Area-51 m15x Update from Alienware

maybe i should've canceled since it will prob annoy me... my system shipped yesterday (no shipping upgrade). i'm assuming this gap will happen to all systems now as their own display unit has the same problem. If the gap is there, and there is no promise of a fix for everyone, return it is.

@ fusion - i may also have to battle the returns peeps and fight the 15% restocking till the end. I will not pay 15% of my 5k system ($750) for returning a defective unit. I'm a sysAdmin/Webmaster for a law firm... I guess at that point we'll see how it goes with 12+ attorneys on the phone with them.

 

Good luck Nugles. It's sad to hear that you aren't happy with your m15x.

 

I actually think some attorneys up their (...) would only do good and maybe it's time the customers take action and then maybe we'll see the upgrades pouring in.

Seriously, Alienware needs a lot of changes if they are to live up to the reputation everyone expects from them.

 

I agree with you guys....after paying (...) loads on a machine, there's no way in hell i would pay them for a re-stocking fee....it seems to me that if it is their incompetence...then they should foot the bill....with this in mind they might think twice in future about shipping laptops which are riddled with problems.

 

Asking for full refund when the system is not up to your expectations is a normal thing and if any company (especially one that is selling itself as a high end one) refuses to do the full refund you should try to push them. The problem is most of us are not that patient but maybe turning the things into a credit card thing might do you good. On the other hand asking for upgrades and such is not normal (even if we all feel we should get some compensation) from a "legal" point of view so sending lawyers over will not solve much .

In any case I think more countries/states should take as example UK and other countries where restocking fee is illegal (with some limits) so by law you have a certain time to evaluate the product. And this is even more important when buying from the internet whre you don't see the product at first. I mean I have an order on the m15x and from the reviews I saw is a beautiful thing (yet flawed). However I bought it as a present for my girlfriend and it might well be that when she sees it she hates it (design, specs, color) and off it goes with no restocking fee. That should be pushed as a consumer right for online shopping everywhere .

 

ah no i actually don't have it yet. I was just saying that when i get it Friday, if it has the gap above the ethernet port, i will kindly call AW to ask if they are planning on fixing it... if not, i will go through the return process.

Does anyone who owns a m15x NOT have the gap above the port?

 

I will say u will win the case but ended up a $10,000 bill from your powerful 12+ colleague.

 

yeah i know whay you guys are going threw. before they fixed mine, i refused to give them a cent for a restocking fee. but it looks like they refuse your refusal lol. you guys have to actually honor the warrenty (according to AW) you have to let them try to fix it. (even if it means mailing it in to them).

 

If my system was majorly busted like rexi's and they said they would charge the restocking fee I would do EVERYTHING in my power to burn them. Better business bureau, potential lawsuit, anything because that's flat out WRONG.

If you buy a broken TV from Target and you return it, its not like you need to pay anything. The thing is friggin broken!

I'm going to test my system with newfiejudd's 'super gpu stresser' with the laptop FLAT on the table. If I see downclocking i will send my system in to them to fix. If it comes back and I find its still broken, its on like donkey kong.

 

You are absolutley 100% correct! I sent mine in today and it damn better be working correctly when I get it back.

 

After two parts replacements at home and now sending it in for service, I really hope that they get it right this time. Otherwise AW will be spending lots of money on shipping charges until it's fixed! I got all year under warranty.

 

If is broken already consider making that warranty 3 years .

 

LOL...No kidding!

 

Nugles my system does NOT have the gap above the ethernet port.

 

yeah after i read all about the overheating thing, i called and upgraded my warranty to 3-years.

@ MrD1sturbed - that's good to hear. how long have you had your system?

 

any idea what the turnaround time is for sending a faulty system back to AW
i suppose from the uk we should add another week or so on top.

ive also just done a price comparison from the usa site and the uk site and guess what......ordering on the usa site my spec came to
2,947.00 USD = 1,467.56 GBP

£500 /$1000 cheaper

 

if you bought the x fi card from the creative site or some other retailer you could of saved even more money

 

Very true, Save some money and order from a 3rd party vendor. You have given aw enough money dont cha think?

 

in your UK configuration there are also taxes. in US config there aren't

 

thanks for the info guys.
i went about ordering my lappy ass about face.
i whent by AW past great reputation. i ordered my laptop. i then found this great forum and finaly i searched for the extra parts on independant websites.
if only...

iforgot about our rip off britain taxes and vat.
jim

 

is the m15x problem really that bad? i see everyone is returning their system

 

I dont think the problems are so bad, but some people have still problems with temperature & downclock. I would also return the notebook when to many things not ok, but i would never ever pay the 15% return fee. Because of this point i will not order a m15x without being shure all problems are really solved.

For many its maybee to much small problems that force them to return the system within the 30-day period.

 

I agree with them on that point, they should get a chance to fix it and honor the warranty. but not an open-ended "just keep sending it back for repairs" situation.

that applies especially to a product was pretty much proven to have been shipped initially with defects. but stopping shipments until the firmware "fix" (and i use the term loosely) was released is tantamount to admitting it was defective.

If I only had 30 days to return it, then from my standpoint they had 30 days to fix it. and they were running out of time on my clock, so I made my decision.

 

does this bios update increases the m15x performance in crysis? like some added fps or something?

 

I was under the impression that the 30 days was to allow people to have time to see if they really wanted to keep their system. imo, if you get the system and immediately have to send it back because it's faulty, your 30 days should be extended. Seriously. What if i have it in my hands for 1 day, send it in, and they take 4 weeks to fix it? Sure that's a bit extreme but then again, what if i had it for 1 week, 2-3 days to ship back to them, and they take a week or more to fix it, 2-3 days to get back to me... that month is up. i'm sure some have already run into this problem. They get to play with their system for a few days and before they even get a fully working system in their hands, the 1 month mark closes in. If they decide to hang on, who knows when they'll actually get a fully working system... if they decide to return, AW keeps 15%. That seems like too good of a deal for AW.

 

Nugles,

well said. That was exactly what I want to write but you beat me to it. That's is unfair and could have potential of having class action lawsuits for those who in conditions you just mentioned.

 

nope. i wish.

 

well, to be fair, i had a verbal commitment from AW that they would extend the 30 days from the point of the notebook being returned for repairs, so I wouldn't say they are painting people into corners with that policy.

but to cling to that policy in the face of a defective unit is bad business. do you think i'm gonna steer folks to alienware ever again after this fiasco?

funny thought: wouldn't it have been poetic justice if every time they tried to add my payment to their ledgers, it lost a digit? "excuse me, we paid you a hard-earned m15x for 3500 dollars, but every time we go to utilize the money, it becomes 350 dollars, we need you to fix that".

 

Why all the problems? DELLienware always talks about the 200 point quality check of system... hmmm! Sounds to me, after reading this forum, that this is just Sales BS...

"I AM SCANDINAVIAN EVERYTHING IS WHAT IT IS".

 

did the downclocking issues for everyone got fixed? I'm talking about those who kept their system and had them either sent back to be fixed or fixed over the phone?

 

I don't quite fit into this group, but my unit which arrived last week has what appears to be the latest bios installed (x30 or v30 whatever) and it's downclocking. Is AW still looking into this problem? Or do they think they have already fixed the issue with the new BIOS and have stopped looking further into it?

 

That's what I think too. Maybe they don't know that people are still downclocking or no one is emailing their problems to the m15x email address.

 

I better start emailing them. Should I email UK/Europe or can I email AW headquarter in US about this?

 

i was just on the phone with an AW tech support personnel for 4 hours. He sounded genuinely shocked when i was telling him some of the problems i had. He told me that my system was the FIRST m15x to have any problems that he knew of. i think he was serious.

 

They all sound shock even when you tell them about the downclocking problem. They also said "This is the first m15x I hear to have such an issue."

 

it's true... i asked that guy which laptop he used. he told me that they all use AW desktops at their workstations and they had a gameroom with all AW desktops. he was actually saving up money to buy the m15x and he was really excited about it. He had no clue there were problems. I'm thinking L1 tech support probably don't hear too much of it since there was supposedly a group dedicated to the m15x. I'm going to assume they have 3 lvls of tech support like how i assume most large companies do. This guy deals with mostly reinstalling drivers and such. probably won't deal with much downclocking or overheating issues.

i want a gameroom at my workplace

 

They told me the same bologna too! I'm at my ends with this company. They charged me for a replacement video card $569 almost two months ago and I'm still trying to get a credit to my visa. Now they have had my laptop for over a week and were suppose to send me a replacement becasuse of all the problems. Guess what....no laptop and now they emailed me saying that they have sent it back to me??? WTF??

I think it's time to get the BBB involved!

 

Ok guys, I just want to make sure, for those people who got their downclocking issues fixed, this is what is happening, as shima said above, the fans just kick up in high gear...

Is this what suppose to happen? Just the fans go on full blast and the temperature is inconsistent but lower than 90 degrees C?

Can you guys tell me if this is how a normal system would perform? And could this quick fix not be good for the system since it makes the temp go up and down all the time?

 

In answer to the first question, all m15x owners have reported that with the x30 bios the laptop temps reach ~84C and then the GPU fan kicks in to "high gear" this then lowers the temps to mid 70s.. As far as I recall they usually hover between this range..

Not too sure about it being a problem for the system going up and down all the time.. Doesn't it usually do that when you're gaming/running heavy software anyways ?

 

Originally Posted by shima View Post
Initial impression of x30 bios:

Idle temps are lower than x29b, from around 61-63 C to 55-58 C. That's a plus.

ATI Tool artifact scanner: ran for 30 minutes. At the 8 minute mark, temps reached 87 C which made the fans kick in high and lowered temps to 77 C. Doesn't appear to be a change in this new BIOS.
However, the remaining 22 mins it scanned, temps were stable at 83-84 C, and the fan didn't kick in high.

I ran ATI Tool's 3D view after the artifact scanner, and temps were stable at 83-84 C for another 10 mins without the fans going into full blast.

No downclocking for me throughout all of this.

Well according to the discussions on pages 35-42, the people seemed like this was a bad thing, that it wasnt a legit fix. And people said on those pages that all this did was speed up the fan, and that the inconsistency of the temp from 70-85 back down to 70 then few mnutes later back to 80 isn't a good thing.

Can some one anwser this please?

 

Users who have accused AW of opting for a "non-legit" fix are looking for something a bit more drastic i.e. better cooling ducts, bigger fans etc. In that case you can't look at the increased rpm of the fan as a "legit" fix..
For other users, even Chaz and Steve@NBF, the BIOS update with increased fan speed has been accpeted as a fix.. That's where I'm coming from..
I think the correct phrase is "Each one to his own"

 

the notebook i now have (17" with same spec components as the M15x) only ever gets up to 70C peak. under heavy load. in a very warm room. and of course never downclocks. for hours

m15x was getting to 90C peak under the same conditions and downclocking within 10-15 minutes. regardless of the bios. it just happened LESS FREQUENTLY with the updated fan boosting bios.

for all those who "accept the fix", best of luck to you in the summertime.

 

@Wraithers

I see where you are coming from, but when you have more than 30% of people with the same problems, you will have to agree that saying "Each one to his own" is, at the minimum, unaceptable! I know what Chaz wrote, what Steve wrote, etc... BUt I also know what the other 30-40% of the people keep saying about their downclocking!
And I would bet my money... If these 30-40% have the problem, it's still there! Some systems just show it more easily than others! It will be a matter of time!

 

Guess I put my foot forward too soon then, been away from the forum for about 4 days now and missed a couple of the threads a page or two back.. Been looking at them and I kinda get how many more are on the other side..
Didn't mean to cause you to use your Shift+1 key so much

 

Ahahaha!!! It's a habit I have... I'm a very ! person! (you see... there it goes again!).

 

Hehe.. No worries..
Btw I like your "we can change the world" speech in the other thread.. But seeing as I don't have one either, thought it appropriate to keep my paws off the Post button

 

I don't have one... I want one... So I guess it's also up to us!

We have what we can get from everyone else that is posting in this forum. And if I can don something to try and fix it (permanently), so I guess it's a good thing to put our efforts on!

That's just my cheap one pence opinion!

 

Well seeing as how your Posts to Rep ratio is much higher than mine, it's safe to say you opinion counts for a lot more than one pence
I'm off in a bit, so let me depart with a vote of good luck !!! (I'm a ! person myself )

 

Don't worry guys, i'm also a ! person every so often.

I think of it as "Foot and Mouth desease" lol

OB

 

Mine 0.02$ :

I found around internet, even on our forum, Clevo with 8800gtx does have similar problems with downclocking, and with permanent downclock by occasion of drivers change (other than stock). But Clevo has introduced new VBIOS for graphic cards. Maybe AW is looking for solution in wrong direcion ? Hey, AW-guys here ? Please, check if this is problem of nvidia maybe ?! I think v30 bios plus some improvements in vbios would help...
I decided to came here, cause I had same downclock issues on my M15x. After FurMark run, with stock original bios, in one minute graphic card started periodically downclock (few second of down, then up for minute, and again, and again). After change to v30.... huh. Run one hour of FurMark and temp was stable and any downclock. After this, in second hour... IT STARTED DOWNCLOCK, but different way, one second down peaks in random times. So, I think, x30 is not final solution.

cheers

Kitir