*OFFICIAL* M11xR1 Owners Lounge - Part 4

Its not a seagate ay...

 

Do you have a different model? Although I'm not aware of any other manufacturer that makes a 500GB 7200RPM notebook drive.

 

My 250GB model is a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 - same as the 500GB

 

Pretty sure users have been using it. I've seen it mentioned in the M11x Gaming thread.

 

My bad, got the same one :S lol.

 

Doubt we will see any "official" support for Optimus on Hybrid Graphics notebooks. The nice thing however is that if they ever add the GeForce GT 335M to the Optimus drivers that may be all that's needed.

Workable means fully functioning and yes it does require special hardware functionality built in to the GPU. I advise reading up on your own, the optimus technical whitepaper explains the differences between the two. Another place with a great explanation on Optimus is this trusted reviews article. The "hardware changes" you mentioned should already be a part of the 335M GPU in your notebook. There really are no other hardware changes.

What people seem to be confusing is the LACK OF NEED for the multiplexers that Hybrid Graphics utilizes.

The following quotes are from the optimus technical whitepaper:

Also worth quoting:

So in essence Optimus does not require the additional mutliplexers that route the Nvidia GPU display to the notebook screen. What Optimus does is essentially hijack the framebuffer of the integrated Intel part and utilizes its output to the notebook screen. Thats' it. Optimus is primarily a software/driver technology.

EDIT: I find it amazing how many people are doubting Optimus or the fact that it may work on a few of the newer Hybrid Graphics notebooks. (I now have both new Vaio Z and M11x users reporting it working.) Nvidia seems to be competing with themselves here. Optimus is just a newer variant of Hybrid Graphics implemented in a much better way.

 

Can someone take some real world pics of the lunar shadow version? I am about to order my m11x and I cannot decide on the black or lunar. I find the pics on the site hard to judge.

Thanks

 

Cheers.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/102478564919307889103/AlienwareM11x#

 

Those things look like solid, well made little buggers as they say in Britain. Thanks for the pics glad to see you got yours nuke ;D

 

Also if you want a high res pic of a particular part, just shoot. I tried to take a pic of a screen edge thing, that most people complain about but I couldn't get a good shot.

 

Screen edge thing? You have a problem with the screen build too?

 

dude don't drop your cd's on the floor like that

 

It's pretty minor thing, it doesn't bother me. In fact I wouldn't even notice it, if I didn't know where to look. I got some pics to show you. But I can't put them on now, it seems when I reinstalled Windows the card reader didn't install. And can't get it to work (it worked with factory install).

Alienware DVD ended up on the floor in all the excitement when I was unpacking it!

Anyone with drivers for SD card slot?

 

Thank you unreal and nuke! +rep for both.

I think I might go with the Black version. The silver feels a bit weird since the entire inside is still black? In person does it flow good? Argh, here I am pondering the simplest thing. Color. lol

 

UPDATED: upper link with pics!

No problem.

First, I uploaded the higher quality photos of the right screen edge. I think it shows on these pictures with flash more than it usually is, it's really not that obvious that it goes out. See pics without flash as well. And it's not the screen that is going out, its some kind of a plastic they put on top of the screen; LCD screen itself is actually protected beneath it. Last pic has a ruler (with both EU and US units ) so decide for yourself.

Second, unrelated, if anyone has a problem with non-working SD card slot when you installed the drivers from Dell web, I just downloaded the newest drivers from manufacturer's web, and worked immediately:

ftp://driver.jmicron.com.tw/jmb38x/XP_Vista_Win7/JMB38X_WinDrv_R1.00.40_WHQL.zip

 

Okay, I thought I'd ask again just to check. Does anyone else have the Failsafe message come up on their M11x? In an attempt top get rid of it, I thought I'd just start the process to activate it. When doing so, it displayed a message about checking the BIOS, then it completely froze the system. I rebooted and everything was fine. But this time I just renamed the Failsafe directory where the program is stored, and I haven't gotten the message since.

I saw an option in the BIOS for Failsafe but it's "Deactivated", and there doesn't seem any way to activate it.

On another note - isn't it time for a new BIOS update yet?

 

Ow I have that too, it doesn't bother me at all tbh

 

The TimelineX looks like a good alternative.

Choice of Intel Core i3/i5/i7
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit or Windows Vista Home Basic
Intel HD Graphics or Switchable between Intel HD Graphics and ATI 5470 or 5650
13.3"/14.1"/15.6" Display
Difference size HDD's
Up to 8GB DDR3-1066 Ram
Up to 8 hours of battery life

 

Looks like the Core ix CPUs are only available on the 14" or larger versions, with a Core2Duo on the 13". They're also not available yet. But with this technology, something better is ALWAYS going to be around the corner. You can buy now, or just keep waiting...

 

The 13inch has the core processors and 5650

Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820T specs

Display: 13.3 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels
Processor: Core i3/i5/i7
Graphics: integrated GMA HD or Radeon HD5650 1GB/HD5470 512MB discrete GPU
Memory: up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM (Expandable to 8GB)
Storage: 640GB hard drive

 

Not according to this site:
http://techztalk.com/techwebsite/03-24-10-acer-debuts-timelinex-notebook-series

However, since it's not even released and with no pricing available, specs could change.

 

i am just wondering would the base model be a good buy or is it pointless. i want to be able to run 1080p and 720p videos. also be able encode videos. is this the purchase for me. of course gaming

 

I would atleast upgrade the ram to 4gb, then attempt to use the 50 dollar epp coupon bringing it back down to base cost.

 

thanks very much i do plan to ugrade ram and harddrive. so it still wil be worth it or should i look for something else. sorry computers are not my thing but i am heading to college and would like to know if this will fill my needs

 

Acer?? Judas!!!

Yeah I would go for 4GB RAM. If you get 2, I have a strong feeling you'll end up upgrading at the end, and then you'll have to throw away 2x 1GB that you already have (that is you have to buy all 4 gigs).

If you want to play newest 3D games, I wouldn't look further than m11x. I simply love this machine, it's such a great laptop. Besides, if you look for others with similar specs, its not like you'll end up saving that much, if anything. If you do decide to buy something else and want it for gaming, be sure to check if someone already has it and has tested that it works fine when its under load. In a lot of laptops you'll see dedicated GPU geforce blaa bla but when you actually use it to play something you'll see it will heat up like a volcano. This is coming from personal experience with other "gaming" laptops (in particular XPS m1330).

 

I actually got mine for college, just upgraded to 250 gb hard drive / 4gb ram, will be more than enough for school and warcraft.

 

Let me correct you:

"The 13-inch 1830T models come with Core 2 Solo CPU, whereas the other three models offer option of Core i3, i5 or i7 processors."

The "other three models" are the 3820T/TG, 4820T/TG, and 5820T/TG.

3820T/TG = 13.3" Acer TimelineX with iX Core CPUs and Intel HD/ATI 5650 switchable graphics .

 

7300 vs 4100 - What am I paying for in the $100 difference here? Is it worth the $100 upgrade?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=457820 - Unreal25's m11x is living proof the upgrade is not worth paying for

 

I have this issue also. First time I started the Failsafe activation the computer froze. Have tried a couple of times since and it tells me I need a bios update to use Failsafe. I disabled it from popping up thru msconfig and so far so good. I am going to call Dell this week to see what they can do about it while I'm still in the return period, I don't like that the program says that I need a new bios when there seems to be only 1 bios for the m11x.

 

Thanks Spalding! Exactly what I needed!

 

Thanks - let us know what Dell says about this.

 

Oooh, thats sexy. Glad I ordered Lunar Shadow, did'nt want to be like everyone else:

 

I'd have ordered silver, but both my step dad and my room mates are silver, went with black!

 

Nvidia Released new offical drivers 197 problem is it is not switchable.

 

Optimus is our only hope.
I need to go test that.

 

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/to...d-graphics-notebooks/page__pid__128464__st__0

 

Unless dell releases a new driver package

 

@nuke737 - There's only one person in that forum that has tried it but I am not 100% yet that I will...

 

I'd prefer to just get new drivers, honestly.

While Optimus is fine and dandy, taking the whole 5 seconds or so to switch graphics isn't a huge deal for me. Knowing that I'm using Integrated/Discrete is worth the minor inconvenience for me.

 

197.16 switches for me (via FN+F6). If I remember the NV docs on HybridSLI, if the manufacturer provides a method for switching - in this case, FN+F6, then you will not be able to switch via the task tray NV HybridSLI chevron icon. Try uninstalling OSD/CC and see if that allows it. You might have to reinstall the driver.

FN+F6 is fine - I dont mind having to use a key combo as its just as fast as a right-click.

For those of you testing 197.16, as with any new NV display driver on a mobile system - be sure to monitor battery time and watch for any other issues.

Concerning Optimus on the M11x, I mucked about with this a couple of weeks ago when NV released that first driver. While I was able to install it and the Optimus overlay was included (both in the CP and in-game), the driver had issues switching automatically - see attached. Granted it may have been my modded INF, I just didn't care to spend any further time on it. Looked at it for 2 days and tired quickly... Nautis is on it, so I'm not going to bother.

EDIT:

Let me revise my post -

On the M17x, I can use either the key combo or the task tray icon, so for the M11x, this has to be a driver INF issue. I'll look at this later if I can.

 

@Batboy

Since you are saying that you can switch between graphics on 197.16, did you have to install seperate drivers for the Integrated graphics as well? I'd assume that would have to be the case since Nvidia wouldn't include those drivers in their normal releases.

 

Just run the 197.16 installer over your current install.

 

@batboy = Does it work stock? Or did you have to tinker (install additional drivers for IGP etc)? And does the OSD still work?

 

If you are asking about 197.16 nuke, it appears to be working. OSD works, CC works and FN+F6 works. I have not had time to test in-game or really anything else. I'm sure someone will get to that before I do.

 

Well the following is missing from the 197.16 INF that is in the 185.55 INF:

Code:

HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",SkipIntelUmdCapella,%REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",WhiteList,%REG_SZ%,"PWMUIAux.EXE, Access Connections.exe"

Not 100% on what SkipUmdCapella is or why they removed it. The whitelist setting is for whitelisting applications that are ok but may be blocked when switching.

To enable taskbar switching of Hybrid Power/Hybrid Graphics try:

Code:

HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",HybridPlatformRole,%REG_DWORD%,1

*Requires a reboot of course.

 

There ya go - that's most likely it. Thanks for pulling it Nautis.

 

Nvidia Verde vision driver were officially released today for *ALL* Alienware laptops.

This include the possibility to use their new 3D glasses....

Here's the link on their blog :

http://blogs.nvidia.com/ntersect/20...-bring-3d-vision-support-to-notebook-pcs.html

But i guess everyone knows already about it ;-)

 

Thanks frenchris - this was posted already and we have been discussing it a bit.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6076405&postcount=1750