M14x Or M15x

Hello, im on the verge of buying my first AW and im extremely confused about which one im going to get. I know that the cpu and ram are better on the M14X but i also know that the GPU is better on the M15X.
Now what i would like to know is if the screen size between them both is big with one being 14inch and the other 15.6.
Also since the M15X is discountinued what would happen if it broke?Would i get a replacement or offered something inferior?
Main reason for buying one if for gaming but want to also be able to take it places ence why im not building a desktop.

Thank you, Would love some input.

 

The GPU used to be better on the M15x, as I hear. Towards the end of the 15x's sale life they started using weaker ones.

The screen size will be...well, just has it says. One's 14" and the other 15.6".

Where would you get your M15x, even? Second hand?

 

Alienware UK has it still and the graphic card they use is the GTX460M no option to swap it whatsoever.
Also the CPU they use here in the uk are the old i3/i5/i7 and 1333mhz ram.
Every other laptop in the UK now uses sandy bridge CPU's apart from the M11 which i havent checked.
Thats why im super confused as it seems the M15X is old tech apart from the GPU which is better.

 

I just sent you a PM.

 

Anyone has some useful input pls post it.
Want to buy it asap.

 

want a new or used laptop? pretty sure dell stop selling m15, so only buy used is your option. i would rather buy a new one.

 

M14x uses Sandy Bridge, a better graphics card, and is the newest thing out.

M15x is outdated and out of production, but it does offer a larger screen.

 

In the UK alienware still sell it new.

 

So is GT555M better than GTX460M?

 

NO GT555m is in no way better than the GTX460m. If you don't want portability or battery life then get the M15x as those are the only advantages to the M14x. As far as SB is concerned then sure SB is better but what use will the better processor be, most games will bottleneck on the GPU front and not on the CPU front. 2yrs from now the M15x will be able to play games that m14x wont be able to.
Another plus is the GPU is upgradeable in the M15x, thus you can upgrade it to 6970m an year or so from now.

 

I think the GTX 460M is the better of the two but don't quote me...

 

m15x will have a better screen, build quality, cooling, and ingeneral better graphics card (5850 and 460 mainly).
Cons-Heavy, short battery life, throttles horrible on battery, old technology.

m14x-screen is just ok (from what I have heard), can get really hot when under load, weaker graphics card.
m14x has newer technology, lighter, better battery life, great build quality (no way is it as good as a m15x or m17x r1/2.

I own a m15x and I would go with the m14x just because newer technology.

 

newer tech? SB and SATA III?

 

Yes Processor is the newer iseries. If you truly want power I would get the m17x r3 over the m15x.

 

Proc on m15x aren't more powerful than proc on m14x? Like i7 940XM for exemple

 

From what I have read the extreme processors will be on par with the SB low end processors. Those extreme processors warrant a high price if you go that route.

If you need portability and better battery life get the m14x. Thats really the only reason for the m14x IMO.

 

Hm ok, so the m15x CPU are lower than m14x but the GPU is better, so the games will run better on m15x, right?

 

Possibly. If the m14x got a better GPU, like maybe an AMD? Then itd probably preform better. At least from my observations. I would just choose the m14x because of the Optimus. I mean from reviews I've seen the m15x gets like 1-1.5 hours. At least with the m14x you can get like 4 hours of battery like a (more powerful) regular notebook, then can quickly turn into a gaming powerhouse in an instant

or you know, the m15x which is just always a gaming powerhouse. The m17x is actually not much bigger than the m15x though so thats another option

 

Depends on your needs. The m14x is newer tech. But the gpu is by far, at least 20+% weaker, hands down. Of course, the screen is lower resolution, so less pxiels to crunch, but if the m15x lowered the resolution, the 460m would win every time.

m14x can get decent (5ish?) battery life, compared to the pathetic hour or two of m15x. SB processors in m14x are better, but a heavily overclocked 920xm/940xm can beat it, but it is only if you are into overclocking.

m15x weighs 3+lbs more, and is a lot bigger, so portability is down. It does have better build quality. IMO the m17x r3 is nearly the same size as the m15x (and is same weight), so might want to look into that. But don't underestimate the size, I got mine recently, and the largeness of it surprised me.

 

I don't really care about life battery since I'll be pluged on almost the time, but I care about the size because I'll take it with me all the day, it'll be my school PC but my main PC too so I want it powerful...

 

I figured I would pop in to offer my opinion on this. I bought an M15x a bit over a year ago and loved build quality and performance was great (i7 720QM, GTX 260M, 6GB RAM). Battery I knew was short before buying and sure enough you'll only get maybe an hour of gaming and 1:30-2hrs with light use. It's also quite a heavy laptop, so not sure if that matters to you or not (weighs 9-10lbs I think). Now the M15x barely fit in my backpack which was a bit annoying but since it fit not a huge deal.

After time and playing around with my sisters netbook more, I realized I loved the smaller size and the decent battery but didn't like the performance. Basically I started looking at selling my M15x and looking to replace it with the M11x, until I saw the M14x was coming out and decided to wait. After seeing the specs and going back and forth for a while I decided to sell the M15x and get the M14x.

I got the base model with the 900p screen and I can't tell you how much more I prefer this to the M15x. The laptop is noticeably lighter (weighs ~7lbs I think) as well as being quite a bit smaller in size . I was actually just about on my way out the door to go sell it but I snapped a couple pictures here quickly in case it helps.

 

What about the perf difference?

 

May I ask, where did you get a grey/silver m14x?

 

In europe they sell the m14x in silver too.
EDIT: Weird in alienware.fr it seems to have silver but when click to configure the option isn't there...
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/6518/m14xsilver.png

 

Oh I think it isn't silver, maybe it's just the flash.

 

Weird, it could be the flash. Im a bit color blind

 

No it really look silver but it's impossible since I think they never released this model in silver, I through because I saw it on alienware france but it's just a mistake (french sites...).

 

The laptop is black it's just from the flash. The finish on the laptops is different so that's why it looks like that.

With regards to performance I don't notice any what so ever. Bear in mind, mine was an earlier M15x so pretty much everything in the M14x was better by a tad (so no real difference noticed). But like I said the increase in portability for me was well worth the 100 bucks and the "hassle" of selling the old and buying the new one.

 

Ok thanks,
What about the build quality and fan noice? Are they really different? Is the m14x really loud?

 

The M15x exhausted heat very well from the case and found that under normal use with no volume I couldn't hear them at all. With the M14x under normal use and no sound in a quiet area you can hear a soft whirring of it but if there's any background noise you likely won't notice it at all (Going up 1 from muting some music and the music overpowers it). The M15x has exhaust ports on the back left and right side, where as the M14x is venting everything out on the same side so I'm not surprised the M14x is a bit more noticeable.

I've read they're releasing a BIOS update to fix the fan complaints. I'm assuming what they'll do is just have it continually spin at a lower speed as opposed to it ramping up/down every so often. Now when both laptops have their fans going full bore it's hard to tell a difference between the two I find, and when you're gaming they'll both likely be running like that.

 

Thanks, so the fan in the m14x's fan is going "up and down" often, even in normal use?

 

I actually went back and edited my post as looking back now it may be a bit misleading. I've spent the majority of the time on the laptop, up until today really, setting it up and getting everything installed. I noticed it constantly spinning up/down but I guess that's not too surprising given what I was doing.

Today I've been playing movies and streaming stuff from the web without any issues at all and haven't noticed the fan spin up. When I mute playback I can hear a soft whirring but as soon as you get any volume then it completely drowns that out.

 

Ok thanks, I was affraid because it'll be my main PC but my school PC too, and I don't want it loud in class.

 

This helped alot, thanks.

Looking at the pictures the M15x is huge and i want to be able to take it anywhere.

Looks like im still getting the M14x afterall, only disappointment is that GPU is slightly weaker.

 

Congratulations on your choice. For those whose priority is portability and battery life, the M14x is the clear choice. For those who prefer build quality, screen quality and performance, the M15x is the choice. These really represent different performance classes. Based on benchmarks reported here, the M14x's 3dMark11 scores at stock settings are ~P1340 (RevDeisel); overclocked, the score increases to ~P1711 (Jetbo). On the other hand, the M15x with 5850m scores ~P2300 at stock settings; overclocked, the score increases to P3185; with the 6970m, the M15x's are now scoring ~P4100 in 3dMark11. These are not slight, but quantum differences in performance capability. There are many valid reasons to prefer the M14x for your particular use, but do not fool yourself about the relative performance.

 

I think the perf on M14x are really great, and if the FPS are too low you can switch to the 1440*900 res and it'll increase the FPS imo, anyway I think it is capable to play almost new games in high setting (but without AA I think).
Thats my opinion based on what I read on NBR forums.

 

The M14x will be perfect for you based on your opinions, but facts are interesting too.

 

The other problem i have is, even if i was to buy the M15X it is incredibly outdated in the UK.

The base model still has a i3 core, so if you want some more performance you have to at least dish out an extra £270 for the i7 620M or £160 for the i5 540M.
The other 3 decent ones range from £180 to £1060 with the most expensive being 940XM and cheapest 740QM.

We also dont have choice on the graphic card as it comes with a GTX460M and the base price is £929 so you can go where this is going.

It not worth it IMO and thats another reason why im going with newer but less powerful M14X.

 

Yes plus it is outdated in other ways, SATA II, USB 2, no SB proc, ram 1333 (not sure), and the price is really high for an outdated laptop, sure the perfs are better than the m14x but the size is not a 15" but a 17", so it's normal no?
m15x is not portable.

 

So i ordered the M14X yesterday so now im wondering what i should do when it arrives.

Do i have to download every driver from dell's website?Or has the computer got them all?

I also saw some bios update and im wondering if thats the update for the battery problem.

Any help from M14X owners would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

computer will have them. Unless dell releases a driver update which of now they have not

 

There is not bios update atm...

 

As jetbo said, all drivers are pre-installed, plus they give you a resource dvd which has (almost) all the drivers you will need. On the site, the BIOS file they have is the original BIOS that is already on the computer.

 

I know the computer will have the drivers, what i meant was if theres any drivers worth updating for performance increase like the GPU and if so which drivers are the best? (nvidia vs modified)

 

ooh Lol...updating the GPU to 270.61 is recommended See this thread

That thread has a link to another helpful one as well.

 

I know you have already made your decision but keep in mind that the 555m will play games better at 720p than the 460m can at 1080p. I know you could lower the res, but i like playing at native res because when you lower it, it can look stretched out. My 2 cents.

 

As someone that has owned the m15x and the m14x there are many many pros and cons between the two. I really miss my metal body, as it made the laptop feel invincible. However the extra 5 lbs of weight is not some thing I miss. I bought my m15x referbed from dells outlet store for $1200 it retailed at $2800, it was powerful, but I sold it for $1000 a year later and bought the m14x for $1300. The feel of the m15x was better, the m14x gets hot and has a noisy fan. But the sandy bridge cpu is more than twice as fast. One benchmark labels them at 3200 points vs 7400 points. The gt 555 GPU really isnt much better than the gtx 260, other than the fact that the 555 has dx 11. This has enabled new features in games. The m15x had a stealth button to silence the fans, this was nice for going to school. But the m14x stays pretty quiet as long as you dont push it. All in all it comes down to price. If the m15x was selling for $800 on the outlet store, you might have a choice to make. But the ones I have seen the cost MORE for much less specs. There is no choice, sandy bridge and portability for the same price. Wins hands down.

 

Uh, threads almost a month old. Shoulda posted that in one of the newer ones :\