*OFFICIAL* M11x Owners Lounge - Part 3

That is what I figured but I was reading about how people are coding stuff themselves so that if, i.g., a grenade goes off near them the lights blink. I was just wondering if there was any software that made the laptop like that Ambilight TVs and detects the color on the screen and changes the lights on the laptop to kinda match.

 

oh yes, the "mat" is more like a styrofoam cushion. Well actually, it IS a styofoam thing. I would definitely not be using that to wipe.

 

I would love to hear any update relating to this, rushmore. Maybe the UL50vt was actually turbo'd to 1.73GHz? Would a faster HDD have any effect on it? Did you have the exact same settings/game/emulator running?

I plan on playing PCSX2 and, while I know I shouldn't expect the world out of the M11x, I would be disappointed if it underperformed another laptop with the exact same processor. I was using MAME functionality as my control since PCSX2 can utilize graphics cards to an extent.

 

PCSX2 will not run on the M11x.

 

Wait, really? Can you elaborate?

 

linky: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=462100

 

PCSX2 is very much CPU driven. While a decent GPU can help it, it still requires a very strong CPU.

The M11x CPU just is not strong enough for PCSX2, by a long shot.

 

hey this thing supports DirectX11 right?

 

The M11x's processor is stronger than the minimum required for PCSX2 (Pentium 4 single core). While I don't see the M11x playing every game at perfect compatibility, it certainly does run.

 

It will run, but it won't play anything.

It's a technicality. It would not run in a state to make games playable.

 

I think PCSX2 requires at least a 2.4 GHz dual core CPU to run

 

A 2.5GHz C2D processor is recommended but anything less just won't be able to run 3D games very well. You should still be able to play 2D games.

 

I am calling alienware right now btw don't call dell like it says you will get transferred about 3 times then they say oh you need to talk to alienware support and as past owners like myself know that's an average 20-45min wait.

 

I am shocked to hear of all these issues. Since I received by m11x at the beginning of the week, I've been stressing the overclocked CPU and GPU almost 24/7. The system has yet to crash. I'm doing this burn in because... well this thing is basically an XBOX 360: First of its kind and wouldn't surprise anyone if the first gen had numerous failures. I am happy to report my system has run flawlessly.

Last night, I ran Supreme Commander 2 at 1366x768 on my primary display and 1080p for a secondary display over HMDI. That stressed the system to its max and the m11x kept on chugging along. I played a hand-full of games in 1080p over HDMI last night, using my HDTV as the primary display. I'm amazed what this thing can do!

I've been running the battery from full charge to no charge, then plugging it back in everyday at work and home, just to make sure everything is working right. No problems there, either. I do have to say, compared to my netbook that power brick gets EXTREMELY hot. That is not surprising given that, unlike my netbook, the m11x actually pulls as much power as the brick supplies.

I've opened and closed the laptop's screen probably thirty times. No problems yet. However, I planned ahead and bought the four year warranty. If anything goes wrong, I know Dell will fix it. It sounds like that warranty is going to pay for itself, one day.

I am sorry to hear folks are having problems. However, from what I've read, it sounds like it is a minority. I don't want some potential pre-buyer like yourself coming in here and thinking the m11x is prone to failure. Just remember, most m11x owners are busy playing games; for the most part, only the ones who are experiencing issues are visiting the forums.

No. NVIDIA has not released DX11 compatible GPUs, yet.

Can you provide an example? You may have a post-processing effect turned on in the YouCam software. I love the facial recognition... it really wows my coworkers

I didn't order the modem, but now I kind of wish I had. I put my sim card in the slot, just to see if it the guts were in the sim card slot... but there doesn't appear to be anything there! The sim just pushed right in to the hole. I'm lucky to have gotten it out. I was hoping to add a modem later.

Can anyone confirm rather or not theirs has hardware in the sim card slot, and rather or not you purchased a modem with it?

 

No joke I just bought

http://cgi.ebay.com/8x-Copper-Heat-Sink-For-DDR-DDR2-DDR3-RAM-Memory-MC-200_W0QQitemZ320493793462QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9eeb30b6

to stick on the power adapter. Mine is soooooooooo hot it burns my skin if I touch it. Pretty worried.

 

IRSmurf - Thanks for that, as one of the people waiting, it is nice to hear that it's not all doom and gloom. Reading the forums does take the shine off the anticipation with problems being reported here and there.

 

ohhh great, just found a dead pixel dead center of the screen, huh didnt notice it before. Whats Dell's policy on this, anyone know?

 

More than one and you can return, I think.

 

Well iv called alienware and they are going to send someone from dell to my home to replace the whole lcd screen to fix my broken hinge.

 

@armoured something must be wrong with your power brick. Even right now as I'm benchmarking etc, my power brick is simply warm. I can grab it with my hand and squeeze it no problems. not any warmer than the left palmrest of the M11x I promise you. Coolest brick I've had, my Inspiron 1501 gets warmer and shoot my Sager got really HOT.

 

Can anyone else comment on the power brick? That's kind of worrying.

edit: thanks azn

 

@Smurf
Thanks, that's good to hear. all the doom and gloom kind of rattles those of us who are still waiting for our baby alien. lol.

it's a serious disapointment for those w/ problems, but it is reassuring to know that it isn't everyone.

edit: @Caskey Good luck there, hope you can get it back to the way it should be...

 

I am not sure what has happened, but I am not having the problem now. Very weird:

1. MAME plays just as fast or faster now- do not know why

2. NullDC plays SMOKING fast! Dead or Alive 2 and Soul Calibur seem like they designed for the M11x. I played in higher res window mode too

3. PCSX2 plays a LOT of games well (Directx10 hardware mode)
1. NSF2
2. Bloody Roar 4
3. KOF 2006
4. Every shooter I threw at it, including Raiden 3! WOW!!!!
5. All of the 2D fighters I tried (only three so far, but MAME has them anyways).

4. PS1... Another that seems designed for the M11x- all played perfectly.

Games like Soul Calibur and Blitz League were slow on PCSX2, but they are not much better on my Q8200 and highend Nvidia card.

Call me impressed fo a device this size doing this well!

 

Heres a few pix so you can all get the picture of what im talking about.

 

Yes! Just the thing I wanted to hear! If you could try out some of the heavier 3D titles like FF12 or KH2, I would be forever in your debt.

edit: Caskey that looks like a really clean snap right on the seam. Hopefully this doesn't happen with a lot of other machines.

 

@ceowulf = I do not have those games (more arcade, 3D shooter & sports fan).

Some play fine (NFS2, Bloody Roar 4, KOF 2006) and the ones like NFL Blitz did not, but does not on my Q8200 either.

This little fella is a beast- all things considered.

BTW, meant "NullDC"

 

Welcome to my world, I have the dead pixel from minute one, but luckily they are now sending me a whole new system and than I am going to return the old one. Don't go on the road of them trying to diagnose the problem and eventually sending a tech to replace the screen, it will take forever (if even they agree that it is a problem) and you will be more frustrated than ever, just have them send you a new one and in the meanwhile play around with the old one.

 

did a quick search to no avail. Has anyone tried to get cuda working with coreavc and media player classic using the stock drivers? I am still stuck with the blue tray icon with vids that are known to work. will I have to get some haxd drivers? didnt see a definitive answer for the peeps that got it working and what drivers they were using

I used the same settings that worked on my desktop, can't post them ATM.

 

i would like to know as well, as i was hoping to hook this up to my tv and play some 1080p movies

 

Same here. Brick is warm, but not hot.

 

I am at work now, but I will test the same drivers that hardwareheaven used in there review when I get home after I hit the local watering hole (~12a pacific)

 

Just got my ViewGuard in the mail, looks good off of my M11x so it should be good on it. You can definitely tell this thing blocks glare, it looks like they stuck fog in between two sheets of plastic. Really nice.

 

lol hope it's not like fog on the screen though.. post pics up Ceol, please =) I'll be interested if it looks good in low light situations as well as lots of light.

 

I don't have my M11x right now, but I can post up pics of it by itself.

 

what size did you order?

 

@Dingo

Actually the PORT is under the bottom panel and its Labled WWAN, however on the US version if you didnt order the Gobi you get no antenna installed. UK users have been saying that they like the Aussies didnt get the option to get the Gobi but it does come with the antenna installed.

All you have to do to check is take the screws out of the bottom plate, open it up and to the left of the Hard Drive you will see a Slot with black plastic labeled WWAN, if there are two wires, white and black I believe you have the antenna and can buy any Mini PCIE WWAN module and install it. If you dont have the wires, you can always buy an after market antenna on Ebay that doesnt require disassembly of the screen. The screens on the M11X are sealed units, and cant be disassembled to add an antenna.

Hope this helps.

 

@ultima= yes I've got the CUDA working with de CoreAVC. you would probably install the Shark007 codecs first (could be found here: http://shark007.net/ ) and then install the CoreAVC. The CPU usage will be < 30% decoding 1080P videos

 

Mine just gets mildly warm. Compared to my other laptops its cooler then all of them, I'm thinking he must have a bad power brick.

 

@ceol
Did you get the 12inch one? 11 inch would be too small. Also, I'm waiting on pictures, too. Hope you get your M11x soon.

 

Hey guys, sorry was taking pictures. Resizing and then I will upload.

I ordered the 11.6" one because I'm just going to stick it in the middle of the e2e. You'll only be able to see it if the screen is dark/black. Its diagonal is actually 11.5", not 11.6" so it's perfect for the M11x. It will fit right in the center of the screen with no overflow.

 

Mine gets "warm" - but not really "hot" to the touch. Guess it depends on the individual's interpretation of "hot"....

I'll also say the following:

- I've run OC'd since day one - no issues / BSODs
- Fan does turn on/off more than expected - noted that it appears to be related to the constant WMIPrvSE.exe program running all the time - consistently taking up around 8-10% CPU - thus causing the fan to kick on even when "idle". I've been actively researching this in my spare time - but haven't quite found a solution yet. To-Date - it appears to be network related - not software related.
- I've played various games, albeit limited (Supreme Commander 2 Beta, Modern Warfare Demo, Crysis Demo, etc. ( just getting back into PC games.. ) - all have run very smoothly give the size / form factor of this little "beast".
- I have upgraded the unit with an OCZ Agility 120gb SSD - I can comment that this is a significant upgrade to the unit and, if you're even considering putting an SSD in - just do it - it's well worth the price IMHO. It's hard to quantify - so I'll just say this - the SSD makes this unit feel AS responsive as my Core i7 rig. Everything is simply smoother. And there was a slight / albeit noticeable stutter while playing COD4:MW demo on the HDD versus playing on the SSD.
- I did have one issue with the screen - with regards to a dust particle in the screen. While it took some time on the phone - AW/Dell was very responsive and simply ordered a new screen. The screen was subsequently ordered and replaced via an on-site technician the next day (which was very quick IMO - as I had expected there to be a bit of a wait on the part considering this is a brand new system).
- With regards to the "new" screen - no dust / no particles / no dead pixels / no "squeak" or broken hinges (knock on wood). The new screen's hinge feels a little "looser" in that it's not quite as firm resistance when opening - however - it's still steady once put into place.
- Additionally - compared to the "old" screen - the new screen appears to be put together "correctly". What I mean by that is that the old screen had a larger / more noticeable gap (albeit minor) at the right hand side / top of the screen and it didn't appear to sit flush with the frame of the screen. In contrast - the "new" screen - there is a "gap" around the entire edge - however - the entire faceplate appears to be properly placed and the gap is consistent and even around the entire frame - and it's a much better "fit". In short - it looks like I'd expect it to - and I believe that's the reason for the dust particles in the previous screen. I probably should have taken pictures - however - I wasn't thinking..
- Left hand side - "red" color - when Alien FX white on the keyboard - as noted by others - there's a slight reddish tinge - mine exhibits this behavior as well - however, it's not loosing color or changing.
- FN-F2 Battery doesn't work - as noted.
- Screen Brightness / funky issues: In short - there appears to be a disconnect between adjusting the screen brightness via the FN/F4F5 keys and the built in screen brightness settings set by Win7 OS. It's as though one fights to override the other and the other ends up always winning - especially when the unit hasn't been used and goes into a power saving mode. Basically - once it goes to the power saving mode, with the brightness automatically dimmed - it doesn't automatically reset to the previous brightness level as expected when you start using the unit again.
- Last but not least - I re-installed everything from scratch to the SSD. One weird issue was the vibration sensor, in that it required the driver within Device manager. With an SSD in place, I was surprised the OS detected and wanted to use it. I installed that and it's working fine now.

Hope this helps. It's not all doom/gloom like some would have you believe, though I'm sure some have had problems with the unit -as there's ALWAYS an expected percentage of issues when introducing a new product. That being said - IMHO - it's a pretty successful launch (at least with my unit). Yes - there are some quirks - but the unit performs better than expected and I'm quite happy/fond of it now that I have it in hand.

Now back to some games...

 

Agreed - I called AW instead of Dell for my Screen replacement. While it took a bit - they ultimately did the right thing and replaced the screen via in-home visit.

 

@jsgiv

you had these services and have the basic dell warranty, right? I bought Squaretrade with accidental but they don't cover dead-on-arrival units so just making sure...

 

Correct - I only have the "standard" 1-year warranty provided by Dell/AW. I purchased my unit via American Express which gives me an additional year after the initial Dell Warranty is up.

I pretty much only use AmEx on all of my electronic purchases for this reason alone - plus - I've dealt with other purchased "extended" warranties in the past that ended up quite negatively. I haven't had the need to use the AmEx warranty yet, however, I've read various articles/threads that indicate the AmEx warranty does replace if necessary without much of a hassle.

 

Hi guys sorry if this question has been answered but i would be hard to look through 400 pages of posts lol, i have this laptop ordered and will be putting in a SSD, my question is how the heck to do you install windows without the CD/DVD drive when i install my 128gb SSD? does it come with a USB with WIN 7 on it it? Thanks for the help.

 

What dimensions were used to order. The m11x's plastic from seems bigger than the screen. I would want one that covers everything.

 

Laptop EDD is 3/5 and just ordered the Kingston 128gb ssd for delivery on wednesday. Called up a local pc repair shop to see if they would make the clone/installation of the new drive because even though i hear its easy i dont want to mess it up and they said he would do it for free if i wanted to make a small donation as little as $10 haha cant wait till next week!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139137

 

Appears to be working for me..

 

Just received mine. Everything is great about it with the exception of fan noise. Trying recommended solution, otherwise this is going back.

 

My Fan noise subsided after about 20 hours of usage (Maybe the termal interface material needs to be broken in?) and removing unwanted software and disabling most of the Alien Command Center BLOATWARE! All that stuff I wasn't using was:

1. Taking up valuable RAM
2. Taking up valuable system resources (processor cycles) which is forcing the CPU to work harder and need more cooling.

Also I posted instructions on disabling the AlienFX tray icon which was causing the CPU to idle at 8-12% usage... located here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=462100&page=16

I think someone needs to start the "**Official Alienware M11X Optimization Thread"

this post helps your high CPU idle and Fan Noise