Hey guys - I want the new M17x, but I don't trust Alienware.

Let me start out by saying that I know Alienware is overpriced and many people have had problems with it. Just want to know what you guys think about them.

I'm mostly going for design and I'm looking at a $2,500 laptop.

I will be playing Runescape, Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3 on my laptop.

I'm looking at a 3 year warranty for my computer. Anything in the warranty that will suck for me or I should know about?

What do you guys think overall of Alienware (good or bad)?

 

First of all, mostly any modern system will play the games your inquiring about. You'll be pleased to know that anything from Alienware will be overkill to that style game. Now would probably be the best time to purchase an Alienware due to the new aquisition with Dell. I highly recommend the M17X. As far as warranty, it's always good to have. When you're thinking about spending 2 grand or more, a warranty to protect your investment would come in handy and accidents do happen.

Gabe

 

Thanks for the help. You don't work for dell computer though do you? They've been known to up the reviews to hide them. Well Alienware which is part of dell. My last dell computer was $2,200 3-4 years ago and dell did a pretty good job on it.

Fixed my problems free of charge under the warranty.

Just can't trust Alienware.

 

alienware is pretty good about repairs and such, thier not gonna screw you over like other companies. and its only better since dell took over

 

Thanks, anything I should know in general?

 

That looks like a trick question lol. Well.....I don't work directly for Dell, but I perform work for them indirectly. I have a badge and share a lot of things in common with most Dell employees. You could say that I'm more of an independent. However I'm very honest when it comes to quality and I'll always try to direct you in the right direction.

Gabe

 

No trick question. Might be a bit confusing, but I'm not trying to confuse anyone. Just don't want broken reviews from a worker who is told what to say.

I'm in college so $2,500 is just as much as my classes for one semester.

 

I understand. I'd like to reassure you that I've always been fairly honest in what I see, despite which company I perform work for. As far as previous Alienware models prior to the M17X, I never been a big fan. In my opinion, the m9750, m15x, and m17 were ridden with several problems. Some issues were able to correct while others were tollerated. When Dell and Alienware partnered to make the M17X, the quality was instantly lifted, and a more stable unit was produced. If you're looking for the least problematic system, I'd suggest looking toward the M17X. However, it is very heavy, so transporting it between classes might be difficult.

Gabe

 

i owned a AW and now i will own a AW Dell and i have complete faith in my purchase

 

OT: I knew you weren't working directly through Dell. I deal with a lot of third party Dell techs at work. Most of them are from Unisys and most of the time they are really good.

 

Whell ill contribute too.. im never going AW again.. i just ordered a Clevo/Sager as you can see in my sig..
Used to own a M17, and Aw voided my warranty (their tech said its ok to change the cpu myself, so i do it, i call back to ask about cpu and nb temps ranges and they say my warranty is voided for changing the cpu). The notebook also doesnt work correctly with any quad (it says quad core compatible on their site and they sell em with quads!!! - had all three quads (q9000,q9100,qx9300) in and tested and all stutter - this is a known problem) but aw wont admit it and keeps selling these faulty systems! No warranty, no refund or exchange for a working system (that can actualy work with a quad - this one had voltage and/or heat issues), so had to sell it for around 50-55% price and buy another notebook..
Thats my expirience.. might be different with dell now.. but im not risking it..

 

Dude, Starcraft2 will probably not be out until December and as for Diablo3 that most likely will not be seen until 2011... Blizzard makes the best games but they do not take high powered computers to play them.

That being said, I am an intensive WoW player and the way that Blizz has been ramping the graphics up on that MMORPG well you cannot go wrong with Alienware or Dell IMO. I have owned multiple computers/laptops from both Companies and have been completely satisfied with the way they look and perform

 

That's good at least if someone tries to steal it I can run them down.

I'm sure it's not that heavy. I'm used to lugging around a pc from back in the day. No laptop can be heavier than the thick monitor I used to have. Weight won't be an issue.

 

I know it's going to be a while, but I'm not buying my machine for a few months. Looking into my possibilities right now. So when I have enough for the down payment I'll know what I want.

The guy at work said AW computers are probably one of the most problematic and it's sad that they're so expensive for how bad they are.

 

Well might as well add my 2 cents

Brought the rig in my sig in april, its well documented my feelings regarding alienwares upgrade policy. I dont enjoy being mucked about with AW

However, i have had a really good support service recently, when i had an error one of my hardrives and they just sent me a new one which arrived in 3 days, A+ service imo

The build quality of my M17 cant be faulted, i dont have any problems other then incompatibility of sound drivers with my USB headset, but that isnt AW's fault and nothing they can fix.

I have a dual core at the moment and dont have any prorblems with it as it stands and it over clocks very well with no problems. I have ordered a quad and have all the parts i need to do the copper mod right out of the box and from everything i have read people who are willing to do this will sort all of the quad stuttering issues out. If it doesnt i will prob sell the quad on eBay and get back pretty much what i paid but i am hoping it doesnt come to that

I get good battery from my m17, normal use of about 2 hours hard use take off half hour.

Hope it helps a little in ur decision

Pete

 

I'll add my opinion to this too.

I've had my M9750 for about 18 Months now, had to go away for 1x Repair recently Due to a faulty nVidia GPU. Customer support was helpful and kept me well informed on the status of the repair and it was sent back via express delivery!

In terms of build quality i've never had any creaking, keyboard flex or anything of that sort and from what i've heard about the other 17" Alienware models it's all the same in terms of build quality.

I certainly dont think you'll be dissappointed if you order the new M17x!

I wouldnt say that "any" modern machine will play those games well, just looking at what Blizzard did to WoW in there latest expansion in terms of computing power required to run it well with little improvement to graphical appearance. So Alienware would certainly be a good choice if Starcraft2/Diablo3 are anything similar!

 

Ironically the good people on these forums have found a solution to quad core stuttering, and that's a northbridge copper mod. Also, with the latest B14 bios, stuttering problems are much reduced-it's hardly an issue anymore, so AW are trying to do something about it.

As for the warranty, yes, if you sent it back with a different CPU in then they would say it's voided. HOWEVER if you popped your old CPU back in (without damaging anything of course) then your warranty would still be in effect if you sent it back with the old CPU in.

 

Hellcry contributed to Project Freeze, he tried silver, and it didn't work for him.

 

Corsair i did a silver and copper mod and it doesnt help, also the AW bios is worse than ocz and makes stuttering even worse, its confirmed that b14 also does not fix it. And about the warranty, they voided it anyway even though no damage was done and it works fine with the dual core. But i wanted a quad (since its stated it works with a quad) and i wont stand that it doesnt work with it. Its trash to me than. I seriously dont know how you still defend this system. Even if the copper mod did work i dont think we should put so much effort into fixing someone elses faults - not for as much as we pay for it. I hated even seeing the notebook since i had so much troubles with it. Im starting to think some people like the stuttering.

Just my suggestion if you plan to keep your M17.. DONT put a quad in there.. get a x9100 instead.. it should game just as fine for now.. And the quad also depletes the battery in just a bit over an hour..

And Blazertek50: Diablo has a set release date for 26.9.09 (unless they cange it again which i doubt since they need funds). I already pre-ordered it. Starcraft is coming around that time too.

 

I wouldn't trust AW either.. advertising dual lamp LCD and there seems to be a high probability that its really a dim single lamp screen.

 

I would not trust Alienware either.

 

BECAUSE...?

If you start out with a negative then you can't help but look for confirmation to your supposition.

As I've stated previously, a warranty is only as good as the company that supports it. In every situation you MUST read the fine print and look for exclusions. ALL companies look for was to keep their repair cost down which includes using refurbished parts and contracting to outside sources to do the repair work. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's something consumers should be aware of when shopping for a good warranty.

This is how your thread should have begun.

 

I don't know what to think so I'm holding off on comment and purchases...

 

This has not been confirmed.

 

I did say high probability.. didn't say it was a fact and there are people that own it that think its dim and washed out looking. I have never heard of a dim washed out looking dual lamp lcd. Someone compared their macbook to their M17x and noticed a huge difference in brightness too. The facts keep piling up and its leaning towards it being a single lamp lcd.

 

Your post is the very reason AW should be under scrutiny. People on this forum should not have to copper mod or mod their laptop to WORK , and a bios update that NEARLY solves the issue, glad to see the people are being taken for a walk. If AW are selling CPUs that are in anyway non-compatabile with their system, they should either warn consumers of this (they won't because they like money.), or quite simply lower the absurd price.

AW are trying to do very little about it, in my AW process I spoke to around 10-15 different agents, only 2 of them were aware of the quad issue (and one tech CS asked me to turn my systems lighting off to solve the problem). At the time their flagship laptop was the M17, so you would think the company should know of the main problem with their most expensive processor and flagship model.

People on the AW forum need to wake up and smell the coffee, now the M17X may have problems, whether they are confirmed or not people are reporting issues.

So to OP I would not recommend AW and to go with another company.

EDIT: This is my opinion towards the experiences with my laptop and the company, I do have a desktop from them and it works perfect, 2 years old and still runs like a beast.

 

I admit that it was a bad idea to release it with the problem and that they should copper mod it themselves. However it's still a great laptop, and they have tried to make amends with the bios. It's not that good but hell, it's a start.

 

Hehe true I can't deny that when my M17 did run without shutter it was insane playing Crysis on full!!

 

My stuttering doesn't cause a problem, all I do is put it on power saver a minute to let the northbridge cool down and then it's fine. Worst case scenario I restart and it's fine. And it only usually happens when I'm gaming for hours on end (lol)

 

Thats what I used to do as well actually, or pull the power cord out and plug it back in I usually don't mind that sort of stuff, but I DJ live so I can't have a shutter on it I shall miss the lighting !

 

Just as a tip, I've never got the stutter while it's in power saver. Maybe you could use that while DJing live?

 

did u copper mod urs evil?

 

Nope. I may or may not in the future depending on whether or not the stuttering starts to annoy me, and ultimately on whether or not my father will let me

I'm presuming my system has the B14 bios on it because although it DOES stutter it stutters very rarely.

I'm still slightly confused as to what causes it. I know it's obviously something to do with the northbridge, but my theory is it's something to do with the rapid heating of it. I've had times where it's stuttered at its idle temp (usually around 50-55C) and sometimes it's gone above 70C and not stuttered.

 

the Quad core is slightly larger (physically) then the dual core snd there fore the heatsink doesnt sit correctly on the north bridge

the copper mod adds a layer of copper so it is flush on the north bridge therefore increasing the cooling and reducing the stutter

from what i have seen it is very highly effective

 

For the last time.. its not a solution.. it still stutters.. i still say its also the voltage since it stutters too sometimes when its all cold inside.. and perhaps also overheating.. just think about this.. 4 or 5 M17 were selling on this forum alone at the same time.. everyone states the system works fine.. but why the heck are they (we) selling? (this started before the allpowerfull news so its not to change our systems for it) noone would buy it if you said they didnt work..

How can you still defend aw? Trying to fix the problem with the bios? They dont even admit it exists!

And the ones that say they can stand the stuttering, using low power modes (lowering performance), rebooting, letting it cool down and plugging out the cable.. you really must like the stutter, cause it made me blazing mad to see my rig stutter while gaming.. i almost threw it through the window on several occasions..

 

Sorry, I just needed to ask an urgent question, I just ordered my m17 and I wanted to know if all the drivers were pre-installed or not?

Do I need to install certain drivers or any will do?

Im a noob at this stuff, i have no idea.

 

All AW systems come with windows and all drivers installed, but the drivers suck for gaming so get new ones.. i used e-wreckeds 8.12 on windows 7.. got best gaming performance with those.

 

ok AW has acknowledge there is a problem ... they can ask Flex to fix it ... we will see what happens.

The BIOS's were targeted to fix it .... not sure how though .(heat and/or Voltage)..

( confirmed by AW reps)


i was selling because personally i like the m17x more and decided i needed something for better battery

 

No reps here admit to the problem, and in the bios update notes there is no mention of fixing it and after asked (im not going to spend my time looking for that thread - its in the b13 one i think), the reps said they are not targeting to fix the stuttering issue, but that the bios MIGHT help the stuttering.. which it doesnt.. no voltages were changed, so no more juice which the quad requires and temps should also stay the same. I still dont think its heat though since it works better with the ocz bios, which has more voltage coming to the cpu, which means (and this is confirmed) that the systems runs hotter with it.
And ill believe theyre talking to flex when i see a release that actually fixes this problem.. they say anything to get more customers..

 

good luck

not many people will go in and look @ future shipments to see id they added 4mm of copper .....

I talked to AW reps on the phone and tech support


the reps here have to be very very careful about what they say other wise they will loose there job