Ferrari, alienware 7700, or more?
Budget:
$3500 though I still want the best bang for the buck.
When:
In 4-5 months, give or take a month. Will of course look then but want to get a head start.
Oder of priority:
Performance DTR machine
Large 16"+ screen at under 1400dpi (no tiny squinty 1600+ for me)
Tech Support/replacement
Look & build quality
Upgradeability
Specifics
3.2 + CPU, ideal is of course 3.6 or 3.4+
1 GB DDR 2 ram
Nvidia or ATI with 256MB ram. (will take 128 for only good reasons)
Prefer a 7200 rpm disk drive but not crucial since I already have one I can install.
Weight is not a factor if I can own my friends in frame-rate.
Details
Hey there. Choosing between the ferrari and the alienware or another worthy contestant. While I realize in 3-4 months things may change I do want to get a head start and start some researching on companies as well as how the users like their computer in the long term.
I have heard of issues regarding the alienware. Being one of the most tech junkie people out there I want nothing but the best and to tweak it for optimum performance. I cannot stand if something is not working properly and I am not afraid to go under the hood to diagnose the problem myself. But that said, I want something with optimal base performance. I want that 3.6 GHZ and that 256MB vid card. I will pay a premium for it because I frankly rather spend the money on a computer that is simply the best rather than on dresses or shoes.
As for weight and the problem that is shared in all DTRS I realize it and have felt it since I have an older dtr, the inspiron 8200. I would love to have a ferrari simply for the sexy factor however I want something that can cream the competition. :)
Any suggestions?
Dell 8200 (8600 closest picture found)
512 G ram :: 120 GB :: 64MB Mobility Radeon 9000
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Answer: Wow, suddenly saw a Falcon NW notebook and it looks like a dream and I think I found my company. More expensive but I'm willing to pay a premium for the best. Due to the looks and utter performance and the apparent reputation I think falcon nw is the best.
I want that red shiny beauty and I'm an artist and will be more than willing to make a custom dragon decal for the computer.
If there are any objections due to your own experience or the price I think I will go for a falcon northwest fragbook optimized at 3.4 GHZ. I don't mind that 2GHZ if there's a great reason and I think thus far this is.
EDIT
Oops I was looking at the second best computer. The best computer is $4000... wow.. talk about premium. I will take a look at alienware again as they offer their system to be a bit more customizable... sighs...
Dell 8200 (8600 closest picture found)
512 G ram :: 120 GB :: 64MB Mobility Radeon 9000
**********
Answer: My friend, like we tell everyone, "best" is an extremely subjective term.
If you want a machine that will cream the competition, and weight is no factor (12+ pounds!), then you are looking for is a Sager NP9860. The -S version comes with a 3.6GHz P4 (desktop) and 1 GB of RAM. The -V version comes with a 3.4GHz P4EE and 2 GB RAM. Both come with the spanking new GeForce Go 6800 with 256MB VRAM and 8X multiformat DVD burner. The -S version puts you back $3000, the -V version, $3900, although you could trim some off lowering the specs of some stuff to around $3700. Check out this link for the Sagers:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product.cfm?ProductType=9860
Of course, besides the weight, you will also experience the worst battery life known to man to go with its rhino-like weight, and Pentium 4s are not as fast as Athlon 64s. Unfortunately, no one has decided to put either the ATI MR 9800 or GeForce Go 6800 into an Athlon 64 machine...yet. However, many Athlon 64-based machines from Sager, Voodoo and others give P4 based machines quite good competition, even though they are working with half of hte VRAM and other deficiencies (older mobos, etc).
By the way, did I mention that Sager puts their 9860s into RAID configuration for you if you so choose?