M14X Shuts Down on Battery

If you check early replies - almost no computer could output over 100watts on battery.

The real issue is you never know when/what software is trigging the death, maybe on a train or plane, then the $2k machine becomes a big big frustration

 

Whatever... guess I just have to get over it or return the laptop... Either way... the battery issue is sort of a deal killer... I'd have gone for the M11x... but hate the screen quality on that one. And the M17x is just too big...

 

One should try to contact Chris M for the fix. He's on NBR too.

 

Dell won't admit, but we're the cheapest labor ever in Quality Assurance testing.

Release laptops, and let the community fix/report the issues. That's how i see it.

 

We pay them to test their product

 

New owners are always known as unpaid beta testers. That's why unlike the M11x, I am waiting a while to buy the M14x.

Don't mind the compter downclocking while on battery that's to be expected, if I want to game I'll just plug it in, after all why turn off the lights on the keyboard just to save on battery while your running a game. You want all of the effects while having fun.

 

Does this mean theres no fix?

 

My guess would be there was nothing technically wrong with the machine. Its a laptop and people want 15 minutes of gaming on ultra high settings. To me its like expexting a race car to be fine with the pettle to the floor and it not hurt the engine, just not going to happen.

 

I will give it another week before calling my credit card for charge back.
Dell UK ignored my emails, that is the only way I can get them talking.

 

Well.... if you pay $1500+ you expect to be able to game on the go without the cable in my opinion.
I'm looking a Clevo or something now. For a couple hundred bucks more you can get a much better but bigger machine with a great graphics card

 

I guess you're right on that one, but I don't think a Clevo can stand up to 4 hrs of just doing basic tasks if your not gaming, or even an hour while your gaming @ max performance. Plus you'd have to carry a brick with you..

 

First, we should look at the way the M14x is advertised. "Annihilate From Anywhere" were the three words I read on the AW site.

So if they mean portable gaming, then it should fulfill the needs of those who want gaming, but at the same time not to miss the portability factor.

So guys, the best way would be to return this 14 incher, and wait for a fix.

I'm not discouraging anyone. The ultimate decision is in your hands. Either return it, or keep it, but you would have to be a wall socket crap. Then it's just a desktop replacement. The best thing in this case, would be M17x R3, or M18x.

Or if you want gaming with portability, then get the M11x.

 

This one, I agree with very much. I should've just considered the m11xR3. . . I don't want to back out on my purchase now, since I would want for them to make a fix to make the booboo all better. Chris, where are you?

 

I've asked GabeZ to talk to Chris about the progress of the fix. He might come with a response soon.

 

PM sent.

Folks, remember - you can reach out to any of the Dell reps. They come to this forum to help all of us, their customers. While they may not be able to respond to every PM or request to assist, they definitely do their best. They may not always have new information pertaining to a given issue. I'm sure when something changes, we'll hear about it.

 

Hello everyone , if you would please POST your POLL on this post it would really HELP . its would be officially on Dell's site and would definitely get noticed quicker .
Alienware m14x shutdown on battery - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

 

Greetings Workwithdell,
Dell Chris is the moderator of the Alienware Club on the the Dell Community forum. He is well aware of the issue, and re-posting is not necessary.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

When I get my M14 and leave everything stock can I play a game on medium settings going for better fps instead of better images? I ask this cause from what I have read my understanding is if I set power setting to high and set my games settings to max and play on battery it will shut down. If this is the case then I can ignore this issue as a gamer fps is my comcern not the best lookin image since that won't help me frag anyone anyway and I would rather be able to react faster over a pretty picture.

 

I have sumbitted this and other threads along with service tags to engineering. No word yet on status. I know they are working it.

 

Thank you for the update Chris and thanks for keeping it in the spotlight.

 

Also want to say Thanks!
Really, Really Appreciate the response from a Dell rep.

You seem like a very busy guy, Chris, I hope they pay you well at Dell!

 

Thanks Chris!

 

Thanks a lot Gabe, and Chris. Now we can ease ourselves and eye onto the upcoming firmware update.

 

Do you guys think the update will require lowering performance? I mean wouldn't this hinder the laptop somehow when gaming under battery? Well I hope updating the firmware won't make a noticeable difference in gaming..And if it does, I hope they still make the M14 run 100% when plugged in. I know odds are they will, but you never know.

 

Cool. Good to know Dell's working on it. But any ETA on the fix, Chris?

 

Xeno -

From that, I take it as "No ETA yet".

 

Aww ok.. Better leave them to it then. It's better for them to get it done right, rather than rushed and wrong.

 

Did they really not have a single person try to game on battery power when developing this thing? I can't believe an issue this major made it through the r&d phase... I'm a mechanical engineering student (on co-op) and I'd be fired if anything I was responsible made it to production with such obvious functionality missing.

 

HUMJABA: Welcome to the world of "stuff Happens" We would like to think that every possible combination has been tried before the product rolls out the door, but there are product schedules to keep and productivity charts to update not everything gets tried before it rolls out the doors

Hey I should know I own a m11x on its second and hopefully last lcd change.

 

Right... but you would think that gaming on max settings, while on battery would be a bit obvious....

 

Running any game made in the last year with the laptop unplugged would have revealed this. It's not quality control, it's not some obscure bug that only happens when the moon and stars align a certain way. It's a fundamental flaw in the laptop's design that affects *every* laptop and should have been caught 5 minutes after the first prototype unit was received.

 

Yknow....
I bet they already knew about the problem early on.

Cuz when I got mine.... When i would set me power management profile to "max performance" my gpu was still Set to "balanced" mode.
You would think by default that max performance would mean... Well... MAX performance....

It wasn't until I set it in the obscure advanced power management options.. That I was able to enable it and end up having this problem.

I think they switched the max performance profile to be that way with this problem in mind.... Hoping most people wouldn't run into the problem and just fix it through an update or something.

 

So since Chris mentioned that service tags were sent to the engineering team, that means I should PM my service tag, huh? *starts pm'ing*

 

while I don't own an m14x, it appears to use a similar battery to the m11x (8 cell 64 wh), but it has a higher power CPU and GPU, drawing more power and tripping the over-current protector on the battery. The most permanent fix would likely be a battery that can deliver more power.

 

^ Truth. But, it's cheaper to just give everyone a bios update that underclocks the graphics card.

 

my freaking service tag still isn't in their data base. GIVES?

 

Yeah and the GT 555M isn't like top top notch to begin with.

 

I dunno if they could just give us bigger batteries... I mean... It would have to take up more physical space in the laptop.... Wouldn't it?

 

Yes. The more cells the bigger the space. I think the runtime we get with the current battery is quite good so there is no need for a bigger one. The only problem is they didn't limit the power properly so the battery doesn't have enough juice to support the laptop when all the settings are maxed out.

 

new bios available to download.

 

BIOS A03 fixes/enhancements:

01.> Modify when playing games, system would shutdown in DC mode.
02.> Fix DTM test fail solution(ACPI driver resume time).
03.> Update NV VBios for Samsung 128Mx16.
04.> Fix FFS no function when resume from S3 with ATA mode.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-bios-a03-released-05-24-discussion-here.html

 

(Scrap this sorry.)

 

Has anyone tried gaming on max performance on battery with the new BIOS update? Post results if it's not too much to ask, my M14 hasn't arrived yet but it would be great if this BIOS fix would fix the prob without me having to experience the shut down prob..Thanks!

 

The update removes the ability to put it on max performance on battery.

 

That's not a fix. That's a work around.. Oh well..is there a performance drop? I mean a noticeable difference? like massive drop in fps or something like that?

 

Yes, there is a massive drop in fps.
I don't have the numbers in mind but if a game plays at 30-35fps while plugged in, it's going to be unplayable on battery.

I think the GPU clocks goes from 590 to 200 MHz.

 

That's quite a massive drop in FPS..Basically it's not a gaming laptop when it's on battery..:|

 

Well, I read somewhere that you can still get like 60 fps in Modern warfare 2, if you turn down some extra options.

I'd say it's admirable.

I'm gonna test this right away and get back to you

edit : So I just tried MW2. I went from constant 60fps ( option Sync Every Frame ON ) to 30fps ( option Synt Every Frame OFF ) when unplugging the batttery. I had some drops to 16-20fps with explosions etc.
All others options remained maxed out except Antialiasing.

I think it can be really playable with some tweaking of the settings.

Finally, know that I was playing at 1600x900

edit 2 : By the way, someone on another thread stated that he was able to play with BIOS A01 by downclocking his GPU to 400Mhz.
The game was Metro 2033 if I recall, and it might be a good way to play with a better performance than the BIOS UPDATE's.

 

Massive...

12k 3dmark06 with the adapter.
4k 3dmark06 on battery.

That performance on battery is lower than my 3y old Packard Bell laptop.

 

What are you guys doing wrong? lol

I have fixed gaming on battery... Please do not repost in other forums - Page 4