The m15x will now ship with a new higher quality chassis...

And let's be honest, if you look at pictures of the M860TU... it's plain ugly. It's not even comparable with the M15x.
I am hoping so much they will be able to fix the problems the M15x has, but their silence, time passing, nothing much changing... is just making me feel demoralized. Oh well... M15x... the most powerful laptop in the world that was a bit away from being perfect.

 

does anyone have alienware-steve's email?

 

steve doesnt work for AW anymore

 

Granted, I think the m860tu is the best looking laptop Clevo has ever designed, but yeah. I would be willing to trade off all of its performance benefits to still go with the m15x because of looks (but now, there are practically no performance benefits, making that an even easier choice)

 

Why not ???

 

No one knows.. some say after years of helping he finnaly became a dronelike tanoy announcing, alien..

 

Dude I'm in the same boat. I have it configured to about $2500 with t9300, 8800mGTX, and smartbay batter as the only upgrades; however, I can't buy it knowing that the CS sucks so bad and the heat issues are really the only thing that just stop me from buying this altogether

 

So is there an updated chassis that was SEEN by anybody yet or just rumours at this point?

 

at this point, just rumours. besides, there wouldn't be much to see, as the thing would presumably look identical but just feel/act different (notwitstanding the black skullcap case also coming *eventually*)

@meemat: your laptop probably will get away with no heat issues, since the 8800 downclocking was fixed months ago and you're only getting the T9300 (and even if you were getting the X9000 taco has an interim fix for it)

 

RUMOURS... CS rubbing possible clients to try and convince them.
The only thing that will probably happen regarding chassis, is the black (skullcap) version.

 

@meemat- GRB has a bit of imprecision there. You will have heating issues, but no downclock (on the GPU side of things). The GPU will warm up quite a lot during gameplay (close to 100C). On the CPU side of things, if you get that CPU I doubt you will see any downclock, unless you want to run complicated algorithms on your laptop, that will drive the CPU to 100% for prolonged times. In this case, your CPU will easily pass 90C.

So... no downclock, but saying there's no heating issue is not precise.

 

And these temps are with the updated BIOS that make the fans run faster and at higher rpms?

 

That is exactly right... The fans run and run... but the temps go up and up.

 

Damn,another question then.
Is AS5 applied onto the GPU /CPU or not?
IF not, consider it, it might actually shave 5-10C off the max load temp.

 

They have their own thermal paste...
The day I sent my laptop back, after I switched it off I opened it to take my RAM. I touched the GPU and man... that was HOT (idle). Can barely imagine what would happen if I would touch it while at full load (around 100C). That can't be good...

 

sure, but who's to say 100 is necessarily unreasonable. Given the fact the absolute max before this thing melts is like 135 degrees, and that this is the only 15" laptop with an 8800 in it (which makes comparisons to temps of 8800s in 17" laptops misleading), it's hard to say. We'll have the answer to that question when the m860tu comes out: if it runs at a max of 85 degrees, let's say, then yes the m15x does have an issue. If it also runs at 95, 100 degrees, then that's just the nature of the beast.

I know 100 degrees sounds bad/scary, but it's really hard to say what it *should* be.

 

Agree with your reasoning, but let us use some good sense. How long do you think a computer that runs at 100C will live for? Do you honestly believe that having a GPU at 100C inside your laptop, emanating heat to all of it's components, its healthy for the computer?
I'm certainly not keeping a laptop that does go above 100C. I left that clearly stated in the letter I sent to AW. As I said, it's an electrical hazard and is just an accident waiting to happen. Imagine a bit of dust accumulates... Imagine something fails with the fan... It's not safe.

 

No, I totally agree, 100 degrees definitely raises flags. We'll see what Clevo comes up with and if their one-fan design can keep the temps sub-90 degrees.

 

Lol the light leakage around my monitor is quite nice i really like it

I thought it was part of the gimmink.

 

It is a bit subjective, I suppose. On the other hand, I've never thought of a laptop whose components can boil water as a particularly good thing...

 

heh, fair point. but as I say, if the 860 also turns out to be a portable teakettle, then it's just the price we all pay for having an 8800 in a 15" laptop.

 

The Clevo M860TU features only 1 fan, and the rumored upgradeability to the 9800M GTX was totally denied.
So if the TU can manage heat with just 1 FAN,1 alone, I say AW have really screwed up.
And knowing clevo,this thing won`t hit 100C on a constant basis,no offence to any m15x user,but that's just how it is.


I don`t agree with you though GRB, you paid a premium price, you should expect premium quality.
I don't understand why people can simply accept such a degrading attitude from AW when some of them paid as much as a decent car would cost.
You paid for it, you deserve to have the best out there,right? Well AW should take care of the cracks,wobbling,downclocking,overheating and God knows what else the m15x is prone to...

 

I don't think I've ever disagreed with the complaints about cracks, wobbling, etc.

Also we don't know how well the 860 manages heat with one fan. Given the fact that it can't support the 9800M GTX, actually, suggests that it's already close to the line with the 8800. I agree with you, Clevo does take extra care in developing their heat management systems, but we really can't tell how the 860 will do. Only time will tell, because right now no one who isn't bound by an NDA knows "just how it is".

 

This has been said before, but to show AW:

I have been close to pulling the trigger 4-5 times ( more or less full spec, ssd and all) and if not for the heat and plastic feel I would have been typing on one now. My next hope now is with voodoopc, new models out week and this will be HP's first HP voodoo laptops so I have to assume they will try to take a stab at Dell XPS and AW and Clevo... Clevo is a laptop I will take a look at.

If AW comes out with a fix then I might still look at getting one from em, but as it stands, a lemon I can get from the guy in the corner shop..

 

Thats a bad example TBH, when AW would sell new m15x with a 9800 (considering it as an upgrade) instead of the 8800, not a single person would raise his voice to get his 8800 replaced with the 9800 for free!

But we don't talk about a better, more "efficient" case, we talk about a defective (or bad designed) case that got repaired! And if there is a revised case in the makings every early adopter has the right to demand the new case, because thats the only way to get what he paid for initialy: a flawless system!

If you want to stick with cars as example, think about a new car with a too small radiator grill that will let the car overheat in areas with a too high temperature. This is a clear issue and we all know the manufacturer would do a recall immediately the moment he has a solution! I know its not the best example, but I hope you get my point!


In my opinion, I would call the rumors about a revision a placebo, they tell us they have changed something but not what exactly. Now everyone with this "new" case will think its improved and better and will imagine that there are no issues anymore... Its like with medicine, the doc tells you the (placebo) pills will work and your psyche will make you feel better

 

crizzler would you consider a new one if they improved the chassis and heat issues? just to get you opinion on how "good" the rest is/was, to try to measure the feeling you had.

 

be warned if Voodoo keeps their old insane-pricing ways ($5000 base for an 8700 GT SLI laptop? yeah, I'll pass)

 

I think we will see lower prices, less choices etc, but a high end line, exactly what Dell is trying to do with XPS and AW

 

We'll have to see. I hope that they will have at least a couple laptops that are more realistically priced, but remember that Voodoo never needed to charge what they do. They're rebadged and repainted Clevos (well, they were, they won't be anymore); Voodoo chose to ask the price they did. It's a mentality thing, not a "gotta break even" thing, so we'll see if HP talked some sense into them.

 

i love my m15x already i dont care if they make better chassis


I dont have buyers remorse and never will.

The laptop is great especially when you reinstall Vista from the DVd yourself without using respawn.

ALl my problems solved the laptop is now much faster and smoother no junk and all the software working as it should be. That's quality assured - do it yourself WAY

 

as far as the radiator example goes... this is not true at all... look at the 3rd gen rx7... It had a ****ty radiator design that was a huge weak point in the car... mazda continued to manufacture the car even with the terrible cooling system... they did not recall it and did not fix it... They didnt HAVE to... Its like the ferrari 348->355... Ferrari has openly stated that the 348 was a mistake and a big piece of crap, but it was basically used as a prototype for the 355... the people who owned 348s didnt get the new engine and electrical and everything else that sucked in their car for the improved versions in the 355...

 

@eleron911. Are you definitly sure the M860TU is only going to have only one fan? if so how is this going to work?

Apologies of this seems a stupid question and I do realise that with the Montevina platform it will produce less heat, but this thing is surely still going to pack quite a punch with everything else inside it, so it strikes me as strange that they think only one fan will be enough especially given the heat issues of the m15x (before anybody corrects me i know this is on santa rosa)

 

my laptop is really good doesnt over heat like the Asus i had before this one which i gave away to my nephew.

I had my m15x running for 6 days straight without heating problem. This is the best laptop so far with the x32 bios.

I like it now because i reinstalled Vista myself and configured the software the way i like it.


This laptop is very nice if you stop reading teh negative stuff from this forum.

 

Thats a really hard question right now, my short answer gaming wise would be yes, as its still a beast.

My common sense actually would answer no, but thats not only due to the bad qualitiy and all the issues the m15x has. I have lost my trust in Alienware as a company and their products, they dissapointet me and alot others that payed a lot of money, and I will think twice prior giving them my money again.

And there is a nother point for me, I realized my priorites changed: I want a lightweight 15,4" laptop to work and game with that has long battery life, that runs silent and has certain extras. Thats an almost impossible combination, I know, and I hoped the m15x might deliver this as a good compromise! But it didn't and furthermore made me realize its plain impossible with current technologies And to be honest, gaming also isn't that important to me anymore so I went with the dell m1530. It gives me everything I want except for pure gaming power, but it costs not even half the m15x!

Sorry for the long read, but my point finally is, you have to ask yourself is the gaming power of the m15x/8800GTX really worth +1000€ and all the trouble and drawbacks?

For me, its not anymore no matter what they change with the m15x, but you are not me, so it still might suit you?

I think my point still stands, the problem is rather, the cars you mentioned (like the m15x) have relatively small numbers of buyers! Any big car company with a lot of customers like VW or Mercedes simply couldn't get away with something like this! And to get back to computers, alienware might get along with this with most of the m15x buyers not even aware of all the problems but would dell? would hp? Would sony? I don't think so...

 

yes, there has been much discussion over at the clevo subforums and a picture was provided which illustrates the existence of one fan.

 

LOL.

Dude, no disrespect, but you're the most bi-polar poster I've ever seen! First it's the worst piece of junk in the world, now it's the best laptop you've ever had. Well, I hope you really do like it.

 

Yes Tyronne... In the beggining it was the end of the world. Now it's the best... It becomes difficult to follow where you are coming from.

 

Would you mind posting a link to those pics? thanks!

 

Just found it. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=256714&page=23

does anybody know where i can find an internal pic of the m15x. would like to do a quick comparison

Edit: never mind have just found a picture further down the forum page given above.

 

because at first he was mad about the fact that his reseller had opened up his computer, played with it and showed it off to all the customers. That, I would be mad about as well, but now as that memory fades off he can enjoy it

 

ive found it.
only problem is working out how to fit it in.

 

lol...

I say just strap the lappy to that sucker and let 'er rip.

 

@MRDJ... nice cooling system LMFAO.

but seriously now i've compared the inards of the M15x & M860TU, it really gives the impression AW gave very little consideration to airflow in the m15x.

The M15x looks like it's had everything crambed in together and the two fans are just sitting there to cool specific parts of it with the two small heatsinks their to help cool the rest as an afterthought.

With the M860TU it's componants look neatly placed and it's single fan appears to be larger. Difficult to tell but it also looks like the fan rather than being designed to cool a single specific part has been designed to actually draw in the air rapidly from all around the notebook through the intake grills. This air then travels over every componant towards the fan which uses it to further cool the cpu and gpu before throwing it all out the back through a single exaust. The heatsink might work a hell of a lot more efficently here to not just becasue it looks bigger but beacuase the air also flows over it as well to help further with it's own cooling.

Again apologies if i've stated the bl**dy obvious and this has all been said before on the clevo/sagar forums, but if this actually works I'll be really impressed with the TU's cooling and how much research must have gone into designing this.

 

Alienware Depot in Houston just received my m15x today. I opened my laptop and the bottom right of the screen snapped open, and peices of clear plastic(or dried glue?) fell out. The bump stop and screw that held it in place also fell out. Needless to say I was pretty upset.

Anyways, I was pretty disappointed with the fact that none of the Alienware-CS people on this forum have answered this thread. A simple "Yes, there's a new chassis", or "No there isn't a reason for a new chassis" would suffice...

So I emailed Alienware about it yesterday. Since I already had a discussion thread open for my screen snapping open, I decided to ask about the "new chassis". We'll see what they have to say...if anything... Either they'll have no clue what I'm talking about, or they'll have some sort of answer... Eh, at least I asked... We'll see...

I will also be posting a thread about my CS experience for my screen problem on here, as soon as I get my m15x back...

 

let us know what they say jay

 

Will do Taco

I took this quote from Alienware Armando from his Thread.

"Unfortunately, there is no information available that I can provide you with when it will be released."

Hmmm...

Thanks to Alienware-Armando for at least giving an answer...

 

the only thing is that he may think we were asking about the skullcap design... so i rephrased the question in his thread...

 

I called alienware at around 5:00 today to update my order. I also asked about the new chassis. The way I phrased the question was "i heard online that alienware designed a new chassis. is this true?"

he said "yes, there is a new chassis. it is coming in sometime in the middle of next week."

he said it would be included in all of the notebooks shipped from here on out. he also said that it shouldn't delay my estimated ship date of june 30th.

i know alienware CS has proven to be unreliable, but he definitely gave a concrete answer to me on the phone today. take it for what it's worth

 

Well, if that's accurate, maybe I should start praying that I'll STAY in phase 4 until the middle of next week!

 

though i would imagine the phrase "will be shipping from here on out" means that all current orders shipping out will have the new chassis... Im in phase 8, which means i'm about to ship, but when I called and talked to a cs rep, they assured me mine would have a new chassis... Also, since the delay of all the orders over the past month have been delayed because of a backorder on the chassis... the new chassis coming in from the backorder is the "new" chassis...