Alienware M17 *OFFICIAL* Owner's Lounge

Kind of a fun thing, my M17 didnt come with that sheet cause it was backordered xD

 

First impressions. Not a thing wrong with it. I love it. Everything works, nothing is missing, etc etc. Haven't tried to game on it yet, too busy tweaking, but I'll get around to more formal reviews later.

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH

 

I emailed AW about my shipping status yesterday. They email back the same day with updated shipping info. They ended up shipping it overnight and will be delivered today. The bummer is I won't be home to sign for it.

 

I told AW when I ordered my M17 that I don't get home until Jan 1st and they said it would not ship until Jan 2nd or 3rd. I just got the Fedex email showing its supposed to arrive today Dec 23rd. Noone will be home to sign for it for another week.

 

Finally! woot! It has been shipped! 12/14/08 <- Order date, 12/22/08 <-- Shipping date, 12/30/08 <- estimated arrival date.

 

[1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 T9400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Chassis: 17-Inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Terra Green
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Wireless b/g (Full Mini-Card)
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Avatar: Alienhead Flat
Window Style: Graphite Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alien Cyborg
Wallpaper: Alien Schematic
Wallpaper: Alienhead Flat
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: Calendar
Sidebar Gadgets: CPU Meter
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Time Zones: (GMT - 6.00) Central Time (US & Canada)



i did it i ordered its my grad/b day present that im payign half for ol but hey i got it will be mine January 22 2009

give me feed back if you have any
i plan on gettig alienware back pack form newegg and ram from newegg and hd later

 

Good build, but I would have recommended that you have gotten the 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology. But other than that, very good.

 

no money left i can max out every thing t 1440 on high so .. i can hook up a external any way

 

How much did you pay for it Mr. Moo?

 

i saw it didnt say finger print reader does it still come on the m17?

 

2097 after taxs and shippin

 

looks like a good setup.. I strongly suggest the 1920.1200 screen as well. You can easily add RAM later, or HDD..but a screen is a different story. You'll be disappointed with that one, I assure you. But hey, congrats on the purchase Anyhow!

 

well i already placed order and the 200 is abit for me ill use the hdmi so i can use external

 

though the last comment was funny 200 is a bit when i just spent 2100 lol well if i truly hate it then ill get it upgraded when i get back to working (knee surgrey from football ) 6 months of rehab hahahahahahah it sucks

 

Well, best of luck with recovering. Goodnite folks, happy holidays.

 

happy holidays and merry christmas to all i am one happy gamer now .. what games to get at least since i didnt get the 1900 screen i know i can max out just bout every thing

 

call me crazy but has any one looked at the toshiba x305 706 its a good deal and i kinda like the colors... just trying to get somethign said

 

Have fun with the glitches! lol j/k no wait Im not!

 

Got my M-17 tonight. A few first impressions:

The backlit keyboard is crap. Some keys light up bright while others do not light up at all. I can't believe how uneven it is. It's a bummer for me because I missed the great backlit keyboard that my Macbook Pro had and was looking forward to this one.

The only benchmark that AW ran on it was for U3.

I didn't receive the insert that shows what the keys do. I also did not get a mouse pad.

I installed E-Wreck's drivers and I got a tad over 12k in 3dmark06, which is exactly what I was expecting from my 2.5ghz processor.

 

Hi
I got my m17 today as well ... and the blue LED of the keyboard broke after a few hours

I also have problems with opening the Console in Crysis Warhead (can sb help me pls?)

and I miss the CommandCenter? Is it because of my Vista is 64bit powered or because it's the german version that I cant find it? (is there an other way to get the "that is youre face" software?)

But! All in all i am very happy to have one
A score of 11022 @ 3DMark06 (1280*720) with die 2,26 Prozessor and the Crossfire 3870 makes me happy as well

Thank you for Help and/or Answars

 

Well..at least I wasn't a disappointment. Congrats on the rig tho! Possibly they are sending the accessories seperately, and wanted to rush the rig? I'd rather have the system than the mouse pad, etc. BTW, hows my drivers score compared to the stock they provided you from burn in?

 

ouch i have mine at home sitting unopened waiting for me. mine arrived a couple days ago. i'm hoping mine isn't missing crap and improperly put together like i've been hearing here. now you guys got me all worried and .

 

Whats the best way to watch Videos on my big screen Tv ?

I found this, is it good ?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ogear&lp=5&type=product&cp=1&id=1218008373158

 

unless your tv is super old you shouldnt get the usb to vga converter. they are slow expensive and vga quality is bad. Get a HDMI to DVI if your laptop only has DVI. Its only 3 dollars. If it has HDMI even better just do a direct connection by buying a HDMI cable. These arent expensive either. DVI/HDMI quality is way better.

Digital Signals > Analog Signals

 

HoosierInFl,
The weak keyboard illumination was my only complaint. Not even as bright as the M17X i had previously.

 

so you had an m17x previously? how do u compare the m17 to the m17x? which do u prefer at this point?

 

I didn't bother running a benchmark on the stock drivers.

This machine has the same 2.5 processor that the Sony AW has and the M17 seems to run rings around the Sony on every day tasks I throw at it.

I am pleasantly surprised that the fans don't sound like jet airplanes while playing a game.

I can play WoW with everything maxed out. The only thing I had to lower was 8x sampling to 4x to get smooth game play.

I do have a good amount of backlight bleed at the bottom of the screen. I only see it during bootup, so it's not that big a deal to me.

I have never seen a laptop power brick this large before. It's massive.

 

Strongly dissagree for the first time

I have 1440x900 and it`s perfect for gaming and everything I do with my laptop ;]

 

Why did you need to go down to 4x ? Im playing at 8x for a month now and the lowest i go (in full settings) is 40 in dalaran. Even in raids i average around 50fps with 8x.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Just wanted to share my Alienware experience so far. I ordered my M17 on the 15th of December with a pretty decent set-up. After a day or two of considering different options and configurations such as buying the 4gb RAM and 2nd Hard Drvie from newegg I called back and canceled the order and placed a new one with more modest specs at a much lower price. I was ensured when I canceled the first order that I was going to be reimbursed the difference, almost $1000. Well several days later I was issued a credit to my VISA for the amount of $320 (obviously less then what I should have received). When I called to inquire they told me they see the mistake and will correct it ASAP. The next day my credit card was charged, not credited but CHARGED, in the amounts of $285 and $260. When I called this time I was given a lack-luster and at times annoyed sounding excuses from the reps. I was even told by one rep named Kurt "What would you like me to do about it right now?". I emailed billing today and CC'ed [email protected] just to be sure. I find that emails or properly worded letters seem to get things moving better then wasting time explaining things 3-4 times to random telephone reps.

Well anyway my laptop is moving through the phases at a reasonable pace. I'm at 5 now so given the holiday it should take a day or two extra to move on from there.

Keep up the posts it gives us AW owners in waiting something to do until we receive ours.

 

Shznittle;

My M17 runs cooler, plays games better since i installed 8.12 drivers, just as well made as far as i can tell as the M17X. i like the M17X keyboard illumination better. The M17 keyboard lighting is not as bright and only 3 colors. So far i am glad i made the switch.

 

Just out of curiousity how are those solid states, was gona opt for them?

 

I don't know what to do ... I swear! 1 hour ago I saw a "Pixelerror" in the Center ... I even changed the background to make it visible ... and now, 1houre later .. nothing ... everithing is working finde ... even 3DMark05 Score @ 1280*720 increased to 11,079 (not bad for the lowest CPU P8200) ...
Jesterday I had troubl with the "blue color", it was broken ... today ... it works (after I installed Vista again ... can this be the reason?)...

And one big Question @ all ... is it normal, that I can not select 1280*800? I mean ... 1440*900 is native ... 1440 / 1,6 = 900 ... 1280 / 1,6 = 800 why the hell does Crysis and even Windos selects 1280*720 ... if I select it in Vista ... die icon is no "ring" any more ...
does 1280*720 make sence?

THX 4 your help!
Julian

 

17-inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) (i think thats the reason )

 

makes sence xD But ... you habe max 1200 and i 900? why the hell is it called 720p (I know it is but why?)

THX 4 youre answer^^

 

No idea why they named it 720p instead of 900p, probably for marketing reasons

There was a discussion about it here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=317451&highlight=720p

 

ughhh im still stuck in phase 2 i ordered 3 days ago...o well i got a 32 samsung lcd so im good for a while......27 days till i get it then ill be puttin feed back congratz to all that got theres BTW the command center has glitchs AW took it off there site for 64 bit the other day for some reason i pressume glitchs but hey at least it works now

 

Hm, just noticed something. I remember when my laptop arrived it used to display a "caps on/off" in the right corner when i pressed the buttons, doesnt seem to do that any more (ive formatted the laptop).

Does that have to do with Command Centre ? Since i dont use that any more

 

I'm surprised at the number of issues here. My system is rock solid. I loaded a few of my old favorites, Oblivion, Civ4, Assassin's Creed, etc, and it killed them no problem. This is an amazing machine. I can't wait for the announcement of the 4k series cards upgrade (RIGHT??!~?)

 

I uninstalled the CC, and the lights work for me.

 

Hi all

Yay... I've got my M17 shipped. Ordered 18/12, shipped 23/12, thats five days. I doubt I'll get it before new year anyway.

Could someone please tell me which official Mobility 3870 drivers are most recent ones and where to get them?

I've got some older games to finish first, before I move to FarCry 2.

Cheers

 

E-Wrecks 8.12 drivers worked very well for me.

 

Am I the only one who was shipped 8.5+ ?

 

Yep... But I prefer official drivers anyway. I won't be playing any intensive games for at least a two months. And during that time I hope they will release official 8.12

What about OCZ drivers? What's the difference between VGA_AMD_M88XT and VGA_AMD_M98XT driver?

 

98XT is based on the 8.10 Catalyst package.. and it's outdated just like the M88 8.8 available as well.

 

Not the lights on top of the keyboard, when i used to press for eg the caps lock i remember a small "button" in the screen that said "Caps lock on/off".

 

It's a little jerky at 8x. I have full shadows on. Your processor is a bit faster than mine, so that might have something to do with it.

 

Ah, full shadows. Dont like those so i have it in the middle

If i put it higher than that the shadows look too fake for me

 

Btw anyone run 3dmark Vantage ? Was wondering about your scores. Mine is around P6300 not sure it should be higher/lower.