Alienware m15x review (warning long review)

This is my review for my m15x that I received 09/07/08. I wanted to wait a while with the review to get a more accurate perspective on the machine. I will for some parts also just give a short description of a problem if the problem has been covered extensively by other reviewers or in the forum.

Note however, this review will compare the m15x to perfection. It may not be a fair comparison to make in certain scenarios but that is how I chose to write and evaluate the m15x partly due to my own expectations and due to the money that I spent on it. Also note that I will try and stay objective throughout the review, however I will also add my own opinions and mark them by using [opinion].

Specs:

AREA-51 M15X

CPU: T9300, 2.5 ghz
GPU: 8800M GTX 512mb
RAM: 4gb Corsair (upgraded myself)
HD: 120gb 7200rpm
Optical Drive: 8X DVD+/-RW NEC AD-7590A
OS: Windows Vista 32bit

Introduction:
I ordered the product through their website, I did not talk to any sale representative and I didn’t have any problems using their website. I had to send in a credit statement confirming that I was the owner of the card and I was kept informed of my order process through e-mails. I was only in contact over the phone with the CS once to ask when it was going to arrive.

[opinion] I thought it all went smooth, the computer went through the production phases fast and the only reason why I called CS during this time was cause I was impatient, they did however talk to me nicely and were very helpful.

First impression:
I went myself to pick up the computer at the DHL depot after work and had to wait there for 30 minutes until the van carrying my computer came back. I went home and opened up the package and set up the computer. When I opened the box I found dirt inside, indicating that someone had opened it on the way to Switzerland. I was also missing my Alienware Identity Card and the foam plastic thing packing the accessories (recharger, AW manual and AW cap etc). The accessories were just thrown into the black box without any packaging to protect them against bumps. This also caused my Alienware Respawn DVD case to have a crack in it.

[opinion] at this point I was getting a little nervous and sad as it is never nice to receive a product that was badly packaged. The laptop was well packaged though and most likely as I live in Switzerland the customs opened the box and took everything out to record what had passed the border for tax purposes. Also with things missing from my order I got irritated and annoyed, I have talked to CS about it and they are sending me a new AW identity card. It is not that I think the Identity Card is important, I will most likely throw it away or just leave it in some dark place in my flat. But it is the principle of getting what you order and what you pay for, I cannot lay blame for this on AW however, as I am not sure if they did a mistake (it said on the invoice that it was included) or if the customs that opened up my package are to blame.

I took out the computer from the protective sleeve and turned it on, no problem turning it on and everything was booting up fine. I inspected the outside finish and found 2 blemishes, one on the touchpad 1 millimeter, and another one right under the screen which was aroung 1.5 millimeter. (I will try and upload pictures). After playing around with Vista for awhile everything started to act funny in Vista and not responding/working properly. I turned the computer off, called up CS and asked them to guide me through upgrading the RAM to 4GB which I had bought before I received the laptop. They were helpful, although a bit bored or tired at the time as he seemed to doze off into sleep everytime I stopped talking. The upgrade went fine, I turned on the computer again and everything started to work fine again.

[opinion] at this point I was not feeling to comfortable and a little buyer remorse. I don’t enjoy finding 2 blemishes, although small but blemishes on the paint anyway on the computer when I open it up. Also Vista not working properly (although it was probably due to insufficient RAM as the problems disappeared after RAM upgrade) also made me feel bad.

Build Quality of main chassis (covering the hardware excl. screen + webcam)
The build quality of the notebook is good if you disregard the screen. The chassis for the components is strong and doesn’t flex, all the edges and points of different parts of plastic connecting looks good and shows good workmanship on my computer. When I opened up the computer to exchange the RAM all cables and parts looked well and everything was clean and properly fastened. In other words the chassis containing the computer parts and the parts within is robust. The paint was well applied all over the chassis except the 2 blemishes I mentioned earlier.

[opinion] I feel good about the main chassis, it feels solid and even though the computer is heavier in the back I don’t feel afraid lifting it up and carrying it around. It doesn’t feel like it will snap in two.

The main chassis is fingerprint prone.

Build Quality of screen chassis:
The build quality of the screen is poor, the plastic is not thick enough to mount a screen of this size and the black front panel of the screen and the back silver plastic panel makes noise when opening or closing the lid. NOTE: It is not the hinges that makes the noise, this disappeared after a week of usage it is the front and the back panel that creaks due to them not being stiff like metal.

However, flex is very low, I can carry around the laptop without causing the screen to flex. The hinges are tight but not too tight, it takes effort to both close and open the screen and the last 1 cm when closing the laptop, the lid closes itself without any help.

The black front panel of the screen is very fingerprint prone and I need to clean it every now and then to keep it shiny.

[opinion] I always open the lid with two hands as I dislike the feeling of opening it with one hand in one corner or the middle due to the screen flexing. It doesn’t feel right and it feels like it would damage the screen in the long run. The creaking annoys me and is worrying ofcourse. The screen wobbling is small for me, this is comparing it to my old Zepto 6615WD which had more wobbling than the m15x. I may seem calm to some of you out there, this is because I had done a lot of research before I bought the laptop and this was something I expected, although I even expected it to be worse than it is which is kinda like getting a kick in the balls but still feeling a slight relief that it wasn’t as hard as you would have expected but still excruciatingly painful

Touchpad:
When I started the computer up for the first time I used the touchpad instead of the mouse. The touchpad has a huge resistance when dragging your finger on it due to it being of the same material as the rest of the chassis. I applied one of the included stickers and it reduces the resistance by a lot and is more like my old touchpad. The touchpad buttons are very hard to push down, and the click when one pushes the button comes when it is half way pushed down.

[opinion] The touchpad buttons confused me in the beginning as with my old laptop which touchpad buttons are very well used there is very little resistance from the buttons and the click comes at the end when the click is actually registered. So I sat there thinking I was clicking and the computer no registering so I thought, crap gotta send it in 2 minutes after unboxing?. Learnt however that I needed to be strong to use the touchpad and went to the gym and benched 100kg, came back and I could use the touchpad buttons. So a little advise to the people buying the m15x and planning on using the touchpad buttons…get a gymcard before and go and train!

Keyboard:
The keyboard worked and had no defects, I have had no key popping. It is a nice keyboard with a good resistance on every letter and a nice sound when the button is clicked. I have a slight keyboard lag and I haven’t tried solving it by uninstalling the touchpad drivers.

[opinion] I really enjoy the keyboard, the keyboard lag hasn’t gotten to me yet as I am used to using a Swedish keyboard but have now a UK version of it, so gotta look at the keyboard while I am typing and am typing really slow anyway cause I am not used to it. It will definitely become annoying when I speed up and want to write a long essay etc on it though so hope there will come out a fix for it.

Touchcontrols:
Touchcontrols works fine except volume controller. It changes volume but does not show it on the screen and all the touchcontrols have a 2 second delay before they show confirmation on the screen.

[opinion] The volume controller was one of the things I noticed after just unboxing the computer and this not working almost made me send it back. I then noticed that it actually changes the volume but just doesn’t report it on the screen which made me feel a bit better. However the volume controller is not that great, I use it but it isn’t the best out there I think. The other touchcontrols buttons work flawlessly though and I just have to put my finger there without pushing down which is very cool.

Command center and lights:
The lights were all working out of the box and the command center worked flawlessly.

[opinion] I had no problem with this and enjoy changing colours every now and then, it is also very useful when playing during night as I enjoy having the light turned off (playing in the dark makes games actually scary sometimes!) and with the lights you can still see the keyboard.

Screen:
I have the 1440x900 glossy screen. I received it with no dead pixels and it produces a clear image. The brightness of the screen is lower than comparing to my old matte screen on the Zepto 6615WD.

I had a problem with it once, upon boot 4 days after I received the computer a white transparent box was visible in the left top hand corner of the screen. It was like the pixels in the box got surged by to much electricity making them whiter than the other pixels around that box but still the box was transparent. I changed the brightness of the screen and the white box disappeared immediately. I haven’t seen it again since that time.

[opinion] My old screen was horrible and getting old with discolorations. The screen on the m15x is very nice and I am happy I took the 1440x900 resolution as I can play all games on maximum settings except Crysis. Watching movies on the screen is very nice and produces in my opinion great pictures. The viewing angle is very good aswell, and a friend can sit beside me while playing and have no problem seeing the screen. I would have liked the screen to have a higher maximum brightness. I got worried about the screen when I got the white box, but as it got solved by changing the brightness down one step and then up to max again and it has never come back I am a bit calmer. I am not sure why it happened or how it happened but if it never comes back I will be a happier man!

Wireless and LAN cards:
I have had no problems with any connections to internet through either cable or wireless. I have been unable to test the sensitivity of the wireless card so far though as I have only been using the m15x at home.

[opinion] not much opinion about this, working as intended and expected.

Speakers:
The speakers create clear sound and have a good max volume. There is no bass created by the speakers. I have had no problems with any weird sounds or anything like that like other users have reported.

[opinion] The m15x has laptop speakers, they are not amazing but they are not bad either. I think they produce a clear sound for me at least, and the max volume is loud. When playing a celine dion song at max volume those high notes in her singing gets distorted (don’t know if that is the right word, but guess you understand what I mean). I use mostly a headset but the times I have been playing with speakers it has worked well and I am not disappointed on this part of the computer.

Webcam and inbuilt microphone:
The webcam produces an unfocused (blurry) picture. The quality is not like normal 2megapixel webcams. The inbuilt microphones are of alright quality, tried it once on skype and my friends said it sounds like I am far away while speaking.

[opinion] the webcam isn’t good at all, I only use it however while having video on skype and the skype video transfer makes it bad quality anyway so for me it doesn’t make a huge difference. If I would use the webcam for other uses I would have to buy an external webcam however. The inbuilt microphone is not a feature I use either, I have never come across a good inbuilt microphone and I always use my headset so I cant comment to much about this feature.

Size and weight:
The m15x is heavy for a 15’ notebook, and it is definitely bigger than most 15’. It is around one 1cm broader than my old one and this can be seen as there is a lot more space around the screen (the thickness of the black front panel) than on other notebooks of similar size.

[opinion] It is big and heavy, it is not heavy enough to be extremely uncomfortable to carry around which in my opinion most 17’ notebooks are if you are not the green enraged HULK! The size of it is not too noticeable if you don’t put a “normal” 15’ laptop right next to it. It still fits my 15’ carrying bag.

Benchmarks:
Got 9964 on 3dmarks06 at standard settings with stock drivers. Using the 177.72 drivers right now that increases performance by a bit it seems in games, haven’t been able to run a 3dmarks06 yet though.

Heat and noise:
Temperatures with stock drivers and BIOS: x32 RC1 :

Idling, normal mode: 33-38 CPU, 70 GPU
Idling, stealth mode: 30-35 CPU, 60 GPU

Full load, normal mode: 50-60 CPU, 88 GPU
Full load, stealth mode: around 45-50 CPU, 78 GPU (haven’t tried this extensively.)

Temperatures with 177.72 drivers and BIOS: x32 RC1:

Idling, normal mode: 33-38 CPU, 50-58 GPU
Idling, stealth mode: 30-35 CPU, 60 GPU

Full load, normal mode: 50-60 CPU, 91 GPU
Full load, stealth mode: N/A

[opinion] Noise is loud when fans kicks in and while gaming, not higher than ingame music/sound and is not really noticeable if you are not concentrating on it while gaming cause you are concentrating on the game instead. The m15x runs hot, very hot I think and is worrying. It would be awesome to be able to control the GPU fan to put it to max blast manually as exchanging the GPU fan is a lot easier/cheaper than having to send it in due to a broken hinge or melted GPU. The right part of the handrest becomes uncomfortably hot while gaming, it is a good thing I am left handed.

Battery life:
I get 2:40 hours out of battery maximum, idling with wireless turned off, integrated GPU and stealth mode. I will receive a smart bay battery and will update this with how much the smart bay gives me. With the 8800m GTX gpu I get around 1:10 hours with stock drivers while idling.

Design:
[opinion] I really like the m15x design, I think that the speakers are very cool designed and the lights are awesome. I got the ripley and it is very clean and looks very nice and not over the top like skullcap does (sorry for insult, remember this is my personal opinion)

Conclusion:
[opinion] I don’t regret going for the m15x. I am a bit scarred after having big problems with my old computer so maybe I am taking to much **** with this computer, in the beginning I was seriously thinking of sending it back after my initial problems and feeling. I am glad now however I kept it and it works very well for me except for a windows Vista problem which gives the symptom of a memory leak, link to this problem is here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=276667 .

[opinion] The computer has great gaming performance, it has great battery performance and great design. It however lacks build quality on the screen and it runs very hot. Otherwise the CS has always helped me a lot and I have ofcourse had my share of problems with them (I asked them to send me the update for the touchcontrollers and they never did) but they are always polite and that is one time out of 7.

The times I called CS was for the following reasons:

1) RAM upgrade
2) Reporting status of my box upon receiving it and asking them to send me a new AW ID card.
3) Touchcontrollers 1
4) Touchcontrollers 2
5) Asking about hinge system
6) Asking about smart cell battery ordering and price
7) Ordering the smart bay battery

So it was a long read, good job for the people that read it all and hope it helps you in making up your mind about the m15x! I may have forgotten about mentioning things so feel free to comment, it became so long that I forgot how I started so I may add things later.

I will try and add pictures when I come home from work tonight, no promises though!

EDIT: spelling mistakes

 

Just read through it... Thank you for your honesty and very factual presentation of your experience. Very good.
Hope it will only give you reasons to be happy and will give people a better perception of what they can expect.

Cheers,
M.

 

very nice review Svarto. i like that you're honest and fair. out of interest, where did you buy your Corsair RAM?

 

i bought them from here www.pcp.ch. Dont speak much german or french so was pretty hard to order, but luckily all web-shops are built the same so it is kinda easy to go get to the "kasse" and pay

They were really nice and helpful, and got the RAM in 2 days. It wasnt too expensive either, but I have no idea what Swiss shops are good or not, just did a google search and got to another forum which recommended this site.

What site do you usually buy from?

 

i try to buy from local shops if possible, cuz then i know who to harass if it doesn't work... i ordered online at www.pitm.ch and picked it up at the shop... for other stuff (games, mouse etc) i usually order over www.megashop.ch and pick it up at the store as well...

incidentally, i never knew Switzerland had it's own Clevo reseller until i discovered that website. they only sell the m570RU though, no D901c or M860TU, both of which i'd be interested in seeing in real life.

 

great review Svarto

enjoyed reading it

 

Thanks for the review! I wonder if the "customs" might have damaged your laptop a little? They probably open it up really quickly to inspect it.

 

Awesome review. I look forward to the pictures!

 

you know, i didn't have the feeling mine was inspected... perhaps they only do random checks?

EDIT: then again, mine was delivered by air... maybe they don't do very rigorous checks at the airport...

 

We had people blaming it on the DHL, now it's the "customs"... come on now, stop trying to save AW's bottom.

 

He said that the customs inspected it, so I don't know. It could've been them...

 

it is kind of rare to see complaints about the m15x's paint job tho. throughout my entire time here i think i only saw 2 people complain about it. its probably the low number of complaints that will make people think that it got damaged during shipping.

 

I also had some minor (that only OCD people like myself would notice) "blemish" on my painting. One was even on the Alienhead. Never complained about it... And I'm sure that the DHL guy never had anything to do with the problems my laptop had.

It amazes me how people find strategies to see what they want to see... The world is indeed and amazing place.

 

Well, I'm pretty OCD myself and when my m15x arrived i was slightly disappointed by a tiny nick on the touchpad (maybe the size of a period in 10 font). But it bothers me and I'm sure alienware saw it but rushed it through.

I can look past this **** because 1. I don't feel like sending it back for such a small change and 2. I'm going to put the touchpad sticker over it once they come in the mail (they weren't included with my system..ugh)

 

Who damaged your system then? DHL? Customs? Aliens? Leprachauns? Someone must have been... Obviously not AW's fault! Someone... else!

 

I think terrorists

 

For someone living in UK and receiving most of his orders from within the European Union you often forget about customs, I sure did when I was living in Sweden.

Now I live in Switzerland and it is outside of the EU, which means that they do random checks on things that pass the border and they add tax on parcels that are bought outside of Switzerland over a certain value.

I realise that it is either AW fault, DHL or the Swiss customs. The swiss customs had my computer for a whole day before it was let through, I found dirt inside the package and my accessories were thrown into the black box without the protective plastic thing to keep them in and my AW ID card was missing. Call me naive, but somehow I feel that AW wouldnt go through all the trouble to throw dirt into my box, skip the plastic protective thing for my accessories (This is something you REALLY notice is missing if you are packing the box) and then not include the AW ID card.

But if the belief that it is AW fault makes you sleep easier at night after losing your m15x, dont let me stop you

 

I don't really care whose fault is it... My point is, people have lot's of strategies to keeping them from facing reality. It's a natural mental process... to make reality easier to accept! I always thought it was funny when someone suggested someone might have scratched it or caused the wobbliness, for instance...

Go and ask Gabez about his laptop... I am sure he is going to ask fedex a compensation for his "laminating" screen and scratches!

 

Excellent review. I'm still loving mine though I haven't had as much time to post on here recently with work. I have no buyers regret whatsoever at this point. I actually just got back from Philadelphia and took the laptop with me with no problems.

 

Good job with the review, thanks .

 

Hey there Svarto, thanks for the straight forward review & frank wording

Just thought I'd ask about your hard drive while I'm writing this. As you can see in my sig I'm still deciding between the 120GB and 160GB HD.
My question to you is, after Alienware installed the Vista OS and other stuff, how much space was left on your Hard Drive ? More than 100GB ?

 

Wraithers, i have the 160gb and i'm already sorta regretting it. after Vista, Office 07, and some games, i have just 50gb left (after, what, 2 months of ownership!). i'd definitely get as big a harddrive as you can afford. i know some will say that you can get the SB drive if necessary, but the SB drive is not only slower, but you have to take out your DVD drive as well, although for some games you have to have the disc in the drive. so i'd recommend you to get as big an internal drive as you can afford.

 

Hmm.. My notebook is for college use. After Vista, I will load Office 2007 (Word, Powerpoint, Excel) from http://www.theultimatesteal.com/store/msshus/ContentTheme/pbPage.End_of_life and then Skype, Gtalk and MSN messenger to keep in touch with family back home. I won't have any games for a while and would only load the AV my college gives me. Can't think of anything else I'd put on my notebook.
Now I think I'd be better of getting the 160GB HD and then getting a Smartbay, either the 200GB/320GB HD for ~$120/*Insert discounted price of 320GB Smartbay*

Still want to know how much was left over when Svarto received his notebook, though.

 

Hey wraithers, hm well the 120gb drive shows as 102gb in Windows. I think I had 85-88gb empty when i received my computer.

Hope that helps! For me the 120gb drive has been enough, as i used to have a 60gb and the only things i install on my computer C drive is games, everything else goes on my external HD. I like and always try and save money on getting the smallest harddrive, but I always chose a 7200rpm harddrive cause of the faster access times.

Keep us updated about ur purchase Wraithers!

 

@Svarto - I'm guessing that's 102GB because of a OS/recovery partion..?
Hmm.. I've been shuffling around with 11GB eek on my desktop for over a year now but I guess having more space would make a world of difference, especially since it'll be for a 4 year period. I think I'll have to go with the 160GB HD in that case. Thanks for the help Svarto !!

I've already downgraded to the T8300 so that I could spend it on Vista Ultimate for the added security and backup features (which would benefit from more HD space)

@whizzo - So.. How much space did your notebook come with ?

 

i've got the 160gb drive, and it's labelled right now as "50.2Gb free of 139Gb". so the recovery partition (and Vista?) eat 21Gb.

 

Ahh.. 139GB is a figure I could live and sleep peacefully at night with
I wonder if anyone can answer the 'and Vista?' question though..?

I guess I'll save up and get a Smartbay in a month or two. Anyone know the discounted prices for the 320GB one ? $160 ?

 

The Vista installation is on the same partition as all your other programs. So it will be 139GB-(Vista+other apps)=Total free HDD space when receiving the laptop.

 

so the recovery thingy uses 21Gb? wow...

 

Hmm.. Anyone have any idea how much space Vista takes ?
If Svarto had 102GB after Recovery partition and the notebook came with 85-88GB then I'm guessing Vista takes about ~15GB ?

@Svarto - Sorry to hijack your thread

 

There's a way in the registry to LIMIT the amount of hard drive space that system restore takes up. I'll edit it when i get the gumption to start up my desktop and see. that homebuild has a 750gb drive and seriously. System restore (after about 100gb worth of games and another 50gb of music and programs) was taking up like 40gb! 40 gb!!! Anyhow, i'll try to remember to post the fix when i get the chance.