*OFFICIAL* M11x Owners Lounge - Part 3

Lots of order status talk in here... tut tut...

*Official Alienware M11x Pre-Order/Order Status*

 

It looks like due to all the excitement, my questions were missed.

Sorry for the double post.

Two questions:

1) I noticed most of the discussions revolve around the SU7300. Will the SU4100 OC to 1.7ghz too? From what I've read there's very little real-world difference between the two processors. Here in Canada there's a $100 difference between them so I don't think it's worth upgrading.

2) I've also read about a lot of people being unhappy with Alienware products, particularly Dell support. A lot of people are complaining about dead pixels and failing hardware components (or maybe I just visited the wrong forums). Is it worth it to get accidental damage warranty? The Dell rep told me it would cover things like spills and hardware failures due to overheating.

3) Are there any Canadian coupons?

 

Yeah Dell is gone from Ireland, completely. http://www.independent.ie/national-...-help-state-retrain-dell-workers-2058047.html Must be Poland so.

 

I was in production since the 6th I think till the 15th went to shipped

 

@Homebrewer I think your laptop was probably sitting waiting for parts if it was on the production line for that long. Usually takes about 3-4 days to build a laptop from Dell if all is well.

 

1. No one can confirm if the SU4100 also overclocks as far as I know. It may, it may not, we won't know till the first people get theirs with SU4100 CPU. For what it is worth I went ahead and paid the $100 even though I know it is kind of rip, but it will be worth it if the SU4100 ends up not overclocking. At this point you just have to decide what OCing is worth to you, and buy based on that, the SU7300 can for sure, the other not for sure.

2. Alienware has a very good dead pixel policy, it is like 1 in the middle of screen or 2 consecutive near the edge for a replacement, so very reasonable. I don't know how much the warranty is, but keep in mind the whole laptop is like $1000, a $300 warranty (again i don't know cost, but $300 is pretty average for a laptop with accidental) is probably not a good investment unless you plan to have it in risky situations.

3. I think Canadians can still get epp discount, but don't know of any other coupons. Perhaps another Canadian can help you.

 

Yeah but still i'll hopefully have it on Thursday or Friday

 

@howebrewer yea the worst is over for you just thinking that now that peoples have gone into production it should not take as long in production as yours did.

 

Honestly I dont know why you wouldnt just get core2duo. 1mb l2 cache can only be a good thing, and you get the brand of core2duo now that the mainstream people recognize it as a performance cpu it goes well with the image of the laptop in public.

 

Is it normal for your tracking number not to work

 

^ yes if they only put in the call for a pickup but it hasn't been picked up or scanned in by the shipping company yet.

 

@homebrewer I often order things and it takes a day before it comes alive its just not recognised for a while for some reason, i wouldnt worry, think about the poor Americans I feel sorry for them having to wait until a week through march.

 

Seriously, order status talk should be in the order status thread It's hard enough to follow this thread without the spam.

 

So what are the first things you guys would install on this machine
I'm gonna install TF2. Firefox. Jgrasp. Codeblocks. Heroes of Newerth.

Maybe some form of temperature measurement either RealTemp, CPUID, OCCT i'm not sure what i wanna do :/ maybe everest.

 

Actually I think part of the production moved. Professional products (like the Precesion series) are still produced in limerick I think, which fits together with what hellboy said.
So I guess the Alienware products are shipped from there too.

 

unless its the weekend it wont be games lol. first thing would most likely be microsoft office, microsoft visual studios, flash to stream in school , video codecs stuff like that lol. School is more important than games right now so most likely games are the last to get installed lol

 

I thought that the preparation stage is where they accumulate all the parts needed for the build in production phase.
Dell states explicitely in the preparation phase description that the length of this phase depends on the availability of the parts.

 

@ Morkeleb Dell production plant in Limerick Ireland is gone 2400 jobs lost last year pretty sure it aint doing any production since its empty.

 

I'm not canadian but Dealing with EPP sales can be easy. if you dont qualify for dell prefered. try to bargin with them. go through with configuring with them how you want it and let them tell you the total. with and without tax so you can see how much you are paying. then talk with them and see what options you have because you can not afford it. then tell them to contact you later in a day or two so you can get more money to afford it. when they call you back see what options you have. i personally told them i have a total budget of $950 but i want this, this and this. can you do that for me? then they'll talk to manager or something and with luck :] i saved $280 before tax so i saved quite a bit. but thats my expierence. GOOD LUCK!

 

Tracking number takes some time to take effect and be available. It once took a whole day for me until the tracking number worked.

 

Ok, probably right. That information of mine was from half a year back when I ordered my dell precision which was shipped from limerick.

 

Well Alienware still have a facility in Athlone (pretty much the middle of Ireland), but I'm pretty sure there is no assembly line there.

 

im putting my tracking number not working due to it just being shipped, im tracking it via communication with dell, as it seems to be working for them just fine... as im in great britain my customer number starts GB********, on the delivery site it has changed from GB to 021****** so thats where the match up is going wrong.


ill post in the order status now as this isnt really the thread so appols for posting here in the first place, i should have seen the other thread, ill post back in here tomorrow when i get it....

 

It can be overclocked it's been confirmed multiple times by Dell reps even.

 

Ours are built in China so you can thank the new year's celebration on the delay. That would explain why our ship dates are two weeks out from the guys in the UK.

 

Are these the online chat reps or sales reps? Or actually someone reliable, like one of the Alienware guys who comes to this site.

The chat and sales reps know nothing at all.

 

US here. Called into the automated phone service, says it's preparing to ship... and my EDD got moved up from 3/8/2010 to 2/18/2010!

That seems a bit hard to believe.. but finger's crossed!

 

Hmm...my EDD is still 3/4. I would love to have mine this week! You're a lucky man, chewietobbaca

 

What are your specs if you don't mind me asking?

 

I got the Su7300, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD< and Bluetooth. Everything else was standard. No nameplate either.

I'm not holding my breath cause I opted for the standard 7-day shipping, but I am on the west coast (CA) if that helps..

 

When did you order? I got the same as you except for a personalized plate.

I WANT MINE NAO!!!

 

Tell me about it, lol. I've actually had to order the thing 3 times already b/c dell sales is so incompetent. . . wonder if they can push forward my EDD if I call. When I called after the second issue they told me they couldn't expedite the build since it was a new, just released system.

 

What type of warranty is everyone getting?

 

See here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458861

 

hmm, so of the 98 so far that polled only 11 got additional warranty. Is it possibly to grab the standard and then upgrade later on? I remember someone mentioning this.

 

Yes you can. Someone told me I could and I went to check one of my old Dell SXPS 1640 and the options are available to add, just like in a computer configuration. I don't know how it all works though since I didn't really go through the checkout. I feel that if I like the machine enough I'll tack on 1 year of accidental =) I don't think I'll be keeping it too long though which is why I may not, I'm an upgrade freak. But my GF put a limit on me saying I have to keep this for 6 months (enough time for the refresh to come out lol).

 

Nice. *facepalm*

Looks like all the orders that don't have a nameplate are being shipped while those that have nameplates are backed up in the queue waiting for the nimrod to finish the customized names on the Etch-A-Sketch machine.

Had Dell noted on the website that the nameplate personalization could/might cause a delay - I would have passed..

Note to self: In the future, *Never* order anything from Dell "personalized"...

 

^ true, usually they'll say if you have a certain option that "this may delay your shipping date" but then again the nameplate wasn't a config option so to speak, either you typed something in it or not.

 

Darkhan and I believe the other guy as well, cant remember his name, Nagshead? Also the guy that did the hardware heaven review confirmed it as well.

 

Well - and another point - I'd have to call a little BS here - as I thought the systems were made to order, *in* the order received. If that's the case - why are the "generic" nameplates being bumped up ahead of the line of others that have been waiting longer?

Don't get me wrong - I'm happy to see some movement and happy that there are some people getting bumped up. However, I'd be pissed especially if, all of a sudden, they run into parts shortages when they finally come to my order - and I'm waiting because of a silly nameplate when 20 other people got to jump the line with the same exact configuration I did because they didn't configure the nameplate..

 

true jsgiv, not sure when you ordered though, but what if all the ones ahead of him ARE built, put together and just waiting on engraving? His date was Feb 3rd so that only gives two days of orders before him, maybe they're all built and waiting for nameplates? I'm on Feb 3rd also, so maybe mine's set, just getting engraved =)

edit* anyone looking for a bluetooth mouse, Dell home has one on daily deal sale for $12 shipped, 5 programmable buttons, loks pretty nice.. BT Mouse from Dell

 

Where are you getting generic nameplates being bumped up to the front of the line from? There was no option to forego a nameplate on the order sheet, just leave the name blank and I believe it comes with m11x inscribed on it but they all come with nameplates in the U.S. As far as i've seen it's only the ones in other countries that don't get the nameplate that are being shipped early. Did I miss something?

 

I didn't buy a warranty through dell, but I did get one through squaretrade ( squaretrade.com).

I've used them before, great service. 1 week turnaround guarantee on claims. Plus, they've got good prices: I got a 3 yr with Accidental Damage coverage for $160 (using the coupon code TWTYOFF).

 

@opnickc: How do they work? And does it work with Canada as well?

 

I'm not sure about canada, but as for how they work:

You buy the warranty within 30 days of buying the product. For a 3 year warranty, it must be a new product bought from a retailer (what retailer doesn't matter). Refurbs only can get a 1 yr warranty.

You fill out a quote, put in info (including whether you want accidental damage coverage), set up an account, and submit your order. As long as you do this within 30 days of purchase, you're good.

Once that's done, you have your warranty! If you want to file a claim, you'll need a receipt on record. This can be a forwarded email (for online orders) or a fax of the original receipt (for retail). Once they have that, you're all set!

If you need to file a claim, just log in to the website and fill out a form. You get a prepaid shipping label on the spot to send the laptop back.

Once they receive the laptop at their facility, they either fix it within a week or give you a full refund of the purchase price. No having to wait weeks or months to replace your laptop (unless you're like me and decide to replace it with an M11x. . . which at the time wasn't even available for order yet lol).

Note that the refund does not include tax, shipping or the cost of the warranty. Also, there's a $50 deductible for accidental damage (and if you don't have accidental damage coverage, drops and such aren't covered). Still, you get to buy a *new* laptop using the money, and it can be any system you want. None of that "here's a comparable refurb we had in stock" crap.

Overall, I was very happy with how squaretrade handled my claim with my last laptop, and plan to get a warranty through them for both my M11x and any future laptops as well. Their customer service is great, and that 1 week turnaround is fantastic. I have too many friends who were without their computers for months due to slow warranty repairs.

 

They send you a box to ship it to them. If they can't fix it in 5 days they'll pay you the full price you paid for your laptop. I'm not sure about Canada.

 

No - I believe I've seen 2 orders from the US now identified that they're either "shipping" or have been shipped.

chewietobbacca is one - no nameplate - bumped up from an EDD of 3/8 to 2/18. He has the *same exact* configuration that I do (and probably a lot of others here). Again - I'm really happy for him - as now he's on the hook to provide unboxing vids and pics and will be pegged for information incessantly until we get ours - but I *know* others are here that have earlier EDDs - probably with nameplates (at least that's what I'm betting) custom engraved.

 

SquareTrade is for US customers only.

Check the "Can I offer SquareTrade Warranties to my customers outside US?" in their FAQ here

 

I ordered 2/7 - ESD of 3/5, EDD of 3/11. Just for giggles I called up to see if I could change the farkin' nameplate to the "standard" nameplate. Of course, I'd need to cancel the order - *surprise*. However, I did find out I'm past the point of no-return - in that I can't cancel the order now - so the system is obviously fairly far into the process.

The rep was really nice, though - compared to the usual/typical reps I speak with, actually offered to "expedite" the order for me - to which I gratefully accepted. So hopefully that'll cut down some of the time - who knows - we'll see.

Re: Bluetooth mice. Earlier in the previous thread - someone was wanting to know about the Orochi - quickie review:

Mouse is small / notebook sized, same size and form factor as the Logitech VX Nano. Overall - pleased with the mouse - however, it feels a little "cheap" compared to the VX Nano, which to me has the right size/weight balance for a mouse of it's genre. On the other hand - the Orochi is *super* sensitive/configurable, of which I'm still getting used to it/figuring out the settings for it. It is a lot more accurate than my Dell/Logitech laser mouse that came with my XPS 435t. And, it'll have that coolness factor of the blue lights that'll match my glowing M11x, whenever they finally get the Etch-A-Sketch working again and get my nameplate done...

 

It says "The SquareTrade Care Plan is available to residents of Canada who purchase on eBay U.S" so I assume it won't apply to this like Dell.
So I guess I'll probably pick up a 1 year accidental from Dell.