My time with the M11xR2

My time with the so-called ultimate gaming machine...

When it first arrived to my door and I got it up from the box I was sure that this will be the best thing I have ever spent my money on. I thought the same thing after completing all Microsoft Updates and installing all of my games.

The first game I was about to launch was my top favorite game, GTA San Andreas and it's multiplayer modification San Andreas Multiplayer. After five minutes of gameplay I noticed that it didn't run like it should and after a few seconds it just completely freezed. I just thought it was a normal crash which this game is known for but when I tried to quit the game it didn't let me, I was stuck with the process. It all ended up with me performing a hard reboot. After this incident I tried to run the game several times but with the same results, I didn't know what to do, the multiplayer version did also freeze like this. I also tried to re-add the game to my whitelist.

I later registered on this forums and I was recommended to use the 260.99 drivers from nVidia. After installing the new drivers I once more launched GTA San Andreas and to my suprise it didn't freeze! So, I went on doing missions and some random stuff. After completing at least five missions it freezed again... I tried to play again but it was still freezing but with a much longer space between the freezes.

I was about to give up when downgrading my shaderclock didn't work. But then I saw a new driver relesed by nVidia, 270.61. I downloaded and installed the drivers and I didn't experience any more freezes, but now I recive a BSOD every 15 minutes. -.- This BSOD is also happening on all of my other games, so I decided to roll back to 260.99.

The last thing I did was a format and a reinstall of Windows which didn't fix the problem, I think I have now tried everything to get my favorite game running.

So, now after talking to several friends which actually did own Alienware products, they told me that everything from Alienware is a fail and they recommended me to purchase a cheap desktop computer instead and send the laptop back to where it come from. And now I'm sitting infront of a $313 Compaq Desktop Computer with a better system but a cheaper processor and graphics card, and it can run ALL of my games without a pain.

I can only say that I got scammed by Alienware on $2505 and I will never purchase a product from them ever again.

NOTE: I know this machine is designed for ultimate gaming but what the hell, of course it should be able to run ANY game, right?

 

I'm sorry that happened to you. No such instance has happened to me and I dont't think many people experienced what you have. My M11x R1 with the weaker processor played any game I threw at it with only a few software relAted hiccups,but would eventually smoothen out. I play games like call of duty black ops at high settings and left 4 dead 2 at maximum settings very smoothly. You could have just gotten a lemon unit as it sounds to me like the graphics card is freezing. Aliemware does not make "crap" machines, they make mistakes just like any other person/company. I know u are frustrated,but the M11x is and will always be the ultimate ultraportable gaming machine.

Plus the M11x costs nowhere near $2500, it only costs around $1000 for the newest model. And unless you can drag that desktop+monitor,keyboard,mouse everywhere u go, why would u even compare it to an 11.6" laptop?

 

hey i have m11x r2 (window 7 x64) too, been playing call of duty for 2hours without any problem and been using this for almost a year now.

try to do clean install, it might help.

 

Maybe you should post this somewhere dell will see it.

Have you contacted dell about your issues? I'm sure they would replace or repair your system if under warranty.

You mention updating drivers, but theres no mention of whitelisting games. I'm inclined to believe that all your issues result from optimus and possibly not whitelisting your games.

 

I did mention whitelisting and yeah, everything is whitelisted under the High Performance processor. And no, I wont be a prisoner in Dell's support guys, I have tried that before and they don't really know what they're doing.

 

I never drag my M11x anywhere, it doesn't even got a battery connected, I just got it plugged to power when I use it, so it's the same as the desktop pc.

I live in Sweden and the delivery price was not cheap, plus I made some edits when I selected my system like the i7 processor and 3GB RAM. I also purchased the Dell External CD/DVD drive.

 

Not before your edit

As to support, well, I don't understand. If you buy something that doesn't work why wouldn't you have dell repair it for free...or barring that, why not just return it?

I sympathize, if you buy something it should work as advertised. However, I don't see how buying something that may or may not have been broken when you bought it, refusing it get it repaired for free and then complaining about it to a non-dell sponsored forum accomplishes anything.

Lastly, since you didn't mention whitelisting anywhere in your op I really find myself wondering if you really knew enough about your laptop to get it to work properly. This isn't as uder friendly as it should be.

 

Yeah sounds like you just got a lemon. You could have just gotten a replacement from Dell if you wanted.

Maybe things are higher in Sweden, but you sure paid an awful lot for an R2. Extra ram, better processor, and an external drive (which you could have got way cheaper elsewhere) bumped you up to $2500??! How is that possible? The base price must have been like 2k for you there.

I've had no issues with any games on the R2 or 3 accept for civilization v, which wouldn't load, but updating drivers resolved that. I have had no crashes at all, not one. Sorry you had a bad m11x, but to bash the whole line on an Alienware forum is a bit silly. This is a great system.

 

Why would you buy a 11.6" laptop if you never had any intentions of going mobile? You could have had a desktop all along and saved money. Sorry about your problems though, I haven't experienced anything like that.

 

I know that this may be an obvious thing, but please make sure you've set All of the power options to max performance since you are never going to make it mobile.

Also the BSOD is a known issue with the 270.61 drivers, it has nothing to do with the M11x, its a problem with Nvidia that they are working on. the 270.51 drivers are the most stable out right now. (At least, I had the same BSOD error on two other laptops running different GPU's than the 335m, so I assume that the error is pretty global).

For you I would would recomend you ignore video card over clocks. The 335m is fully capable of running GTA, however the processor is not. Try bumping its clock in the bios up (Another thing I would update if I were you).

Lastly do you get this issue in any other game? I do not have, nor do I play, GTA so I cannot tell you if it is just an unplayable game.

Lets see if we can get this worked out for you, the collective knowledge here is actually quite fantastic. It is possible you got one of the lemons, they do exist. Lets see if we can eliminate everything else before we jump to that conclusion.

As for the rest of it, what he paid, where he lives, and why he bought what he bought does not matter, what matters is that we help this guy get his stuff fixed so he knows that our little laptops are quite amazing.

 

Fair enough, except he hasn't once asked for help or suggestions; his post appears to be just a lengthy complaint. In which case, this thread might as well be closed.

 

That is true, it is a habit of mine to offer suggestions with or without the desire of the targets of said suggestions. If he wishes for helping in making his laptop run like it should I will be glad to do it.

Please don't take what I said as meant to insult or meant to be harsh, I was simply making a statement, none of you are in the wrong for your curiosity as to how/why he acquired his laptop.

Sorry for coming off as if I was scolding you.

 

Just to clarify, this laptop is not meant to be an ultimate gaming machine. It does not even come close. Not even close.

 

you right.... its not meant to be an ultimate gaming machine, but an ULTIMATE PORTABLE GAMING MACHINE which it is 100% i chose this laptop over the MBA. My R2 runs like a beast and i haven't even overclocked anything.

 

^
Nailed it

 

I'm not disagreeing with you lol I love mine.

 

Sounds a lot like sour grapes here. He got a machine that didn't perform the way he wanted it to, nor the way other people's equivalent machines appear to. He didn't contact Support, he didn't ask for a replacement, etc etc.

To say that his friends all say Alienware is Fail kinda sums up the whole background to this post as well. Seriously - if any of my friends said "xyz is fail" I'd disown them (along with those that also say Leet/1337/hax0red and pwn).

Sorry mate - you got a duff machine and you really should have followed the channels open to you to get it fixed. My two Alienwares here are just fine, and all the ones before it are just fine, which is why I keep on buying the damn brand.

 

No worries! I didn't feel insulted, just a bit annoyed at the OP.
I like to be helpful too, even when not asked. Kinda bugs my friends at times.

 

i mean there are quite a few decent gaming laptops out there, but in my opinion and im sure alot of others feel the same way, in terms of the physical appearance of the m11x, nothing even comes close in a beauty contest the m11x still number 1, but having said that, the insides of the machine is whats imporant. if your m11x aint performing, you can tweak it left right and centre to get it beastly... there are a few members active on this forum that will teach and guide you in more ways than many to help you achieve that... i wish i could say the same about DELL but on that note.... good bye! lol

 

My R2 is my fourth notebook. I've had 2 Hp's and an Acer, all three were good for their time but right from the box they started having problems playing the newest games at that time.. But my R2 is already 4 months old, and its still playing the newst games with no problem... i you not, ive plaed bulletstorm, brink and others with no problems and I havent once seen the BSOD. As its been said, this isnt the ultimqate gaming machine no matter what it would or could have because its only 11.6 and for ultimate gaming you need a full size screen and machine, but this little beast is the trully only portable gaming laptop... also the price here in cz was more than £250 cheaper then uk prices, for the same specs, but here we didnt get any choice in what we buy cause its straight from a shop... best machine ever...