M17X Initial Review

Hi Everyone,
First of all, sorry that there are no pictures as of yet. I've been busy focusing on the features and performance of the laptop. Here are my perceptions and experiences so far.

Pros:

1. Very well built (Dell Strong)
2. Impressive Lighting (Just as good as M15x)
3. Most of the software works without too many bugs
4. Performance is top notch
5. This time stealth mode actually works
6. Alien Sense is actually pretty cool (smile at the camera and you're in)
7. The keys on the keyboard are stable (doesn't have the m15x plague)
8. There's no keyboard flex
9. The LCD hinge is fairly stiff (no wobbling or creaking/doesn't have the m15x plague)
10.Good sound for a laptop (no chirping or static/doesn't have the m15x plague)
11.Decent volume control (no more searching for an ampifier to hear your DVD movies)

Cons:

1. McAfee Antivrus hurts the computer more than it helps (Remove This!!!)
2. Sound touch controls don't work well (aren't very sensitive/several tries)
3. No manual eject for DVD-ROM (isn't a big deal since the touch control works well)
4. You still get intermittent blue screens/game stopped responding (due to McAfee from what I can tell)

The Size and Feel
The M17X is definitely a big machine. It's like having an m9750, but thicker. The frame, magenisium chassis, and overall feel is very stable. It looks like Dell/Alienware really took care in assembly to make this as durable as possible

The Weight
This is a very heavy notebook. You're going to feel it when you truck it up and down stairs or to the nearest LAN party. It would most likely be the equivalent to carrying two m9750s.

The Keyboard
This keyboard is very comfortable and easy to type on. It very closely resembles the m15x design, but it actually is the Dell 1730 keyboard modified. There's no flex that I can tell, and the ligting is fairly even across the length of the keyboard.

The Screen
The screen is a very nice design. It really does appear boarderless. There's a thin glossy plastic along the entire face of the screen. Everything is nicely concealed underneath, giving the overall appearance of a flush interface. There is hard any wobble, if any, and no creaks for all those concerned. Open and close this laptop
with confidence.

The Touch Keys
The touch keys can be spotted along the right corner above the keyboard. Although small, the majority of the buttons work fairly decent. The only problem I encountered while using them was while I was trying to adjust the sound. For some reason, the sound touch keys aren't very sensitive, and you have to make several attempts to adjust the sound. However, this is not a huge concern, being that you can easily adjust the sound on the task bar. I'm sure a software update will resolve this.

The Touchpad
The touchpad has a good feel to it. Keep in mind that this isn't a smooth touchpad. It has a bumpy like texture to it. At default settings, you have to apply pressure to move the move the mouse. However, this is very minimal, and can be easily adjusted through the command center. The mouse buttons are very similar in design and feel to the m9750. It's a solid button that incorporates a rocking motion for the left or right click. The disable touchpad feature has been improved. The M17X reliable disables and enables the touchpad when you use an external mouse. Also, for those concerned about the lighting, the ring of light that encircles the touchpad doesn't turn off when the touchpad is disabled.

The Speakers
The speakers sound quite good for a notebook. It can easily match the volume and clarity of a small set of satellite desktop speakers. As far as I can tell, there isn't and static or chirping during normal play. Unfortunately, a subwoofer wasn't included. This might be due to battery related issues. Typically, the subwoofer was almost always near the battery, and it may have been degrading battery life.

The DVD-ROM/Blueray
The DVD-ROM/Blueray drive seems to work as smooth as most slot loader models. Howevery, you can only eject your DVD/Blueray/CD by pressing the eject touch key. There is no manual button, and there is no manual emergency removal (paper clip slot). It appears that your only option for removing stuck media is to force an eject through windows or have it repaired.

The lights
This is quite possibly the best part of the whole notebook. The Alienware logos, touch controls, keyboard, and speakers all light up in the pattern of your choice. Unfortunately, the LCD frame doesn't have a light zone like the m15x. This was most likely removed to make the LCD more stable and durable.

The performance
You won't find a smoother, more portable, Crysis machine. Gaming performance is quite possibly the best Dell/Alienware has ever offered. Whether you a chose a single or dual card (SLI) configuration, the m17x seems to tackle current games with ease.

The Fans and Cooling
This is quite possibly the best cooling design, incorporating three cooling fans and an almost exposed bottom. The CPU and GPUs all have a separate fan. At idle, and during normal use, you can barely tell that the fans are present. However, when you load up match of Crysis, all three fans adjust to the load, and the fans are very noticeable. If you've ever owned a Dell 9100, the fan noise is very similar. Fortunately, the volume can be adjusted to compensate for the noise.

The Software
The software is nothing short of what you've already used on the m15x. The command center is very similar, with a very nice feature - Alien Sense. It's nothing short of amazing when you can smile at the camera and be instantly logged into your computer. Other pieces of software include PowerDVD, Nero, McAfee, YouCam, etc.
I highly recommend removing McAfee as it not only slows down the computer, but cripples it's performance.

Pictures






More pictures soon.....


Gabe

 

thank you i trust your opinions

i just sold my m17 for 1560 total whoooo

 

Thats Grrrrreaat Moo , looks like taking the long road to sell really paid off .

 

awesome GabeZ...
thanks.
btw i linked your thread to the sticky for the M17x....please keep us updated on the front page of your thread....

 

One of the side effects of Dellienware: McAfee Virus Scam.

 

ohh yea but what ever makes it cheaper right?

i'd take all the crap they got if it drops it by 200$

 

I'll take it too but I would be very surprised if the difference is anywhere remotely near $200.

So when do you place your order?

 

i place my order as soon as this is shipped tommorw and he gets it and says ok

 

Hey Gabe, or anyone else who knows. What wireless card does the alienware have? (Intel/Dell)?

 

dell/intel wifi i believe

 

Mine is actually a broadcom.

I'm not sure what the other choice is.

gabe

 

ok thanks Gabe

 

Thanks Gabe. For some reason, I thought it was the Intel 5300.



Edit: Thanks also Moo.

 

Pretty interesting how the M17x looks like an "big macbook"... Even the wifi card is the same

 

The Alienware M17x does not look like a macbook lol.

 

I don't said it in a literally way... It was a "figuratively speaking" (is it in English? lol).

 

I know what you were trying to do, but you really cant compare the two hehe !

 

good to hear. what are the specs for it? and have u tested any games on it yet?

fixable how?

 

proably a BIOS update

 

Or just some newer drivers, but i highly doubt thats a problem to be honest.

Done any temperature readings gabe, im hoping the AW cooling and new design is awesome

Thanks for this small review, its turning out great from what im reading.

 

Does it at least have the typical Paperclip manual eject hole to get your DVD out in a bind?

 

i could be wrong, but i have never seen the paperclip safety button on slot units...

 

Eh, how do you manually eject a disc froma drive that doesn't have a tray...?

@ GabeZ, i'm glad y our new baby has arrived and your pleased with it. It looks cool, personally i'm not sure about ehfront vents but, it's a very good machine. You'll have to try F3 maxed out, your graphics cards should eat it for breakfast lol

Enjoy

OB

 

Do tell us how this is fixable.

 

So basically if the touch button fails, you're dvd is stuck in the drive for good?

 

no, you can always open windows explorer and right click on your drive and select eject.

 

Not if there is a mechanical problem. There should be some sort of fail safe short of taking it apart.

 

So the big question is....how does youporn look with the new edge-to-edge glass? lol

On a more serious note. How easily does your finger run across the touch pad? While at Futureshop, I noticed that some laptops have a high coefficient of friction on their touch pads when your fingers are a little sweaty.

 

youpr0n...gotta love it

But anyways, about the manually eject. Sometimes cds get stuck in my MB and the only way to get them out is to reboot and hold eject while its booting. I dont know how it is for windows because I have never seen a windows pc without a tray ;x

cheers

 

It will eject if you hold down the eject button when doing a reboot.

 

Do people still use touch pads? Amazing.

 

I was gonna say. Doesn't everyone hook a mouse up?

 

Only time I ever use my touchpad is when I'm like in the airport or something.

 

That's when I would use my Thinkpad with it's trackpoint. I don't think I would do any extensive travel with a DTR.

 

When studying at the library or taking a train ride home for the weekend, I kick it old-school and use the touch pad....cause thats how I roll

 

But how do you play your favorite games in the hotel room when you reach your destination? haha.

I had a more portable system (HP dv9700) until the GPU went out (damn nVidia). That repair cost me $800 as it happened (conveniently) 2 months after warranty expiration.

 

I guess I'm not hard core enough as some here.

 

Can we get more details on this??

The last thing I want to hear are driver issues/BSOD's........

 

Hi everyone,
I'm on my way to work, so I'll answer a few questions really quick. First of all, there seems to be some concern about the blue screening. I only ever got it to blue screen once (physical memory dump), and removing McAfee resolved that. It seems like McAfee locks everything down so well that it causes the computer to quit responding. There is no paper clip slot for the DVD-ROM. I think I'd cry if my special edition anything got stuck in there and I had to rip it out (requires the entire laptop to be disassembled). So far, I've only tried to load two games on it. Crysis runs very well and all on high of course. Gears of War runs.....but not great. It stutters here and there, and Windows Live Gaming keeps freezing (no multiplayer for me I guess). However, I think this is all do to the fact that it's running Vista 64. Some people love Vista 64, but I've never been able to get it to run games properly. I wish there were more Vista 32 drives available so I could make the switch.

More to come soon,
Gabe

 

vista x64 runs butter smooth on my desktop rig.....

 

since the dellienware dosent have a subwoofer who good is the sound ?

 

The sound is equivalent to a small set of satellites. It's fairly decent for a notebook, and the volume can be adjusted pretty high. Now you don't have to rest the side of your head against the palm rest to hear the audio on your DVD movie lol.

Gabe

 

Gears of war should have been running smooth after getting the updates for the game and the windows live updates as well ? . Did you defrag after installing Gears ? That installer for the game is a mess and the files are heavily fragmented after the install so its something to consider if you didnt already .

 

i never worried much about the sound....

and as far as it not having a sub woofer .... well how much bass can a 1 inch speaker have?

 

ugh..Mcaffee

I live by ESET NOD32 Smart Security(v4) as my anti-virus/firewall/antispam

The most secure (came out on top when tested against all others), amazingly efficient, and reliable firewall I have ever used.

Only nitch I have against it, is that its sometimes over-protective[which is really a noble flaw] ..when I try to stream movies to my 360 for instance, that was a problem; but easily solved by adjusting the trusted zone.

 

Same here. I always use headphones anyways.. Even on my desktop..

 

Too true, I always use my bass boosting earphones, they give brilliant sound quality. But the subwoofer on the M17 IS a nice feature, and I like the sound unplugged, it's just for reasons of other people in the household I usually can't have it that way

 

How's the weight if you have it on your lap?

 

It's a little heavier on your lap than the m9750. It's a noticeable weight. Also, if you're gaming, you definitely don't want to have it on your lap. It gets really hot.

Gabe

 

Ok, thanks. But when you're just doing some CPU-easy stuff (webbrowsing for example, or watching a DVD/Blu-ray disc) it stays cool enough for use on your lap? That's pretty important point to me. Sometimes I just like to sit on the couch and do some web surfing while watching TV. For gaming, I would put it on a desk of course or use one of those special laptop cushions (soft bottom, hard&flat top)
And it's possible to shut down the GPU-card(s) if you're not using them right? (to keep temperature low)