M15x came .. what a steaming pile... well this is going back immediately

Agreed, the touchpad isn't itself a problem... it is matte and the movement is OK. Really bad touchpads are glossy and sticky ... aka Asus A8JP days.

Anyway, I got my RMA number for a full return and full refund as well as the UPS shipping label so the issue has been resolved. They offered a replacement unit (and refused any upgrades) but I am not comfortable with the BING cashback and any problems that might cause with a replacement without any significant perks at this point.

This really kind of sucks because aside from the defective motherboard (well and the throttling issue), the system really is a beautiful piece of art. Macs definitely don't hold a candle to these things anymore, as they are so modern and slick looking. Ugh, if it wasn't for the BING cash back I may have just settled for the replacement unit.

 

Yeah Bing will cancel the cashback in the event of any return/exchange. It sucks that it came to that. At least you still have the G60 so you can easily wait for something better.

 

sir, u need to chillout... just trying to help...im sorry that didnt solve the problem u having...but u dont have to act like a arse about it..u should carry your frustration elsewhere not here, cuz were trying to help out...

 

I was hoping they would have said sorry Mr. "", we are upgrading you to a 920QXM with 8GB RAM and a 256gb SSD for your troubles if you consider a replacement instead of a return.

I would have gone with that even without the Bing Cashback.

You are right about the power cord placement... not the greatest & that blue is kind of annoying, it throws off colors scheme (for anything but Blue and Multi-color).

 

Chill out noted, I apologize if you took offense. Still, people make light of a defective motherboard situation is not a brightening situation.

 

Haha if they did that then I think all of us would be calling up to file for a return in hopes of getting an upgrade. Although some people are offered cash incentives to keep there's while others are not. I'm guessing they offer incentives based on your system configuration, if you have a system with a 920xm + ssd and blu ray and want to return it, it's easier for them to offer $100 to keep it than to take back an expensive system. I doubt we'll see another Bing type deal anytime soon but there might be some New Year deals at least.

 

There maybe be a few of these on Dell Outlet soon with all these returns happening : )

 

Well look at the brightside, you can hold out for the i7 M17x when it comes out early next year. Which is what I'll probably do if there's any kind of problem with mine when it eventually gets here.

 

i kind of dont understand what some people were saying in this thread. Is it really ok for a company to ship broken stuff (whatever it is?). I mean, happens alright, but the responsibility is purely on the selling company. If you a defective product, then you should either: Refund or ship a replacement unit - no questions asked.

What I assume is that every tech support guy is told to first offer on site replacement of parts. This kinda works like phishing to me, as some people will agree on that. Kinda like "Lets try and see", if not we will do the refund.

Personally, I would also get pissed if that happened to me, and I strongly believe you have the right to be pissed. You paid for the system, and not for wasting couple of hours listening to some music on the phone

 

I'm not interested in the M17x, unless it also comes with 5800s in Crossfire and have all issues resolved (DPC issue is likely to be resolved by replacing with the latest Intel Chipset, since these Nvidia chipsets suck and are likely the main culprit).

 

That sucks that you've had a bad experience. My first time ordering from PCTorque was like that so many years ago. It had a high pitched whine associated with certain things like Flash animations on websites. Some games were terrible and others were fine. It also developed an LCD problem (several water-stain like spots on the LCD half the size of a penny).

They refused to fix it or take it back, so I lived with both issues for 2 years

Without a week behind it I'm hesitant to say too much, but so far my M15X has worked beautifully. No major issues like your own, and no smaller concerns like dead pixels, touchpad issues, sound issues, alienfx issues or otherwise.

 

You're joking right? That's a massive upgrade. Why would anyone expect that.

Grats on returning the system.

 

What is meant by the throttling? I have the M15x and had it about 2weeks. Installed CUPID-CPU-Z and under CPU tab CLOCKS (Core #0) multiplier jumps from 19,21,20,18, and 13. Under Graphics tab CLOCKS it says (core 200Mhz, Shaders400Mhz, Memory 120Mhz) for a GTX260M. Processor is the 720. Is that normal for the processor to be jumping like that…and what should my video be showing. I ran 3dMark06 and got a score of 11,800. Windows scores are at (top to bottom)7.1/7.4/6.8/6.8/5.8. I do not have the Solid State Drive.

 

I liked the part with the cereal the best.

 

The video was not meant for the sights, but the sounds. Don't ask why I have Chex on the floor.

 

This thread brought a tear to my eye.

 

I can understand the issues. Mine was one laptop ran at 100c with out the fan kicking on. then shut off. When restarted the fan would kick on. But was on loud.

Second laptop the sli and slave gpu ran at 103c in crysis and lord of the rings in standard mode.

Working on the 3 system.

 

All normal. You will not experience the throttling unless you do the specific tests - aka Furmark + Prime95/wPrime together.

 

The Asus would have been:

1) Much hotter running
2) Lower clocked/potential overclocking
3) Inferior plastic build quality
4) Crappy screen
5) BSOD issues
6) Have the same ugly lid design as my current G60

The only advantage would be the possibility of 2 HDs. The G51J would have also cost more than what I paid for the M15x after the Bing Cash Back.

Damn it Dell, I wanted an M15x for keepers!

 

the whine imo sounds like it could be a inductor or a coil on the mobo. many laptops make this same noise some louder than others

 

You must have had some really crappy laptops... My Asus and even my old budget Gateways were completely silent (fan aside).

 

i have seen that on some dell's, hp's, msi's, a couple of the ocz whitebooks, the 1730, a sager or two etc.. i own a pc repair shop and i see prob 100 or so notebooks a week in and out of here.. trust me its more common than you think

 

Yeah, like EVERY Power laptop makes a small whine, my M17x has it too. If this was your only beef... good luck finding a computer as strong that doesnt whine a little bit.

 

Don't worry, we found it. It's called the M15x.

 

So you've seen Motherboards failing on all sorts of Laptops. Congratulations?

 

I noticed this - "Scores a 5.9 in Memory Operations in the WEI. Right. That's about 1 point lower than my lowly DDR2 in my G60Vx."

That seems odd as my M15X is scoring somewhere from 6.8-7.2 IIRC.

I suppose everyone's experience is different. My interaction with Dell this past month (and in general in the past) has been above and beyond anything I could have expected.

When I noticed they had messed up my shipping from 3-5 to 5-7 days, I called and they upgraded it to next day - AND I was able to ask for the headset and mouse to be added on for free. Then they've emailed me every other day since to keep my informed of whats going on, and called me 4 times with updates.

 

Thanks...Really don't know much about that stuff. So I'm trying to learn as much as I can.

 

Shame the m15x has been bad for you, just went on one myself and found it to be a really nice machine, and cooling beyond brilliant.

I vouch for you on the touchpad though, that is quite frankly disgraceful,

No whine here which is fortunate, although i get it all the time on my 6555 haha.

 

/sigh, here we go.

1) The throttling issue...is your idea of fun staring at benchmarking tools? NO? IT ISNT? Heres the thing, you get a brand new system, and you are already complaining about an issue YOU HAVENT EVEN PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED OR BEEN INCONVENIENCED BY. If staring at benchmark tools gets you off, then buy a desktop and go crazy.

2) The touchpad...if you were intelligent enough to research the notebook and be informed on the throttling issue, how the hell did you not know about the touchpad and why would you have bought it if you knew it wasnt great?

- Also, I have NEVER used a touchpad on ANY computer that i actually liked, with the exception of my unibody macbook's glass trackpad. General rule of thumb? Trackpads suck.

- More to the point, what kind of GAMER or even DEVELOPER / DESIGNER uses the trackpad of ANY high power system??? I never even used the trackpad when I got my comp, just plugged in my Razer Mamber and started enjoying my system. Exactly what were you planning on doing? Taking notes on a freaking $2000+ system???

3) As for your computer's whine issue (we cant do anything about your personal one, sorry) , this is obviously not a common issue so a replacement is in order. You got a lemon laptop, big deal.

4) My biggest issue is how you presented the issue. You did not post to have us help you, you quickly dismissed any of our suggestions or suggestions from dell to replace parts. You simply came on here and ranted, complained, and ed for god knows why.

 

The point of my post was clear - it was exactly to rant and complain because I began with a very clear indication of what the problem was - a hardware defect/lemon. Who said a forum can not be a place where legitimate complaints are voiced? At its root, that is actually pretty much the whole point of discussion forums, or else no useful information is communicated.

Your other comments are rather ill thought out.

No one uses a Laptop to play video games on it 24/7. A touchpad is an important and integral tool to using a Laptop on the go, for any basic operation that requires mouse cursor. If you find that you never have to use the touchpad, that is a substantial indication that you should have bought a Desktop.

Your dismissal of the throttling issue is, like I have said in the past, a fairly disturbing ability for a consumer to accept an inherit engineering defect. Stockholme Syndrome of the consumerist kind in my opinion.

 

Agreed, I think arcade16 is just insecure of having his choice of system criticized even if it is legit. It reminds me of console fans getting upset when someone says anything remotely negative about them.

 

I use the trackpad when Im forced to used windows. Then you can use the mouse without lifting the hand from the keyboard (using your thumb)

And I totally agree with CitizenPanda. After spending so much money with Dell, I expect something excellent of high quality. And if there is a manufacturing error, I expect them to react immediately.

 

I think the title of the thread is inflammatory and misleading for anyone looking to buy an M15. Panda's posts are much more reasoned and on other threads he is onstructive and praises the M15 but this thread title does not convey this.

 

Not at all... It is perfectly descriptive of the system I returned, and this thread is informative for anyone who reads it. If it is "inflammatory" to someone, I think you should read Joker's response above about how insecurity plays into the purchase.

 

Just gonna hop in and say that my M17x doesnt make any whine or really any noise at all. even when gaming. Also, my wifes 300 dollar HP laptop doesnt make any noise either when playing games or not.

 

really...steaming? pile? ***p?
I guess one person's perfect description is another's sense of inflammatory.
Your main issue was the sound that the laptop made: no sign of any steam rising from it at all. So a perfectly descriptive account would not have used the phrase "steaming" -- screaming yes, but that would not have been as dramatic or inflammatory would it?

 

OK, if I could edit it and call it a Screaming pile (as a play on words) I would, but thread titles can not be changed AFAIK. It would actually be even dramatic but neither is inflammatory... (unless you happen to be personally vetted in Dell or Alienware for some reason, or you are Michael Dell, if you actually cared about your products).

 

my steaming pile is coming tomorrow, WOOT!!! finally got tracking number on it..........can't wait. know what were we talking about??????

 

Nice, did you get the Bing deal?

 

no i went with epp and smooth talking. in the end almost same deal i think like $100 difference.

 

Not bad... that 920XM is smoking. Your config is probably the one I should have ordered in the beginning. Well, I'm going to try to get that with a good deal next time BING comes around or something. Bluray (I didn't realize these were slot loading Blu Ray drives ... pretty sweet and difficult to add later) & 920XM with the 1080p screen (you will not be disappointed, that screen was shockingly excellent ... very deep blacks and blinding whites).

 

thats good to hear. I don't think you really need bing right now. just wait for it to go no sell for $100-$200 off and go through epp. i'm pretty sure they can take off another $200-$300 if you find the right person to deal with. i got the black friday deal with $200 off + plus 10% off w/ epp and $250 discount + free next day delivery. just play lets make a deal.

 

I don't have access to EPP anymore unfortunately.

 

I got wicked lucky one of my friends from dell let me have his EPP 17% savings. I wish I had the extra cash I would have ordered 5 and sold for a little profit