(resolved)Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good?

scottv · 05-02-2007, 02:13 PM

Hi, I am a total Laptop newb....like I said in my other post...I am familiar with desktops as I have built a few of them in the past. I've always been ignorant about laptops but now I am on the go alot in college. I'm a cheap *** and I don't want to spend alot for a laptop. But I also want sorta quality laptop (one that can run decent games later) too so I have to settle for fighting on Ebay for a laptop to suit my wants.

I am dead set on getting this one but I really need you guy's/gal's help first. It's at a good price if it operates well. I also just like the alienware case too eheheh..Alienware laptops are just cool looking

I need to pay off my medical bills but I have bout $600 I can use towards a laptop. This seems perfect.

I found this Alienware Area-51 m5500. It says it's a "Demo system" so I dunno what's the difference between that and the regular thing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-Laptop-Area-51-m5500-Centrino-Laptop_W0QQitemZ230121291278QQihZ013QQcategoryZ46323QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Is this okay? I am just looking for a computer I can use now to browse the net, do word document homework etc. so i know it's sufficient enough for now....but then in the future if I have money n want to upgrade the graphics for games I will do it. Is it possible on this? (it says upgradeable via mxm-2 slot) I'd like it to at least support a Geforce 6 series or more so I can put CS-Source or Battlefield 2 on it. This will not be a hardcore gaming machine...just need to support those games at least. (I know it can't right now since it's only integrated graphics)

Thanks alot!

scottv · 05-02-2007, 04:32 PM

Sorry I did alot of searching and, for the price, found so many laptops that will walk all over this thing. The cool Alien case can't even help it. Sorry guys/gals.

Dell, Acer, Asus ....those are all good brands right? I'm buying the ones with good video cards (DX9 supported) in them.

**V0lt** · 05-02-2007, 05:09 PM

Alienware generally makes decent (but overpriced) machines, but I'm surprised that Alienware's standards were set so low for this laptop.

This is perhaps one of the worst deals I've seen in a long time- not only will it not play games well due to the fact that it uses Intel 900 graphics (stay away from intel graphics at all costs), but it's also overpriced by about 250 dollars.

Plus, it's a used display model, which means that people walked all over it before this guy decided to sell it.

I have an Acer Aspire 5670, and it has ATi Mobility Radeon x1600 graphics, a gig of ram, a 1.66 Core Duo processor, and a 120GB hard drive. It was 1000 flat brand new, and I'm sure you could find a similar deal now, since I bought it before the first semester started.

A lot of people like to knock Dell down, but I have to say, from what I've seen they generally put out a quality product, and usually support it fairly well. But I still don't think they're the best deal, and I'm really not a fan of their larger laptops- they're just way too big to be practical, and are sort of overpriced unless you get a good coupon deal.

Acer is my favorite laptop brand, but that's just because they make a really top-of-the-line product for relatively little cost. Stay away from the Ferrari series though; they're a bunch of hype with comparatively lower specs and a semi-outdated design.

Asus makes excellent laptops- you can even find barebones kits from them and build onto them yourself, but this generally isn't as cost-effective as buying a complete laptop.

If you want a great resource for really good notebook deals, you'll see a few per month from http://slickdeals.net. It's my favorite for just snagging incredible deals. I don't think they have anything in the mobile line at the moment, though.

If you see a model you think is nice, just post the link- I'll give my opinion, and you'll probably get a couple more from other people too.

Terrister · 05-02-2007, 05:35 PM

I agree with Fox. I just bought an Acer laptop a few months ago. You get a lot for the money. I have been very happy with my purchase.

One thing to add. You may want to hold off on Vista for a while. Mine came preloaded with Vista. The driver support was not great and the laptop ran much slower with Vista than it did with XP. So I wiped the hard drive and loaded XP. After they work out all the problems with Vista, I think it may be an ok OS, but not yet.

scottv · 05-02-2007, 07:10 PM

Does anyone know if the Dell Inspiron 1501 graphics processor can be upgraded? It comes with integrated Radeon X1100 256 hypermemory....doesnt sound too nice for games.

**TheMatt** · 05-02-2007, 07:21 PM

Hi Scott,

The Xpress 1100 is actually an X300, so it is decent, but not upgradable. Dell has a good reputation for making their high-end laptops with MXM cards that can be upgraded, but this one cannot.

Take a look at this laptop:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834147294

From the alienware laptop you posted, I am guessing it is within your proce range. It should do light games fine and medium games on low settings OK.

**V0lt** · 05-02-2007, 07:54 PM

I'd still say an Acer's the better deal in this situation. Check out this link. The only difference (apart from more than 100 dollars of savings) is the 100mhz difference in graphics GPU, the slightly slower RAM (which really doesn't mean anything since neither graphics card is really that spectacular), and the LAN on Acer doesn't support gigabit ethernet, which hasn't caught on yet anyway.

A plus is that the Acer has a little integrated webcam. I thought it would be a novelty on my 5670, but it's turned out to be quite useful.

**Ariesjill** · 05-02-2007, 08:16 PM

I agree with everyone else; found my Alienware in garbage around year ago....it NOW works fabulously, but also know wut it cost new.....no way worth the money; yes, Dell now owns Alienware but I have heard their support is still The Worst.....and also yes, Less Than viedocards/graphics.

If U FIND one.....U will LUV IT.

BUT PAY WUT THEY GO FOR? No way....U can do waaaaay bettah dollar for dollar. I had to pay $108 JUST for a new KB.

And took me months before the eyes stopped creeping me out.

Just don't, OK?

**TheMatt** · 05-03-2007, 11:32 AM

That is one of the nice value laptops. The reason I didn't suggest it was because it had Vista. I guess a retail XP CD can always be purchased if Vista turns out to be a nightmare. XP Home CDs are pretty cheap now, so it shouldn't be too much of an investment.

**V0lt** · 05-03-2007, 12:50 PM

I didn't notice this before, but even though the processor on the Acer is clocked higher, it's a single core while the other seems to be a dual core. I guess that's worth taking into consideration, but I'd be curious to see the benchmarks on both machines because I'd think they're probably pretty close.

I agree though, Vista's not ready for the primetime. You could easily just take XP off a computer that isn't being used and switch the license over to the new one. It would also be a good opportunity to install linux on a second partition :P

**V0lt** · 05-03-2007, 01:29 PM

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=507598 ... YA RLY :D

scottv · 05-03-2007, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fox

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=507598 ... YA RLY :D

AWW CRAP!!! This is so awesome!

Crap! I just bought a $900 laptop and it's not even as good as one I built for $600 on your site!....I wish I saw this! 7300 TC! Damn, can't believe I missed this. Thank you for the link

. It's too late for me, but maybe I can help someone I know. DOH!

scottv · 05-03-2007, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottv

AWW CRAP!!! This is so awesome!

Crap! I just bought a $900 laptop and it's not even as good as one I built for $600 on your site!....I wish I saw this! 7300 TC! Damn, can't believe I missed this. Thank you for the link

. It's too late for me, but maybe I can help someone I know. DOH!

Whoops I am mistaken...I was thinking 7600 lol. 7300tc is not much better than a geforce 6200.

I guess my laptop has the better GPU. WHEW! I feel better now.

This is still a very nice deal though....core2duo man! 160gb drive. Very nice.

richard2k84 · 05-04-2007, 06:44 AM

Laptops are great but i would not suggest getting one for playing games on for many reason's.
1. the dam things run so hot it will burn your legs.
2. Heat is very bad for a laptop
3. You can not upgrade you grpahics card as it is mounted to the motherboard. therefore you would have to buy a whole new board. finding one that fits is hard enough and it would be cheaper to buy another laptop.

so if you want it for work and playin music on its fine. its alot of money for something that will be out of date in 2 years and you cant upgrade it.

well that my thinking anway.

ebackhus · 05-04-2007, 08:34 AM

I recommend Acer 100%. Dell and Alienware are at the bottom of my list for brands you couldn't even pay me to buy,

scottv · 05-04-2007, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard2k84

Laptops are great but i would not suggest getting one for playing games on for many reason's.
1. the dam things run so hot it will burn your legs.
2. Heat is very bad for a laptop
3. You can not upgrade you grpahics card as it is mounted to the motherboard. therefore you would have to buy a whole new board. finding one that fits is hard enough and it would be cheaper to buy another laptop.

so if you want it for work and playin music on its fine. its alot of money for something that will be out of date in 2 years and you cant upgrade it.

well that my thinking anway.

Yeah, I'm not a big gamer....I just need it to be able to run Counterstrike: Source, and Battlefield 2 decently so I can go for some short bursts of online gaming while I'm bored at school or something heheh...I just need a laptop with a little "punch" to it...geforce go6600 seems like more than enough...I'll mostly use it for browsing the net, and homework or data transport etc. anyways.

I did a little research and the one I bought has this MXM II technology so I guess If I were to upgrade the video I could upgrade it up to a Geforce go 7600 but that is way overkill for me..probably would have heat issues like you said too....that's why I stayed away from the big 3ghz+ Pentium 4's also ahah....If I wanna play some hardcore games I got my PC at home.

I think I am all set now. Thanks alot for everyone's input on this topic. Helps alot.

05-02-2007, 02:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
scottv Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 84 OS: XP	(resolved)Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? Hi, I am a total Laptop newb....like I said in my other post...I am familiar with desktops as I have built a few of them in the past. I've always been ignorant about laptops but now I am on the go alot in college. I'm a cheap * and I don't want to spend alot for a laptop. But I also want sorta quality laptop (one that can run decent games later) too so I have to settle for fighting on Ebay for a laptop to suit my wants. I am dead set on getting this one but I really need you guy's/gal's help first.** It's at a good price if it operates well. I also just like the alienware case too eheheh..Alienware laptops are just cool looking I need to pay off my medical bills but I have bout $600 I can use towards a laptop. This seems perfect. I found this Alienware Area-51 m5500. It says it's a "Demo system" so I dunno what's the difference between that and the regular thing. http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-Laptop-Area-51-m5500-Centrino-Laptop_W0QQitemZ230121291278QQihZ013QQcategoryZ46323QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem Is this okay? I am just looking for a computer I can use now to browse the net, do word document homework etc. so i know it's sufficient enough for now....but then in the future if I have money n want to upgrade the graphics for games I will do it. Is it possible on this? (it says upgradeable via mxm-2 slot) I'd like it to at least support a Geforce 6 series or more so I can put CS-Source or Battlefield 2 on it. This will not be a hardcore gaming machine...just need to support those games at least. (I know it can't right now since it's only integrated graphics) Thanks alot! Last edited by scottv; 05-02-2007 at 02:22 PM.

05-02-2007, 04:32 PM	#2 (permalink)
scottv Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 84 OS: XP	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? Sorry I did alot of searching and, for the price, found so many laptops that will walk all over this thing. The cool Alien case can't even help it. Sorry guys/gals. Dell, Acer, Asus ....those are all good brands right? I'm buying the ones with good video cards (DX9 supported) in them. Last edited by scottv; 05-02-2007 at 04:39 PM.

05-02-2007, 05:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
V0lt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,770 OS: Windows 7 My System	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? Alienware generally makes decent (but overpriced) machines, but I'm surprised that Alienware's standards were set so low for this laptop. This is perhaps one of the worst deals I've seen in a long time- not only will it not play games well due to the fact that it uses Intel 900 graphics (stay away from intel graphics at all costs), but it's also overpriced by about 250 dollars. Plus, it's a used display model, which means that people walked all over it before this guy decided to sell it. I have an Acer Aspire 5670, and it has ATi Mobility Radeon x1600 graphics, a gig of ram, a 1.66 Core Duo processor, and a 120GB hard drive. It was 1000 flat brand new, and I'm sure you could find a similar deal now, since I bought it before the first semester started. A lot of people like to knock Dell down, but I have to say, from what I've seen they generally put out a quality product, and usually support it fairly well. But I still don't think they're the best deal, and I'm really not a fan of their larger laptops- they're just way too big to be practical, and are sort of overpriced unless you get a good coupon deal. Acer is my favorite laptop brand, but that's just because they make a really top-of-the-line product for relatively little cost. Stay away from the Ferrari series though; they're a bunch of hype with comparatively lower specs and a semi-outdated design. Asus makes excellent laptops- you can even find barebones kits from them and build onto them yourself, but this generally isn't as cost-effective as buying a complete laptop. If you want a great resource for really good notebook deals, you'll see a few per month from http://slickdeals.net. It's my favorite for just snagging incredible deals. I don't think they have anything in the mobile line at the moment, though. If you see a model you think is nice, just post the link- I'll give my opinion, and you'll probably get a couple more from other people too. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E5200 OC'd, Corsair XMS2 4x1GB DDR2-800, EVGA GTX 260, 750GB WD Black Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums

05-02-2007, 05:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Terrister Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 7,095 OS: Xp	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? I agree with Fox. I just bought an Acer laptop a few months ago. You get a lot for the money. I have been very happy with my purchase. One thing to add. You may want to hold off on Vista for a while. Mine came preloaded with Vista. The driver support was not great and the laptop ran much slower with Vista than it did with XP. So I wiped the hard drive and loaded XP. After they work out all the problems with Vista, I think it may be an ok OS, but not yet.

05-02-2007, 07:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
scottv Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 84 OS: XP	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? Does anyone know if the Dell Inspiron 1501 graphics processor can be upgraded? It comes with integrated Radeon X1100 256 hypermemory....doesnt sound too nice for games.

05-02-2007, 07:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,698 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? Hi Scott, The Xpress 1100 is actually an X300, so it is decent, but not upgradable. Dell has a good reputation for making their high-end laptops with MXM cards that can be upgraded, but this one cannot. Take a look at this laptop: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834147294 From the alienware laptop you posted, I am guessing it is within your proce range. It should do light games fine and medium games on low settings OK. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [URL="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

05-02-2007, 07:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
V0lt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,770 OS: Windows 7 My System	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? I'd still say an Acer's the better deal in this situation. Check out this link. The only difference (apart from more than 100 dollars of savings) is the 100mhz difference in graphics GPU, the slightly slower RAM (which really doesn't mean anything since neither graphics card is really that spectacular), and the LAN on Acer doesn't support gigabit ethernet, which hasn't caught on yet anyway. A plus is that the Acer has a little integrated webcam. I thought it would be a novelty on my 5670, but it's turned out to be quite useful. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E5200 OC'd, Corsair XMS2 4x1GB DDR2-800, EVGA GTX 260, 750GB WD Black Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums

05-02-2007, 08:16 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ariesjill Human Individual Join Date: May 2006 Location: Manhattan Posts: 2,837 OS: WXP Home, WXP Pro	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? I agree with everyone else; found my Alienware in garbage around year ago....it NOW works fabulously, but also know wut it cost new.....no way worth the money; yes, Dell now owns Alienware but I have heard their support is still The Worst.....and also yes, Less Than viedocards/graphics. If U FIND one.....U will LUV IT. BUT PAY WUT THEY GO FOR? No way....U can do waaaaay bettah dollar for dollar. I had to pay $108 JUST for a new KB. And took me months before the eyes stopped creeping me out. Just don't, OK? __________________ The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust *It ain't where you go, it's where you're coming from.* Jill Last edited by Ariesjill; 05-02-2007 at 08:21 PM.

05-03-2007, 11:32 AM	#9 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,698 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? That is one of the nice value laptops. The reason I didn't suggest it was because it had Vista. I guess a retail XP CD can always be purchased if Vista turns out to be a nightmare. XP Home CDs are pretty cheap now, so it shouldn't be too much of an investment. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [URL="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

05-03-2007, 12:50 PM	#10 (permalink)
V0lt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,770 OS: Windows 7 My System	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? I didn't notice this before, but even though the processor on the Acer is clocked higher, it's a single core while the other seems to be a dual core. I guess that's worth taking into consideration, but I'd be curious to see the benchmarks on both machines because I'd think they're probably pretty close. I agree though, Vista's not ready for the primetime. You could easily just take XP off a computer that isn't being used and switch the license over to the new one. It would also be a good opportunity to install linux on a second partition :P __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E5200 OC'd, Corsair XMS2 4x1GB DDR2-800, EVGA GTX 260, 750GB WD Black Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums

05-03-2007, 01:29 PM	#11 (permalink)
V0lt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,770 OS: Windows 7 My System	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=507598 ... YA RLY :D __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E5200 OC'd, Corsair XMS2 4x1GB DDR2-800, EVGA GTX 260, 750GB WD Black Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums

05-04-2007, 06:44 AM	#14 (permalink)
richard2k84 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: England Posts: 58 OS: Windows 7 My System	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? Laptops are great but i would not suggest getting one for playing games on for many reason's. 1. the dam things run so hot it will burn your legs. 2. Heat is very bad for a laptop 3. You can not upgrade you grpahics card as it is mounted to the motherboard. therefore you would have to buy a whole new board. finding one that fits is hard enough and it would be cheaper to buy another laptop. so if you want it for work and playin music on its fine. its alot of money for something that will be out of date in 2 years and you cant upgrade it. well that my thinking anway.

05-04-2007, 08:34 AM	#15 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 15,782 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: Laptop newb...Want an Alienware Laptop. Is this good? I recommend Acer 100%. Dell and Alienware are at the bottom of my list for brands you couldn't even pay me to buy, __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.