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A New Alien :D (m5550)

post #1 of 47
8/14/06 at 5:00pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I just ordered an m5550 today w/the 1.66 GHz Core Duo. I'm debating on going to the 2 GHz. Any suggestions?

I've read that people who have ordered the 1.66 GHz have been getting the 1.83? Is this true?

I'm also getting the Media Edition of XP. Would XP Pro be better?

I thought I've read somewhere that the Media Edition of XP can be modified to run as XP Pro. Anyone know if this is true?

I'm getting the m5550, w/the Nvidia 7600 video card, and the 8x DVD burner.

Any other suggestions.

The memory I can upgrade cheaper thru Newegg, and the HD, I'm getting the base model. I've got a new 60 Gb Hitachi 7200 rpm that I just bought.

I plan on running games such as Anarchy Online and Oblivion on it.


Thx.
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post #2 of 47
8/14/06 at 5:37pm
cool we should get both are notbooks around the same time. I have read alot about people getting the 1.83 for free but weather you will or not is another matter.

As for the ram i was really silly and should have got base ram and upgraded using newegg. You live and learn i guess.
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post #3 of 47
8/14/06 at 9:42pm
^ about the processor upgrade, yes me and snookiez both got free upgrades. We think it's because we orderd a while back when they were first released. The processors were backordered and the 1.66 might still not have been ready so they just put in 1.83's instead. The option to upgrade is still online so I cant see them giving free upgrades but you never know. And everything is in now so backorders shouldnt be a problem. Hopefully you will be a lucky one too
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post #4 of 47
8/14/06 at 9:48pm
mabye you should just overclock it...
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post #5 of 47
8/14/06 at 10:54pm
Thread Starter 
Well here's my order as it stands:

Area-51® m5550
Processor: Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 2.0GHz
O/S : Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Display: 15.4" WideXGA 1280 X 768 LCD
Memory: 512 mb Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM (to be upgraded to 2 Gb through Newegg.com)
Hard Drive: 60 Gb Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 5,400 RPM (to be upgraded w/a new 60 Gb Hitachi 7200 rpm that I have)
CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo
Video Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600

ESD: Monday 08/21/06

For three dollars a month more, plus changing from XP Pro to XP MCE, I can go for the 2.16 GHz Duo Core? What do you think?
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post #6 of 47
8/15/06 at 5:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoHack
For three dollars a month more, plus changing from XP Pro to XP MCE, I can go for the 2.16 GHz Duo Core? What do you think?
awesome looking machine 1. i think pro is better than media center 2. 2.0 is fine (its what i have) 3. if u upgrade anything more, make it your warranty
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post #7 of 47
8/15/06 at 8:26am
I'd go with the 1.8 or 2.0 CPU at least, because you can't count on the free upgrade from the 1.66 - but even the 1.66 will be a good system.

I've got XP Media Center on my m5500 and truthfully - no noticeable difference compared to XP Pro. So - it really depends on your needs, if you want to do fancy networking stuff, go XP Pro. If you just want to work within a home network system, Media Center is fine.

Congrats on the new system.
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post #8 of 47
8/15/06 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I made some changes as suggested:

Area-51® m5550
Processor: Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 2.0GHz
O/S : Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition with Service Pack 2
Display: 15.4" WideXGA 1280 X 768 LCD
Memory: 512 mb Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM (to be upgraded to 2 Gb through Newegg.com)
Hard Drive: 60 Gb Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 5,400 RPM (to be upgraded w/a new 60 Gb Hitachi 7200 rpm that I have)
CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo
Video Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600
Warranty: 2-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service

I went back to the Windows XP MCE OS and got the 2 year Extented Warranty instead.

Thx.

ESD: Tuesday 08/22/06

Ordered: 08/14/06
Status: 08/16/06 - Phase 5: (Production Phase 1 - Assembly)
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post #9 of 47
8/15/06 at 9:21pm
Nice system! Congrats!

Looks like you and I will be getting our new Aliens on the same day

I played AO for about a year and a half... how is it these days?
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post #10 of 47
8/16/06 at 12:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalison
Nice system! Congrats! Looks like you and I will be getting our new Aliens on the same day I played AO for about a year and a half... how is it these days?
I still play it once in a while, mostly in the non-summer months when there is nothing to do. Lots of people playing. It's not a dying game, that's for sure. Alien Invasion is a disappointment. It's become a high lvl (200+) only playing game. The teams have become closed out to all except the highest lvl's. The main game, AO, is now free to everyone. Usually around this time of the year I start updating my hardware, only this year, I'm going for a good laptop that I can play games on. I tried a Toshiba w/the ATI Xtreme 200m chipset/video combo, but I'm not happy w/it playing games. I've tried a processor upgrade, more memory, and a faster HD, but they did little. So I decided to go for the m5550 w/it's faster dual core processor, better chipset, and the nVidia 7600 video card. Also, I thought I read, or heard that the m5550 will actually support 4 Gb of memory (2x 2 Gb sticks). While the 32 bit version of XP doesn't support more than 2 Gb of memory, Vista does.
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post #11 of 47
8/16/06 at 12:36am
Man, AO brings back a lot of memmories Hell, I think WoW was still in the "talks" of being made back when I was playing it... that was around 00-01 period. I had a 187 Solitus Adventurer "Hisaomaro" I think I had just about everything Tarasque had to offer an Advent.

You'll have to let me know how well that 5550 runs for you... it was one of my considerations.


Yeah, every 2 1/2 to 3 years my friends and I use saved cash to completely overhaul our machines together... well this time I got a hazing because of my choice to go with a notebook. I just like the portability though... pop it in a bag and head over to the LAN party... done deal, ya know? Finally I got something thats powerful enough to actually play games, and small enough to take anywhere (well... you know).
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post #12 of 47
8/16/06 at 1:01am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalison
You'll have to let me know how well that 5550 runs for you... it was one of my considerations. Yeah, every 2 1/2 to 3 years my friends and I use saved cash to completely overhaul our machines together... well this time I got a hazing because of my choice to go with a notebook. I just like the portability though... pop it in a bag and head over to the LAN party... done deal, ya know? Finally I got something thats powerful enough to actually play games, and small enough to take anywhere (well... you know).
I think the age of the laptop is here, to evenually take over all, except for the most extreme desktops. Everything in one small package. The processors are catching up, w/the duo cores, and so are the video cards. The costs of the LCD displays have dropped a lot, thanks to the television market. The display was the most expensive part of the laptop. As for performance, on AC you can run full bore on all your hardware, while on battery, you can still run, but at lowerer performance, but let's face it, how often do people w/laptops run them on battery vs. AC? Then, as you point out, their portability. The only issue is, how big a built in monitor due you want, or need, 14, 15, 17, 19, and yes even 20" now.
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post #13 of 47
8/16/06 at 1:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoHack
I think the age of the laptop is here, to evenually take over all, except for the most extreme desktops. Everything in one small package. The processors are catching up, w/the duo cores, and so are the video cards. The costs of the LCD displays have dropped a lot, thanks to the television market. The display was the most expensive part of the laptop. As for performance, on AC you can run full bore on all your hardware, while on battery, you can still run, but at lowerer performance, but let's face it, how often do people w/laptops run them on battery vs. AC? Then, as you point out, their portability.
I think you're right...the majority of people who own laptops still use them while on AC. The only time I use battery on my company laptop is for a quick lookup of information... when I'm out in the field. Even then I'm often only on it for 20-30 mins max. Few years back I always wanted to own a laptop.. but there was just too many things you had to give up (especially for the price you had to pay)... these days the performance has all but caught up. Now the prices for performance laptops like ours just needs to come into range (and they have already made huge a leap in prices, anyone can afford some sort of laptop).
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post #14 of 47
8/16/06 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 
At work they are getting rid of all the laptops.

I'm running CATIA V5 (CAD) on my Dell Precision M70 laptop at work. That's no easy feat on a laptop.

The only time I use it on battery is at meetings, or on the factory floor.
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post #15 of 47
8/16/06 at 1:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoHack
At work they are getting rid of all the laptops.

I'm running CATIA V5 (CAD) on my Dell Precision M70 laptop at work. That's no easy feat on a laptop.

The only time I use it on battery is at meetings, or on the factory floor.


My previous job, we had to support a group of engineers that was running CATIA, although there wasnt many of them... they rarely had issues. Thats a pretty intensive program.
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post #16 of 47
8/16/06 at 2:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalison
My previous job, we had to support a group of engineers that was running CATIA, although there wasnt many of them... they rarely had issues. Thats a pretty intensive program.
CATIA is really nothing compared to the database program that we need to run w/it, call Enovia. That's one pain of a program to learn and use.
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post #17 of 47
8/18/06 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 
Status: 08/18/06 - Phase 8: (Production Phase 4 - Quality Control)

Estimated Shipping Date: Monday 08/21/06

Hopefully I can get it by next weekend.

Better get my 2 Gb of memory ordered from Newegg this weekend.

Anyone have any suggestions for a good performing memory brand? Mushkin (2x 1 Gb) PC2-5300 CAS-5 matched pair? Anyone make a PC2-5300 CAS 4?

Thx

.
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post #18 of 47
8/18/06 at 6:06pm
As you are aware i have been looking for the same thing, Mushkin is the only brand i have found so far. SO if anyone else finds anything let me know also.

My machine shipped yesterday so i should get mine according to Fed Ex 22nd me=very happy and excited
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post #19 of 47
8/18/06 at 9:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoHack
Status: 08/18/06 - Phase 8: (Production Phase 4 - Quality Control)



Anyone have any suggestions for a good performing memory brand? Mushkin (2x 1 Gb) PC2-5300 CAS-5 matched pair? Anyone make a PC2-5300 CAS 4?


.

I personally really like Mushkin. I have the same RAM on order from Newegg, myself.
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post #20 of 47
8/18/06 at 11:44pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,

Well I ended up going to a local Fry's and buying 2 gb of Patriot (2x 1 gb) DDR2, PC-2 5300, CAS 5 , memory for my laptop, for $159.99.

Patriot is suppose to be pretty good memory, from what I've read, plus the PDP memory that Alienware uses, makes the Patriot's.

As soon as I get my laptop, hopefully next weekend, I'll be doing a bunch of benchmarks. Those of you who do get the Mushkins from Newegg can maybe do the same, so that we can see who makes the better memory.
.
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