Chances of having a compatability problem are remote really but I go with the Intel processor and mobo, one less thing to think about. I am pretty sure Dells have that combo. Dell is talking with AMD however. If Dell uses AMD processors then the software developers are going to have to make sure things work with the AMD's.
Customer interaction is the problem. Patience is not one of their strong suits. If you don't mind that they are ok. As for Alienware, the backlog at the company is huge. But you could go here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ALIENWARE-AUROR...5QQihZ013QQcategoryZ46323QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Or here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Area51-m-17-w-B...1QQihZ013QQcategoryZ46323QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Or here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-Area-...8QQihZ014QQcategoryZ46323QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem These puppies don't come back to the market much. And there's a good reason too! If it weren't so heavy, I'd look into one myself. I saw a guy with one about six months ago and they are nice.
Yeah, they seem pretty good... Personally since I have never owned my own notebook I don't seem to be bothered by the issue of it being heavy. Unfortunately since I am very picky, when I looked into Alienware, I did not want to settle for anything other than the Aurora 7700.
Well, there was a link to an Aurora at a pretty good price. I hope you find what you want out there. Good luck and take care.
I discovered some great deals at Ebay.com for the Dell XPS I can get some with 2.16Ghz, 2Gb RAM, and a 512MB Nvidia GTX 7900. What do you guys think? http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Dell-Inspir...0QQihZ013QQcategoryZ42201QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
If you don't mind the cost, and it has your optional interests covered, it looks ok. Should provide you with years of computing power.
The cost is perfect. My spending limit is 3000 not to mention the bargain I'm getting because it has a 512MB vid card which would of normally costs me 400 extra