*OFFICIAL* M11x Owners Lounge - Part 3

I see. I see.. well I gotta remember to not touch 762$ :/ .. grr. T_+

 

Yeah that would be unfortunate. ;P

 

Did you pay with a Check Card? If so they did a pre-authorization, and it expired. When they ship your laptop they will charge you again. Same thing happened to me.

 

^ yup same with me, sucks cuz now I have ~1000+ in my bank account that I could use and then get screwed later lol. So yeah it's just sitting there wanting to be used hahah

 

yea it's very tempting to go out and double that money somehow hahaha ;D

 

Breaking News! I cancelled my order :/




Butttt instead im getting a mazda 6 5 spd in a couple of months i will reorder.

 

:/ why would you wanna drive iRL when you can drive in DIRT with maybe medium settings.. or something Dx.

 

Haha! I am actually really good at collecting money...tbh idk where it comes from...just shows up in my account and adds up quick, so give me 3 months maybe less and i will have an m11x...i am going this route so i can get some friggin credit! The $1300 from this lappy cancelled + selling my current car tomorrow=WIN....and the fact i work at the dealership so i get UBER deal on price and interest

Edit: I will stop now, sorry for going OT :/

 

I talked briefly about the M11x in one of my recent videos on YouTUBE, if you guys wanna see just for fun..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C3vrB8yxX4

 

Awesomeness in one paragraph. "chants m11x nonstop"

 

hey, i was just wondering if Canadians get any discount on this laptop?

 

not sure if this has been posted yet - didn't see it on the first post... enjoy!

a brief video of the M11x.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/dells-hot-alienware-notebook-just-800/

 

Ah yea, I think that video was in part 2 before page 200 or something? Wish to have more videos T_T.

Also, Mazda 6 5spd's are nice cars. I've upgraded a few speed 6's and what a pain it was.

 

just curious what kind of accessories everyone's been picking up for their new m11x coming soon

i picked up:
intel 160gb ssd
razer orochi mouse
kabuto mousepad
belkin mini surge protector

looking to get a sleeve/bag of some sort and maybe a matte screen protector soon. what'd you guys pick up?

 

Only accessory I got was the Orochi and I already had that. The only other accessory would probably be an external slim dvd drive but I can't really think of many uses for it besides to reinstall the OS so I may pass on that.

 

Can anyone confirm that the keyboard backlight can be firmware upgraded so it can glow with different colors in different areas of the keyboard intstead of just one color?
The reviewer at HH said it could be changed via firmware if they ever released one.. can this be true

P.S. this is as slow as this thread will ever get.. everyone is sleeping lol?

 

You'll have a hard time confirming that. You'd probably need to get a hold on a dell technical guy which you normally cannot contact directly.

You need to realize that for different colors you would need to be able to access those areas seperately, which needs support in hardware. This means that if the hardware support is not there, they will not be able to upgrade the firmware (bios?) to do something like this.

My guess is that this is not possible, since the developers usually re-use code, and they already have such cone on the M15x and M17x. It would be rather limited effort to apply it on the M11x in the first place, which leads me to believe that if they have not done it already, it is not possible at all.
But that's just my guess.

 

haha i work graveyard shifts so im always up. i believe there was a video where a rep said that you can illuminate particular sections of the keyboard in different colors lemme see if i can find it...

Update: Found it. At about 2:05 is where he starts talking about the lighting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4QBAhZnBYQ

 

Not going to order anything. Don't plan to do any mobile gaming on this to much. Have a g500 at home though. I am waiting for that new wireless Xbox 360 / PC headset from Razer that has the 5.1 sound for 130$ though. But if an Orochi ever hits 50$ I might grab it I dunno.

 

Anyone know what the Fn+F2 does in Alienware laptops?

Does it turn off the battery charging or something?

 

I got a Logitech MX518 included with the order, and a Thermaltake Massive 23 ST cooling pad. The cooling pad is surprisingly great!

 

In the manual it says

Check Battery Status and Battery Charge Disable/Enable
Press <Fn><F2> to toggle between the Battery Status Meter, Battery Charge Disable feature, and Battery Charge Enable feature.

 

do you guys have any recommendations on headphones? looking for something with good quality, but still portable. i'd prefer bluetooth, but i heard its not good for games since sound may lag? not sure how true that is...have you guys had any experience with this?

 

@Hawkeye

These are the headphones that i purchased because a buddy of mine is a pc gaming freak and said they were the best ones for the price range i was looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PC...UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1266055355&sr=8-1-spell

 

you asked the right question, bub. get a plantronics 855 voyager, it has great sound quality, great comfort with 4 or 5 sets of removable earpieces, and my favorite: the left/right bud can be removed for stereo on only one ear, or used as a mono headset. Even better is how it sticks comfortably and reliably in your ear even without any of the removable wraparound ear clips on and has great battery life.

Don't believe what people tell you about bad bluetooth stereo quality, its not anywhere near as bad as people say, you'd have to get $150 wired DJ-style headphones to even begin to notice a difference. I have a good set of noise canceling DJ-style headphones that were sub-$100, I'm an extremely musical person and have very adept hearing and unless I alternated between the aforementioned wired dj-style headphones and the 855 voyager very quickly during the course of a song, I could swear they sound exactly the same.

The people who tell others that bluetooth stereo is that bad are either extreme audiophiles, the type that don't listen to anything but flac or wav files and buy super audio CDs etc, or they listened to the audiophiles and take it as cold hard fact.

P.S.: The lag is only noticeable in a game like rock band where the timing of the notes is important. I have about 4 different bluetooth stereo headphones, no joke, and only one of them exhibits a rare intermittent noticeable lag that is usually fixed by re-pairing. I still use them anyway most of the time (they arent the voyager 855 I mentioned).

 

not true, i'm not an audiophile and i can tell the difference, bluetooth headphones always have that tin can sound, trust me i've wasted tons of cash on bluetooth stereo headphones. They're nowhere near wired headphones yet.

Edit; Dont even let me get into interference. If you're going to be travelling with the M11x and using stereo bluetooth headphones, prepare to experience audio cut outs (wifi interference, other cell phones, literally everything) non stop. I strongly recommend spending the premium on a higher quality wired headset for a better overall experience (and better battery life.)

 

Will get it here from the Philippines

Dell just started shipping Alienware here!!!!!! BUT at what cost???

We dont have the luxury of Modifying it....

 

@paper
the cooling pad looks pretty bad . thats a HUGE fan. just a little worried at how that fans right in the middle whereas the laptop intake (haha...i laughed when i typed laptop intake...briefly thought of modding my car's cold air intake to the laptop) is in the corner. the fan would definitely keep the rest of the body cool, though i think i'm going to wait to m11x comes to actually see if i personally need a laptop cooler.

@coathanger
haha..those look cool! its just a little big to carry around all the time for me but i wouldn't mind a pair of those at home

@eggs
ooo...that plantronics looks cool. i wonder if it doubles as a phone headset? i would really love to be an audiophile and be able to tell the difference in sounds and stuff, but my ears are n00bish. haha. the plantronics do look like a plan, though. i guess i'm just a little scared on the lag people talk about. i'm ok with very slight lag....but i dont really want to be playing MW2 and finding that i hear a gunshot 1/2 second after i actually shoot my gun. is the lag in bluetooth this bad at all or is it relatively ok to game with? again...i'm definitely not an audiophile, but just would like the sound to somewhat match whatever i'm doing in-game.

(side note: i really appreciate all the help you guys have been throwing around in these forums. been helping me choose various accessories A LOT)


@shadowfate
yay for filipinos!!!

 

@nick
is interference really that common with bluetooth items? i've personally never actually owned any bluetooth headsets so i dont know.


also (sry for asking all these questions), i recently got my intel ssd. i was going to flash with the latest firmware off of intel. i just wasn't sure on what to do first, though, since i wanted to make an image of the alienware harddrive config. should i make the direct imagecopy of the m11x harddrive to the ssd when i first get it and then update the ssd firmware? or should i update the firmware first and then copy the m11x harddrive to the ssd?

 

@Hawkeye

yah they should be coming in about a week or so. Just got my logitech g500 mouse yesterday and it feels amazingly comfortable. I got tha headphones for when i work overnight on the weekends and plan to be doing alot of gaming on this bad boy as my job is probably the chillest in the entire world haha. Other than that instance and when my chick borrows it for when she works overnight it will primarily be used for school. BTW waaaaayyy off topic but if anyone has a ps3 download the Heavy Rain demo its tha bees knees

 

@coathanger as has been mentioned before several times (though not in this part), could you refrain from quoting to make the thread smaller

I'm so close to ordering mine that I can almost taste it... Just need to find someone to buy my xbox 360 (easier said than done, it seems people are too smart to buy a microsoft console!)

--neg

 

Just checked out that Razer Kabuto Mat and now am really tempted to go through with this deal and use the $20 gift card to get that Mat for practically free. Damnit i need to stop buying crap before i even have the laptop haha

http://hawtwired.com/blogs/videogamedeals/archive/2010/02/12/72.aspx

Update: nm i guess the $20 only applies to "future video game purchases".....prolly still get the mat though

 

@neg2led

Sory man i didn't even see that was requested earlier. Will do.And yah ive gotten rrod like 3 or 4 times but microsoft has always been very prompt about returning my console in a timely fashion whenever i had to send it in for repairs.

 

lol coat. i'm the same way...at first i was like "wth?! why would anyone get a gaming mousepad...its just a mousepad..." but i got it anyways and its actually pretty sweet. microfibery goodness.

but ya...all these accessories just makes you want to get the laptop even more

p.s. i want your job!!! getting paid to game sounds like fun

 

can somebody give me the link of the thread where you can see many backpacks and accessoires for the m11x

please

 

its on ceolwulf's sig

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5843816#post5843816

 

thanks man

 

hehe...no prob. was actually looking through those links just now myself.

 

Hey hawkeye, I have recommendations for headphones for you. Either the Sennheiser PX-100-II (version 2) get the newer version although both are good, might as well get the newer one which have newer sound drivers. You can tell by it having only one wire coming off the phones on the left side and the outside is darker, not silver. Problem is finding those for a good price right now. I bought the version 1 on sale at amazon for $45 awhile back. They're portable - fold up and have a case.

Second, I just bought this pair are the Senn HD 238. Great sound quality and portable as well. Light weight and as comfortable as the PX-100's. They're like the new and improved PX-100's with a bit better sound IMO. I bought these at Best Buy with their retail price of $69.99 which is great b/c they're $99.99 at Apple store and I think $89.99 on amazon. You can test them out at an Apple store I think too. They don't fold up as small as the PX100 for portability, but the earphones do fold out flat and there's a carrying pouch.

Oh yeah these both can bleed sound, the 2nd pair especially since they're open aire type, which give you a more pure sound IMO, but if you're in a library and have your music turned up some, ppl around you can hear you.

I want to recommend a regular pair of headphones, not a headset. I personally use the built in microphone on laptops and that's always been good enough. Partly because I'm not constantly talking, and it's always gotten the job done. If you still want a better mic, the zalman clip mic is recommended by many.

Anyway, the reason I say regular nice headphones is 1) you're not paying extra for headset feature 2) do you listen to music or watch videos at all? These headphones will provide better audio for those and personally I use my headphones for my iPod and quiet movie watching on the computer often, why get a headset with a mic attached to it to do this? And usually those are not too portable either.

---
As for accessories, I've already had the Orochi and Kabuto, so I'm good there. I just got the Senn HD 238's for my audio on the go too. Don't plan on getting an ext DVD, but did buy a decent enclosure for my 2.5" external HDD that is very compact, portable and uses just one USB. I think next on my list is an iPod Classic to store all my music and videos on it so they're not hogging too much space on my SSD. Currently just have a 16GB nano.

 

Frankly due to the fact that Bluetooth headphones need to be charged, get repeatedly mowed with interference, and don't sound as full or rich as regular headphones AND are more expensive I prefer a pair of Shure or Bose headphones for the same price any day of the week. I've dumped tons of cash on Bluetooth stereo equipment and it's collecting dust right now. The charging thing bugs me most of all, I've got enough devices to keep track of battery status already. I strongly recommend you don't go that route but to each his own.

 

I spoke over chat to a dell person and asked about the m11x battery, i said if i charge the battery every day once how long will the battery last before it needs replacing the dell guy said it will last on average 1 year! and replacement cost is £150 this isn't right it it?

 

one year makes sense considering it has a life cycle of 300 cycles and if you fully charge and then drain on a single day every day then yeah, it'd be around a year, less if you really want to judge at 300 cycles. But most batteries are like that nowadays. Apple's batteries were rated at 300, but now their new tech has them at 1000 cycles if I recall, which is awesome. I used my MB a lot, every day when I had it but even still wasn't at 1cycle per day. It was maybe one every two days, and I thought that was high =)

*edit* remember a cycle is a full drain/charge so do you think you'll use your battery from full to dead every day? If not expect it to last over a year. Average user is 2-3 years for most batteries like this.

 

i see most dell inspiron batteries are about £30-£60 do you think this also applies with m11x same price?

 

I heard there is an option to turn the battery charge off while plugged in. Since you can't take it out manually everytime you plug it in (you can, but it's really bothersome with all the screws and whatnot), the ability to turn charge off is really good.

 

I just replaced my battery last week on my XPS m1210. The stock battery lasted 3 years and I usualy just leave my laptop in sleep mode and don't shut down. Batterys will be expensive if you buy from dell but I bought an extended life battery off amazon for $36 and it works great on my M1210.

 

Still by the time u want to stop the charge its already charged? because you nid to be powered on to switch of charging.. Wouldnt that waste more battery life?

 

@eugene
what? Sorry, but I don't quite understand what you are talking about. Are you asking whether or not switching the charge would waste more battery life? Of course it won't be as perfect as just taking the battery out, but it's better than nothing. The mistake that most people make is that, while the laptop is plugged in, they leave the battery inside. When that occurs, the battery will still be charged even at 100%, which, in the process, ruins the charge cycle by repeatedly charging it. By turning the charge off, the battery will remain at whatever % it was before switching it off. That way, the battery should last way longer than the expected 1 year life span.

 

if the i3 or i5 is available ., would i be able to put the su7300 out and the i3 or i5 in ```??? would that work???

 

@Got2bel82

People have said you can not remove the su7300 from the m11x board and that you would need a completely different board for the newer cpu's.

 

The rep is mistaken, since this battery life would rate as defective in most similar device recharge life standards. That would suggest many will fail in less than six months, etc.

Average in failure point for this type of product should be twice that. Dell would not want such a life being released in a product or even published.