The Official M9750 Owners Lounge

I just called them back today. This time i asked to speak to a manager he told me that "the upgrade is not guarenteed and as of right now it is not compatable but its possilble that something may be released in the future" I told him i want to switch my order because the sales rep lied to me. He said i have to call back tomorrow, and talk to the same rep i think he was too lazy to do it himself. If i call back tomorrow and they start making the system i previously ordered i will be really pissed off. I hate the car salesman approach where reps tell customers anything (whether its true or false) to make a sale.

 

sorry for you, and i hope he said right when he talk about something to be realeased in the future...

 

just a quick update. I called again today and they said I could change my order but I would have to wait a lot longer before the M15x would be ready. The M9750 i ordered was in phase 6 so i decided to not change the order after talking to a technician for about an hour. Since i am replacing a desktop he said it would be better to go with the m9750 because the m15x is more of a "notebook" with gaming capabilities but its not intended to be a replacement "gaming desktop" like the M9750 or the m17x. Furthermore, he added that he is confident Nvidia will release drivers that will allow the M9759 to be upgraded in the future with better cards (regardless if its the 8800m gtx or not). He also said that with my configuration (the dual 7950 sli) i will not be getting a huge upgrade in graphical performance with the m15x's 8800m GTX card. He said while the new card has direct x10 compatibility and better shader technology the 7950gx2 format is faster because of the sli (the difference will be very slight) Plus my computer is on the verge of breaking so i cannot wait 3 weeks for a system. Hopefully the next time i am looking to buy a computer the pc i have doesn't crap out like this so i can afford to wait for a better one. Then again, this is why i bought my first alienware! Dell has let me down one too many times with their damn xps desktops (and their crappy parts that break all the time).

 

JimBeam - I think you will be very happy. I went through the same internal debates. My box is about a week old and nothing has stopped it. As you have discovered, tech support (and my interactions at CES) has not discouraged the possibility of video card upgrades.

I have been told that the m15x / m17x systems are far less user-serviceable than the m9750. Changes will require
ship-backs, unlike the m9750 where one can perform evening surgery.

 

Jimbeam - you have no worries man...the m9750 is ALL good. I've been using mine for about a month now (upgraded from m9700)...it really rocks...not too mention IMO it is THE best looking laptop out there period. I was considering holding off for the m17x, but glossy finishing and light shows aren't really my cup of teaThat, in addition the prospect of upgrading to 8800's (even though it hasn't been confirmed, but AW support did suggest the upgrade would be available when I asked them straight-up) tipped me in favour of the 9750.
In all honesty I never even considered the m15x...too small...
If it comes to pass that the m9750 won't support the m8800 cards I will be supremely choked...choked enough that I will seriously consider taking my business elsewhere.

 

I have to agree. Judging only by looks and design the M9750 blows away the M15x in my opinion. Sure the lighted keyboard is nice (the only thing i like more about the looks of m15x) but that is only usefull at night and if you are sitting in the dark without lights on. Stealth black all the way baby- the silver doesnt look as unique or as "alien" either. Also, the "batman ridges" on the M9750 look way better then the "triangular silver" ridge on the top of m15x box. Asthetically value for M9750> M15x; i doubt many people will disagree with this even those who are buying the m15x.

Just like to add that, i will also be very disappointed if m8800 cards won't be supported in the future. I have recieved so much conflicting feedback about whether or not it will be. One Alienware Rep said it "would be" available, another said "it won't be available due to the way the card is currently designed and the limitations of the Napa Board (specifically stating he cannot guarantee anything) but it is possible in the future", and the last person said " yes it will, we are just waiting on nvidia to release the required drivers".

There is either a conspiracy going on or Alienware hasn't told its employees how to respond to these questions and so they are just pulling them out of their arse's and making up answers as they go along.

In either case I look foward to getting this bad boy! Hope they are done with stage 8 by tomorrow

 

Alien Conspiracy? Hmmmm.. I think you can read that many many ways. The top execs are going to have strong message control, partly because they can be authoritatively quoted. Middle management probably already knows but cant say but want to say. Its difficult to say how much tech support really knows - I do not know how close they are to the main staff.

I would not be surprised to see a ship-by tomorrow (Tuesday). If not, surely by Wednesday. You are close my man. Start finding all your favorite software disks for the great install.

 

In case there is a designated Alienware rep reading these boards...

Announcing an 8800 upgrade could be showcased as a reason to buy Alienware laptops. Upgradeability - Futureproof. Its a good thing.

 

Sorry Guys, no 8800 gtx. Warner at Alienware Support confirmed it.

"It wont be offered as an upgrade for the m9750, eightd. If plans change about this, we'll announce it, but for now, it's not viable."

http://support.alienware.com/Forum_Pages/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=564062

 

The video card in the m9750 is user-upgradable, there's even a guide on how to replace the video card in Alienware's knowledgebase so if you could get your hands on an 8800M GTX it should work. The M9750 uses MXM III, so the 8800M GTX is compatible with it.
http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...F90ZXh0PXJlcGxhY2UgbTk3NTA*&p_li=&p_topview=1
http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...F90ZXh0PXJlcGxhY2UgbTk3NTA*&p_li=&p_topview=1

 

keep our fingers crossed then. In either case all the reviews i have seen on the graphics cards rank the dual 7950 gtx with sli as the 2nd best performing mobile card on the market. It only falls short of the 8800m by a very slight margin so we still have a badass system that we should be proud of. Most of the direct x 10 cards perform worse then our card so time will tell i guess.

I also have a question: For those with the blu ray drive how well does it work? This was a major selling point for me because i have alot of blu ray movies and i plan to take this sucker with me when i travel. I know some players on the market (*cough* Samsung standalones) have serious playback issues with newer disks (specifically 20th Century Fox). Anyone experience playback issues and are there driver or software updates so that we can continue to play the new disks? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. It also might be nice to setup a blue ray disk/drive compatability list on this forum i checked AVS forum but there isnt one on that site.

 

Unfortunately it is not that simple, and even if it is MXM III, it does not mean it will work in 9750's MXM III slot. If it was just a simple matter of taking old card out and putting 8800 in, Alienware would be offering an upgrade.

For more details on this, have a look at Sager forums.

 

Is anyone with Vista still having problems running games with dual sli? I just read something on a different forum about someone having problems. I was told by Alienware that the issues were fixed, therefore it was not neccessary for me to get XP. Hope this info was correct.

 

well i have a blu ray drive on my m9750 and the movies work perfectly ok. im using power dvd ultra and i didnt need to download any updates for the new movies i purchased. they just played when i put them in the laptop. as far as the standalone players are concerned, what i read was that they keep on releasing firmware updates which you need to download to your player so it can play new disks. im using the ps3 and in my opinion thats the best blu ray player in the market as yet. money wise and practicality wise.

 

I agree with you, i have the ps3 as well. I also have the panasonic BMP-BD50 and that is an excellent player too. The Panny puts out a sharper image with 1080p content, and is better then the ps3 by a slight margin, probably because it has more video tweaks. If you ever want a standalone i recommend that one. It is profile 1.1 as well, only thing it doesn't have is an ethernet port. Like the ps3 it has played every disk i own flawlessly and thats saying something because i own over 150 of them (except sunshine but even the ps3studders on that due to problems with encoding or a faulty disk). Ultimately, the ps3 is the best value of any machine i have ever purchased, but if your in the market for a standalone you can't go wrong with the panny. The firmware updates are a pain, however its a good thing i haven't had to update the panny, and the ps3 (the most future proof blu ray player because of Sony's excellent support of the product) is very easy to update. Just wanted to add that the ps3 is better at upconverting SD dvd's then the Panny.

thanks for your feedback

 

You don't have the model number for that do you?

 

Vista will not run games in SLI with any noticeable improvement in performance at the present time. Hopefully Service Pack 1 will fix this problem.

 

with SLI on, Minimum FPS is the same as when using 1 card, better get XP for now

 

Looks like i will have to buy xp then, is there a way i can have both xp and vista on the system and chose to boot either one? and if so is it a really complicated procedure?

 

I have been exploring that topic. I understand there are some partitioning programs that can be used to setup XP / Vista / and even Unix-based boots. Two questions unanswered..

a) I just reinstalled XP-Pro after my shipped-install melted down due some conflict with a Windows Update and a bad rollback. During the process I set up a D: Partition. Can I install Vista on the D: Partition?

b) Do I have to re-install major applications so that Vista's copy of the registry is in line, and what does this mean to original XP install? I'd like to keep one copy on the machine of each major application (Office, VS 2008, Photoshop, so on).

Heh, dont need too much derail, a link to a good website would be great.

Thanks!

 

I am going to wait until I get the pc tomorrow (its finally in Oakland, CA!). When i experience issues first thing i will do is call alienware and ask them for a copy of XP for free because they told me incorrect information. Not sure they will like it but its thier problem that I now have to waste more money buying it alone, and the time of installing it. Plus Vista is basically useless for me now, and i am sure they charged me for it in the package and the respawn 2.0 cd. Why 2 different reps assured me that the issues with sli and Vista were fixed are beyond me. When i first called in to order the system i was going to order the single 8700 configuration (with the intention of upgrading when all was fixed) because of the problems i had heard about with vista and sli. The dude had the nerve to talk me out of it, insisting i had nothing to worry about. If you order a computer by phone and u get a guy named Jaimee, ask for someone else. He is nice and knows about graphics but he told me the wrong information on two different things (also said m9750 would be upgradeable to the 8800m series).

 

Jim I replied to this in the SLI Guide thread. You don't have to worry. You won't get XP numbers but will get a good gain over non sli.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=202449&page=7

 

ok thanks. just wish i was told correct information. Soon as i get the m9750 tomorrow and have time i'll post first impressions. This is a great forum by the way, i love how people actually respond to posts!

 

Believe me I know what you mean, I can praise and curse AW in the same sentence. They have a few good sales and support guys, but most are bad. Typical Sales, promising anything just to make that sale. And Support that just knows how to read a script but never actually do research or testing on their own products.

But AW's worst issue is putting out Bleeding Edge, not cutting edge, products. All their products are terrible for the first 4-6 months, then drivers and OSes catch up and the product gets better. By that time, AW drops the system and puts out a new Bleeding Edge product.

But all in all I'm pleased, mostly because I can diagonose issues myself and swap out parts. If I couldn't, I know I would feel so pissed. Especially when you get a lappy with one dead video card, 1X point test my ass. Sorry venting.

 

@jimbeam- I didn't realize you have your 9750 configured with the new
8700 cards. There is a possibility that these cards with the new 8700 drivers might work well in SLI. I was referring to my experience with SLI using the 7950gtx cards. Give it a try on some games while measuring frame rates with and without SLI and see if there is a difference. Don't use 3dMark06 to benchmark SLI since it will give a higher score but this has little bearing on game performance.

 

I configured it with the 7950gtx cards because the alien rep told me they were better and all the reviews i read indicated they had better performance then 8700 cards- hopefully i didnt make a mistake Well i guess i can always upgrade later. Just curious in peoples opinion do the 7950gtx cards in sli perform better then the 8700 cards in sli?

Dude from alienware said they did, but it could have been a load of crap- i believed him because it agreed with everything else i had read.

 

well i havent experienced the 8700's myself but like you, from what ive read the 7950's are better than 8700's

 

The Alienware rep was on the ball, the Go7950GTX smashes the 8700M-GT. I have used both cards extensively, in SLI and non-SLI setups and in every single benchmark the Go7950GTX has come out stronger. I could feel the difference playing games - the Go7950GTX felt like a much stronger card while the 8700M-GT did have numerous slow-downs and lower average FPS at the same resolution/settings. The 8700M-GT SLI and the Go7950GTX SLI are both great performers but the latter is significantly faster.

 

i dont really know whats wrong with AW recently, but a sales representative called David told me that the m9750 is 100% upgradable to 8800GTX o_0, he told me it wont be upgradable for a while since new products are coming out. dunno maybe more people should contact AW and make sure this is true

 

it makes sense since they dont want to spoil the m17x 8800 sli catch phrase i would say...that would be a major selling point for the laptop

 

It makes perfect since. I just hope they keep the m9750 in their lineup for atleast 6 months, if they do there is a better chance of them releasing the 8800.

There was a time when AW sold 3 or 4 different laptop models, It would be great if they got back to that.

 

Alienware, now with Dell's financial backing, could certainly afford to broaden their line. Most every other manufacturer has multiple laptops and the m9750 is superior to most of them, so far from out-of-date.

I am interested in how Alienware handles the next series of laptops, once Intel and NVidia introduce their new chip families this year. While I hear some of the excitement over in Miami about m15x/m17x lights and case manufacturer, I would welcome an m9750-inspired 45nm / 9000-series box as the natural successor. And announcing an upgrade later puts that consumer decision in play - upgrade or really new.

 

Just to follow up on Chaz post, the 7950gtx is a faster card than the 8700, however the 7950 does not run well in SLI on Vista. I believe Chaz tested these cards with Windows XP OS which has better graphics performance in both single and SLI modes.

 

I just talked to an Alienware rep and he said they were discontinuing the M9750 the end of the day or tomorrow. I doubt the m17x will immediatly be available, though, Alienware probably just wants to get all the M9750 shipments out of they way so they can focus on the m15x and m17x.

 

They have recently told so many people that the m9750 will be upgradeable to the 8800gtx series cards that i am starting to believe this will be the case even if they discontinue this model. Looking forward to an official anouncment from alienware some time in the very near future (soon as i get an email from them i will let you guys know- they told me i would get an email as soon as it became available.

I just got my laptop today and picked up the witcher to test it out. I have to head out to graduate school so i'll post some first impressions as soon as i get home tonight. I only had time to pull it out of the box. It looks great but my only concern is one of the pieces on the bottom clicks when i put pressure on it as if it is not completely tight/sealed, is this normal (its by no means loose its just i can push it together a bit and it clicks, i will look for missing screw later)?

 

If they do discontinue it, i would expect to see it removed tomorrow, after the "gamer's choice" promotion ends.

 

I think I mentioned this as a possible scenario - discontinue the m9750 before announcing an 8800 existing owner upgrade - so that m17x sales are not cannibalized by m9750/8800 sales.
Even then, it wont happen until after m17x release.

Still, I kinda hoped they would keep the m9750 line around. And we have no guarantees 8800 upgrades will appear; though I have suspicion we'll hear someone's independent effort. It is not impossible to find an 8800 MXM board; raid another computer if one has to.

 

jimbEAM my lappy isnt sealed well from the bottom

 

I also heard from another rep they might be keeping it when the m17x comes out thanks to its "award-winning design". These Alienware reps are useless...
I heard on some rumor site that the M9750 might get a new name once the m17x comes out.

 

It's so funny !! rumor change every day in Alienware's Land (Area 51...)

 

Alienware reps don't know anything. They just make stuff up pretending they know the "inside secrets", like with the 8800M GTX. Area-51 is the ****z, though.

 

Say goodbye to Merom...

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/28/intel_to_retire_seven_merom_core_2_duo_processors/

 

when are the M7950 being discontinued, please say it not this year as i want to get a m7950 around april-may and if they discontinue it and release a new model it will be very expensive even for the crappy setups.

 

i think when they launch the m17x they would discontinue the m9750 shortly after that. and they expected launch date for the m17x is in feb or march to the latest according to AW. would launch in uk around april-may. so you should be ok till that time hopefully.

 

just corious how much will the new ones start from.

 

Just a quick question, does anyone here know if the X-Fi sound option on the M9750 comes built in or is it an addon expresscard?

 

It's a separate card. There's a review on it somewhere around here.

 

ive also got a question does the M9750 come with a HDMI port?

 

As Alienware's page suggests it doesn't.

 

thats ashame, i tried to look but my inter conenction has been iffy, stupid colege.