What users want in the M18x R2

I had one before I buy my first Inspiron, but have lost it... It was very tiny also non-resident and I remenber it was write for windows 3... ( ) but I also remember that some of my students told me it still work in other versions of windows... I will do my best to find it on the web.

 

@SOS4DELL
Have you tried the Fn + up or down arrow key ?

I read this somewhere that it workied for some DELL Laptop.

 

Yep thats work in all the Inspiron (and other advanced models) there is a little 'sun' with an arrow up or down in the up/down keys... but, it seems (as I hear from others), that this is not the case with the M18x... ( I return my own M18x after 3 days... right out of the box, it never get to boot up)

 

Ok

That would mean an almost zero cost to include this macro in the m18x!
Why did not they already do !?!? Bill_b?

 

Your'e right... it's a 'middle age' mistery 4 me. Dell even use to supply with their laps a small utility that shows a lttle sun bar when you click the Fn+Up (or down)... I have it somewhere (...over the rainbow )

 

26) "Shapeshifter" Adaptive Tactile Keyboard to replace existing LED hardware.

I've mentioned this on the Ideastorm thread but I'm interested in a backlit keyboard based on Razer's adaptive tactile technology, demonstrated more recently in their "Blade" laptop concept. You can adjust its position in the wishlist as well if there are enough people who want it a priority:

Razer Blade - The World's First True Gaming Laptop | Razer™ | For Gamers. By Gamers.™

A keyboard like this inherits the physical sizes from Dell's existing laptop keys, though instead of being lit by LEDs, they incorpoate miniaturised OLED screens that change their cosmetic appearance. Currently Razer have been using this technology for specific functions found in most MMOs, but there are additional applications for them in suites produced by Adobe, Autodesk and similar computer animation packages. If this were implemented, all the keys would use this process in applications, allowing for far greater control on-the-fly compared to the standard layout.

Also because of the keys' sizes, they could still be programmed to appear like those found in other Alienware laptops; freeing up space for additional macro keys that are not possible due to their existing, bulky design, and allowing for a full-size keyboard with a numpad. Anyway, it would be useful for someone like me who does computer animation, or for those who do graphic design and architectecture.

 

Maybe I'm missing something but my m18x has brightness control via the Fn+F4 (up) and Fn+F5 (down) combination. Believe this simply controls the LCD panel but if outputting to a separate display surely it's just as easy to down the brightness using the on monitor controls ?

 

@stu.artd
Thank for the informstion, avtually I don't have an m18x because I wait for the m18x R2

Very happy to hear there's a way to control the brightness ! Somone else that have the m18x can confirm that ?

@Hyncharas
Already discussed in these thread and for me I absolutly don't want this, but I like your explaination.

 

Have a look at the keyboard

 

Then it's seems even more strange why Joker ( a very experienced user) write @ http://forum.notebookreview.com/8054385-post318.html regarding the "Lack of brightness control: This is EXTREMELY annoying for me because in the evening, I like to turn down the brightness but can't."

(As I say, I return my own M18x after 3 days since it never boot up and the support service doesn't know what to do...)

I'm too expecting 4 a working M18x2 (or, if it's 'impossible', for a working M6600...). If I wait until now, I can keep waiting... no rush)

 

@Anentropik
I'm not saying EVERYONE will want the keyboard! More often than not, probably, there are plenty of people who like things the way they are, and there's no reason that with my idea they have to make use of the chameleon technology to play games if they don't want to. It could even be an option people can pay to have, just as they do for the choice of standard or a backlit keyboard installed...

On the other hand, you need to realise that most of the insutruction manuals for things like Maya that I use are an inch thick. The less surface area of such keys would also be identical to those on an existing XPS 17, so people could have a full-sized keyboard as well as some more macro keys.

So there may be people prepared to have half a dozen books on their shelves and rummage through pages for a specific keybind, but I don't, and I'm sure there are plenty of others who wouldn't either even it means paying another $30 for a proper solution. I've bought three Dell laptops over the years and the reason I've never got an Alienware one before now is I hate those bricky keys... now they're the only things besides Precision with the horsepower for both games and CGI, so it's not too much to ask the company for such functionality to be made available if customers want to use an M17/M18x as a workstation.

What I don't want, however, is that MFD found in the Blade or their Star Wars keyboard; a tablet pad with a stylus perhaps, but not a crappy touchscreen, LCD display.

 

I like the changeable key idea, where they're small oled devices. Can't see why it couldn't be an option, maybe to replace the column of standard macro keys ?

Re: brightness control. My kb is a uk version? Maybe the us ones don't have the control.

 

I was about to post a photo and found it was already posted by stu.artd. Cool. The keyboard definitely has the controls.

5150Joker was referring to non-functional brightness control. This is almost always a problem using the pre-release AMD reference (preview) drivers. It is generally resolved in the final WHQL mobility reference driver, but a couple of releases this year did not provide functional brightness control. That lack of functionality in the drivers is the fault of AMD, not Dell/Alienware.

 

Thanks dear Mr. Fox 4 clarifying things.

edit: so, this 'issue' is not relevant with the green 580s?

 

No problem, my friend. Have a great day, everyone.

 

You too! (at least until your 120s )

 

Close, but no. While I have great respect for the way the Blade was handled, this would be more like the Switchblade still in development; where all the keys on the keyboard use the chameleon process in the laptop. The Switchblade has 40 OLED keys alone, so it's possible that a full-size keyboard could handle it.

If successful for the M18x, this would make it exceptionally useful for things like Photoshop where certain actions require use of Ctrl, Alt, or even Shift to perform special functions. By overlaying the special commands in a colour-coded fashion on the keys, they wouldn't need to look them up in a manual and simply do a hold-press as normal.

 

Ah right, I see what you mean. That's even better to be honest. Sure it would cost a fair bit more but if it was an option then great, as it does look great for serious photoshop / premiere / CAD etc.. users.

 

That's really interesting how Razer implemented that Adaptive Tactile Keyboard technology in their Blade. I would love for Alienware to at least explore something similar. It would allow the keypad area to have incredible functionality beyond just being the keypad area.

 

And I bet that the people that not just game but also enjoy working... will be most happy and ready to pay for a configuarble option like that.

 

OK Hyncharas can you rite me à shoet sentence for the OLED Keyboard option zjaz I can add to tje OP ?

I think an external little OLED screen touchepad should also be a great option
I think also that there's enough light coming from elsewhere than the screen on the m18x.
I think also that it could be a great source of malfunction and over price cost.
look that one : http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/
more than 2000USD !!!

@ALL
Should I remove the line concerning the Brightness control ?

 

Support up to 3 monitors or 3 120Hz monitor (3D display) - 3 * Dell U3011 30" monitor would be awesome.
Free gaming backpack or mouse from Alienware
No bloatware

LCD touchscreen panel that customize for gaming like Razer Blade.

http://www.razerzone.com/blade

 

@kasuza
Hi !
Do you think that the GPU in the m18x can calculate the frames needed for a 3x3D 120Hz screen ?

Free backpack can be a good Idea for people that buy a 3K+ Dollards laptop ! (Do an option like that, a radio button that let us choose between get the baclack or reduce the cost of the laptop)
I expect more opinion on this question.

 

@Anentropik
Here's my sentence for the wishlist:

A keyboard with Chameleon properties to increase control of application-GUIs (Adative Tactile)

To be fair in comparsion to Razer's own design, the Optimus Maximus keyboard was only a protoype and made years ago. They are not a multi-million dollar company like Dell and so don't have nearly as much partnerships or engineering experience. Since then technology has been streamlined, making companies more knowledgeable about how to make efficient OLEDs. I'm not saying it won't be expensive at first; in order for production costs to come down there must be a sufficient price tag in any technology to break even, and then to continue research into a less power consuming, cheaper-to-manufacture component.

Even if you were to buy the M18x at max-spec, that costs about $8,000 anyway, so possibly another $100 is something I could live with and I've bought extra components before with a slight delay. Do you really think that the backlit keyboard was produced overnight? The Logitech G110 used to be £120... now it's just over one-third of that to purchase!

We still don't know how much the Switchblade is going to be, but I suspect it won't be any more expensive than the Blade will, or a portable, touchscreen console. As I've also iterated on the IdeaStorm thread, I don't really like touchpads as a rule and don't see the benefit of the Multi-Function Display (MFD) featured alongside the tactile keys, but if were a tablet pad instead with a stylus, for concept drawing and adding digital signatures to MS Word documents, again that might be more useful for architects and the like.

The Alienware laptops were designed to be modular - it's time that was actually put into practice for those willing to pay for all the trimmings and it will encourage other manufacturers to follow suit, thereby bringing down the overall manufacturing costs.

 

OLED stands for "Optical Light Emitting Diode", so instead of brodcasting simply light it's creating a small, pixellated image like a desktop icon. The power requirements for that are no different than standard ultra-brightness LEDs for backlit keyboards. They may even use less power because image-data for control schemes are compressed when not being displayed.

To address Anentropik's statement in conserving power output, however, an idea may be to switch off the optical grid while a screensaver is running or it's in Sleep mode, yet keep them functional like an unlit keyset; returning their appearance to view only when the desktop or an application is visible to users (i.e. the screensaver/sleep has been interrupted). That way, the lifetime of the OLEDs are extended before the keyboard needs replacement, as the energy-saving feature prevents them from burning out when users aren't operating the machine, but still have it switched on.

 

It might be possible for current graphic card even with Dual GPU GTX580M but laptop only have one or two input for external monitor display. For desktop, I need two MSI GTX 580 graphic card to run 3 * 3D 120Hz. It would be awesome if Alienware M18X R2 comes with 3 HDMI input for external monitors that would be awesome or DVI inputs for 30" monitor.

 

Maybe to make the laptop weighting less,it would be better to give an option of making the chassis from carbon for additional money.

 

I don't really think it's a case of what the chassis' made of...

The components themselves are heavy so, depending on how much stuff your laptop holds, it's gonna determine whether or not you lose circulation if it's on your lap

 

If you buy a laptop with an 18.5" display and complain about the weight you bought the wrong machine.

Not that it matters, I've only ever dealt with CF once during work and it's ferociously expensive to work with vs metals. It also involves a lot of manual labour and curing isn't cheap either. Another blue-sky request to add to the list of many in this thread.

 

I'm talking here about additional futures and not complaining about the weight,but less weight is always better. And there is a mistake in my post. I wanted to say to make a whole case from carbon or another light weight metal.

 

Would you be prepaired to pay an extra grand (at least)?

The thing is, the m18x is made from aluminium so it's already pretty good when it comes to the durability/weight ratio. It's just built like a tank, there are thick cross braces thoughout the core, the two part case is again quite thick and a lot of hardware and corresponding cooling. It all adds up but the end result is a well cooled, solid but heavy machine.

 

Here is another place to post your ideas.
Alienware m18x R2 ideas brainstorm - Alienware Arena Forums
not sure if it has all ready been listed.

 

How about an AC adapter with a 90° angle connector so the cord lays parallel to the back plane of the laptop instead of perpendicular?

Also, some type of removable or "hide-away" latch to fasten the AC connection securely to the power port so it does not work loose during use as a laptop.

 

Totally second that!

 

@Ammo7
Thanks for the link, please look at my signature and transmit it on your thread
And it would be a good idea to put a link to your thread to this one

@MrFox
Itotally agree too !

Is that correct ?
26) Do an AC connector at 90° so that it is perpendicular with the laptop.
27) Do the AC connector has a much better clip to avoid unwanted disconnections. (Maybe a retractable lock)

 

On the m11x slim 90w power supply they had a strap that could hold the cord down and wrap all the away around it. Implementing that idea her would allow for esier storage for people that move there laptops. Would also solve the issue that I have been having of the power cord works it way out of the power brick.

 

I agree with this, but for all Dell/Alienware laptops. I'm sick and tired of spending about £200 every year on replacing the motherboard or power supply, because the cables won't stay securely plugged into the machines when I'm using them; especially for games that work better with both a battery supplemented by mains power.

 

Anentropik, the existing connector is already perpendicular. The suggestion would be that the 90° connector arranges the cord parallel to the back plane.

This could be easily accomplished with a slide-lock mechanism to align with grooves in the plug at its insertion point.

 

@Mr Fox
Oops c'était une faute de frappe.

Now Is that correct ?
26) Do an AC connector at 90° so that it's parallel with the laptop.
27) Do the AC connector has a much better clip to avoid unwanted disconnections. (Maybe a slide-lock)

 

I am irritated by that also, which is precisely why I offered this suggestion. I think a lot of folks probably find it annoying to pick up a laptop, sit down in a chair or in bed, only to find the cord laying on the floor instead of plugged in as intended. This discovery usually comes immediately after getting comfortable, LOL.

I agree this applies to all Dell laptops... it should be a standard feature, starting with the M18x and ending with the most inexpensive models.

Yes sir! Thank you.

 

There are 90° adapters out there that fit the Dell plug, i bought one for each of them as sometimes the cable can only fall on the sides (airplane trays).
Here it is:
Right Angle Connector Converter for Dell & HP Laptop Power Adapter -LC90B (816419010000) | eBay

 

@Mr Fox
Ok I add to the OP the two lines concerning the AC connectors.

@Katalin
Thanks for the info, but this give a double chance for the cord to unplug

 

I never had a problem with them, they feel like a normal plug, not thinner.
The idea of a 90° plug is to have the cable follow the back of the laptop to the left or right side so no, your chance of getting it unplugged doesn't double.

And also I didn't post this as a solution for those with faulty plugs but as a solution for a 90° plug.

 

Interesting... I haven't seen those before. Thanks for the link, Katalin. I wonder if this adapter will fit the Alienware M17x/M18x family of laptops. Will have to check the dimensions.

While this adapter would not provide an enhanced connection that is less likely to be dislodged during normal use, it would most definitely be helpful for power cord and desk space management. The amount of space consumed/wasted by the straight connector can be problematic at times. I also think the perpendicular arrangement of the straight connector exposes a laptop to an increased opportunity for accidental damage due to the extra leverage it can impose on the AC port.

 

I also had an other idea for a long time.
Having two batteries, one small and light with a duration of 5 minutes, which would serve only to prevent unwanted disconnection of the AC adapter.
This would avoid the long duration battery to be plugged and preserve his degradation due to heat.

What do you think about this ?

 

If I am understanding your suggestion correctly, that would be a nice feature. It would work essentially on the same principle that a UPS does on a desktop system.

 

So no rumors yet on an M18x-R2? This time last year it was already rumored on that guys site...the same guy that predicted the M17x-R2 before it came out.

 

@Mr Fox
Yes you have right understanding my Idea

@PsiPr0
We have on this thread à guy that tell us that a friend Dell Tech tell to him that the m18x R2 will be for the end of this year.
Personally I doubt, because I think D/AW wait for some technologies like by example Ivy CPU.

 

I don't know about the batteries idea but keep in mind that:

-batteries are covered by a one year warranty ONLY (regardless of the system's warranty)

-I have/had a few Dell/AW laptops for well over a year and the batteries were never removed from the systems and the maximum wear I got was 16% which is close to insignificant for these types of machines imo.
So up to you yo decide if it's worth the trouble of having two batteries from which one can't .hold more than a 5 minutes charge.

 

@katalin_2003
You forget one parameter, the battries are very heavy and we could maybe win 1 Kilos with my idea.

In addition, the freed space can allow a greater dissipation of temperature.