Alienware (M15x)- do NOT buy

Over the years I have had many laptops from many different companies. I owned a few Dell, a Siemens-Fujitsu model, a Toshiba, an Apple MacBook Air and a Sony Vaio. I used most of these for work and my studies. Some of them just to play.

Early 08 I decided to get a real good gaming machine and bought an Alienware m15x. At first, I was quite happy, until about a few months later... At first it began to be quite noisy. Probably louder than my desktop. Then the front panel started losing consistency. That was about 8 months after I bought it. It bothered me, but I could not spare the time to send it in, because I needed the laptop for work. A few months ago the external graphic card stopped working. I called support, but they wanted money for advice, because warranty did expire. Today I tried to order a new Nvidia 8800m to replace it myself, but it seems like they have canceled support for all the m15x and they have no more 8800m at storage.

I have never ever written about a laptop manufacturer in a bad way on any board. I did have issues with my former laptops, but I was always able to figure out something with the support or the repair did cost some money.

However, I have to say it: Alienware support is really bad and I have not even started listing the support history here. So to all of you, who read the specs of an Alienware laptop and think about having a really cool laptop, think also that your machine might be worthless about 15 months later and the support will NOT help you!

 

Now that they have partnered up with Dell, support has increased

 

Ok here is a new 8800m GTX for $250.00, should fit your M15x but the heatsink that comes with it would have to be removed..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220456212401&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

nacr05 are you sure, this WILL fit the m15x?

Thanks a alot for your help!!!

notebookreview discussionboard > alienware support

 

I said should fit, The 8800m GTX I seen come out of M15x's looks the same.. Its just that the heatsink that comes with the 8800m GTX will not work, you will have to use yours..

 

I don't think that card will work with your m15x because the m15x uses MXM 2.1 and the card in that ebay link is an MXM3.

 

Does your 8800m GTX have the HE tab on it?? I am certian this card will work..

 

They do have 3870s available. I was quoted $212 for one, but my machine is still under warranty.

 

After looking no that one will not work, this one will though but its high priced..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-m15x-...ards?hash=item335566a598&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

Not in the UK it hasn't I was quoted up to 2 months for a screen replacement.

 

MXMIII is MXM2.1.

 

I'm pretty sure the 8800 from a Clevo will also fit into the M15x.

 

MXM3 >type B< are the cards used in the new M17x, the area-51 m15x and m17x used MXM2.1 >type III<.

MXMIII is not the same as MXM3.

 

This is why different companies are known for different things. Alienware are notoriously known for poor support, yet they do offer some quality in their machines. They offer groundbreaking, state-of-the-art technology, though it seems as though many people have troubles with the consistency and performance of the Alienware machines.
I guess it's about picking the brand for what you want/need most, whether it's support, quality, reliability, or performance. In the future, I'd recommend purchasing machines from Dell or another leading brand instead of Alienware. I say this because Dell and Alienware produce very similar models, yet Alienware strive to make their computers look much fancier and often try to overload their machines with supernatural capabilities. If it is performance and reliability that you're after, perhaps consider Dell - they produce machines considered to be of the same capabilities, yet they often have a better reliability factor (not to mention the improved support benefits).
Furthermore, I know people who've used Alienware machines for years and have never had problems with them - I guess it's the luck of the draw; it could happen to anybody.

 

Dell and Alienware are the same company nowadays

Alienware tend to offer higher performance parts; due to short supply, and additional heat etc from these parts; there are more reliability concerns, that said it doesnt excuse Alienware's extremely poor support, which I hope Dell will look into.

 

Judeaux,

If you get an after market card, you must find the appropriate heat-sink. The heat-sink that comes with the 8700 will not work with 8800gtx or 9800. My m15x originally came with the 8700gt, I later purchased the 280mGTX but had to find a different heat-sink. runs like a beast now.

 

Get a 260m gtx

 

wow!

I just got support for my m15x 2 weeks ago, they fixed a few cracks.

recently... they have replaced 2 hdds on my desktop, instead of giving me two 750 GB hdds, they gave me a free upgrade, and gave me 2 1000 MB hdds, also, I called them about my 750w power supply that they sold me with a GTX 295 and an i7, and they are giving me a free upgrade to a 1000w psu.

There might be hassles with getting the best, but as for their support, they have come through every time for me.

Just don't call them because your game is freezing, they wont know what to do.

 

You could also ask if you can purchase a 9800 card off them. It's just a re-branded 8800...

 

well... someone finally said it.

OP: they're probably not selling you an 8800M GTX because they don't sell 8800M GTX's anymore. if you would go ahead and do 5 minutes of research on the system you own, you'd know they REPLACED the 8800M GTX with 9800M GTs some time ago, and never looked back.

there's nearly no difference between the 8800M GTX and the 9800M GT, neither physically, technologically, or in terms of power/speed. so call them back, last time I checked the 9800M GT was ~$500 + shipping, etc.

 

I dont know why you did not send in the Gpu in and run off the Internal gpu. Untel you get a another Gpu from Alienware.

 

Quick qustion: why don't you repair your old 8800M? I guess there are some tutorials for overheating the card or something.

 

lol, you didn't understand my post...

MXMIII is MXM 2.1, and the new standard is MXM 3.0a and b.

The card in that link was MXMIII or MXMIV which is an MXM 2.1 card not MXM 3.0a or b... The guy selling it made a typo and put 3 instead of III or IV, neither the M570RU/RU-U nor the m15x use MXM 3.0a or b.

MXMIII/IV and MXM 3.0a/b are 2 different standards so an MXMIII/IV card which is MXM 2.1 will not work in an MXM 3.0a/b slot and vice versa.

Understand what I meant now?

 

That's not a bad idea. You can have them send you the new GPU and you can put it in yourself and not worry about sending in your m15x. That way you can still use your laptop for other things.

 

My laptop is running on internal graphics for about a month now (I removed the other graphic card already).
Alienware is not selling me a new graphic card!!!! I called them several times and they do not sell me an ATI or any Nvidia -> not a 8800M not a 9800M not a 8700M... Why? Because m15x is not in the support list anymore...

Why do you think I am so mad about this company?

I was able to purchase a 8700M over ebay for a decent price (the 8800M MXMIII from the link costs me about 400$ to buy with transport to europe + import taxes). I just hope, that the heat sink of my 8800M works with my new 8700M...