Hey guys I have been wanting this notebook for a while and finally might be getting one.
If possible could you guys tell me if these specs are allright, and if there is anything I could change to reduce the price without taking too much out of the performance.

PROCESSOR 3rd generation Intel® Core(TM) i7-3720QM Processor(2.6GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.6GHz, 6MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM Windows® 7 Professional SP1 64bit (English)

WARRANTY & SERVICE 1-Year Premier Service

ESSENTIAL HELP Onsite help in your home, by Gizmo (1 Visit)

COLOR OPTIONS Nebula Red with Soft Touch Finish

MEMORY 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 4GB)

HARD DRIVE 256GB Solid State Drive

VIDEO CARD 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce®GT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus(TM) technology

OPTICAL DRIVE Blu-ray BD-ROM / DVD +/-RW Combo Drive

WIRELESS NETWORK CARD Killer(TM) Wireless-N 1202 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth

Also. Do I need that Gizmo onsite help?

256GB Hard drive is too less, most of it will be occupied with games.

dont buy the ssd from dell it's too expensive you can get one on tigerdirect or newegg for a cheap price

I'm not sure if the m14x has an msata slot but that could be a possibility if you get a 1tb hdd then add a msata ssd later for os that would save you quite a bit of money.

I would not get the blu ray drive. I got my m17x with just cd/dvd and have never needed blu ray.

msata is still pretty expensive,

Matt0808 said:HARD DRIVE 256GB Solid State Drive

VIDEO CARD 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce®GT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus(TM) technology

WIRELESS NETWORK CARD Killer(TM) Wireless-N 1202 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth

There is barely any performance increase in the 1GB and 2GB video card. Unless you're going to be connecting it to two external monitors, then the 1 GB video card should be more than enough.

The Killer Wireless Card is only a $40 upgrade but the Intel Wireless Card is just as good signal strengh wise & speed, in my opinion.

dryst_1025 said: msata is still pretty expensive,

Dell probably charges double for the 256gb ssd so getting something like a 120gb msata won't be as expensive as getting a 1tb hdd + 120gb msata I think.

Thanks guys. The 2gb video card is the only option to choose from. That's the same with the Optical Drive. I will probably now get a HDD but then change it later. Thanks again.

OPERATING SYSTEM Windows® 7 Professional SP1 64bit (English)

just get windows 7 home.

VIDEO CARD 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce®GT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus(TM) technology

1GB is just fine don't really need 2.

Where are you buying it from? Why is 2GB GPU the only option? It is a rip off, there is absolutely no performance difference when playing on resolution up to 1920x1080 which is higher than M14x native resolution. GPU is not strong enough to support games in higher resolution anyways, let alone multiple displays. If its the only option, go ahead but if you may have a choice, 1GB is a smarter buy.

Definately go with Windows 7 home premium. It's good enough. supports up to 16GB RAM

I would also go with 6GB RAM. You can buy 8GB RAM (2x4) from newegg for around $60 or less.

Definately get the cheapest HDD, you can add an SSD later on at a lower price giving you a dual HDD setup; an SSD for operating system and HDD for storage

I am buying it from Alienware Australia. Any other places?
I will also be buying an SSD and 8GB's of RAM later.
Any ideas for what SSD to get?

Do you have to remove the optical drive for an SSD and a HDD?

You dont need to remove the optical drive, the HDD or mSata are under the cover (msata under the battery)

Thanks for going to the effort to put a picture there.
If you would like to have both do you have to remove the Optical Drive?
Also what's the best SSD for an M14x?