Alienware Area-51 7500 Comparison

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TalJ

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#9707 7-Oct-2006 05:21

Hi,

My computer is starting to age and I want to buy a serious machine that will last me 5 years and will still be a leading piece of hardware.

After some research, I conclude that my next computer will definitly be an Alienware product.

I normally take computers to the limit, running heavy programs that use up lots of CPU. I do lots of burning, recording, exporting, movie editing and sound editing. I use a home studio program that was created for Work Stations, it works on my current computer, but is a little edgy. I love to play games so the computer definintly needs high graphics and ram.

I want to compare the Desktop Area-51® 7500 and the Laptop Aurora m9700.

Here are the specifications for thhe Area 51® 7500 that I customized:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz 4MB Cache 1066MHz FSB

Genuine Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2

Alienware® AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling + High-Performance Liquid Cooling

Alienware® 700 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply

Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI Motherboard

2GB DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 x 1024MB

250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache (2 Drives of 250 = 500 GB)

16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive

16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive w/LightScribe Technology

High Performance 7.1 Audio - Standard

And this is for $3,446.00 (+ a Monitor 17")

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And now the Laptop Aurora m9700:

AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML44 2.4GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache

Genuine Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2

Alienware® NVIDIA® Mobile SLi Chipset

2GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 1024MB

320GB (2 x 160GB) Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 5,400 RPM w/ 8MB Cache

8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW & 24X CD-RW Burner w/Software

Dual 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS - SLI Enabled

High-Definition Audio with surround sound

Internal 802.11b/g WiFi Card w/ Airgo MIMO Technology

Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem

Integrated Bluetooth® Device

Alienware® m9700 12-cell Lithium-Ion Smart Battery Pack

This is for $4,178.00

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These are the two specifications for the computers. The laptop, almost 600 Dollars more is portable, but I believe is less powerful. Hope you guys can help me decide.

Thanks,

Tal

JAMMAN2110

872 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 4

Trusted

#47838 7-Oct-2006 17:31

I do apologise but I fail to find a question for us to

help me decide

and to be completely honest this post looks more like an advertisement to me.
I presume that you want us to help you decide between the two products...

Portabily = Laptop otherwise get the desktop.
The desktop also appears to be "more powerful"

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 555

#48481 12-Oct-2006 16:06

5 Year life time and still be high end ? Doubtful at the rate PC parts expand.

Why waste money on a new computer ? IF your current one does the job of your "home studio" then just use that! Resist the urge to buy new toys!

If you want games, go for a console of some kind, with those you don't really need to look at the box to see if it will run (for the moment).

TalJ

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#48541 13-Oct-2006 10:22

Hey,

its not only the fact that I have this urge for a new toy..my current computer is great! worth 800 Euro on the market. Only problem is that I am sick and tired of re-installing it over and over again. Once it is installed..it runs for 3-6 months perfectly..then I start getting the bsod (blue screen of death) whenever I put a blank cd into the drive. The computer starts getting serious erros and hangs for 10 minutes to load studio 10 (home-studio program).

Worse than that, I do not know how to re-install my computer. I have never had the time to do it. My Dad or friend always has to come and do it for me.

I dont know if this is some hardware/software problem..but I havent found anything on the internet and have also asked computer specialists about this. Some told me virus..my computer is clean..i use Norton Anti-Virus 2006 + Windows Defender + Microsoft Anti Spyware..I have never had a virus problem. Others said it might be hardware..but then why does it work again after I re-install it? And others have said its software related. One said that I get the bsod when I insert a CD because of the program Nero 7 Premium. I dont know why this should be because it works fine for a few months and then ... ?????? and the computer messes up.

My current computer has pretty good spec:

ProcessorIntel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz Version: x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 3 Speed: 2793 MHz

Memory (RAM)
Capacity: 1024

Local Disk Sum of Hard Disks: (C: D:)Total Capacity: 223.57 GBUsed: 20.89 GBFree: 202.68 GB Video CardModel: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Sound CardModel: SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio Network Card

Model: Wireless USB Card Model 0801 (recieves up to 11MB/Per Second)

CD-ROM Drive (E:)Model: _NEC DVD_RW ND-2510A CD-ROM Drive (F:)Model: HL-DT-ST CD-ROM GCR-8523B Case:Model: Case PC OEM AURORA White 400W ATX Operating System:Windows XP – Home Edition

I just wish it would run smothly.

It is 2 1/2 years old. Would upgrading the ram to 2 GB make a big difference?

Thanks,

TalJ

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 555

#48546 13-Oct-2006 11:41

Welcome to the world of computers! And Windows in general :-)

Hopefully this won't come off as insulting, and I assure you that's not my intention.

I come from the school of thought that a computer should be bought for a purpose, what I mean is that if you are a little old lady wanting to talk to her grandkids over seas by e-mail, then an honest (hohoho) sales guy should not sell her a QuadCore, 64Bit supercomputer that an evil mastermind could take over the world with! The mythical honest sales guy should be pointing her at a nice little everythingisintegrated machine with pretty much two buttons .. On and E-mail.
Like with yourself, you need a computer that is simple (no insult but you did say you don't know how to reinstall stuff) why go for a setup that is going to be a complete nightmare to support ? Running an Operating System that you have little knowledge of, no real idea of how it gets viruses or what software is "safe" to download and install.

This is where it gets hard not to come across as insulting :-) You REALLY need to go on a computer course!

In regards to what computer to get ... find a friend who is knowledgable and can think of a solution on a broader scale and get hi/her to go computer shopping for you, try to narrow down what you really do with it and see if they can come up with the ideal system.

My personal preference is Apple machines, mainly because I work on computers day in day out and don't want a machine I have to fuss around with when I get home, OS X is pretty robust (like I don't bother running any AntiVirus software at all as there are so few it's not worth wasting the money on or adding the complications to the computer) and the interface pretty enough to satisfy most home users. Main draw back is that choice of software is nowhere near as comprehensive, but what does get produced tends to aim at the Prosumer level for graphicy/videoy/soundy stuff ... oh and the other draw back is a price premium.

Like I said, do some of those free college courses and get a grasp of whats going on inside a computer and how it all talks together ... and if your computer fixing/buying friend is patient get them to show you how an OS gets re-installed and what all the questions mean :-)

Have fun!

TalJ

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#48683 15-Oct-2006 08:48

Hey,

Thanks, not insulted at all!

Ehm..I think I undersaid myself a little. I know lots about computers how they work, what they do and what kind of software is afe to download.

I have studied computers now for 4 years in a row in highschool (Now in 11 grade) and have been scoring 100% in most IT tests. I have one downside with XP computers..I have never actually had the time to go through the re-installation which really sucks. I always either get an automatic CD re-installer with the comptuer or a software on that is built in and does the re-installing.

I went with one of my cousins who actualy works in computer hardware designing (Toshiba) and he went with me around a few shops and internet sites. We looked at the alienware Area-51 7500 and he said that that is a very good computer that will do great for a few good years, for my needs. Only downside is he showed me that Alienware is taking over 700$ for their awsome casing. We took the exact specifications to 3 different computer shops in Amsterdam (I live in the Netherlands) and found that I could get almost 1000$ dollars cheaper (not including the shipment) for exactly the same pieces of hardware without the case from alienware.

We also discused between a Laptop and a Desktop and finaly agreed that for my needs, High quality video editing and super graphics gaming, that a desktop will last longer, and be cheaper.

Thanks for the support!