*OFFICIAL* M18x Owner's Lounge Thread

Rather than transmit video wireless, I would rather just connect the laptop directly and use a wireless mouse and keyboard

I have a Logitech MX5500 Revolution set as well as DiNovo Edge for that purpose

 

playing through walls? this is not what I want.
watching a movie through walls would be awesome

 

Absolutely! That's the reason why I may get a WirelessHD later on.

 

Hey guys... Im banging my head against the wall here. I just installed the 11.5b drivers and everything works fine but no catalyst control center. I've uninstalled and reinstalled, rebooting, all the usual proper ways to install drivers... no catalyst control center... Can anyone help me out please? I click on the icon and it just.. never opens. No error messages or anything... It even shows up when i right-click the desktop, again it just never opens. No error messages.

 

Anyone plan on getting an extra 330 watt PSU? I cannot find them on the Dell website.

 

Well, mine might be going back.

Along with the chipped lid issue, I just found out the extended warranty if you don't buy it @ POS will cost you an arm, leg, next of kin, and your car.

I asked 4 different reps and they just quote me whats on the page.

Sad too cause the system works well :/

 

I learned that the hard way on my M17x R1. That is why my M18x had 4 years of warranty out of the gate. Those 4 years of warranty cost me the same as adding a 2nd year of Complete Care to my M17x R1.....

 

Okay, so I got about 20 feet away from the receiver with the laptop but still had visual on it and it was going strong at a 40% signal.

The first test was a bit tougher because we live in a townhouse apartment that has walls but they contain closets and such so no real walls. So I took the beast upstairs and probably about 12 feet from the receiver through the floor I got the 40% signal again, so it worked! I'm not sure that floor/ceiling = wall but then again everyone's dwelling is a bit different and will have quirks.

Does the R1 have a display switch function key? I know the R2 and M18x do, it's the FN+F6 on those. I kept a HDMI cable connected to my R2 much of the time and just used that key to switch between the two or just extend the desktop at times.

That said, I don't know if there is a way to do an auto-detect that you are describing. I need to have both the TV on and the transmitter set to Connect/broadcast for it to work. I can still use the FN+F6 key to swap doing this but sometimes have to reconnect the signal. In all it's really easy and not remotely a pain.

I hope that answers your question.

 

I used to do the same with my R2 and it worked great. I decided to spoil myself this time. Also, I have enough clutter in the area already with the Rock Band drums, guitars and keyboard all in the "way.". So not having to run a long thick cable on top of it all was nice.

Love that show, can't wait for S4. One of my friend's buddies is the co-creator of the show and a big dork which is kinda neat.

 

I did the same thing with the VGA output on the R2 for gaming. For media it was always better to have the lappy closer and HDMI made more sense for that.

 

Can someone tell me if the M18x has a built in IR receiver? I can not get my remote to work with it and it's drivng me crazy!!!

 

Pretty sure it does NOT have an IR receiver.

 

Awwww.......man. Oh well. At least I still have my R2 to use with my remote.

Thanks for the prompt reply.
+1 rep.

 

You can get a usb receiver.

 

Good to see your not giving up. Thanks

 

J- Did you get the HD wireless kit? Also, can you get the desktop on your TV? I would like to use the Vizio for browsing the web and miscellaneous tasks.

 

Here you go Aikimox, partially covered by a frame I was not comfortable removing though

 

Has anyone been able to add their service tag to their account on dell's website yet?! I received my laptop on 5/21 and it STILL is not visible there.......their servers must be a mess right now with all the crap that is broken (but of course, being able to order something has worked the whole time)

 

yes, i have for the past week. maybe its because mines a canadian tag?

even shows the warranty info

Complete Care DELL 5/19/2011 5/19/2015 1449
Next Business Day Support UNY 5/20/2012 5/19/2015 1095
XPS Technical Support DELL 5/20/2012 5/19/2015 1095
Next Business Day Support UNY 5/19/2015 5/19/2016 367
XPS Technical Support DELL 5/19/2015 5/19/2016 367
Next Business Day Support UNY 5/19/2011 5/19/2012 354
XPS Technical Support DELL 5/19/2011 5/19/2012 354

 

Hmmm, that is annoying me but at least I know I have about 4 years of warranty left haha

 

I did get the kit but really only needed the receiver. The extra transmitter is nice to have if I want to connect my iPad 2 (which I've done a few times) or move the entertainment center to the other side of the room.

Anything you can do with a regular HDMI cable connected from the M18x to the TV you can do with wireless HD. Gaming, browsing and all that.

A word of warning on web surfing and other text heavy tasks: Depending on your TV the text may look a little washed out or generally hard to read. Some tweaking with the TV's settings can help this a bit but likely won't completely fix it. VGA/DVI is better for text heavy tasks if your TV has such an input.

 

Then, after 3 and half years, if you're still the original owner, you can apply to buy a 5th year... I always do it because I move and travel a lot.

 

That is a damn pricey 5th year. Yikes!

 

Ya I would most likely not be the owner 4 years down the road haha, more of a trade-in policy in my eyes

 

Pretty much. If the beast is still working great by that time I imagine I would have done a decent amount of upgrading on my own then starting to eyeball a new unit.

 

I don't even see there being many upgrade options since I already have the extreme CPU lol

Maybe a GPU but that is iffy

 

So what's everyone doing . . .shutting down at night or leaving their m18x running 24 / 7?

With my XPS1730 I left it running 24/7 as it took a long time to boot up after a while . . .however I'm not expecting that to happen with the ssd and just the overall power of this machine!

So is it better to shutdown for the evening or to leave it running?

Thanks!


Farson

 

Thanks for the info. I have a PCMCIA Dell remote that I have been spoiled with for my R2. I can't afford/want to occupy any more USB ports. I can't believe they didn't include a IR receiver.
Thanks +1 rep.

 

I shutdown AND unplug it. I only plug it in when using it. Seems to work well enough at preserving my battery

 

I do the same as Scook. Power off, plug out at the wall. No issues.

 

Scook9

Thanks! I like that unplugging idea!


Farson

 

I have redone a fresh Windows install today but am having a problem with getting the onboard video to switch. I followed Batboy's guide, except I used the 11.5b drivers. When it came time to switch to the iGPU, the Fn/F7 will not work. I tried a couple of other function key combinations and they worked. I went ahead and installed the IntelHD driver but the Fn/F7 still will not work. Any ideas on how the get the graphics to switch?

 

Do you have OSD installed?

 

I mostly just use sleep, since it is what my Logitech Harmony One is set to do when I switch inputs or hit the power off button.

 

Just had that same issue OldFoggie! Like Scook said, you have to install OSD off the resource cd.

 

Just a heads up, but your always best off getting up to date drivers from the Dell driver support website and NOT the resource DVD. As this is a new system, they will be the same but for future reference, always check and get your latest drivers from Dell and not off the resource DVD - you will get the "latest and most up-to-datest" stuff!!!

 

This would be so cool if it worked in my house like that. I could leave my laptop in the master bedroom for late night gaming (right above the large screen TV) and assuming a wireless keyboard/mouse had enough range, could game in front of the TV or just use the computer in general downstairs.

The distance would only be 10-15 feet I'd guess.

 

I just have a few questions for AW M18x owners...I'm buying my first AW system in a few weeks.

Here are my specs for my current PC, a HP Pavillion:

CPU: Intel i5 M450 @ 2.4GHz
RAM: 4 gig @ 1067 GHz
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5650

Here are the specs I'm planning to get for my Alienware M18x (these specs might change if they announce anything at E3):

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
GPU: Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6970M

Question 1

How hot does it get during gaming and doing other things (especially considering I’m getting 2 GPUs)? I currently have a 5650 and it get’s extremely hot when gaming (around 65-70 degrees Celsius) and browsing ( around 55-60 degrees Celsius)

Questions 2

How is dell customer service? HP is okay for customer service…They did replace my old laptop with the new one since it kept breaking down (I had to threaten to sue them to replace it with this new one).

Question 3

How easy is it replace small parts (or get parts) from dell…I’m thinking of buying my own SSD instead of it coming with the laptop. How is it to get things like an extra caddy from dell, ect.? Can you upgrade things like RAM easily by yourself? Will it void any of the warranty if I replace/change anything?

Question 4

If the computer is within the warrienty is it possible to upgrade down the line later?

Thank you for reading. Hope to hear back.

 

Well, its official - its going back. I spoke to several agents - one in customer care, one in EPP sales, one in corporate sales, and one in executive customer service - and basically the warranty is the way it is unless I order another machine.

So on that note, and the issue with the scratched lid a return has been granted.

Like I sad before, its sad that they would charge that much for a warranty and rather take a computer back/potentially loose a customer.

 

That sucks, especially considering the awesome unboxing vid you did. What were you talking to all the reps about? A warranty exchange? If so, it does seem odd that they'd rather do a return/refund instead of a warranty exchange due to a cosmetic issue that was their fault. So are you gonna get another one or go a different route?

 

It does, but I'll be honest, I never tried it

What was weird is that it would do exactly what I wanted, but inconsistently, sometimes the settings would persist and auto extend the desktop when the TV was on, other times it would switch the display, and others it would ignore it. The problem was also different resolutions, so it would have to adjust for each random reaction, with custom sizes for stuff getting switched around also at random, so in the end it was too much trouble.

 

Someone will probably be able to offer you better advice, but quick answers to your questions follow:

1) It's a gaming laptop, it's going to get rather hot when you play depending on how high your settings are, but even under stress tests they seem to be about 70-80c.

2) People seem to have had several repairs/replacements/whatever which have gone pretty smoothly, and there are several folks who are willing to share their rep's contact info, whom they seem to like and trust.

3) I think the extra caddy comes with the machine, the majority of the folks buying one from these forums are getting stock ram and harddrives to be upgraded later. It's easy enough if you can follow directions. The only thing that might be an issue is that the 18x has 4 ram slots - 2 are easily accessible from the bottom of the laptop, but the other 2 are apparently under the keyboard and require a bit more work. As far as I know, and I could be wrong here, but ugrading ram and drive do not void the warranty.

4) If you mean get it upgraded by Dellienware, they don't do that unless a part that is covered needs replacing because it broke and is no longer available. If you mean a new GPU came out and you want that instead, no. The closest is returning it within the first 30 (20? I forget) days or so, and ordering a new one. If you mean do it yourself without voiding the warranty, yeah, you can do that, with the ram and harddrive. Not sure about anything else.

2 notes -
1 - From my understanding, there is no discernable difference when gaming between the 2720 and the 2820 to justify the price bump, but in my opinion it doesn't hurt to get that extra power "just in case" for future whatever.

2 - Don't upgrade your ram from Dell, buy the stock. For a cheaper price you can get something much much better, installation is relatively easy, and if you buy memory that runs at a higher frequency, it's a quick and easy change in the BIOS (hold F-whatever, use the arrows to get to memory, change the number, save & exit), or the current favorite Hyper X plug and play which doesn't even require that.

Anyway, there's more info on stuff here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...e-order-configuration-questions-ask-here.html

Probably the best place for future questions.

 

The HDD caddy is a holder that takes 2 HDDs. If you only ordered one it will be there with a filler in the 2nd slot

The laptop ships ready to take 2 HDDs though

 

Just received it and have already added in the HDD and 1st ram stick. I assume the bottom ram slot is 1? I've been trying to get under the keyboard for ram slot 3 so I can run 2x4gb HyperX in dual channel mode but I've not been able to pry off the control center. I've removed all five screws and I can pop the left side up a bit but the right side won't budge. Anyone have any tips to remove it? I also would like to know which ram slots are which.

 

Bust out the service manual, it's got instructions from Dell. There are links in the first post.

 

Yeah I used them no problem to do all that I listed I did. But simply after removing all five of the control center's screws, it still won't budge. I don't want to damage it by prying off the control center from the back just under the lcd. I noticed the two indentations on the back of it and have pried a little bit of the control center off using a flat head screw driver. I'll continue to mess with it but if anyone has any tips since I'm apparently prying wrong.

 

Think you just gotta pry a bit harder fella

 

You have to pry harder, just try not to bend anything too severely. The clips are fighters on this laptop and a pain to remove parts due to it

 

Thanks for all your guys' help and support. I eventually popped it off and man she put up a fight. I'm currently about to do a fresh install on my M4 128gb and get her up and running. Once I get her up I'll throw down a couple benches.

 

Well, the exchange would happen, but its just the system warranty itself. I wanted to go longer than 1 year and based on there system in order to get it at the POS price I would have to reorder it and get another one.

Currently if I wanted to extend it by 1 year with complete care it would cost, $658.67. If I wanted to go "Maximum duration" it would be $1,578.00 with complete care. You currently could get a 4 year advanced warranty @ POS for around $550ish...

IMHO, thats dumb and they should just give me the POS price...