The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    External Power Indicator?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by mynard_mcguffin, Dec 28, 2010.

  1. mynard_mcguffin

    mynard_mcguffin Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Does anyone know if its possible to set up an external power indicator through AlienFX or something else? The Alien Head/power button works fine (pulses when in sleep mode) but doesn't help much when the lid is closed. I'd like to be able to tell if my computer is asleep vs off when the lid is closed. The speaker LEDs would be cool to do this, but there are currently no options in AlienFX. I tried searching the forums and Google, but I couldn't find anything.

    Thanks!
     
    mynard_mcguffin, Dec 28, 2010
    #1
  2. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

    Reputations:
    973
    Messages:
    2,566
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Nothing to be done about it. Can't for the life of me figure out why a notebook in 2010 doesn't have a visible power indicator as a matter of course.
     
    slickie88, Dec 28, 2010
    #2
  3. mynard_mcguffin

    mynard_mcguffin Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Yeah, tell me about it. It's like the only negative thing I can think of for my M11x.

    Hopefully there will be an option in AlienFX in a future update or something. I mean, there's the whole System State category under the Advanced edit options. At first, I thought you could add another System State and go from there, but, alas, you can only add an application.
     
    mynard_mcguffin, Dec 29, 2010
    #3
  4. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

    Reputations:
    973
    Messages:
    2,566
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Give it time, you'll find more things.

    (sorry I couldn't resist...)
     
    slickie88, Dec 29, 2010
    #4
  5. Vidaluko

    Vidaluko Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    407
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    They could use the 2 lights in fron of the laptop, with an update...
     
    Vidaluko, Dec 29, 2010
    #5
  6. jeremyshaw

    jeremyshaw Big time Idiot

    Reputations:
    791
    Messages:
    3,210
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Honestly, one of the reasons I chose this laptop is so other people wouldn't know when it's on.... (disabling AlienFX via the hotkey can also switch off the power button indicator, too!).


    Awesome for me, especially since the fan almost never spins up outside of gaming and heavy, heavy Office usage.
     
    jeremyshaw, Dec 29, 2010
    #6
  7. Tru3Blu3

    Tru3Blu3 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    81
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I actually would prefer some kind of indication as well. I think the best place for that would just be the alien eyes on top of the notebook. They could just blink in whatever sequence to tell you what you want to know.

    Not a big deal at all for me, though.
     
    Tru3Blu3, Dec 30, 2010
    #7
  8. jeremyshaw

    jeremyshaw Big time Idiot

    Reputations:
    791
    Messages:
    3,210
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    131
    The alieneyes on the m11x are driven by the LCD's backlight. So it's not likely to be used. The only independant, external lighting are the two front grills at the front of the laptop.
     
    jeremyshaw, Dec 30, 2010
    #8
  9. DigDung

    DigDung Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    23
    Messages:
    91
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    What about the button on the bottom, it will at least show your battery power (on the R2 anyway)
     
    DigDung, Dec 31, 2010
    #9
  10. jeremyshaw

    jeremyshaw Big time Idiot

    Reputations:
    791
    Messages:
    3,210
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Well... that's still not really easily visable from a glance :p
     
    jeremyshaw, Dec 31, 2010
    #10