Ive jumped in at the deep end... - Page 2

shit 800 bucks for vat? WTF??? Thats highway robbery.

7700 my specs & questions

Hi all:
New to this forum; will soon (hopefully soon, that is) be a proud new owner of an Area-51m 7700. I was actually 2 hours away from being the proud new owner of an Area 51-m 5500 on November 12th, when I happened to stop by the AW site and notice the sudden, unexpected release of the 7700. Meanwhile Fed-ex Tracking said my 5500 was on the truck on the way to my house! Man, that was stressful;especially since I had made sure to ask customer service before I ordered my 5500 if there were going to be any MAJOR new notebook changes in the next few months, and the guy said NO, that there was NO reason to hold off in getting my 5500, 'cause any new changes over the next few months would just be stuff I could upgrade to - like new GPU's, etc..And then I see the 7700 same day my 5500 is about to arrive! Anyway, in my state of shock I called AW and explained my dilemma & they said I could return the 5500 and order the 7700, but I'd have to make sure NOT to accept the package from Fed-ex or I'd have to pay a $500 restocking fee. T'was a stressful day, but I quickly submitted my 7700 order online and told the doorman in my apt. to not accept the FedEx package. That was all on Nov.12. Here's what I ordered (fairly similar to Sultan but for a few differences):

[1] Area-51m 7700

Case: Area-51m 7700 Case with 17" WideSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 LCD Display with Built-in Camera - Xeno Grey
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 560 w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 1MB Cache
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Hard Drive: Extreme Performance - RAID 0 - 120GB (60GB x 2) 7200 RPM ATA100 - Hitachi
Video Card: Area-51m 7700 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go with 256MB of DDR2 memory
Sound Card: Sound-Blaster Pro Compatible 3D Audio
Modem: 56K Modem with V.92 Technology
Ethernet NIC: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundled with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Motherboard: Intel® 915P Chipset Supporting PCI-Express
Optical Drive One: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Wireless Network: Internal Wireless 802.11a/b/g miniPCI Card
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager

Estimated Delivery Date: 12/23/04

As this will be my first Alienware system, I'm confused about a few things. First of all, I noticed Sultan's options list included the AlienAdrenaline Performance Optimizer, which I remember selecting when I ordered my 5500. But I did not see that as an option for the 7700 when I ordered it online. Just to check, I reconfigured my system before posting this to see if they added the AlienAdrenaline as an option since my order, but I still didn't see it. So why is AW only offering it with the 7700 in the U.K and not the U.S? That sort of sucks, since it sounds like a cool option.

Finally, just wanted to ask: does anyone know whether the 7700 has user-upgradeable graphics? This is something I didn't really care about the day I ordered it; I didn't have time to get into details, what with my 5500 around the corner - and besides, I was just too psyched about getting a PCIe-based notebook, and not only that, but the fact that I was getting the 6800go, after hearing that the 6800 was so awesome. So I wasn't wondering back then if the card will be upgradeable in the future, but now I am curious; after all, it was user-upgradeable graphics that made me settle on AW in the first place when I ordered my 5500, 'cause no other notebook manufacturers seemed to offer such a unique option in the AGP graphics world. But the irony now is that AW seems to be like the only company releasing their version of this PCIe-based 6800go 'desktop replacement' that doesn't explicitly stress that its Graphics Card is upgradeable; meanwhile, all the other 'brand' notebook dealers releasing their own PCIe desktop rep. versions list user-upgradeable Graphics - like VoodooPC, Hypersonic, etc. So does this mean that the Nvidia 6800go in the Area-51m 7700 is not MXM? Confused about this AND the AlienAdrenaline issue.

Thanks to anyone who can clarify this stuff for me.

wow, we ordered same system basically and on the same day. I am still on phase 2. What is wrong with that picture?

I ordered on the day it was released in the UK, cancelling my 5500 order. It was actually few hours after release, but I'm still in phase 2. Maybe I need to check with AW to see if the order status is updated

i might jump in later. it depends on the 5500 avalibility. look out for my silver 7700 in may 2005
see the specs

glad you are moving, we ordered same day...I am still stuck phase 2! LOL

Majestica, I ordered the day it came out and I'm still in phase 2 like you LOL

Hehehe seems like im the only one close to Sultan, im phase 5 now

looks like we will be in the same boat together

I got my phase 6 e-mail today, hopefully i'll be in phase 8 by the end of the week...

*crosses fingers*

it could be only 1 more day . Mine went from 9 to shipped in one day , so you should have your system soon

DB...I am not rich enough!!! Bow to your royal ass until I win the lottery