Does anyone have any opinions on these two laptops. I am looking to buy one pretty soon but just needed some opinions.

Thanks.

2/1/2006 3:14:36 PM

If you're going to buy a laptop, but one light enough to realisticly travel with. i.e. less that about 5.5lbs Otherwise, save some money and buy a desktop.

2/1/2006 3:35:31 PM

if you invest that much money in a laptop, you arent going to want to carry it around with you for fear of breaking it or it getting stolen.

2/1/2006 3:42:51 PM

take the money you'd spend on either one of those and buy a really nice desktop and a decent laptop.

2/1/2006 3:45:34 PM

I was researching those myself and found the m170 to be a much better deal and better laptop (although it is truely ment to be a desktop replacement, not fun to carry around). The Dell has better graphics (6800 ultra or 7800gt), more ram (1GB or 2GB ddr533), faster hdd (7200rpm) and a bigger screen (17" WSXGA lcd) for less money (can get one for ~$1650 after savings as compared to $2000 for a ferrari). I'd go with the dell for sure but the ferrari is lighter and a little more suitable for travel.

2/1/2006 4:01:50 PM

^ funny, I'm seeing the absolute base model xps m170 for 1879.06, before tax or shipping (and yes, you will pay full sales tax in NC).

I'm also not seeing any coupon codes on slickdeals, how are you getting it that low? Employee discounts?

Anyways, a 2000 dollar desktop will blow the crap out of a 2000 dollar laptop, and not have nearly as many problems in the long-term as long as you don't overclock. Of course, the laptop can be as reliable as a desk top, if you don't move it around ever. In that case though... why the fuck did you pay so much for what's basically being used as a desktop? The dell xps is only portable in theory too, with a weight starting at approximately 8.6 lbs. A laptop and a flat pannel monitor is not THAT much harder to carry to a lan party either.

The acer is an even worse thing to get.

The smaller dell xps is laptop is not a bad laptop at all though (with the exception of not being able to do gaming pretty much at all), and much more portable. In general, gaming laptops are retarded and a very bad way to blow your money. You can buy a better gaming desktop, and the gaming laptops that are 17"+ are not very portable anyways. If you're going to go to ALOT of lans, then maybe it'll be worth it, but you would be foolish to bring this thing to class and lug it around campus all the time.

There are some decent 15 inch gaming laptops out there, that aren't quite so heavy. The dell one though is probably a good deal cheaper for the performance though. So... if you've got your heart set on wasting yours or your parents' money... the dell xps is probably the best bet. But then again, if you're going to waste money... why not get an alienware or voodoopc?

[Edited on February 1, 2006 at 6:59 PM. Reason : ]

2/1/2006 6:47:42 PM

$800 laptop + $1200 desktop

2/1/2006 7:05:07 PM

psh, 2000 dollar desktop all the way!

2/1/2006 7:05:51 PM

get a 700m and build a desktop for gaming. 1 of the smartest things i have ever done.

2/1/2006 7:18:49 PM

^^^^ here it is, Dell XPS m170 for $1649
http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/cheapster/2006/01/dell_xps_m170_n.html

[Edited on February 1, 2006 at 10:31 PM. Reason : before tax]

2/1/2006 10:30:49 PM

That deal is no longer valid...

cheapest price I've found for the XPS m170 was 1879 (all minimum specs) through dell.com/ncstate

The 350 off that site you linked mentions no longer appears on dell home.

[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 12:36 AM. Reason : ]

2/2/2006 12:15:38 AM

click on the xps m170 link on that page and follow the instructions, it works...

2/2/2006 7:36:56 AM

I also agree with the laptop + desktop idea. That's what I'm using right now and it serves me great. However, I'd probably split it $1000/$1000.

2/2/2006 9:03:11 AM

Quote :

"However, I'd probably split it $1000/$1000"

i wouldnt split it evenly. i would give more to the desktop since that is for gaming. but i guess it depends what range he wants to game in, whether it be low to mid or mid to high.

2/2/2006 2:59:18 PM

^^^didn't work when I did it, the link didn't work at all

2/2/2006 3:17:15 PM

^^

Most decent laptops cost more than $1000.

Likewise, I built a kickass gaming machine with a 17" flat panel for $800.

[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 6:13 PM. Reason : ^^]

2/2/2006 6:13:06 PM

Quote :

"Most decent laptops cost more than $1000."

my 700m cost less than $1000 shipped and it came stocked nicely for this type machine.

Quote :

"Likewise, I built a kickass gaming machine with a 17" flat panel for $800."

define kickass (list specs) as many people have various definitions.

[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 6:18 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2006 6:18:06 PM

^ yeah, the 700m base configuration is basically fine if it's not a primary or gaming machine, which seems to go along with the main consensus of this thread.

1200 dollar gaming machine will be pretty damn nice and also make a great primary computer. 800-1200 laptop will make a very good secondary computer and can be extrememly portable. towards the 1200 dollar range, they also make decent primary computers but still not even ok gaming machines.

If a laptop is a secondary machine/homework machine... then it doesn't need anything more than a 1.7 ghz pentium m anyways, so it really doesn't have to get that expensive. dell 700m's can be pretty damn cheap and are really portable.

So... the best recomendation so far seems to be buying a dell 700m and then spending about 1200-1400 and building your own gaming machine. If you already have a good keyboard, monitor, and mouse... then you can play around with the money split a little bit.


[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 6:23 PM. Reason : ]

2/2/2006 6:19:46 PM

Quote :

"my 700m cost less than $1000 shipped and it came stocked nicely for this type machine."

I don't buy Dell computers.

Quote :

"define kickass (list specs) as many people have various definitions."

mid-ATX case w/ 480W PS
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ w/ HT
1 GB RAM (one stick)
geforce 6600GT 128 MB video
200 GB HD
dual layer dvd burner
6-in-1 card reader
17" flat panel

Maybe not over-the top performance, but definitely enough for a nice gaming rig.

2/2/2006 7:28:58 PM