garetjax, you got the wrong notebook

[Capper]

Dell Readies $4,450 WoW Laptop

You are the technical elite. Not for you the vulgar holiday scramble to snag a $500 laptop. No, you demand the best.
Which is why Dell is going to let you shell out at least $4,450 for a new line of World of Warcraft-themed notebooks. The XPS M1730 World of Warcraft edition has the same specs as the regular XPS M1730 -- Extreme Edition Core 2 Duo processors, DX10 SLI graphics, Ageia mobile PhysX processor, illuminated keyboard, built-in camera -- plus a bushel of WoW visual tweaks and extras, including books and a chit for a custom in-game pet. Special Dell customers can buy one now; the rest of you have to wait until Dec. 11.
Offered in "Horde" or "Alliance" flavors to match the game's factions, buyers get the extras in a WoW backpack, including the game itself with the Burning Crusade expansion pack, strategy guides, a "making of" DVD and the audio soundtrack. Players will also get a "quest envelope" stuffed with a secret surprise.
Want a pre-paid custom action figure based on your in-game character? You get that, too.

Dell Readies $4,450 WoW Laptop

[One4yu2c]

If they make his and hers, I wonder who would get the latter, Garet or Captain Crunch.

[NoctisReitop]

*breaks those damn laptops* Feh! That's insane! My god, I can't even imagine what shall ensue. Ultimately, Dell is going to make a lot of money =\; though it's not like they're not already doing that with Alienware under their belt...

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by NoctisReitop

Ultimately, Dell is going to make a lot of money...

I doubt it. At the moment, HP is kicking Dell's ass up and down the street when it comes to laptop sales. This is simply another (wasted) effort on Dell's part in order to regain some of the laptop market it has lost to HP. Honestly, anyone that pays $4,500 for a WoW themed laptop is an idiot. You are basically paying good money for a shitty, semi-souped up 17" Vostro, with a couple of LEDs thrown in and the "XPS" logo stamped on every flat surface.

The fact of the matter is that you don't need a $4,500 laptop (SLI'd with Aegia no less) to play WoW well on. Hell, even a stripped down 8400GS plays fine with WoW.

[RAID]

i love that avatar

[NoctisReitop]

Originally Posted by garetjax

Honestly, anyone that pays $4,500 for a WoW themed laptop is an idiot.

Amen...
I am culprit of ending up with an Alienware laptop, but I kept the price down. Regardless, I know now my faults and I will not make that mistake ever again.

The WoW hype is so big though, you don't think it'll sell?

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by NoctisReitop

The WoW hype is so big though, you don't think it'll sell?

It might for those that value geek-cred, but other than that, expect sales of this laptop to not fare very well. Here's the thing. For a $4,500 investment, you could instead purchase a Voodoo, or for that matter, a Falcon Northwest 17" laptop based on Sagers' highly popular (and extremely competent) NP9261 or NP5791 whitebooks. Both feature SLI, and both will most definitely rock harder than what Dell is trying to push.

Personally, given a battle between the Dell WoW Edition and an Envy made by Voodoo, Voodoo will win hands down. Plus, you will mostly likely save some cash in the deal, and you can expect better customer service from Voodoo/Falcon Northwest to boot.

[One4yu2c]

I think Dell will do all right with it; WoW has a massive following. And I haven't looked at Falcon, but browsing Voodoo, the cost of entry on a near Core 2 Extreme equivalent (E6700 2.66GHz), SLI notebook is almost $6000, and that only includes 1GB DDR2-533, 100GB HDD, and the now very dated 7950 videocard.

By comparison, the highest end Dell M1730 (these notebooks are based on the M1730, though I have no idea which exact one) costs $4,440 and sport a Core 2 Extreme X7900 processor (2.8GHz), 2GB DDR2-667, 400GB HDD, dual 8700MGT videocards, PhysX processor, and integrated Sound Blaster Audigy.

The WoW version will naturally be overpriced, and it's still a Dell, but if they lack in sales, it won't because of Voodoo or other top tier boutique vendors.

[Loosecannon]

I really don't get it , you could buy a beast of a desktop AND a half decent laptop that is MORE than capable of running WOW , still have enough left over for a months worth of take out and if you really feel the need go buy the stupid action figure also.

[One4yu2c]

Unfortunately, notebooks don't enjoy the same pricing structure as their desktop brethren, particularly high end gaming laptops and/or desktop replacements, which is what these look to be.

You can, however, find some nifty deals on very well equipped notebooks at places like CyberPower.