*OFFICIAL* M17xR3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 1

I apologize for those that didn't understand my post. Yes I was lamenting the fact that there was not a more detailed list of statuses and was giving examples of things that would be good to know. I thought my mention of trolls and Cheetos made it clear it was in jest but I do apologize to anyone who took it as me predicting or relaying actual valid delay reasons.

 

I think they should setup live video feeds. "This is approximately where your computer is". lol.

 

Congrats and nice spec's.

Curiously I ordered last week on the 13th and my EDD is only one day less than you. I had canceled an order from a day earlier, 12th, with an EDD of 2/5 so as to get the discounted 120Hz screen but bumped my EDD back a week!

 

Intel Wireless HD is near useless for gaming/playing movies via optical drive

1-Limited range (Anything above 10 Feet and you will have issues)
2-Can't play DVD/Bluray/etc (DRM issues)
3-Lot of issues (need drivers+software)
4-CRAZY LAG forget about gaming unless it's chess
5-only works with intel HD graphics which sucks for a lot of things

The PTV2000 bring 5 improvements
1-Bigger range but not much
2-30 Frame cap instead of 24 of PTV1000
3-1080p instead of 720p
4-Less lag but still exist
5-works with none-intel cards
In order for the M17x R3 to work with it YOU MUST have intel wireless 6250 or 6300 instead of the cheap wireless option or it wont work (obviously you also need certain Intel cpus but all of m17x cpus support it)

Wireless HD is only good if you want to view videos/photos/browse/youtube in your TV but for gaming or DRM materials forget about it

There is alternative that work MUCH better but require external annoying plug here Asus WiCast: Wireless 1080p to your TV - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

WiCast:Wireless 1080p Broadcast for Much Less

wicast is lag free/play bluray/drm stuff just fine/works with any laptop even without intel wireless cards/have artifacts sometimes during playback which is annoying as hell for me
M17X manual clearly say Intel wireless card is required so you wont get better tech than what i have already posted for it

 

Me to as I was cancel my previous order to get the combo screen and 460m card, when I made that call I told the rep that I will be out for vacation on fen 10th and she said it should be there before the 10th

 

This is most likely a mistake.

 

The Asus WiCast review said it would be better to just use a wired connection. I thought the R3 only had an HDMI-in connection. If it has a HDMI-out, I'd happily just buy an HDMI cord and connect it directly to the TV. At least it wouldn't be as bulky and annoying as my current VGA connection.

The specs on Dell says:

1 x HDMI-1.4 port with Audio
1 x HDMI Input

Is the first one an HDMI-out?

 

hmmm if its a mistake, its STILL a mistake...i just looked at the french site and its still there. so they get better video cards...so unfair lol but seriously, i want one! i already have an open case number with dell stating that if the 485 is available within 21 days of receipt of my R3, i can send it back and they pay shipping... no restocking.....this may be a standard practice but im not taking any chences, i got a case number

 

Yes, the first one is an output to go to a TV/monitor. The second one in an input that you can use with consoles, cell phones, camcorders, that kinda thing to display pictures on your laptops screen. We might even be able to use the onboard speakers with the HDMI input, but I don't think that has been confirmed/denied yet.

 

Can you please listen to yourself? The 465M does not exist. Only the 465 exist and it is a desktop card. It is a mistake. They do not get a better video card, it's just the same old story. The Dell website content managers are noobs no matter which country they are in.

Nvidia Cards

 

Almost bougth the Wicast but then after seeing the reviews I decided against it Newegg.com - ASUS EW2000-NA WiCast 1080p wireless HDMI solution to connect NB/PC with TV I either directly connect using the HDMI cable or just plug in a slew of External HDD's into my Seagate Multimedia Extender.

 

ahhh confusing this with the 485m

 

Ok... SO, welcome a new future M17xr3 owner!
Specs:
225-0536
1 Alienware M17x Soft-Touch, Stealth Black
317-6114
1 Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
317-6116
1 MOD,DIMM,4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
331-1347
1 Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
320-1932
1 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
320-1938
1 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
342-2218
1 320GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
313-8792
1 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
421-4655
1 Alienware Command Center Software, M17X
421-1400
1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
420-9691
1 DataSafe Local BackUp
420-9956
1 Vista PC Restore
421-0092
1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
410-1883
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
318-0395
1 Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
421-4541
1 Roxio Creator Starter,No Media
318-0424
1 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
430-4021
1 MOD,CRD,NTWK,6300,ANW
330-6348
1 Automatic Updates: On
410-9452
1 McAfee Platinum, 30 Day, MUI
939-0320
1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
939-0340
1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
950-3337
1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
421-1721
1 Soft Contracts Service Hardware Agreement for Alienware
994-3730
1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
330-0171
1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
421-1359 1 World of Warcraft Preinstall Edition
421-2611 1 AlienGUIse Theme Manager with Breed Theme
421-1574 1 Alienhead Chrome Blue
421-1593 1 Alienhead Chrome Blue
331-1349 1 Standard Nameplate
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL
A1748804 1 Orion Laptop Messenger Bag-Fits Laptop of Screen Sizes Up to 17-Black $99.99
A3975233 1 RAZER KABUTO MOBILE-GAMING MOUSE MAT $14.99

Subtotal: $2,033.98
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $142.38
Environmental Disposal Fee: $0.00
Total Price w/Discounts: $2,176.36

ETA: 2/14/2011

Must say forewords: this is a freaking robbery, i have spoken with 5 (!) dell reps, NONE of em able to give me discount of any kind, one even tried to go talk to his manager - not happened, no free NBD, nothing. frustrated and dissapointed. not talking about any add. discs. on system. wow. dell sucks. but the laptop pwns.

 

On my M17x I could not get anything at time of ordering. But the Customer Service guy who called me to follow up got me NBD, expedited build at factory, and a free Alienware Orion Backpack

 

, I just called them and talked to a customer svc dude flat out asking if there was a deal on the backpack and he said no - he did say there's a 15% off coupon included in the AW welcome pack that we can use on accessories like the backpack lol

PFFT!

 

looks like we 're out of luck.
Scook9 dude call on both of our behalfs n demand some discount?
i mean ...my first and last alienware.reps of other companies do like to talk more on business. take asus reps for example.

 

Just like any business, the sales people aren't going to offer you anything if they think they've already got the sale. And I would guess that the customer service people aren't as willing to deal since it's the sales guy who's getting the commission. It also depends on the person you're dealing with. The experienced sales reps will likely have a little more flexibility to get the deal done. In addition, their individual managers may have completely different rules about what can and can't be offered.

Basically, if you don't feel like your being offered the best deal, it doesn't hurt to hang up and try again. You can always try canceling your order. The people who deal with those requests will likely have some kind of incentive to prevent you from doing it.

 

Eh I'm happy with what I got - but always interested in getting it for lower if at all possible. I'm in sales so I know how it goes - I played the waiting game with them ("well, let me think about it and I'll get back to ya") but at the end of the day I called them back and was only able to secure $50 off.

I don't feel I got hosed, but yeah everyone wants a BBD

 

He offered me the NBD up front. He pulled up my order and just said "That is a while from now, let me upgrade that to NBD shipping and refund your shipping costs. I will also expedite it at the factory for you."

I was happy lol. I had to work him for the backpack playing the "I am a poor college student and need a backpack. I REALLY like the Alienware one but it is just too expensive for me." I also talked up how it is made specifically for my Alienware laptop and would be the best match (pure BS but appeasing to the rep haha). He originally came back with $25 off then just gave it to me. Took 2 weeks (3 calls) to get the backpack. This was all back in summer 2009 as well, they might be a little tighter on the wallet since then. I also had gotten an amazing EPP only deal that was around that summer so was not complaining about price.

Was like $2400 for: GTX 280m SLI, BluRay reader, WUXGA screen, 250GB 7200rpm hdd, 4GB DDR3 1066, Q9000. Felt like a pretty awesome deal at the time. Of course that money would go further now as performance goes but this was summer 2009. It was like $600 savings (maybe $800?) at the time.

 

For what it's worth, there probably wasn't much more you could have gotten. The R3 is very popular right now as there aren't many laptops with the Sandy Bridge out there. There's also some guys who've always wanted an Alienware laptop but couldn't afford the >$3000 price tag. As such, there's probably company-wide restrictions on the types of deals that can be made for it. No sense in selling a popular machine for cheap until your supply of the product becomes greater than the demand. Right now, demand is greater.

 

So I also finally took the plunge. This is after returning a Vaio, then looking into Asus g73's and Toshiba Qosmios (saw the Qosmio in person, after seeing it didn't like it so much). Got almost everything I wanted, wish I could get a little bit better of a gfx card but oh well, as long as the 460m plays WoW, SC2, Diablo 3, etc well Ill be happy. (not planning on something brutal like metro).

So called a couple different reps, they seem fairly stern on pricing atm, but heres what I got:

Got the 3D bundle discount, +2% EPP, +$75 off, +~$40 (gave me another like 2% or something to 'help afford the carrying bag'), tried to get the bag for free but they wouldnt budge, got upgraded to the 2 year warranty + accidental for $150 (this option wasnt shown on the site but it may be something they can offer if your interested, seemed like a decent deal), also got free overnight shipping thrown in at the end. Would have been even better of a deal if not for stupid Mass sales tax lol.

Item Number Quantity Item Description
225-0537 1 Alienware M17x Soft Touch Nebula Red
317-6602 1 Intel Core i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
317-6116 1 MOD,DIMM,4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
331-1347 1 Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
320-1932 1 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
320-1938 1 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
342-2218 1 320GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
421-1400 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
318-0396 1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
318-0424 1 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
430-4019 1 Wireless 802.11 g/n
939-0330 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Extended Year
939-0320 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
939-0350 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year Extended
939-0340 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
950-3338 1 2 Year Limited Warranty
987-5271 1 Accidental Damage Service, 2 Years
421-1721 1 Soft Contracts Service Hardware Agreement for Alienware
421-1719 1 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
987-5301 1 Warranty Support, 1 Year Extended
994-3730 1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
463-0742 1 Special Pricing Applied
A2780163 1 Alienware Orion Messenger Bag - Fits Laptops with Screen Sizes Up to 17-inch - Black

Subtotal: $1,929.74
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $120.01
Total: $2,049.75

My EDD is 2/10.

I've recieved the email from the salesperson I talked to, however, it doesnt show up online in my 'order history' or anywhere else (tried the find missing order function also). Is this standard practice with them? makes me slightly concerned about where my invoice / receipt / status of my order is /are.

Also I went with the base wireless card, is it really that bad? When im using wireless I wont be very far from the routers.

 

Upgrade the wireless yourself for half the cost, no worries there. The system will take a bit to show your order, be patient

 

Go to the order status page and manually enter the order ID under the 'Find Missing Orders' link.

 

Yea, new system, high demand. You're not gonna get the best deal necessarily. Hopefully by the time the 6970m comes out, the initial rush will be over and I can get a good deal on my M17x.

The "I'll push it through the factory for you" sounds like some BS that a sales rep would say to keep you happy, but theres probably no way to actually do that and no way to tell one way or the other if they actually did push it through. Its a "white lie".

 

Might be BS.....but I got my M17x 12 days after ordering it so make your own conclusion

 

swear to god guys, i have blown my brains up, 5 reps i talked to.used different strategy on each one of them, pushed that i am a poor student who just doesnt have that much. some other times i tried to explain i worked 5 months to get the system, etc etc etc, i used all that usually works for me. the response was all the time same. "i tried to push the tool into system, it doesn't allow me to modify the order." and well i pretty much gave up on that. but. thanking to those REMOVED BY MOD at dell i have an account defficiency on my card. 7 freaking bucks short. so my backpack and mousepad are most likely on hold unless they can withdraw funds. will call them tomorrow, will say that ill cancel my order if they dont drop me price. lets see how does that work out.honestly, i even been telling them in face, that i know a guy who made $150 savings on systems with a rep. so i know its possible, i even told that forewords to couple of em, didn't work.
p.s. the most funny thing i did there which im still dying of is that i told the last one i was talkin to the following (in short) : "you know i just dont happen to have that money. would love to but im just a student, where do i get it... say, do you think like in my situation it is more worth to buy an asus g73? ill save the necessary amount and will have enough money. what do you think" xD and after this didnt work too i gave up n made an order. wow.


gotcha, sorry

 

Can the rep really push your order in front of the line? If they could, it will be unfair to others.....

 

I don't see why its a problem. Newegg you can pay for rush order processing which means your basket in their warehouse goes on a different path and passes everyone else to get your parts quicker. Newegg only charges $2.99 so I don't see why Dell/Alienware can't offer it for free to customers they want to please or give deals to.

 

They can "expedite your order"
A request is sent to have the order filled more quickly. Unless this is done by an escalation rep - or someone with more power - the order typically comes no faster (in my experience).

 

Yes and No, the rep can REQUEST it be priority rushed, the factory decides what that means.

 

So which one of dell numbers would we have to call to get expedited delivery? there're like 3 on website.

 

Customer Service/Order Support. Not Technical Support.

 

thanks.
do i get the right feeling that if you chat with the reps it has no sense, because they are "more limited" than those you get by phone?

p.s. just been told, that there is an "order modification department"
@ 1 800 247 2076. is that something related?

 

One of my long time friends was an XPS (Canada?) support agent once upon a time (When XPS support was in Ottawa Canada). From what he tells me, the agents do both phone and chat support.

 

can you ask him how do they get forced to make expedited shipping?
i really am tired with this one-sided negotiation. company reps dont seem to be interested with a purchase.

 

you just have to ask - not always going to happen when a new system is launched.

With that, lets move order status related posts to the order status thread -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/487300-m17x-order-status-discussion-part-3-a.html

thanks.

 

how come in alienware website they list m17x R2 and R3 with the exact Dimensions and weight, isn't r3 lighter and slimmer? (New design/1GPU only instead of 2)

 

Because dell went the copypasta route to launch the r3. Page one of this thread hasa link to a manual with the proper dimensions.

 

Well I finally pulled the Trigger and ordered my new M17x R3.. I really wanted a better GPU but I didnt want to miss the current discounts on AAFES..

System Color;Alienware M17x, Soft Touch Stealth Black
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
Memory: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
A/C Adapter: Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
Display Panel: 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
Video Card: 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
Hard Drive: 256GB Solid State Drive
Nameplate: Personalized Plate (My Name)
AlienFX: Quasar Blue
Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW: Adobe Acrobat Reader
Optical Drives: Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound: Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless: Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates: On
Service: 4 Year Advanced Plan
Factory Installed Games: Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
OS Customization: Fast Access Facial Recognition 3.0 Software Application
OS Customization: AlienGUIse Theme Manager with Breed Theme
OS Customization: Alienhead Chrome Red
Standard Nameplate Trigger: Thank you for Purchasing Alienware

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit Price $2,721.60

 

Jesus! You really went all out. Max proc, 8 GB ram, blueray player, 4 year advanced plan.
Is this 30% off and non-taxed? I might have done the same flippin thing at that price.

I have a brother in the National Guard, would he qualify for this discount?

 

Cool, thx for the info. Just making sure lol. The wireless card is pretty easy to install right? I think I recall reading that here somewhere.

 

I already posted something similar in the order status thread, but just in case it's not seen, I'll ask here. Whichever gets responded to 2nd, I'll edit out (delete).

For anyone who's ordered over the phone, what's the cheapest they've been able to get the csr to drop the price? Do you think they'd let the base/stock config+GTX 460M go for $1200 or less?

 

Yeah it was 30% off plus Tax free. The normal retail price for everything was like $3800 bucks and theres no way I am paying that much for a laptop..Anyways, AAFES is available to National Guard members. You just have to register for an account.

 

The best I was able to get was $50 off. I went with the $1699 deal which was MUCH better than I could get by phone. I tried multiple calls too.

 

Good luck haha.....I would expect $150 off MAX unless you have an awesome EPP or AAFES discount

 

Yea I got a little more off but it wasnt easy, they seem pretty stern on the pricing for now.

Btw, I saved the 1699 deal in my cart configured how I wanted (with a coupon too) before calling to get more off.

 

Why can't I seem to find this $1699 deal that people have been talking about for like 2 weeks now?

 

Alienware M17x Laptop Details | Dell

There you go

 

Oh snap! I never found that one! Cool, Thanks!

I'd like to order that $1699 deal + 2720QM ($150) + Logitech G27 Steering wheel ($300) = $2148. Do you think the csr would drop the price on that (deal) to anything lower?

 

Nope. And you would have a hard time convincing them. That deal is pretty juicy as it is