Alienware m15x General Information - Post m15x questions here!

Ok well.. Silver is kind of ordinary. If they were to have released the black version first and then come out with a midnight blue or something... you would see many people wanting to wait / swap over to that color as many people tend to like a dark metallic blue type color...... Or some other bad a$$ color.

 

Well.. I will have a good incoming cashflow coming right on april, so I'm willing to wait until that month for the m15x black OR silver I will dont care by then.... I'm sure that the blacky will be realesed by the end of march beacause I saw in the sager configuration page that the 8800 gtx in SLI will be available at the end of Feb and I dont think the m17x will be relased before the black case on the m15x.... hold on everyone!

 

so, end of feb or end of march!? (the black ripley I mean)

 

I mean at the end of march D-Day...... for the ones who's getting the black case what main spec are u gettin'? did you already decide what to get?

 

im getting black skullcap with
1.8ghz
alienware fx keyboard
1gb ram (2gb corsair)
256/512mb 8600/8700
DVD+-rw
1year alienware support

 

Black Ripley M15x
2.5Ghz
8800m GTX
2gb Ram
1 smart bay battery
320Gb hard drive (internal)
FX keyboard

$3094 respectively after taxes & shipping (ground)

 

any news on this .... black ripley design??

 

guys knowing alienware watch them do something shady like charge you $50 extra for black and $50 extra for skull cap. I have a feeling we will be looking at something like that.

 

Something shady?

Apple does the exact same thing with the black Macbook. Configure a white one to have the same specs, and you'll find it $200 short of the black one.

 

I doubt they would charge for both the color and the design... maybe $50-$100 for options for every color/thing

News regarding the black ripley will most likely be released with the skullcap, so there is no need asking about designs, only colors

 

well Im going:

15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM
Windows Vista® Ultimate
200GB 7200RPM
Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader

And there's no way I could go for the black if they charge another $100.. Thay would be inadmissible!

 

My first and worst experience with Alienware!

m15x

I placed my order on 2/19/2008 and I'm still on phase-4 I called them yesterday to see whats the delay for.. they said its Paypal didn't verify the transaction?? so I called Paypal and they said it was completed and verified on the 19th. So I called right back at them and then they gave me another excuse which is Smart bay battery is out of stock (the joker card ) which they are out of stock from day 1.. so they gave me two options either to cancel the smart bay battery or wait for it when it comes from heaven..

So I told them to carry on with the construction of my laptop and send the smart bay battery when ever they get it.. Alienware rep said that they don't do any of that.. she said either to get the whole inventory list then move to the next phase or wait for the list to complete, but I explained to them about
Packer445's situation they did to him exactly what I asked for

my specs

[1] Area-51® m15x

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Fuchsia
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7700 2.4GHz (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
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: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Power: Additional Battery – 6-cell Smart Bay Battery
Flash Memory: 2GB Alienware® USB 2.0 Flash Drive


The problem is that I am moving out of the country and I can't wait anymore, need some help/advise..

Sorry for my English its not my native language.

 

@ Soul81-

sorry to hear about your situation but since it's a matter of urgency, i think you should just cancel the smartbay.. you can just buy it later can't you? or if you really have to.. just cancel the whole order, get your money back and try again when they DO have all the components and other equipment..

just make sure to call them up and ask if they have stock, before making another purchase

good luck

 

In that case better watch the forums, they would probably say they have full stock for commission on the sale...

 

A lot of people have been saying the black skullcap m15x will be comming out in april. Is this true

 

Yo Soul I had the same problem so I canceled it. Once I got my system I called a week later and ordered my battery on a Thursday and it was delivered on Tuesday. My advice go ahead and cancel it and call back to CS every other day till they get it.

 

Dude, Soul81, you should call AW right away man! I ordered the same date as you, original ship date was on 3/6, got an email the monitor is backordered, estimated it will be available again on the 10th, so my esimated ship date bumped to the 17th...
I need to go overseas on the 21st, so am in the same situation!
Check for the thread on monitor being backordered, I ranted out over there...

 

uhm, the smart bay battery is no more available d'oh

 

Thank you so much every one for your support and help ( shamneo, SsuRReaLL, tacomenace21, radenren)

Yesterday I called them and the first thing I said and I felt a bit rude "I want to speak with someone who can take actions" so they transfered my call to a supervisor and he was so understanding to my situation. So he put my order on high priority and offered me a 2nd day delivery, I am so grateful for that kind of help.

Today I called them and spoke with someone from the repair and order status department, and he said " We are sorry to inform you but cases for m15x are out of stock" I was like "why I am so black cat" .. .. .. is every thing by the end of this month gonna be out of stock! I don't want nag anymore they should really accommodate every material they offer in the website.

I just discovered that its my mistake that I didn't call and rant from day 1 of the purchase. I hope every one who is going to get anything from AW should read my post to avoid headaches.

 

this message board is finally DEAD. wow. and it had been going on for so long! I guess we're just waiting on alienware to release the black skullcap, and all the rest of our questions have been answered.

HUFF this wait is annoying me!

 

I second that ! And would like to add Chaz, newfiejudd, Raziel66, exiled, oodle-bear and all those I left out.. The posts on this and the Official m15x Owner's Lounge (for the most part) have been great.. Even those with problems/rants, they've helped us keep our feet on the ground.. So to all of you, thanx from a future-owner

Don't think I've said thanx before for all the reading material and studying-for-exam-substitute-posts you'll have put up so here it is

Ps. I'm not trying to suck up.. What point would there be in doing that ?

 

As of this morning im in phase 6.

 

Just 3 more to go Silkex !!
I think you already knew that tho

 

Yup, you're right!

 

Hey guys this is my first post, I'm thinking about getting an m15x for college next year. I have several questions, hopefully they can be answered. Let me know if I should just make a new thread, however.

Note: Most of my questions are about using my external monitor and speakers.

1. Can I use my 19inch DVI monitor with the laptop and still have high resolution and no problems with high-res games?

2. If I'm playing a fullscreen game on my external monitor, can I still have the laptop open and running other things like IE, and switch the mouse from one to the other with a certain button combo?

3. I don't want to use the laptop speakers when using an external monitor, so in theory I would like my game sound coming through my external speakers, and my voice chat coming through my headphones, is it possible with the m15x?

4. Will using this laptop like a desktop cause overheating issues? When in my dorm I plan on using it a LOT (attached to the monitor and speakers), would it be safer just to get a cheap laptop for classes and keep a desktop in the dorm? I was hoping to just use the Alienware laptop for everything, gaming and classes.

I will have more questions later, thank you to anyone who helps me out, I've got a big decision to make on whether buying this laptop or not.

~B

 

First off welcome! I'll try to help the best I can

1. yes you can use your DVI monitor you would just need a HDMI to DVI-D converter.

2. You can set the M15x to dual monitor mode. Why would you want to run other software when running a game?

3. I think so I haven't tried but its my understanding that the microphone jack can be used as input or output (someone please correct me if i'm wrong).

4. Well you shouldn't have a problem using the M15x for all your needs. I would wait a little bit because there is a problem with the 8800 overheating and down clocking. AW is looking into the issue

 

I play MMORPG's and when there is downtime I like to surf the net and go on forums, can I do that on the laptop screen while the game is running on the 19inch external monitor?

The speakers I use are 5.1 Logitechs. They plug into my desktop with a black, orange and green headphone plugs, will the m15x support these speakers, along with my headset for teamspeak?

Thank you again!

~B

 

1) yes, i'm doing the same, you'll need and HDMI -> DVI adapter (alienware sells one) or cable though

2) fullscreen probably not, but with the game in windowed mode yes you could. i would play WoW that way if i was still playin, that way i could have the game on one screen and info sites and whatnot on the other.

3) not sure about splitting audio like youre talking about, but you can certainly have all the audio coming out through external speakers and/or headphones

4) mine is splitting time on my desk as a "desktop" and on my lap, and it works the same in both respects. if you have more than 2 or 3 usb devices that you will plug into it when you have it as your "desktop", you might invest in 1 or 2 usb hubs, since there are only 3 usb ports on the laptop, and one will be blocked by the HDMI->DVI adapter if you get that.

 

Why is windowed gaming possible but not fullscreen? How do you switch from the laptop screen to the external monitor?

Heh well in the last like 10 minutes I drew up a picture of "The Perfect m15x Setup". (for me, at least... lol)

Is this possible? Should I go for it?



~B

 

yes it is. what you will do is when your configuring the dual displays you will have one that is your desktop. ( you can set this as defualt your external monitor.) then you will have another with just nothing but your dekstop wallpaper on it. you will be able to run internet and other programs on secondary screen but you must start them from the defualt monitor then drag the window off the screen and onto the secondary monitor. i think this is the only way. but i would love any other easier options as i want to do the same as this guy.

 

Alienware/User is right. I use a multi-monitor solution on my desktop and this is the way it works. though, i've never tried to play a game on my secondary screen (it defaults to the primary). you might need to set the external screen as primary. all this reconfiguration can be annoying though.

as far as the audio setup goes, the only way i can see it working is if you get the sound-blaster add-on card (if it even has the features to support your sound setup), then set it as the default-output card under the sound-settings in vista (and all games will default to this device) then custom-configure vent or teamspeak to use the on-board sound and use the headset/mic connectors on the side of the computer for that.

as it stands, since your speakers are analog (three 3.5mm jacks), you'll need some kind of digital to analog converter, as there's only 2 jacks on the on-board... (even if you can configure it to output different channels)... or if the sound-blaster does the 3x connector for analog 5.1 ... which i don't see happening, but it's possible.

video: yes.
audio: sure, but you might lose 5.1

 

Yesterday after restarting my computer all the lights on my laptop shutoff and I noticed that when I looked at the alien head in the taskbar it said that alien FX has a problem. It says to click enable and restart the computer, this doesn't seem to do anything. Anyone know how to fix this problem. I can't get the lights to turn on..

 

I've had this problem myself plug into a power outlet and let it startup. I've let them know about this issue hopefully its fixed with the new update in the works.

 

Hey Folks..

Well I just want to start off my first post by saying that this Alienware forum has to be the best, if not, only source of valuable information out there on anything Alienware.
You have all been a great help in advising, and teaching me all I need to know about my possible future purchase of an M15X.
I do have a few questions tho, and I am sure people before me have also asked the same questions that I am about to ask you now. But after all the reading I have done over the last week or so, I just wanted to get a straight answer from you guys. So here it goes..

• Whats the comparison like between the M15X WXGA and the WUXGA Screens? Are there any side by side pictures out there? I play a lot of FPS games and from what I understand, when the system is not downclocking from possible heating problems, you can get awesome performance from games like HL2, BF2142, BioShock and so on, at good resolutions (1600*1200). So what I am trying to say is... Is it worth the extra money to purchase a WUXGA screen over the WXGA?

• When would you say a good time to buy an M15X would be? It seems like the M15X is still going through some teething problems. Not all people are reporting faults, and it seems that Alienware is dedicated on getting a fix out to those of you having downclocking problems with the 8800 due to overheating. But with the release of the M17X coming out at the end next month, do you think there will be a upgrade of the current M15X on the way? Possible WSXGA screen or a 8800 GTX Ultra?

And for the moment, thats all I really have to say..

I look forward to your replies and thanks a lot in advance for all the help..

I cant wait to own a M15X.

 

Thanks tacomenace21, works perfect. I hope they do fix this.

 

Yeah sometimes it works fine and sometimes it doesn't if your somewhere without your AC adapter and it doesn't work just remove the battery and then attach it again i've heard that works

 

New question:

I'm soon ordering my m15x once the GPU Overheating issue is over. My question is about RAM. I would like the 4GB option but I keep reading about people buying after-market RAM. Are people upgrading to 4GB on their own simply because it is cheaper, or is the RAM that AW offers not as good as some other brands? What brand comes stock with the m15x anyhow? Is it a bad idea to go with the 4GB option if I have the money?

Thanks all. The help on these forums has been great so far.

~Brutality

 

Man, I'm getting REALLY annoyed by this lack of black skullcap on the m15x even though it's been 3 months since the laptop is out. And the sales reps dont know anything about it! Does ANYONE have any info they might have on this?

I think the m17x is coming out very soon, and will end up coming out before the alienware m15x has the black skullcap. UGH!

 

Alienware's RAM is just fine (what I got with mine is listed as Qimonda btw), its just a ton more expensive..

$300 for a 2GB upgrade (to a total of 4GB) from Alienware

or

$75-90 for 4GB from Newegg.

You won't see a performance difference whichever way you go.

 

I noticed the AW RAM is at 667 Mhz, it looks like I can get 4 gigs of 1066 for cheaper, but I assume that stuff doesn't work in the laptop otherwise AW would have put it in. It looks like 667 is the highest laptops can go, is 4 gigs of 667 about the same as 2 gigs of 1066? I'm just wondering the differences when it comes to gaming, does it make desktops better in that sense? < Sorry for noob questions.

~Brutality

 

DDR2-667 Mhz is the highest that the "current wave" of notebook motherboards can support. This includes the one in the m15x.

The next wave will be able to support higher speeds.

 

Regarding RAM, I'd recommend Corsair, OCZ, Crucial, Kingston, or Transcend. Take a look at the RAM DEALS thread for the best prices. Note that even with 4GB installed the m15x will only see 3.25GB or so because it has a 32-bit OS.

Memory speeds don't make a huge difference to the Core 2 Duo so even though the m15x and all other Santa Rosa notebooks only support up to DDR2-667, it would not make much of a difference if you had faster RAM.

-There's no side-by-side, but I would say definitely get the WUXGA. Having that kind of resolution for gaming and general usage is just amazing. You can fit so much stuff on the screen. It's a beautiful display.

-Now is a good time unless you want to wait for the Skullcap design and/or a black m15x. You can see them here:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4101

 

The next chassis option will be black ripley, and this is expected out in the first or second week of April, if this helps at all.

 

How do you know? and, do you have any news about the skullcap design?
This is the only thing keeping me from checking out my order, seriously.

 

Cheers for your reply Chaz. Much appreciated. I've had a good response from you and read a lot of good press about the WUXGA screen from .RanT. in his forum posts.

All I need is just one more good review from another WUXGA owner out there and then I think I will be convinced to go ahead and begin the order process.

 

even absinthe42 had the 1920x1200 screen, and he had the same impressions as Chaz. I think it is a good screen, I would choose the 1920x1200

 

Nice 1! I'm sold.. Thanks man.

 

A guy that works for them told me.
No word on the skullcap tho.

 

Just to put you completely over the edge. I have the WUXGA and it is beautiful. The brightness is amazing for a matte screen.

 

Sorry for the noob question guys, but I'm very certain I would prefer a laptop over a desktop, the only thing that concerns me is gaming capabilities.

If I go with the m15x I will surely deck it out, but I read about this overheating issue and it makes me wonder... sometimes I play all-day sessions when I have a day off. Is this too much for a laptop to handle? (Using it like a desktop) Or is the m15x built to last a gamer's all-day needs?

It would suck to get a desktop because I lan a lot but I would do so if it would stop me from worrying about the computer overheating.

Thanks, all help is greatly appreciated, as always.

~Brutality