User Suggestions [M17x/M15x Edition]

How would you improve your Alienware for future updates/units?

 

Aliensense

Have the ability to recognize multiple faces. Heres why,

1) If its a family PC, wouldn't you want your whole family to have the ability to use this feature?

2) Have Aliensense recognize your face in multiple contrast, instead of just over-writing(updating). In other words, have it remember your face when its dark, bright, close up, far away ect.

 

I doubt any Alienware users are letting anyone but themselves touch their beauty, let alone kids

 

Aliensense kinda sucks. I read that as long as you/someone has a picture of yourself, they'll recognize your face and logs you in.

 

yeah and don't comb your hair differently. It really is useless. Without the right lighting conditions it fails.

 

^ Yeah and that too.

 

ideally:
1. have ssd as standard
2. make it lighter
3, resolve driver/software issues and conflicts for touchpad, laptop tilt and throttling at high load
4. retain/improve price competitiveness, while addressing 1 and 2, and remaining the fastest all powerful laptops available.

#3 is easily accomplished and I have no doubt will happen in the near future. Preferences 1 and 2 are tempered by 4 and the desire to retain good user characteristics: high build quality, no heat issues, robustness etc.
But you asked....

 

more battery and colors

 

How about a dust filter underneath the fans...darn thing get clogged up all the time...almost every week I have to use some can of air!!!!

 

This is actually a good thing - lets you know the fans are doing their job

Do agree - pain to always wipe away the dust buildup on the grilles.

 

Overall I'm very happy with mine so far, some suggestions below..

- I'd like to see an Alienware Auto Update feature similar to Windows Auto Update (ok I'm lazy)
- Better Feed back on the Touch bar as to when things are on or off i.e. WiFi, Stealth, just need something a little clearer.
- Should come with a proper sleeve like my M1530 did, the thin Felt one is okay but not the most practical.

 

Actually AlienSense can do this already. The best way to do it is to give each member of your family their own Windows account. This will have many benefits including improved auditing, parental controls, personalized bookmarks, etc. etc. etc. AlienSense absolutely has the ability to recognize multiple faces and log each person automatically into their own account.

If instead your question is actually "can multiple people share one Windows account", then this is not a particularly good idea. Here is the specific entry from the AlienSense FAQ that deals with this question directly:

3. Can multiple people share one Windows account?
While this is certainly possible, it is not recommended. There are two primary concerns here.
a. Part of the security provided by AlienSense are strong access logs….knowledge of who used your computer and when. With multiple people sharing one Windows account, this access logs are not as useful. You can still check who logged in by using the Photo Access Log feature, but this is far less convenient.
b. More importantly, recognition performance (how many times the software successfully recognizes your face and logs you into Windows) will be degraded. There is a certain amount of storage allocated for each Windows account to store multiple versions of how you look. Video from the camera is compared against this entire “biometric database” every time you try to access your computer. If you share your account with someone else, then both of your faces will be occupying the same storage space. Each of you will effectively have fewer versions of your face for comparison against the video coming from the camera. This will make it less likely that either one of you will be recognized and logged into Windows quickly."

Good news here too....it already does exactly this! As opposed to other biometrics that only learn your finger, retina, etc. once, AlienSense acquires and stores additional "biometric templates", or versions of how you look each time you log into your Windows account manually, thereby improving recognition performance under different conditions over time. Note, however, that with ANY biometric that has good accuracy that recognition will never be 100%! The goal is to reduce manual logins while still maintaining that accuracy. AlienSense actually stores up to 100 different versions of how you look in order to achieve this goal.

 

Actually, the fact that it's very "picky" about the recognitions that it makes is exactly what allows it to be far, far more accurate than other consumer solutions (such as those from Toshiba, Asus or Lenovo all of which make frequent recognition MISTAKES).

The good news is that AlienSense - very much unlike other biometrics - LEARNS. If you're ever not recognized quickly, simply log in with your password and AlienSense automatically updates your biometric database, thereby making the next recognition attempt both more likely to succeed and succeed quickly. This learning algorithm is the key to keeping recognition rates high at the same time that accuracy is maintained. Other solutions typically must choose between those two traits.

It is technology - not magic - so don't ever expect 100% recognition (not without a serious cost in accuracy, anyway), but it really should help to dramatically REDUCE the number of times that you need to log in manually.

 

This may be true of other facial recognition implementations, but it is far less true for AlienSense which has inherently strong photo rejection. It's also worth noting that AlienSense will, in a future update, also have a new feature called "Face + Password" that allows for the simple entry of just a few characters from the user's password after a recognition, making the question of photographic access entirely moot.

Here is the section from the AlienSense FAQ that addresses the topic quite thoroughly.

"2. Can someone break into my account using a photograph of me?
Generally no, they cannot. AlienSense pays enough attention to how you look when you’re actually using your computer (including lighting, camera angle, angle of your face, camera type, etc.) that a photograph is extremely unlikely to match all of these characteristics closely enough to allow unwanted access to your account. There are two nuances here; however, that warrant further discussion.
a. It MAY be possible gain access to your account with a photograph, printed or displayed at high quality, that is taken through the web camera that you use to access your computer. Since this could in theory match closely what you actually look like to the software while using your computer, it is recommended that you not allow this type of photograph to be taken. This may on rare occasions also be possible if a photograph is taken with another camera from the perspective of the web camera in conditions that are very similar to those in which you use your computer.
i. If it is not possible to limit photographs of you from being taken through your web camera, we recommend enabling the photographic access log feature and reviewing the images stored there periodically.
b. If you hold a photograph of yourself up to the camera and then log in manually, that photograph will be “learned” as your own face and could then be used in the future to gain access to your account. Just as you would not write your password on a sticky note and post it on the monitor, however, it is strongly recommended that you avoid doing this if you truly want to maintain account security!"

 

I wonder if I could do it using skype video chat? This means that you should not use video calls with the camera you use to log in. It also means that you should not use a laptop of somebody you dont trust. (E.g. random person on the campus asking you to help out)

Personally, I still prefer the good old passwords.


Also here is my suggestion:

- support Linux on the gaming system(e.g. default dualboot option or at least partitioning options). This seems like a crazy idea, but these beasts have lot of processing power + awesome resolution which is perfect for programming
- move the ports (e.g. power supply and vga) to the back of the laptop, so that left hand folks can use their mouse without any cables interfering

 

You are quite correct that there are situations were such an image may be acquired (though for technical reasons using someone else's camera on a different laptop in a different location is the less likely of your two scenarios to be successful). A few responses:

1. This is exactly where the upcoming "Face + Password" feature will be such a powerful combination. If this type of attack is of serious concern then requiring a few characters from the password in addition to the face will be a powerful combination...especially with the optional automatic desktop locking which passwords alone can never provide.

2. The overall goal of security is to anticipate the most likely threat and then to employ tools that minimize that threat without compromising workflow. For most people, the biggest real-world threat is a desktop that has simply been left open - either accidentally or intentionally. For those people, having the convenience of facial recognition and the automatic desktop locking when their face leaves view of the camera is an nice combination and a genuine security improvement.

Passwords can be good too, though.