M11x R1 - still going. Sort of.

Its been over 5 years or so and the system still works. The hinge had failed many months ago and the Nvidia chip failed ages back. But it worked. Filled in as a backup for a while for my wife - busted hinge and all.

Then it just sat there. Lid open due to hinge. Dusty. Dirty. Forgotten. Until now.

Took it apart, got the china made no brand epoxy and went to town. Filled in the areas where NO plastic even existed and created new mounts. Dusted and cleaned, wiped and sprayed. Booted up and no screen bleed. I think even managed to keep it clean.

Maybe I'll re-purpose it into a smart board thing in the "activity room" the kids use. Basically, connect it to a wall mounted screen. If any budget, I'll add a writing pen for whiteboardish features. All else I have in my stash of stuff.

Other purposes are many so no point mentioning as you all know what computers are for.

 

The project stalled... no good place to mount either the LCD TV (too bulky) or the small LCD screen (too small). Not feeling like drilling holes and mounting things I may regret.

Dang!

I'll take an opportunity to mention for anyone thinking of using epoxy on their screen (anyone left?), that you can route the cables from the panel outside of the normal place.

Image is NOT my system, but as I forgot to take pictures I'm using an image from another topic. Green lines are mine showing roughly the route I used. This allowed for no gaps in epoxy and serviceable wiring if (ha!) any future repairs are needed.

 

Hi, I've also have m11x r1 from 2010. hinges died 5 times, but been replaced in service center. battery died, but I replaced it from ebay. same for power supply.


But I never had a problem with NVidia or any other hardware. what happened to your one?

 

Not sure, and cannot confirm. System was too unstable with it enabled even with stock drivers so I disabled the GPU.

 

Those must be the original hinges. Dell recalled those hinges with reinforced hinges and offered to swap out the complete LCD assembly for free years ago.

 

If I recall, the setup was replaced once... but after such a long period, I didn't even bother to check.

 

Nice I have a R1 version sitting in my closet . Needs a new hard drive. The drive in it puked when trying to dl the original Windows 10 to it . I may put a new HD in it and then load Windows 7 on it .

 

I'm liking Win10 on my R1. Can't figure out how to get graphics switching working so I have it set to always use the 335M (in the BIOS). Not a big deal for me since I hardly ever ran it on integrated graphics anyway. Other than that everything works great on 10.

 

Same here.
I have a 256GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD with a partition for Win10 and Win7 so just switch(restart) between the two if required.
I just pop back every now and then in case a smart bunny has found a way to engineer switchable M11xR1 graphics.
Switchable graphics did work in Win10 preview before the Win10 release, but the final Win10 release killed it.
Intel not supporting the HD graphics driver doesn't make things look hopeful.
Not sure it's any biggie as the original Intel Media Accelerator was no better than a wet towel at a public boys school.
Find myself mostly starting as Win10 and haven't used Win7 for many weeks.
SSD: 256GB Samsung 850 Pro
Mem: 8GB CL7 ( G.Skill F3-8500CL7D-8GBSQ)
WiFi: Intel 7260 AC-Wireless.
Battery: Original and only an hour with Win10 at most.

 

My original R1 which I picked up back in March 2010 is still alive and well and in 'as new' condition with no trace of use. I haven't really used it since 2013 so it has been packed away in my drawer inside a case to be preserved into perpetuity. The LCD screen was replaced 3 times with the last one being installed with the new improved hinges a mere month or two before I officially retired it. I now game on a 17" G752VY with a 980M.

 

Hi Guys. Still running my Original R1. Replaced the battery but other than that all working well.
:>

 

Wow, it is great to see other m11x systems still running around. I have had my R2 for about four years, and only suffered hinge replacements and a new inverter cable. While I cannot play newer games on it, but it is great to take my R2 on trips and play Bioshock and some COD.

 

My R1 is still running and in mint condition. It's a desktop replacement (slow compared to today's laptops) but it still works. I keep the lid open so it is on its original hinges and the battery is still original and going strong (about 2.5 hrs on high performance setting). Replaced the original HD with a Samsung Pro 256gb SSD, up'd the RAM to 8gb and overclocked it to 1.73 ghz. Picked it up for around $550 new back then and it has been a great machine.

 

My original r1 still goes strong. I use it as travel entertainment. My kids play mine craft and Keenan space program on it, and it’s great for plugging into tvs on holidays to watch movies etc. love the little beast and would totally buy a new one if they still made them

 

I got an old Alienware m11x R3 system back in 2014. It was originally bought in 2011 Still going strong. The previous owner had take good care of it. A real nice little gem. All I had to was to get a new Nordic keyboard so I could get rid of the German keyboard. Even though it has the i5 2467 it still takes on many games and the Nvidia card(Geforce GT 540m) deals with 3D applications with ease. Pretty amazed about it. Even in 2018 it rocks pretty well.

 

me too. I've been using it as my daily computer most of the time since January 2011.

 

I miss my m11x at times, considering the aw 13 r3 as a spiritual successor to it in the future.

 

I’ve owned 2 M11xR3 and two AW 13 R3. The M11x has a very unique size but the 13 I can definitely recommend as a spiritual successor. It’s a bit deep in size but rest of the size is good.

 

R1 just got a new MB. Battery to arrive in a day or two.

System booted ok but fan died... if you did anything more than viewed email it would overheat. That and the GPU had failed years ago (likely due to that same fan). So for 35 bucks shipped I replaced the board. Found a battery for <20.

Setting up the OS fresh on an old SSD I had. Will see how it does soon.

 

All good minus battery... cant get past OEM detection so sending it back.

 

Hi Guys, Quick update My M11x R1 Still going strong, running Win 10 with Nvidia card permanently switch on in the Bios. Been playing State Of Decay and still using it when i travel.

 

That’s good to hear. I can’t imagine there are too many OG M11x’s in working order. Mine has been retired for years but I did bring it out several months ago to charge it up and make sure everything was in working order. I love the design of these old Alienware laptops - almost timeless as they don’t look as if they’ve aged a day.

 

My wife still uses the M11x R1 every day. I had to replace the HD and the LCD but it still is awesome.

Sadly, I can't use NVidia because it doesn't like the new screen for some reason. When I activate the NVidia card, the screen splits into 4 mini copies of itself. That works for her most of the time, but the HDMI works through the high-end graphics card, so no HDMI for her.

Aside from that it's a wonderful little machine. I may have to install Windows 10 but I'm not looking forward to it, as I understand that Win10 doesn't like the Intel graphics.