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    Which M11x should I get?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by btort1, May 10, 2012.

  1. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Edited

    Ok so I got a R1 with a SSD for a great price. But the thing is when I press F8 during startup it says something about the battery not being able to charge and it gives me only 2 options

    1. F something to continue
    2. Do the Pre boot system assessment (doing it right now)

    When it finishes, will I be able to do it?

    Is there any other way I can do a clean install? And also there is no Dell DataSafe Local on the start menu.
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  2. Rishwin

    Rishwin Notebook Deity

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    I would go for the i7 tbh, but $700 is a bit high for a 2nd hand as they were clearanced off last year before discontinuation for $750 brand new from Dell. Hell, $700 is more than what i paid for the R3 in my sig. FYI, a decent 120GB SSD goes for ~$100 these days, so it's not the most amount. I just feel that for those games especially the C2D processor would be the bottleneck and might slow things down.

    However do note that the i7 is NOT a quad-core, it is a dual-core ULV (ultra-low voltage) processor with hyperthreading.

    //Edit: If you're getting an SSD with the R1, are you also getting the stock 320GB drive? If so for that price the R1 would be more worthwhile. I recently (still awaiting delivery) purchased the R1 in my sig for $450, so $600 with a 180GB SSD (Intel?) and the 320GB HDD which you could put in a caddy is pretty good.
     
    Rishwin, May 10, 2012
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  3. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well will I notice a difference of the i7? Yes I'll be getting the HDD too and it's for $540 now for the r1.
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  4. tomcannon

    tomcannon Notebook Consultant

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    Your prices are highly overpriced like others have said. You can get an R1 for around £300 now.
     
    tomcannon, May 10, 2012
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  5. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Where exactly can you get them for that much? I looked on amazon...

    So $560 US Dollars for a R1 WITH a 200gb SSD isn't worth it? I looked around ebay and amazon and their about $750+
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  6. tomcannon

    tomcannon Notebook Consultant

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    EBay. I've been watching a few r1's and 2's recently. 1's going for between £300-400 depending on condition and extras, and R2's about £450-£500. You can get an r3 for £800 brand new.
     
    tomcannon, May 10, 2012
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  7. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well what I wanna know is how much difference in performance is the i7 from the R1.

    Will the R1 be enough to run Swtor and most importantly Diablo 3 with medium settings?
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  8. mohaa7

    mohaa7 Notebook Evangelist

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    Never knew my M11x R2 i7 640UM was a quad core !!
    I noticed how people try to make it sound powerful.
    It basically is dual core with four threads...
     
    mohaa7, May 10, 2012
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  9. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    How much faster is it to the R2 from the R1? or is it not noticeable?
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  10. Rishwin

    Rishwin Notebook Deity

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    Yes, get it. That is a good price even without that extra HDD, that just makes it even better. I got the R1 in my sig for $450 and i think i got a bargain so adding an SSD to that for $100 is a no-brainer.
    FYI -
    £300-400 is $500-$650
    £450-£500 is $700-$800
    and £800 is almost $1,300

    So i'm not sure what you're referring to, but those prices seem quite similar, though you are definitely overpaying for the R3 just like Australia.
    Not alot of difference, if any. If you need any info, this thread in particular is about Diablo 3 and several people there are running it fine on the R1 - http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/652006-diablo-3-m11x-r3-how-does-run.html

    The general consensus is that it plays perfectly lag-free on medium-high settings, so you should have no problems.
     
    Rishwin, May 10, 2012
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  11. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Alright thanks alot!
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  12. tomcannon

    tomcannon Notebook Consultant

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    I do apologise. I haven't checked the exchange rate for a fairly long time and it was much closer to £1=$1 last I looked! well in that case it looks a good price to me. And we always overpay for everything! :(




    ---
    I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?r2f3se
     
    tomcannon, May 10, 2012
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  13. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Can someone help me with reinstalling a clean windows 7?
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  14. tomcannon

    tomcannon Notebook Consultant

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    Clean as in not alien respawn? If so boot via W7 DVD/flash disk, delete old partition, install via following instructions and then manually install drivers from dell website.. There's plenty of tutorials online with screenshots and all that won't spare the details.

    Tom.
     
    tomcannon, May 10, 2012
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  15. CEUOTC

    CEUOTC Notebook Evangelist

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    Use a 8gb or 16 gb usb flash stick and do the following.

    Windows 7 32 and 64 bit legal download Window 7 iso. Just select your preffered OS.

    Once you have down loaded the iso use Win 7 USB/DVD download tool. To make a bootable usb stick.

    Once the usb stick is ready, fit to the usb 2.0 (left hand side of m11x), power on select f12 and boot from usb stick.

    Install windows 7, activate with key on bottom of m11x.

    Job done.

    Update drivers as required.

    Go here to get the look feel of AW again. Alienware look feel after fresh install.

    Regards.

    C.
     
    CEUOTC, May 10, 2012
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  16. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Clean as in, delete everything the previous owner had. And make sure there's no viruses.
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  17. tomcannon

    tomcannon Notebook Consultant

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    In that case just do as me and cueotc have said. It's fairly simple, you can't really go wrong.
     
    tomcannon, May 10, 2012
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  18. CEUOTC

    CEUOTC Notebook Evangelist

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    Aye, to be super safe, make a puppy linux usb, boot into that, run gpart and delete the existing partition, format and create a new nfts partition, then follow tomcannon and my advice.

    Regards.

    C.
     
    CEUOTC, May 10, 2012
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  19. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I copied Windows 7 on the USB but when I restart and press f12 it says

    WARNING: The battery cannot be identified. This system will be unable to charge this battery

    Strike F1 key to continue
    Press F5 to run onboard diagnostics

    could the reinstallation fix this issue?
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
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  20. CEUOTC

    CEUOTC Notebook Evangelist

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    You can disable battery warning in bios(M11x R3 version), try that first.

    Regards.

    C.
     
    CEUOTC, May 10, 2012
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  21. btort1

    btort1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I managed to find the drivers on Dells page, I gotta transfer them from my other laptop, so when I double click the drivers or run them as admin, a black msdos pops up and closes. Does that mean it installed it correctly?
     
    btort1, May 10, 2012
    #21