Just got a m17x r3

I just joined the alienware club! im pretty excited about getting a new one. hopefully it will be here this coming week.

Specs:
Stealth Black
Intel Core i7-2630QM "Sandy Bridge 2nd-Gen i7" Processor (Quad 2.90 GHz Turbo Mode / 2.0 GHz non turbo mode)
16GB RAM
1TB (320GB + 640GB = 960GB) SATA Hard Drive
17.3" Widescreen Display High-Definition WLED (1600x900)
1 GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870M
DVD RW Drive (DVD RW + CD RW)
Wireless Bluetooth Card | Wireless-N

Win 7 on it too so that will be a nice upgrade from my vista dv9000. Its a refurb but should be good i hope. I picked it up for 1,661 and it seemed like the best deal i could find on what i wanted. the major requirements were 8gig of ram and a decent hard drive. this one was 30 bucks cheaper than a neb red one with 750 gig ram and 8gig of ram in it. I wanted the red but for the price i can live with the black finish. this thing is going to be so much nicer than the 1.6 ghz processor with 2 gig of ram in my current machine.

thoughts?
steve

 

Price is really nice but not many would choose this system. Basic GPU and no FHD screen.

 

u should've upgraded at least upgraded the GPU...perhaps to a 6970m or even a 6990m

 

I agree, you should have got 4GB of ram and upgraded after market. You should have gotten the 1080P screen and a better GPU. What do you plan on using your R3 for? Gaming or something else?

 

I don't think the FHD is that big of an issue, provided he's got a 1080p external monitor.

I got the 900p and just run the display externally.

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7590_102-368778.html

 

I think it is, considering I have seen both screens and that the 1080P one blows the 900P one away. I would normally say get the 1080P screen only if you care about screen resolution, but I don't recommend anyone getting the 900P screen on the R3. The 900P screens I have seen on other laptops are much better. The R3 one seems really bad in my opinion, but I am very picky about screen resolution/quality.

 

exactly how bad is it?



I'm still on the 20 day return policy...please describe

 

900p is not that bad at all! but the AW one sucks at colors pretty bad comparing to the 1080p!

 

Ill be using mine for a general computer really. just searching the web and typing word documents for the most part. I do plan on running solidworks on it sooner or later so that i can work on things for work. i am just getting ready to graduate as a mechanical engineer and hope to work from home every now and again when i start working full time for the place i just finished interning at over the summer.

i got it on ebay so i couldnt upgrade anything. How big of a pain is it to upgrade these systems once you get them in hand? I have thought about getting a few upgrades after money isnt so tight and the 6990m would be the gpu to go with if i was going to upgrade.

steve

 

well, if you play a game (GTA:SA for instance!) it's like the color depth for 16-bit and 32-bit!

 

thats not good to hear... 1080 would have been nice but 900 will work too. i dont watch videos or anything on it but might do a bit of gaming now that i have a computer that i can run something on.

steve

 

i've been playing crysis 2 and can't complain about the color quaility. I only get a bit sceptical in terms of sharpness when watching youtube videos.

 

still sounds nice though lol

steve

 

nothing to be that sad about mate...

You still have a great video card. One thing to remember, it'll still outperform the M14x and M11x laptops.

 

You can also upgrade the video card. You can find the other m17xR3 video cards for sale on ebay, here, or other places.

The screen though, can't be upgraded. If you're gonna have it plugged into an external display most of the time it's not a big deal I guess, but if you're planning on using the laptop display extensively I would strongly recommend the 1080p display.

 

Congratulations honda...I hope you enjoy your new toy without any troubles...This forum has been a great source of knowledge and solutions...

 

thanks for the info guys! i will be using it pretty much exclusively as a laptop while at school and such but it cant be any worse than my screens on my other computers. lol

it should be here later this week so i will get to play with it when i get home from school again this coming weekend. I plan to check into the extended warr and such from alienware. it says it has in house on it now but i want to at least verify that it does. i hope i will never need it but its nice to have when spending this kind of cash on a computer. is in house the same as in home? i dont think so but want to make sure.

steve

 

I got a bit paranoid after reading stuff about the 1600 x 900 display. Seems like a few people have complained about the blacks looking gray.

After spending a while, I really can't find a problem besides brightness, which can be increased from catalyst.

 

Congrats mate, nice specs although id personally upgrade the GPU

 

Blacks are pretty gray yes, I have the 900p only because I am about to mod a B+RGLED 1080p LCD into it. Otherwise I would've gone stock 1080p. The 900p isn't horrible, viewing angles are somewhat bad, and colors are ever so slightly washed out. I've seen worse (M11x screen).

 

i just called dell and told them i wanna return the laptop!

They're giving me a 75 bucks discount to keep the laptop....lol!

Guess i'll keep the laptop.

 

Swap all your upgraded parts, and just get stock everything. Upgrade the screen and GPU, and you're good to go.

 

It should be here saturday if all goes well. I cant wait to try it out.

steve

 

Keep us updated.

 

sounds good, i will!

are there any accessories that work well? i just got a M705 mouse from logi not to long ago that will be used on it. I was thinking of a fan base for when i have it sitting on a desk but ive read that the heat really isnt an issue unless it is doing major processing for a long time.

i have my home network ready to accept the new machine and make my current laptop a base for wireless printing and remote access with my m17. I can just plug my dv9000 into my printer and ill be all set monday when i get back to school. I have been waiting a long time to finally have a decent comp setup in my appt at school. The win 2000 tower i had didnt work with anything vista so that never got hooked up as a permanent fixture.

Steve

 

Gratz on the system looks pretty darn good. Mine will be here tomorrow Let us know how it go's when you get it.

 

congrats to you also! let me know how you like yours.

steve

 

I recently bought a Logitech M305 mouse for $12. Works perfectly for games too. Zero mouse delay/lag, and it's comfy for my petite handz.

 

ive def been happy with my 705, i got it as a reward on credit card earned points so it didnt really cost me anything. it is def a comfy mouse and i like having the extra buttons for forward and back, a thumb clicker, and a un/lockable roll ball to scroll fast and slow.

i got used to using the fitted style mice at work doing engineering work over the summer so i decided to get one to replace my regular mouse.

i have my WD 2T external all ready to hook up for full time use also if i can access it on my logmein.com setup i am going to try out. hopefully that site works out ok, i wasnt really in the mood to set up a remote desktop setup to access my base laptop at school or elsewhere.

steve

 

Go with Asus WX Lamborghini Wireless Mouse, its light match alienware front light design.


On the second page
Photo: high-end luxury game evaluation of the ASUS Lamborghini VX7 - Technology News

 

Check out the rig I ordered.

Alienware M17x
Intel Core i7 2760QM 2.4GHz
8GB ram 17.3-inch WideFHD1920 x 1080
2GB GDDR5 AMd radeon 6990
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD
Killer Wireless

I was on the phone with the rep for close to an hour and a half and she would just not budge on the price. I ended paying $2300. I feel like I overpaid. Oh well. The only thing I regret is not extending the warranty past 1 year. By the way does the laptop have a card reader.

 

yours is a new one though, congrats on the purchase!

steve

 

See if you can have 'em change you to 4gb ram. They're all 1600 now, so it'd still be cheaper to upgrade it yourself, I think.

 

Do you think they will make the change and refund while the laptop is in production?

 

Try calling. They might be able to. They always say "it's in production," but it's really not.

 

just got my m17x! this thing is absolutely amazing compared to my dv. the screen is crisp as can be with all of my pictures and everything, it runs smooth, and is so customizable.

the one thing i am not sure on how to work is the mouse pad and if i can get it to scroll without going over to the side. Anyone know how?

A+++ thanks for making the sickest comp i have ever seen.
steve

 

also any info on turboing it? Im sure theres a thread on it, i just havent found it yet. lol

steve

 

Not sure what you mean by "without going over to the side."

 

if you want multitouch scrolling, grab the latest synaptics drivers here:

Synaptics drivers

 

lol sorry i missed the last 2 posts. my comp went dead as i was typing that reply and it came up again when i turned it on tonight.

i just had to enable the scroll feature in the touchfx feature. I didnt know that was an option on alienware.

thanks for your help guys!
steve