Questions regarding the M17xR4

Although I have had a brief search through the posts, I haven't seen any satisfactory answers, so I'll post my queries here...

1) I know it wont come close to an RGBLED, but is the 1080 60Hz panel decent quality, as far as a TN goes..? (Are the viewing angles decent? (my Vaio VPCZ1 angles are not that great), and I hear some people reckon the display isn't that bright... What are people's thoughts..?)

2) Does the R4 still use BIOS (I know the R3 does), i.e. can Linux be installed without issue.

3) Has anyone got GFX card switching working in Linux with Bumblebee (or whatever)?

4) Is the Killer Wifi card Linux compatible?

5) Is there much point going for a CPU higher than a 3610QM..?

Thanx in advance...

ponx

 

My neighbor has the R4 and it's panel is plenty bright, and viewing angles are pretty good too. I know the 3D panels are known to be somewhat dim.

Yes, the R4 uses BIOS...most PC's I'm aware of all use some form of BIOS.

No idea. I know the Intel Integrated Graphics drivers are all Windows 7, none I can see for Linux

Unofficially, yes. There is a Killer Wireless compatibility thread in the m18x forum which address the driver/compatibility issues with the Killer wireless cards and Linux.

Depends on what you're going to use your R4 for. If you'll be doing heavy gaming or anything that will put a strain on the CPU, you might want to think about going for the i7-3720QM...0.3Ghz faster than the 3610QM. That little burst of speed might make all the difference, butt it's purely personal preference. The top CPU offered is (I believe) the 3820QM. That increases the clock speed 0.6Ghz over the 3610QM and increases the cache from 6Mb to 8Mb. Again, personal preference. Some people need a fast processor but only a basic video card, others need vice-versa.

Know that whatever you will get, you'll be very happy with it

 

Thanks for the quick response.

Just to clarify point 2, I was asking if it still uses BIOS as opposed to the newer UEFI, which has been known to cause compatibility issues with Linux.

Any other opinions from owners with the 1080 60Hz display..?

ponx

 

My screen is so bright it will blow your eyeballs out. I can normally only use it on the lowest setting. Every now and again, in a bright room I'll turn it up one notch from the lowest setting. I simply cannot use it any brighter, it actually hurts my eyes. So I'd say it is plenty bright. Image quality is fantastic, I cannot complain at all. The screen was my only concern as I had read negative comments, and I am very picky about image quality, but I am totally satisfied.

 

Thanks Coach Knight, the screen is my main concern too. What are your viewing angles like..? I'm often having to tweak the position of my Vaio's display as I adjust my own position at my desk, which can get annoying (vertical angles are quite poor).

 

In tweaking the LCD settings on my R2, along with my friends R3 and my neighbors R4, I can tell you with no ego that the viewing angles are fantastic. I've sat next to my neighbor while he was on his R4 and I was almost 180 degrees parallel with the screen and I could stil see the youtube video in perfect clarity. The viewing angles are that good.

 

That sounds pretty good radji, thanks.

 

I echo radji, viewing angles are quite good.

 

That's promising...

Anyone got Ubuntu running on their R4..? From what I've read thus far, there have been issues with it on R3s. I think Killer Wi-fi has problems connecting to networks, but I think the latest Bumblebee successfully allows manual GFX card switching...

ponx

 

Actually I'm wondering about Linux support for my configuration with the 7970m. How does that work out?