Alienware and Centrino 2

Some people may disagree with my opinion on this but to me it doesn't make any sense to me.

Alright, so last year Intel released the Santa Rosa platform in May and many manufactures had laptops available with the new platform by the end of the month but not Alienware. Alienware didn't have a system with the new platform until the m15x was released in January, about 7 months and a few days later than everyone else. To me that seems a little strange coming from a company that's suppose to be offering bleeding edge systems to its customers. So flash forward to Montevina and it looks like we're going to be in the same boat again, they just released the m17x (Santa Rosa, again) and there's no indication that they're going to be updating the m15x to Montevina or even offering a new laptop using it this year. Now I really like the m15x and for a little while I held out hope that maybe they would either update m15x or release a new 15" laptop to go with the launch but considering last year performance with Santa Rosa I just don't see that happening. So my question is what's going on? Why do we the customers have to wait 6 months to get the newest(6 months old) tech? Why is it that Dell, HP, Gateway, Sony, Toshiba, Lenovo, Cizmo and many other manufactures can get a system running a new platform validated in time for the platforms release? Why should I pay a premium for an outdated Santa Rosa platform when I could go with someone else and get the bleeding edge tech I want?

I apologize for the rant, I've just gotten little frustrated over the last month waiting to get a new laptop(courtesy of the IRS, at least in part).

 

Because platform revisions cost money as well as R&D. AW has to play to the masses and deduce what designs MOST high end gamers would appreciate as "first to market". Montevina probably will not give any significant advantages in gaming performance and after all, these are gaming pc's. The only graphics performance that will significantly benefit from montevina is on board graphics solutions.

 

Welcome to the forums System48,

maybe its because AW is a relatively small company compared to dell/hp/... and they need more time to develope a new product/adapt to the new tech?

 

Dell is supposed to be concentrating on Alienware a lot more so hopefully this trend (which I agree, is very inconvenient), will improve in the next year or so.

 

Well... then maybe you should buy a dell, or a sony or a HP with montevina, and not the M15x. I do agree is a bummer, specially for people like me that just bought the M15x recently, but well... That's life. At least you didn't buy the M15x...

 

Hmm this response concerns me...should I be cancelling my order for M15x?? I'm so confused! I hate buying anything which doesn't come to me in perfect condition so I think I'm in for a let down.

 

If thats the case, you should cancel ASAP!

 

So far, I can only say I'm enjoying the experience and I would buy it again today if I had to choose a laptop. Of course you can wait for the Clevo M5650TU (or whatever) to come out and wait for reviews, but... are you going to be waiting all your life for a bloody perfect computer?
The M15x is good, nothing will make you be ashamed of it... At least not in the next year. You are on the safeside for games for at least 2 years (mind you, that probably by the end of those 2 years you will have to put things down a bit) and CPU capability, you are more than fine.
If you want it... just do it. You will have bumps along the way, but hopefully the pros will outshine the cons. If you get it and think you can't be happy... Get a refund and look for another thing.

Bottom line... It's an excellent computer. As I already said, only the screen wobbliness is a concearn for me right now. Appart from that it's still WOW (only had it one week!).

 

Oh and Rapscallion... My "response" to the first post in the thread was a bit ironic. My oppinion is... it would be great if they would have montevina, but they don't. That's not the end of the world and I don't really see the point of making a new thread to say this.
Maybe we should praise AW for being the FIRST laptop manufacturer to have 8800GTX on a 15'4. And the new clevo will have it 6 months after.
I think people sometimes fail to put things into perspective, clearly... But that's just what I think.

 

Perhaps it's that I'm used to building my own desktop and I can usually get the very latest, essentially when it comes out. So when I started looking at getting a laptop and wanted to get an Alienware I looked at the m15x and felt a little frustration in that I would just have to accept not having the very latest. I know AW is a small company but I thought the Dell merger would fix time to market delays and besides Cizmo is also a small company and they have the CX15. From my perspective the m15x/m17x launch was delayed for technical reasons which still aren't completely worked out as evidenced by the problems the m15x has continued to have. These kinds of delays may or may not be part of the reason why Dell is going otherwise drop their high-end XPS line and merge the XPS R&D into Alienware.

 

Dell has bought Alienware in 2006 but they are still two separate companies working side by side but not together. As you noted this will hopefully change in the future according to Dell...
And Cizmo is just a reseller of Clevo barebones!

 

with the amount of problems that the m15x have had since release, I would be very frightened to see how bad it must have been when they held it back. IMO the m15x should have been redone altogether. Its not a very encouraging thing when you hear that people cant even run the system at full clocks without downclocking, nevermind doing any OC's.

 

Well... I can actually run my machine at full clocks without any problem. Do you think that the Clevo you ordered will be problem free? Well... that remains to be seen.

 

I'm guessing that your T9300 2.5ghz cpu is probably the reason you're not encountering downclocking issues... the X9000's 2.8ghz Core2Extremes in M15x's were the ones that I read were encountering downclocking (usually due to over-heating). I did also hear reports that the nVidia 8800M-GTX's were hitting similar issues, but if yours isn't, then that's definitely a good thing.

 

8800s only downclocked because of a software issue which has been patched. the X9000 downclocking is apparently due to a true physical design issue

 

Thanks for the clarification. Is the physical design issue related to the M15x's CPU heat sink / cooling design? I ask because my XPS M1730's onboard heat pipes allow my X9000 to hit 3.4ghz stable.

 

I would say cooling design but no one really knows cause AW refuses to talk about it.

 

+1.. MUM's the word so far.

 

why do u want DDR3 and centrino2?.... santa rosa fine... honestly i would prefer it.

trust me.. a 9800m GTX will be put in a m15x or m17x alienware long before its put in any dell... same with a 10800m GTX or what ever...

gaming wont be about cpus for another 3years or so...


PC gaming tends to set a standard for required cpu power while making gfx settings more flexable... atm the standard is 2.2 duel or so...

 

Why's that? The montevina cores will be running a smaller fab process and faster FSB speeds. This translates to lower power consumption and noticible performance gains in certains apps like video transcoding. DDR3 is just more icing on the cake

Based on the last reports I read about the 9800's, they're pretty close to the current 8800's performance-wise. However, they will cost less. Nvidia is pretty much sitting on its laurels while ATI recovers from this past year.

Dual-cores ftw I'm loving my X9000 2.8ghz CPU, but the Montevina's will have the edge once they hit the market.

 

well, i was at the border of the purchase of a m15x too because Montevina in Alienware will come far far .... too.

First i've been saying me to not wait montevina in alienware notebook and i almost buy one with X9000 cpu and quadro Nvida FX3600 (the quadro powerfull for rendering 3D project make me decided to offer me this notebook) !
but..2 week ago, i learnt even mobile Quadro GPU card have been touched by nvidia heat leak problem too !!!!

so now, i stand, and will stand my choice : waiting for montevina in Alienware whereas take the risk of a double problem notebook (old technology and GPU heat problem)

i just am hoping Alienware will not be so long this time....but...as Dell is long too to renew its XPS1530 notebook's serie, i guess alienware will come after dell's one...very very very late....