PC is pretty old, it runs basic apps and does web browsing pretty good, which is all the wife wants it for, but it can't play anything remotely new gaming wise and runs WoW at pretty low graphical settings.

Plus, the wife is more content with me gaming when we can be in the same room. One of her quirks where it doesn't seem so bad when I don't go shut myself in the basement, or computer room.

I understand that. Right now she'll sometimes read while I game, but I can't focus and get in the zone while she's around, I'd rather spend the time talking to her. I thought that'd wear off after a couple years, but I was happily wrong :)

A 10 lb laptop is not what I would consider an "oncall" laptop unless you happen to be a bodybuilder in your spare time.

The 8800M was just released so you might want to wait for laptops with those GPUs to be available.

Here's an incomplete list of laptops with dedicated NVIDIA GPUs:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/wtb_notebooks.html

You can get a much better PC for US$2500 than that Alienware. Both the GPU and the CPU are gimped on that laptop compared to desktop parts.

Yeah, I realize I can build a much better desktop for the same price, but I'm not looking for a desktop, I'm looking for a laptop. I'm not too worried about the weight since I'll basically carry it from the house to the car, and back again. I'm not going to be lugging it around everywhere I go. Mostly, it was an excuse to get a gaming laptop and have work pick up a large part of the tab. The reason it even came up with my boss heard me saying I wanted a gaming laptop and said that if I were to put our VPN client on it as well, they'd pay for a portion of it. It's their way of getting around telling people there's no Xmas bonuses this year, but still getting something for a few of the employees.

I recently configured an Asus G2S, and I thought it was very swank.  Here's a listing  (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260032+50001315+103980226+4085+1039323203+1039815467&name=17.1%22) from New Egg. The vid card isn't quite as uber, but then again, its also $700 cheaper.

Don't overlook Dell's Inspiron line, which is a good way to get a powerful 17" notebook of near-XPS performance for FAR cheaper.

I'm currently still gaming on my 3-year-old Inspiron 9300, but have hit the point that it's time to upgrade if I'm going to continue with PC gaming on the go.  For around $1300 you can get a pretty damn nice Inspiron 1720 (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNDWMA2&s=dhs)* with a Core 2 Duo (2Ghz) CPU, 2 GB RAM, DVD-RW, and 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT.  I've almost pulled the trigger a few times recently, but since the GeForce 8800 has been released, I'm thinking about holding out a little longer till they're an option with the Inspirons.

Oh yeah, and be sure to check out the Dell Outlet (http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&lob=INSP&s=dfh) as you can often find the above mentioned machine for around the $1000 mark.


* (Use code ZDWPS9CZT37LLB to save $300 off any $1,199.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook. [valid 11/20/2007 12:00:00 AM - 11/29/2007 11:59:59 PM])

In addition to my desktop, I'm using an XPS laptop and it doest so very much smoke. I'm continually surprised by what settings in what games it can handle. It's not as buff with the hardware as your setup is, but didn't cost $2,500 brand new either :-) Good to get the laptop too for the wife faction. Sometimes I wish I did that, except my desktop was much cheaper and I expect to tinker with it numerous times over the next five years.

That's basically what I did with my prior box, which was in fact an Alienware (Aurora, not uber for its day but I was only into MMOs back then so didn't need more). I always liked their setups but I bought it just before they were bought by Dell.

My former laptop was an Inspiron from 2000, weighed in at 12lbs. I used to tote it to the two jobs I was working at the time. It was heavy, but no big deal (then again my previous job was unloading trucks...). I loved that thing for anything that didn't involve 3d, because it was the generation before decent 3d chipsets in laptops.

You couldn't even really play EQ with it. Oddly, it kicked ass at Unreal, we used to use it for an extra client at LAN parties.

Anyway...I wouldn't worry too much about weight unless you're a total pansy.  :hello_thar:

Hmm... Priced out an Inspiron and it definitely is coming in cheaper. Think I may go that route. Unfortunately, that code must be US only or something, because it doesn't apply to my Inspiron puirchase for some reason. Too bad, they already have a $340 online savings, taking another $300 off would have sealed the deal for sure.

Thanks for the input.

If they're currently doing an instant savings of $340, then that would cancel out the $300 promotional code.  They don't double-up on the discounts.  Be nice if they did, though.

Had an Alienware and it was a bag of ass.  I think someone mentioned Alienware was bought by someone else (Dell?) so they might not suck so bad anymore, but I'm not going to take the chance while there are other options.  By comparison, the XPS replacement (about a year old now) is much quieter and cooler.  The only complaint about the XPS is that the power cord doesn't stay in the socket very well.

Yeah, Dell bought Alienware. I tried pricing out a comparable XPS and it came in at quite a bit more money.

Just buy an inspiron and trick it out.  On the other hand the last 3 Dell laptops I have purchased had issues with XP.  the Vista one I most recently purchased seems fine though.