Issues of M17

You fixed it?! Congratulations man! I can't wait to hear what AW says. Now you can get to using it for what it was intended for. I also can't wait to hear what the issue was. Could you possibly PM me the reason?

EDIT: Judging from your pics, I will not only be reformatting, but also applying some AS5 before it ever gets powered on.

 

Glad it worked out for you man. i for one am so glad they jerked me around and screwed up my order as it gave me time to recall how horrible a time i had with my old AW lappy and I cancelled and went with a reseller. The CS is a joke, the onsite service you buy is anything but onsite, and to make matters worse you need to try and convince them there is a problem even after 300 calls when you keep telling them it is running hot and they keep telling you nope it is just a bad reading you cant measure temp (but of course go over to the ocz forum and noone has a problem measuring temp). Anyone who purchases from AW really should think twice.

 

More issue from this problem. I notice there is a trend of lower performance/score through out the extensive tests I have done though out the days.
example: The scores of 3dMarks06 have been lower and lower, even after restore to factory partition.

I suspect the GPU disable some of its components after some damage is done to them, and/or when 110 degree is reach and shutdowns occur many times. Just like the CPU, which has some advance self error prevention technology where the damage/error components are removed from its CPU cycle to prevent error from happening on the software side.

It seems it's the case here.

 

Sooo what exactly was the problem?

I can't make anything out in those screens.

 

Any chance we can get an update on what was wrong with your laptop causing it the GPU to overheat?

Looking to price the buy now button on the m17 hoping not to have the same problems..

 

i think he mentioned something about tape on the GPUs?

 

Most likely that you will not have the same problem now after I tell them this. The supervisor of Roswell group was surprised about this, and I think the whole AW support group knows about this case by now, so is the R&D group.

What we have to concern now is that their support service before and after they know the cause of this problem.

Before they know the cause, the support service is not too bad, just they have less knowledge than me in their own computer systems, and their QC department never use a temperature reading program to check the status of the computer before sending out, which is a big No-No for a "trying to be" top computer company.

After the cause, I am still waiting, but their policy for this special case is not so special so far. I will update on the full thing very soon. They are going to give me a call again today. Yesterday, they said they can't replace my laptop.

 

they can't replace your laptop? why not?

 

I am on the phone right now with kevin, their decision is that I can return it to get a refund. Kind of angry. That's the kind of quality service to cover their major fault?

Will update after finish the call.

 

what was the fault on your lappie exactly?

 

Ok, after 1 hr on the phone and bargaining, I got promised what I wanted.



Bargaining points:
- They first asked me to send the system back to get dissembled first, then place a new order for me, which can take more than 3 or 4 weeks.
- Then they allow me to place a new order first and adjust the price afterward.
- They say they are so nice to waive the 15% stocking fee, but have to charge the shipping fee for shipping back the burned system.
- After told them many times, I am the first one doing the review for m17 and still doing a review for them, and I would love to get a contact of their CEO so we can discuss further on this. They finally agree what I wanted.

Have a new system built for me, which I have to pay for it now, and with price equal to what I paid before. I have to return this system to get a refund on that amount when I get the need system.

 

seems fair enough. are you gonna go with an m17 again?

 

Yes, I just placed the order.

It's fair, and losing money on their part, but I didn't gain anything, I lose the time to talk with them.
At least 5 hours of talk on the phone with them to ONLY get what I am supposed to get in the first place, nothing more.

If you think about it. They are losing money because their major fault, and I am losing my time for their major fault. I didn't do anything wrong, I only did what's good for them, spent so many days to find the problem for them. I think they should reward me instead of trying to get me to pay extra to get what I am supposed to get at the beginning.

 

Are you getting better specs?

 

nope, it has to be same spec for easy price adjustment.
because the current price is up by 200$

 

How come its up by 200?

 

canadian exchange rate.

 

I don't understand why they are giving you such trouble.

The people on alienwares online chat told me that all of there laptops have a 30day money back guarentee?

Is that a blatant lie?

 

Well you have to pay a 15% restocking fee so if it is a $2000 laptop thats $300. $3000 its $450, and $4000 its $600.

 

no, 30 days money back = 15% stocking fee may be charged.
If they waive the 15% stocking fee, then they will charge mail back fee.
And for my situation, I request an email and phone number of CEO of AW, then it's waived as well. But, that's for my situation.

So far, roswell customer service has be good to me, just need some bargaining to get what I want/deserve.

note: stone beat me to it.

 

Ouch

 

I say they sold you a load my friend. Reaching 100 degrees "regularly" is not at all normal for any graphics solution.

 

In fact, the M1730 besides me with 8700m SLI never hit above 85 degree. Maybe you should check the fan, heatsink, dust, and tape in your laptop and take pictures if you feel comfortable about opening your laptop.

 

It would be very helpful if you could post a clear explanation of what caused your issues. Several people have requested this but you seem reluctant to share. You have shared everything about your experience but we still do not know what caused the issue.

 

well i hope my m17 doesnt turn out like this. maybe i should have just stuck with an m1730! :X

 

AHA! respect! M1730s! whee

 

btw, 1730 is even bigger than m17.

 

well i used to have an m1730 and i returned it for a couple of reasons:

backlit keyboard stinks
the screen was grainy
tons of bloatware
look to fancy ( i like the black look of the m17 i wish it had ripley but 0 well)
the build quality i thought was cheap
dells support is horrible
the keys got dirty really quick


i dunno i gues the m1730 just isnt for me

 

Ok seriously, was it too much paste or the tape on the gpu that caused the problem from your perspective and the phone calls? I think waiting for AW to give an official answer is wasting time for those thinking about getting this machine.

 

if you take a closer look at those pictures, you will see what caused the problem - they forgot to remove plastic tape protecting the thermal paste before installing heatsinks on GPUs and that caused extreme overheating.

instead of:

|GPU| |paste| |heatsink|

it was:

|GPU| |tape| |paste| |heatsink|

you can see it on those pictures now that you know what you are looking for.

 

Thanks that was what I thought the pics were not that clear.

 

you are welcome =)
btw. check out the OCZ forum as there is great amount of info about OCZ Whitebook (Arima/Flextronics 840 DI) there...it is exactly the same model as AW m17 - only difference being lack of alinen logo and stealth paintjob

 

I think there was a rash of problems on the 9750 for a short time based on the lack of the hardware builder to remove the plastic cover from between the heatsink and the gpu/memory units.

 

I am waiting for a new m17 to replace this one, and it seems it's going to take LONG time.
My original m17 is acting up already in games where graphics are screwed up sometimes, the 3dmarks06 is record low, but haven't crash yet. I am not going to bother testing if the hardware is failing from the heat, I am just going to use this until the new replacement arrive. I would be very pissed if I have to keep this system and they replace it.
I just hope this one doesn't break down until the new one arrives.

 

Yeah, but the m17 costs less.

 

Update on the replacement.

1 week after I placed new order of the replacement, I am still in phase 2 and my credit card is already charged. So I am $4k+ out. The new replacement seems stuck with out of stock of graphic card and keyboard.

My original m17 is acting up in games now.

 

fusion you ordered a new one? what are the specticles.

 

same spec. it has to be same to be a replacement.

 

AW told me they are having trouble with the phases, mine say's billing but they said I was past phase3 and will have the status/phase issues fixed soon. Personally they should do away with the phase system, causes more problems than it's worth

 

The trick I use was Speed fan my old m5550 would run 110c then turn off. But speedfan was setup after 10 to 15mins so the fan would turn on. Basicly I had to run the laptop fan manualy. Untel replaced.

 

I thought you were going to get an exchange on it why are you keeping it at all, and why did you charge for a new one if that was the case?

 

because I need a laptop while waiting for a new one.

If I send this one in first, I am out of laptop for 2 to 3 weeks.

 

good to see that you it replaced but the thing that i find weird is pay for the second and refund the first one that just seems useless and time consuming
could they just send you a new one and then when the new arives you just send it back??\

(enlighting....)
nm i quess they would have to trust you alot to do that seeing you might keep both.
my mistake.

 

I got my M17 in on wednesday and i am started to have problems I installed crisis today and then after none of my other games would run right. CS:S All the text moves or sorta twitches and every once and a line will roll down the screen sorta like a VCR. I tried to capture it with fraps but it doesnt show up. I restored the lappy to factory so it wasnt anything i installed and it is still doing it. I shut it off for a good hour turned it back on and it was doing it when the computer was descently cold. Any sugestions would be awesome. lol im sorta lost at this point.

 

download the newest drivers.. well, the newest beta drivers: http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?77908

Install and smile.

 

<smiles> Ty Downloaded the the 8.12 RC3 driver modded it and now it is working great no more moving video.
+rep

 

actually i got anouther question, Any tricks to making it so you can press keys and being able to you the "mouse". cause when i am playing a shooter and i dont have room for my actual mouse.

 

so you haven't found the mousepad yet?

 

Update Dec 10, 2008:
I just got my new M17 replacement, the test record of the new one is 11157 in 3dmarks06 while the old one was 10861. Both are installed by the same guy.
Assembler Initials: RR
Tester Initials: AI
Will test further for stability and temperature.

 

hey guys im having a major problem with my brand new freakin M17 notebook.

i am confused because i shelled out $3000 for it and it lags like no other

i mean it cant even play the first Halo on the thing with it lagging and then inevitably freezing up

and i dont even want to see what its like playing the stupid thing online.

im just mad lol

i downloaded the newest driver for my graphics card which was recommended by the service rep

and it didnt help at all

Im new on this forum by the way it looks pretty sweet

my notebook includes the quad core processor at 2.26Ghz
with dual ATI Radeon HD 3870 with crossfire
4 GB of RAM
with Vista 32 bit

any help would be appreciated guys

peace and merry xmas eve

im at a loss

it cant even play music without slowing down significantly

so much for the quad core processor and 4 GB of RAM