Jayonhavok's m15x Experience/Poor Quality & Poor CS

I have had my m15x laptop since early February. For about a month, I was very satisfied.

I've never played Crysis, nor do I really have an urge to play it yet, but I do play other games. Games which can be maxed out and somewhat push the 8800m GTX. For now I play FEAR and BioShock. Other than games, I use Creative Suite CS3, Graphite, and I'm taking classes in Industrial Design.

I paid just over $4100 for this laptop and I was loving it.

I experienced the Heat/Downclocking issues just like everyone else, but the Bios flash worked for me and I was satisfied. I was very disappointed in the touch button area, but I wasn't exactly surprised at how unreliable it was. I still to this day have not been able to use Stealth mode. I've seen better in this area, but I know this kind of technology is mediocre at best for the moment.

I also experienced poor webcam quality, poor speaker sound, and the creaky, wobbling screen monitor. I was pretty annoyed, since besides gaming I used this for keeping in touch with family(webcam & speakers) and travel(wobbly screen on flights made it unbearable to watch movies).

My real problem was on May 29th, when I decided to open my lid, and I heard a SNAP. Small pieces of plastic fell onto my keyboard and lap and the bottom right corner of my screen enclosure had been split and pushed forward. Pieces of the plastic also fell under the keys on the keyboard making some keys impossible to use.

I emailed AW CS about this, and I sent my laptop to Depot. After a week of no news or update on the status, I PMed AW-James who throughout this entire incident was extremely helpful, unlike the rest of AW CS. The news he gave me was not good however.

"After placing your expedite request, a representative from our repair facility informed me that the chassis damage would require payment to fix. As I understand, this was not self-inflicted or accidental, so I have had these charges waived. We can expect diagnosis/repair by today and shipment by next week. I will keep you posted."

This news is what pissed me off. If AW-James hadn't pulled strings, I would have been CHARGED for my laptop suddenly breaking from normal use. I'm still unsettled by how useless this makes my 3-year warranty feel. I understand I have no accidental damage covered, but this damage was through normal day to day use!

I threw a tantrum, which I still believe was warranted and deserved. AW CS was less than helpful. I didn't receive a response to an extensive complaint letter I emailed until almost 2 weeks after I sent it! But I did receive notive during that wait, that my laptop was fixed and sent back to me. WTF?

I receive my laptop in the mail, and what do you know, it's fixed, but not very well. The bottom right still bulges out a little...like a tiny middle finger stickin up at me. I push the other corners and no give...I push the bottom right and it gives noticeably... Just screams repeat damage.

Anyways...that is where I stand at the moment. A laptop that should still look pristine, is now already showing signs of mediocre quality. I can honestly say that from a distance, this laptop is a beauty. But once you get it in your hands...completely different story. The flaws make their presence known.

AW Customer service is not sufficient...to say the least... I'm glad that other m15x owners are happy with their purchases, but keep our horror stories in the back of your mind. This EXACT SAME screen problem has happened to 3 of us, in the EXACT SAME way, with the EXACT SAME outcome. I can only hope this isn't the fate that many other users will experience after a couple months of normal use.

When it comes to gaming and mobility, nothing even comes close to this thing. I don't think there has been anything said about Clevos new 15" having a similar smartbay battery option. The m15x is a beauty, and powerful, and mobile...too bad they couldn't put more effort into cooling design and build quality. This would have been an amazing laptop through and through...instead it'll probably be at the depot every few months...

@Fex & Buzzin,

Whatever action you gentlemen would like to take, I'm in. Just let me know what you need from me.

 

Sorry to hear about that It's instances like this that drives away Alienware's customers.

2 weeks ago, I was ready to order an m15x. Good thing I found this forum and decided to hold off ordering.

Let's just hope that the other m15x owners don't get to experience this

 

looks like I need to stay away from purchasing m15x.

 

Jayonhavok,
Have you returned it for good for a refund or have you returned it to be fixed...again. I am also sorry to hear about your nightmare man

 

This story is absolutely awful. If you still have your computer could u upload some picture of their "repair" work? only if it isnt to much of a trouble for you ofc! thanks! Good luck

 

Seems like more and more people who have theirs for about 3-4 months are starting to experience these problems. Maybe after 3-4 months of thermal beating the laptop takes it breaks then

 

Mine's only a week old and has already over heated once. I'm worried about its future. I love the machine though provided I have no issues and it runs! I only have 1yr warranty but plan on extending to three in hopes of keeping it running. ONce these things are built and worked on after that they are never the same, like a wrecked car

 

I just really really want to return mine now -_-.

 

Jay... Thank you for posting about this.
I hope people would take all of your guys experiences a bit more "at heart". This is a problem that has the potential to affect all, but I think some people just prefer to burry their heads in the sand waiting for problems to pass.

If you need any help, I will be here to provide it to you in any way I can. I think you guys should really "get together" and strike them where it hurts the most.

Keep strong,
M.

 

seems it's just a matter of time before AW sees more shipped back than out...

 

Yea honestly I wonder whats going on with the general population of people who purchased the M15X. Whats frightening to me is that there are many people on here who were members on the forum before purchasing their M15X so they didn't come here for tech support after problems arose and a lot of them have had issues, be it downclocking, overheating or physical damage.

 

Nirvana, I agree with you. There's a chance that this could happen to you. But, there is also a chance that yours will come out good. However, you shouldn't be worrying like this. This sucks.

 

Daedric, I have not turned it back in. The repairs were done, and the smaller bulge that is left behind is not a big enough problem for me to return it to depot for another 3 weeks. Isn't that sad that I had to choose the lesser of two evils though? Seriously...

I will try to get some pics of it posted up... I recommend Fex to do the same.

Otaku,

I completely agree! I feel like this thing will never be the same... If anything, I think this downward spiral will continue...

I agree, no one should have to worry about this type of nonsense when it comes to $1800 - $5000. Purchasing a laptop should not be a gamble by any means... Shame on AW for not extensively testing this product. If they had tested one long-term, they would have found at least half of the problems these laptops now suffer from.

@ Milcs, thank you for your help and kind words... but this thread is still just a pebble thrown into a lake. We need to toss some boulders.

 

I hate to say it but I told you so .

Really though I feel for you man, my drivers on my M9750 just crashed so now I'm back to having no laptop again... grr

 

Haha, I know you did... Now I'm just trying to keep others from making the same mistake I did. I'm sorry to hear about your laptop Stone! Hope it goes well, but you know how AW CS can be...

 

I have been there done that in the past, not AW but other products and I tend to let people such as your self f it up and then reap from that as AW will reach a point where they have to fix issues and it might then be good enough to get.. but keep up the beta testing

I did not get it, had the cash,still do, as no laptop currently has what I want:

ssd
power enough to run the most powerful games today
somewhat slimmer than a brick
15.4 inch
long battery
2.5 quad or extreme cpu

hopefully something comes out soon that works and ppl will not have much issues with it, because I feel for you all

 

I know what you mean... This is my experience with it, so I felt that I should try to be as informative as possible for the benefit of the other people on this site in the market for a reliable gaming laptop.

I hope that AW actually accepts the fact that something needs to be done instead of just hoping we'll go away...

 

Guess my next generation "AW Fan Club Membership" is just about to run out

 

@Maceto - Did you read the article about SSD's by toms hardware yet? The results were actually surprising as they found out that the speed + battery increase really are not that evident at all.

 

Check this out Stone. It's written by VoodooPC's Rahul Sood http://www.thenextbench.com/hpg/blog/article?message.uid=5081

 

Hey guys, Im really in shock of all the comments on the M15x- Awhileback this place use to be full of guys who loved AW and there equip- Looks like they really did drop the ball on the M15x.

When over 100 people say the same thing and own it and just want to return the product, Something is definitely wrong with the product!!
Sorry to hear for your guys expereinces but at least it keeps us consumers who were looking to buy the product- not to.

 

I was also ready to buy the AW m15x back in April, but I did some research in these forums and started reading about the assorted horror stories. Coming from a Dell XPS M1710 which has been a solid performer but slightly larger than optimal, I decided to shop for a smaller unit with an 8800m-GTX. Dell's XPS Premiere Support team has always been good to me, so I figured that AW's aquisition by Dell should lead to some improvements.

I went to AW's web page and had everything spec'd out... the total was going to be close to $4500 with tax. However, I started looking for a warranty plan equivalent to Dell's Complete Care and found none. I opened up a chat window with AW Customer Sales and asked if any accidental damage plan was available. I got a flat "no" for a reply. My XPS M1710 had a few expensive issues were covered by Complete Care: 4 defective LCD screens + 1 broken keyboard (total repair costs exceeding $5000, completely covered by a $300 warranty. Now that's service!). Seeing where this was going, I decided to give Dell my business again and purchased the M1730. It was bigger than what I wanted, and battery life was medeocre. However, the M1730 was also very solidly built -- super-stiff, no creaking, no overheating, ultra-reliable, and still covered vs. accidental damage.

I'm still following the AW m15x's news, only because I still want to see this laptop succeed. As it stands now, the chasis can use a LOT more plastic, and the CPU + GPU can use better cooling. I may go ahead and sell my M1710 to my brother and still purchase the m15x, but not until the chasis failures and CPU/GPU heat + downclocking are better addressed.

 

Well, depending on what you want out of a laptop there's the Clevo M860TU that should be coming out before the end of the month (hopefully) and--given Clevo's reputation of very solid products--should be a very viable alternative to the m15x if you need it in the near future.

One can only hope, however, that this competition gives AW some incentives to improve the quality of the m15x but given the renown of AW and how little-known Clevo is, it's a bit dubious that that would happen

 

yeah my touch buttons just stopped working tonight, and also i hate how the keyboard if i type a word with two letters in it, it doesnt register the second letter...ughhh i hate you alienware!! please give us our money back....without 15% restocking bs!

 

I have notice this as well...especially when typing the "www" for a website... It usually only acknowledges two "w"s. Gets old really fast...

 

Haven't there been like a billion (yes, that's an exaggeration; I know) threads on that issue, though?

 

I'm sure there are...but this thread isn't about the key problem...it just happened to come up.

 

I know, just saying.
I thought most people had that problem resolved by the solutions put forth.

 

I turned off Synaptics. Was there another fix Miho? I'll take a look around...

 

Experiences like yours, Jay, just make me think thrice about getting an M15x. Still holding out for a month or so to see if they offer any design fix.

 

That would be pretty nice... Let's keep our fingers crossed...

 

Yea Im in the same boat as you Gunsmith_Cat, friend of mine is buying one this week so I guess ill wait and see how his turns out. Ill let him be the test dummy haha.

 

My friend when he got his had donwclocking of gfx card but was fixed with a bios update and no other issues (this was when ppl were having lots of problems with their ripleys). So I felt safe going with the order.

 

Ahem... Cough Cough... AW 7700, Hypersonic, Voodoo... CouGH COUGH... Sager/Clevo D900K.. Cough COugh. No offense but i had 3 friends with that crap laptop from AW, Sager, and Hyper... and they all were in the shop more than they had it. that is until they ALL just decided they wouldn't fix it anymore... even with warranty. AW had no parts, the hyper was out of warranty, and the sager??!??!? well, my ex thought they just put in bad parts one after the other! LOL. We also had a sager 47xx (2 of them that i recommended) and those 2 uncle's families will NEVER buy boutique laptops again!

 

Hey guys. I don't mean to change the subject or anything. I'm a first time, maybe buyer from Alienware and its gotten to the point that I have come to assume that AW was always this bad (in the CS department for sure). lol I ordered my m17x a couple weeks after launch and I think its going to break 90 days from order to arrival. I think AW's days are numbered if they keep up like this. Anyone from the pre-Dell days? Could the merger have something ot do with this craptastic CS quality?

 

Ok?
Well, that's unfortunate for them but a sample size of three hardly outweighs the current happy users you'll find in the Sager/Clevo subforum.

 

@Star - Even before Dell merged with AW they still released crappy notebooks. For example, it took me 14 months to get a credit on my M5550 because they could simply not fix the issues that I was having with it and finally gave me credit. It was especially hard because every time I sent it back I did not have the laptop for school which was quite annoying.

 

one would have hoped your problems would have put users off....

 

No matter how many true stories and facts you put here and show to people... Human beings will keep doing what they always do. They will keep seeing only what they are interested in seeing.
When I came here, even though lots of people had problems with the M15x, I wanted to believe it would be possible, I wanted to see that AW was amazing... and I bought the M15x. That was amongst one of the worst decisions of my life.

Life goes on...