M15X Help

Hey guys, I just bought an Alienware Area51 M15X laptop for school. It's still being built, and I should get it by the 18th. Does anyone have any suggestions for me or anything I should know? I've heard things about re-installing windows and such.

Specs:
Silver Ripley Design
15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p)
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
1 GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz*
Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) (increases data transfer speed)
160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) Hard Drive
8x Dual layer burner w/ Lightscribe
External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
Illuminated Keyboard

Milcs, I know you've had bad experiences with AW, you don't need to tell me. If I do find out that my case is as bad as yours then I'll say so, but I've noticed the reports differ between the US and UK.

So, any tidbits of wisdom you guys can offer?

 

your setup is fine. you dont have to reinstall windows since AW doesnt put any bloatware at all in their system. AW only installs what the machine needs and thats it.

the only thing i recommend doing is changing the screen from 1920 x 1200 to 1440 x 900

the 1440 x 900 screen is glossy, lighter, takes less power to run, faster response time, better contrast ratio, brighter, and it weighs less.

the 1440 x 900 will also help run games better since it has a lower native resolution which will give you higher fps in games. the glossy screen also makes colors more vibrant.

the only reason to get the 1920 x 1200 is if you want to photoshop alot or if you perfer matte over glossy.

are you planning to upgrade to 4 gig of ram. if you are the turbo mem is pretty useless.


@milcs
lol at the milcs comment. wow people know you before they even post on this forum. you have become such a celebrity at the AW forum.

 

congrats and welcome. i would definitely call to cancel the turbo memory and use that extra $50 on upgrading your ram. good luck.

 

Yeah I definitely planned on upgrading to 4GB ram, but I'd rather pay $90 on Newegg for it than the $350 that AW charges for having it pre-installed.

Thanks for the tip about the screen. I actually do prefer matte. As for it taking up more power and slower response time and all that, I can always go into visual effects and manually adjust the resolution, etc. right? I actually don't play games that much, otherwise I probably would've gone for the 2.8Ghz processor. But I'm planning on programming as my college major, and if I get into 3D graphics in any part the extra resolution is nice.

Haha, yeah. I've been lurking the AW forum here for a couple of weeks, so I know about some of the users. Milcs' thread on DO NOT BUY THE M15X!!! really jumped out at me. If I hadn't heard better things about it from USA users then I probably wouldn't have gotten one haha. I was expecting posts from you, too, exiled =D

 

well the aspect ratio is different so you wont be running the 1920 x 1200 in 1440 x 900. you can lower the resolution of course. native resolution is only stressed since it makes the image look much better. if you ever decide to get into games changing the cpu will be a lot more effective than changing the processor. its kind fo rare these days the see the processor as being the bottleneck. im planning to use my m15x for programming in college too

 

Looks like a great config. I love the real estate offered by the 1920x1200 screen. You can always change the DPI if the text is too small.

Yes, definitely do not buy the RAM from Alienware. Keep the original 1GB in case you have to send it in for service though.

The T8300 is the best value processor in the whole lineup of CPUs Alienware offers, so good choice there. The X9000 is simply not worth it, especially since you can't overclock it.

 

@exiled: don't you mean the gpu? The cpu is the processor

I mainly chose AW not because I'm going to be gaming or much like that (though now that I can I probably will ^_^) but I want high speed and seamless function. Not to mention battery life; I'll probably tune down the cpu most of the time and change the resolution, at least while I'm running on battery. I've heard you can get a smart bay battery seperately cheaper than you could if you included it in your order.

Right now I'm running an HP pavilion zv5000 built in 2003. It gets about 45 minutes of battery life if I'm lucky haha. 512mb RAM. I really needed this upgrade! But honesty this HP still runs like a champ. It's never had any of the physical parts break, I've never had to send it in for repair, and it'll run graphics equivilent to that of a Playstation 2 without any lag whatsoever. That's not bad at all for a 2003 model with no upgrades.

 

yes gpu >> that was a typo .

 

Hi Kits and welcome to the forum.
some great advice already given above. if you are going to upgrade to 4gb ram then take the turbo memory off the list. it has been reported on here that running it with 4gb ram can actually slow the computer down slightly. only problem is if you have already ordered your computer and you want to change some of the config then you will have to cancel your order and re order it.

milcs is getting quite a name for himself and i think he should think about becoming a superhero

 

Get rid of the turbo cache memory and upgrade to 4GB.

There was a thread around this forums (i think on hardware, pity there is no search function) and it ended with: not worth the trouble and the money.


PS: One of them is this one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273103

 

Appart from what you think, I actually enjoyed the M15x quite a lot and I'm sad I don't have it anymore.

I also fail to see why you make that comment regarding myself... Do you really think I'm going to lose my time commenting on people's post of a new computer? Do you actually saw me doing that often?

I'm really tired people judging me for what some enlightned souls have catalogued me with. I'm not a flammer and I am not spamming this forum with negative and unfounded comments everywhere. Much less... am I trolling this forum with unuseful participations.

Appart from that...

As exiled says, I would go for the glossy screen. It's simply amazing and will allow you to play games at native resolution. The WUXGA is just not made for a 15''. I have had a Dell XPS M1530 WSGA (1660Xsomething) and it was too much already. Too small icons and letters (true you can simply change it, but it doesn't look as good).

I would also drop the Turbo Cache and the external sound card (which you can get for much cheaper afterwards) and the lightscribe (which is really not great). I would try to put the 8800GTX in (as it does make a difference in gameplay). And if you can manage to squeeze some extra bucks, I would go for the 2.5GHz.

 

Actually, yes I did see you doing that quite often lol. Just trashing the M15X in general any time someone said they had one. Lighten up man, I'm not judging you or anything at all. Your posts actually help me to make a more informed decision, and I thank you for that. Your thread even has pictures to prove the claims, kudos for that. The thing is, Alienware has made several improvements to the design since it first came out and I've heard a lot of postive reports from people here in the US, so I decided to go ahead and get one. If I get a lemon I'll announce to everyone that I should have listened to milcs.

I'll definitely lose the turbo cache memory. Everyone seems to tell me to go for the lower res screen, so I probably will. But I won't be playing games on it a lot, as much as watching movies, programing and such. I may be using photoshop a bit as well. As for gloss vs matte, I don't care. With these things in mind, should I still go for the lower res screen? I wouldn't mind having and extra $150 in my pocket =D

 

there is a search finction...lol - ive used it...

you may want to look at the quad gpu that AW is offering if your looking to get into 3D rendering and such.

just a thought....the rest of the advise is solid.

and gratz!!

 

On the contrary, the external sound card is rather nice. Normal users probably won't notice the difference but, if you're a musician like me and are looking for excellent sound quality, it's not a bad investment. If you're not playing games maybe you should go with the 1920x1200 screen? Maybe.

 

Yeah, I want to keep the sound card for sure, I love good sound quality. But I'll definitely lose the turbo memory. Since I can't change an order until normal business hours (mon-fri) I've got today and half of tomorrow to finalize any changes in my mind. Main decision is the monitor.

Alright, taking a poll: is the lower or higher res screen better for me? Don't let your only reason be because of the glossy surface, though lol. When you vote list differences that you personally have seen (like exiled did )
I've only got a day and a half to decide before I make the changes, so please post ASAP! Thanks for all the help!

 

as i stated with the quad gpu from nVidia you can get with the m15x now, i would go with the high res since you said you will be doing 3D rendering etc...
the larger screen also allows more space for schoolwork, but have been told the print can be very small and hard to read.
and perosnally - lol - i prefer matte..... (sorry - had to)

 

you can just adjust the dpi if you cant read the font.

even though you wont be playing many games you might still watch movies. i would still get the glossy screen since it is brighter and the colors are more vibrant because of the glossy surface. you can also save the money from the screen for something else. i forgot the mention that the glossy screen also has better viewing angles so sharing a movie with your friends will be even better with the glossy screen.

 

Yup, movies are a must. Thanks for pointing that out, ex.

I may be doing some 3D rendering once I get a little further into my major in college, as of right now I don't know. But I will be doing a lot of homework over the next few years haha. It's ok, I like matte too =P

 

Alright, made the change. Lost the turbo memory and downgraded the screen. Next I need to buy some RAM for it. Here are my choices from Newegg, basically all of the 4gb notebook RAM that they offer. Can anyone tell me if they have had good or bad experiences with the brands on that list?

I have a feeling after I get this in I'll want to start some PC gaming. What are best/most fun games I can get? A lot of my friends like WOW

 

Only play WoW with friends. You'll get bored solo. There's also Bioshock, Crysis, Mass Effect, Age of Conan, Team Fortress 2/Half-Life 2 and some others.

 

i was kinda disappointed by Crysis, it's incredibly short. other games will get you 40 hours or more of gaming. but i digress.

about the RAM: basically, any name-brand SO-DIMM DDR2 667mhz RAM is good, seeing how it's all made in the same taiwanese factory anyway.

 

So all of these are compatible with AW? They're all DDR2 SO-DIMM and 200-pin

 

He wasn't told not to get it, just told to get it cheaper form a 3rd party.
See Below:

 

Everyone get off milcs. If you had as bad an experience as him I don't think you would be very happy either. Especially with alienware's premium pricing.

 

yeah, that stuff is all standardized nowadays. if you want, you can relieve your conscience and ask AW which brands are certified for your notebook. some are and some aren't although i don't think it makes much of a difference.

 

Thought so, thanks whizzo

Awwww crap. Defective video chips? This really bites. I'm going to be majorly ticked off if I get one.

 

i dont think it has been confirmed yet so for now its just a rumor. i think it has been confirmed for the 8600 but nvidia has fixed the issue for the new 8600s they are making.

 

Here's the set up I'm waiting on. The NVIDIA card is currently the hold up. Thanks to everyone for posting their experiences with the m15x. It helped.

Design & Display: Silver Ripley Design
Display: 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p)
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
System Drive: 320GB 7,200RPM (16MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 2x Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Burner (BD-R, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design

 

sure you don't want to save a few hundred bucks and upgrade the RAM yourself?

 

Whizzo, wish I could. Unfortunately, I'm not very good with computer guts. My mother-in-law gave me her old HP laptop. I think it will be my first victim.

I knew from, earlier posts, to avoid the turbo drive. But I didn't know about difference in the screens and the 2.8Ghz over clocking limits until it was too late.

 

oh, trust me, it's very easy. just unscrew the back, pull out the old RAM, and slot in the new RAM. put the back plate on again, and you're finished.

 

A microfiber cloth will be your best friend on getting rid of any fingerprints on either your chassis or your keyboard. Invest in one.

Oh, if you can get yourself a notebook cooler, get one of those too. It helps a lot.

In addition to this, you could also try Lineage II or Call of Duty 4. Call of Duty 5 is coming out soon, so you could play that too when it comes out. Gotta love the multiplayer action.

@edit: Oh also! I forgot to throw in another thing. You should also invest in a smart-bay battery once you get your laptop. It's $135 when you order it with your laptop but if you order it through a sales representative after you've already received your laptop, it's only around $72. The extra smart-bay battery allows your m15x to be away from the plug for up to 3 1/2 hours (even more if you're in stealth mode or BinaryGFX mode.)

 

Muchas Gracias Oceanus. I included the smart bay battery and the 9 cell battery in my order. Though I am familiar with notebook chill mats, I also appreciate the heads up on that. My tired Inspiron 5150 loves to double as a heater so I keep it and the 360 elite strapped to a chillmat. Targus updated their mats to be more efficient so I'll pick up a new one for the m15x that has an AC power source. The m15x will be here on Tuesday.

 

i don't know anything about this laptop yet cuz i don't have one. but my advice to you is get the 3 year warranty. that's what people tell me to do in here. lol. i'm getting one soon

 

Hey Ennea, what kind of music do you produce? I don't if i should call myself a musician but i do make music and been doing it for about a year now. I just bought myself a pair of M-audio BX5a deluxe monitors and a yamaha kx8 midi control. now i gotta save up to get a laptop so i don't have any money to get myself a good audio interface yet. i'm just using my old sound blaster audigy 2 zs. Glad to know someone in here produce music.

 

I meant get the smartbay battery after you receive your laptop. They give you a major discount on it when you purchase it as an upgrade after you've already received the notebook.

 

I'm not that serious about it, but I do play like everyday. I've been a guitarist for about 7 years now. Primarily electric, but I do love acoustic as well. I'm also pretty decent at singing. I just like the effects the X-Fi Express Card has for figuring out certain songs. It makes certain tones clearer and more vibrant.

 

Hello. I just received my m15x the other day. So far so good. I ordered XP as the OS. I didn't know XP prohibited you from receiving the AlienFusion power management portion of the command center. I only have AlienFX in the command center now and can't receive certain updates.

I was thinking of upgrading to Vista but wasn't sure what the pro's and con's were. Any suggestions? I didn't know if the other aspects of the command center were worth the upgrade or not. It looks like I'll have to upgrade to Vista through Alienware to avoid support issues (i.e., reinstalling XP for support). Any thoughts?

 

well the only advantage i can think of for vista is the way it looks and direct x10. since theres no direct x10 exclusive game out there yet theres not really a point in getting vista. the power options are very good tho. you can save yourself a lot of battery life using the power options.

 

You aren't missing much without Vista. There is still quite a bit of work to do on Vista before it can become "complete." There are still some compatibility issues Vista needs to work on before I think it's worth the upgrade.

Don't get me wrong though, Vista (with SP1) is a really great OS. It's stable, uses RAM more efficiently, and it's more secure. If you're worried about not having AlienFusion, don't worry about it. It's not a deal breaker. Don't get Vista just for AlienFusion.

I'm personally using XP on my m15x. I love it and I don't regret getting XP instead of Vista. As for updates, what updates are you looking for? If they're driver updates you are looking for, just look for the manufacturer updates (ex. Intel GM965 Chipset Update @ Intel.com).