M17x Reviews

M17x-R2 System Review Guidelines
Note to contributors: If you are adding an end user review, please be sure to note the following:
 * Configuration
 * Photos if applicable
 * Time it took from ordering it to delivery
 * Impressions of the system (build quality, defects, performance)
 * Comparisons to other systems you own (if applicable)
 * Misc (Comments about dell customer service if you needed it etc.)
 * Conclusion

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1. 122.164.112.200 - Geo Information


 * IP Address 122.164.112.200


 * Host: ABTS-TN-dynamic-200.112.164.122.airtelbroadband.in


 * Location: IN, India


 * City: Madras, 25 -


 * ISP: Bharti Broadband

Configuration
M17xR2:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 940XM ES 2.13GHz (3.33 GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)

Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Video Card: CrossfireX™ 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870

LCD Panel: 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)

Memory: 4GB Dual Channel Memory @ 1066 Mhz (2x 2GB DDR3)

Hard Drive: 500GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD

Optical Drive: Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Build Score: 9/10 (Despite the best Processor, Harddrive could have been better (possibly SSD), Blu-Ray could have been taken instead, and Memory could have been higher. However, Video Cards are the best possible as well)

Time it took from Ordering to Deliver
Mine was a special case. Living in Australia, I wanted to get it ordered from The USA, as they had more customizable options (through Joker). This means that right away the time taken would be doubled that of normal. I also had different problems with the machine that needed to be either fixed or replaced which increased the lenght of the delivery, plus customs in Australia took a furthur week to release it before it got to me. However, to arrive from Dell to Joker, it took about 2 weeks. It took just over a month and a half to get to my house in Australia. Overall I'd still say it was a respectable delivery time, as I've heard it can take that long for Dell to delivery when they are backordered. I

Delivery Score: 8/10

Build Quality
9.5/10 - Beautifully Built, Solid Materials, Keyboard feels almost like a real external keyboard, Screen is eye popping with its RGB LED. Loses half a point for the touch sensitive buttons being occasinally tempermental.

Defects
9.5/10 - Apart from the discoloration of the Keyboard (Here, applogies for poor picture quality), there hasn't been any problems SINCE it arrived. That is to say there was a mass amount of problems when Joker got it (system needed to be replaced, and LED needed to be replaced twice), which is dissapointing from Dell. However, for current build quality, it is close to perfection thankfully.

Performance
9/10 - Now this is where the system is supposed to shine, and shine it does. The 1200p RGB LED Screen wow's with its beautiful colors, and games look gorgeous on this screen. The 940XM Processor help push this bad boy along in games at the highest settings (Gaming videos soon on Jubbing's Youtube Channel). However, the 940XM also pushes those temperatures SKY HIGH. It's not the most effective temps, despite the laptops amazing cooling system. HD videos run perfectly as do games. Point lost for temperatures.

Comparisons to my last laptop
My last laptop, was the M15x (Stats: Intel Core i7 820QM(1.73Ghz - 3.06Ghz Turbo Mode, 4GB RAM @ 1333Mhz, 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870, 1920 x 1080 (1080p), Windows 7 Home Premium).  To give you an idea of the performance, Here's my best test performance with the M15x Vantage, as compared to the M17x Vantage. As you can see, both are overclocked, and the performance difference is enormous. It's just under 9000 points difference, which isn't quite double.. but its getting there. And best of all? The price isn't double either, even though it is a slight price bump from the M15x price. I tried Crysis 1 on the M15x, on all Very High Settings, (Video Here), and as you can see it did occasionally stutter in gameplay, and even crashed during the final mission. The M17x chugs away happily on Crysis and Crysis Warhead (videos will be up soon) and while it doesn't play it as well as some other games, it still maintains a respectable framerate on Very High Settings (Enthusiast on Warhead). The M17x does have the option of dual graphic cards, unlike the M15x, and that most certainly does help.

Video quality wise, the M15x's 1080p resolution allowed it to play videos better than the M17x, as they seem a little stretched unless they are 1080p videos (and rendered in 16:9). The M17x's RGB LED screen comes out and tops the M15x's LED screen, and the brightness shows especially in video games. You won't be dissapointed. I do however wish I had gotten the Blu-Ray drive upgrade for the M17x, as I had with the M15x, but it is certainly no loss without.

To be continued...