Thought's on the Alienware M14x

I have had the m14x for some time now. My overall thought's on this laptop is that it's a great laptop, with some kinks that will probably be ironed out in updates or revisions. I want to know how many of you will actually be returning your m14x for something else. I bought this for gaming on the go, but after rethinking that idea, i realized that it's not that great. Short battery life, lower gpu cpu clock speeds. So I mainly game at home, which mean's, at least for me, an m17x would've been a better choice. But I love my m14x still, what about you guys?

 

i love the laptop itself. if you read my other threads, i hate the small problems that occur. right now, i hate the bios. everything else is ALMOST fine though. i wouldnt return my m14x unless something big happens to the software

 

I selling my to a friend actually today, the I7 cpu is great and I love the design etc, but the issiue is that when you paying so much for an laptop today it should at least play crysis 2 at 720p max and I manage to do that with 35-40 fps with OC, but thats not good enough compared to others around the same priceclass.
The cpu is topnotch but since the gpu is so much of an bottleneck I almost do not see the point because future games who will support quadcore probably will have higher demands for the GPU - I saw witcher runs good on the m14x but consider the price and the other laptops its simply not good enough, its a reason I dont have an Iphone - the only phone people paying overprice to get outdated hardware, but thats another story.

This laptop really should have an gtx 460, I would even pay more for that.
I getting the asus G53 series, dont really like to go so "big" as an asus g53, but with the same price and offers an gtx460 the whole purpose of having an small computer who can handle the newest game is gone - at least for me.

That beeing said, im thinking about it hard right now, sell this or not? My friend comming by in a few hours. :O
Like I said the biggest advantage this have is that it looks good, it makes other laptops make cheap and I really love the build and the design and the fact that its still portable as hell. But other laptops again makes this laptop feels cheap when it comes to games. =(

 

the new asus g53's come with the new gtx 560, so even better

 

im really impressed with mine. can run crysis 40-50fps. love the looks the design. got mine in red.
gonna have a shot at running the witcher 2 later

 

Greetings all,
Although I can't speak as an owner, I have seen numerous disappointed customers. This included a customer that opened the box right in front of me, witnessed it shut off on it's battery, and called Dell support. I would truely like to say there are more good things happening with this system than bad, but it just isn't the case.

Pros:
1. It's just as flashy as other Alienware Systems.
2. It's a good portable size for it's hardware.
3. It has good gameplay (with an AC Adapter).

Cons:
1. Quite possibly the most unstable notebook I've seen (while on battery).
2. While build quality looks semi good, endurance doesn't.
3. Software glitches within the Alienware software are buggy at best.
4. Klipsh speakers sound like standard speakers (not sure what happened there).
5. Optimus causes more issues than it solves (whitelisting/tweaking/adjusting).

While these are only a few of the key points, there are many more.

I'm happy for those that love the system for what it is, or have managed to adjust to it. It does fulfill a niche that most notebook manufacturers don't support (and probably with good reason). As for me, the system will neither be recommended or supported. Perhaps my opinion will change when revision 2 comes out.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

Sadly that is wrong, the 460 is better since the 560 is a modifated version of the 460 - higher cloack but 128bit and not 192 bit making it worse then the 460.

460 1,5g ram 192 vs 560 2gig 128 .. Asus did like Dell did with m14x "recommend 3 gig ram" =(

 

I was considering the asus g53 with the gtx 460. I really don't take my m14x out anywhere anymore. I would take it to school if i got the rated 6 hours of battery life, or even 5, but i get 3 hours, same as the asus i read about. The m14x just doesn't "feel" like a hardcore gaming laptop, like the m15x for instance. And yes the gt555m is gonna be outdated probably in a few months based on performance. It handles recently games okay at kind of high settings, but for the future, i.e. 6 months to a year, such as bf3 and so on, i doubt i could play on high, maybe medium. bfbc2 multiplayer barely runs high for me. 20-40fps same fps for crysis 2 on advanced. Honestly, the only games this laptop plays great are older titles. So the m14x is okay for now, idk if in a year it will still hold its own, maybe an r2 version with a gtx card? or an amd 6870 series? who knows

 

I agree with you on all points, but sadly g53 is big. But I have managed to get 5-6 hours when at school and 60++ on advanced - actually I played crysis 2 hardcore with around 30-40 fps 720p with OC.

However, the GT555 is still crap as hell, sadly and thats the reason I feel forced to sell this one and get the g53.

 

I agree with you that you can get higher fps on the 720p reso. But i paid too much for 900p just to have it lowered . The m14x is okay for now, but when newer games come out, i think it'll struggle.

 

Yeah, if I keeping my m14x I already have made a deal with another friend - who going to buy this next year when the m14xr2 comming (if)

He already got two of my latest alienware computer so we both want to keep up the tradision, I getting the newest hardware and he getting older for a cheap price.

 

I am wondering, which video card do you guys have in yours? the 1.5GB or the 3GB GT555M? also any word/idea when the next gen m14x will come out? I am very keen on 1 but I'd like to make sure it will handle BF3/Diablo 3 when they come out.

 

It makes no difference if you have a 3 gig instead of 1,5 gig, heck - even 1,5 gig is to much for GT555 - only reason they have so much ram in the GPU is to fool customers to think that the GPU is better then it really is.

It will play Diablo3 well, regarding BF3 it will be playable with GPU OC 720p with a tweak of medium/high.

 

Hell, personally I was just confused after the M15x went out of production [temporarily ?] since that was what I've been saving up to buy this summer, but I think the M14x strikes a decent balance between portability and power. Its got a great CPU, enough memory, and an OKAY gpu. Well, the topic of debate being whether or not it can actually manage to have a more powerful GPU.... I think the GT555M is enough to run newer games on mid-to-high settings at 900p or atleast 720p [no point talking about 1080p since its not even supported on that display]... Heck, it should run most games for the next couple of years some way or the other, and by that time we can think about upgrading anyway.

Best Option - buy the base model, its good enough. Or considering adding the 2720QM, and getting 6-8gigs ram on newegg and doing a manual upgrade instead of Dell's ridiculous options!

 

I am still waiting for my m14x to arrive in the mail, I kinda wish I would have found these forums first, as now I am kinda worried about the quality of laptop i just purchased. I guess I will have to OC everything. hopefully i can squeeze every bit of performance from it, that may make it worth keeping.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. Just check each key, the overall chassis, and the screen placement. And once you turn it on check performance plugged in and on battery. Overclocking everything? The memory and gpu are okay for overclocking. But that sandy bridge creates too much heat already at it's stock clock.

 

Yeah, the 1.5 gb memory card is way too much memory already. Most mid to high end card's only have 1-2 gb and they rarely use that up. Plus the gt555m would most likely start to lag before it crossed the 1 gb line anyway. Dell think we're idiots. They couldn't add a different/better gpu because they made the system non modular, power requirements, etc. So they added the option of higher memory to fool us that it's better.

 

this laptop sucks. im getting one of these bad boys:

 

agreed. and if you want good gaming power why not buy a desktop...?? m14x is more towards portability and decent gaming. I guess you could go for a m17x or18, but why not get a desktop unless your moving it around every once in a while

 

I think everyone is flaming the gt555m. you can't expect ridiculous performance and battery life together.

This computer is not made to be a desktop. Its made for people that need portability, like college students, and still being able to play games at max/high settings with okay fps.

 

Thank you sir. Exactly.

 

Would love to dude, but I'm on budget constraints I've saved up some cash for a college going laptop that looks good, has decent battery life and can game well when tethered and the m14x sort of clicks everywhere for me. Heck, if I had the cash I'd have got an m17x for sure, but sadness for that
So that's why I'm getting this, so that I can lug it around in college and game when I'm free... maybe I'll save up enough to add some extra RAM and an SSD soon!

Totally agree man, it'll be impossible to have a more powerful card on this chassis unless Dell wants to risk having a meltdown [pun] anytime soon! That card is probably best suited for this laptop, for the moment, and we won't know/see otherwise until the R2 release IF Dell come around to changing the config a bit.

Either way, I think they need to get a better battery on this one which can supply a bit more juice when not tethered....

 

[sorry about the double-post] But I think if we're looking for positives on the m14x, we should start by being happy that they've put a very powerful SB i7 on the chassis which is undoubtedly good enough for atleast two-three years... what say?

 

Yeah, you kind of right - thats the reason for one pipeline in the m14x since the gtx is integrated. However - they could at least scrap DDR3 and use DDR5 on it and drop the ram to 1gig.

But I would hopet that they could throw an GTX 260. This week I was soooo close to sell it to my friend and get an Asus G53 instead but I changed my mind, the portability is just way to good when it commes to the fact that this still play all the new games well.

 

I've been using mine for around 2 weeks. Bought a Matte screen protector and a keyboard cover for work. I do marketing as a profession and often have to carry this laptop to meetings, clients and even outdoors under the sun.

All I can say is it has met all of my needs - powerful, portable, subtle (black) and classy.

The only let down is the battery life but I'll look into buying a SSD when it becomes cheaper. Right now 120GB can't fit all my work! And 250GB costs a fortune.

 

Well what most people seem to be doing is removing the optical drive, putting the HDD in place of it, and using the empty space left by the HDD to add an SSD. The SSD is used only for Windows and core programs so booting/loading times are faster - and you can use the 750gig HDD to store your other stuff. The cons of this system being the fact that you lose an optical drive, but then you can always buy a new external one with blu-ray capability which the inbuilt one doesn't have.

Also, you needn't buy even a 120gig one, its only windows and maybe stuff like photoshop - 64gb looks enough for me!

Plus, a question for you, How's the display on this thing? I've heard mixed reviews and I want to clear that out before I finally settle for it. Also, does the RAM actually run at 1600MHz since the 2630QM only supports upto 1333MHz ? Thanks!

 

How does that look? Was it hard to install? Does it limit colours/brightness/viewing angles in any way?

I'm entirely against glossy screens, and it appalls me that manufacturers have been able to hoist these on the market as they've just a cheap way for them to make bad/cheap screens look brighter, and then charge us money for the "privilege" of "upgrading" back matte LCDs. One of my bigger sticking points with Alienware machines...

 

@nkdv: thanks, but the reason I want to install ssd is to improve battery. 2hdds would be worse right? The display looks beautiful until you load the same picture on a professional screen. Then you will find colours are a bit pale. I've never cared about ram so not sure sorry.

@everything: it looks a bit smoky but definitely removes the glare from the sun AND the screen...I can work on this laptop alot longer without straining my eyes from the brightness. Installation is person dependent. I screwed up once but you can just rip it off, wash it and try again because its static. Viewing angles and clarity is similar since most of them promises 99% non distortion.

 

Sucks to see that Dell won't help their present customers iron out the issues.
Q&A fail.

 

What about weight? I currently have a Latitude E6420 and I don't want to go much heavier than that.

 

The m14x is ~.5 lbs heavier than the E6420.

 

Plus:
It runs everything
Its fast
Display is bright, and the resolution is excellent
Comfy well-designed keyboard
Excellent lighting options

Cons:
Fans get a little bit loud (but i'm used to it now)
Keyboard marks on the screen (HATE IT!)
Intel wireless cards are absolute garbage
Do not like the location of the USB ports
Needs a blu-ray drive option (although i'm not missing it)

 

I myself thought of that, then I figured - heck, we're on a 900p screen, that's not even HD resolution, so what the heck is the BR drive for? lmao! Like a myopic person asking for reading glasses [okay, bad comparison!]

 

Thanks FlipBack, I think I can handle that. Wish I could get all the bells and whistles I want in something lighter and around 13" but I want what I want.

 

13" ? might start sounding cliched here, but... macbookpro 13" ?? just saying good perf. there too

or buy the m14x, hack of some of the outside and throw away the battery [cos apparently its so useless!] kidding