Alienware laptops (m15x) - reliable for music production?

Hey guys,
I've been reading into Alienware laptops, as I'm currently looking for an efficient live music production laptop to use on stage as well as in the studio. I also edit HD videos quite frequently.

I've been seeing quite a bit of comments about Alienware laptops overheating. Of course, this would be a serious issue if I were to be using it at a gig and an issue like this arose. How true is this (Alienware laptops overheat... specifically m15x)? How frequent does it occur? Is it something I should worry about?

I'm looking at this config for the m15x:

WideUXGA
Radeon HD 3870
T8300 2.4GHz
4GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
320GB 7,200 RPM
Dual Layer Blu-Ray Disc Reader

How would this run for music production?
How would this run for video editing?
What changes would you recommend? What other laptops would you recommend? (Alienware or other)

Also, to address the m15x's issues... are the m15x's that are shipping now have the same lid hinge problems? People have been sending them back to AW and getting new hinges.... so I assume that now they are just shipping with the new hinges? Any other issues about the m15x I should know about?

Thanks! I look forward to your replies.

 

Your AW would not overheat doing just music editing. Your laptop would be fine.

It would run perfect for the music editing, I would reccomend the more powerful CPU for music editing though, it wont make much difference just quicker decoding.
Video editing I would reccoment the 9800gt, more powerful, and I doubt it will overheat, the 9800gt is known for lower temps.

I'd reccoment the m15x for DJing gives you the edge, with your cool lights and cool style .

I've had to send my one back for the hinge, however a 18day turnaround was okay for me, all working good

 

i reccomend waiting for the new M15x as the current M15x has ALOT of issues

 

definitely wait for the refresh, it'll be out in a couple of months. The current one has a lot of issues, unfortunately.

 

I use mine for editing HD video, are you using HDV or AVCHD? If it's the latter you will definately need the extreme processor and even then it's slow. I'm using HDV at the moment and the T9000 does a pretty good job, no issues with over heating.

 

I use AVCHD. My desktop rig runs AVCHD fine. It has an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz, and 2.8GB of ram (Vista 32 bit).

Hmmm, a couple of months? What issues will the refresh fix? A couple of months is pretty broad...

 

HD and AVCHD needs a lot of storage. Even though the T9000 may do a good job, getting a quad would do much better. And instead of a BD Reader get the burner instead for offline video file storage.

 

If it can do a good job, I'm content. The heart of this laptop is still a music production workstation. The burner at this point is of no use to me - I would rather store files on a separate hard drive.

 

AVCHD doesn't need that much storage, thats the point of it. With the extreme processor it is very slow to render especially with any effects. If it's mainly music with a bit of video when you aren't near you're quad core it will be ok. But I would get the 2.8.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Does anybody know when the refresh of the m15x is due out? Late summer? Fall? Winter?

Are the m17 or m17x good alternatives for what I'm trying to do?

 

About M17x:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=398713

It still need to be tested but so far the DPC is prohibitive

 

Thanks BIGX333!

Hmmm, many people have observed these DPC problems on Dell Studio XPS's as well... DPC problems seem to be prominent in high-end Dell laptops? Do you think there will be a way around it in the future?

What about the m17? Are there any known problems with it right now? Is it a safe purchase to go for at this time?

 

Even macbooks have problems with latency (while yeah... in dell's it's common but it's generally a driver issue), it's more about how windows vista sux in managing DPC than anything.

It's generally a driver issue and generally can be solved (and thats why i said that it needs to be tested... Still needing more work in optimization and no one tried DPC checker in win 7) but no confirmation yet.

Can't say anything about M17 .

 

I would not say "ALOT" of issues, just a kinda design flaw in the hingal/lid area, all other issues with overheating and latency issues have been fixed, touch buttons will act up, but I have not come across a computer with touch buttons that work "all the time".

Considering that the m15x is over a year and a half old a new one should be on its way some time soon, and even tho I love my m15x I would say wait it out for a redesign.

 

That's kind of what I got from the m15x... all issues have been fixed except the hinge one. But aren't the new ones that are shipping now the "updated" versions, with stronger hinges? That's what I've seen from a couple different places on this forum.

Also, a more specific question about the m15x:
Can I upgrade the memory myself? It's way cheaper to buy memory and install it yourself, rather than configure it on the Alienware site...

 

Apologies for double post:

Hey guys,

Have two configurations here; one for the SXPS 16 and one for the Alienware m17x.

SXPS 16:

SYSTEM COLOUR Merlot Red with Leather Accent
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9600 (6MB cache/2.80GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9
HARDWARE SERVICES 1 Year Return to Depot Service, Complete Care, Tech Support with LoJack
LCD AND CAMERA Edge-to-Edge FullHD Widescreen 16.0 inch RGBLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms) edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE BluRay Disc Combo (DVD/CD read/write + BD read) Slot Load Drive
GRAPHICS CARD ATI Mobility RADEON™ HD 4670 – 1GB
WIRELESS CARD Intel® 5300 WLAN Wireless-N (3x3) Mini Card
SOUND OPTIONS Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled
BATTERY Additional 9-Cell Battery

$2,374 CAD


m17x:
SYSTEM COLOR Space Black – Anodized Aluminum
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1 Yr Ltd Warranty with 1 Yr NBD Onsite Service with Complete Care and 1 Yr Tech Support
LCD PANEL 17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB
HARD DRIVE 250GB 7,200RPM w/ Free Fall Protection
VIDEO CARD Single NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M, 1GB
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)


Which one is the better buy? Could both do music production + video editing well?

Also, how much can I overclock the CPU on the m17x? Is it pretty safe to do so with the P8700 and how much more performance am I looking at?

Thanks!

 

The words "m15x" and "reliable" don't go together at all.

As said wait for an m15x refresh.

Alternatively you could well go for the M17 and M17x, they are both as solid as a rock and completely reliable. The only problem on the M17 is a stuttering problem with quad core processors supposedly caused by the northbridge, however that problem has been much reduced now.

The M15x refresh is supposedly coming out in August from what I've heard. You're not looking at very long.

If you're into music production, then you'll probably want to go for the Q9000 quad core. Quad cores will give you a very nice boost in music production.

In terms of music production the SXPS will be better due to the faster processor but as I said above if you go for the Q9000 in the M17x which is only a little bit more then it'll be superb for music production. Also if you ever feel like playing PC games from time to time then the M17x will be a good deal better for that

 

They NEVER fixed the hinge issue sorry to say. If they're telling you that then the salesperson is simply trying to make a sale and is ill informed. Even recent purchasers have send theirs back due to hinge failures.

Yes, memory is the single most easiest thing to upgrade in any laptop, and you will definately save money upgrading yourself.

The speculation is that the M15x refresh will be out in time for the back to school season. Take a look here.

 

TBH processor isn't a big deal in music production... Even a P8600 only get to 50% in a heavy live (but 50% is really scaring if you ask me) and when producing it's even lower.