*OFFICIAL* M11xR1 Owners Lounge - Part 4

that's interesting.. why does the gobi card interfere with HDD space D: ??

 

Just so im not mistaken, whats the correct way to take care of the battery of this thing? People have said it doesnt need to be fully drained and charged like other batteries, and that it stops charging on its own when it reaches 100%.

 

Which sleeve are you talking about?
I only saw the orion and odyssey bag, can u please provide a link.

 

When buying a case, make sure you buy one that can hold accessories... at the very least the charger.

You take the lid off the back of the alienware, something most of you should have done out of curiosity already, pop the card in, and reboot the computer. Theoretically.

It shouldn't be difficult at all, you just need to make sure you buy a card that fits in the slot of the alienware.

I'll take the back off mine and take a picture. I'll edit this post in a few minutes, once I upload the picture.

UPDATE: Video and pictures available here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5949750&postcount=63

I haven't seen anyone do it, yet... but the port is a generic one. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

The gobi card takes up the extra mini pci-e slot that you could otherwise use for an SSD.

 

This one

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A3460823

The binder is also for the M11x you can see it on the right side of that link.

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A3460823

or the binder

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A3460820

 

I'm not sure if it stops charging at 100%, but I know that Li-Ion batteries should not be "conditioned" (i.e. drained and recharged every week/month/3 months). This actually kills your battery faster because it uses up precious cycles for no reason (plus something to do with the cells not being able to hand a full recharge).

The best way to care for a Li-Ion battery is to just use it like a normal battery. You can disconnect it while you're plugged in but it will still lose charge and will need to be recharged back up no matter what, although not as quickly as if you had it constantly charging. If you want to store it for a long period of time, drain it to 40%, place it in an air-tight bag, and store it in your freezer. Just make sure to use it once a month to keep it active.

 

Is that so?

I thought the card would be more tucked away. Good luck then, I'd be interested in popping in an SSD PCIE card to put my games on if it was possible.

 

Fantastic info - great to hear that there are people who have had successful OC's and who are really happy with their m11x

Thanks

 

Can I just put in any mini pcie SSD card? Or is there anything specific to the ones Dell fits?

 

You dont really need that wedge because the screen 1 flat surface lol

Yes it does fit perfectly and not too tight too.

I don't really like the zeroshock 3 tho. Its a bit too tight in there. I bought a 17 inch version for the m15x to get it to fit. The case puts alot of pressure on the laptop tho which i dont like. It pretty thin on the inside and the m11x is a bit thicker than a netbook.

 

Mini PCI-e slot detail available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBK5K4a8aHE&hd=1
(The video will be available in 1080 resolution within a few days... it take YouTube a little while to process it)

Here, you can see a quarter, SD card, and AAA battery in the slot. This will hopefully allow you to make size comparisons:
http://pbckt.com/sQ.NpM

As described in the YouTube video, I do not own a ruler. >.>

 

The ones I see on NewEgg look like very poor drives... and most of them look too large.

I'm currently researching this:
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-mini-pcie-ssd-up-to-64gb-of-super-compact-storage-2347726/

Why do somethings call the mini PCI-e slots SATA or PATA? I know what SATA and PATA are, but I don't know what that has to do with mini PCI-e slots.

I think the appropriate size is going to be about 50mm. That doesn't leave us with many options, but it does leave us with options. I think I'm going to need a 50mm PATA Half Mini PCI-e SSD. I think the keywords you need to search for the appropriate sized drive are " HALF MINI PCI-E SSD" Still researching...

Here is one company's offerings:
http://www.activemp.com/SSD/solid-state-drives.htm
(Scroll down to SaberTooth AA for the half mini pci-e)

Looks like I'm getting pretty close.

OK. The largest SSD you can currently fit in this space is 32gb. A 32gb would be pretty cramped, considering Windows 7 would take more than half the post-formatted capacity of the drive. I think I could get away with that.

The SSD I want, The AMP SaberTooth AA, is $120 shipped from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...w?ie=UTF8&qid=1267304750&sr=1-1&condition=new

This is very tempting, however I'm going to buy a RAZER Orochi and Sleek Audio SA6 headphones in the next few days. I don't know if this SSD is going to make my budget.

 

Thanks buddy!

 

Hey guys, just ordered a m11x with all upgrades except the ssd. I'm just curious, if you order from Dell EPP why isn't there an option for an external cd drive? Do I have to buy a disc drive somewhere else? Which one do you guys recommend?

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ils?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1267267344&sr=1-1&seller=

or

http://www.amazon.com/Writer-Extern...TF8&coliid=I2WMB4INBDOS3M&colid=1CNHTVJ6HXBDO

 

http://www.amazon.com/Velocity-VMbl...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267307579&sr=1-1

Turn your m11x into a blu ray player.

Also, when I ordered, there was an option for an external DVD burner. It was there this morning, too.

When I said LCD I mean HDTV. >.>

 

Thanks for the responses Sero & IRSmurf

@IRSmurf, was it ordered through EPP?

 

for those of you interested in scrybe and multi-touch on their M11x here is the download page.

The drives worked perfectly on mine!

http://www.uscrybe.com/download.php

 

I have a quick question.

I bought the M11x simply because I like how it looks. I am a writer, student, and businessman who does some web editing, writing, email, youtube, and etc. The basic stuff.

I ordered the base system (with bluetooth, windows office, and warranty). I have never used Windows 7 as I'm coming from a Macbook (1st gen). For my purposes, will the base system run completely fine with 2 gigs of ram?

I have a 64-bit rig with 6 gigs on vista that runs like a dream.

I am aware I can upgrade it, but it's certainly not my priority at this point. Getting it would be nice

 

@ turbocharley

yes 2GB is enough for what you would be doing unless you plan on massively overpopulating your screen with a lot of multitasking. besides that 2GB of RAM is enough. For me it is that's how much i got

 

Aw son-of-a-! Wish I'd seen that when I ordered. I really hate to pay for shipping so will wait for it. Thanks for the link.

 

I wanted to add what I do to clean all my electronics at my house and what I will be using to clean my baby alien. I bought a pack of microfiber towels at the local dollar store really nice colors like lime green ,red orange etc. I also bought pledge multi surface it works great on all our lcds we have many in this house it is antistatic formula. I have a small spray bottle that I put a small amout in to take with me when I'm traveling. Cost about $9 total and bottle and towels last a very long time and can be used on other things. Dust and fingerprints are removed easily.

 

I am going to wait for some more case reviews to come out before I buy one. Today I almost used my $50 giftcard at BestBuy to get a case, instead I bought Heavy Rain

 

Hi everyone, I ordered my M11x on Feb 2nd, my EDD is March 16th
probably because im in canada. Oh well
My specs are SU7300, 4gb ddr3, 500gb hdd, Black.
Also about the Mini Pcie ssd, it has to be 51mm long (2.01inch) and samsung seems to be making really fast ones that fit in that exact slot. they are making them in 16, 32 and 64gb sizes.
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-mini-pcie-ssd-up-to-64gb-of-super-compact-storage-2347726/
http://www.overclock3d.net/news/storage/samsung_unveils_mini-card_pcie_ssds/1
The read/write is insane on them!!!! 200MB/s | 100MB/s
if anyone can find price of one i would like to know
since i am from canada we don't get the WWAN option

 

Thanks, so in other words, normal video driver installation process applies?

I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a hybrid driver that included both Intel an nVidia coded together, like the Lenovo. That just sucked. But sounds like you can use a traditional driver, and AW actually makes it switch hardware on the fly. Pretty impressive.

 

Actually, it is a full hybrid driver with both Intel GMA and NVIDIA Geforce drivers bundled together.

Why I said its going to take some time before we start seeing this show up in the wild as opposed to an official release by Dell.

So, I am guessing - unable to test/confirm, if you do not care about the switching, then you more than likely could use any NV driver which supports the GPU. There may also be a straight Intel install method out there however I am unsure on the actual switching and how you could tweak it to work together. As I said, I cant test/confirm this.

Want to ship me your M11x I promise I will mod you a driver LOL

 

Ok, so I am confused now. It *IS* a hybrid driver then? I'm ok with a hybrid driver, as long as AW supports it on a regular basis. Has this been confirmed anywhere that it is hybrid? Or is it just two separate drivers with one or the other activated when you do the toggle? That doesn't seem unreasonable. I don't see the drivers on AW's or Dell's website either, so I don't know how I would revert if I did screw it up.

I may trial this a bit though. I've been doing some benchmarking and plan on doing a system restore anyhow, and cross fingers that works out ok.

Batboy, you need to convince the higher powers at NBR (God maybe?) that you NEED an M11x for an extended period to support this group.

 

Wow, Batboy you didn't get your m11x yet either? When did you order?

 

LOL Wingnut... I should have been more clear in my initial response to your question about installing the driver from NV's site.

Clarify now:

IMO, the only driver to use @ this time is the Official Dell Driver. It will take some time before someone in driver mod land releases a full intel/nv hybrid driver.

When uninstalling the NV driver, more than likely the uninstaller will also remove the intel files since it was part of the same install. you can try it and I would love to know the results.

Sorry for my confusing first response.

 

If Nvidia comes out with an updated driver that supports the GT 335m, could it just be installed over the existing Nvidia driver? That way we'd be able to keep the Intel driver and get the updated Nvidia driver.

 

To add to this:

- I re-installed my complete OS on my new drive.
- I started out installing the updated/recent GS45 / mobile express 4 series video driver directly from the intel site. Those worked (newer interface - kinda neat).
- Since I didn't/couldn't find a newer version of the 335m drivers - I pulled down the one from the Dell site and installed it.
- As BatBoy's noted - it's a combined driver. The install uses the NVidia drivers from Dell - and overrides the Intel drivers that I had installed previously with the one's provided with the NVidia/Dell installation.
- Subsequent installation attempts of the Intel drivers note that the version from "Nvidia" is "newer" than what's currently available from the Dell/Nvidia site - thus not allowing you to install the Intel drivers.
- Attempting to uninstall the intel drivers does something really funky - I haven't played around that much with it yet, but it's obvious that it's expected to use the NVidia/Intel drivers only...

 

Wow it seems like everybody has gotten theirs except me now.

 

The Samsung Site lists the models available in Q4 2009.
MMBRE16GEDXP-MVB = 16GB
MMCRE32GEDXP-MVB = 32GB
MMDPE64GEDXP-MVB = 64GB
link: http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/the_uber_smurf/?action=view&current=available.png

They should be coming out soon. When they are out, if that 64GB is under $200, I'll buy it, install the OS to the SSD, and install games and other data to the HDD.

I can't wait. I have submitted an email to Samsung asking for an updated release date:

I hope the people reading email have access to this information.

 

@Ceowulf: Can you give me the full screen size so I can find a glare guard to fit?

 

I don't have my M11x yet, which is why I didn't upload pics of it on the screen. ;----; someone else should be able to give you an exact measurement.

 

Can anyone measure and post?

 

Scrybe = Gestures to launch programs and shortcuts for simple tasks, such as copy/paste and undo/redo.

To launch the program, you tap three fingers on the pad. Outside of this, I do see anything that provides multi-touch capabilities.

 

Thanks for clearing this up.

So at this point in time, I guess I just *hope* AW will release regular driver updates. I'm assuming they will considering gaming is their forte.

 

Have my M11x ordered. Quick question. What's the best way to rip a DVD to the hard drive to watch since the exclusion of a dvd rom drive?

 

thanks IRSmurf!
I hope you can find out more, i am very interested in that ssd!

 

has anyone done dolphin emulator on the m11x yet? they recommend 2ghz c2d so i was wondering ..

 

Google is your friend.

 

I can comment on the Samsung SSD. So far, I love it. Now I don't second guess wanting to reboot or manually reboot later since it reboots so freakin fast. I have a youtube video of it, if people missed it, showing it boot up and also pit it up against a 5400rpm boot with Win7 (Tiny7). Here

Also attached are my latest reads for the SSD, fast speeds. Those mini PCIe looks interesting altough those current speeds are pretty slow as seen on newegg. 40MB/s read is nice but 15MB/s write sequential?

Finally, the Samsung 256GB is a great option if you plan on using the M11x as a main computer (as I am). I only have 70GB free now after installing most of my games/music - I still need to install MW2 and a couple other games I might play. And none of my videos are loaded on since I'll just keep those on ext. HDD. But yeah, if space is important to you as well as speeds, the samsung can't really be beat. Especially since it's cheaper at a $/GB compared to the Intel X25m

 

There have been driver updates! You can download them through the support link included by Alienware in your favorites.
I downloaded the following drivers:
1. Synaptics mouse driver -- I'm not sure if this one was actually an update. I had to completely uninstall and reinstall to get rid of Scrybe.
2. Bluetooth -- While the update was successful, it gave two error messages about hardware not being plugged in. (That is not unusual for the installation of a Bluetooth stack.)
3. Card reader -- The update was successful.
4. Sound card drivers -- The update was successful.
5. Alienware Command Center -- The update was not successful on its own --> Installation asked me to insert the Command Center disc into the drive and press next. Obviously, there is no disc for the m11x drivers. I found the files it was looking for in C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\{5FF8B3A2-E8D9-4E6B-8CAF-947E60F9D185}. Your files may be located in a similarly named folder.

If you experience this error, Go to Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Run --> %temp% --> Look for a similarly named folder --> Look for Command Center.msi. Once you find the folder, copy its address and paste it into the location box in the installer.

Yes, I ordered mine through EPP in early February. I also went through the build process earlier today while reviewing other specs.

1. Decrypt with DVD43
2. Rip with IMGBurn
3. Mount with MagicDisc

Google is NOT your friend, for this kind of search. Sure, Google is easy and it will eventually give you what you want, but you'll catch 12 viruses searching Google for DVD ripping software.

MORE so because 80gb and 160gb simply isn't enough space for a gamers hard drive. It was tempting to toss my x25m g2 in the m11x... but it just doesn't have enough capacity.

PS: AWESOME BENCHMARK!

 

Thank you, Darkamikaze!

 

Anyone play Mass Effect? I know part 2 runs great; but part 1 isn't on my M11x.

Im only getting 20fps in high.

 

^ I have it installed I can test, but it'll only be at the beginning mission. hang tight

k, no dynamic shadows, particles high, textures ultra high, native resolution running around the very beginning of normandy about 25-35 FPS.. not bad, didn't notice any slowdowns really. No combat though.

 

For those who plan on updating ram in the future, what specs should I be looking for exactly? Say I wanted to upgrade to 4 (or 8) gigs of ram.

 

aznguyen316, That was exactly what I was looking for. I asked because the M11X isn't going to host my videos or music, mostly for web browsing, email, and gaming on the go as well as work on the fly. Thanks for the info and the bench on it. I ordered two (from two forum members) and for quicker boots it will be in my M17X R2 when I get to ordering it. I'll have a 640 for music and vids. It should also extend battery life in the M11X right? From my understanding SSDs draw less power then mechnical HHDs. I'll also be upgrading from 7200 RPM drives in both computers.

+1