[-OFFICIAL-] Alienware M17x Owners' Lounge

I know on the M1730 the caddy held 2 disks and the sata cable had 2 connectors. I'll have to look at the manual to see if it's the same.

 

i am debating on another m17 with the 4870's or the new 17x with 280's

 

Huh? Sorry I dont get this. Do you mean HD DVD?

 

thats because your the only one who knows about the 4870 Z

 

if you want to game - 280m's
if you want to be a benchmark king - 4870's

 

Did they release the 4870's for the M17?

 

HD DVD is a dead format. It's similar to Blu-Ray created by Toshiba (and friends) and they pulled it off the market when it was not selling as well as Blu-Ray. So I meant Blu-Ray not HD DVD.

 

not yet but

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=386802

they have confirmed they have the stock codes and inital price just awaiting cards in stock

 

Oh ok I just read it wrong. Thanks for clarification

 

Which means they'll probably be available for the M17x shortly after.

 

the AW rep i spoke to said they dont have order codes for the M17x for anything other then the release products as far as they knew they M17x wont be getting ATI cards

 

i have also spoke with a freind at dell and he was able to look up the 4870 part numbers this morning. he said they are coming SOON.

the only reason im considering the m17/ocz is because i can still get a ocz chassis for dirt cheap from one of my vendors that has a couple left..

the m17 and m17x have the same master slot but different slave slots from what he told me. the slave in the m17 is a sort of hybrid slot where he said the m17x has a actual mxm3 for master and slave

 

They already said they will support ATI crossfire cards it's just not part of the initial offer. I posted the official quote on that a few hundred pages ago..lol.

 

Honestly is it worth getting the quad core chip and dual 280s ... over the dual 260s and a dual core...

 

The answer usually is "it depends on what you are doing with it". If you just game then probably not.

 

the 280 over the 260 yes, the quad over the dual meh, kinda depends on what u do, very few games support the quad core atm

 

good point ... i was just looking toward the future a bit ... if more things support this.

 

ive had and still have the x9100 and the qx9300 and honestly there is not as big of a difference as people make it out to be. the quad is great for multi core apps and games that can use all 4 cores but other than those apps they perform about the same overall every day wise and game wise

 

they will support it more in the future, depends how long you intend to have the laptop for.

I will upgrade mine in 2/3 years, in saying that i will prob buy a quad from ebay at sometime and change it over

 

Im still getting the new laptop, I would rather have an aluminum chassis, nvidia, more lighting options, and switchable to integrated graphics for battery life, edge to edge screen, slot loading drive, overclockable quad core, and it has a really nice cooling system. They may have 4870's for the new m17x anyways, so if I really wanted to, I could go from Nvidia to ATI, but I would rather stick with Nvidia for better real world performance and better driver support.

 

Is it worth getting the Alien Respawn?

 

I dont think it is, if I need to do a clean install, its a lot cleaner just to install vista again after a reformat, then you can choose the drivers you want to put on, and the registry is a lot cleaner than when you recieved it. I noticed on my m5750 when I first got it that there was stuff left over from the benchmarking they did. But its all up to you, alien respawn is a lot easier and faster when you need to restore your system. I personally just like to do it myself.

 

Ok, I decided I'm going to order one later today. Will I be able to output to two monitors at home?

Also, anyone planning on doing a fresh XP install when they get this?

 

I am staying Vista, Vista is not that bad especially with SP2.

 

Better hardware support and maybe a free upgrade to W7.

 

Ok thanks yea I have had to do it with my viewsonic a few times I dont think when I buy one I will get respawn

 

Just wondering will 2 GTX 280M SLI be worth de 500 Euro premium over 2 GTX 260M SLI's. O r better wait for 2 4870's?
And will a T9800 be a better choice then the Q9000?

 

Definately what im going to do once I get the system, Upgrading to Windows 7 RC. The improved support for quads, solid state drives, are awesome!

 

I'm a bit disappointed with this laptop because compared to the M17 Alienware have left out on The M17x a subwoofer, digital optical output and no integrated TV tuner.

Good sound ouput is important to me and a integrated TV tuner is useful aswell. Not much point having a really good quality High Def display with average sound.

 

They may have removed the subwoofer, but it has an excellent cooling system, aluminum chassis, overclocking, and the sound system is fine once you connect it too an external setup. Plus I believe the HDMI connector provides support for sound systems. Plus I bet it sounds fine when you just use the laptop speakers.

 

Dude you brought this up already.. Are you just going to constantly say negative things about the m17x because it doesn't live up to your standards?

 

There's no integrated tv tuner either you have to plug it into the express card slot which means it will be sticking out the side which is annoying.

Plus if you want to connect the laptop to an external surround sound system you have to connect 3 cables to 3 analogue connections to the laptop and 6 connections to the receiver. All those cables and connections is a load of hassle doing that everytime. where as if they stuck with an optical output or SPDIF output it would just be 1 simple connection to the laptop and 1 simple connection to the reciever with 1 optical cable and you have 5.1 surround sound. What were they thinking!

I really wanted to get this laptop but now i'm not sure.

 

I think I'm going to wait on this (as much as I want it) to see what and how much the peripherals will be. It looks like it's not going to be shipped for a month anyway, so it wont hurt to wait a few more weeks. So far they have a mouse, keyboard, and monitor right?


wait...
"Plus if you want to connect the laptop to an external surround sound system you have to connect 3 cables to 3 analogue connections to the laptop and 6 connections to the receiver. All those cables and connections is a load of hassle doing that everytime. where as if they stuck with an optical output or SPDIF output it would just be 1 simple connection to the laptop and 1 simple connection to the reciever with 1 optical cable and you have 5.1 surround sound. What were they thinking!"

Do my z5500 need all that for true surround sound? I would rather just have 1 cable if that's the case.

 

A tv tuner should be an after thought in a gaming rig like this. Besides, you can get external usb HD tv tuners that perform much better than an integrated unit.

If you want the latest teck you've got it. It's called HDMI. Maybe you should upgrade to a receiver with one rather than expecting an "old tech" legacy optical output form a new rig. Now you've got just one connection.

Just my opinion.

 

almost. so far, we have confirmation for a mouse, keyboard, a standard flatscreen monitor, and the brand new, curved 42.8" monitor.

 

Exactly, HDMI is the latest tech, external tv tuners do perform a lot better, so the removal of the optical output reduced the clutter of ports on the laptop.

 

theres a HDMI on the laptop to hook up to a receiver. i know that all depends on the receiver. i have the logitech z540 with the digital on it so ill just be using 5 ch direct. that honestly dose not bother me if i wanted true dolby digital i would hook up via HDMI to get 7.1 surround sound

 

If you have an HDMI input on your reciever then you can get 5.1 sound that way but if you don't and have optical inputs like i do and many other people do then you have to go through all the hassle i mentioned before everytime you want 5.1 surround sound.

I bet that's Dell influence because before Dell got involved Alienware laptops had optical outputs. All Dell laptops have the same set up with 3 analogue ouput connections for 5.1 surround sound.

 

And that hassle is because your receiver is dated. The laptop in question is not dated.

 

That monitor looks sic! But did you see how deep the back is?

 

No. Neither the Alien Respawn discs that came with my m7700 or m9750 worked. AT ALL. I paid $50 each time and got a disc that produced errors, crashes or BSODs.

Re-installing from the original media and manually installer the drivers > $50.

 

You talk about the latest tech well using numerous analogue outputs for surround sound is older tech then one optical output for surround sound.

You talk about less clutter by leaving out an optical output but Alienware replaced one optical output with 3 analogue outputs surely that creates more clutter.

 

I'm not 100% clear on this..is it best to order the 1066 RAM or the 1333 RAM?

I do not plan to overclock.

thanks

 

1066, if it's cheaper.

 

Likely easier for them to meet the needs of the "old tech" guys using these outputs as opposed to the optical.

 

k, thanks!!

 

New M17x Youtube video! (In HD)

Linky

Enjoy...nice music too

EDIT: Shows both models, Silver/Black & Black

 

They removed the optical output because they added HDMI like everyone is mentioning. Why have two digital audio outputs on a laptop? Just in case people didn't upgrade to HDMI yet? It's been out for a while. My AV receiver is 4 years old and has HDMI. The complaints should be geared toward the AV receiver and not the laptop....all IMO.

 

Try this if you want SPDIF instead of using the HDMI.

​

 

Cool video.

Now it looks like the aluminum isn't polished on the lunar silver model.