Area-51 m15X new laptop from the shelf!

Hi guys,

I have been browsing since friday evening to find a solution for my problem.

Problem:

New Area-51 m15x ordered and recieved it 7th of november around 18:00 my time.

After doing all the neccesary updates vista requires me to do and adding a virus scanner i tought it would be nice to start gaming.

Installed LOTRO, teamspeak and started gaming.

After 1 to 2 hours of gaming "BOOM" blue screen of death error code 0x00000124, with the following description: The system has encountered an uncorrectable hardware error.

I was a bit puzzeled to be honest after seeing that and tought i might have done something wrong installing the game or something in that neighbourhood.

Going to bed and getting up the day after, i was not confident in the system so i called the alien support tech line.

They looked at the system with me and did some various tests.

All in all i have had more then 10 blue screens the laptop is now 2 days old... and is going back to the factory for RMA (since it is overheating most likely).

The support i got from the tech guys is really good in my opinion but that a laptop passes quality control and i even found a minidump log file wich is dated that it was still in the factory is beyond my belief.

I hope some of you guys can tell me where it is going wrong since im a bit dissapointed.

The technical specs from the laptop are:

1] Area-51® m15x

Design & Display: Silver Skullcap Design
Display: 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Webcam
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Blue
Operating System: Genuine Windows® Vista Ultimate - English
Graphics Processor : 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 9800M GT
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 2048MB
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel Turbo Cache Memory 1GB – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB 7200 RPM SATA
CD/DVD/RW: 8x Dual Layer Writer (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Sound Hardware: Intel® High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with surround sound
Keypad: Alienware® Area-51 m15x AlienFX® Keyboard - English
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Additional Power: Additional Battery - Alienware® m15x 9-cell Lithium-Ion Additional Battery
Warranty: AlienCare 3-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return

 

wow, sad to hear. have you monitored temperatures while gaming?

 

Yeah i did and this is the highest is have seen before the blue screen:

cpu_temp: 76 'c, cpu_dts_temp: 66 'c, vgaskin_temp: 77 'c, vgainternal_temp: 83 'c.

Clearly in my opinion there is something wrong with the cooling of the system.

But since i prommised my wife not to look into it (im a Network admin irl) cause of the guaranty etc im not.

Hope they can solve it.

 

Found this on the net. Published by Alienware themselves apparently:

 

thats not it m8, and there is another setting that might change it as well.

No this is a heating issue.

But ty for the help!

 

Did you update your direct X too?

 

no i did not but according to them it's getting way to hot.

But it's a idea

 

mmmh I am just about to order mine.. Im not sure if I should o for the dell m1530 instead

 

Update your direct X. This is the driving force behind the games on Windows. It's just as important as updating drivers.

 

I know m8, checked it and it was up-to-date......

So that was not the issue!

But thank you for thinking with me (it's nerve-wrecking not to be able to play with something you just got since it's broken).

Kuhne, you can still order it since it's a high end laptop wich fullfill's you're needs. I am just one of the few who has a little bad luck but it will be sorted and the support is great. Now just w8-ing to see how the RMA support is.



Cass

 

If this doesn't work, I suppose you can also try a different graphics card driver as well. I also encountered several BSODs during the first week I received my m15x and installing a more updated GPU driver seemed to have solved the issue for me (haven't had a BSOD since.)

 

Your temps do not seem abnormal for the m15x so overheating isn't the problem.

 

Your temps on your M15x are fine. Back on my M5550 my temps got up to 96C - 100C. Under 90C on a laptop is considered normal for the GPU. 84C is great.

 

Updating the issue:

After being on the phone with them and knowing there is more of a issue to it, i got the order cancelled and got a new laptop from them with the following specs and for the same price:

[1] M17®

Graphics Processor : Dual 512MB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 – CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache 1066MHz FSB)
Display: 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Biometric Fingerprint Reader
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard - English
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1067MHz - 2 x 2048MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 320GB 7200 RPM SATA with Free Fall Protection
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate 64-bit with Service Pack 1 - English
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Optical Drives: Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
Sound Hardware: Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Additional Power: Additional Battery - Alienware® M17 12-cell Lithium-Ion Additional Battery
Warranty: AlienCare 3-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return

Again im happy as a small child the night before x-mass.....



Any feedback from you guys who have the 17x with the same specs?



Cass

 

Oh wow. That's totally worth more than the m15x you had.

 

You sure you want to get the m17 from Alienware? Lots of resellers offer the same notebook but way cheaper (when in high end configurations).

 

Yeah im sure, the specs maybe the same as other resellers but im still pleased with all the support etc.

Also i dunno im a fan of alienware i guess......

 

Hi Cass,
are you having any good luck with Alienware Customer Service? I am also having problems with my m15x, the only difference is that I purchased my computer 5 months ago and is still not working. I have called the Florida Dept of Agriculture and Customer Service Division of Consumer Service and I have sent a complaint about Alienware. If they are not hekping you I suggest you do the same and spread the voice to every one you know that is having similar problems with Alienware Company. I think if enogh people complains to that Governament office maybe they will put enough pressure to Alienware to fix their problems. This service from the Governament is for free. You can also call them at
1800 HELP FLA.