Alienware laptop
By
Chad Gulzow-Man,
Posted on: 2010-01-16 20:03 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
I would love too, but being an owner of the new M17X, it would be difficiult. Even now the quality is amazing. I notice little to no lag in the ITF. Actually since the upgrade to windows 7 I haven't had any performance issues. On another point Dell only handles the sales. The building and tech issues are all handled by Alienware. If you need to call Tech support for some reason you are directed to Alienware. If for some reason you still want to avoid alienware, you should look at SLI or Crossfire config with a quad core. I have a friend that has a toshiba and likes it. You could look at tomshardware.com. Good Luck. I honestly cant wait to see Ultra on my baby.
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Thing about laptops is, it's very difficult to find one specifically designed for gaming. Alienware was one of the good guys before Dell took over. They manufactured awesome laptops with high end hardware capable of running most games at high settings. There are a couple of things that you need to consider when planning to game with a laptop:
1.) Is the hardware on the higher end of the spectrum to be able to play games properly? (Ie. Dedicated graphics card, lot's of RAM and a good CPU.)
2.) Do I have enough money to spend to get those things?
Laptops are expensive enough on their own (Not including netbooks and the lower end types) without throwing in the high end hardware. I generally recommend a desktop over a laptop but I realize some people need a laptop for other things and the gaming is just a want over necessity. If your friend absolutely needs a laptop, Alienware is generally the best of the best (or it was). I've heard mixed reviews since Dell took over.
If a laptop isn't absolutely necessary, your friend can get a desktop with all very high end hardware for the same price. Just some things to consider 
Edit: Cooling is also a very big issue when gaming with laptops. Especially with the higher end games.
We'll see....
I work for a company that used to buy "high-end" laptops from Alienware for video processing. The software and hardware requirements that we need for the work we do are pretty much identical to those of gaming machines.
I have to admit, the Alienware units look really nice... but my experience is that they're pretty wrappers around sub-par machines.
Over half the laptops we ordered had some issue or another, though most of the time it was some minor issue with the case being manufactured improperly. One time, we received a unit that had a bad CMOS battery, of all things (a small battery about the size of a quarter that helps your system keep the internal clock operating even when powered off and allows your motherboard to store your BIOS settings), and of course they use a proprietary connector for it so you can't just buy one at any computer part store. It took them two months to ship us the replacement battery.
Then we had some issues with them cancelling orders without warning and not refunding our money for several weeks.
Basically, the systems are nothing special, especially given the price, and their customer service is awful.
We have since switched to Dell to get high-end business laptops. The units are sturdier, have better specs, and are about $300 cheaper than the Alienware laptops we were using. We have yet to have a single problem with any of the Dells we've purchased, and the sales people we've dealt with have always been helpful.
(Note: Yes, I am completely aware that Dell actually owns Alienware now, but Alienware still operates autonomously--they manufacture their own machines and store parts separately from the Dell facilities.)
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All that said, Flameshot has the right idea. If your friend wants a gaming machine, he/she really should look into getting a desktop instead of a laptop. They're about half the price and much easier to maintain if something does go wrong.
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If price is not a factor, http://www.falcon-nw.com/
Also try http://www.sagernotebook.com/default.php
If it is, it depends on what you're willing to compromise, because as it's been said, performance-per-price wise, laptops are double what desktops cost.
Some middle of the line stuff:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146613
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220639
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834157042
In general, I look for Asus or Toshiba as they tend to make the most reliable portables.
Heard the Core i7's heat up awfully quick in laptops so you may want to look for Core 2 Duo's instead, but I can't speak from firsthand experience.
Whatever your choice, stay the flying [expletive] away from Alienware.
I have a Dell XPS M1710 that I've played on for a few years now, and it runs everything quite well. I'm doubtful that I'll be able to run Ultra cool mode fully, though, and laptops are tough to upgrade comparatively.
You'll want to make sure you're getting the best vid card you can, and you'll want a cooling pad for it - these systems will run pretty hot with all that stuff crammed in a laptop.
You might also check out this site and see how theirs compare. You should also hit up NewEgg and check what they have there and see if some of the high end laptops there will meet the mark.
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My friend wants to buy a "Dell" laptop for CoH that can handle the Ultra Mode. I been trying to tell him he buy a good laptop cheap from anyone else but I need help with this. Can you guys give me ideas where he look for a laptop that can run Ultra mode and that is not an Apple? Thanks.