Alienware M17 *OFFICIAL* Owner's Lounge

welcome to the forum and i hope you like your new system

 

Thank you guys. I feel like I know some of you from being on here so long and finally decided to post something Keep up the good work.

 

im glad we are that important

 

This forum has gotten much quieter than when I first joined

 

not many people post in here for there problems and they just make new threads. im still here fox ... i should be asleep or programming but hey NBR is important im looking at drivers ..

Most members are students and finals and other stuff coming up

 

Yea, I should be asleep, but alas procrastination got the best of me.

 

And some of us are in Iraq

 

bah excuses <--- i got my grad pic its only a preview and its not a scan its a picture of a picture

i just got off work 40 mins ago school in 5 hours yayayayayaya

 

Hi all. Got my M17 last night. Looking forward to getting it configured just right for what I want it to do. Here are the details:

1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Design & Display: Black Skullcap Design
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 4GB« Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB

System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 256GB Solid State Drive
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
The World's First 450 Mbps Wi-Fi Adapter!
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 3-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 3D
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On for Critical Updates Only
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

 

you already purchased and recieved? if not get the ram and hard drive off of newegg and save 200-350 dollars

any way good luck

 

Already recieved. Even if it's overpriced, I like their 3 year warrenties anyway. I've got two M9700s also and the waranty has replaced two hard drives and two keyboards in those so far. I may go for a second hard drive later if I end up running out of space and may come poking around here for shopping tips when/if I do.

 

lol it does not void the warrenty

 

Not quite what I meant. If I buy it from them, it's under warranty. If it breaks and I'm broke at the time, they'll replace it. If I buy it myself and it breaks and I'm broke, I'm outta luck til I get the money to replace it. I generally buy a new laptop each year with my income tax return.

 

Crucial memory comes with a lifetime warranty (and I have used it to swap out 3+year old memory before, they didn't even demand the old sticks back as I had ordered from them directly, so they had the records on their system...)

 

...........

 

I really need to come here more often. Who knows what other things like this I'll learn. Been out of the hardware game for a looong time. Used to build my own desktops back when people were envious of the new blazing fast 386 machines. Been strictly laptops for the last 10 years or so though. Even have a laptop graveyard of machines who have perished due to the power connector breaking off inside the connector or from the motherboard that just keep breaking each time they solder it back together. Who knows what other things I'll pick up from reading through here.

 

Hey I'm new here and i am planing on buying a M17.
Ive heard that you can get RAM and a hard drive not from AW and save some money but I'm still not sure about it. I built my desk top but that is about all I've done. Ive got about 2k saved up and trying to get the most out of it.

 

RAM. yes (see link I gave a few posts ago) can be got for far less. HDD, I guess the question (on a budget as you are) is whether you need more then 160GB, as there are better things to spend your budget on then extra storage if you don't really need it...

You can certainly get a HDD upgrade for less than then AW cost if you need more storage though. See newegg or similar and you can probably get RAM and HDD together, the link above for the RAM is just an example, may not be the cheapest.

 

Thank you any tips on what Processor i should get?

 

if you can get at least the t9400.

 

I agree, it will give you the best performance for what you pay! And it has 6MB, this will give you a good boost as well (betwenn a P8600 with T9400 "speed")

Greetings
Julian

 

Ok thanks is the Quad worth the $50 more then that?

 

You are talking about the Q9000?

Sry I don't know^^ I only know QX9300 > X9100^^

 

yes ok ill stick with a dual then

 

No the q9000 is a new low end quad core @2.0ghz. it is way to low if you are only gaming. the wti cards won't benifit from it is a gaming (which most of them are) is dual core optimize..


but now there is only 2 games that are quad core. farcry2 and ?????

so unless you are going to do video editing, compressing files, etc, go for the t9400.

btw shile what are using now?

 

One more thing sorry guys. There is people talking about a new ATI card coming out should i wait for that? I'm guessing it would be more costly but will the prices drop on the old cards then

 

I am on my desk top this will be my 1st laptop. The Desk top nothing that fancy 8600 gts Q6600 i built it about a year ago still getting in to this stuff.

 

ok it would be a pain i would telll you to underclock your cpu in quadcore to 2.0 and do some stuff and us it to 2.4 in dual core. and there is the difference. but that's alot of work.


dont worry about asking us to much questions. we are here to help.

the new cards are right now up in the air. very trust worthy sources are telling yes, and others are saying no. but this notebook can max out every game (except crysis).

 

ok thanks alot i was not sure about anything. I need to jump in to the world of software now with both my desk to and laptop. I'm kinda lost on drivers how important are they?

 

yes drivers are very important. every driver. not only the gpu, but the wifi, chipset, sound. everything. it's can be for different things. bigs fixes, performance issues, new features, etc.

 

OK so my build will be
duel GC
t94000
1920/1200
2gigs ram
160gb hard drive
5300 wireless card

 

ok thanks i should try to update on my desk top then i did it when i got it but not after that

 

it sounds great. i didnt read anything before but are you getting your hdd and ram from newegg? and how much does it add up to?

 

looks like around 2200 this my change a little from the ram

 

To bad no student discount on the M17

 

ok so i was looking at a few other things anyone have an idea if http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220503
is a better way to go?

 

since you price is the same for both it makes it a hard decision.

 

18.4 is huge, depends on if you want portability really.

 

No Student discount? Did you try the Alienware University Program:
https://www.alienware.com/programs/alienware-university/alienware-university.aspx
And if you are military, call AW and give them your military email and they will email you the link for a discount account.

 

And a side note, I just read the NBR review of the W90. I was initially impressed, especially with the performance. More I look at it though, it's ugly (Stickers, odd angles...). The extra money for the M17 is worth for me. I love the backlit keys. After training the camera log in (typing the password in while the camera is centered on your face more than twice), it worked great and in different lighting. I don't use it much anymore, but when I don't login right away, it catches my face and logs me in.
What got me away from the face login was when I started using the fingerprint reader. I want to now declare my love for the AW fingerprint reader. The more I use it the more I love it. It’s good enough to make me stop using Firefox.

 

plus the fact when the m17 gets the 4870s it will be on even grounds with the W90

 

I am a student but theres no discount for the M17. Ya i think I'm going to wait for the 4870s. Thanks again for all your help guys

 

I'm not sure it will be exactley even grounds. IMHO, the M17 is the best looking laptop ever made. The stealth black finish that you don't have to wipe off constantly, the front loading optical drive, the magnesium chassis, the overall look is striking yet not at all outlandish or garish. It looks cool for a teen or a grandfather like myself. The laptop case and chassis of the M17/M9750/OCZ Whitebook etc. has proven to be a robust and durable unit without hinge problems, cracks, or other inbedded design flaws. Since the design of the first M9750 it's undergone several improvements such as an illuminated keyboard, 2.0 megapixel camera,fingerprint reader, and that's not to mention the entire platform upgrade. I hope it continues to the next platform with i7 and maybe they'll build four memory slots next time.

I have the M9750 and will soon have an M17 and would be very happy if my next lappy was built with the same wonderful chassis.

 

Have to agree with you Rob41. I've got two M9700s and now an M17. I was quite pleased when I saw that the M17 used the same chassis. I just wish the M17 had at least one USB port on the left side.

 

Well I agree with you on aesthetics and can't comment on build quality because i've never handled an M17 or a W90 yet, but I was speaking from a performance standpoint.

 

They should both perform about the same with the same spec's so it then comes down to quality and aesthetics, screen size, weight, or any number of other variables. It all depends on which one strikes your fancy the most.

 

Yeah. I too have grown attached to the look of the M17 (skull). I am planning on keeping this animal for a long time. Being able to customize pretty much everything will keep this laptop by my side for a long long time. It feels... hmm... leathery?

I know 8GB memory is pretty much overkill, but we should be able to upgrade once the right type is available no? And what ever happened to the HD 4870's and the M17?

I do need a more portable computer though. I really like that Sony P Series. Waiting for W7 to get one of those. (I know it's not very powerful, but I think it's really because of Vista).

 

I just configured and Customized an M17, 4gb Ram 2.26, single hd 3870 ATI. I dont play graphically heavy games, usually MMORPGS like WoW. Would i see any dramatic changes by upgrading to the Crossfire before its in building phase or should i save the 250$?

 

save the 250$. WoW isn't that demanding.

 

thanks for superquick resonse!