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Aurora m9700: Ordered and Process Reviewed - Page 25

post #481 of 667
7/12/06 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
Alienware has a corporate sales division, you should contact them and they may be able to offer you a better price. Best of luck...

That's exactly what I did. I got a "corporate" quote, which, unsurprisingly, is exactly the same price that I got when I configured it on the website. I sent this quote off to my boss to place into our ordering system.

My guess is that corporate sales exists to handle large orders, servers, and to handle different payment types (P.O.s and the like).
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post #482 of 667
7/12/06 at 1:44pm
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post #483 of 667
7/12/06 at 2:29pm
Quote:
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 3
Greetings folks!

I've been snooping around here a while and thought I'd chime in on a new bit of intel that might happen. Given the title of this thread, I haven't seen anyone post that is taking the "corporate" route to obtain a laptop.

I have a requirement for a 64-bit laptop. Right now it's between the Alienware m9700 (my choice) or an Acer Ferrari 4006 (some IT dude's idea). Besides the fact that the Acer would come through a reseller (which I'm not comfortable with support-wise), there were a host of reasons why I'm leaning towards the m9700, despite being nearly twice as much (as I specc'd it, 3yr support, etc).

If my boss decides to try to order the m9700 for me, I will post here on my ordering experience. For now, I'm posting just to have a few more people crossing their fingers for me!

Wish me luck!

what is the notebook for?
I understand you need 64bit processor but please understand that the m9700 is designed for high end graphics.

honestly, if you're not doing intensive 3D graphic work, IE viedo game development, you really won't benefit from an SLI system.

the m9700 is designed for high graphic gaming, but will serve well with any 3d graphic intensive application.
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post #484 of 667
7/12/06 at 2:35pm
What sort of business are you in? As a game developer I was qualified for a 5% discount on the laptop. I'm willing to bet if it's a corporate purchase (especially a bulk one) you should be able to get an even larger discount.

See www.alienware.com/epp/ for details.
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post #485 of 667
7/12/06 at 2:41pm
It's Here!!!!
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post #486 of 667
7/12/06 at 2:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by marker01
what is the notebook for?
I understand you need 64bit processor but please understand that the m9700 is designed for high end graphics.

honestly, if you're not doing intensive 3D graphic work, IE viedo game development, you really won't benefit from an SLI system.

the m9700 is designed for high graphic gaming, but will serve well with any 3d graphic intensive application.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Salec
What sort of business are you in? As a game developer I was qualified for a 5% discount on the laptop. I'm willing to bet if it's a corporate purchase (especially a bulk one) you should be able to get an even larger discount.

See www.alienware.com/epp/ for details.

So. Let me be honest. I work as a consultant that deals with a specific server-based application which is due to be released 64-bit only. In order to virutualize this with VMWare, the laptop must have a 64-bit proc. That's the only requirement. However, this does not preclude me from using the laptop for other endeavours... *cough*WoW*cough*

Now, this doesn't mean the m9700 doesn't have features that would interest a corp user like myself. I travel a lot, and a 3 year ONSITE warranty is HUGE. Also, the RAID1 protection is VERY attractive.
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post #487 of 667
7/12/06 at 3:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InertKinesis
Did you check to see if your CPU driver is correct and if it's not have you fixed that? That was a problem on marker01's rig, I know, and it'll be the first thing I check when I get mine on Friday.

Yep, you absolutely want to do that part. It took my 3DMark score from mid-6k to 9900-10k on average.

I've noticed that I can get 10k intermittently, but it usually averages in the high 9900s most times. Given that there is no real driver lattitude (beta drivers that are better optimized) etc., I think it's where it needs to be for now.

As for practical benchmarking, it runs WoW and CSS like smooth glass with all the bells and whistles turned on at 1920x1200.

It was worth the wait (*grumble* at Hammer ).

By the way, even under a full load it's an extremely quiet system, my cooling pad is quite a bit louder than it (and the only reason I notice that is because I no longer have the jet engine of my Gen 1 Inspiron XPS running).
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post #488 of 667
7/12/06 at 3:31pm
Quote:
So. Let me be honest. I work as a consultant that deals with a specific server-based application which is due to be released 64-bit only. In order to virutualize this with VMWare, the laptop must have a 64-bit proc. That's the only requirement. However, this does not preclude me from using the laptop for other endeavours... *cough*WoW*cough*

Now, this doesn't mean the m9700 doesn't have features that would interest a corp user like myself. I travel a lot, and a 3 year ONSITE warranty is HUGE. Also, the RAID1 protection is VERY attractive.

as a corporate IT guy, who also enJoyes wow

your "best" decision would be the aurora m7700.

the dual core amd64 x2 (or fx if you have the money) will preform MUCH better with VMware then the single core "mobile" turion.

as for gaming preformance, you can get up to the 7900gtx in this bad boy, more then enough for wow.

that would be more practical for a business/pleasure machine
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post #489 of 667
7/12/06 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by marker01
as a corporate IT guy, who also enJoyes wow

your "best" decision would be the aurora m7700.

the dual core amd64 x2 (or fx if you have the money) will preform MUCH better with VMware then the single core "mobile" turion.

as for gaming preformance, you can get up to the 7900gtx in this bad boy, more then enough for wow.

that would be more practical for a business/pleasure machine

A few things:

1) Price-wise, an apples-to-apples config with the cheapest X2 processor makes the m7700 more expensive than the m9700 with no built-in bluetooth.

2) I spend a LOT of time on airplanes, and my perception is the battery life of the m9700 with the GS vid card and turion proc would yeild ultimately better battery life.

Plugged in, I need my notebook to scream, but I still need it to sorta act like a mobile laptop too. Besides, I like the grey better then the blue...
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post #490 of 667
7/12/06 at 3:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelthian
A few things:

1) Price-wise, an apples-to-apples config with the cheapest X2 processor makes the m7700 more expensive than the m9700 with no built-in bluetooth.

2) I spend a LOT of time on airplanes, and my perception is the battery life of the m9700 with the GS vid card and turion proc would yeild ultimately better battery life.

Plugged in, I need my notebook to scream, but I still need it to sorta act like a mobile laptop too. Besides, I like the grey better then the blue...

Good points, and you can always disable SLI and use just one 7900gs for even more battery life. It's also quite a bit slimmer and lighter than the 7700...

I was about to order an Aurora 7700 myself, then the m9700 came out. I was looking for a laptop with a mobile processor, and a single gtx card, but even though I'm not a big fan of SLI, the benefits and performance of this model swept me away...
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post #491 of 667
7/12/06 at 4:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelthian
A few things:

1) Price-wise, an apples-to-apples config with the cheapest X2 processor makes the m7700 more expensive than the m9700 with no built-in bluetooth.

2) I spend a LOT of time on airplanes, and my perception is the battery life of the m9700 with the GS vid card and turion proc would yeild ultimately better battery life.

Plugged in, I need my notebook to scream, but I still need it to sorta act like a mobile laptop too. Besides, I like the grey better then the blue...

Personally, i'd go for the 9700 hands down but that's because all I care about is raw gaming performance and the business performance is only a second priority (this will be my work machine as well). While the faster CPU does mean better performance in multitasking and business apps, it isn't THAT much better compared to say what SLI does for certain games such as Quake 4 and Fear. The 9700 will still perform very well with business applications. I'm not entirely sure that the system is 100% 64-bit compatible though. You'd have to rely on AW offering such drivers. I would definately contact their tech support department and find out from them before ordering. Also, if you're going to be on a plane and having this thing on your lap, you will want to invest in an external cooling pad as many reviews claim this thing can get quite hot.
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post #492 of 667
7/12/06 at 4:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Salec
I'm not entirely sure that the system is 100% 64-bit compatible though. You'd have to rely on AW offering such drivers. I would definately contact their tech support department and find out from them before ordering. Also, if you're going to be on a plane and having this thing on your lap, you will want to invest in an external cooling pad as many reviews claim this thing can get quite hot.

Cooling pad is in the works.

The cool thing about VMWare (and I have rechecked this three times) is you can run a 32-bit OS, with VMWare workstation, and have a 64-bit Guest OS, IF you have a 64-bit proc. I didn't believe it at first, but there is a knowledge base article on it. The Turion proc is listed as a supported proc. I'm good to go.
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post #493 of 667
7/12/06 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelthian
512 GB of RAM????

I WISH!!! thanks for pointing that out! I'm upgrading it as soon as I get it to 2GB.
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post #494 of 667
7/12/06 at 4:44pm
Just found out from the retailer that Acer doesn't offer onsite support (ship-in only). Huge win for Alienware for my situation.

Ever closer...
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post #495 of 667
7/12/06 at 5:24pm
Hold up Zelthain, do you plan to run VMware "Server" on this notebook?

if so, the Turion processor dosent stand a chance... nore does the m9700 in general...

if that is the case, you need something along the line of the MJ-12 m7700a with an AMD Opteron processor, RAID, and a butt tone of RAM.

http://alienware.com/product_detail_...de=SKU-DEFAULT
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post #496 of 667
7/12/06 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by marker01
Hold up Zelthain, do you plan to run VMware "Server" on this notebook?

Nope, VMWare Server requires a server OS (Windows Server 2003, etc). I'll be running VMWare Workstation 5.5.
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post #497 of 667
7/12/06 at 5:37pm
LAPTOP APPROVED!!!!!

*does the happy dance*

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post #498 of 667
7/12/06 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelthian
LAPTOP APPROVED!!!!!

*does the happy dance*

Congrats, you must have a cool boss.
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post #499 of 667
7/12/06 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
Congrats, you must have a cool boss.

Yes. Yes I do.
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post #500 of 667
7/12/06 at 6:22pm
Any jobs going there, Zelthian?
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