M14x, to buy or not to buy?

I may be purchasing a M14x and need some users to weigh in on the subject. Ive been browsing reviews, threads, videos, etc. for months now. What I want is simply pros and cons listed or simply your thoughts on the laptop. If you are completely against the M14x please list a possible alternative.

The reason Im going with the M14x is that I cant find an alternative with the same specs. Specs that are a must for me are any resolution that is higher than 1366x768, backlit keyboard, portable, durable and a gpu that will handle gaming.

Pros: screen resolution
rubber coating
backlit keyboard
555m

Cons: Bios issues
Heat issues
The juvenile alien head logos

 

There are no heat issues with any of the i5 processors. Stick with them.
The Alienhead on the lid can easily be covered by a sticker.
I've had no bios problems either during testing.

The only competitor that is within this size category is the LG P330 and it is not only more expensive but is currently only available in Korea.

 

I've had no problems with BIOS issues, although I've never tried gaming on battery because I see no point to it. I've only had heat issues for CPU-intensive games like Starcraft 2, but a simple cooling pad fixes it. And personally, I like the alien head logo.

Your sig suggests you already have your dream laptop (Asus G73SW). Why do you want an M14x?

 

The Asus is long gone, I just havent updated my sig yet. I was considering getting the g53, but I really want something more portable as the g53 is a behemoth. A macbook pro 13 is my main right now, borrowed from the wife's collection.

I do plan on sticking to an i5 processor to cut back on heat and, imo will be fine for games opposed to the i7. The 3 gig is stupid as there is no possible way to take advantage of that much memory with a 192 bit 555m, so Ill stick with the 1.5.

The bios issues I was talking about are the sata 2/sata 3 debacle. Apparently sata 3 no longer works with bios 08. Dell just seems to have a hard time with bios deployment, its always 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

 

I thought the m14x was decent. If your moving around a lot for the size power is great.
I had i7 with cooler and it kept it cool in the uk. Gaming was ok. Some games may need a bit of tinkering with nvidia control panel. Fan noise under full load is loud but you'll adjust. It all depends what you want out of it

Pros
Sound from laptop is great
Screen
Colour-mine was in red and looked beastly

Cons
Noise
Price

For what you pay you prob could get something cheaper and a more powerful gpu. But this is my opinion

 

Yea, if I bumped up to a 15 inch I could probably get cheaper and a more powerful gpu. I was looking at the Envy 15, but then again Its problems seem more wide spread.

 

i sold m m14x and went with sager/clevo UK
for what i paid for this it i do kinda think why i brought the m14x in the first place.
like i said depends whta you want to do with it if you move around alot work school/college its great. looks good and plays games. if its stuck at home on a desk id look elsewhere

 

HP DV6T is another option. Same i7, 7690M GPU which is close to a 555M, 1080p screen, but I hear it runs pretty hot and it has no backlit keyboard. And no mainstream HP will beat Alienwares build quality. I personally chose the M14x over the DV6 for the small gain in portable, but mainly the better cooling and backlit keyboard

 

Hi jcannon I actually had that same Asus laptop and returned it to BB and picked up a M14x that was open box it came with the i7 8GB RAM and 3GB video card. The open box was due to a bad wi-fi card, which Alienware support immediately fixed with a new card and motherboard.

Couple of things to note, the Alienware warranty is valid if it's purchased though them and can be extended through Alienware directly.

It's not as heavy or cumbersome as the Asus by a long shot, and the preformance is about the same both as far as processor and video, keep in mind the BST has a 128-bit interface 460 instead of the 192-bit. So the 555 with the 192-bit interface is about even preformance wise. With a slight OC on the 555 it easily trumps the 460 and approaches 560 levels. I'm running SWTOR at 1080p all options except shadows (low) set to high and average 45fps.

The finish is nice on both although the lightshow on the Alienware is a little much, thankfully it can be dialed back, or turned off alltogether, and unlike the Asus you can select what colors you want.

It's thick for a 14" and heavy but feels solid. It does not cool as well as the Asus and there really is no room to OC the processor if you get the i7. I have turbo disabled as most do here since we really dont need it.

One small advantage to the M14x is the onboard sound card, if you have a 5.1 speaker setup you can use them on the Alienware by re-purposing the headphone jack as the rear-outs.

I dont recall if the BST6 has bluetooth or not but I am using a BT headset with mumble and vent on the M14x for voicecom.

All in all I am very happy with the machine and recommend it over the Asus counterpart. If nothing else due to the support and warranty, there is a great sense of relief knowing that a tech will come to my home and preform any repairs within a day or two.

 

i bought m14x simply because it is the fastest 14' laptop out there according to my search on dec. last year...
if you choose 15.4' screen you will find faster alternatives
pros:
14'
dell product
fast
sound system
looks cool with all the lights that you can modify from windows to make them flash or switch colors in motions
<-- i think there was like 7 or 8 different colors

cons:
temp
fans are loud when playing games on high like skyrim
really heavy
price


and i have no issues with bios...

everything else aside...
if i were you i would wait for ivy bridge...
it is coming april-may this year...

 

I'm really enjoying my M14X.

Pros -
1. Best keyboard I have ever used (between Sager/MSI/Asus high-end laptops)
2. Best touchpad I have ever used (" ")
3. Lighting effect is beautiful
4. 900p screen is excellent
5. Plays everything I throw at it on high/ultra
6. Rubber coating
7. Next-day onsite tech warranty (best in the industry)

Cons:
1. Gets a little hot, but I game on my lap for hours and NEVER use desks
2. Fan gets a little loud
3. Wouldn't mind 1-2 more brightness levels as an increase (I like it very bright)

...pretty much it for the cons.

I'd say go for it. Best and most enjoyable laptop I've ever owned. The main reason I went AW is due to the warranty/tech support. I got sick and tired of sending my Asus/MSI to the repair depot and it being kept there for over a month every single time. Never had an issue with Sager, but their repair facility is 4000km away from me in California if something were to happen, it would be the same waiting game again.

 

How does it suck? Many of us have had a positive/excellent experience with ours. Just because you have had issues with yours doesn't mean all of them are malfunctioning There's always a % of failure laptops with every laptop manufacturer. My G73 was at the repair center for 6 weeks, so does that mean all the G73's suck?

 

Yeah cmon.. We're all trying to help you out.. I mean that's fine if you dont recommend it because theres nothing wrong with that but at least be somewhat formal about it and state reasons and such. If yours is malfunctioning for example, then why do you still recommend getting a different Alienware? Couldnt they be plagued by the same problems? Maybe you should check out the other subforums and find your answer, because its there.

 

i spilled water on the keyboard by mistake on the second week... a couple of buttons plus the touchpad stopped working... simply left it there for 6 hours and it was working again after that... also, i fell asleep while watching friends on the third week and the laptop fell from bed onto the floor... woke up on the morning and i kinda remembered i heard something crashed the night before... simply picked it from the floor...
GREAT DURABILITY...!!

 

As stated in my original post it must be portable. M18x is not even close to portable and the m17x is just a tad to big for me. Thanks though for the suggestion.

 

Punctuation sucks.

Of course when compared to an M17x or M18x the performance cant compete.
But for size/performance ratio - Few, if any, can hold a candle to the M14x.

 

I'm really considering the Envy 15 now. I may just flip a coin tonight to see which Ill go with lol. I think Id be happy with either one. The envy is bigger, but lighter and both will probably be few fps from each other while gaming. I think the g53, even though its smaller than the g73/g74, will be to big to really be called a portable solution.

 

This is the info I found on the Envy 15's GPU in-case you were wondering. G53 is also a very good choice, but it's bulky, which I didn't mind at all.

 

Mmmmmm..... Bananassssss.....

I looked at sagers, but there just so dammed ugly. The geek in me tells me to get a sager though, since they have much better parts than most competitors. I think the sager with the 555m is actually an inferior card to the M14x. I think its only ddr3 on a 128bit bus.

 

This is incorrect.

In nearly all your posts, you over exaggerate and post false information regarding the M14X to scare people away because you're not happy with yours.

I can play nearly all games on High/Ultra settings (minus shadows/AA) and I get well over your claim of "25-30 FPS". Titles such as Old Republic, WoW, BF2 & 3, COD: BO, SC2, Civ V, Heroes 6 and many more play flawlessly on high settings and when I say flawlessly, I mean having a populated screen (such as a PVP warzone, instance, etc.). This is with current/new drivers.

As for support, Dell/AW have the best in the industry. Next-day on-site service trumps the Asus/MSI repair facility of "up to 6 weeks".

Stop spreading misinformation, please. We get it, you're not happy with your M14X. This doesn't mean you have to lie to people looking for simple information.

I will agree that Sager, for the price point, is a superior machine, but there are also cons associated with it. Many will agree (such as myself) that it looks ugly and the warranty coverage is one of the worst in the industry. There is ONE repair center in North America, which is located in California and if it breaks down, YOU have to pay the insured shipping costs (one-way) to them. If you live on the east coast/Canada, it would take several weeks to get your laptop back. If you travel or are moving out of N.A., you're SOL unless you pay hundreds of dollars to ship the laptop to them. This can be a turn-off for many (especially those who have had long waits from repair facilities in the past).

 

You're acting like a child with your generic "UMAD? LOL" post which is something that belongs on the WoW forums.

The M14X doesn't require an overclock to get over 30 FPS in new games, that's just a flat out lie.

And as for "the best in the industry", I will stick by that comment because it's true (minus isolated incidents that's experienced with every company). When my M11X-R1 broke, I had it repaired in 2 days by AW. When my Asus/MSI laptop broke, I didn't get it back for 5-6 weeks. I don't go around ranting how bad Asus/MSI is because others have had positive experiences with them - I just choose not to purchase from them anymore.

I've been on the phone well over 20 hours with other companies, does that mean every laptop manufacturer is terrible (HP, Asus, MSI)? No it doesn't.

Since you created a forum account here, you have done nothing but insult the M14X and attempt to scare people away from it. Try being a productive member of the community instead of spewing out negative garbage.

 

1. So, what about the screen? I like it and I'm fine by it. The Sager may have a better screen (such as the one in my signature), but I don't go around telling users "DON'T BUY IT, THE SCREEN IS 42% GAMUT!". If you like it, keep it, if you don't, return it or sell it on the marketplace.

2. You're complaining about your 20 hours on the phone with Dell. I mentioned my 20hrs+ on the phone with HP/Asus/MSI to show you that it's not just Dell. On the basis of warranty coverage, yes, next-day onsite support is better than mail-box to a repair facility.

3. Listing laptop options/choices is one thing, but telling people flat out how terrible the M14X is something totally different (especially lying about the frames per second in new/current games). As previously mentioned, the M14X can handle most new/current games with healthy FPS numbers on high settings (minus shadows/AA).

4. The phone transfer game is not exclusive to Dell. When I called MSI, they had a recording of someone smashing the phone on the receiver every 60 seconds after claiming that a rep would soon answer my call for 45-60 minutes every transfer. Asus would put me on hold for 20-30 minutes then transfer. Same thing with HP. It happens with EVERY COMPANY (get over it!). We understand you're frustrated, but spamming your negativity allover the forums is not needed.

5. And yes, I do own one, it just doesn't reflect my signature yet.

Glad you're finally deciding to stop defending your negative behaviour and leaving this thread

 

How about we show each other some respect, especially to the op who opened this thread hoping to get some answers. Show me you can do that in a polite manner.

 

Oh! me!?! Im just enjoying the show... Kidding aside, I just bought an Envy 15, we'll see how it works out, I may be back soon lol.

Thanks for all the input and advice.

 

Glad you made your choice, cannon, hope it's what you were looking for.
With that said, feel free to come back whenever you want.