M14x screen choice

First post, apologies if I mess up something...

I'm toying with the idea (meaning, playing with customization specs) of buying an M14x as a rig for general use and also gaming. I'm having trouble deciding what screen I want to go for based on the specs on AW's site. I'm wondering if anyone here has advice either way?

Some criteria if it helps anyone:

-I insist on playing games at monitor native res.
-I don't insist on all high graphical settings, but try to maximise them where possible.
-I hate glare. According to AW, the lower res screen (1366) has anti-glare, but the higher one does not. Confirm, anyone? This is somewhat odd to me.
-The difference in price between the two is not a significant consideration
-I will be speccing it to i7 2720QM 2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 1.5GB GT555M.
-External monitors are out of the question.

Thanks in advance.

 

don't know about the low res one, but the high res one is very, very reflective...the most reflective screen i've had

 

Hmm...does it bother you during use? I'm not too worried about using it outside, but brightly lit classrooms...

 

You know what, the highly reflective screen at times has saved me...it acts as a rear view mirror. I've been able to catch people spying on me in public. Of course it depends on the lighting condition and if the screen is dark or near black but sometimes you can see a reflection.

 

It should be able to handle almost all games you throw at it with the higher res screen. You might have to occasionally turn a few settings down.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here but that's a load of bull. If you want an M14x, you're going to have to put up with a reflective display; there is no antiglare option for either screen.

In theory the higher res screen will be better for the purpose, as it's brighter from what I've been hearing.

Just to note, don't trust the 'Alienware' reps at Dell. Half the time they have no idea what they're talking about and the other half they seem to lie anyway.

 

Hm, I was mainly going off this Dell - Help Me Choose: Display under the compare side by side heading for M14x. Am I reading it wrong, or is it wrong?

Someone have the lower res screen and can chime in?

 

Well now that's very interesting. I'd never noticed that one before. I'd love an answer to this one myself.

 

It also says that there's antiglare available for every Alienware notebook. M11x, M14x, M17x and M18x. I'd love an answer to that too, because as far as I'm aware and that I've read, there is no such option on any screen and all of them are reflective.

I'd assume that it's wrong until/unless someone else can confirm it's correct.

 

"Typical on a standard WLED panel is from 60 percent to a maximum of 75 percent. B+RG allows the panel to produce a color gamut of up to 95 percent."

So they are basically saying 45% on both the m14x is rubbish then lol

 

Does AW offer anything with a BRG panel backlight? I don't see your point really...

 

Considering the same chart states antiglare options for all Alienware notebooks (options which as far as I'm aware don't exist) I really wouldn't trust it. Others have said that the M14x's screen is significantly better than the M11x's, which also has a 45% colour gamut according to that chart.

No, they don't. They used to offer an RGBLED panel on the M17x R2 (the model before the current M17x).

 

Honestly the glare factor is pretty much the swing factor right now. If the lower res does have anti glare (which you seem to think is not the case) I'd choose that since I hate glare. If they are the same I'd choose the higher one for brightness and reduced effects of glare.

By the way, what is the actual screen material? Glass, or...something else?

 

Same dilemma here. It is confirmed that the 900p is brighter??? Or it´s just "I´ve heard..."?
Also I was wondering since I´m buying the computer JUST for gaming, is there any point of buying the 900p if when I´ll be playing the most recent games I have to set details and effects and everything else to medium to have a decent 30+ FPS (or lower down the resolution to a non native, that I´ve heard is pretty bad)?

Isn´t it better to have the 720p screen and being able to play on high settings and everything else (AA, shadows, volumetric smoke, etc. at high) at a native resolution?
I really can´t decide! :/

 

Personally I think for the price to upgrade to the better screen on this there is no question about it. Going from 720p to 900p isn't as huge of a size increase as going to something like 1080p. While you might, and probably will see a loss of a few frames on games, I don't think it will be to the point where you can play a game on 720p on the highest settings, then be unplayable on 900 with said settings.

 

seriously get the upgrade or you will regret not getting it later

 

As I said, it's more a question of the availability of anti glare. I already know that I won't have a problem lowering settings to compensate for higher resolution (if need be). But if it turns out the lower res does have anti glare (still waiting for an actual owner to chime in in that - no offence to evilcorsair) I'd prefer to have that.

 

Sorry I was replying to the person above me asking about gaming.

 

I can confirm that the 1600x900 is reflective, but it is also bright. I do not know if it is brighter than the 1366x768 screen.

I played Half-Life in a well-lit room with some glare on my screen. It didn't bother me until I went into a dark area of the game, where it became somewhat tricky to see, although the game was still playable.

Also, I was messing around in Crysis ($10 for the original Crysis and Warhead on Steam the other day!), and it looked good at both 1366x768 and at 1600x900.


Can anybody with the 1366x768 screen say if their screen is reflective or not?

 

Thanks for your update Chris! I have to assume that on 1366x768 you were able to set almost everything on high or extreme, while on 1600x900 you had to set stuff on medium to have a decent and playable 30+FPS experience. Which one of these 2 solution would you recommend in the end?

Sorry for the little OT.

Now let's just wait for someone with the 720p for the brightness and reflective matter, hoping that will show up soon.

 

That's just what I'm waiting for myself.

By the way, what is the actual screen material? I heard something about glass screens, but not sure if that was a different model...

 

did anyone not upgrade the screen? I mean for the price it looks like a no brainer, but the glare is sort of a deal breaker for me as well.

 

Eventually I´ve ordered the 720p, will get it before 26th of May!

 

I will not be ordering mine any time soon, so let's see how yours turns out.

 

my 1600x900 m14x arrived today. I was really concerned about the screen quality (brightness mainly) but its actually good screen overall imo but dam its glossy!

Overall I'm over the moon with this piece of kit and got it in 1 week from ordering

 

how does this screen compare to the quality of the HP Envy radiance or macbook pros? love the specs but concerned about screen quality

 

Can you use it in a well lit room without problems? What's the screen made of?

 

I was worried about the screen but was pleasantly surprised. Not as good as my macbook pro but then few laptops are screen wise.

I have had some real stinkers lcd wise on a laptop, refused to buy an m11x as the viewing angles were terrible.

For me, I think the 900p screen is actually pretty good. Not the best but certainly good enough. Having said that, there is room for improvement.

 

Does anyone know the part number/name of the 900p screen?

 

I have the 900p screen.
A well-lit room only gave me problems in especially dark areas of Half-Life. In areas of the game with normal lighting I didn't have any problems from the lights in the room. Web browsing is perfectly fine with ambient lighting.
Also, my dorm room with all the lights on didn't give me any problems regardless of how dark the area in the game was. It was only in an exceptionally well-lit room that the darkest parts of the game gave me trouble.

I don't know what the screen is made of.

 

Is it something hard coated like glass, or can you get ripples of colour by pressing the screen?

 

I have the 768p screen. It's reflective, the amount you find on most laptops I would think. Don't know if its less reflective than the 900p screen.

It is however very pale. Black appears as gray, more than I've ever seen on any laptop. Makes me think something is wrong. When your typical black font in word appears as if you've chosen a grey font, it tells you the screen is not that good.

Finally, the screen feels very fragile. Just adjusting the angle of it introduces at the center of the screen those weird artifacts you get when you push hard on a lcd. With little effort you can bend it. Makes me wonder what will happen when one day a bit more weight is put on it by a book for example.

 

comparison pictures maybe? Post a picture of your screen and say what lighting you have in the room, and someone else with the 900 screen post with similar?

 

Screenshots might help with this. It may be that the 13x7 panel just has horrible viewing angles, or you might have got a sub-par panel.

 

From videos on youtube it doesn't seem like the 720p is that bad in this, it actually look exactly like the 900p.

But they're just videos.

When I'll get mine, 720p, I will be able to tell you for sure guys.

 

I am just wondering if it's possible to change the panel to other third party panel.

By my own hand of cause

Have anyone tried it?

 

That's not really an advantage, just making the best of a bad situation, anyway, for my M11x, which also had a highly reflective screen, I bought an anti-reflex screen protector(forgot the proper word), it helped quite a lot, it didn't eliminated completely, but I'd say it improved by about 75%.

 

I can.

You just have to connect his statement with the proper sentences in his quote.

Dell say that it on a standard WLED panel it is typical to have 60 to 75% gamut. The screen on the m14x have 45% gamut.

That is quite abit lower than what Dell themself says is normal.

You can interpret that as Dell showing that the M14x screen is not that good.

Perhaps the reason that the M11x and M14x has such a low gamut could be that they are not a standard WLED screen. So in what way do they differ from standard screens?

 

I say 900p all the way