Alright, I'm gonna go into mechanical engineering next year. So I'm planning ahead. I can get a Dell M90 (which is a workstation laptop) for like over 3 grand, or I can get a gaming grade laptop from Alienware for maybe 2.5 grand. And this will be for like...probably moderate rendering and stuff. Plus moderate gaming. But the better the GPU, the faster the rendering.

My question is, Alienware laptops, are there any known problems with them? Alienware in general? (And yeah, I know their tech support sucks. But it's still probably better than the main Dell tech support). And compared Alienware to Dell.

Note: I know I should build my own . But since I need it to work immediately when I get it, I'm buying. And Falcon-NW is too expensive for me. I'm based in Canada.

A couple things:

1) It's not worth it to build your own laptop, as it's very time-consuming, and you'll probably spend more money than if you had just bought a Dell.

2) The rendering that you'll be doing... Is it Direct3D or OpenGL? If it's the latter, you'll probably want to go for the Dell, as you'll be able to get one of ATI or nV's workstation cards (ATI FireGL and nVidia Quadro). However, workstation cards, whose drivers are optimized for OpenGL, don't perform very well in games.

3) I've read some very negative stories about Alienware's customer support, especially when dealing with dead computers. So I'd take that into account when you're going to drop a lotta $$$ on a laptop. From what I've heard, Dell's support had been going down recently, but it's still better than Alienware's.

My cousin has a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop. His CD drive got screwed up by a firmware update (from Dell, ironically), and Dell replaced it free of charge. He was on the phone for 1 1/2 hours, but the problem got resolved. Also, he calls teh small business support, which is supposed to be better than the regular support.

4) For the record, Dell bought Alienware earlier this year.

EDIT: Would you care to post the specs of the two machines you're looking at, for comparison purposes? Thanks

-Ducky

I know about Dellienware . But I think they're operating seperately. But anyways. And it's OpenGL rendering, as it's probably AutoCAD.

M90:
- T2500 (don't know why they haven't upgraded to Merom yet, they might later)
- 2 gigs of DDR2-667
- Nvidia FX 1500m
- 100 gig 7200 HDD
- 17 inch screen
-Win XP Pro
-Price: 2900 CND before tax and shipping

Alienware M5750:
- T7200
- 2 gigs of DDR2-667
- ATI Radeon Mobility X1800
- 100 gig 7200 rpm HDD
- 17 inch screen
- Win XP Pro
-Price: 2600 CND before tax and shipping

(Note, for the Alienware, I can probably bump down the price by moving down the hard drive and to XP Home, as the M90 doesn't have those options)

Judging by those specs, the Dell is better than the Alienware for rendering, whereas the Alienware will beat it in gaming.

EDIT: I think that most universities will only allow computers running XP Pro to connect to their networks. A security thing, I beleive, as Pro has more advanced networking features.

Yeah. I usually game on my Xbox 360 (*dodges random insults*), so gaming isn't the most important. I guess it's a question of if I want to spend over 3 grand on a laptop. Assuming Dell upgrades to Merom, with no increase in price, would it last for 4 years?

I'd go for the Alienware.

It IS possible to get Merom on the M90; look here:
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/pr [...] l=en&s=bsd

For $2887, you get:
- T5600
- 2GB DDR2-667
- 100GB 7200 RPM HDD
- Fancy-schmancy DVD burner (save $70 and change it to a DVD/CD-RW combo drive)
- Quardo FX 1500M
- XP Pro

This looks nice, and it should last you a good 4 years.

Did you read any of my posts? Did you even look at the specs of the two machines? The Dell will kick the Alienware's ass in rendering, as it has a Quadro GPU, as opposed to a regular Radeon. The Alienware will win in gaming, but he has a 360, so that's not a priority.

Nice, and I save 13 bucks *grins*. Still over 3 grand for a computer. You get what you pay for I guess, but is it worth it? And will it last all 4 years of undergrad? Because I don't want to upgrade or buy another laptop until end of those 4 years.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/ntbkx64sli.asp?v=d

there. you can get a nice ass notebook with dual 7900gtx for $3000. if because it is to expensive because its us dollers then go with a lower model. but dual 7900gtx will dominate games. And your applications, regardless if its openGL.

I'm not sure even Geforces in SLI will match a single Quadro card. Because Quadros are OpenGL optimized, and Geforces are not. Plus the AutoCAD website specifically says that Geforces and Radeons aren't really recommended. Also, it's a Turion processor, which, from my knowledge, is a "tad" bit slower than a Merom. And 3 grand USD is too damn much. I'm already questioning 3 grand CND.

Is Dell the only ones who offer decent workstation laptops?

The only area in which the CyberPower beats the Dell is in gaming. The Dell will eat the CyberPower in OpenGL, CPU-intensive apps (Turion doesn't compare to Merom), and especially in multitasking (Merom=dual-core, Turion=single-core; you do the math).

Plus, the Dell has a faster hard drive and twice the RAM.

HP might also have some nice stuff; I'll check their site.

The only area in which the CyberPower beats the Dell is in gaming. The Dell will eat the CyberPower in OpenGL, CPU-intensive apps (Turion doesn't compare to Merom), and especially in multitasking (Merom=dual-core, Turion=single-core; you do the math).

Plus, the Dell has a faster hard drive and twice the RAM.

then make substitutions. it doesnt matter, dual 7900 gtx will destroy anything.

Maybe in a gaming environment (and even then maybe *coughX1900XTXcough*) but in an OpenGL environment, Quadros and FireGLs rule the battlefield.

The only area in which the CyberPower beats the Dell is in gaming. The Dell will eat the CyberPower in OpenGL, CPU-intensive apps (Turion doesn't compare to Merom), and especially in multitasking (Merom=dual-core, Turion=single-core; you do the math).

Plus, the Dell has a faster hard drive and twice the RAM.

then make substitutions. it doesnt matter, dual 7900 gtx will destroy anything.

In gaming, but not in OpenGL applications. Dual 7900s will provide some great gaming, but they will be eaten by a single Quadro in AutoCAD. The Quadro cards have special drivers that are specifically optimized for OpenGL workstation apps.

@Worminator: I looked on HP's website (Canada), but I wasn't able to customize any of the PCs. Look at the bottom of this page, at the "mobile workstations":
http://www.hp.ca/products/static/notebooks/

The nw8440 looks nice, but not as good as the Dell.