Sneak peek on the upcoming M17x and M14x

I am guessing the m14x is getting a big power boost from the look of those vents. AW has been able to say since the R1 that the m14x is the most powerful 14 inch gaming notebook on the market. But now that Asus has released the g46vw, which has a 660m with 2gb of ram (the m14x only has a 650 with 1/2GB of ram), they can no longer say that. I suspect they will be putting a 660m, or perhaps even a 670mx in this new one so they can reclaim the title.

I like that new m17x lid design.

 

The new M17x looks fine/better for now, but the keyboard from the M14x looks terrible, dunno why would they put that kind of keyboard in that machine. Also, the only time I use the lights from the keyboard is when I am in a dark room with the screen at 0 brightness, otherwise they are just for show, however, they have been part in alienware laptops since the beginning so just for that they should stay.

 

Personally I`d like to see the GT70 keyboard in Alienware notebooks. It looks sooo much better than the Alienware keyboards and one of the reasons why I bought GT70 instead of M17x last round

 

It also has better performance. Anti ghosting, made by steelseries, partially mechanical, etc...

Oh, and they put the windows key on the other side of the board, which imo, should be done on all gaming laptops.

 

Yep, its a gaming keyboard after all
I love the feeling when using it. Its a solid feeling with each keypress. Oh and I have a dedicated button that disables the touchpad. Also very nice

 

I definitely agree that the MSi keyboard is much better than our alienwares. Much better tactile feel with no flex and good travel. The alienware keyboards on my m17x and my girlfriends m14x are mushy and have a lot of flex. That said both are better than Sagers keyboard.

 

Yeah, the AW keyboard does flex some, but you have to really apply some heavy pressure for it to happen. It's not at all noticeable under normal use. Steelseries has a reputation for making great keyboards, but I'm not a fan of the chiclet style keys or huge glossy bezel. Maybe it's just because the rest of the palm rest is matte black. It looks out of place imo.

I'd be fine with Steelseries producing the keyboards for the new AW models assuming they're as great as everyone says they are. I'd prefer that they kept the same style that AW currently uses though, but with improved responsiveness and a metal backing (a la M11x) to prevent flex.

 

Mine definitely flexes a lot more than yours if you need a lot of force for yours to flex. Mine will flex even on light taps on the left hand side. Toward the right its better but on the left hand side any amount of pressure causes it to dip.

 

so what site did these pictures come from..

 

Might want to check and see if your system has a RAM cover plate underneath the keyboard which helps prevent the flex.

 

Interesting. How do I check and how do I go about fixing that.

 

Assuming you have an M17x R3/R4, remove the bottom cover from your machine, remove the 5 screws with a keyboard picture next to them. Flip the laptop over and extend the screen fully (Past vertical), carefully prise up the keyboard bezel being careful to not rip the media button cable. Unplug the cable and remove the bezel. and then you should be able to see if the ram cover is on, it should be in the lower left of the machine partially covered by the keyboard.

Other things to check to fix some of the keyboard flex issues is that the screws holding in the keyboard are not loose, and that the tabs on the bottom of the keyboard are properly inserted into their sockets (My keyboard had a bent tab which caused some flex).

 

Wow! I love the new lid design for the m17x, hope it continues to the m14x... I was looking for a replacement for my m11x and I was actually admiring the beauty of this machine. Especially the blue backlit keyboard.

In my opinion, the new m14x (from the pictures provided) looks hideous. Honestly, why would I want my trackpad to light up? Someone else said DELL should have used the MSI keyboard design and I totally agree - the new one is disgusting. I also wished they used dual vents like the g46vw. I hope these are not "final".

 

Agreed, cloud quote your sources!

 

Exactly. We should reserve judgement until the actual model is released before we go freaking out.

Nor can I. Did anyone notice that the M17x line stopped supporting dual GPUs when the M18x came out? C-O-N-S-P-I-R-A-C-Y?


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III powered by Sprint®

 

Came off a chinese forum site and the person who originally posted them there said these are production models according to the "Alienware" spy whom he got the pictures from. I'll try to go ahead and find the original text and post it up as well as a link.

Edit: Found a link, but not the one I was looking for: [Other] new alien appearance Preliminary 17 A surface 14 B + C + D-face

Edit 2: Here is what the supermoderator of the forum had to say about the pictures. (please note this has been translated with google translator so it may not be 100% correct)

Source: personal views on the recent new models, Alienware spontaneous event with factory violent assembly events

I'm personally taking this with a grain of salt, but I guess we shall see what happens when Alienware does an official announcement. I'm not making choices till that happens.

 

ok i'll hold my breath and see what the final product looks like but if i dont like it do you will m17x r4's still be availible through dell?

 

OK I was not expecting these from Alienware, in fact I as expecting none from Alienware, but I think this is worse. After I red these posts I still don't believe this are the real models but a test itself, since they are going threw a lot of economic changes, they thought in doing a test to their fans and post the pictures of their "probably" best selling models so they could have an idea of how much they can cut, ence the idea of the keyboard. Otherwise if this is real save your money and let them learn with their mistakes, because if this is real and they go forward with the new desings they already lost the 1º place in gaming laptops.

 

The r4s will be around for a while. You'll still be able to get one from the Dell Outlet (though it might be a refurb) after the r5 comes out.

 

Oh geez bro theres no way id pay top dollar for a refurbed anything! ah this is a terrible situation


AW WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

And the keyboard half of the m14x notebook gives not hint of the audio vent styling....E3 will probably answer all of our questions

 

You can get some nice deals off the outlet. I was thinking about buying an M14x there, but imma hold off as I really can't justify spending money on a machine that is slower than my current one.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 running Resurrection Remix

 

its a chinesse site.. i found it.. still i dont know if thats where the pictures started.. and for only 2 new models to show up... yea i doubt it..

also in the second pic... there is only 1 fan vent on the back of it so unless they went liquid cooling then i doubt sli is in the future..

 

low end card sli in a laptop doesn't make sense anyway. Why not just put a single more powerful card in there for the same price that will have the same top end performance, and none of the issues sli can have?

The power divide in laptop cards is usually much more severe than between desktop cards. 2 660ti's in SLI with give you 20-30% better performance than a single 680, upwards of the performance of a GTX Titan (in most games).
2 660m's in SLI on the other hand would be laughably out of league compared with a single 680m.

 

A single GTX670MX is a much more sensible option than 2x GT650M anyway.

It's like taking 2x GT640 desktop cards over a single GTX660 (non ti).

 

Funny how some Sager laptops now have backlit keyboards and Alienware may be getting rid of them

 

No way that's the final keyboard. It's so plain and ugly.

And who wants an entire touchpad that lights up? That's crazy stuff.

 

I actually like the light up touchpad. But I agree, the proto-keyboard is atrocious.

HOWEVER>>>As I've said before, do not judge those photos as if they are the final product, or even a mockup prototype. They may be a Chiwanese fake or just an early hardware concept shell. Breathe people! Breathe!

 

Exactly! Go look up some of the iphone 5 chinese look-a-likes and you will be impressed. Almost impossible to tell the difference between the two from the outside.

 

well I will say this.. if they implemented some sort of water cooling that would be awesome.. I see only 1 fan port on the back of these systems pics.. but a huge open bottom? so ether thats going to be a super fan..with a huge db level and rpm or its liquid cooling..

as for a new m18x.. they better implement one.. its an awesome computer... and if they dont then i think its time for a new gaming laptop to emerge.. maybe a nbr branded super laptop hahahah..

well we shall see.. and if and when my m18x-r2 doesnt suite my needs any more and alienware has nothing to offer ill look else where..

 

All the space and power that liquid cooling requires would be far better equipping a system with more radiator space and heatpipes to get rid of the heat.

Water cooling is only good because you can get 3x120mmx120mm radiators, give me a traditional style cooler where there is a single heatsink running across the entire rear of the unit with 3 large fans that kick in as temperatures go up with heat being added in from either end from the CPU and GPU of it and I would be happy.

 

Water cooling is good because per unit volume, water is far more efficient at heat dissipation than air. You don't need a 360 rad to get amazing temperatures. Sadly, it's not going to happen. There's no way Dell will invest in something so radically different from previous approaches given what the company is currently wading through.

 

Wow, how on earth did I end up here? That machine looks like a 13 year old would own it... It definitely isn't a man's laptop. That is just my opinion. I like the sleek lines of a Clevo, myself.

 

there something wrong with your laptop, somehow you ended up here

 

Once you go alienware you don't go back. That being said I agree with you about those pictures. They are nothing compared to the current models.

 

http://i.imgur.com/lfuv67u.jpg

 

I saw that .... that .... KEYBOARD made me furious. I want to take my cheap plastic Sager and smash it repeatedly into the face of whoever decided in AW to adopt that hideous keyboard which had so many P170EM users suffer, it doesn't just look similar, it looks like it's made by the same company. I actually skipped all the posts after the OP to just say how STUPID AW must be to adopt the same cheap (no it's not "professional' or "sleek") half-baked Sager travesty of a keyboard. God I wish good ole' fashioned flaming was allowed on this forum....

Wanna see something similar to the before/after pics of AW? Closest I can think of is this:



P.S: You might wonder why I even bother considering I have a very recent Sager, that's because I was planning on getting rid of it somehow, and getting a new AW.

 

good luck on getting rid of it. Could try the NBR marketplace or craigslist if you want a local sale. Always good to see new people around the Alien forums.

 

To be honest, if they kept the chassis the same but updated the internal components (like the M18x --> M18xR2) that would have been fine.
If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it Dell.
That thing looks ugly as hell.

 

Have to agree with this guy.

 

The keyboard is the greatest set down here. I don't like the lid but the keyboard should always be one of the most important aspects of any notebook, heck, im typing this on my M15x r2 keyboard as I reply. It is literally the 2nd best notebook keyboard behind the older thinkpads that I've ever typed on. The redesigned layout would heavily detract from that on the upgraded M14x! I'd imagine the M14x R2 is much like the M15x as really its the little brother and reason we stopped getting newer M15s! Oh shame

On a note, im not wild about the newer island style Lenovo style keyboards either. They still have the nice response but generally kinda feel "eh" and this after having used a T430, T430s, 500 series and X1 carbon several times. I actually find I prefer my M15x over those although on the whole; I prefer my oldass T60 over all of them. Perhaps I should check out the steel versions of Clevo's or whatever had that.

 

That keyboard looks awful. Alienware has always been part power and part style, and going with a completely flat and plain keyboard, so far as to even forgo the Alienware fonts, is a terrible idea. The rest of the body is pretty great, but that keyboard just abysmal, even with the fully illuminated touchpad. It's like putting Honda Civic rims onto a Porsche Carrera GT, i.e. completely out of place.

 

You guys have official AW reps here don't you? Or is it too late for feedback?

 

they probably won't respond as they have more than likely have signed a non-disclosure agreement if they know anything.

 

This.

Also as said, don't treat this as some final, sales model.

 

Exactly. This is, as far as we can tell, nothing more than leaked and seemingly incomplete model. I wouldn't put too much weight in these images.

 

Often they have to use replacements for keyboards that are not ready yet or it's deemed unimportant for what a certain unit is being tested for.

 

Hmm, that touchpad though, looking at the original source pic and zooming in a bit, looks like it could be a small LCD screen just displaying a pink background.

 

It could be like a mini phone display perhaps a little like the razer pad. That or a transparent layer with a simple LED setup.

 

Really hope this isn't true. The 2nd picture is just horrible.

 

These pics are just terrible. Since I work for Dell, I obviously can't say anything specific, but I will say, ugly they are not, if this product does actually exist. I may have an M17xR4 to sell in a few months.