Alienware m15x General Information - Post m15x questions here!

You'll want to add 2GB or 3GB of RAM yourself. 1GB of RAM will bring down framerates by a good amount in newer games and some older ones, especially when you're configuring such a powerful system, you won't want something to bring down the overall power of the machine.

 

i was wondering when people were gonna start getting them.

glad to know

 

I got a call from a guy wanting to know what I wanted on my nameplate. I havent even ordered one yet. I am not sure what they are doing but I told him all I have is a sales quote. I hope they arent making it without me paying for it lol

Anyway, Im going to use it for with 3dmax, vray and photoshop and cad. Im assuming that I should be getting an x7900 extreme processor. I two was waiting for the penryn but I dont think there will be a big diff. except for battery life. Any suggestions?

 

that's weird.

my laptop hasn't moved from orlando since 1/19 at 12am, so i'm hoping it didn't get delayed somewhere. i'm seriously losing my patience with all of this bull****, and my damn car being a pain in the ass doesn't help either.

once i get it, and install hellgate and crysis, hopefully things will be better.

 

dude calm down. it hasnt moved the past two days because it was sunday and then a holiday today

 

you know how the waiting game messes with your brain, well add a busted car and a ****ty job to that mix and you can see why i'm so paranoid.

i'm sure you're right packer, i'm sure your're right.

i will post pics for all to see if the laptop gets here on time

 

Wow that's so unfair; I hadn't realised that! But why? :confused2:

 

Haha i know what u mean mrwater. I keep checkin phase status and it hasnt changed for ages! I need Feb 1st to arrive

 

If you do i shall bow down to you as god.

 

I called AW today and they reassured me today that my system will be shipped out Jan 31, 2008. Althought when I go to the website and check my system is still in Phase 4.

Wierd. Hopefully everyone is right, and phone is much more accurate.

 

I'm planning to use my m15x for close to the same use as you exept I work alot with Zbrush too. I went for the T7800 processor since the extreme one was a bit over my budget but I would have gotten it otherwise. You never have enough processing power when rendering with vray.

 

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-alienwares-area-51-m15x-and-m17x-laptops-2/498270/

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-alienwares-area-51-m15x-and-m17x-laptops-2/498303/

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-alienwares-area-51-m15x-and-m17x-laptops-2/498302/


http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-alienwares-area-51-m15x-and-m17x-laptops-2/498276/



In addition to talking to a sales rep at alienware who said that "even though the side-lighting does not appear on the images online, the m15x DOES have side-lighting on both the ripley and skullcap", the above links may help prove this theory even more. It seems as if the light is actually behind the monitor's plastic, so when the light is off you'd never know that the monitor can actually light up

 

Dont go postal on us now! lol

 

Can anyone living in the UK tell me if it's possible to purchase the system from the US and have it shipped here?

EDIT: I've got relatives in America who could do it for me, but my concern is taxes and VAT and all that crap, thanks :wink:

 

You cannot buy it from Alienware directly, they will redirect you to the UK site.

Your relatives could buy it and then ship it to you. Expect to pay 20% on the declared value of the shipment for VAT and customs duties.

 

Dont declare the full price
save on VAT & customs duties
let ur family in US say its a Gift

 

shipping an expensive laptop- i would pay for global priority and full insurance. you cant declare a lower value then what you insure it for. that's a little risky.

 

Last option
cheap tics NY to London - $335
& walk out free & will gwt to vist family in US also

 

This is what I'm doing...ordering from the US site from India, giving them a shipping address in NY. when its on its way, my colleague from here picks it up and gets it back to India
One question though, since we can carry one laptop at no custom duties into India, do u guys think it is possible to get a box packed one into the country? at the most i would have to miss out on unboxing the it

 

yes, I agree. especially when you are used to a desktop. Im ordering mine today. Im waiting for the lease to go through. luckily I get to lease it through my corporation so I can put anything I want and afford it . Here is the config. Im upgrading the ram myself and and adding another 320gb smartbay later. I just didnt want it 'delayed' I really hope this is fast with vray.....

[1] Area-51® m15x

Display: 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1080p)
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Fuchsia
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB Nvidia® GeForce™ Go 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 X7900 2.8GHz – Extreme Edition (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate
System Drive: 320GB 5400RPM (8MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Port Adapters: HDMI to DVI-D Adapter
Power: Additional Battery – 6-cell Smart Bay Battery

 

Thanks you two, had a look at the Xtreme 770 and although I don't really like the styling of that either, its packed with a load of high performance components, but if the alienware m15x is avalible in the UK in February-ish, then I think I might invest!!

 

a little question: why do they let you choose the system lighting, f you can change all the colours with alienFX?

 

I was wondering when I take the m15x to school can I turn off all of its lights so its not disturbing in class? and how loud do you think it will be?

 

That's just the color the system will ship with, instead of making them all ship out with the same color. It's a nice personalization touch, I guess. Like how they ask you which widgets/wallpapers you want for your notebook.

 

lights can apparently turn off.

 

Yes you can turn the light off from the command program (the ufo button above the keyboard.

Wouldn't have a clue about the volume until someone receives one this week.

 

ah, ok, so then you can change it. thanks for reply

 

1. Probably not loud at all.
2. What's wrong with all the lights?
Joking on 2, but you can probably turn the lights off...or just tell the teachers that you have an Alien sitting in front of you and that you don't want it disturbed...

 

Yeah, you can make it any of the colors listed on the website. You can even mix & match by making the alien head one color, the keyboard another color, and the touchpad another as well.

 

lol I might do that actually, seriously! But I'm gonna see what my auntie can do first, thanks for all the advice guys :wink:

 

maybe it's stupid: the alienFX is a program or what? if I buy the 2099 version and then install the same command center of the 2699 version, don't you think I'd be able to change settings too?

 

I hope your car situation will be okay MrWater!

 

Nice config! And lucky that you dont have to pay! haha!! One thing though - I noticed you chose the 320GB 5400 rpm drive. I do Video Editing, and the minimum requirement is a 7200 rpm harddrive. If you do that kind of stuff you probably want to switch to the 200GB 7200rpm hard drive instead. I'm not sure if this applies to you, though.

 

AlienFX is an all encompassing name for the accent lighting on the case and keyboard, as well as the command program used to control that lighting. The cheaper model lacks ANY lighting on the keyboard, but you will still have control over the touchpad and alien head (and side lights if those are on there. We keep getting conflicting reports).

 

LOL Sorry for Triple-posting guys! I'm sick at home and kind of got carried away, perhaps?


On the $2099 version, the keyboard will not have any backlighting so there will be no lights to control!

However, I'm not entirely sure how the rest of the system lighting works.
There are a few ways this could go:
a) the rest of the system lighting has one standard color that cannot be changed (because they dont include the other colors)
b) All the other colors can be changed and AlienFX is included
c) You are right, and that you can just find a way to install the AlienFX software and control your system lighting (except the keyboard which wont have backlighting) - although I'm pretty sure Alienware would be smart enough to prevent this?

I get the feeling that it's option (a) because no where on the $2099 page do they even mention AlienFX. So maybe you'll just get the blue backlighting? Or call them to change it? Dont' know.

 

ok! thank you (coolarj & raziel) very much now it's crystal clear!!

 

I read that 2099 version came with blue color! I thought it was for the keyboard, but now I know it will not have any backlightning! so the rest maybe is only blue

 

However, I suggest you double check by calling 18007451639 (their sales department) because Raziel66 might be right.

Did someone have a delivery date of Jan 23? Because if so that is TOMORROW!!!
OMG OMG OMG!

 

Indian customs
let him carry it in the bag
Yes u will not get to unbox it but no dutys
Bhai India mien loot lega custom wala lol

 

has anyone seen raid 0 in notebooks with 1 primary hard drive and another one in smart bay drive? I havent, though maybe there are, but since there is no i know of it doesnt make sense to me why they put on main page "Dual hard drive" (first thing when i see that sign i think of is Raid 0) but then in specs there is nothing like it. Its saying opposite thing - Single Hard drive and what i believe is more true. But if there is no Raid options why would i buy another internal hard drive and mess with optical drive rather then buying USB 320 hard drive?
Although whats wrong with the new video on main page of M15x, are those zombie and a troll suppose to be "Aliens"????
And whats up with ripley design. I mean, i could design in five minutes, just cut those waves in the back and its ready to go. If thats suppose to be a simple design than whats alien head doing on back on flat surface? And thats in 3k laptop??
I dont think alieware really cares about there customers since ive seen many posts about very limited knowledge of CSR. Although its a worldclass practice to send in laptops to pro reviewers before they see customer, but alienware just dont care, should they afraid of something, maybe they think their sales go down?
Where the penryn cpu in high-end laptop? while its available in dells 1530
maybe i can continue that list but i still like M15x no matter whos build it...

 

LOL!

---------

 

i agree with lordvader....that custom wala will totally jack a 15x even if he doesn't know what it is.

 

I know Im not sure. I want a big hard disk, I dont know if 200gb can cut it. And the smart bay would be for backing up the files. My files alone are 80gb just in graphics files, nothing else. So Im not sure what to do. But I always have to have 2 copys of everything or else.. And Im tired of carting around my Western Dig. 500gb drive. I guess I could always get 2- 200gb7200 smart bays for my files. What is usually on a desktop. 7200rpm?

 

No...does not exist...you cannot (that may be too strong of a word)...should not do Raid 0 (data striping for speed) with a removable hard drive...see my post on p. 26 or 27...

As far as your second question...there's not a whole lot of reasons to go with the Smartbay drive over an external drive...aesthetics is, I guess, one reason...and maybe if you travel (trains, planes and buses) a lot and need access to programs that won't fit on the installed drive...easier to have just a laptop on your lap vs a laptop with a dangling drive...

I'll use my 250 GB Passport with the system...and eventually buy one of their Smartbay caddies and put my own HDD in the caddy for about half the price...

And now for my next essay, I present 'Adobe and Video Editing' for your enjoyment...

Adobe Premiere Pro since v2.0 has required a 7200 rpm Raid 0 HDD configuration for HD video editing and processing. Prior versions require neither the 7200 rpm drive or the Raid 0...I use Premiere Pro 1.5 and my 5400 rpm drive works just dandy...(Note: I do not do HD video editing as I do not have an HD Camcorder...)

Since the transition from Premiere to Premiere Pro circa 2004, Pro is, as the name implies, the product for professionals...or, in other words, people who actually have had training and intend to market their videos for whatever purpose. Adobe's marketing blurb: 'Tell your story with maximum impact using Adobe® Premiere® Pro CS3 software, the start-to-finish solution for efficient video production... Save time from on-set capture using Adobe OnLocation through to output, expand your creative options via integration with Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional and Photoshop® CS3 software, and deliver your content to DVD, Blu-ray Disc, the web, and mobile devices.' Since the software is professional grade, it costs $800, and if you don't take a semester class, you will probably only ever use about 10% of its features. (That 10% statistic being totally made up to make myself appear more intelligent.)

Premiere Elements (current version 4.0) is what the non-porn, non-Hollywood, non-professional people use. From Adobe's description: 'Create and share great-looking movies in minutes with Adobe® Premiere® Elements 4, the newest version of the best-selling consumer video-editing software.' (Italics added by me.) It costs about $100, and does not require a 7200 rpm drive.

If you're paying $800 for Adobe Premiere Pro, you probably shouldn't be doing your editing on a $2700 15" laptop. Just a personal opinion...

 

As far as I'm aware, desktops generally come with 7200 rpm hard drives...

But I guess that's an interesting situation...you may want to double check the requirements of the software that you use. For video editing I know the software has to load the video files pretty and that's why 7200 rpm is required. If you're doing still image editing, it may be different?

When you say 80GB for your graphic files alone, does that mean it's about 80GB + say 15 GB for software + 15 GB (just as a margin) + 7GB operating system = 117 GB
so you will have around 75 - 80 GB free for other use with a 200GB 7200rpm?

 

I'm getting an external Seagate Freeagent Pro 750gb hdd. 200gb doesn't cut it...

 

LOL IWantMyMTV, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your "2 essays" - both humorous and insightful! haha

I also think we should sign and send a petition to Alienware that if they don't add the black case and skullcap options within the next 72 hours, we are all going to buy our laptop's from HP, Sony, Toshiba, etc. (anything BUT ALIENWARE or DELL).

It's okay if we're lying, but we should still scare their nuts off! And get them to hurry up a little? Hehe.

After all, these extra configs not being released is all a part of their business strategy right? Well if we threaten their business, they'll change their strategy

 

That'd be nice if it'd work. A black skullcase, and some news about the m17x would make my day!

 

Shouldnt we start seeing owner reviewed M15x this week, for people who ordered the 2099 version? Mrwater doesnt yours arrive on the 23rd? I DESPERATELY want to see a "actual" retail version of it.

 

little question: in many photos I've seen a black m15x! but it had the skullcap design, for the cover.
in your opinin will it be possible to have black ripley design?