Another one bites the dust

Oh well, thats my lot. its gone for good.
DHL have just picked up my m15x for the last time.
sadly i am returning it for a refund as there is only so much one can take.

dont get me wrong,the m15x is a great computer when it works properly but as i got a lemon and had nothing but problems since day 1 there was only one thing i could do and that was get a refund. i would loved to have had a perfect working m15x like a lot of you out there but there was no way i was going to put up with it just in case it spent more time being returned to AW than with me.

i think the final straw was when it came back from repair last week after a new motherboard and case/chassis was replaced.
when i say new im not sure if that was actually true as the chassis had scratches along the front to the left of the ir port where it joins together.
it also had a nameplate built for astec solutions ltd so i wonder if they got my new case and i got theirs.

this has been my horror story from start to finish.

i think i hold the record for being in phase 5 for 24 days.
received on april 21st 2008
as soon as i turned it on i got an error message about nero. ok nothing major,just uninstalled and used cd to reinstall it. sorted.
none of the touch controls worked. 2 hours onto tech support. 1 hour where they took over my machine remotely and downloaded numerous drivers and patches. not resolved.
they apologised and gave me a rma number to return it for repair. as a gesture of good will they offered to extend my return for refund policy to 30 days.
x-fi soundcar wouldnt load.
april 23rd: at least one good thing, 3Dmark06 score of 9698
tried x-fi card again and re loaded drivers. still not working. pulled card out in frustration and computer crashed. re booted and strangely enough touch controls now work.
hibernation. tried to hibernate and mouse and screen turned off. everything else was still active including lights and fans. could not turn back on. tech support said to open bottom and press reset button on motherboard. this done nothing. had to remove battery to reset.
may 7th: 3Dmark06 score dropped to 3559
may 11th: 3600
may 12th: 3563
before you ask yes i was using the 8800 and not the on board graphics.
i phoned to cancel stating the extended return policy. was informed that they had no record of it being extended and so could not get a refund but to return it for repair.
returned for repair. new mother board and chassis/case
returned back to me 20th may new 14 day money back starts.
chassis/case scratched
wrong built for nameplate
3Dmark06 score of 7000ish passed by AW.
cancelled it within 1 hour of taking it out of the box.
returned today for refund.

please tell me if i over reacted and canceled too soon. would any of you put up with these problems or have i done the right thing.

its quite sad to think a once world renound company like AW are having so many problems after bringing out what was meant to be the BEST 15" laptop on the planet.
have they started to run before they learned to walk.
only time will tell.

 

Sorry to hear. Mine has been Flawless.

 

I am sorry that you experienced such technical difficulties with your Alienware system, as previously mentioned this is not the Alienware experience we would want any customer to have, please PM me with your account info so that we can expedite the refund. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you.

 

thank you for the reply Armando
it is such a shame as i really did like the computer but sadly couldnt take much more. i stayed cool and calm with every person i spoke to as it wasnt their fault and the last thing they needed was me loosing my temper.
when i was first introduced to AW by a friend i looked at them as the rolls royce of computers. what i read about them was that if there was a problem you actually spoke to the same person each time so they get to know your system and its problems. i now believe this to be the roswell crew and of course being from the uk the phone bill would be massive if i wanted to use this option.
hopefully one day i can return to being a customer of AW

pm sent.

 

Hey Armando many user here on this forum have canceled and organized a refund. Can we PM you as well to expedite our refunds.

Kind Regards
Newf

 

How long ago did you get yours Dagixxerkid2?

 

Nice sum up of your experience, MrDJ! I have followed your story from the beginning (the famous longest 5. phase!) to its very end and makes me sad every time I think about it The fact that you are not the only one going through so much trouble with the "rolls royce" of gaming computers should make every future buyer think twice about its investment! And IMHO you are not exaggerating in any way, its a miracle to me you kept so calm for that long!

To say some positive words, my refund process went through relatively fast and smooth!

So good luck for the future!

 

thanks crizzler
it is a shame isnt it. there was quite a few of us who ordered around the same time and we was all looking out for each other and trying to keep each others chin up on the long wait throughout the build process. but it just wasnt to be was it.
thanks for your kind words and good luck to you as well for the future.

and some people think they have even worse luck than me.

as i returned to my car yesterday at work it looks like a delivery driver has reversed into it and left a nice new hole in my bumper. this is the second time this has happened. i got my brand new bmw in november and after 4 days the bumper had been ripped off by a delivery driver. we knew who it was and he was confronted. his reply, if youve got it on camera he will own up to it but if not, tough. sods law it was not on camera so i had to pay.
here we go again. sometimes i wonder why i pay for insurance as it goes up every time i make a claim even though it wasnt my fault.

 

get a 15inch macbook pro dude.. imo ... you are a DJ right... its a good stable unit .. not as powerfull but yer well respected and will make u look cool..

design music people are all /love with them apples.

 

i felt like reading a novel the whole time. lol

 

Apples.. not a microsoft fanboy but they bore the hell out of me. Sterile looking things.

 

i know a couple of djs that use the mac for djing but i want it for general use as well. whats it like for playing games?
as im almost pass my sell by date learning to use a totally new operating system might be a little too much for me to take in

 

Hey DJ I will be usning a new MAC 17" by this weekend. I will let you know how it works for me.

So what are you going to look at next?

 

I got mine in April. I love mine. Its been a great machine. Only beef i have with it is the poor chassis quality. My screen creaks a lot and the hinges are pretty wobley not what i would expect when i paid $3300. If alienware would get on the ball and get a better chassis it would be awesome. I would even pay a small amount to have mine updated with a better chassis. but in the grand scheme of things its not a huge deal. mine runs great. I game on it almost daily with max resolution with no problems.

 

Ah so finally returned for good then .

I'm RMAing mine in tomorrow to fix the keyboard, media card reader, screen lid - creaky noie, I can't stand it, command center button and get them to take a look at the CPU DC issue.

I wish you good luck with any future laptop you decide to get (the new Clevo?) and with your BMW .

 

Be careful with the Apple MPB's if you plan on gaming more than a little. I don't know about the 17" models but the 15" MBP has had it's share of overheating issues from people playing games for long periods of time.

I actually ordered and returned one a few months ago. The build quality is probably the best I've ever seen in any notebook. The aluminum chassis is beautiful and resilient. The only thing I was slightly paranoid about would be denting the case which wouldn't pop back out like a plastic one but it's truly a beautiful notebook. In the end I realized that the main reason I wanted one was the "nouveau" aspect of the OS and hardware. I started missing Windows and realized that gaming was still a pretty big priority for me on my computer. I had been toying with the option of just giving up on pc gaming and sticking to my xbox 360 but I think both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses. I also had issues with the inflexibility from Apple in letting you customize your hardware. After returning it I then locked onto the m15x. 10x the graphical horsepower and ironically enough, longer battery life. Anyway, slick notebook though and very stylish.

 

cheers newfie.
i have no idea what i am going to look at next. i will take the great advice from everyone on here and have a good look around at the weekend.

thanks crystak.
i think im a total fixture to this forum now so wont be going anywhere.
good luck with your return. with all them problems you might get a brand new laptop except for the HD (keep an eye out just in case you get my chassis).
one stress out the way and now ive got to get stressed about the car.

@Groove75^^
i dont think i will be getting a mac as it will be like learning to use a computer all over again with the operating system.
im also not really a game but since i got the m15 and i loaded the orange box i was hooked so i think whatever i get it will have to have a 512mb graphics card and most probably the 8800 again.

 

do people not get fired at AW? how can they justify so many machines having to be returned multiple times?
at the rate they are going, they must not have too much bussiness to cater to.

 

Hey MrDJ it sucks that you had so many issues with your m15x that you had to give it up. Luckily mine has been fine since the day I got it so I guess Im just lucky. Hope to see you around the forums still.

P.S. Put in a note with your system for our old friend ' funny accent CS lady ' that says " REFUND BIATCH !!!! "

 

now i know why i missed you Mortis CS Biatch LMFAO
hows it going mate,long time no hear (in a good way)
so glad you got a good one. another person we havnt seen lately is laptoplu so she must have got a good one as well (just my luck).
sadly i forgot about biatch and my system is already back in ireland.

ps. ive just won the lottery so i am about to buy 1000 m15x (hopefully at least one will work)

 

WHAT ??

 

ok,i got slightly carried away there .

 

Wow that would mean 2000 shipments for fedex. Since you would have to return them all.

Goes back to the theory, the only one getting anything out of the M15x is FEDex. LMAO

 

i was also thinking of putting in a pre order for the new round screens. actually ill buy 20 of them to make a circle and sit in the middle on a swivel chair.

bmw m3 turbo just ordered.

 

Thought you already had a BMW - you getting a refund on that as well?

 

nah, some sod reversed into it at work yesterday so ill just buy a new one,top of the range of course. its even got an 8800 included. hope that doesnt downclock
or i wont be able to get over 30 mph.

 

DALM IT! it was saturdays ticket and not todays. im gutted.

i still won though... a tenner