Comments on: Upgradable Laptop Graphics? http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/ Random babblings from a few digitally inclined people Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:42:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: Kelmon http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1775 Sun, 05 Feb 2006 10:49:30 +0000 http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1775 It's very much off-topic but does anyone know where Alienware gets off on those prices? The PC market mocks Apple quite a lot for its high prices but this is quite incredible. I was talking with my wife about this and we compared Alienware to some restaurants that had been awarded their Michelin Star. Quite often you find that when they've got their Star that their quality/service goes south very quickly, typically because the chef has now gone off to found his own restaurant, the original one no longer feels that it needs to bother and they can hike their prices up. This said, I believe that I owe Alienware a bit of an appology. I still think their prices are grossly excessive but, having speced a comparable system, at least their prices aren't as bad as Falcon Northwest. The 2 systems aren't 100% the same but are close enough yet I ended up with a system from Falcon that cost almost $1200 more. Yikes! The standard stuff in the Falcon is better than the Alienware rig (better processor, more RAM, etc.) but the starting price of the FragBook DR 6800A is $4747.68, although apparently you get a free T-Shirt so that makes it OK... Voodoo, while still damned expensive, appears to offer better value than the other 2. The top of the line AMD system, the ENVY Heavyweight u:709 Notebook starts at $4300 but for that you at least get dual-core processors and a reasonable hard drive, although the RAM and Video need boosting for a modest price (just under $200). Given that I am sure you can buy "standard" laptops with high-end graphics chipsets and processors for a much more modest price, I wonder how much difference these "gaming" systems really make. It’s very much off-topic but does anyone know where Alienware gets off on those prices? The PC market mocks Apple quite a lot for its high prices but this is quite incredible. I was talking with my wife about this and we compared Alienware to some restaurants that had been awarded their Michelin Star. Quite often you find that when they’ve got their Star that their quality/service goes south very quickly, typically because the chef has now gone off to found his own restaurant, the original one no longer feels that it needs to bother and they can hike their prices up.

This said, I believe that I owe Alienware a bit of an appology. I still think their prices are grossly excessive but, having speced a comparable system, at least their prices aren’t as bad as Falcon Northwest. The 2 systems aren’t 100% the same but are close enough yet I ended up with a system from Falcon that cost almost $1200 more. Yikes! The standard stuff in the Falcon is better than the Alienware rig (better processor, more RAM, etc.) but the starting price of the FragBook DR 6800A is $4747.68, although apparently you get a free T-Shirt so that makes it OK…

Voodoo, while still damned expensive, appears to offer better value than the other 2. The top of the line AMD system, the ENVY Heavyweight u:709 Notebook starts at $4300 but for that you at least get dual-core processors and a reasonable hard drive, although the RAM and Video need boosting for a modest price (just under $200).

Given that I am sure you can buy “standard” laptops with high-end graphics chipsets and processors for a much more modest price, I wonder how much difference these “gaming” systems really make.

]]> by: BlindMonk http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1773 Sat, 04 Feb 2006 03:50:29 +0000 http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1773 I just checked on the m7700's base processor and it has turned out to be the bare minimum currently available on the AMD side. Even if this setup were built for later improvements and system upgrading this opening price would destroy the will of most DIY'ers. I just checked on the m7700’s base processor and it has turned out to be the bare minimum currently available on the AMD side. Even if this setup were built for later improvements and system upgrading this opening price would destroy the will of most DIY’ers.

]]> by: Kelmon http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1772 Fri, 03 Feb 2006 08:31:47 +0000 http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1772 In Reply to <a href="#comment-1770" rel="nofollow">#21</a>: Yeah, no kidding on the Alienware point. I had a brief trip over there to see how expensive one of their laptops can be and was disappearing through the $5000 mark when I got bored. What shocked me, however, was just how poorly their laptops are specified at before you start tweaking them. I started with the most expensive model (Aurora m7700) and while the processor looks OK (I am not familiar, I must note, with AMD processors these days), I was stunned that for the base price of $2199 you only get 256MB RAM, a GeForce Go 6800 and 40GB 5400 hard drive. That, as far as I am concerned, is positively criminal since you need to spend at least another $500 to bring its specs up to something competitive. I can understand the issue with desktop vs. laptop since I can't see laptops coming down to desktop prices and performance any time soon. For me, however, since I use my computer at home and at work a laptop is the only practical option but I do want it to have as close to desktop performance as I can. In Reply to #21: Yeah, no kidding on the Alienware point. I had a brief trip over there to see how expensive one of their laptops can be and was disappearing through the $5000 mark when I got bored. What shocked me, however, was just how poorly their laptops are specified at before you start tweaking them. I started with the most expensive model (Aurora m7700) and while the processor looks OK (I am not familiar, I must note, with AMD processors these days), I was stunned that for the base price of $2199 you only get 256MB RAM, a GeForce Go 6800 and 40GB 5400 hard drive. That, as far as I am concerned, is positively criminal since you need to spend at least another $500 to bring its specs up to something competitive.

I can understand the issue with desktop vs. laptop since I can’t see laptops coming down to desktop prices and performance any time soon. For me, however, since I use my computer at home and at work a laptop is the only practical option but I do want it to have as close to desktop performance as I can.

]]> by: Vermouth http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1770 Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:26:37 +0000 http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1770 4,000 is hardly unheard of. One can easily configure an Alienware notebook to top out well over that price. Sadly it's roughly the same specs as a 2500 dollar desktop gaming box. I don't know if i could be very happy with a laptop as a primary PC for anything less than about 2 grand sadly which conflicts with about 800 dollars for a desktop I'd be fairly happy with. 4,000 is hardly unheard of. One can easily configure an Alienware notebook to top out well over that price. Sadly it’s roughly the same specs as a 2500 dollar desktop gaming box. I don’t know if i could be very happy with a laptop as a primary PC for anything less than about 2 grand sadly which conflicts with about 800 dollars for a desktop I’d be fairly happy with.

]]> by: Kelmon http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1769 Thu, 02 Feb 2006 17:26:17 +0000 http://www.aelon.net/2006/01/upgradable-laptop-graphics/#comment-1769 In Reply to <a href="#comment-1768" rel="nofollow">#19</a>: LOL! I have no idea what drugs are commonly available in Korea but I can only assume that the Samsung engineers had access to a reasonable quantity. A 19" screen on a laptop is great but this one seems to be suffering from a few design flaws: 1. It weighs almost 10lb! That's like double the weight of my current one and it's not the lightweight system that it used to be, either. 2. They openly state that if the weight is too much then you can just detach the screen and carry the base unit and plug it into any TFT monitor. Question: doesn't that defeat the objective of a portable computer? If I wanted to do that then I could buy a Mac Mini that's both smaller and a fraction of the weight. 3. What's the reasoning behind detaching the screen anyway? 4. It costs $4,000. Holy shit! That's gotta be some kind of record, yes? I'm all in favour of making laptops better but this one seems to be somewhat confused as to what it wants to be. The specifications aren't great for it either considering the asking price, with the exception of the screen, of course. Mental... In Reply to #19: LOL! I have no idea what drugs are commonly available in Korea but I can only assume that the Samsung engineers had access to a reasonable quantity. A 19″ screen on a laptop is great but this one seems to be suffering from a few design flaws:

1. It weighs almost 10lb! That’s like double the weight of my current one and it’s not the lightweight system that it used to be, either.

2. They openly state that if the weight is too much then you can just detach the screen and carry the base unit and plug it into any TFT monitor. Question: doesn’t that defeat the objective of a portable computer? If I wanted to do that then I could buy a Mac Mini that’s both smaller and a fraction of the weight.

3. What’s the reasoning behind detaching the screen anyway?

4. It costs $4,000. Holy shit! That’s gotta be some kind of record, yes?

I’m all in favour of making laptops better but this one seems to be somewhat confused as to what it wants to be. The specifications aren’t great for it either considering the asking price, with the exception of the screen, of course.

Mental…

]]>