Contimplating an m17x... Questions

Ok, so I had[have] a Macbook Pro, original unibody upgraded 15". I've had it for going on three years now, but it's becoming a pain. Whenever i try and game on it, it gets SUPER hot, i hole my hand above the keyboard and can feel ambient heat coming off of it, then proceeds to shut down. i have the fan cranked to 4500RPM at idle to try and help, but it doesnt. Granted the only thing I'm playing right now is League Of Legends, and even then it shuts itself down from heat. Anyways...

I got some nice grants and scholarships from school this semester and have a nice extra bit of money to get a new laptop. I want an m17x. Now i have some questions about it after reading some threads around here.

1. Is dell's support really that bad? I've never owned one, so I'm curious

2. I noticed a few threads where the m17x came with screws missing or not fully assembled. Is this something that happens a lot? Should i open the chasis when i get it to make sure it's all assembled?

3. Also, is there still a big compatibility issue with the Radeon 6990M? I saw some threads saying there's some major issues with it

4. Is the battery life ok on it as well? I haven;'t found an answer for this anywhere online because it's so skewed on every review. I only need like 2 to 3 hours unplugged typing and internet browsing.

5. Is there anything else i need to know before i jump in? I probably won't be ordering until winterish, probably January or so, and i'm curious as to if they'll have a refresh again by then if anyone has any idea. i know this is really early to be asking these questions, I'm just trying to make my mind up now.

thanks so much in advance guys.

EDIT: The reason why I want an m17x is i wanted something kinda portable for school, and I'm starting to get back into PC gaming and away from consoles again, so I want to be able to game. I dont have room for a desktop at home, so i need something that can run games a high to high-ish settings, and it i know the m17x can and will be able to for a while until i can finish school, hopefully get a job and my own place so i can get a desktop for gaming. but until then, that's why i'm after this one.

 

Probably dusty vents, clean them.

Intel is comming with some new CPU's in september. Ivy bridge is comming next year march or so. We can expect the R4 in March/Arpil.
About the quality some just got a bad system but that can happen with any brand. Dell support is really good if you ask me.

 

opened the chasis, and cleaned the whole thing out. Made 0 difference. My applecare just expired too, so that adds to the reasoning. I plan on getting the 4 year advanced warranty deal too. I'm too paranoid with my notebooks to not get it.

 

Did you try repasting? What are your temps?

 

1. Is dell's support really that bad? I've never owned one, so I'm curious

I have had both horrible experience and great experiences. Its hit or miss I think. In the end they went out of their way to make things right.

2. I noticed a few threads where the m17x came with screws missing or not fully assembled. Is this something that happens a lot? Should i open the chasis when i get it to make sure it's all assembled?
Yes open everything and check system out. People only come on here to complain usually so I wouldnt worry about it. If it comes missing items send it back.

3. Also, is there still a big compatibility issue with the Radeon 6990M? I saw some threads saying there's some major issues with it
No idea as I have the 6970m. Works perfect though.

4. Is the battery life ok on it as well? I haven;'t found an answer for this anywhere online because it's so skewed on every review. I only need like 2 to 3 hours unplugged typing and internet browsing.
You can get 4 hours consistently if you turn all settings down. 2-3 horus will be easy to get.

5. Is there anything else i need to know before i jump in? I probably won't be ordering until winterish, probably January or so, and i'm curious as to if they'll have a refresh again by then if anyone has any idea. i know this is really early to be asking these questions, I'm just trying to make my mind up now.
System is rather larger than most systems. Find a store with similar dimensions and see what you think about size. Build quality while above average has me concerned. I came from the m15x which was a tank but somewhat worried carry this system around everywhere will have issues. I upgraded warranty to two years complete care which may help. System is unique so be prepared for people on campus to notice it. My first year I got alot of what the hell is that questions. Overall a excellent system. Great for gaming, multimedia, typing, and all in one system. I wouldn't think a desktop would be needed as these systems perform nicely.

 

Continuing on Jwolf's comments...

1) I've had great support with Dell. Dell will next business day parts to you, or get a tech to you NDB. Few manufacturers do this. Asus requires you send in your laptop, be without it for a month, and then they send it back. Dell doesn't have a cool Apple Store where you can bring your broken iPhone in and get a new one right there, but the NBD thing is pretty cool. The 6970m on my last M17 died one day, Dell had it fixed 5 days later (due to the weekend). Pretty strong IMHO. Also if you get the Complete Care warranty there are NUMEROUS stories of people getting new laptops to replace their 2-3 year old models (granted they had had numerious hardware problems to get to that point). I've purchased several Dell Outlet laptops. 1 they shipped the wrong laptop, so they replaced it with an NEW one with better specs. The 2nd was really banged up, they fixed all the defective parts via NBD, but in retrospect I should have returned it, but that isn't Dells fault. Also the Alienware Support people in Costa Rica are VERY good. Very professional and very good english, nice they are in the same hemisphere also.

2) If you new system has issues, as long as you are within the 21 day return period, they will NBD you a whole new system and return the original, there is no reason to worry about getting a defective system, they will make it right.

3) My 6990 works great, I am very happy with it. The 580m is cool, but 6990m cannot be beat price/performance ratio.

4) 4 hours is attainable. I get 3+ hours on the IGP easy.

5) Get a complete care warranty that will last as long as you plan to own the laptop if you can afford it. I got one (which I didn't have on my 6970 system), and I really like the peace of mind. It's nice knowing I can drink coffee next to my system and never need to worry if I break it. Having owned 2 M17x R3s and an Asus G73JH, I can safely say the M17x R3 is an excellent laptop.

 

Yes, dell is very hit or miss. I just purchased and received a pretty loaded Area-51 desktop on 8/2/2011 and it came with major issues... Either a bad motherboard or bad videocards or both. The only way they would send a replacement while I kept the current system is if I paid for an additional $2500 for a new system and then they claimed they would issue me a refund after about a month. So I had to send the system back and wait for them to issue a refund to my card and I have been on the phone with them pretty much daily trying to get them to get off their a$$ and make things right, and they have been nothing but an absolute pain in the butt, and I still do not have another system ordered yet because it seems like most everyone I get in touch with is an idiot or has no idea what they are doing. There is -zero- communication between different departments and what is going on between them. (And this is a very condensed story of what has happened)

But, like other people have said, sometimes they are excellent and we will see if they get off their butts and make up for the pain they have put me through. I've bought numerous dell computers over the years and never encoutered a situation like this... But I guess there is a first time for everything.

 

1. Is dell's support really that bad? I've never owned one, so I'm curious.

A: Ok like most people have said, and frankly, like most big companies, the support is hit and miss. Sometimes you'll call up and it will suck (you'll wait forever, person will be an idiot, etc) and other times its great. This isnt an AW/Dell problem, its a corporate america problem. One thing you cant beat, however, is if you live in the right parts of the US they come to ur house and fix it for included in the warrenty price. You dont get that with many other laptops you buy on the internets.

2. I noticed a few threads where the m17x came with screws missing or not fully assembled. Is this something that happens a lot? Should i open the chasis when i get it to make sure it's all assembled?

A: I dont know about others experiences, but when I got both mine (original and replacement) the packaging and overall exterior build quality was WORLD CLASS. For once I felt like I owned somethng elite.

3. Also, is there still a big compatibility issue with the Radeon 6990M? I saw some threads saying there's some major issues with it

A: While I cant answer directly about the 6990, I can tell you I was an early adopter of the the 5870's in crossfire which started out with all kinds of head aches. But eventually Dell/AW hammered out the bugs and now I love the cards. Most of my problems related to an ill fated vbios Dell made...eventually they made a new allowing us to use the "reference card" drivers. I would imagine/hope that the 6990's would be in a similar situation. Remember, when they stick these things in ur m17x its usually a brand new piece of tech...there will be bugs to work out. What if I wait you say? Well about the time you are ready to do it, what you were gonna get will be replaced with the next new things with all those "new tech" problems.

4. Is the battery life ok on it as well? I haven;'t found an answer for this anywhere online because it's so skewed on every review. I only need like 2 to 3 hours unplugged typing and internet browsing.

A: Ok here is another one I dont get. What kind of college do you all go to that there arent AC power outlets readily available?? And in any other instance why would you EVER use one of thse things without being plugged in? These are desktop replacements in my mind...using them on battery is just mean.

5. Is there anything else i need to know before i jump in? I probably won't be ordering until winterish, probably January or so, and i'm curious as to if they'll have a refresh again by then if anyone has any idea. i know this is really early to be asking these questions, I'm just trying to make my mind up now.

A: 1. Making your mind up now wont matter, by winter the entire landscape will be different (prices, tech, specs, availability, etc 2. Be happy with what you got once you get it. Seriously, if you keep checking the site you'll want a new every 3 months LOL.

 

Miami Oxford in Ohio usually has outlets everywhere. In the library they are literally everywhere. There are few options of computers that have 1080p good build quality and can play games when needed. This really only leaves the Sony Z or a larger 15/17in machine. Sometimes finances dont allow for two systems per person.

Agree it is mean to have them unplugged.

 

1. Is dell's support really that bad? I've never owned one, so I'm curious

I have a pretty good experience with them so far.

2. I noticed a few threads where the m17x came with screws missing or not fully assembled. Is this something that happens a lot? Should i open the chasis when i get it to make sure it's all assembled?

I opened my r3 after unboxing it. I advise you to do the same thing just to check everything is fine. Mine came in perfect condition.

3. Also, is there still a big compatibility issue with the Radeon 6990M? I saw some threads saying there's some major issues with it

Major issues? Granting I only tried playing sc2, lol, and nfs, my 6990m works pretty damn good.

4. Is the battery life ok on it as well? I haven;'t found an answer for this anywhere online because it's so skewed on every review. I only need like 2 to 3 hours unplugged typing and internet browsing.

Mine is always plug in so cannot answer this.

5. Is there anything else i need to know before i jump in? I probably won't be ordering until winterish, probably January or so, and i'm curious as to if they'll have a refresh again by then if anyone has any idea. i know this is really early to be asking these questions, I'm just trying to make my mind up now.

When you decided to buy AW, do not forget to get complete care. The peace of mind comes with a price though

I came from high spec MBP and I never regret my decision in jumping in to AW. In fact I never should have opted for MBP the first time.

 

Depends on how bad a day the CSR is having! On IGP I've easily got over 4 +hours estimate with light use. I've only used it 30 min or so on battery though. FYI I've left it on killowatt over night IGP, max battery, no sleep, etc and it tells me like 16W after it sits a while. I'm usually doing that when I want to dl something overnight but not use too much electricity. In contrast in game max performance its 125+W.

 

My school doesn't have outlets available everywhere in classrooms, usually i sit by one because most people don't bring laptops to class. Although more and more people are now. Either way, if i don't get a seat by one, that's why i'm asking about that battery life.

Oh, and where is this complete care option? on their website i only see the advanced option for coverage. or is that the phone tech support thing? I'm really excited to get it. I wish i could get it sooner, but just knowing i'm going to get it makes me excited, and I'm happy to hear all of these good experiences with Alienware, it's making me want it more.

 

Advanced plan is Complete Care. I would recommend this for any student. You drop computer on accident shattering screen Dell will fix it. Gives a little piece of mind carrying around a 2000+/- system.

 

Ok, I'm going to my financial aid office later today when I get out of work. So convince me to just say forget it and buy it now. Or wait until winter. Ready go. Haha. Thanks a ton for all the advice.

 

BUY IT NOW!

 

I do have one more question before I do... Is ivy bridge going to be a ton better than these current sandy bridge processors? And from what I've been reading they're supposedly coming out this fall? I guess all the stuff saying winter or spring is old outdated marketing stuff? I'm just curious,
Because I don't want to get this now if a new processor thats going tk be quite a but better is only a few months away.

 

1) Never dealt with Dell's support. I've heard both horror stories and fairy tales about them. But keep in mind, most people will only state their experience if they have a problem - so most of what you see are the relatively small number of people complaining.

2) I can only think of two threads. 1 of the laptops seemed perfectly fine except for a rattle when shaken. The other laptop had missing screws when the Dell tech came to fix it and did a bad job.

3) There never were compatibility issues. There were simply customers who didn't understand computer hardware enough to realize what they purchased is really what they received and started panicking.

"Hmm, a 6970 has 960 shaders and a 6990 has 1120 shaders. So if my video card has 1120 shaders as shown in gpu-z, and the title of the card is 6900 series, then my graphics card must be a 6970! Right?" NO.

4) If you don't get a 3D screen, then yes the battery life is quite nice when you switch to integrated graphics. On dedicated graphics when not gaming, expect barely a few hours.

5) The size and weight. Coming from a macbook, that might be a bit shocking.

 

Ivy Bridge is somewhere next year March/April. In about a month from now or maybe sooner there is a SB refresh. SB CPU's are really powerfull so no worries's about that its GPU power you need for games.

Heard rumours that the 7000m series is due before the end of this year...no confirmation about that yet.

 

Oh, also, since 8 gigs of ram costs the same as 6 right now I'm gonna get that, but if I wanted to upgrade to say 16, does the mobo support 1600mhz ram? Because I'll probably grab some nice 1600mhz ram if it does. Thanks again. I think if my grants go through, I'm gonna be ordering this beast in the next few weeks. I'm pretty excited!

Edit: although my mom won't be too happy about me spending loan and grant money on ANOTHER computer after 3 years. Any advice on how to convince her otherwise?

 

8GB will run in dual channel while 6GB wont, well not fully. Get stock 4GB and upgrade yourself. 1600/1866/2133 is supported.

If you are going to order in the next few weeks wait for the SB refresh.

Do you have a config. in mind? Budget? Must have's?

 

lol have her touch the MBP when it's overheated. Tell her it's dying/dead, and Applecare is gone, so you have no other choice because you need a laptop for school and in a few weeks the MBP will be completely dead.

 

Sounds good. I figure if worse comes to worse I'll give her my old MBP anyways. She was talking about getting her own iMac or something anyways. As for budget, I'm looking around 2500-2700 or so with the 4 year accidental coverage. I plan on a 6990 for graphics, as price to performance seems to be the best. Probably the 2.2 i7, and dual 750gb hdd's for that terrabyte. And of course the screen upgrade, not the 3d though. I dont want 3d, I'm not sold on it.

 

Get 1 750HDD for storage and buy a SSD for the OS...day and night differance.

 

So install my games on the regular hdd? And the OS on the SSD?

 

Yes.

10char.

 

Do I need to specify to them to install it there? Or are they smart enough to do it on their own? Haha.

 

Do not buy the SSD from Dell.

Once you receive your system buy a SSD and do a re-install of the OS. Format the 750 HDD and done.

 

Ah. I see. Shouldn't be an issue then. Any reccomendations on size to cost? I probably won't get the SSD until around Christmas anyways. Same with the memory.

 

At least 120/128GB, see if its possible to get a 256GB SSD.

 

Ok guys, GREAT news, I'm going in to get my school stuff together in a week or so [Verification bull crap, i have to wait a week] so I'm just gonna pull the trigger and get the money to get this. now my final question, does anyone have a dell rep they specifically call or email about getting them a deal? i was reading the thread in the main forum about someone getting them 25%-30% off their alienware order. If that's the case I can get a ton more as far as upgrades go for my money. Can anyone here confirm that there are reps who will do this? or have a story about it happening?

 

I just wanted to point out, I have had excellent experiences with Apple with regards to their customer service. I've had techs go out of their way and give me free equipment even after Applecare has expired. For example, I went to the Apple store in July with a buddy who's older MacBook Pro's battery was dead and it had expanded in the computer, putting pressure on the touchpad and making it act faulty. His Applecare had expired in March, but the tech gave him a new battery for free. I have had similar experiences with techs in Apple stores as well, as has much of my family and friends in the past. I'd highly suggest making some time to swing by an Apple store to have it looked at before dropping a large sum of money on a new machine.

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With regard to your original question though, I haven't had to deal with Dell's tech support yet. My R3 came very quickly, about a week before the scheduled delivery date, and has worked very well. There were a few software bugs to work around but they didn't take much of my time to fix.