An official statement regarding overheating issues on the Alienware m15x.

Good afternoon,

Though we have tested the machines thoroughly, we have not experienced this issue at Alienware; however, customer satisfaction is extremely important to us, and we will continue to investigate and see if we can duplicate the issue. Once we can isolate the issue and how to address it, we will let our customer service technicians know immediately so they can help users that may be experiencing this issue. As always, we take any feedback in forums, blogs and newsgroups seriously and encourage our customers to contact us directly whenever they experience unexpected issues with their machines.

Regards,

Steve Lopez

Support Forums Administrator

Alienware Corporation

 

Maybe you should test the systems a little more before shipping it to thousands of people and then making them pay a 15% restocking fee when their GPU fries.

 

Rebmik, your comment isn't helping anyone who wants to work with Alienware to resolve this issue. I know you've been mucked around, but you've cut your ties now so let the people who want this resolved have the "air time" so to speak.

Thanks Steve for letting us know where we stand and making contact.
Chaz on these boards is reviewing a demo unit, and has found he can replicate the problem using a program called "ATI Tool" to monitor and stress the GPU. It is repeatable and easily replicated. The same problem occurs after a few hours of a game such as Crysis too.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3086838#post3086838

It is the feeling with some that the cause is due to the GPU fan not increasing it's RPM in relation to the increasing temperatures although this has not been verified.

 

Hmm... is this for real lol. I thought we're supposed to get emails saying this not posts .

 

Hmmmm? I am speaking for the people who have problems with their notebooks who were charged a 15% restocking fee for a broken notebook. I think it's absurd and am voicing my opinion.

 

If this guy is for real it means our voices were heared again! Keep your shouts coming, someone might be reading this!!

PS sadly i wrote 5 emails to AW and nobody answered in a week but here they are reading forums

 

Steve I guess a lot of people are concerned about the return policy. I think a lot of customers are in a panic that they may be sitting on a 3-5k paperweight that will be destined to fry in a matter of months. Almost every forum member is having overheating and downclocking issues so this isn't an issue that should be difficult to duplicate. I hope you keep us updated and please reference some of the posts regarding the downclocking issues. The members have extensively tested this. Unfortunately it is frusturating to be benchmarking instead of gameplaying. WHEN AW finds the flaw, I hope not only are we helped but also given extended warranties or other things to accommodate us for the troubles we are having. It would be a shame to have loyal (often repeat) customers not get treated properly when buying one of the most expensive home computers in existence.

 

hahahha. You would think they would answer your personal e-mail before coming to a forum..... Although... if they want more sales they would try to keep the mass of people who are currently in the phase game and currently looking to purchase an m15x calm.

 

Thanks Steve, you guys over at AW are doing great. I was about to cancle but damn you guys hired a mighty fine lady to prevent me lol.

I'm hoping that the issues with the heating can be fixed by bios.

 

Yea... having a cancellation prevention agent talk people out of cancelling was a brilliant idea. As you see it worked fantastically. Now when people get broken notebooks you can still charge them 15% restocking fees. Not only do you get the hardware back.. but you get $500! You guys at alienware are too smart.

 

Thanks for the info Steve. It's good to know that you are aware of the issue and are serious about resolving it.

I've not received my m15x yet so I cannot speak from personal experience but there have been several reports on this forum of the chassis cracking in specific places after only a few weeks' use. Is this something you will also be looking into?

Cheers

 

This isn't useful information. I don't think anyone here is expecting Alienware to be a charity. They are a business. Of course they want to increase sales, I have no problems with that aslong as they resolve any issues I may have with my purchase, which is what this thread is about.

Acknowledging the complaints is the first step.

Replicating the problem is the second.

Fixing the problem, or offering a refund is the third. Either outcome of which I'm happy with. As for "Alienware/User", they need to offer him the same options too. I'm pretty sure they're within their rights to fix the issue before offering a refund if he's had it past the cooling off period. If they cannot fix it, then of course he should be refunded.

And what are you trying to say here? That the people that got put through to the cancellation prevention department are weak-minded and were fooled into staying with it? I'd find that insulting. These people can make up their own minds as you did.

 

Now, this is the true five-star Alienware customer support that they talk about on the website. Now, all we have to do is wait for a solution. Thanks Alienware Steve. Don't let us down.

 

I agree with you eekie, but it is valuable information for people who are reading this thinking that Alienware has great service and has the issue sorted out. The truth is - for all we know alienware wont be working on the issue and wont be giving people full refunds. For all we know the guy posting this is not even an employee at alienware... or maybe he's just a "Cancellation prevention agent."

Think about it. I just don't want people getting fooled. Don't believe everything you read imo. If they did extensive tests on their notebook they would have noticed the underclocking problem..... I don't see how they could possibly miss it.

If alienware is truly looking into the problem... Good job and keep up the good work.

 

I agree that acknowledging is the first step. It makes me glad that I wrote my post earlier today asking for an answer...we are in the process of getting one. Though I hope this is not just a blanket statement and there is much more follow through and follow up without us begging/demanding/pleading.

 

You know Rebmik, im trying to make light of the situation. Instead of being a complete asshat, why dont you contribute in a positive way? Yea, I talked to a cancle agent.. Did she really change my mind? No, It was my own will to stick with Alienware.

Not sure if Steve is an employee? No problem, Ill find out for sure tomorrow if he is. I'm fairly certain this is the real deal though.

 

Exactly. I hope you get everything sorted out guys. I really do, good luck to all

 

I am contributing. Knowing that alienware has to hire cancellation prevention agents is very valuable information in my opinion. As I said, for all we know Steve is a cancellation prevention agent.

The issue with the m15x is very serious. People who own alienware notebooks should know who their company hires to deal with their customers imo. I'm wondering if alienware has "return prevention agents" as well.

Well - like I said, I wish you all the best of luck. Good luck to everyone who is having problems.

 

Agreed. I'm just not buying into any kind of conspiracy. They're just a normal business that ****ed up in my opinion. What matters now is how they deal with it. That's how they should be judged, and like I said, acknowledging the problem is a great first step. You should see the problems we've been having trying to get HTC to admit their Kaiser mobile phone is broken due to not included hardware video drivers. They tried ignorance, then denial, and now they're plain trying to weasle their way out.

 

LoL. Maybe I am just paranoid about the situation because I am currently studying white collar crime. I've heard a lot of F**ked up stories... and I really don't want you guys getting screwed over ;d. Anyways.... best of luck eekie, dave, and everyone else.

 

btgman,

We have taken note of the this issue and will be investigating the situation as well.

 

OMG I cant believe Alienware rep is here. "They finally landed here". Please stay as long here as u can. U will be the biggest help here.

1) I have actually call your colleague Mr Xxx that my GPU is the worst out here as it downclock when it hit 80c. I mean 80c is way too early right. My crysis is like downclocking every 2 min cause it hit 80c very often and downclocking to 75C b4 it went up again to 80c. Its like a up and down every 2 mins. I try to use nac 1000 cooler but it helps nothing. Your colleague say that the 8800GTX Bios are programmed to Downclock and there is nothing he can do now. (cause the problem is not m15x bios).

Beside the bios problem which I believe will take a long time b4 nvidia address this, Is there any way to minimize this on AW part. I mean like adding a function that drive the fan to twice its speed to temporary curb this problem? or sending me AC5 to re-apply on the GPU. I have secretly peek at the AC5 on my m15x and its not as good as I have imagine (no i did not apply yet so dun void my warranty).

Any temporary solution is good.

and +rep for you and your company (alienware) for coming to rescue us here.

Thanks Steve

To: forum people. I hope u just address the heating issue and leave other issue to steve's colloegue at AW. Dun talk nonsense cause i dun wanna see him go because of that. Alienware spaceship may not land another 10 years. And I do hope chaz will ban u if u chase him away.

 

If alienware is serious about resolving the issue he's not going to just vanish in thin air rexi.

 

Agree, if this is the case heat issue should be top priority to solve so maybe someone can link here (so that the poor guy doesn't have to dig his way through even though he deserves it) all the pictures taken from the temp monitoring and downclocking. Just as a heads up .

PS @Steve any chance you can point to those europeans customers that still hold onto that order they made 6-7 weeks ago (and holding for another 4 it seems) to an email address in US where we can complain about bad management in Euro? It would be highly appreciated after the heating issue is solved. I want/need to complain even if in the meantime I get that computer. Ordered 5th February new estimated date around 5th of April and counting.

 

Good to see you here AW, here is what i know and you should know:

1-Heat case down clock.

2-cracks all over laptop.

3-Touch buttons stop working after a standby.

4-Keyboard delay in responses.

5-wobbling screen.

Edit:
6- HDMI is not allowing audio to out from it.


These what a have seen people complaining about.

 

what is the point of screaming at AW and problem still remain unsolved. Steve dun need to do this. He can just walk away and leave u here. Its obvious that AW is taking steps to resolve this issue by opening a direct communication line instead of me hanging on the phone talking to diff agent with diff answers. Steve could just be that one voice here.

Take it easy pal.

 

Just for the record can we get a confirmation he is alienware rep. I could make alienware-ioaniro and start telling you that I have a solution and it needs replacing of the F1 key and you should ship the computer to my place along with a car and a pizza.

PS if you want forget the computer and car send the pizza!

 

ATTN all you gullible people!!!!!!!

This guy is the same "user" here that wrote to me and a couple others on PM in the past and got us to give him info about our laptops and orders offering help. Then he NEVER responded again. I wrote him a couple times and he NEVER responded. Wouldnt someone that contacted me privately want to respond to me after getting my info??

YOU ARE ALL BEING DUPED BY SOMEONE ON HERE AND YOU ARE ALL WAY TOO READY TO BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ.

QUESTION THINGS UNTIL YOU HAVE PROOF, AND BY ALL MEANS, SEEK OUT PROOF.

 

Then again what's the point of taking it easy when the issue will still remain unsolved? Voicing my opinion and you voicing yours - the problem is still unsolved... So i fail to see your point.

I was clearly not yelling at this guy.... I was clearly just wanting to inform people that they should take what a "cancellation prevention agent" as a grain of salt.

 

Good point ioaniro,

Just for fun steve.

Question to pass if u are really from AW.

Who got the nick name "ring leader" in your roswell group. PM me.

 

If he's from alienware he should be able to give us a 1800-alienware + extension # to contact him at. That will prove if he is who he says he is.

 

"Though we have tested the machines thoroughly, we have not experienced this issue at Alienware; however, customer satisfaction is extremely important to us, and we will continue to investigate and see if we can duplicate the issue."

1. How do you guys test the machines thouroughly? I mean if the overheating is happening after an hour it is obvious that you are not testing them thoroughly. You may as well just come out and say "We don't test the systems thoroughly".

2. You have contacted me before when I was *****ing about my M5550 here because you guys could never fix it. I sent you a PM and a email back and you never tried to help me out at all, which really ticked me off.

3. It seems that you are just here to pretend that you want to help us to try to calm us all down. Guys don't listen to this guy, I'm sure nothing will be done about your problem until you get this in the news.

4. I'm not trying to cause problems, but this guy tried to help me and then just left me sitting in the dust. Actually lemme see if I can pull up the emails I sent to him. Oh here we go I have the PM he sent me.

"Good morning,

I understand your reluctance to send the information through pm. My work email is *****[email protected]. If you still feel uncomfortable sending it that way you could create a post in the community section of the official alienware forums about your issue and refer to your post in notebookreview. As the admin I can get your account info through our forums. I want to do what I can to make sure your issue is resolved in a satisfactory manner. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Steve Lopez
Support Forums Administrator
Alienware Corporation"

So I actually sent him 2 emails to his email, and got nothing back. Maybe I'm just being a pessimist but this guy TOTALLY blew me off and I had to resort to calling up their ****ty tech support and finally receiving a critical issues agent, which was a little better.

Be wary about him. He vanished in thin air on me Rebmik Oh and Rexi I wouldn't thank him just yet. He screwed me over so I'm not sure what will happen. Basically AW tried to deny the fact that their M5550 had SERIOUS overheating problems. When you called the techs about the overheating, they tried to avoid saying the laptop overheated so many times...

 

Hmmm seeing as you are all so ready to believe anything without question, this gives me an idea................(evil laugh)


seriously people, there are ways to go about getting this company to do better. Responding to a random forum message to someone that could be ME for all you people know, isnt really effective. That other idea of taking it to CNET would certainly have some effect.

 

who cares if he's real or not.

if you have a problem, contact AW by email, call them and post on THEIR forum.

end of story

 

did you guys even see my post about 5 posts up?

This guy has shown to be a likely fraud in the past.

 

My offer still stands, send me a pizza and all your worries will be gone!

PS proof or close/delete thread?

 

Sequoia225 is right. Him and I have both been ****ed over by this guy. Haha you guys are so gullible. Haha Chaz you may as well just ban this account as it seems as it is not actually AW's considering he blew of Sequoia and I and others.

Haha you guys... silly

 

Mr Fro2000 has it right.

 

Alienware Rep -

I am very satisfied with Alienware. We have purchased a laptop, and it is already in phase 3. I would like to say, thanks. It is a rare occasion in which I can talk to some of my hero's. Alienware has made my life easier, and I can now live it to the fullest.

Sincerely, Travis

 

See? People were getting frustrated at me... All I wanted to do was warn people that are still in the phase game or wanting to purchase a m15x that just because someone comes to the forum.... it doesn't mean the issue will be Fixed. Your post CLEARLY proves what I was trying to say. Thank you for voicing your opinion + story. People need to be aware of both outcomes of this situation.

 

Wow, you must be pretty ignorant of everything going on. We try to email them, call them, and everything. Calling them doesn't work, as the tech support people say "well that is unusuall, why don't you send it back (lol they don't know what is wrong and your laptop will come back still overheating). Posting on their forum ends with "We will look into that matter. Emailing them is the same...

@Seq - Calling them / emailing them took 14 months before anything was done. Pretty ****ty in my opinion

 

why would this guy have blown us both off like that?!?!

 

Yep - Exactly.

 

Stone825, I see what your saying to mr Fro2000,
I was just saying that responding here will be likely pretty ineffective.

s

 

Oh wow this is serious.

I guess I trust people too easily.

 

@Mods - Close this thread please. We have people being duped by what they think is an Alienware rep. If he is a rep, he is a pretty ****ty rep.

Travis - You haven't even dealt with AW enough to know how bad they can be. When you have a laptop that is unfix able, and you get like 10 different answers from different tech support people it is frustrating. Trust me Dell support has been MUCH better to me. Alienware isn't all what you think it is. They used to be good, but they are now just degrading in quality.

 

Guys. Keep sending messages to Engadget. I will send a tip right now with all of these threads. EVERYONE SEND ONE!

 

don't tell me whats better
alienware is the best
and always will be

 

Hmm... nobody sending their m15x's to me for repairs?

 

One thing I was trying to say to the people on this forum who are concerned about this issue... is that Alienware hires "Cancellation prevention agents"...... Do you think someone coming here to post a message to calm the masses wouldn't be an area of Cancellation prevention? If a company hires such people... I wouldn't suggest FULLY trusting anything someone would have to say.

For instance.... My estimated ship date was february. When my date blew by I asked why it wasn't shipped. They sent me to a "supervisor." The supervisor was in fact a cancellation prevention agent to stop me from cancelling my order. She told me exactly what I wanted to hear and I bought into it. She said it would be in production shortly and I would receive it on march 7th. The 7th blew by and I was still in phase 4 on march 10th. I cancelled my order.

They tell you what you want to hear. I was just relating this to everyone because you SHOULD NOT let your guard down. Especially those who are still in the phase game.