Halp, I'm facing laptop hardware issues
 

I've been using an Alienware Mx11 for two years with really no incident besides the screen's hinge cracking which was replaced under warranty by a traveling dude, so that was nice.

But now (pretty certain out of warranty) my poor Rocketpowered Lawnmore has a host of problems... I've overheated it about three or four times as a product of how small it is, last week the backspace key broke off and now I've noticed the hinge is starting to crack like it had last year.

I have a little bit of cash on hand, and I'm thinking a netbook is in order but I'm unsure...

I got the Mx11 to play games which I don't do as frequently to justify such a purchase a second time but I like the ability to play stuff when I want to, so I figured I would just pool money and take a run at building a system on my own time.


Either way, I'm starting to worry about my poor, roughly used, little buddy and would greatly appreciate suggestions. Thank you!

What do you need help with then?

Opinions, really, on if a decent netbook or a small laptop would be the way to go and where I should look into purchasing one.

Float Test.
only way to be sure.

Netbooks are trash. Stay away.

Outside of that, what would you be using it for?

By "Building a system", does that mean you're considering building a tower or what? You can't necessarily "Build" a laptop. Well you could, but you'd spend a lot more money than buying a complete one.

Right, I'd build a tower for any gaming / processor intensive uses (might have to edit video someday.. not that I want to though) and I in the mean time I'd need a laptop to write up notes and assignements for school and my job. Being able to handle iTunes, YouTube, and any other basic media uses would be the most strain I'd think of using it for. Hence, portability being a selling point.

one of these days I want to build a nice desktop for my flight simulator.


......another thead though. :)

OK. I like the sound of that.

I'd look into some of the ultra portable laptops. My main laptop has a 13" screen, and I think that's just about a perfect combination of portability and screen size. I'd stay away from the tiny netbooks though. I've never known a single owner of one of those to look back and say "Yeah, that was a quality purchase."

What about cost, and what are the odds I'll have a Windows OS with at least word included..?

Cost is all variable depending on what components are important to you.

OS and Word depends on your morality. If you prefer to pay, you're looking at probably over $200 for both Windows and Office. Free if you yell YARRRR!

We could suggest some builds for you if you tell us what components you'd prefer.

Talked to a professor that pretty much told me to get a gaming system to be able to work professionally in my field, which makes me groan but whatever..

So at this point is it better to get a top end laptop with some durability and eschew the self-built desktop or..

See, as incredibly dumb as I admit it is, I've liked AW's products. I had a 17in laptop and would still be using it had I not ordered it underpowered in processing power, if I could get the LCD screen replaced (lines of pixels purpled-out) and if it wasn't so ****ing big. 2 of the 3 problems were errors on my part.

That being said, I don't know if I can justify making a 3rd AW purchase in under 5 years time. That, and I don't have the cash on hand for such a purchase at this time.

Im not sure that high end laptops and durability are synonymous. I'm not sure this is entirely true, but from my experience and from what i've been told, the higher performance stuff also produces more heat (assuming you're working it hard and taking advantage of the hardware). More heat = higher chance of hardware failure.

It's not because you bought a BAD laptop...it's just something that's inherent in laptops because of the extremely limited space and ventilation.

Yeah, the only way I'd get a large high end laptop is if it didn't travel much at all. Negates the advantage of a laptop. 17"ers usually weigh too much to adequately support the frame when you're holding it. Creates lots of flex across the surface. And they're hard to keep cool if they're beefed up.

Alienware uses quality parts, but they focus too much on bling and lights. And you always overpay.

I wouldn't necessarily go after a gaming system. I'd build one that's similar minus overpaying for the graphics card.

Do you have the confidence to build your own?

Laptop? Heck no. Tower? Maybe, my mx11 is a core i7 dual processor with the most ram I could order at the time windows7 64 with... Furk I forgot ther GFX Card but it's decent too... What would be a comparable tower build along with monitor / speaker?