Alienware m15x General Information - Post m15x questions here!

I have been having the same issues. AW told me somethig must be wrong with the camera and teh only way to fix it would be to send the unit in for repairs. Sad but true.

So it looks like your going to have to box up your system and return to sender.

 

my order went from phase 1-4 in less than 24 hrs

 

thx for the info, i will give them a call soon....

 

Does the warranty and 30 day period start from the day the latop ships or the day you receive it?

 

I hope I dont have to send it back for camera repairs.

 

Looking forward to getting a M15x for myself.
So far there doesn't seem to be any mention of Bluetooth Is this correct? I would expect a system like this to have Bluetooth.

 

Welcome RCcola and yes there is bluetooth

 

Thanks! I just saw it too in Packer's review

One more quick question. Would now be a good time to purchase this laptop? Or should I wait for the eventual 9-series models?

 

it depends on how much you need your laptop. if you need it soon then you should purchase soon. if you can wait then you can see if there will be that available upgrade. i dont AW has confirmed or said anything about a 9-series card upgrade

 

afue people have been saying the 9800m GTX is a shrunk 8800m GTX that runs cooler...

prob fixs the down clocking once and for all etc ...


i don't know... chaz is saying the new bios has fixed all the down clocking but others who are using the laptop alot are saying its still happening
this is so upsetting.

 

Will the motherboard on the m15x currently be compatible with the future 9800m GTX card?

 

All need the laptop soon, few want to wait for Financial reasons, i believe
But most waiting, cos they dont want to get stuck with bad or non upgradable machine
Technologies changings so fast & all the Laptop companies dont provide Upgrades
I can understand If people asking for a 3 year old laptop to be upgrade & the comp cant upgrade its graphic card
but a 6month old laptop is not upgradble its real Sad
all the guys here dont want to be stuck with that

 

The card is in a slot, so it seems that it should be upgradeable...

N

 

There is no answer to this question. My rule of thumb is assume the video card you get with the notebook will be in it for its entire life.

 

Chaz is right. When I purchased my M9750, I knew that there was a very slim chance that I would have the ability to upgrade to the 8800m GTX. It all depends on the cards power usage and MXM slot as well as if the BIOS will support it. Apparently the 9800m GTX will require less power than the 8800m GTX so there is a chance, but don't get your hopes up.

 

I'm going to go ahead and agree with chaz here. I've built PC's for pretty much the better part of a decade, i've been repairing laptops for about half that time, of everything i've seen, the Video card is often the most finnicky component in a system.

(quick example, a friend hadn't seated his AGP card properly, and therefore the system would crash anytime the video card was moved even slightly, took him over a day to diagnose the problem, and a quick push in the right direction made his system stable again)

to add to that, the video card is heavily dependent on the northbridge, and though we have the "newest" intel northbridge in these laptops, there's no guarantee that it will be able to support the newer cards. furthermore the northbridge relies heavily on the BIOS for what is, and isn't supported, there likely isn't an EASY fix to the heavily modified BIOS in the m15x for it to support the newer cards... so again, it's unlikely.

Don't get me wrong, it IS possible, just unlikely. like Chaz said: don't get your hopes up.

 

Don't know if you'll know this, but Alienware have removed the Smartbay Battery option on the Accessories (third page) on the US site.

EDIT: Sorry for the wrong info - They have renamed it, not removed it

I guess they were running into too much of a backlog and have removed it so they can catch up to current orders.
Fear not, for they should put it back soon.. Just not sure when

 

Sorry for the double post.. My net's messed up and I wasn't getting the first post to show up
Hey guys just wondering.. I was advised not to go with the 4GB RAM from AW but to upgrade myself.. Looking at the $1449 config (linky) I see it starts with 1GB..
So my question is whether I should go with the AW upgrade to 2GB (+$150) or instead, purchase a single 2GB stick from outside.. I'd end up with 2.5Gb right? Is that good enough ?

 

Should I use Stealth mode whenever I'm not playing a game or not use it at all? i don't really care about it making sound, just preserving my laptop

thanks

 

I got the same configure as you!!! works friekin awesome

 

Stealth mode won't provide much benefit in terms of longevity. Yes the GPU slows down but so do the fans (meaning that the idle temperature remains the same or even higher than with stealth mode off)

 

yeah I pretty much only turn on stealth when I'm on battery

 

Me too. BUt after a while my System woudl still overheat. So i had to run in without stealth mode on.

I agree with GRB my system ran hot, I know that but it seemed to run Hotter in Stealth mode. No fans working.

 

Just for info, there is a new fench canadian keyboard available on the canadian alienware website.

 

Well correct me if I'm wrong but that seems to go hand in hand with the new "English | French" option on the Canadian site. I don't remember seeing that link before (so I guess AW is finally living up to their bilingual obligations).

 

Correct..
But the problem is that nobody at Alienware seems to know how the keyboard is. (If it is like a keyboard from France or really a qwerty keyboard plus accents..)

 

I need an extra AC adapter for my M15x but don't see them on Alienware's website. I had to send my adapter back in for repair so I do not have it for reference.

Can someone please tell me what type adapter I need? Input/Output voltage, Hz etc. I would like to go and pick one up at a local computer shop.

Thanks!

 

it says on the adapter:

input: 100-240V, 50-60Hz, 2.0A
output: 19V (line above dotted line), 6.3A
the tip of the plug is orange.

hope that helped.

 

Whizzo you're awesome! Thanks
What about the polarity?
It has a symbol like this =

 

well it's got the top part of that diagram on it (the minus, the C-with-a-dot-in-it, the plus, in that order from left to right). does that help?

 

I was told by milcs that the output (for U.S.) was 2.3A. Are you sure 6.3 is right?

 

that's what it says on mine. "output: [random korean signs] 19V [line above dotted line] 6.3A"

 

here you guys I took a pic of the bottom of mine.

 

Is that the U.S. adapter?

 

o yeah sorry I'm in the old ole US

 

K, thanks. +rep for the pic

 

mine's exactly the same.

 

yep,the uk version if not all the countrys of the world have the same black box but its the lead that plugs into that that are different for each respective country.

 

Thanks a lot guys. Went to a computer shop today and could only find a price on a universal adapter. $120!!! Called Alienware and found it can be ordered from them direct for $17 (+s/h) Guess I'll go the order and wait a week route.

Thanks again for the help!

 

that has to be a first: AW being cheaper than a normal store.

 

Well I doubt these "Li Shin International Enterprise" guys command top dollar for their adapters, so AW can still make plenty of markup without getting expensive at all

 

Quick question... just tried a kensington lock... It does not lock. So, how the hell are we supposed to lock our laptops?

 

yeah someone else has reported problems with the kensington lock as well. guess you're out of luck. there are notebook locks that use other ports, but only VGA or printer outs, cause those have screws.

 

If I can't lock it... I can't use it! It would be sad that out of all the things, I would have to send my laptop back because the lock can't be used. Now I'm worried...

 

I've read before that owner of a m15x had problems with the Kensington-Port :/
Do you have an original Kensington lock? I read that some locks from other brands don't fit on several notebooks. (Macbooks e.g.)

 

I have Targus and Kensington... You can put it in, but you can't turn the key. THis is seriously bad...

 

you need a lock that expands. you cant use a lock that turns

 

ive been hearing a lot from people that the build quality of the m15x is poor, is it true and does the screen really wobble and creak...

im considering buying this laptop and wanted to make sure that i get what i pay for

 

Hey, I'm thinking of purchasing a m15x and I have a couple of questions, I looked around for a while but I can't find answers

1) can someone post or link me to a picture of what the light pipe looks like when the lid is shut?

2) can the lights be set up to change when you receive an email etc
2b) can they automatically change when you enter stealth mode

3) I have seen images of two VERY different looking light pipes, one with just a thin strip of light and the other with a lot of light from all the plastic, which is most common?

sorry if these have already come up...

 

Excellent in questions, I ponder of such things myself as well.