Looking To Buy A M15X But Need Advice

Hello all,

I'm Dally and I'm new to this forum but have loads of experience with laptops and PC's.
Currently at University studying Software Engineering and am 20 years old

Anyway's I'm looking to buy myself a M15X at the end of May but have been
thinking whether to wait out a bit longer. The reason being is that for the price
of the M15X, I expected to have DDR3 Memory and the FSB to be 1066mhz like I have
seen on most gaming notebooks recently.

Do you guys think it would be worth waiting till July-ish to see whether an
upgrade comes out for this model? I'm willing to wait till about August but
only if there's a strong chance that there will be an upgrade by then.

I'm also quite anticipating the GTX 260M & 280M GPU's. The last thing I want is
to buy a M15X, and see it get upgraded the following week LOL.

All opinions are welcome

 

Dont buy the M15x, go through the threads here and you will see all the problems with it, its just old tech and bad case

 

Yes, go with the sager np8662. The m15x case cracks too quickly due to the amount of heat released by the gpu.

 

Really? I've been reading countless reviews about it since a week now and have
only read positive things.

I basically need a 15" laptop that looks good, but also packs a punch so that I
can game on it. I've seen the Sager laptops but to be honest I think they look
horrid.

Also, I'm from the UK so need a UK Supplier as if something does go wrong with
the laptop, I can send it back

 

well wait a few days as its highly probable that Alienware will release a new notebook. I was about to get the m15x too but I wanna see this new notebook before I make my mind up. The notebook is most likely going to be just 17inch and Im going for a 15inch but yah I would wait a few days, It should be coming out This week or next week.

 

Really? I've heard no news of an updated model coming out. Really hope it's a
15 inch as I'm not keen on 17 inch notebooks at all.

Luke1708, I see you have a Macbook Pro. What's gaming on it like in Bootcamp?

EDIT: Thanks for the links Plisken. Replies on this forum seem to be really fast LOL.

 

yea just stay away from the M15x. Go on the find a notebook subforum and fill out the faq and you will get TONS litterally hundreds of notebooks to choose from that they will help you narrow down to the perfect one for you

 

Yah I was hoping for it to be 15inch too but theres like a 99% chance that it will be 17inch. Then maybe at a later date they will release a 15inch but I haven't heard anything.

 

That's a real shame that is. I had my heart set on the M15X until I read about
the 260M/280M GPU's.

Also, if I'm going to spend £2000, I would expect DDR3 as standard.

 

You have to remember not everyone gets these problems. I have only heard of 40 people that had problems with there m15x, thats pretty small compared to the 1000's that have the notebook. Its not the other way around where 1000's have problems but 40 people dont.

 

Those Sager's are really nice though, btw I don't think a new model is coming out soon for Alienware especially since they just got their factories closed down, and roswell cut, so most likely their dev team is either getting cut or moved to dell.

 

I read these problems were only on the first few batches but now have been resolved with the newer batches of the model.

 

Well actually you might be able to upgrade the m15x's GPU to the 260M we dont know cuz no one has tried it yet lol. The card will fit but the question is will the heatsink fit? will it be to hot?

As for DDR3 it really doesn't make much difference from DDR2

 

I'm not overly keen on the look for the Sager's. They seem to have a cheapish
look to them in my opinion LOL.

 

LOL, so you know thousands of people? and you actually counted 40 people? Oh thats right you are just pulling stuff out yur butt.

There are know problems experienced by people with this laptop, wouldn't you rather be safe then sorry? Look for problems with the M17, you rarely see them, or any other laptop that has good reviews, but you should always judge that if one person has a problem at least another 50-100 have the same problem.

To me when spending that much money id rather not take the risk.

 

It's true it doesn't make much of a different yet but down the line it will.

Plus it's just one of them things that I expect when spending so much money.
Dell are offering it on the XPS's, I don't see why Alienware still haven't caught
up with this.

 

All the problems you heard about when the m15x first came out are solved. There is only 1 issue with the m15x and that some people get unlucky and there hinges break.

 

Read the sager forums, those guys swear by them, and if you don't like the cheapish look/feel you won't like the creaking hinge the M15x has.

Btw they have not fixed the problem yet, there were just a couple days ago people complaining of broken hinges, i will try to find the thread where they showed the pics.

 

I actually did count, most of them are from this forum.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=372671&page=3

thats a recent hinge break.

Btw did you count all the M15x hinge problems on all the other forums? You really weren't that naive to think all the problems with the M15x were only posted here did you?

Again to Dally, there won't be any upgrades for the M15x and its better to be safe then sorry, and if other people are getting problems it would be terrible to be unlucky when it could've been avoided.

 

Yah I always asked that question, the m15x and m17x have been out for almost a year and while the 17inch got a new model and the 15inch didn't. And now the 17inch is getting a new model again! =(

 

Because you apparently can not read I will have to spell out what I wrote.

I said MOST! thats M O S T! and of course I didnt count everyone on the internet and there problems.

You make it sound like your 100% sure. That anyone who buys an m15x will get a broken hinge. There are people all over this forum that never had a problem with it.

And how are you so sure there will not be upgrades? you dont work for alienware.

Im not saying the m15x doesnt have problems it, SOME PEOPLE thats S O M E P E O P L E (for those who cant read) do have problems. I dont know why this poliuy is trying to rip my head off while im trying to put things in the prospective they are in.

 

According to whizzo and some other AW press release stuff, a new notebook called "quicksilver" is supposed to be released in Q3. There is little to no more information about "quicksilver" other than its name.

Here is the Press Release
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343698,00.asp

 

Well 17'' ok for you ? M17 is the best chooses. but i suggest you should wait until new video card come out.

 

You guys have really swayed me away from the M15X now. It's kind of sad cos I had my heart set on it LOL.

But... I'm the type of person who wants upmost quality

Can anyone recommend me a laptop of similar spec to the Alienware but one that also has the looks.

I was considoring getting a Macbook Pro and Bootcamping Windows but I've heard gaming is terrible when Bootcamping as the machine overheats like mad. According to what I've read it's due to Apple not creating drivers that control the fan speed when Bootcamped into Windows. Is this true?

I would also like to say thank you to everyone for helping me out. This has to be the most helpful forum I've
joined and trust me, I've joined loads over the years LOL

 

They can make more money offering a new product, then they can with giving existing owners an upgrade. A lot of people out there will buy the brand new computer, but few will buy the m15x with its bad rep.

Dally go to the subforum up top to help you find a new computer, and fill out the faq. You will be pleasently surprised

 

dally have you considered the macbook pro 15" it is looks good although lacks in gaming.

 

Crysis (The most resource intensive game atm) runs fine with all settings to medium, with temps between 75-80c. It's because the whole laptop is made up of metal which is a good conductor of heat. It accumulates heat fast but the whole base acts like a dissipator of heat or a "radiator". Windows runs perfectly on bootcamp. I even virtualise and haven't had any problems.

 

But I've heard when Bootcamping, the fan's don't work properly as there's no
drivers to control the speed of which the fans spin at in Windows.

Is this true?

EDIT:

Also, do you guys think this new AW Quicksilver model will be out by the end of August?

I may just have to wait.

 

My fans work fine. Perhaps your sources had defective laptops.

 

What do you guys think of this?

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Qosmio-X300-11W/1057359/#0

 

The very best the Macbook "pro" has to offer makes it a great general purpose or editing laptop. In terms of a gaming rig it's lower midrange at best. Alienware, Clevo, Sagar, and dozens of others totally spank the MbP.

As the MbP owner posted above, His plays "fine" at medium settings and I don't know what resolution he's using. Someone serious about gaming usually doesn't settle for "plays fine" or medium settings in Crysis. His rig is likely very well suited to his needs and I suspect his priorities lie in areas other than gaming. Might be the laptop of choice for you as well if you feel the same. I'm assuming you put more emphasis on gaming though because you're here asking about the 15x.

The two Nvidia GPU's in the MbP are the top of the line that Apple offers. They are not SLI capable nor are they both used for video game rendering. The 9400m is the integrated GPU so what you're left with to do all of the video game rendering is a single 9600m GT. Not even midrange in a current gaming laptop.

The less than top of the line components (with respect to gaming performance) in the MbP are PC parts, so if you use bootcamp to run Windows so you can game, then you've got a midrange gaming PC with an apple on the lid. That's great for those that consider gaming a side dish and not the main course. We have extreme gaming and squat for battery life. They have great battery life and a stylish gen purpose laptop.

A Mac is a Mac when it's using a Mac OS. As soon as you start using Windows on it it's a very expensive PC.

The MbP has a pretty OS and a lot of video editors prefer them, but they are far from your best choice for gaming.

No offense to Apple fans but we are talking about gaming in a high end gaming rig forum.

Hey Dally,

That Toshiba doesn't look bad but if you're considering a 17" then you might want to consider the M17. I know everyone is saying to wait for the 4870's but the only one that has that so far is the Asus and a few of them are surpassing our scores by a little. The current 3870's in the m17 pack quite a punch and are more than capable of keeping a gamer very happy. Much faster than the Toshiba.

You can get the M17 wth dual 3870's in Xfire and the X9100 Extreme dual core starting at $2499. You can get the same but with the Extreme Quad core starting at $2849. And that's with a 7200rpm drive and not a 5400rpm like the Toshiba.

 

toshiba is nice but its red n pink lol

try to get the m17 or just qait for quick silver

quick silver is going to be out soon .... before august for sure because they want the summer money ....

 

i just sold my m9700 and bought an asus g50vt-x5 and I didn't have to wait for shipping ot anything bestbuy sells it for cheap. Its pretty good so far the case design is really tough and nice(not cheap at all) and it has a 9800m gs(gts basically). I run everything on full settings even warhead. only the original crysis is tuned down to just high settings...Only downside is that the screen is a 1366x768 reso....Might bother you a bit..I've learned to like it pretty well

 

LMAO, It looks pink but it's actually all red

Thanks for all the info Rob41. At the moment I'm very unsure what to get. I really had my heart set on a 15.4" screen but it looks like I may have to go for
17" instead. I think I am going to elimate getting a Macbook Pro as I feel it's
not geared to my needs like you said

The M17 specs are pretty amazing but the styling seems a bit archaic
compared to the M17X. I don't understand why cos it's supposed to be a
newer model.

Seeing as summer is literally here now, I may just wait for August to see
whether any laptops get significantly updated and whether new one's come out.

Hopefully "Quicksilver" should come out by then.

Has anyone got any ideas what specs this machine may have?

 

are we in the "wait-for-quicksilver-recommendation" stage already?

also, quicksilver will launch when Calpella launches. August might be a bit tight for that.

 

Really. Ok, the very latest I will wait in this case is September. I defo's want
to have a new notebook before I start my final year of University.

Do you think Quicksilver should see a release date before then?

I'm kind of in doubt myself as I can't seem to find any informations or rumours
about this new Quicksilver model.

 

Rumors are still flying that we'll at least hear something more this month. Hopefully we'll at least get the month they plan on selling it by.

@whizzo, do you know for a fact that quicksilver will be a Calpella notebook?

 

DDR3 is just for show.. it performs the same as DDR2. TEST Why dont people google for tests instead of just going for the one that sounds better? And the 280m doesnt seam so much worth waiting for over the 9800m either.. BENCHMARKS So the m15x would be a good choice if it werent for the crappy hinges. And the m17 is great if you dont have the stuttering issues like most people - in my oppinion its superior to the m17x.. even though it uses an older model chasis, it is rubbust and well built and has the advantage of being cheaper and also having quad core support. If i had to pick another id go for the sager.. you get a 280m and a desktop i7 quad processor to top it off. Macbook is weaker in terms of harware, overpriced as well, and Toshiba has some ugly designs and is also pricey.

 

nope, but seeing how Calpella's slated for Q3 of '09, it would be financial suicide for AW to bankroll R&D for a Montevina system at this point.

 

I wouldn't be so sure about that Whizzo. They need a newer rig and will not wait for Calpella to release one. 99% sure on that.