Alienware M17 *OFFICIAL* Owner's Lounge

Well, hopefully AW will get thier arses in gear and actually offer them as upgrades soon enough; Im not sure why they're not intent on making it happen ASAP; if this forum is any judge; even if they charged $500-700 for the set; theres plenty who'd take them up on it (who couldnt afford a new laptop). Win Win for us and them you'd think!

I guess stocking could be an issue. Still if any company brings out MXM2.1 Broadway (58 series) mobile parts; I'd imagine half of us would bit thier legs off after the parts.
If early info on the 5 series is true, they could make exceptionally good performance mobile cards (one report suggested load watt draw as 178 watts, but less than 30w idle for a 5870, transfer that to the standard region of consumption for mobile parts and...well its very low!), and they're due to start appearing early next year.

Maybe next laptop... *dreams*

 

Yeah i think the 4850s are EOL for Mxm2.1 but still an awesome upgrade. Lots of potential with those cards .

 

Well, given game development of the last year or two, with some compromises, I've no disbelief the 4850s in crossfire can play games on decent settings for the next few years; or at least long enough til the next upgrade cycle

If only we could reliably overclock them long term without heat being an issue. :*( love the whole PCM sound thing that ATI cards can do thanks to the realtek chip onboard. Hell was using my 4870 as a sound and video card in my desktop lol...I doubt ATI expected people to use them quite like that!

 

Yeah I would not worry to much about the cards not lasting you a couple years just based on the fact that 99% of all games in development are developed for the 360 and PS3.

 

Exactly; besides, by the time we have decent upgrade options, that Eyefinity stuff ATI is demonstrating might have made it to laptops...I do like the look of that in the future, especially with thin bezel monitors

 

i feel so bad


Quad knows why .....

 

I feel bad if moo doesn't sli his m17x.

 

Oh well Moo thats life.

 

Oh boo hoo, cry me a river.

 

I said feel bad. Not i'm gonna ball.

 

So is the M17 still worth getting? Since it seems the LG LP171WU1 TL-A2 doesn't seem to be compatible with the M17x and I know Quad installed an A2 in the M17 I was thinking about just ordering an M17. What options should I take when configuring one and which ones should I just buy somewhere else (like HDD/memory/cpu) etc? Thanks guys.

 

Id get everything basic except the backlit keyboard and the 4850s then add everything yourself for much cheaper. Or if your loaded just buy it all decked out ready to go . You will have to decide though if you want to deal with the Quadcores or not , which i love in mine but everyone might not be up to the task of fixing it or just snag a X9100 and install the OCZ .28 bios and Overclock till your hearts content.

 

hey Quad, thanks for the help with the Red Faction settings. Game runs a hell of a lot faster and I can run it at 1920x1200.

 

Yeah its cheaper to just get the basic HDD and buy 500gig ones online. Do these come with the brackets for the 2nd HDD bay?

 

@LaptopFTW

I was going to PM you earlier about it because i bought mine today . Cant get online yet with it though they have the CD keys locked till the 15th even though stores are now selling it .

Settings im using are Particles medium, soft shadows off , ambient occlusion off, sun shafts you can leave on or off and havent affected the frame rate from what i can tell, motion blur off (dont like the effect) , shadows medium.

Shadows , ambient occlusion seem to be the big killers for the framerate though as i average around 50fps and during heavy action around 35 . With ambient occlusion on its like 20fps . Particles also crush your frame rate once the smoke starts to poor when on high but on medium its perfect.

 

What do you mean "deal" with the quadcores and "fixing" them?

 

Yeah its 2 trays that just pull out from the sides . you might need a couple extra screws thats about it . you could just use 2 and 2 screws if you didnt have extra because the drives are locked in there nice and tight.

 

find one of Dondadahs posts and his link to project freeze then grab your favorite beverage and have a nice long read .

 

So did you do any modifications then?

 

I received my m17 2 weeks ago. My only gripe is that it squeaks when the lid is opened or shut and the tilting webcam is very stiff.

 

The M17 with 4850s is a great laptop; just be aware that if you get stuck in the same situation as me you might be waiting a while; or even having to get a refund, AW stocks on spare parts right now are not great; especially in Europe.

 

Lol yeah it's long. hopefully it's entertaining.

 

hey guys. i've been reading this forum for a while and i really enjoy it since i don't know much about computers. i ordered an m17 a couple of days ago since it was pretty cheap. i just got everything stock except the illuminated keyboard and was just wondering if it'll be fine running world of warcraft fairly smooth? don't care much about graphics. my dell dimension 3000 was just too slow and too much lag. l:

 

wow is more cpu dependent.. I had a dual core desktop oc'd to 4ghz with a 4870x2 and wow ran kinda crappy, was getting like 30 fps in dalaran and raids.. I upgraded to i7 920 oc'd to 4ghz.. i get 50 to 60 fps in dalaran now and wow runs super silky.

 

guys I sold my M17 thats listed in my signature on ebay for $2000, minus the bluray player.
i cant believe i sold it for more than you can buy for brand new at AW.com

 

nice. That's really nice. I didn't sell mines in ebay. I did nbr. I knew I could of gotten more on ebay though.

What are you looking for now?

 

nice. That's really nice. I didn't sell mines in ebay. I did nbr. I knew I could of gotten more on ebay though.

What are you looking for now?

 

well i got this for only $575 which was an incredible deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114653R

but im also going to get an insane desktop!!! but im going to wait until the 22nd for ATIs new cards though... but for $1000 you can get a machine with dual 4890s right now, which is sooo powerful.

and who knows, i may change my mind and get the new M15x

 

Curious: Why did you sell your M17?

 

Guys, any of you know a good screen recorder for the M17? I'd use fraps like on my desktop, however for some reason it lags my M17 like hell, no matter the performance setting or Crossfire setting. (It never did on my desktop for some reason, maybe it has something to do with ATi cards)

 

because i love messing with new hardware, kinda wanted something new.
and i got a great price for it.
i loved it to death, so nothing against alienware.
but i got a new pretty good laptop for cheap, and im about to get
an INSANE desktop for about $1000.

 

Yeah one reason I sold mines.. (in project freeze, you'll see the real reason lol)

 

woot. ordered my m17 on saturday and it has been shipped today. that was fast.

 

Nice. What configuration did you get for it?

 

pretty much didn't upgrade anything except illuminated keyboard. and they just recently removed the m15x? i almost got that instead so i could carry it around a little easier.

Video/Graphics Card: 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870
Processor: Intel® Core™2 P8400 2.26GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Design & Display: Black Skullcap Design
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 plus Free Windows 7 Upgrade Option
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
Additional Games: World of Warcraft Preinstall Edition
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: Graphite Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: CPU Meter
Sidebar Gadgets: Weather Forecast (default location)
Time Zones: (GMT - 8.00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

 

why didn't you crossfire and 1920*1200 it?

 

dude you really should consider at least crossfiring it

 

Any chance anyone could answer my question?

 

sorry, i personally do not have an answer for this.
i would google it if i were you.

 

you should have gotten 4850 but 3870 cfx would prob have been fine but just one 3870 i'm not sure

and 1900x1200 is just mind blowing compared to any low rez monitor


and btw look into upgrading ram after you got it 2 gb is preatty limited for vista 64 bits it take like 1.8 gb alone

 

yeah i know. i wanted to upgrade a lot of things but i just don't have the money and i don't mind not having the best picture. my friends told me that the m17 was a good laptop to get. i really just needed anything better to play wow on then my old dell. thanks for the all the advice on what i should've gotten though. lol.

 

4850s are no longer an option it seems on the US site as well . Might be the end of the road for the old M17.

 

Yikes!

 

I felt the same way since i would love the chance to get a pair for my machine :cry:......

 

Hopefully its a stocking issue; I mean there are legal requirements on having replacement parts for sold items for a set number of years, at least in Europe, I know this was mentioned when it was announced Pioneer was stopping producing home plasma sets, and I think it'd be crazy if they didnt at least have a stockpile for RMA or a plan to get more in, because they may end up having to produce refunds or free upgrades.

 

Heeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk is it getting refreshed also
i hope they are not letting down the idea of a top performing lappy ati based
why are they doing so the 3870 is kinda outdated


i'm glad i have ordered it befor it was removed

 

HEy \


the m17 WAS going to get 4870's a rep just told me they were and its avaliable and online for them to order but its EOL


just like the 9800m GTX i told yall it would get as well ( alienware was going to offer it )

 

Either that or they're just running into stock issues. And I hope it is that.

Even if I can't get a pair of 4850s I still love my machine. I still play Crysis on 1440x900, High, only occasionally dropping below 30fps and that's fine with me, really. There are literally no other games that I have that would put 4850s to use-even CoD4 and Lord of the Rings Online I just max out and they play averaging 60fps-both never dropping below 40fps.

Only reason I'd really need 4850s is if I got a 1920x1200 screen-be it in my laptop itself or an external monitor. And 1440x900 is good enough for me anyway.

 

i felt the same way .... but i love power so ....

 

Hey guys, I am an M17 owner as well.

I might have missed this in my research, but what is stopping people from just putting 4870's into their M17s? Are they even compatible?

I've just recently started learning about computers, and I'm confident I have a long way to go.