The Official m15x Owners Lounge

It's not better than the 7200rpm drive. At this point, hybrid drives don't live up to the hype.

 

just go with the 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache) HD

 

I configured the system to be the same thing I have, except with the 8800 and it's $2449. Honestly, $358 might not sound like a lot when you're dealing with $2000+, but I don't really have the money to go for that kind of upgrade, even if it is 2x more powerful.

I have zero regrets from my purchase, and do appreciate the info. I love the speed and power I have now, and would have sprung $40 for the light up keyboard, but to pay a 15% restock fee and then even more, just is too much

 

Mrwater.

how is the laptop overall? what games have you played on it? how's the build quality?

and most importantly, how portable is it?

forgive me if these have been answerer by you before. I'm thinking about purchasing a laptop, so I need to find out everything i can, before i make any decisions.

thanks

 

the laptop is awesome. it's not very portable if you compare to the tiny 13/14 inch laptops, but it's only a little larger than other 15 inch laptops. it's more like a desktop replacement that can be moved with ease though, so if you need something that will be used on the go, i would suggest a thin and light laptop and a gaming pc.

i have played crysis and hellgate london, the 8700 plays hellgate nicely on near max, crysis is a mix of med/high and it gets a smooth rate. if you get the 8800 model, you will wreck everything you throw at it for a while.

 

In all truth, the 8800M GTX with a 1.8GHz processor will play games much better than a 8700M GT with a 2.2GHz processor, so you might want to put more consideration into getting a system that'll be three times faster than what you have now for less/ around what you've paid.

 

Alienware will charge a 15% restocking fee, that means the new computer would cost me the same as the $2699 model-
except i'd still have the slower cpu and hard drive, so i'd be paying the same for less.

i'm very happy with my m15x i'm sure i'd be happier with an 8800, but it's just not worth $350 to me. I honestly don't play enough games to warrant that type of upgrade. for a hardcore gamer, the 2099 model wouldnt have even been an option, so the fact that I went that route in the first place has to say something

 

Mrwater,

I've joined this forum just to ask you this question: Have you had the chance to see what battery life is like on stealth mode or regular mode? Im unaware if you have the smartbay 6cell battery too, but I figure it should double battery life right... dual battery is the configuration im looking to order online tomorrow.

Everything else about this laptop is right, but i'm a student...i dont mind that size, but i need it to be useful on the go... so if i can get 3-4 hours of juice out of this thing on one charge (w/out wifi is fine) then im on board and ready to hit the order button!

Fully appreciate your response as soon as you can give me one. Thanks!

 

anybody else that has the answer to this may feel free to post as well

 

pretty sure that one's answered already by him

 

It's just a rocker button, you press the left half for left click and the right half for right click. It's not a Mac.

 

oh sorry, i thought i'd scanned through and didnt see anything about battery life ... will check again.

 

The only important thing is that you're happy with your laptop, and you are right, it's not worth the extra cost and hassle.

 

Watching the Alienware keynote, that guy mentioned the m17x would have two GeForce M8800 GTXs in SLI... If that's only another $500 and a bit more for the screen expansion, I'll buy that one! It would give the laptop a lot more longevity in terms of gaming in the future.

That is what he said right? Two M8800 GTXs in SLI?

 

yes, you're right

and I think that the other GPU will cost less than 500$

I think the improvement will be 50% more or less, not 100%

 

Anyone know when these will be available in UK
Im desperate to get one and i dont think Alienware USA ships to UK

 

Well SLI as of right now is still not giving the same boost in Vista it does in XP. Although some new Nvidia drivers aree supposed to be released in Feb to fix the issue. I have a Desktop righ at hoem with Vista and Xp, XP and SLI is still teh prefered way to go. Although Vista has shown some improvement it still has a ways to go.

I love the concept of SLI I just hate having to mess with profiles all teh time ot get the best out of it. That's why I chose the M15x SLI is great but I woudl rather be playing and not tweaking.

 

I have Turbo Memory on my laptop and I had to switch it off together with SpeedFetch. The reason was that every time the computer was started the hard disk would go crazy for about 3-4 minutes after logging in, the computer was unusable during that period. Sleep and hibernation took longer as well.

I did not notice any adverse effects after switching the Turbo Memory off.

 

Have you tried turning off Windows search. Right click MY COMPUTER> MANAGE > select SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS> SERVICES. Scroll down to WINDOWS SEARCH.

Right Click WINDOWS SEARCH> Right Click PROPERTIES> Select Disable (drop down box) Select Apply.

This shouldt eliminate Disk indexing. That shoudl take care of the thrashing of your HDD.

 

First Time poster Long time reader. HA! Grats on your AW mrwater! I guess ill be also joining you soon my Little friend is scheduled to arrive feb 5th i cant wait to try it out, and give my old 1997 toshiba satellite the boot! This is actually my 2nd lappy purchase im hoping this one will make me smile!

 

I know you care for other forum members and want the best for them , but mrwater is very contented with his purchase, and it's the only thing that matters.

 

Hello all...I will soon be part of the elite owners group. My m15x is currently at stage 7...configuration below :

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Fuchsia
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB Nvidia® GeForce™ Go 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ Extreme 2 Duo T8700 2.8GHz (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 8X Dual Layer CD-RW/DVD±RW Burner w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Security Software: McAfee® VirusScan Plus – 30-Day Free Trial Factory Installed!
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Personalized Nameplate
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Smooth Mylar Touchpad
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead Glow (Widescreen)
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: CPU Meter
Sidebar Gadgets: Notepad
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

This is my second Alienware..the first being a MONSTER..hoping this one is more portable.

 

Kidego Congrats man!
My system is almost identical except I went for the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7700 2.4GHz (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
It will be interesting to see how the two systems compare with some benchmarks once we get them. Mine has been stuck in phase 6 for a while now. Do you remember how long yours was there for?

 

Mine was actually at phase 6 for about a week.

 

I'm also stuck in phase 6 with a similar system I think since last tuesday. The wait is killing me. Here is what I went for:

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Blue
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB Nvidia® GeForce™ Go 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7800 2.6GHz (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 8X Dual Layer CD-RW/DVD±RW Burner
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service

 

I know the 2.8 Extreme was prlly not needed, but hey, if youre going to do it...might at well do it right...right??

On a second note, did anyone get a case? My last Alienware came with one..but this one doesnt. Thats another 80.00 I guess.

 

Yes I did but it did not help. The hard disk trashing I am talking about happens when the computer boots up, and if you look at disk activity in Resource Monitor you can see Windows is pre-fetching various files.

 

im joinin in soon too ... haven't ordered yet .... how much did ur cost???

mine comes to $ 4,047,08 with taxes & shipin ... (still tryin to get coupons \) lol

[1] Area-51® m15x

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 X7900 2.8GHz – Extreme Edition (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Personalized Nameplate
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Smooth Mylar Touchpad
Avatar: Alienhead 3D
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D (Widescreen)
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates Off
RSS Feeds: Alienware News:
Get the latest Alienware news delivered directly to your desktop!
RSS Feeds: Slashdot:
News for nerds, stuff that matters.
RSS Feeds: Engadget:
Get the latest technology news.
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

 

BUYERS BEWARE.... the last option that used to be $2699, now $21##, it still SAYS its 8800GTX video card but when you select it its' actually only a 8600!

 

There is an option for either 8600M GS or 8700M GT or 8800M GTX!

 

I really hope that this is not the final configuracion

 

what's that

 

Sorry to repeat a question but an thoughts on the touchpad. Good, bad, big? How are the buttons.

 

A processor Alienware offers on the customization page.

 

4mb cache and 800mhz FSB isn't very "Extreme".....you sure you're not talking about the x7900?

 

Ugh now I don't know what I want. Maybe I should just build a gaming rig myself, do I really need a laptop? It would probably be a whole lot cheaper to get a BETTER machine if I build it myself...
What do you guys think? Plus there are some really cool cases with neons etc...

 

Oh I think he jsut made a mistake.. T8700 Extreme doesnt exist.

 

Only if you need portability. I thought about getting the m17x then decided this baby isn't going to be maxing out games in a year from now and I would've needed to keep it for atleast three years. I've decided to build an awesome gaming rig with a 9800 video card (coming out mid February) and a quad core processor. If you build a gaming desktop you'll get much more power, I can make a system that'll be over twice as fast as these Alienware notebooks for half the price.

 

the 9800 in mid Feb...as in next month???!!! they just released (and i use this term very loosely) the 8800m!!!!! (so by this time next year the 9 series notebook versions then?)....i've decided to wait for the 10 series...end of story....im gonna be 90 years old and waiting still

 

The 9800 is just two 8800GT slapped together and called on card. Kind of like the 3870x2, except where the ati version has both chips on one PCB the 9800 actually has two PCB making one massive card.

 

MICHAELSD01 it was actually your sig that prompted me to rethink the laptop. Now when I look at what's available I find myself going way too far. How much would your dream machine end up costing? Maybe I can look into what you're looking into.

 

lol
its true, technology goes so fast, if you wait for something better, you'll wait forever cause there'll always be something better....

 

I came across a neat site for building a PC from the ground up, except they do it . Only, it's for America only. The site is www.cyberpowerpc.com. anyone know if there are any Canadian equivelants out there?

 

great, i'm at phase 4 now...i hate waiting...wish i can be bumped up to phase 6 already

This is what I went for...

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7700 2.4GHz (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache)
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Mouse: Gaming Mouse - Razer Copperhead™ Gaming Mouse - Blue
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Personalized Nameplate
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Alienware Extras: Area-51® m15x Smooth Mylar Touchpad
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D (Widescreen)
Wallpaper: Alienhead Glow (Widescreen)
Wallpaper: Alien Schematic (Widescreen)
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: Calendar
Sidebar Gadgets: Stocks (default symbols)
Time Zones: (GMT - 6.00) Central Time (US & Canada)

 

eurocom.com does canada...good prices too. and they have a cajillion of designs you can do..heck you can even tell em to do the exact same thing as the alienware mALX airbrush design if you're into looks and stuff.

 

I don't see anybody getting any office software. Are you all just buying it separately?

 

i get it from my university for $10 so yea.....woot

 

Open Office much?
Eurocom does laptops, now I'm leaning more towards PCs.

 

Nice! I'll have to check and see if I get a discount. Never looked at software before.

 

if you're in college go to the university store, show 'em ID and tell 'em you want the lastest office release and the universities usually have a copyright deal with microsoft so they are allowed to give students "verified and copyrighted" copies of the software...if that makes any sense at all.