The "Why you shouldn't buy the M15x" thread [OUTDATED] [FIRST GEN MODEL]

those girls are going to college . my parents also got me the m15x for when i start college in september.

 

i would take the free tank of gas, my 08 gt hasnt moved an inch in 2 weeks. I would call your rents right now and thank them again lol

 

I think you're blowing things way out of proportion. I'd say "the most unwise thing you could possible do" has something to do with suicide by self-inflicted torture.

If we look at the numbers of how many satisfied m15x owners there are to unsatisfied ones, we'd see the large majority don't experience many problems at all. Yes I experience "creaking" sounds when I open my laptop, but many laptops do that. Yes my volume touchpad control is horrible. But that's about all that's wrong.

Want to know what's good about my laptop?
8800m GTX, 2.5ghz Penryn, 4gb ram, in a 15.4" laptop... power and mobility that's never been combined before. I can run Age of Conan with maxed graphics settings and 25+ fps one minute, then do a quick restart and get 4 hours of battery life with the standard 6-cell.

 

U do know like 31% of Wow players are girls?
thats a pretty sexist comment man.. i know stacks of girls who play TF2 and Wow.. hell even 1 who finished crysis on delta. Even the father him self said they where a gaming family ... get with the times buddy its worth your while. ^_- trust me.

Head out to some gaming lan shops or public/community Lans and open them eyes!

 

Just to elaborate a little more on my thoughts. The "problems" are there, but with the GPU downclocking solved by the x32 bios, the rest of the "problems" won't actually affect your everyday usage of the system. So unless you have a system with an extreme processor that is downclocking then these other issues just really aren't a concern. To me this machine is too big to use on my lap and the wobblyness isn't an issue when the machine is placed on a table. The speakers aren't bad when compared to most other 15,4" laptop speakers I have heard. They are average. I'm not entirely sure what milcs is referring to when he mentions the lightpipe. To me it looks like it performs like advertised. The AlienFX keyboard color bleed through is there, but the only reason I ever noticed it was because I had to check after I saw it mentioned in the OP. Otherwise I probably never would have. The keyboard flex is there but again, you won't really ever notice it unless again you're actually looking for it and there is a DIY fix for it because this has been an issue with other machines previously. The lack of VGA out is something I'm not sure why has been listed as an issue? If you took a look at the pics before you bought the machine it would have been obvious that there was none and I have never had any problems connecting the machine to hdmi or dvi-d. The number of truly fubar machines that actually have to have been replaced have been very low actually. The security lock slot is surprising but apparently it works with some models? I haven't tested this myself but if that is so then AW should have stressed this.

What I'm getting at here is not that this machine is perfect, but rather that we should choose our battles. For instance that there has not been a GPU driver update is extremely bad when you consider that this is advertised as a gaming machine. The webcam is mostly useless, but apparently peoples millage wary here. The keyboard lag is surprising and should never have been an issue. The touch controls do suck but that can be improved if we could get some kind of feedback when the press was registered.


Hmmm. I'm actually a little surprised at what I'm writing here because AW customer support haven't really handled these issues in a great way. There was a few great attempts when AW representatives actually did answer forum posts but there is still a little way to go.

I'm no longer quite sure what my point was but the thing is that I finished Crysis on this machine with everything on high and it didn't melt down. I'm still plying games and the m15x knocks the socks of my desktop.

As a side note it seems that ASUS can't even keep a machine with the 8600 cool:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=258323

I'm slightly skeptical to this solution considering I'm almost always using an external mouse which causes the touchpad to disable itself, but I might try it out when I have some free time to troubleshoot. Maybe an owner can confirm this solution?

 

@Koshinn- I agree with all the sweet details you describe about the M15x. Portability and raw power... In that sense, there's not much to say.
The context in which I wrote that sense is quite particular though... As inteligent people, we should not only think about the present but look into the future. If the GPUs does indeed reach close to 100C while playing, I think it's fair to assume that will shorten the laptop's durability.

I think the wise thing to do right now it's to wait... Wait for new laptops with the 8800GTX to come out (namely the M860TU) to figure out how they will perform and wait to have confirmation from more people of what are the temperatures the 8800GTX can go up to (and if AW is going to, in fact, do something regarding the laptop). As it stands, it's my strong belief that the two accidents with cases breaking are due to the heat generated by the GPU and this, you will only see it coming when it happens. This is... too late.

So yes... I think it's unwise. Quite unwise. As I've done for quite a long time.
But this is my personal opinion and advise. I'm not forcing anyone to see things the way I do or making any very bold statements. I'm not here selling anything, fighting for anything, or whatever. I'm trying to be helpful and to convey as much information as we have to people.

@Fr33m4n- You are right about everthing you say, as I have already mentioned. If it wasn't for the major problems the M15x has, I wouldn't even look twice to the rest. The 1st post is trying to inform people of what they will find. If it's important to people or not, that's up to them to judge. Myself, I said several times I was in love with the M15x and the small things didn't make a bent on my "love" for it. But now that the heating problems are there, I can't keep saying I'm in "love".

The only thing I don't agree is that if you don't see the problems, you should just close your eyes and not worry. I think the overheating is a major problem (and for me the wobbliness is as well) and has the potential of causing several problems.

Anyway... can you please do us a favour and use Rivatuner to check the temperatures of the GPU while you are playing Crysis? That would be very helpful for us all to have a strong indication of what are the normal temperatures the 8800GTX operates at during gameplay.

 

Clevo has clearly experienced overheating issues in the testing of the M860TU already however... it will not support the 9800mGTX and afue other CPu's which they originally claimed could be cooled by its chasis which means its safe to assume its only squeezing in the 8880m GTX into its thermal budget like the m15x did..

we will c soon enough but maybe these temps are just the reality of the 8800m GTX in any 15inch.

 

Ha, I might do that for Father's day.

 

Well thank God I've got you here to help me stay politically correct, Heathcliff.

 

@milcs: Check your other thread. I posted temps.

 

Please keep the conversation reasonable - watch your comments and think about what they look like to other people. Thanks.

 

It was not overheating, but exceeded thermal budget(meaning it will eat too much power)

 

umm, thermal budget relates to temperature -- that's why it has "thermal" in the name. it isn't the "power" budget

 

@GRB - I think thermal budget could relate to power though. It says low thermal budget is possible even at a very high temperature which doesn't really make sense to me but who knows.

@Heath - Personally I could care less about Clevo's problems with the M860. I'm glad they they aren't just shoving a 9800GTX in it a and having it overheat like Alienware did. I have to give them a lot of props for taking a few components out of the laptop in order to make a more stable laptop. Hopefully they will come up with something good.

 

There is a topic on the Sager/Clevo forum about this. The 9800M GTX will not be used in the M860TU because it will require more than 44W of power,there's no temperature mentioning there,although thermal budget implies that. The notebook will also feature but 1 fan, so I can't really be sure if a 44+W GPU/CPU would make too much heat or they just won`t use because it requires too much power.
Either way,they won`t use it. Yet.

 

yeah, whatever the cause may be, we know it won't work (for now).

 

Hey keep it a little civil won't you? Not all women are concerned about matching their computer to what they wear. In case you haven't noticed, I think I've spent more time on this forum talking about how excited I am to game than matching the colours of the m15x to my clothes. I know this is nearly an all male forum, but I assumed no one cared if I was a girl or not, and just enjoyed having one more person to talk with. Either way, it's the internet, so there's no point in everyone getting all upset over it.


@Stone: I have to agree with you on the Clevo. Sure people were dissapointed when they announced it, but it saved alot of people alot of time and heartache over their systems. Like Eeleron mentioned, maybe they'll figure out a way to incorperate it at a later date.

 

I have no doubt about that, the 9800M GTX will be available for the 17 inch version, the M570TU, and being an MXM card, I'm sure they'll be enthusiasts there who'll put it in anyway.

Correct me if I`m wrong, but the M15x uses MXM cards, right?

 

that's right. Much like the m860tu, it could in theory hold the 9800M GTX and at least get it to *start* but if the 860 can't handle it for heat-related reasons, the m15x definitely won't.

 

Are the fans of the M15x running at their absolute max when gaming with this new BIOS ?

 

I think many of them are, both to test the limits of their new machine and to see if they recieve any errors.

 

I think, by fans, he means the little round things that move air around, not people who really like the m15x

anywho, to the original question, yes they do max out.

 

Oh, sorry, my mistake.

 

^yes, I meant air intakes
I see, so at their absolute max, they still hit 90C?

 

well partly because the BIOS waits till you hit like 88 degrees before engaging them at max.

 

how about we have a vote.
1: YOU THINK that people at AW are very inteligent and make the right choices.
or
2: Do you think that it would be scary to see one of those "design" and important employees with an important task, becasue it doesnt seem like they are taking this laptop seriously. first they cant fix the little errors almost 6months down the road from release, failed to test and stress a system that boasts a 200point check system and still have not been able to release a laptop that they allowed for preorder to be shipped out right away (the m17x)

speaking about delays, looks like if you want to order an m15x now, you will have to wait 2months before they even start to think about building yours.

 

Isn't there a way to force the fans to kick in at say 70C? I bet it would never hit 90C this way...

 

unfortunately no, AW doesn't provide for controlling the fans yourself. That said, there probably is support for such a thing (AW's proprietary temperature monitor ThermoFan has the ability to change the fans but the feature has been disabled/hidden)

 

Someone needs to crack the thermofan program and enable the fan control option

 

I'll let you breach your warranty first.

 

Bumping this thread up. The more time that goes on, the stronger is my opinion about the M15x. Please, don't buy an M15x now. It's really an unwise choice. Wait for new laptops (less than one month) and put pressure on AW to make a change.

As someone mentioned before, we need a strong coordinated action to make AW step up to their responsabilities and stop producing the M15x until they are able to fix all the problems it has.

 

but what if the M860TU downclocks ^_^.. we know the m15x does not now.

as far as current knowledge the m15x is the safest and faster 15inch gaming notebook choice.

 

that's because it's basically the only 15 inch gaming notebook..... so as well as being the best it also makes it the worst

 

Heathkidd does have a point, what if the M860TU is the biggest load of crap and has a massive list of problems. A lot of people before the m15x even came out were drooling over it and thought it was going to be amazing, is it just me or is history repeating itself with the M860TU? Idk it's a hard choice for me because I need a laptop for college with good gaming and I dont see many options out there for me not to mention I'm running out of time

 

one more reason not to buy alienware just look at this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=260545

by the way i will never buy the M860TU simply it is the ugliest laptop i have ever seen and to think they have the nerve to produce such ugly looking computer is beyond me.

They call that the Edge? It's the edge alright, the edge of bankrupcy for that company and on the edge of being the ugliest laptop ever.

 

No offense, but not only is that a matter of taste about what you said about the edge, but to be entirely fair to alienware, the problems you complained about on your own m15x in that thread you linked to can't be fairly entirely attributed to AW seeing as how you purchased yours obviously used (if you said it had fingerprints and such and came pre-loaded) from a shady company.

 

Who knows what the M860TU will turn out to be. But as any inteligent person will see, two things to choose from are always better than having only one thing to choose from... But maybe I'm quite limited intelectually and can't see the truth.

 

@Lady - what Miho said is true. Austin computers is pretty much a horrible AW distributer and Tyronne went through a equally bad experience as you did. I think a few of your problems could have stemmed from them. Also, the M860TU doesn't look that bad in my opinion. From a social standpoint, I would much rather have that than an AW.

 

Come on guys, Tyrone and Lady are the same person. Now leave this thread please!

 

Oh haha I didn't know that sorry.

 

Hey I'm kinda (by which I mean completely) new to this forum really, still... I'm looking to buy an m15x this fall before I start at uni, so I've been stealthily reading these forums for TIME.

Anywhome, I have an Aurora M7700 (goes back every Summer for overheating problems, I've had 3 new GPUs, among other things - not that that's relevant). On this model you can manually get the fans to kick in whenever, or or turn them off (until it crosses a temperature threshold) by using fn+f2.

Seems to me (between my family we have 3 AW laptops, mostly thin and lights) that AW tend to have more than their share of problems, but then again - to revive the tired comparison - my mom's ford fiesta (10 years old now) and honda Jizz have almost no problems while my pops' mercedez, jags, and BMWs all tended to be at the garage most of the time. Essentially, if you want the most powerful components, you pay a certain price.

Also, worth noting in AW's defence, my notebook's been out of warranty for two years, but the'yre still not shy about taking it back and replacing stuff free... so I'd imagine you guys can expect the same on your m15x's.

 

@Redbear - That is pretty cool I must say because AW is pretty damn strict about their warranties. Also, it is hard to compare Cars and notebooks because of the way the manufacturing works.

For example, look at the 17" Clevo's with all of the high performance parts. A lot of them have been kicking for awhile now with no issues. In the laptop world it all comes down to if they actually test them properly. If they tested the M15x properly, they would have found the GPU + CPU downclocking from the start. But yes I do see your argument.

Also, I think you mean Honda Jazz, not Jizz

 

I dunno, have you driven that Honda recently?

Also Stone, you seem like an educated chap, with some experience of these old AWs - this is a touch off topic - could you direct me somewhere (a trhead or website or something) I might find new BIOS for this Aurora m7700 Go 7800 GTX 4800+x2 as it has what seems to be a similar downclocking issue to the m15x and it'd be nice to actually play games during the summer months till I get me a 15x. Basically after a while it just suffers frame rate drops for no apparent reason (not firefights or anything) for a few seconds then picks up at reasonable FPS for a bit again.

Anywhome, while I'm posting, when people say the fan on the 15x is loud, can anyone compare it to my system, (which sounds like a 360 on crack, or a lawnmower at max fan speed)? Thanks indeed.

 

Haha I may have lol. And I just looked at your join date and man you joined awhile ago.

 

Yeah, during some problems with AW I found it and joined, but I never posted just because I seem to be unique in having this machine and problem; everyone else has the area 51 m7700. I just rediscovered it through the 15x review, and guessed my old account. Still, you got me... I'm a dirty liar

So back on topic, area 51 m15x... mmmmm. I don't think I can be disuaded at this point. I got one busted machine, and lightning never strikes twice... right?

 

Well in my case lighting has struck twice. My M5550 had problems for 14 months that were never resolved and I haven't touched my M9750 in a week because it is having problems

 

lol...

man, what would we do in here without Tyronne?! He never ceases to crack me up and piss me off all at the same time. But without him, it'd be much less entertaining!

 

yeah you are indeed faithless, the sooner you realize this the better for us all

 

Bumping up to allow new owners and people thinking about the M15x to make some considerations and plan well their choices.

 

Poor Milcs, you have the worst luck