*OFFICIAL* Alienware M17x Owners Lounge - Part 2

fly,
do you get a hard disk clicking sound? I'm wondering if the R2's also have this problem. Though, the manufacturers claim it's not a "problem" - it results in a "stall" for up to 1 second.

 

Pfff mine came with jumpy touchpad....

THe build quality is amazing but... this thing is huge.

 

I've got one of the $1,200 Microsoft Store M17x's on the way. Seems like a great deal, but has anyone tried to swap out the WXGA screen with the better one?

 

I have had no problems so far, Dell is sending a tech out to replace my left speaker, it always has a green tint to it in any color but red. I will listen closer for the clicking noise.

 

Under the touch pad setting, not the Alienware touch pad settings, there is a setting you can check, I think it's called "precise" something, sorry for the vagueness. This seems to help.

 

Just noticed this is the "wrong" thread... I guess the m17-r2 is the right one for us.

Btw it didn't help, I played with it quite a long time yesterday. There's an entire thread about it called something like "m17x polling ....". The touchpad is complete garbage. I do things faster on the keyboard ^^

 

ya, the touchpad is pretty miserable on this machine...I like the rest of it though

 

It is actually quite good...in linux. The problem is software-related.

 

I would have to agree with the issue being software related because I have installed the hp synaptics multi-touch drivers from this thread on the M17x-R1 & M17x-R2 & the touchpad works great on both systems.

 

Nice! I'll give it a try.

 

I will also give that a try. The dell drivers have been resource hogs for me and caused horrible computer slowdowns

Hope this helps!

 

For the sake of curiosity, I just ordered my M17x, and I was wondering what all came with the resource DVD. Also what I should be expecting with the apparent driver issue, and how that would affect me.

 

I am happy with the HP synaptics driver thus far

it lacks some of the multi touch gestures I was hoping to gain but is a step up from the dell driver for sure

 

Is it normal for the speaker lights to be a little off? My left one is slightly green, and my right one is slightly red.

 

How's the polling rate?

 

still seems kind of weak

 

Yeah, same here. Reverted back for now.

 

My right side speaker is a little yellower than the left (and generally, a bit lighter whichever the colour).

When I switch off alienFX, the right side speaker is Red (on) and everything else except the Status Zones are Off.

From here? Synaptics Touchpad Driver - HP Customer Care (United States - English)
Downloading now, will give it a try.

Anyone know how to change the sensitivity of the trackpad independently of the mouse? I keep my mouse pointer speed not too high since I have a switchable 500-1000-2000 dpi mouse which I keep at 1000 in windows and most games. When I tried 2000 dpi and lowered the mouse speed, the pointer speed on the trackpad was too slow so I increased that and use 1000 dpi so that I don't have to keep changing it.

If I'm at the office or at starbucks, I don't use a mouse.

Funny OT - I used a basic mouse twice at starbucks, to play L4D. The right side area of the palmrest was enough for me to keep the alienware mouse pad though a bit inconvenient.

 

I just received my M17X R2 this week and my left speaker has a greenish tint to it on any color I choose except red. I called Dell, and they are replacing the speaker this week. I would call for a new speaker.

 

SP47815 is the one I have. But I also just ordered a G9x for my games, so that will be getting the attention and not the measly touchpad haha

 

Understood
The HP servers must all be in the US coz I'm unable to download any faster than 3-4 KB/s and it stalls after 5 mins.

 

my Fan makes noise as well, mostly on low speed almost sounds like a bearing or something.

Been debating calling Dell and getting it repalced

 

I think that sound is from the 2nd GPU's fan. Trying running OCCT for CPU test (or some CPU-specific test) and see if the sound stops/changes when the CPU fan speeds up.

I've run Super PI for 32M places, CPU goes to 67-70 C by loop 6 (and drops back) but that sounds still remains.
OCCT CPU: OCCT test for 15 mins pushes it to 80 C and I can hear the fan speed up, sound remains but drowned by the whirring of the CPU fan. On a GPU test, when that fan speeds up (with SLI on), the rattling sound becomes less like "rattling" and more like a whirring high-speed fan.

It's still freaky how the CPU temp drops from 80 C to 65 C in 2 seconds at the end of the test, when it starts the 4 minutes of idle monitoring.

Unless that noise becomes much louder, I'll hold off on calling Dell.

 

Stupid question alert: when I recieve my Alienware would the battery already be charged or do I have to charge it?

 

It will say it's charged, but I would plug it in to charge it.

 

To avoid future weakness in the battery charging, on the first use it's recommended a full overnight charge of the battery.

 

Mine came at 90%

 

This is not true will lithium-ion batteries. Actually this has not been applied to high end laptops for many many years.

Lithium-ion batteries have no memory effect and are not affected at all by first charge, half charge, 3/4 charge, etc...

 

Since the benchmarking thread has been closed, can I just ask for people with cf5870s to do more benchmarking. The obvious problem of them not being faster than the 4870s should be addressed b4 I get mine LOL.

Whenever that Is, as today I've just sold my m15x off. Good price, but this au exchange rate is really killing me. So I'll be on thisnthread more often than not.

On a side note, still waiting for e3 as we don't know what it will hold.

 

As always I can learn from everybody in this forum; specially from the masters. Thanks Joe!

 

I am not going to start a new thread for such a quick noob question...

Anyone knows what is the best gaming bluetooth mouse out there?

I know that Razer has one but it's quite small.

Thanks for all your help,

 

My MX revolution (bluetooth cuz it came in an MX 5500 desktop set) has been great for me so far

 

Yeah, especially since it will go to integrated graphics when booted on battery. It's your first use of the laptop, why ruin the experience?

Keep it plugged in when you start up. No need to do a full charge cycle with the laptop off or anything like that.

 

I'm not sure there are any good Bluetooth mice out there specifically for gaming at the moment (apart from Razer's Orochi), but I'd be keen to know if anyone knows of one.

I was actually looking at the Razer lines as well and almost picked up a Mamba but hated the fact that the wireless receiver was the entire charging base station that needed to be plugged in. The Orochi (which would have been the one you looked at?) was ok but far too small for my liking as well.

At the moment I've just picked up a Logitech Performance M950 which suits my needs until something better comes along. Hopefully Razer bring out a Mamba version with a small wireless receiver (I asked, they said nothing planned).

 

does anyones fans keep going up and down very quie just when browsing?

 

Yep it happens depending on room temperature.

 

I haven't experienced that yet. My fans turn on full when I turn the laptop on and that's about it.

 

well phoned tech team. they said he will phone me back tomorrow as he said he will replace motherboard and both cards, but cant gauratee there not refurbs, so he said i might have to place another order to garantee new parts -.- so another 2-3 week for another r2! grrr! -.-

well now when i turn sli off i cant put it back on! like =/

 

It happens a lot with my wife's M17x-R1 & occasionally with my M17x-R2.

I probably notice it more with her's because it also sounds like a shop vac, compared to mine, even though it is 4 feet away from me when in use.

 

I have been pleasantly surprised by how quiet my system has been. I haven't stressed it yet too much though. However it's on all day and most of the night and it's also fairly quiet when it boots up. I haven't gotten a notebook cooler yet, but it sits on top of my desk which is near an air vent.

 

mine is silent the cooler under it makes about 2x as much noise.

 

When I turn up my Cryo with scythe fans all the way, I cannot even tell when my laptop fans are on haha

 

I have a noooob question guys I wan to get the new dual 5780 setup and I heard something about this laptop havin intagrated graphics, can i just disable them in bios like I do on my m11x and get the latest ati driver??? thx guys fro the help

 

there is only an integrated gpu on the R1 which cannot get the 5870s - you are mixing up the 2 versions of the M17x, one is Core 2 based, the other is Core i5/i7

 

I thought I should throw this out there, but the R1 is no longer available on the Alienware website!

They have FINALLY killed it. This bodes well for those seeking an R2 replacement for their R1

 

For me, the R1 is still available in nebula red for US EPP, but no longer an option (in any color) for US Home & Home Office.

 

But you can play dumb with the rep and just say it is no longer in the AW site

 

The DPC problem is *almost* fixed, what will you tell them to get a R2 replacement?
By the way, does anyone know how to uninstall the nVIDIA Storage Driver?

 

Well I just joinde the club, sorta, I ordered one, specs below, hope to see it by the end of the month


Alienware M17x Space Black - Anodized Aluminum
[224-8241]

Processor Intel® Core™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
[317-3657]

Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
[317-3660]

Power Adapters 240 watt Adapter
[330-7841]

Display Panels 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 (900p)
[320-8854]

Video Card CrossfireX™ 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
[320-8988]

Hard Drive 500GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
[342-0668]

Nameplate Standard Nameplate (Alienware M17x)
[330-5063]

AlienFX Quasar Blue
[313-8792]
[421-2261]

Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
[420-6436]
[420-9691]
[421-1400]

Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat Reader
[410-1883]

CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
[313-8977]
[421-1304]
[421-1305]

Sound Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
[313-8944]

Wireless Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
[430-3688]

Automatic Updates Automatic Updates: Critical Updates Only
[330-6350]

Security Software McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
[410-2461]

Service 1 Year Basic Service Plan
[908-2187]
[922-3390]
[950-9797]
[994-3730]

Factory Installed Games Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
[421-1360]

OS Customization Alienhead 3D
[421-1573]
[421-1591]

Bluetooth Internal Wireless Bluetooth® 2.1 with EDR
[430-0628

 

I have a question guys, I'm gettin the new dual 5780 settup soon and was wondering if I hook up my external moniter to the hdmi port and view my desktop there and then launch a game will say, is it posable to have a desktop on the laptop screen still to browse the web or move stuff around?? and can you guys plz send me some links to the best 17 inch laptop backpack pages, thx guys