My m17x has arrived

Here are pictures of my unboxing:

























You guys already know how the specs run so let me talk about the build. The laptop itself is huge (as you can see in the pictures), but unlike the M15x it is really sturdy. The finish itself certainly gives the laptop more of a high-end finish/build compared to the competition. In my opinion, I prefer the M17x to the M1730 (normal and WoW edition), and the Sager. There's no creaking anywhere and the the screen is beautiful, though it is definitely fingerprint prone. Even the outside of the screen is glossy and black-also very fingerprint prone. It holds fine when erect and when you are laying down and posing the laptop on your knees, the screen is strong enough to hold itself up, which is a big plus in my book. I game a lot laying down or on the couch using a LapDawg and my MBP screen almost always folds back down unless it's positioned perfectly. I don't have this problem with the M17x. Size/Weight- As long as you are used to other 17' notebooks, this one shouldn't be too different to pick up and take with you, though it is considerably larger than say, a 17' MacBook Pro (Which I mention because it is the other laptop I use. You can see side by sides above) on the bottom. I haven't had many problems with the touch buttons (they take a little bit getting used to, but they work fine), but the mousepad is a little tricky. The cool thing about it is that there's a little device manager program for it that lets you adjust the options for it (scrolling, right-clicking, ect.) I haven't gotten used to it yet, but I've used it for less than 30 minutes. I'm more used to an Apple trackpad, so this could by why I'm having trouble with this one- and it's not nearly as intuitive as that one out of the box, either. The speakers aren't as nice as the MBP, and they tend to distort when they're maxed out. If you are using this computer for audio the external sound blaster card is a good idea. I purchased one with mine and it sounds great (I am an audio engineer, if that helps), and it also comes with in-ear headphones with a built-in mic, in case you are going to be on vent immediately. I would also recommend the Turtle Beach AKs if you want nicer sounding, surround, over the ear headphones (also come with a mic), though they are pricier. For pure audiophiles, I recommend an external sound card like the creative XFI and something like the Ultrasone 900s or Sen HD280s. If you guys have any other questions that I could answer, let me know. I've owned the laptop for less than an hour and the only game I've put on it so far is Age of Conan. I tested the FPS (graphics maxed out) in an instance and got 130FPS+. If anyone wants the FPS for the outside world, let me know. I currently own an Alienware ALX (QX9650 OCed right now to 3.5GHz Quad Core, SLI GTX280s, Vista Ultimate) and the startup time is not too different than that of the laptop. This laptop is loading more stuff than the M15x, which means different drivers for the most part- especially if you are using vista. This could account for the big differences people are experiencing with startup time on their lappys. Oh yeah, the ALIEN FX lighting on this laptop is superior to that of the PC, mostly because the keyboard is beautiful. I love everything about it- the color, feel, the keys- everything is quality. If you couldn't tell, as far as this laptop goes, I am definitely satisfied. Alright, hope you guys enjoy the pics, sorry if there are grammatical errors, but I just wanted to put some info out there so everyone wasn't left completely in the dark. I've barely spent any time on my new system so I'm gonna go back to it! (ps- power brick is definitely huge).

Sorry for not posting my specs earlier:

[1] Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8800M GTX – SLI Enabled
Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology – Black
Includes AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design!
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
System Drive: Dual Drive Configuration - 240GB (120GB x 2) 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service

Oh yeah, if anyone is planning on buying one do yourself a favor and at least get a couple years of coverage. Alienware computers (PCs and Laptops) almost always run into problems. If you are looking to spend a lot of money with them, be safe.

 

nice man congratz

 

what are your specs?

 

Congratulations, you can almost tell that you're pleased..... but, only a little ha ha ha ha

I'm really pleased you like your new baby. The pictures are cool and apart from the speakers and getting used to the mouse (i find this with all track pads, they all seem slightly different for some reason), it's a sound machine eh? That's awsome.

I really envy you man, can't wait until i get one for myself...

Enjoy

OB

 

Wow, that's really nice. Thanks for posting the pictures! Black and silver both look amazing, it's going to be hard to choose once Alienware offers both colors on the m15x.

 

I'm just pleased you have what you wanted, bet you're glad you didn't get the m15x (",)

I've not gone for the TV tuner either, i might get a USB tuner at a later date but...

So have you installed Crysis yet... I'm hopeing that it will be able to play it maxed out...?

OB

 

Unless Alienware pulled some kind of major overclock (which I'm sure they don't) the most SLI 8800M GTXs will do in Crysis will be high at 1920x1200, but very high is really unoptimized and isn't that much better, anyway.

 

very nice machine you got there man. what are your specs? have you run any benchmarks?

 

I am pretty happy with my choice. My advice for anyone getting the M15x is that it's probably better to go with the lower res screen (720p) because powering a 1200p screen is really difficult for games like Crysis. As for Crysis being played maxed out (Very High settings since this is DX10 machine), I really really doubt it's going to be possible to get a solid 30FPS at this resolution. If it's turned down a bit, say 720p (or High settings), it's definitely possible. I haven't installed it yet since I've already played through the game a couple of times, and someone posted stats from it a bit earlier, but I will try it out for myself when I get a chance tomorrow. As cool as the lappy is, it's not a miracle machine, it has its limits. The only rigs that I've read/seen able to power Crysis at Very High Settings at 1200p are ones with SLI 9800GTXs or 9800GX2, and the new GTX cards. I haven't been keeping up with the new ATI cards, but I'm sure they also have something able to do it too. Like I mentioned earlier, turning down the res can solve this problem...1200p is really a *****.

 

/agree. 3dguru has got some benchmarks up of the new gtx280s being able to run it with those settings at 1200p. one can dream though...

 

So basically, apart from not being able to play Crysis at full res (seems no laptop will ever be able to unless it can run desktop GPU's ho hum), it's a great machine. To be honest that's what counts really.

I'd bet the Half-Life 2 would look awsome lol

OB

 

my m15x can run Crysis at all high at native res... of course, very high probably won't ever happen on a laptop, but high is already very pleasing.

 

Yeah many people have said that 1440 x 900 works really well for Crysis, seems if you go bigger it takes a super computer to work it... Lol

I wonder if the next version will also kill Pc's?

Roll on StarcraftII

OB

 

well, i believe that Crytek said that if your PC can run Crysis, then it will have no trouble running Crysis: Warhead... so i'm guessing they've optimized and streamlined the Cryengine a good bit.

 

well Half life 2 does look amazing just played it for a bit just put everything to max and restarted the game will record all of this soon

 

You've got the 720p screen though, yeah? With that rez, the M15x can rule Crysis on High settings. It's the 1200p I was referring to.

 

Yeah pretty much. A good trick is to go into your native res settings and turn them down to 1080p and then turn down the settings in Crysis to the same res. That's something more suited toward the m17x since it has that bigger screen which = more room for detail.

 

i believe even the new Nvidia 280 GTX is brought to it's knees by Crysis at all very high WUXGA res...

 

The GTX280 in SLI can do Crysis great at 1200p/Very High settings. It dips to around 35FPS during the beach scene (which is fine), but other than that it's amazing. Those are the GPUs I've got in my PC paired with the QX9650. Pricy, but the experience is amazing.

 

well just tried out half life two at all high settings looks amazing and my GPU never went above 79C made a little video now on to oblivion

 

Omaryunus can you pm me with your Oblivon settings, i know it's a little off tpoic but are you using TOTO or mods?

I'm glad to hear half-life works good, i've got the orange box lol

OB

 

Offtopic: I didnt wanted to start a new thread..

BYE Guys.Instead of ordering M17X i ended up ordering the following 2 notebookss in my sign. i believe i will not regret it and that i made the correct decission.
Bigger role on decission was AW reliability since im leaving abroad and the stupid marketing policy they kept on m17x and m15x.
Ill keep checking the AW forum and i hope M17X owners to be happy with there choice

 

havent played around with Oblivion too much yet i will be using TOTO and no mods. i think it can handle quite alot even though ive got the 8700s

 

strictly out of interest, why did you buy TWO gaming notebooks?

 

yea for a second i thought WHA!! and then i read again it its still WHA!!! why im pretty sure you didnt get both of them for the price of one m17x or did you???

 

Good lord, the fastest 17 and 15 inch laptops...you have a ton of cash to throw away apparently...

 

The 9262 is suppose to be my Desktop Replacement i want the 17'' the 3 Hard drives and hole package,as for the NP8660 will be the laptop that ill be using in work,this means data for work,travelling alot and portability..
Since i leave in Europe i wanted to make one order and get done with this for not additional shipping costs etc.I waited for close a year watching and checking every laptop in the market and i ended up that this was the best choice since 9262 seems like a reliable choice after of months of beeing in market.I was so close to end up with M17X but the problems and the bad fame AW had and watched throu forums as well from the beginning these laptops released made me get no risks and go with Clevo.
I will not even comment there ****id marketing policy.
As for price yes both of them was close to a fully loaded M17X with the risks although i was taking about system and customer support.
Anyway time will tell,now my only concern is when will be here

 

Why didn't you just buy a desktop and the NP8660?
I mean... even if money is not a concearn, that is just a bit silly.
But... who am I to say?
Good one going for the best and fastest laptops out there (which, by the way, are not the Alienware as AW says on their website! )

 

Because is a Desktop Replacement =>power of a desktop and portability which i wanted,if i wanted a desktop i would bought a desktop and save some cash,not so much as you think though because pricing in my country is much more expensive even for desktop parts than in USA and lets not forget that the currency of euro to $ is quite good last months which helped to take this decission.

Thanks for the good words milcs i hope everyth will turn good for youre
m15x as well.
Lets stay on topic i just wanted to thank with this post all the ppl in this forum who tried there best to achive the things they achieved with m15x since the release of these notebooks.
I believe this forum only can help Alienware to become a better and reliable company.

 

YEah that's what i'm going tu use, i've got the best of list from TOTO nookmarked for downloading lol

I am going to use a few mods though, a simple ring is cool, total invisibility and night vision...

Can you put some pictures of it using quarls tp3?

OB

 

yea just finished with CoD 4 adn HL2 and on oblivion right now will have that up soon

 

can u post more m17x and MBP side by side pictures?pls?

 

i dont have a macbook pro but i do have a macbook i could place them side by side it would look funny but i can do it

 

Sure, I'll take some more side by sides tomorrow, if you can hold on for a day haha.

 

@OB
i am still DLing quarls tp3 takes a while atleast a whole day to DL anything over 1GB... well hopefully i should have those pics up soon

 

Thanks for your help, it took me about an hour to downlad it, we have an 8Mb connection but, seem to get around 6 so not too slow.

I have the complete texure pack for running QTP3, all of which Should work... Once i can run Oblivion on full i'll apply them and see what difference they make... Should be interesting lol

So how're you finding your m17x, any problems so far?

OB

 

no problems i had one hang on me but that was the crappy external enclosure that i got but ever since i changed that all has been good been playing CoD4 never been a fan of CoD but i am starting to really like this one and well I got Assassins Creed installed and Mass Effect and Hell gate london some f my favorite games WoW is gonna take forever with its 3GB to DL and well my internet is not even close to 8MB they just upgraded it to.... 1MB LOL!!! yea crazy slow compared to america so yea gonna take me a while hopefully they said they will be going to 2MB next month so i am just gonna be upgrading it asap

 

where i live the normal internet speed is 30 mbs. i would kill myself if i had to go back to a 1 mb or 2 mb connection. tho i wish i could be the old women who gets 40 gigs per sec connection. the women doesnt even use the internet, she uses the modem to dry laundry

 

yea in amreica i got a 50mbs internet and what old women is this?? ive never heard of that... and believe me this connection is killing me browsing is fine but games and etc suck BIG time!!

 

here you can take a look

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/31/swede-used-40gbps-internet-connection-to-dry-laundry/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/13/40gbps-internet-connection-installed-in-swedes-home/

she might be getting a 100 gig per sec connection pretty soon too.

 

Hey devired, I dont want to sidetrack the thread but I am in Europe as well. Just wondering if you know how much import tax you will pay on you laptops. I know the Euro dollar exchange is pretty good for us but is it really worth it with tax and shipping?

 

30?!? damn thats fast, most ive ever tried is 1 mbs , I dont even imagine what I could do with just 15 mbs

 

@Chaz: could you kill this thread , because the title does not reflect its content.
THX

 

The vat depence on youre Country,i will not pay anyth though because i will buy the laptop on the Companys name im working,so the laptops will be assets of the company and VAT will return back to company.Is importand to able to do this for the Invoice to be on companys name and be able in case of vat check to prove that the notebooks are bought for the Company and not for personal use only.
As for shipping seems like cheaper to get a laptop shipped from USA 250$ to my country(Cyprus) than lets say England 250 Euro(DHL from alienware side).

 

He said "erect"...mpfffff

 

P5surf,
Nice review. My M17X has basically same specs as yours i like it much better than the M15X i had previously. Much better build and quality. The only thing i do not like is the huge power brick but performance is outstanding. Have not had any problems.

 

hey tana that is not p5surf's m17x that was the review by mozahgogo he just quoted the review to talk about the word "erect"

 

Ha ha. Thanks. My bad.

 

nice review. your AW desktop matches the AW laptop