Just places an order for the M14x for her, and will an external bluray drive as the alternate solution, I guess M17x would be too bulky and heavy for her, Dell already emailed me should get the stock in around 2 weeks time.

M14x
* Nebula Red with Soft Touch Finish
* 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM 2.2GHz (3.1GHz with Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (English)
* 14" (35.6cm) WLED HD+ (900p) display (1600X900)
* 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 4GB)
* 750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
* Slot Load 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability
* 1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ technology (Nebula Red)
* Internal High-Definition 5.1 Performance Audio with SoundBlaster X-Fi Audio
* Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video (MY)

Can M17X load SATA3 SSD?
The SSD available from dell's website is SATA2 or 3?

And can M17X run on dual GPU? Or GPU upgrade in the future?
Do u think now its the good time to buy M17X R3? Or should I wait for the R4?

Sorry, I'm new to gaming laptop, Thanks for guiding me 

If i wanna format my laptop, what shud i do first? [beside of backup and downoload driver and software from dell]

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Added on November 29, 2011, 10:13 pmC drive is os partition
D drive is files...
so just have to reformat C and install back the os into it?

which version of m17x u refer to??

m17x - sata 2
m17x r2 - sata 2
m17x r3 - sata 3

u can install sata 3 ssd on all version m17x but u only get sata 2 speed on m17x and m17x r2
m17x r4 not yet confirm the spec yet, for now still is a good buy for m17x r3, since sandy proc make a good jobs on processing.
Dell selling sata 2 and sata 3 ssd. u have to read on the ssd detail.

m17xr3 now come with i7 2820m and try to get the ati 6970m 2gb if your budget allow, upgrade to gtx580m.
not worth to get 100hz or 3d screen, i use both, feeling the same. 

M17XR3
there is only one option for CPU on dell malaysia website, which is i7 2860qm, I think its overkill for me, where can I downgrade the CPU? I dont see I7 2830 and 6970m from dell website 

Big jump meh from 6970 to GT580?

Can someone change the rumor thing? M18X is out liao haha!

M17x R3 rumour also can change

If i wanna format my laptop, what shud i do first? [beside of backup and downoload driver and software from dell]

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Added on November 29, 2011, 10:13 pmC drive is os partition
D drive is files...
so just have to reformat C and install back the os into it?

i7 2860m is the latest cpu. so sad, they withdraw the ati 6970m due to no stock i think. else is a good upgrade. 

btw... after 1 hours nfs the run, with all ultra setting + 120hz

my gpu still at 54-69'c, but my proc was 55-90'c due to i overclock and run at 4.7ghz TB to max for 8 core.   

Just ordered my M14x...    

What spec did you order wor?

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM 2.2GHz (3.1GHz with Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (English)
14" (35.6cm) WLED HD+ (900p) display (1600X900)
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 4GB)
500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ technology
Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6205 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology (for Malaysia)

Could you tell me how you are going to reinstall Windows? Do you use the Alienware Windows 7 DVD? Or, do you choose to use Windows 7 SP1 (MSDN) integrated image? Such choice may affect the need to backup the login background, user account pictures and your OEM key.