My m15x Arrived!

I ordered this thing on 2/7/08. It arrived today, with upgraded overnight shipping.

T9300 2.5ghz, 8800MGTX, 2GB, Samsung 320GB, extra battery, extra hard drive bay, 1440x900 screen, DVD with Lightscribe, Vista Ultimate.

Just some quick thoughts - will add more as I go.

Bios - has the x30 bios installed already.

Looks - I was afraid it would look a little cheesy, but I think it looks awesome!

The screen is incredible - 1440x900 is just right for 15" screen, I think. Very little to no light bleeding. Fantastic viewing angles. Best screen I've seen on a laptop.

Keyboard - as others have noted, bottom right flexs a bit compared to the rest. Not really an issue in my mind, as I don't push the keys that hard. I really like the rubbery feel to the keys - its great!

Touchpad - I think I'm in the minority, but I like the smoother feel of the touchpad. I like that the buttons are quiet. No tactile feedback when you reach the edge will take some getting used to, but its not a biggie.

Gap - No visible gap over the ethernet port, looks the same as the rest of the edges of the chassis. Perhaps they have solved this.

Bulid - seems pretty sturdy to me. Screen wobble issue others reported doesn't seem like an issue to me, perhaps I'm just not sensitive to it.

Touch Controls - I do have the issue where after sleep, they do not work. I'm pretty sure its a driver thing and will get fixed.

Right side of the palmrest heats up considerably, even when idle. I guess this is where the hard drive is. Can anyone else verify this?

3dMark06 - 9919 at 1280*720 - definitely heard the fans come on, but not too loud.

Going to test for the downclocking issue and get pics online once I find the digital camera.

N

 

nice one Nyceis
congratulations on being the first to receive your new toy today.

now whos next....

 

wow congrats for the system.

Hopefully u are enjoying it. About the gap, could you post some picture please? I somehow confuse with this gap thing, so picture might explain to us better what's up with the gap thingy.

 

Thanks!

Toy????? errr.....no....its a work machine...gotta write it off my business taxes...

I will post pics as soon as I can find my camera - I think my wife has it

N

 

Hi Nyceis and congratulations !!

Could you precise to us from where you are ? US or europe ?

thx

 

I'm in the U.S.

N

 

Congrats on your new system!

 

Congrats Nyceis! If I might ask what are you settings in 3Dmark06 set at? I have the same config as you (except I have the 200gb 72k hdd) and I am only getting 9060 in 3DMark06. Have fun with the new "business tool"

 

1280x720. Tell me, if you will, what temp does the 72k 200gb hard drive get to? Is the right side of the palmrest fairly warm for you?

N

 

Nice notebook! Didn't you have a Sager before? Would you mind taking some pictures where the gap would've been?

 

I imagine a 72k hard drive would get extremely hot.

 

I'm not so sure...I had a 320gb in another system and it seemed warmer than the 7200. I was curious to see what someone else had experienced before I go through the trouble of swapping them out myself.

N

 

Read the comments I quoted more carefully. 72k = 72000, not 7200. They meant to write 7.2k.

 

Nyceis congrats on the system. So I am assuming you the regular 3dmark06 that is purchased? Because the free one doesnt let u manipulate the resolution and for the 1440 by 900 screen i think it defaults to 1150 by 852 (something like that). Your 3dmark score is what other members are getting at that lower resolution with the same specs (i have the same specs as u also minus the HD differences and 4gig ram). I have a feeling u are running at the lower resolution without knowing it..but again congrats!

 

Hey Nyceis, would you mind taking some pictures? I want to see what the notebook looks like without that gap. Congrats on your purchase!

 

Hehe...sorry, I didn't notice that... LOL

N

 

Will do shortly - gotta keep the clients happy who pay for this stuff LOL

N

 

Cool. I ordered 3/2/07, I was told yesterday it should ship middle of next week. I've been in phase 2 since the 2nd of March, I jumped to phase six today. Not holding my breath but seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Congratulations on your new notebook. It sounds like they've got most of the problems taken care of now, have fun!

 

congrats on receiving your m15x

 

If you plan on installing iTunes, could you tell me if you have the same problem burning discs? I have the same CD/DVD driver as you.

 

I will try it once I get to iTunes - probably be a few days.

N

 

Here the pic requested of the part of the case with the Ethernet port.

N

 

Can you shut the lights off like the key board and the alien head for best battery life or just so its not so flashy all the time or is that not an option in the command center.

 

yes u can turn off the lights of specific parts.

 

You can turn off the keyboard, the Alienware logo and the light pipe around the screen. I will say if you turn off the keyboard, it is very difficult to see the key letters.

You cannot turn off the alien head on the top, the quick touch controls or the touchpad (however, if you turn off the touchpad, the light does go off)

I do hope they add support for turning these others off, as I would really like to turn the alien head and the touchpad light off (without turning the touch pad off)

N

 

Congratulations on the notebook. However why must people run 3dmark06 at 1280x720. You are just making the notebook look better than it really is. If you want a good result that is the "standard", use 1280x1024, which is the stock resolution that people use to compare.

What is it with people trying to boost their 3dmark06 score

 

No conspiracy here or trying to boost scores I don't have a 1280x1024 monitor to use, so 3dmark06 automatically picks a lower resolution - thats the one it picked. If I had a 1280x1024, I would have run it there.

If I was trying to artificially boost my score, I'd have run it at 640*480

N

 

I think N's Situation here is the same for most of the users. they don't have a 1280x1024 res screen to be able to do it. of course you can do it if you have the higher resolution screen (1920x1200), but most are getting the 1440x900 for more readability and better gaming performance (less pixels = more frames) without sacrificing any video quality

I'd like to note that DVI-D is still a relatively new format (most people have had their monitors longer than it's been a standard), AND HDMI to DVI-D cables are pretty scarce... when you do find them, they're usually not cheap.

so unless someone has one lying around to do a multi-screen setup for their laptop, they won't likely have a connection for a monitor they won't likely have.

overall the amount of users that have this unique set of devices is going to be naturally small... and that needs to be understood. I don't understand why you'd think we're trying to boost any scores

 

Nyceis,now that you have looked the beast over...any regrets?

 

3dmark should still let you run the test in that res regardless, itll just be bigger than your screen, unless maybe you got the free version.

 

the right side of the palmrest is warm because your graphics card lies beneath it. highly recommend using a notebook cooler, and using your integrated graphics if you're not gaming.

 

Not cheap? Have you checked out Monoprice? DVI-D single link male to HDMI female for $3.63. And then you can pick up a 28AWG 3 ft HDMI 1.3a cable for $4.49. Not bad, imho.

 

What a good question....Well, my wife hates it. She thinks it looks ugly and not very professional (I do occasionally take my computer to clients). I actually have a Dell XPS 1530 here, too, and it is a better looking computer.

The m15x was $1000 more than the 1530. For that, I could put in a 9800GX2 in my desktop and still have money left over...

Having said that, I do like the power of the m15x. I don't get much time to game, so when I do, I want my games to look great and not have to tweak anything to make them run nice; the 8800M GTX can handle them.

I also really like the SmartBay - Dell's old computers had these and I don't know why they stopped using them. I rarely use the DVD drive once everything is installed so to be able to swap out the drive for another battery is great.

Now I have to decide which to keep and which to return or sell.

N

 

you do soo loose video quality by choosing the 1440 over the 1900.

higer resolution =sharper image better quality and better textures.

and I can so tell the diff between 720 and 1080 with HD DVD or BD.

you have to be 1.5x away from screen to see full res HD.

if you are farther then its just as good as 720.

I am a licensed Video Technician. and ISF cert.

I have an optoma hd 81 1080 and an optoma hd7300 with scaler and I can notice the diff as well as anyone in the "know"

plus bud.

I play every single game I have and break 60fps on 80% of them.

Crysis I play @1680x1050 and get 35fps avg and break 48fps on HIGH.

 

How would you see a difference in games in 1900 over the 1440? You'd see things smaller, you'd have more place to put stuff on the screen but quality is the same. High on 1900 is the same as high on 1440 no?

 

i doubt you will be able to tell the difference if you watch something in 720p and watching something in 1080p on a 15.4 inch screen. since the screen is so small the quality would be very hard to tell apart. if you want to see a difference your going to need to get something bigger than a 42....

 

You do notice the difference. At least I do notice the difference.

 

1900x1200 is the new gaming/media standard... its foolish not to aim for it... esp if your into RTS or World of warcraft and plan on getting a blueray drive at some point.

 

Well sorry for chewing you out on the 3dmark06 score then. I didn't realize that you couldn't run it in 1280x1024. The only reason people usually run it on that resolution is because it is much easier to compare numbers that way. As soon as the resolution starts changing, the comparisons between different notebooks becomes more difficult.

 

I always run my 3dmark06 in the native resolution. I get 9500 w/ 1440x900.

 

Hey congrats,but u promised some pics man I am anxious for some goood looking pics.

 

you missed every point i was trying to make. The scaling for the monitor (to play at lower resolutions on a higher-res screen) will blur and distort the image. many gamers want to play at native resolution to avoid any such blurring, thus, choosing a lower-resolution screen, with a higher-end video card gives great framerates. I have the 8700M GT with the 1920x1200 screen, and I can barely play Crysis at all, I use the Triple C pack at mid-to-low and i still have sections where the frames drop so low i'd consider the game unplayable. (though i have a high tolerance for low-fps rates, thus, I can play it)... so I can only imagine how it would perform even at Triple C's lowest rating at 1920x1200 (native) resolution.... many would rather have the extra texture options and features, rather than the extra dot pitch.

In my honest opinion, what you've put here is stubborn and bigoted. fact is: as a computer professional and an IT information reference for just about everyone I know, I'd never recommend this laptop with the higher-resolution screen to anyone who gamed in a serious fashion. the 1440 screen with the 8800M GTX is excellent for that purpose. Everyone who's not serious about gaming can go for the larger screen, IF YOU HAVE USE FOR IT. Photoshoppers, etc. everyone else i'd recommend the 1440 screen to. I photoshop and rarely game (though i've been gaming more since I got this thing), therefore, I have the mid-range card, and the high-end display.

but that's my opinion. You do have some valid points, that there are more pixels, greater graphics detail, blah blah blah. none of this matters though, because when you're gaming at 15fps, you can think of little more than "DAMN LAG!"

Now, if you want to go ahead and play 2 or 3 year old games constantly, then yeah, you'd have a point, but newer games can't keep up frames, with the highest detail on the bigger res screen. and in games, frames mean more than texture detail.

 

Congratulations, seems you have a greast machine there "N", hope you enjoy using it.

OB

 

Congrats Nyceis !!
Sounds like a killer.. It's good to see that they've fixed(?) the ethernet port gap.. I've always been a desktop person so I don't think screen wobble would be an issue with me either..
Waiting for the pics now !!

 

Dude... I agree with your choice of laptops (laptank, or just straight up "tank"), and admire you for it... but do you have to spray down every thread with your tankish choice? The luggable desktop concept is not right for all. (though you are dang close to convincing me that it is the right choice for me).

 

Quoted for truth. I doubt you will notice a difference in detail between 1440x900 vs 1920x1200 in gaming or movies unless your face was less than 1 foot away from the screen. I would say a 17" screen would be the MINIMUM where you would be able to tell the difference easily.

I love the the desktop space given by having a higher resolution screen, but not on a 15.4" screen. The DPI would be too small for me to see text without having to enlarge fonts on everything.