Suggestions for Gaming Laptop Upgrade?

[adeliaarsen]

I am looking to upgrade to a laptop that can run Empire: Total War on maximum settings, keeping in mind for the future that the games I would play on it would be mostly RTSs/Strategy games of the graphical variety (Empire: Total War, Dawn of War 2, Company of Hereos type stuff

I heard that the Alienware M17x was the best option. Is this true? If so, how should I configure it?

Thanks!

 

[Rapid_Sausage]

What i'm about to tell you is from my personal experience with my M17x.

DO NOT BUY OR EVEN CONSIDER IT.

During the 20 months i've owned mine i had to, replace the GPU TWICE (one of those times i had to pay $560 for it), replace BOTH fans, replace the GPU Heatsink, and replace the Keyboard.

It's way overpriced, and if you run out of warranty you're usually f***ed if something happens, the only time i'd recommend an Alienware is if you absolutely need to compromise between performance and mobility (though the mobility part is debatable), AND if you're willing to pay for an extended warranty every year (you have to subscribe for that before your original warranty expires).

 

[AeonSoul]

You say so, but on the other hand there's alot of people which had 0 issues whatsoever. It's just a matter of luck, if you wish to call it so.

 

[BrokeHombre]

I would have to agree with AeonSoul, I have had my M17xR4 for almost 2.5yrs now, at first I had issues with the AC power supply which Dell replaced under warranty, then I did have an issue with the graphics card which again, Dell replaced under warranty. That was in the first month of having it. Since then I have not had any issue. Ive upgraded to WIndows 8.1 pro, and added an SSD drive. I mainly use it for work (IT Support) but I do manage to find time to play WOW at full ultimate resolution, my son will play World of Tanks at full resolution settings as well. In my own opinion, this is the best laptop I have had - Period. It has handled everything I have thrown at it and asked for more.

 

[Rapid_Sausage]

You say so, but on the other hand there's alot of people which had 0 issues whatsoever. It's just a matter of luck, if you wish to call it so.

as i said, it's from my personal experience.