*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M15x Owners Lounge, *Part 3*

Hey there. A little update from my side.

I was using the 186.81 whql drivers, and I replaced them with the latest from nvidia (195.62) after reading Howards reply, and the automatic rebooting upon shutdown seems to have stopped for now.

Quite peculiar that something like this can cause an issue like that. Especially because it also happened with the stock drivers dell shipped the M15x with.
I wonder what's the technical explanation for this phenomenon.

Perhaps you could try downloading these drivers too Smeggit, and see whether they're a help for you too.

Thanks for all the help guys! Hope you'll enjoy your M15x Jstarnino, I find it to be a great laptop

 

I see they now offer the m15 with I3 I5 and I7 chips. My question is do you realy need the I7 or will the I3 do if you not going to game a lot on it.

 

I've been reluctant to use the latest drivers cos I heard it caused some people trouble with audio via DisplayPort. I gave it a shot but mine still reboots and the DisplayPort audio does not work any more. I also tried the 195.81 beta drivers but results were the same.

 

ok this is somehwhat good news, as this means the pc is not crashing. That being said, it might have to do with the power options? Or maybe, now that i think of it, i've had this problem with a past desktop, and in the end, it was a faulty video card, that would trigger a restart for some reason, but in this case it seems only to happen while shuting down or while plugged in from what i've been reading, so Not sure if the same applies here, or maybe its just a question of finding a good working driver? ( seems they're indeed rare these days) Its a little fustrating that i cannot provide any REAL help because i dont have my M15x yet but rest assured, because if the problem is still around by the time i get my machine, I'll try my best to figure out whats going on, and if this is a windows issue, a bios issue, a driver issue, or worst yet, a hardware issue. Anyone try doing a fresh install of windows 7? Like i previously stated, its a matter of trial and error sometimes.

To Dodgie, Thanks! And i really cannot wait for my laptop. I have a passion for technology and find the process finding solutions to diffrent aspects/problems to be ironically, quite fun and amusing. I guess i just like understanding how things function or don't function, and enjoy the learning curve behind the whole experience. Can't wait to start trying things out!!!

 

What are you doing with it? Dual core chips are still faster than a Core 2 duo at the same clock speeds.

 

My M15x came with Vista preinstalled, and when I got my windows 7 DVD I did a clean install of it, and it still rebooted some times after that. Atleast in my case we have been able to determine the issue being related to the video card in some way.

I am led to believe it is software related, because it hasn't happened once while I booted and shut down the pc in the safe mode. But as I said earlier, I am no professional. Are you able to shut down properly in the safe mode Smeggit?

 

I have an XP machine using onboard graphics doing this on occasion as well.

 

Has anyone tried using DOX 195.62 graphic drivers? Curious what your guys' experience with those.

 

As expected ( from my past desktop experience) its most likely a graphics card problem. In my case, it was the actual hardware. In your cases, im assuming its the drivers as it is way too common to be all hardware defects ( or perhaps a combination between the A03 Bios and the available drivers for the 260m?). I guess all you can do for now then is keep trying different video card drivers ( try older ones also) till you hit the g-spot lol, and the restarting stops.

 

Hello All,

Just wanted to introduce myself. Just placed an order for an m15x. First thing I do is going to be open the laptop and put in a OCZ Vertex Turbo SSD. This forum is a bit disconcerting to me today though as I read through all the issues with this laptop but I feel educated now so seems like I can take care of the problems right off the bat (i.e. don't mess with BIOS update just now & install the throttling prevention software).

My only regret is that I didn't opt for the red bezel color scheme. I just saw a video on youtube of it and it looks so nice.

Scheduled arrival date is Feb. 3rd but hopefully it arrives before then as I'm going out of town the day before (luckily I did have it sent to work address so I can let someone know).

_Ethan

 

My is supposed to arrive on the 28 of january, I wish I can have it this week, I cant wait much longer :S

 

sell you mine with a 920xm 1080p and 8gb 1333 ram, black also.

 

Hmmmmm how much you sellign it for? and why?

 

He wants an M17x-R2.

 

what joker said, and actually i just did the math and i would actually get more from dell even if i ate the restocking fee, worst part is the exact same config i have now is way about 150 less than when i bought it, maybe a little more. i'd probably be willing to sell it for 3400 - 3300

but for a used system i should ask for 3000 but i'd get 3200 from dell so yeah. nvm i guess sorry. though if you live in florida u'd have it tomorrow lol.

 

Well I tried a few versions of the 195.xx drivers but none worked for DisplayPort audio. I've got the audio back now using version 186.81 but it still restarts when it should shut down. It did however shut down properly when the nvidia drivers were uninstalled. I'll probably try some more this weekend.

 

I have got to just jump in and say guys that my m15x is on its way and should be here tommorrow some time, on tracking it states it started in NL do they send from there or is it that only the tracking info started from that location, just sweating on all being fine when it arrives as i dont think they will replace like for like by what i have been reading on here as certain parts could be scarce. i tried priceing my unit up again same as is but it came out at 1848 pounds now when i ordered it it was 1293 pounds all in..


Agggggggh cant wait, and i hope the bios dont need updating

 

Ugh. I swear Dell hates me. I just checked out the specs for the revision. They offer LED backlighting now (yay!), but they don't offer Nvidia GPUs-just single or dual 4780s or whatever. And they don't offer Blu Ray drives either, as apparently the Great Dell Blu Ray Drought™ continues.

(Plus we don't know that it doesn't throttle and doesn't have USB issues :-/ )

 

its weird that you can still order the Blue ray drives in Europe

 

Yeah it's strange that there's no bluray drive though I doubt I would've gotten one--I'd rather watch those on my plasma tv. At first I was a bit disappointed by the lack of nVidia GPU options but from what I'm reading, we might be better off without them since the nVidia GPU's have stuttering problems.

 

I had the bluray burner in my old Area 51 m15x. I have never used it (for either burning nor playing back). The Blu ray media are way too expensive at the moment to be practical. For movies I would use the PS3 anyways. Thats also why I opted to save those bucks in favor for the other hardware

 

Well...the stuttering is caused by the throttling on this sytstem-otherwise it wouldn't do that

It's almost the same price to rent, and not that much different to buy. I don't want to have to rent different movies to watch on my computer than I do in my living room (even aside from liking the better picture!)

 

No, I ment empty single layer bluray discs to burn.

 

Oh, I get it, sorry :-D

 

can't believe its taken me over a year to find this many other M15x owners haha so maybe i can get some veteran advice/help.

i just upgraded to windows 7 and alienware wants to charge me $60 just to update my drivers.

current problems are as follows.

command center,stealth,blue tooth,wireless touch buttons don't work.
not that its a huge deal but i'm stuck on blue, stealth is off, and i don't use blue tooth so idc about that.

binary gfx is non existent, stuck on integrated intel graphics.
I actually tried to update this driver myself, computer just tells me that it cannot find a card. so that beautiful Nvidia card i payed for has been idle for over 4 months.

not that i use it all that often, FN F9 for the camera, not working.

 

can one of you gamer guys answer this
is 35fps average good for dragonage origins
with max setting and 4xaa
i'm new to games the game looks good
better once i learn how to play it though

 

Do you have the old or the new M15x? Im guessing you have the old one.

Just look into this thread and it should solve your problems

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=424159&highlight=m15x+WIndows+7

 

yeah i do have the older one, kinda wish i waited but w/e hindsight is 20/20 haha once i finish community college (transferring to big school) i'm looking to get an alienware desktop so i'm just trying to optimize my m15x for the time being.

 

ahh, M17x's are wayy too big for me, as M15x's are already REALLY pushing the limit...and SLI/crossfire configs are overkill for me as i do not game excessively. Actually, i haven't bought a PC game in years after i bought my PS3 hehe. Dual HDD is nice, but 500gb should be good enough. RGBLED isn't all that amazing ( yes i've seen it in person) and although i didn't notice it, apprently it takes a long time to configure it to show images with the correct color balances, and blacks are apparently not that black ( althoguh again they looked pretty damn black to me lol) Well there you have it, all the reaons why i went for the M15x ( not that anybody cares) loll

 

Greetings M15x owners... just wanted to post a heads-up for those who have not seen it. I have created a poll concerning benchmarking and would like some feedback from the M15x crowd. Basically, NBR wants to know if the M15x owners have a desire for a dedicated M15x benchmark thread. Please take a moment and vote. Thanks so much.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=452465

 

yeah i would sell you mine except that it's cheaper online now, and i don't wanna rip you off. m15x is nice, but the m17x is like 1.4 inches wider, and within an inch of the other m15x measurements so yeah not that much big.

 

OK im not sure if this has been addressed but i just did a factory image recovery because i had installed a program that crashed during installation do to compatibility issues and couldnt uninstall it. Before i had even tried installing the program (Nero 7) my screen had gone a shade of red, i restarted and everything was fine. Now just after i finished recovery i restarted my computer and the screen went red again. Anyone know why this is happening?

 

ok forget about the image obviously it didnt work but any help will be great!

 

Host your image on any hosting websites..(photobucket, imageshack..)

 

Hi! everyone. just got my m15x delivered today... juat needed to ask few questions... is a fresh win 7 install always better or its fine with alienware preinstalled stuff and the trackpad is huge minus for me but got better after i uninstalled the driver and let windows take the default one. my one makes a creaking noise on when i press on the right side of the trackpad an inch apart. its not much but still its there. is it the case with anyone else or is it just me.

 

Personally I always do a clean install (and on notebooks, actually swap in my own drive so I can swap the factory one back in if I have to send it off)...but it sounds like Dell keeps these models pretty clean, so it's probably not necessary.

I just like stock Windows, and want it to be mine, darn it :-D

 

Has anyone been able to find any info on my question above about the screen? i have yet to find anything.

 

wht abt creaking noise more like clicking when u press the plastic an inch apart from the touch pad on the right. does any one have that or is it just me?

 

i havent experienced that

 

ok shall i call the technical support and ask them to fix it or replace my laptop....

 

well you can try....good luck trying to get them to replace the whole thing..i just had them try to do that today and they insisted on replacing my screen

 

it might be the cable which connects the gfx to the screen. In any case, call dell support to get it fixed.

 

yea i connected it to an external monitor and it worked fine. after calling tech they told me that someone would be out to fix it tomorrow so hopefully it gets done.

 

this is a link for the service manual, this can come in handy if your onsite tech is a noob with alienware laptops.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/M15x/en/index.html

also i suggest having a big blanket or towel for the laptop to lay on so it doesn't scratch, and take photos to document the repair just in case something should happen. you will have proof its the tech fault.

 

its been more than a week now since my laptop is in production.. It's so long.. I hope it's worth the wait!
How long did it take you guys to receive it?

 

Oh and by the way, do any of you have its GTX 260M overclocked? If yes is it worth it? Whats your clock speed?

 

weren't you at one time said you only need a 240 lol. i think joker overclocked his gpu so maybe pm him.

 

when i had it i over clocked it to 640/1400/1000... worked like a charm...

 

Yeah but I got caught in a SUPER HUGE DEAL (it just sounded like that in my head at that moment) so I had no choice but to go with the 260M =D

@oneabove; was it worth it? Did you notice a difference?