How Long Do Alienware M15x Laptops Usually Last For? And Hinge Question

I'm thinking of buying a Alienware M15x laptop as I am going university soon and do not want to take my desktop up as obviously wouldn't be a wise choice in terms of portability.ect. Is the quality of the M15x high as in both interior and exterior of it and I heard that the M11x and older M15x had hinge problems where after a few months or even weeks of opening and closing the lid of the laptop the hinge would completely snap off and stuff which put me off. I was wandering if this has been fixed in the newer models and if anyone in this forum still have these problems? And how long do Alienware laptops last for generally if taken care of and everything?

 

I've had my M15x for about 3 weeks now, and can say hand's down it's the best built laptop I've ever owned. The majority of the exterior of the system is brushed aluminum, which adds to the physical build quality. I haven't had any hinge problems (in fact, it seems super sturdy to me) but those can develop anytime, literally. From what I've read, Dell's next day in-home support is pretty good, so I'm confident if I have a problem it will be taken care of properly.

As far as specs, depends what you're doing. There's no doubt the new Sandy Bridge Core i7 CPU's (starting at 2Ghz and up) are a bit faster, and much faster for the dollar, than the first-gen Core i7's, but then again the first gen i7's are plenty fast as it is. I bought this in the midst of the M17x R3 Sandy Bridge recall, knowing I'll replace it in 6 months with a R3 or similar system that has a 2.0-2.2Ghz Core i7 in it. If you can live with 1.73Ghz (it's plenty fast!) then go for the M15x, but if you want more power be prepared to either spend a lot upgrading the 1.73Ghz 720QM that comes with the M15x (either through Dell or another vendor) or wait for the M17x R3 to come back. It offers a faster CPU for the same price, basically.

But yeah, best built laptop ever for me. I don't think I could ever not buy an Alienware, that's how satifsfied I am with the overall package thus far.

 

Now I am very tempted to buy one, and so the hinge problems are still around even in the newer models then? and say if I did buy the first gen i7 and the sandy bridge processors came out, would there be a massive difference in performance between the two or only minimal?

 

no there is no hinge problem with the all power M15x. the older area-51 model did have it.

the current build is of very high quality. also recommend looking at the M17x-r3 around the same price range and more options.

 

Yeah I was thinking about the M17-r3 as it would be worth the extra $ over the m15x especially for better GPU and stuff.

edit: Do I need to format the laptop when it arrives? and will it come with all the latest updates and BIOS already so I dont need to download it from the Dell website or is it old software?

 

you would have to check it out first. can't gaurantee thats it gonna be up todate.

 

you don't need to format i didn't see anything on mine that i thought was bloat ware and it should come with the latest bios,you might however want to upgrade your video card drivers direct from the card manufactures web site as the ones certified to work on the M15x from dell are usually a few versions older.

 

The 2.0Ghz base Sandy Bridge in the M17xR3 is faster than the 1.73Ghz base i7 in the M15x, but it's really only clock for clock, i.e. 266Mhz (15% give or take) faster. Honestly, the 1.73Ghz i7 is really really fast, but it's preference. I will say that I bargained the M15x in my sig down to $1549, but AW wanted $1819 for it. If you find yourself in that situation and they won't budge, the R3 instantly becomes a better deal. Even if you just take the R3 and update to the 1080p screen and 460m video card, it's still $1649 or $1699, so a hundred bucks cheaper and you have a slightly bigger screen, second hard drive slot and faster processor to play with.

For what it's worth, I'm dumping the M15x for the R3 in about six months, but that's primarily so that I can thoroughly future-proof myself further with a 485m or equivalent, when/if available.

The 1.73-2.0Ghz Core i7 and GeForce GTX 460m combination can run everything I have maxed out, with the exception of Crysis (runs it fluently on High, but lags on Very High) and Metro 2033 (nothing in a laptop can run it *maxed* yet). I consider that very good. If you're going with a 460m you probably won't see much of a jump over the first gen i7 going to Sandy Bridge, if that helps.

And I want to reiterate, the build quality on this thing is heavenly. They got every little detail right with this thing.

 

Had mine for 2 months, no problems apart some minor software problems. Its a good build and design, but if u r going for uni, strongly suggest take M15x. Im a uni student, and knows how is it like to bring M15x there (a tad bit heavy). So m17x will be worse.