*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M15x Owner's Lounge, *Part 2*

Has anyone tried the updates of synaptics and DVD firmware on Dell website. I tried the DVD firmware and it says my DVD drive not compatible with the firmware, then I tried the synaptics one and it has an error when I installed it. After that, all the media touch buttons (wifi, stealth mode) stop working...

 

See if I had that option I'd do it. But I don't have any trustworthy place where I can get my stuff shipped to in the states. And even if I did, then I'd probably get slapped customs and brokerage anyways.

 

I just did the Synaptics drivers and they worked fine for me, initially I was worried then realized it had defaulted to "turn off touchpad when mouse is connected". When installing it gave a warning that I should remove the old Synaptic drivers first otherwise there could be problems. Even if you did this already it could be worth removing them and reinstalling again anyhow.

 

I did receive the warning that I should remove synaptics before installing the new one. I removed it, restarted my laptop, then installed the new one. then the installation process took about 5 mins before it said that it failed to install. then I removed it and use the old one in the M15x resource disc but it still failed to install. I guess that there is a problem since I updated from win 7 home pre to Win 7 pro. Any suggestions ??

 

Actually no - I did try 186.81, but skipped right over 186.82. I'll see if I can free up some time this weekend to give that one a try since I was just reading a bunch of good things about it in a different forum.

 

Personally, I think we need a stickied All Powerful M15x General Information thread, just like the one stickied for the All Powerful M17x...

 

*drifts way way WAY off topic*

Have I ever told you how much I love French Manicures!?! I need to talk my wife into doing her nails this way again.

 

Which number did you call?

 

writing to alienware support huh... lol
i wrote to them about 3 days ago. they haven't replied.
it said that they'll reply within 1 business day.
great customer service...

 

I called 1(800)847-4096.

 

Got a bit of an issue. I purchased my laptop through AAFES, so I didn't get an account, and can't set anything up through Alienware (the myhive). The laptop works superbly, not a single problem, but I upgraded to Win7 (love it) but I don't have any of the nice Alienware backgrounds or icons or stuff. Is there a link for this or anyone have any suggestions. The Win7 ones, albeit better than Vista's, aren't as sexy as the Alien ones.

 

@ChrisB808
I think it was supposed to come with a disk that had the nice alienware stuff on it so if you didn't get that I'd call them up or go through AAFES and let them know that you didn't get it. As far as a discount goes you got out of paying taxes for it so there's a discount and depending on your configuration some of the parts are cheaper but they keep changing the prices through the AAFES site so there's no telling on that part.

 

Doh. Forgot to check the disk. BRB

 

Didn't see it on the resource disk. Hrm. I sent an email to Dell, maybe they have a link or something.

 

If a link for that exists, it'll be here:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=W764&catid=-1&dateid=-1&impid=-1&osl=EN&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=ALW_LP_M15X&hidos=WV64&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

 

Do you mean change the colors without using the Alienware command center? I've heard there is other 3rd party software you can use but I don't think there is anything in Windows 7 itself.

 

i had done a crysis becnhmark, feel free can check it out there
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5539489#post5539489

 

Awesome, congrats man!

Mine also shipped out on November 20th. The delivery date is going to be November 24th. I had ordered the 3-5 day ground shipping so that is actually very good. Did yours ship out of Tennessee as well?

Attached is my FedEX Info

 

Anyone know how to hook up the 5.1 surround? I dont see any settings to change it from default to surround.

As well when i plug in a mic or anything into the mic jack the sound completely cuts out.. any ideas?

 

So does anyone solved the keyboard stuttering ? Because the bios patch didn't work for me :/

 

After much thought i could order mine on 16-11 (after three Dell support people who didn't knew SSD's existed for the M15x and you can not fit a Dual 280M).

Alienware M15x : Base Nebula Red
Processor : Intel i7 720QM(1.60Ghz, 6MB) Mobile CPU
Display : 15.6in Wide HD+ (1600 x 900) WLED
Ship Accessory : Dutch Docs
Resource DVD : Alienware M15x
Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Hard Drive : 256GB Solid State Hard Drive
Optical Drive : Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)
Power Cord : European 220V
Power Supply : Alienware 150W AC Adapter
Battery : Primary 6-cell 56W/HR LI-ION
Graphics : 1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX260M
Wireless : ROW Intel WiFi Link 5300 (a/g/n) Wireless LAN Card
Wireless : Europe Dell Bluetooth 370 Card
Keyboard : Internal Dutch Qwerty Keyboard
Operating System : Dutch Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 BIT)
Avatar : Alienhead 3D
AutoMatic Updates : AutoMatic updates - On
Wallpaper : Alienware 3D Wallpaper
AntiVirus : McAfee Security Centre 10(30 day subscription)Software MUI
(UK,FR,DE,ES,IT,DK,NL,SE,NO,RU)
Name Plate Engraving : Generic
Standard Service - 1 year of coverage included with your PC
Premium Service - 3 years Next Business Day service + 3 years Accidental Damage Support
3 years Accidental Damage Support
I have already selected the Services promotion.
Alienware M15x Order - Netherlands

EUR 2260,- which i think is a fair price. I was amazed the upgrade from the standard to a 256 GB SSD was only EUR 300,-. Also the upgrade from W7 Home Premium to W7 Pro was only EUR 30,-

I did choose the 1600x900 screen on purpose. I know have a 17" M1710/7950GTX and I did not want an even smaller font in games.

17-11, almost 2 days later credit card cleared and it has been in Pre-production since.
EDD is 17-12, so it will take a month for me. I'm so jealous of people who received it within 2 weeks

 

it amazes me how expensive Europe is. Congrats on the order/purchase! I say expensive because I was able to get mine without the SSD ($300.00 extra, which is 200 euro) and 1 GB RAM less for $1499.99 which is 1,022.00 Euro.

Anywho congrats dude and enjoy the system. I"m awaiting mine as well!

 

You are not the only one. Mine is taking time as well. It already been 2 weeks and mine hasn't shipped yet.

 

How long have you been waiting for?

 

What!!! I didn't knew that ... why d heck do thy build such costly systems and provide no support....

 

I think it depends on which country you are in? I have had a great customer support experience. I just call the team that took my order and speak with them. They handle everything for me. Many people will listen to the rep talk and hear their name and team name, but don't write it down or keep it in mind. Contact your team who sold you the unit and speak with them. So far my experience has been great however I hear that the EU customer support is mediocre. At least it isn't as bad as Acer.

 

Dell / Alienware customer support is hit and mis. I called a couple of times until i had the luck to get someone knowledgeable. It's a shame that when you want to part with a month's pay and have a hard time...

 

it's true, but I stand behind the idea of contacting the team you spoke with. They do help. They also give freebees if you are upset with service. I got a free GTX 260m in my set-up

 

So far so good traveling with this on the train. I have an evdo verizon card that I am on right now. I am heading from Washington DC to New York, really glad the trains have full outlets!!

 

So you've tried laying back with the machine on your knees angled at 45 degrees or so and no problems with the right mouse or missed keys?

 

So far so good, I am glad I have the 9 cell battery as it props up the laptop a tad on my lap.

 

Anyway, finally got my laptop and razer orochi this friday. I ordered it the 7th of nov and it arrived at 9am by fedex on the 20th. After playing roughly 6 hours of L4D2 and 4 hours of dragons age origins I have come to the conclusion that this laptop is insane.

i7 720
1920 screen
4 gig ram
260m gtx

Windows 7 makes words bigger so its easy to read and soft on the eyes with 1920 resolution and I am very pleased with it. After 10 hours of gaming the entire laptop surface, ENTIRE surface is cold enough to never melt butter. The cooling on this laptop is so crazy it can feel room temp, maybe even below it on the palm wrests after hours of gaming. I also have had 0 issues with the laptop, from bootup to bluetooth everything has worked first shot. almost no flex in the keyboard too.

The dvd drive is insanely loud when installing and reading, but the wrest of the laptop is so quiet, even during extreme load that u can barley tell it is on at all. My HDTV makes more noise, my PS3 makes 10 times the noise.

Besides the dvd player, the 2nd issue is the touchpad is so bad that Im surprised they even have one. In its current state it will take you 5 more seconds just opening up IE. PLaying with the settings doesnt help.

Another note, the power brick is surprisingly flat. 1/2 inch tall but pretty wide, all in all much smaller than bricks ive had in previous gaming laptops. Last thing that surprised me was the speakers. Their not amazing, and have a very empty hollow sound but are quiet loud. you can crank these to max volume and easily let 20 people hear it.

 

Yeah I like that feature of the 9 cell as well.

Look, sorry to press the issue here, but have you tried right clicking something on the desktop to pop open a window and then tilting the keyboard up to about 45 degrees ( ---> / <--- ). Does the menu suddenly go away without you pressing anything. Really keen to know if this is a common flaw with the M15X or whether I need to call an engineer out (after they've figured out how to take the machine apart, judging from some other messages in here).

 

OH HELL NO! Dell just pushed my EDD back one week. I am so mad right now.

Here's what happened.
Original order placed on Nov 2nd, EDD Nov 19.
Nov 3, order was cancelled and re-entered to get discount applied. EDD now Nov 24.
I was promised that the original EDD would be kept, but that never happened as my EDD kept showing Nov 24. My CSR promised me that it would ship yesterday, Nov 20, but I go online today to check and my EDD is now Dec 1.

is there anyone at dell on the weekends i can yell at? customer care dept is closed

 

I don't think there's anything you or the CSR can do at this point. Try e-mailing support, I think its more effective than calling them. If I had to guess, I'd say the delay is due to the i720qm not being available.

 

I don't think it has to do with the i7 720qm because I ordered mine last Monday in the evening and I'm on my 2nd day in boxing. I think asking for an expedited production process made a huge difference. Joker I also got my headset and mouse now!! I found an advanced resolutions point of contact that took like 2 minutes to just add them on to the order with no questions asked!

 

great day...not...
My M15x isn't running properly. Installed new 500gb HDD a few weeks ago to do a clean install of Windows 7. Everything has been running great until this morning. Lost my network drivers, running real slow and won't shutdown properly. I swapped back to my old Windows Vista drive and runs slow. May be a memory issue. Ran diagnostics and memory checks out okay. Sounds like a call to support is needed. Drats and double drats!!!!

EDIT-----------
thank you Windows update... corrupted install of Windows 7 after Windows update. Reformated, reinstalled, drivers loaded, running fine now. Gotta turn updates off and do it manual. Now all I have to do is reload all of my Steam stuff... grrrrr

 

Email from my CSR as of Nov 18:

"I apologize due to a very high demand on this product, we were unable to meet the supply. There is no part shortage currently and everything is good to go. I regret for any inconveniences you may have experienced as a result of this issue."

My order was "expedited", as I was told by several people and I confirmed on multiple occasions. I honestly think the "expedite" process is a crock.

 

Honestly I think the CSR's just make stuff up. Most people are ordering base i720 systems so it makes more sense that they'd have a temporary supply issue waiting on those. I ordered my system after yours and it already shipped out and I've got the i820qm.

 

logic my friends, Joker seems to have it

 

Not long. I ordered it 2 days ago

 

I think I decided, if I am to buy a laptop, it will be the m15x or the Kobalt G860. What are peoples views however, on the 32nm processor version of the i7 coming soon?

 

32nm version is going to be the arrandale dual core. It will run cooler and may be clocked higher vs the current turbo mode. The biggest upgrade coming in January is the 5800 series of ATi mobility cards. If you can wait, then do so.

 

I see, I am guessing the price on them will be quite extraordinary? At least I could hope that this will bring down the price of the current lineup of hardware

 

From my understanding though, I'm guessing gamers would still prefer the quad-core option, since they can be turbo'd to dual core anyways. And with many new games supporting quad-core (e.g. Dragon Age), would Arrandale actually be a better option?

Also this wikipedia page, shows all the models, and based on the clock rates for Arrandale, they don't seem that much better than Clarksfield. In fact, Arranale processors seem to be lacking lower cache and memory than Clarksfield. Not sure about the specifics though...plus its wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Nehalem_(microarchitecture)

The bigger reason ofcourse for waiting is the 5000 ATI mobility series...

 

Hopefully though, they will dissipate less heat - I think heat is a huge factor in any purchase I make - because I don't want a laptop which I have to treat like a princess, in fear of it frying or otherwise (Not saying I was going to treat it like crap or anything but you know..).

 

the M15x is designed to handle heat very well, hence the beastly chassis. From what i've read, people are maxing at around 70 degrees-celsius with load (could be high 70s not sure). So heat isn't really a problem with this laptop.

 

I entered my service tag info and it looks like I got the BT module. Here's what it says:

1 N022G LABEL..., REGULATORY..., WIRELESS..., BLUETOOTH..., 370, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...

1 M960G Card, Wireless, Bluetooth, 370 Latin, 5DB, No Bios

 

arrandale IS weaker than clarksfield. they're meant to be sold 'side-by-side.' if you want a stronger processor, you pick clarksfield. if you want one with more battery life, you go with arrandale.