The Official Area-51 m15x Owners Lounge II

i think keyboard flex is a very big deal, i've had 10 notebooks be4 and of course i never knew what is keyboard flex is about until m15x has arrvied. Its kinda annoying that 3k lappy can have very bad keyboard flex. When i push the arrow keys it bounces back with an echo to whole chassis... very uncomfortable, although the screen rattles when moves (open/close)

 

So Chaz u don't have the cracking issue?

 

The only reason I don't think it's a big deal is because the flexing is centered around the arrow keys and I rarely ever use those. If it was around the center of the keyboard of affected the main typing area, I'd be complaining about it because I am very specific with my keyboards.

If you want to, you could fix the flexing issue with a bit of double-sided tape. Remove the keyboard, place the tape under the area of the keyboard that has the flex, and it's fixed. I have seen it done before. Note I take no responsibility for any damage, it's all at your own risk.

Nope.

 

i agree i have worked with budget laptops with less flex. but i think this only because of the alien fx lighting mechanics under the keys. however none of the keys flex that bad just the two blank spaces near the arrow keys and thats only if you press it down. something you probably would not do usaully.

 

Thx for the short review Chaz

 

thnx for the cool review

 

Thanx for the quick one Chaz
And kudos to AW for getting on the job..

One question for you Chaz - Would you be getting a review unit for the Black Ripley/Skullcap case when it comes out ? Or possibly the m17x with either ?

 

Not quite an owner yet but im UK and in phase 5/production for 2 days, has anyone elses order began production in UK?

 

So far only two people in UK are in Phase5. Everyone else are stuck in phase 4 cause thei're out of parts. You are indeed a very lucky one.

 

Not sure to be honest, usually we don't get to pick what the review units come with.

 

Normally don't they usually just give reviewers the best specs lappy that they are able to offer? I'm pretty sure chassis color is not going to affect performance.

 

It depends on what kind of review laptop it is. I test only the gaming and high performance laptops (workstations) and those are always armed to the teeth. However, mainstream review machines like Dell Inspirons and HP Pavilions usually have moderate or base configurations because price is an important make-it-or-break-it factor for the consumers shopping for them. It doesn't make sense to fully load one of those anyway. With an Alienware price doesn't matter so much.

 

Wow, i can't believe i made it through everything... took a long time. I read all the previous lounge and this one... some 175 pages of posts!

I put in my order for an m15x this past wednesday, ordered the WUXGA display with the T9300, 8700M GT, 4GB, Remote, 320GB HDD, Lightscribe burner, AlienFX Keyboard option and whatnot.

I'm in the great white north here, so I'm hopeful i'll get it on or around the estimated shipping date (4/9).

I'd like to personally thank everyone whose productively contributed to this issue, among others. since I'm getting the 8700M GT, I don't suppose I'll have the overheating issue

I have a 10MP camera here and when it arrives I can do some Hi-Res pics of various parts if people still want them by then. Beyond that, I'm very happy I've found this community, and I'm hoping everyone gets all their problems resolved!!

 

Welcome to the forum. Congradulations on the new computer! Even if you do get the 8800m GTX, it won't be much of a problem since AW has already announced that they will release a BIOS update for the system to solve these troubles of overheating and underclocking.

 

I read that... AWESOME for those users!! seems like AW tried to set it up correctly and it didn't quite work as it should've. these things happen. should've been caught earlier, but it seems like a difficult thing to diagnose.

I do have a quick question about the BinaryGFX though, does it use the system memory? or does it somehow still use the graphics memory? that would seem kind of odd for it to use the graphics memory...

if it does use system memory, how much and can the size be SET or is it just an amount, and thats all?

 

i've seen someone on this forum whos had downclocking problem with 8700m gt.....

 

Really? well then, I'll just be thankful they've fixed it.

 

It's an integrated Intel X3100 which shares the system memory. You can't change the size, it does that dynamically. It consumes an insignificant amount of memory, probably around 32MB or so.

 

Ah - the m15x uses the X3100? I've heard good things about it. I wonder what resolution I can comfortably play older games at. There's an itch for NWN and PS:T that I've got to scratch...

Still waiting on that blasted m17x, though...

 

Thank you very much. it's something i've been curious about since i heard about the BinaryGFX. I love the fact that the BinaryGFX option on this laptop is the only option on some of the competition... (the non-gamer laptops).

Sounds like a pretty decent video chip for being Intel and integrated... i'm looking forward to testing it out with the rest of the system early in april when i receive mine.

 

Ahh.. Had a feeling it was that.. You're still one luck guy

Hehe.. Naw.. I didn't excpect chassis colour to affect performance, just wanted to see the black's resistance to fingerprints, how the Skullcap looks on a 15 incher and Chaz's opinion/high-res pics on a Black or Skullcap case
Oh well.. here's hoping for the best !!

 

chaz can u post a pic for each color the m15x can turn into in your review. that might be pretty interesting to see since most of the pictures i see so far of the m15x its in either red or blue. its one reason why i made them preconfigure mine to fushsia.

 

Exiled look through this thread.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=217541

 

I know we all are working about the overheating problems but let me go one step ahead. It will be great to create a "Update and improve your M15X" thread for the one's who are getting some stuff later in future to improve our units.

Either way, does anybody know if this Corsair dominator Ram memory its compatible with the M15x?

http://www.corsair.com/products/dominator.aspx

 

that looks to be desktop RAM, so no

 

does anyone know if the alienfx lights brightness can be adjusted like the macbook pro?

 

nope, can't

 

is the T7800 2.6GHz the same socket as the T9500 2.6GHz ? or did they get a load of different motherobards when they did the change

 

physically it might be possible though, its just software dont provide that option

 

you should look here: http://www.corsair.com/products/notebook_memory.aspx

 

Hi,

I am more of a reader than poster but I"ve felt compelled to tell my tale about the m15x downclocking for the 8800m GTX. I currently have the "good" heatsink if that's what you call it, the one that doesn't have the triangular design and was made in 12/10/07 or whatever. I would like to emphasize this is the most poor heatsink used in the notebook. Don't allow yourself to believe it's good. I did some snooping on AW's FAQs and it seems that the triangular heatsink is called "revision B" whereas the square one is "revision A".

Looking at the design of revision B it is much better. Why? What I've experienced with my square heatsink is that it was overheating and was roughly 90-100C around load. I promptly took off the heatsink and looked at it and the application was poor. I re applied it properly, and when I say properly understand that I've been building computers for 8 years now and I'm 20 years of age... So I know what Arctic Silver is, infact I have old tubes of AS1 and 2 laying around that most youngbloods here wouldn't know. Anyways, after application (roughly 5 different times) I saw that the temps increased. I looked at my application each time and the right amount of thermal paste on this heatsink revision wouldn't allow proper contact and thus heat conduction. Pretty poor. Nonetheless I called AW last week and they promised to send the thermal module that was new, likely revision B.

Revision B seems stronger because of how it forces the applied pressure from the triangular piece "down" onto the heatsink. The problem isn't the design, it's the pressure application. For quintessential conduction you need high pressure and low paste, clearly the opposite was being done on this "good heatsink". I am pretty sure when I get the heatsink B it won't help much and that it's a lost cause, which is why Im' returning my m15x per the 30 day guarantee. Make no mistake, I know how to build and I want to re-emphasize I"m not saying "My hard earned money bla bla bla" because even though I paid cash I know most people finance expensive things like this, which isn't agreeable with me, but that's another topic for another day.

Hope this helps, and I think that there is no fix for this and that's why the companies like sager and clevo are sticking to 17" 20 pound laptops... Okay not 20 pounds but 13. I think Alienware's selling point defeated them in the end since this chassis cannot disappate heat properly. Looking at the fan and heatpipe design away from the card, I see that their method of active cooling is poor and needs work.

-1 Aw... Total ball-drop on this.

 

12 years old and building a comp? that's awesome. man i was uh staring at my super nintendo at that time trying to be the #1 street fighter 3 player out of my circle of friends lol.

nice post. although i feel old right about now if you're calling people youngbloods

 

lol.

Hey Chaz how heavy does the m15x feel when you are carrying it around? Does it feel like other mainstream 15.4" notebooks? Like the m5550?

 

I was doing that to karuru, PCs are just my fascination.. I've been on computers since I was 9 (I am really fortunate for that) and I knew how to format and install and use dos when I was about 10... Lol. I still love dos/shell commands.. Makes me feel leet in an age where kids feel proud *now* to build their PC

 

Thanks Saint... But It isn't seem to be that cool like the dominator ones.

Ok Noel, So.... Are you suggesting that the M17X will not have this problem?... Since it's much bigger and more heavier it will allow more heavier and larger things inside.. maybe AW will not hesitate on bringing some revision B or a heavier revision C or whatever into theirs m17x.....

 

Yes AlienFX, that *WILL* be the case. Not can or may.

Why? Because the chassis of 1730 is huge. It isn't so much the thickness that doesn't allow the AW to disappate heat good, it's the actual design. The vents and fanning are very poor. The m17x will the ability like the 1730 to hold 2, and although you'd assume you'd need twice the size that won't be true because if you have the thickness, which they do at nearly 2.5", it allows you to route the active cooling muchbetter. AW Directly relies on the lower surface ventilation and the sides for fanning which causes issues. There should be active cooling for the whole chassis since establishing convection is essential for good cooling. Look at any case, sure it can hold it and it has it's GPU heatsink, but if you have cables everywhere and a ventless case it will get hot to the point of GPU Threshold. The Dells I'm sure have a nice aired out case that allows all that heat the heatsink itself establishes to be carried out actively just like it was a continuous sweep of a floor at a party.

 

Thanks a lot for the insight, I believe your statement has a lot of truth to it. It could be that your heatsink is defective. I had to replace the 8800GTX in my desktop right after I bought it because of a defective heatsink (could have been the card, I still don't know, but I'm pretty sure it was the heatsink). Basically I was gaming and the temps were 107 - 110*C . . . yeah. I took the heatsink off, applied AS5 and another compound on two separate occasions and neither helped.
I believe that the majority of m15x just need an increase in fan speed. My unit goes to the low 80*C range and then climbs very slowly to 88*C, then 89*C, and finally hits 90*C at which point it downclocks. If the fans were removing more heat I don't think this would happen. Just my theory. If the heatsink were uneven I think the temps would shoot up a lot faster.

It's not bad. The footprint of the m15x is slightly larger than a typical 15.4" notebook but not by much. It's relatively light. I would say it is not very different from a traditional 15.4" notebook. Slightly less portable than the m5550 (it feels bigger) but look at how much more power it has.

It's the same socket. The new T8000/T9000 series CPUs are part of the Santa Rosa refresh:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3903

 

NoelGallagher
Good point of yours on poor design and quality of the heatsink. I got into the same trouble when i wiped out the old paste and put it back together with no paste to see what happens - temps climbed to 100C with out any load on the GPU which was 50-55 with paste. I've seen somewhere a mod that removes that square protective frame over GPU, that might help cool it down, although my theory is that something else is overheating rather than GPU/memory. And more rpms wont help it, its loud enough

 

please let us know how you make out with this, because i tried the flawed design argument and it didn't fly.

 

It makes the m15x sounds like a 17". But, with all the power it packs, the size isn't really a big issue.

 

i wonder how big the m17x will be then in comparison. sounds like it, but it still fits the traditional 15 inch bags least the ones i own.

 

At last :rolleyes2: :rolleyes2: :rolleyes2:

My Aw arrived at DHL center, since i placed it on 1/24/2008, and i will go now to collect it.

Hope no scratches and damages or cracks .. i waited long enough to get what i wanted.

time to go collect it ...

 

Congratulations
Make sure u give us a first hand review

 

Mine arrives tomorrow... got the tracking number with AAE then... cant wait...!!! (Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thee name - please let nothing be wrong with my m15x...! Amen)

 

Grats! Hope it's perfect

 

Ok ...just started it up and doing some updates now. so far few small scratches on the CD drive, but small that can't be seen from far. the holder of screen from right side is not even.

For build quality ...it's really low and the laptop corners are not even. but again ..they are not noticeable. unless you look around it for 30min as i did. ehehe


Alienware logo name infront screen was half green and half blue. but after i set my all orange color. its even now.

imm ..what alse. now installing crysis.

Any one singel programe that will give me CPU,GPU TEMP, also FPS? i saw 3 to 4 you used guys ..but looking for Singel software.

 

Try using FRAPS ( www.fraps.com) for the FPS, and RivaTuner or Everest for the CPU & GPU temps. FRAPS isnt free, but dont know of any other program for it! Sorry! Hope it works well mate, mine comes in about 8 hours... cant wait!

 

Congrats on your AW =)
Looking forward to your thoughts/opinions !!
Oh and how your coolers work with it too

 

Thanks Wraithers,

Ok ..just finished playing crysis, for 30 min. all very high, objects quality and particles quality and sound only HIGH, post-processing quality is custom. these are my crysis setup on 1440x900. run smooth, heat maxed 90, so far no downclock.

but it was building heat, which for sure it will build to 95 and downclock by then ..but back at late night with ATI tool.

Now freinds want to see how it will perform head to head with XPS ..also i will do some 3dmark06, and post it.

 

Good for you, so far so good!