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[Foxtrot]

Hi ya'll, alright, i'm getting a lot of money soon, lets say $4000+, and i need a new computer. I've been looking at an Alienware 18x laptop, with all the fixins, but i want your guys' opinions, should i get that or something better, should i get a specific thingy or some other thingy. Btw i want that as a very good gaming laptop, able to play the best games at max settings. Couple things though, 1. it's gotta be a laptop 2. it's gotta be a PC 3. Windows 7 4. try to hit the 4k mark, i ain't using the money for anything else, except headphones for the laptop, other than those recommend away

[PCCL]

ugh... I don't like alienware as far as comps go, just not cost efficient and more than a little bit overkill. If it HAS to be a laptop though I suppose it's not like you have the choice of custom building so if you're willing to spend that kind of money and make no compromises, maybe that's the way to go. Not a laptop expert by any means but I can't shake the feeling that you could save a bunch of money without too much performance loss...

but hey, I'm used to gaming on a budget, so what do I know about the big fancy stuff

[Foxtrot]

It does, my home internet is 10 kb/s-250 kb/s (100 average)   So i need something that i can move to a place with good internet, ergo a laptop. I probably could save some money for not much performance lost, but i really am not going to use the money for anything but a computer, headphones, and some games if i have any left over. And something that can play Minecraft mods at anything better than bare minimum would be really good.

[PCCL]

can't you get better internet with some of that money?

[Foxtrot]

Unfortunately no, i live in hickville, i can look out my window and see fields, cows, and barns, and the internet i have is the best i can get for here, my only option is drive someplace with good internet, or live without, but i live in hickville so there's nothing to do either.

[Vulcan]

DONT GET ANY AW! They look good but are horrid machines

xoticpc.com

Get a sager or a good custom laptop
Or look up Malibal or another builder for a pc

[Foxtrot]

Well no offence but i need some more info than "DON'T GET THIS THING BECAUSE WRGAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!"
And i'm looking at these laptops and they don't seem that powerful, but then again i have no idea what is powerful and what isn't, please give some more info, personal experience, and a reason why i'd get this, also please put down what YOU PERSONALLY would like as your laptop and why, that might make this easier, or at least better

[FloW]

First advice, if possible, wait for the new Intel processors (Haswell). I think they should come out in the next week or so.
I remember watching their Dev Conference, so let's throw some tech-stuff in here:

• Far better energy-saving options
• By rearranging execution cores (and adding 2, going from 6 to they managed to get twice as many FLOPS
• Better instruction set, that allows devs to get more performance, if multi-threading (and if the threads access the same file)
• Some improvements to their GPU, which really isn't that interesting
• Some other, smaller changes

I cannot remember what they said their average performance increase was (it was either 7% or 17%), but Wikipedia and a few other sites say 10%, so let's roll with that. The relative increase is in comparison to the current Ivy Bridge.

So if you can hold on to that money for at least a week you can get a better CPU. However, adopting early might cause problems.

Also the stuff about Alienware: You will have the desire to kill someone, if your 4k laptop dies one week after the guarantee ends. Happens with other laptops as well, but they are usually cheaper, so you don't have to go on a rampage (and it doesn't stick in peoples mind as well). If possible, invest some of the money in extended support. Personally I'd try to go for 4 years, maybe even more. But I won't buy a laptop for 4k.

[Vulcan]

Before I start giving advice, can you fill this out?

1) What is your budget?

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
a. Netbook; 10” screen or less
b. Ultraportable; 11" - 12” screen
c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like:
b. Dislike:
5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (Windows 7 / , Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. Click here for Screen resolution information.

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

15) When are you buying this laptop?

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need? Do you want a SSD drive?

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner?

================  Custom Builders =======================
http://www.xoticpc.com/
This is the company I bought a "SAGER NP9170" which I love and can upgrade easily on my own. Many options, amazing customer support and VERY good build quality.
http://www.malibal.com/
Very high class builders, very good builds and has several options.
http://www.pro-star.com/
Many options and several different brands, not as flashy but solid builds.
=====================================================

For 4000$ you could get a a laptop that supports SLI (2 gfx cards) and a high end i7 Extreme. I suggest getting one card now then saving the money for when the TITAN cards go mobile. Malibal offers a dual gfx laptop.

[Decer304]

I wouldnt go for Alienware as they are expensive and overpriced. You pay more for the brand that the product itself. Yeah, it may look flashy, but you should get a custom built one as they can be much better at the same price.

[Sproginator]

Google the company I buy my parts from,

Novatech

Amazing company! Cheap, affordable, great sales support, haven't even needed tech support but overall really well done.

As for where I bought my PC, Computer Planet:


Don't go there, even if you have a gun aimed at your testicles. They will pretty much remove them themselves.

Sorry, but they were that bad to me, faulty parts, bad support, refusing to refund me, Etc

[Pelly]

Aleinware was a good company to buy computers from until they were taken over by Dell and started making reductions in the specs (e.g. processors, memory) and making the computer look "nice" and have lots of flashy lights for a large price tag.

I recommend PC Specialist and Cyber power systems as they have good builds, good support and nice looking PCs.

But you have to ask yourself what you want from the laptop, as you say you have $4000 to spend you can get a killer laptop for that if you look properly e.g. you could get 2 SSD drives, a high end graphics card (GTX 680M, 7970M) good memory (16-32GB I MEANT GB).

[FloW]

Another thing you might want to take into consideration is weight. Depending on how much/how far you carry the laptop around, it might be worth to buy something that is not quite as heavy.

good memory (16-32mb).

Pretty sure that was "good memory" back in 95 or so. And I have no idea why you would need that much memory (if you talk about GB), unless Microsoft still doesn't get their memory management right. The only time I went over my 4GB was when my Gentoo was building Chromium with debug-information (Protip: Don't do that, takes over half a day). The only other memory-eating processes would be video editing or finite-element simulations.

And back OT: Why do you even need to get rid of the 4k? Why not buy a good laptop for 1.5k and saving the other 2.5k so you can upgrade more often?

[Pelly]

I meant GB i always get that wrong.....

Yeah for high RAM you usually use it for rendering,3d cgi stuff, video editing and multitasking (e.g. using steam,skype,photoshop,maya at the same time I have done this.), i think that windows still has problems with the RAM (something like 2GB is used for the OS unless I am reading bull).

OT Too: A good laptop with the kind of specs i was talking about is ~$1500-2000 so you would still have some "spare" moneys to use for upgrading or for hookers, and waffles.

[hadesian]

Hi there, PM me. I can help you with 100% of this.
In other news, I'd say that REALISTICALLY it's ideal to not buy a new comp for a bit yet. AMD is releasing 8XXXM (8970M is already out) and Nvidia is releasing 7XXM (750M is already out) which means current tech is outdated. Ideally, you should aim to spend $2000 on a great laptop and $2000 on a great desktop, because spending $4000 on a non desktop machine is pretty silly because the performance gains at those prices on a laptop are awfully negligible, even if you invest in a dual GPU overclocked liquid cooler M18X, somebody with a $2000 laptop will have roughly the same performance, but you can make up for the raw need of performance with a desktop at home for $2000, where dual GPU systems are much more affordable and noticeable. Laptops are also 95% non upgradeableable as the two thing you can upgrade usually are storage medium (SSD/HDD/Size/Speed etc.) and RAM, both of which (other than an SSD) offer basically nothing in terms of raw performance boost unless you really, really need it.
If you need a new computer right now, and you're interested in a $2000 desktop, buy in a GTX 780 and wait for Intel Haswell next month, as that'll be both affordable on $2000 and it's new tech, so it's not going to need upgrading for a while yet.