<p>17-inch and 8~10 pounds?
Planning on studying computer science.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this is OK or not. People tell me I should have bought a lightweight laptop and built a PC myself instead. But realistically I don't trust myself (or others) enough to build PCs...so I did not...even though corporate-built PCs are not that much better anyways.</p>
<p>Stats-wise it is definitely enough for any activity with the exception of video/audio rendering. What I'm concerned about is the practicalities of such a huge laptop. I'm fine with carrying it around though. Just not sure if the tables are large enough (lol)</p>
<p>You’re also making a trade-off of size/power with battery life as well. A computer on that scale is not going to give you a huge battery life, and if you have a long day of classes in rooms without outlets, that could be problematic.</p>
<p>Also, in general, 17" is a large laptop and will be a hassle. Could you opt for a 15" variety instead? Also, from my experience, Alienwares are often overpriced for the specs. Is there a particular reason that you want an Alienware machine?</p>
<p>I love my Alienware. But carrying around even the 14 inch is somewhat annoying in my backpack. 17 inches is way too large for a laptop IMO. </p>
<p>@nanotechnology The battery life is actually pretty decent. 5 hours with Microsoft Word, PPT etc. because of the improvements made in Haswell. Though intensive apps like games will burn out the battery in 1.5~1.8 hours. </p>
<p>I’ve already bought it though (without thinking), so I can’t change my decision. 15" is much better, but the potential for hardware expansion is limited compared to 17". It is indeed rather overpriced, since I bought it when Haswell just came out. Oh well, kind of regretted it, but I can’t change anything. What I’m thinking though is to save money and buy a cheap laptop-tablet hybrid like Surface or something.</p>
<p>@relativelysmart Yeah, it is too big…oh well.</p>
<p>If you’ve already bought it, it doesn’t do any good to second guess yourself. I would say hold off on buying a second device, though. You already have this, so try it out. See how it works for your classes and workflow once you start in the fall and then decide if you want to get something else.</p>