*OFFICIAL* M17xR3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 2

He just is not on as often, he still is posting but not in the AW section. Last I saw he was looking for a Droid Incredible haha

He has a full-time job now so is more busy (and he is getting married)

 

That's great congrats to him.

 

EAch time I have had to exchange (3X) I have gotten to keep mine until I get the new one. Then you must ship it back within 10 days of recieving the replacment unit. But they'll give you a few extra days.

 

I've been offered a full refund on purchase price on my r3 without having to return it until
return is processed, then
I order a new system, then
they ship it to me....

Then I have 10 days to return it to them. Speaking with some Dell reps is like pulling your own teeth sometimes, but it's worth it in the end. Reasons like this keep me coming back for more punishment.

 

Are there really that many problems with the new R3's!!!!? I'm doing some serious stress testing when I receive mine...

 

I had an R1 replaced with an R1, then replaced with an R2, which was replaced with an R3.

 

lol.... I guess mines being replaced as well... although its almost a year and a half later. Seems these laptops don't have a great shelf life though... they burn bright but not for very long. Good thing I have a brand new warranty lol... oh btw sold my Qx9300 ES for 350 on ebay, bought it for 450 almost 2 years ago... so pretty good return!

 

Ya I got my first QX9300 as an ES for $450 and sold for $400 about 2 months later, yours aged better haha

Got this OEM one for $505 from HP though, pretty sure I could turn a profit on it hehe (especially as it is the fastest in the world )

 

OK I've looked at buying all 3 releases of m17x over the years and each time I have a look there are so many problems. So think I'll give this one a miss as well, the above worries the hell out of me. Which sucks because now I have to find a similar spec to purchase. Maybe an asus.

 

There will always be a few bad bulbs in the batch. It is a mass produced system after all, and most users work it a hell of a lot harder than just surfing the web or watching youtube on a mac.

The asus g-series had issues with missed keystrokes and other stuff. No system is truly perfect.

 

Mine is coming tomorrow. Anything I should do besides reformatting, in order to make sure it doesn't have kinks? Or should I just do the usual, and get right into SC2?

 

Finally dude? you should be very happy! and why should we need to reformat it?

 

True, but the fact that I've read problems with all 3 releases has me concerned with what the Alienware are doing?

 

For bloatware and crap, right? All OEMs include bloatware, trial progs.

 

Actually, AW is very good about not doing that, I have owned 2 AW's (only 1 now) but both were verry clean. Granted, I formatted and installed win7 ultimate just because I wantd ultimate and not what they came with, but you dont NEED to IMHO.

 

OOOK I have heard some disturbing things, someone was telling me that the M17x R3's chassis is plastic and not anodized aluminum like my R1, is this true!!!!!!?????

 

If you format the R3, you most likely will lose proper graphics switching ability if you have an AMD card. When I uninstalled the shipping AMD driver and replaced it with Catalyst 11.4, I lost IGP battery saving even with the 6970M disabled. Today I restored the system and installed 11.4 ON TOP of the dell driver and it updated fine and I can use hybrid mode with 3:45 mins of battery time.

 

True much to my dismay, but true. Still feels pretty good though. Better than any other plastic lappy I've had or worked on (and I've worked on quite a few). But, in comparison to the R2 build quality-no contest. But then again, if you never had an R2 you wouldn't know the difference. It is still well built.

 

What's hybrid mode? Also, I thought we were supposed to be able to get 5hours on the IGP?

 

5 hours was optimistic....I get 3.5 on the IGP in my R1 and the R3 should be more efficient (although you have things like a USB 3 controller to power that I do not)

 

This is quite true. The alienware laptops come with almost NO bloat. Like a trial to McAfee is it if I remember from my R1. I used the factory install for months without issue. Actually set some world records for benching using the factory OS

If it was not Vista I would probably still be using my factory install....

 

Do you do 50% brightness, with WLAN and the lights ON?

 

When using my R1 on battery I drop the brightness all the way down and if watching a movie will turn off AlienFX as the reflection is distracting on the dimmer screen. I usually will leave WiFi on (unless on a plane then I'll turn it off) but if the adapter is idle and not connected to anything there is minimal power savings taking place by turning it off.

The main things I do are screen brightness all the way down and power plan to battery saver.

I have been able to watch a full length BluRay movie this way and still have about an hour or more battery life left

 

Cool didnt know that the R1 had switchable gpus!

 

Think I read somewhere that it was a manual switch.

 

It is manual if you have the 4870s installed but with the GTX 260m or GTX 280m cards it is automatic via Hybrid SLI. That is because of the nvidia chipset and integrated 9400m. You can also override the automatic behavior and force a switch using the fn+F7 key (I believe? don't have it in front of me, it is an fn+FX combo)

 

If you have the 4870s, is the integrated card the same? The 9400m?

 

Ya, still the same motherboard regardless of GPUs

I got my M17x with GTX 280m SLI and had it upgraded to 4870s later in its life

 

Called Dell Customer Care yesterday and they are replacing my M17x R3 with the same model and specs. It already went into production but there isn't an EDD. Is this normal with a replacement?

Also for those of you who are worried about build quality, don't. This laptop is built like a tank, and mine was immaculate with the exception of the two stuck/dead pixels. Other than that, zero keyboard flex, etc. It was MINT!

 

Yes it is Fn+F7 (I/D GFX) to switch between integrated and dedicated graphics cards.

 

Alright. A completely off topic question. Please forgive me, I don't know where else to go and you all seem to be pretty tech savvy.
I recently had to buy a new motherboard for my father in law's PC, and while I was at it, I upgraded his CPU, but still the same socket 775. The problem is the computer isn't recognizing the PS/2 keyboard and USB>PS/2 mouse via KVM switch. The only thing that works is the keyboard plugged in directly, and via KVM switch it only works in the BIOS. The mouse is USB using an adapter, but otherwise via USB it's just fine. Do I need to reinstall Windows on this new mobo for PS/2 to work properly or are the ports bad? And just to put it out there. I did have both computers off, and unplugged like KVM switch's manual says. So basically it all worked before, but not anymore. Plugging in PS/2 keyboard directly works, but not the USB mouse via PS/2 adapter.
I do apologize for the off topic question, please feel free to move this post to a more appropriate thread, or even a more appropriate forum.

 

Maybe if a mod knew what kind of computer it was he could/we could help you out.

 

What if mine comes with Windows home premium and I want Windows Ultimate? Is there no way to just download the drivers for IGP after reinstalling everything so I can get graphics switching with my new Windows?

 

Just install the Dell driver then install what you want over that without uninstalling in between. This is what I have had to do on my M17x R1 for a while if I want crossfire working......

 

That's what I originally thought but now I'm confused since he said that IGP will be impossible after a reformat. I want him to confirm its possible in case there was another reason for his explanation.

 

It will not be impossible....just have to use the right drivers

 

My point being was I can't believe they would would completely switch the design on a product that had incredible build quality, clearly they care much less about their consumers than they did even a year ago. it seems to me they are simply trying to cheat us out of a few extra dollars by making their build materials cheaper. To think they would switch the whole design to make it a little cheaper is infuriating. I'm sure if I asked them they would say it was to shed a few pounds off the laptop, but anyone who owns an M17x is not concerned about the weight of the laptop..... If I had a choice here I would love to get an RX2.... but thats not what they are offering me

 

For what it is worth they changed both the price point of the M17x as well as the manufacturer with the R3

I think they are staging the M17x R3 to replace the M15x and the M18x will replace the m17x R2 (interested to see if Flextronics will make that or if it is again Compal)

 

What do you mean they changed the price point? It's still starting at 1499, and the upgrades all cost the same. Do you mean in comparison to the m17x R2?

 

Yes, The M17x R1 and R2 both started at $1799

The M15x when introduced started at $1499 as does the M17x R3 now

 

Oh alright. For a second I thought you referring to the R3, so I was getting ready to cancel my order to redo it lol...

 

It might work if you reinstall Dell's own AMD driver, I didn't try that. However, if you try to reformat and install Dell's IGP + AMD's 11.4 driver, it likely won't work. The only way I got it to work was to install the 11.4 over the Dell driver without first uninstalling. I'm guessing there's a registry entry somewhere that controls the graphics switching.

 

Got a question for you folks who all ready have your lucky hands on this ... would the Pelican 1495 Laptop Computer Protector Case - Desert Tan from Pelican-Case.com fit the M17X R3? I'm leaving for Afghanistan in a few months and would like something I could toss under my bunk or in the back of a truck if needed ects

Interior Dimensions: 18.87" x 13.12" x 3.81" (47.9 x 33.3 x 9.7 cm)

Its foam and I know Pelican makes good cases I have one for my desktop from years ago that still is great for when I move

 

Why do you say "might" work? Shouldn't once a driver is installed, functionality should go back to however Dell shipped it?

 

Theoretically that's why I said might because I haven't tested for that. If anyone else has and can confirm whether or not it works would be helpful.

 

If the interior dimensions work then it should be fine. Pelican makes awesome cases

 

Ah Right so that's why its called M17x revision 1-2-3 .... gotcha

 

HERE's one case for sale on NBR. It fitted the R2 perfectly!

 

Yup, planning on getting one for my Sager because will be doing a lot of traveling comming up for work

 

Received. Love how it looks. Reminds me a lot of my M15x, just a bigger screen and number pad added. I haven't noticed any keyboard flex. I love the feel of the rubber, however I doubt it will hold up as well as the aluminum ones, but I'm not complaining. I haven't done much with it, but did play SC2 on Extreme, and it handled it like a champ. FPS was in the 90's (early game). I don't know what this little mini antenna is, that they put in the box. The touchpad doesn't look centered but it works well, nad probably better than the dimpled M15x type touchpad. Speakers are weak on volume, but have a cool way of creating a feeling of surround sound. So everything is all good, and I'm a happy camper. One thing that surprised me was the lack of a manual. My M15x had a nice leather bound manual, that also had some cd/dvd sleeves for travel. This one came with nothing.