my M17x from dell arrived

the replacement system arrived, it was fast, from 3-4weeks to 3-4days including the weekend. system is brand new, it has that new ic board smell, when the system heats up.
they sent me a nebula red M17x.r2, WOW the color is much better than black on black. i7-740, 6gb of ram, 1200 RGB screen, 2-500gb hdd, but the video card is geforce GTX285m.
i really want a HD5870 since i have a RV546 that came with the original shipment in the box waiting to be install. i will call them tomorrow and get this figure out. i will post some pictures tomorrow morning. thanks guys!


so i finally pulled the trigger on alienware, it is an i5 system with 320gb hdd, 4gb ram, single hd5870, a spare rv546 kit for the 2nd videocard, and the 1200dpi RGB LED screen. total came to ~$1500 including tax. i was so excited when fedex dropped of the package this morning, but after i open the box, first thing i noticed, the power adapter doesn't have the blue ring on it, i told myself ok, maybe it is refurb, they come with cheap adapter. next, the power cord, the power cord does even go into the power adapter, at this point i said, that is fine, it is a refurb, i can use my own power cord. after i find a power strip, and another power cord, i pulled out the M17x, plugged in the power adapter, it gives me the error msg, this is not a dell blah blah blah press F1 to resume. windows took forever to boot, so i took the time to inspect the m17x while the windows is booting up. what i saw on the laptop was very disappointing. i have a few picture attached to show the dmg on the laptop. after 3hr on the phone with alienware speicalist, first they told me they going to send out a tech and replace the parts, which it is going to take 3-4days, than they finally told me they going to sent me a replacement laptop, which it going to take 4-6weeks. over all dell service was thumbs down, but if i can just talk to the supervisor, we could probably this matter resolved in 20mins. all the rep doing was relay my msg to his supervisor, my main concern right now is that are they going to send me one without the RGB led display, dell can't give me any confirmation on the system spec, i just have to wait when the laptop gets here.

http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss106/phatcatblues/025.jpg
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Sorry to hear about your problems.

As for the screen, even if they dont send you one with RGB (they should... I would be a stickler about this) then you can change it yourself.

You will want to remove the backing from the "old" one (that is damaged) but removing 2 small screws near the hinge.
This will allow you to remove the small rubber/plastic piece on the back of the screen cover.
Remove 2 screws from that and unplug the wires and slide the back cover off.
Then just do the same with the replacement screen and swap covers.
Reverse to put back together.

NOW, you should not have to do this (as they should send you the RGB screen).... just stick to your guns and be firm about it.

As for the power supply, also stick to your guns about this and make sure they send you the correct 240W (not 240V) power brick.

Good luck

D.

Oh, and on a more "pet peeve" note..... you may want to try and not type everyting in one big paragraph as that makes it hard to read and baby pandas cry ;P

 

sorry about the paragraph spacing.

i tried to mess with the system a little, but i seems i cant get it to run at its full performance. i did change both plug in and on battery options to max performance. however on L4D2 i am only able to get 10fps, with everything max, and recommended setting only got me 3more fps. is there anything i can do to make it run full performance on battery?

pressed stealth mode, it says system already running on energy saving mode, stealth mode was not activated.

bio a09
ati cata 11.2

thanx

 

Was this ordered new or as a refurb?

 

refurb from dell outlet

 

While its highly unacceptable for Dell to provide customers with this crap (even if its refurb) I can understand it a little more than a new system.

Had me worried about ordering a new system.

 

You are not going to see the same 'gaming' performance on battery as you do with AC.

This sounds like a replacement - a 'new replacement', as in 'built @ the factory'. I wouldn't complain or freak just yet.

 

Looks like that puppy got dropped. They will need to make this right. Remember when they say replace this they will give same or better on spec's. Which most of the time end's up new build. Don't freak yet they will do what is right.

 

Are you saying that the laptop will not operate on the supplied AC adapter at all? You haven't gotten to even use it on AC power?

 

If you can, try flashing to the A10 bios and see if that allows you to run on AC.

The fact that you mention that by pressing the stealth button you get the "already in stealth mode" means you wont get full performance.

SO, try and flash the A10 bios and see if that will get you running on AC correctly at least.

Good luck

D.

 

Reminds me of when I got my m17x r2 with 940xm and 5870cf, they gave me a precision laptop's power brick, so my machine sat there for 3 days while I waited for them to get me the right power supply. You should be able to run it using the AC, the performance wouldn't be good and it does not charge the battery but it should still run the laptop until your replacement gets there.

3-4 weeks is way too long, dell overnighted mine replacement and got it within 3 days (it was a weekend) call up dell again, rage at them and demand they ship it to you over night.

 

they are not going to give me a new powersupply because the "new system" they are building will come with one.

it does operate, but i am only able to getting really low fps, 10fps to be exact. and the system feels very sluggish.

i will flash a10 bios later today.

thanks guys!