is the m15x worth it?

I pretty much have an unlimited budget and I want the best of the best as far as laptops go. Ive done plenty of researching on 15 inch laptops and this one seems to be the best, the design seems to be a bit crappy but it seems powerfull enough and cool enough with the keyboard lights and stuff.. I am 28 years old and sometimes feel I shold be geting a more grown up laptop, I do a lot of gaming and even though I have a desktop for that. I dont mind doing some bedside gaming while watching tv. and a 15 incher is perfect for that. I still coul get a dell m1530 laptop and that is pretty sweet and professional looking, its sleek and thin etc... but the juice is winning over me so I will probably go the M15x route.

So here´s the problem.

Ive had 2 alienware PC´s in my lifetime.

one was a desktop, built up to the highest specs. bought it a few years ago, back then when alienware still sold PC´s for other stuff that wasnt gaming. like video editing and stuff. their website wasnt that cool then. I ordered a raid 0 configured machine and it died.. the hard drive died. I sent it to alienware to get a replacement and when I got it back the HD died in a week again. that machine was a waste of money.

almost 2 years ago I decided I wanted a 17inch gaming laptop so I bought myself the powerfull Area 51 laptop that came with the desktop pentium 4, 3.8 procesor. Biggest mistake in my life, that computer is absolutely the worst computer made by man. the overheating was ridiculous and it eventual died. I sent it to alienware and they replaced the videocard and it came back. I opened it and added some extra cooling paste, added more fans. had it siting on top a laptop cooler as well. It still eventualy died. it was my biggest mistake.

Again I come the alienware route and I want to ask you M15x owners (who have purchased the machine recently, as I think I read it got some upgrades since it came out) Is this machine reliable? I am not making the mistake of going the raid route again and this machine doesnt even have the option of dual hard drives but I am going the solid state route anyways and this machine actualy has a powerfull processor meant for laptops. unlike that other rectangled turd I bought last time.

So, honestly, is this pc reliable? or am I going to have to be sending it back to alienware to get parts fixed, replaced, etc...?


I might as well also ask, why does alienware ship the machine with 4gb of ram if they dont ship it with a 64bit OS? even dell does that with their XPS...

thanks.

 

If I were you I would give the m15x a shot. It really is an all around great laptop. Some people had some hinge issues at first, but I haven't heard anything like that in a while.

As for the 4 GB of RAM, I think maybe they do that in case you decide to upgrade to 64 bit OS, or possibly to get the minimal performance increase because of Dual Channel.

Hope this helps! And good luck with whatever purchase you make!

 

Thanks, well I do have a 64bit version of vista (legal and all) lying around here. I could install that I guess but Im not sure if im gona get in to trouble geting the software that controls the lights and all that other stuff working. do they have drivers for that?

 

There's a guide here to install a 64-bit version of Vista by a fellow member.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=285226

I personally am happy with my m15x (no major problems so far in the past 4 months) so I would say that it was worth it for me. However, I suggest that you read up on the criticism here about the m15x so that you could make a more informed decision when it comes down to whether or not you should buy the m15x.

In any case, I suspect you won't have to as the next several posts will either contain at least 1 criticism from milcs (although I'm sure he doesn't do this anymore), Stone, any random Sager/Clevo fanatic, or a troll.

 

Sent mine back to the mother ship a few days ago. Right hinge was coming apart. Received the laptop at the end of May. Roswell support said that area of the m15x has since been reinforced. Still, no regrets on buying this screaming eagle!

 

Liek omg dood get a sager/clevo!!!!(check sig). All kidding aside the m15x seems to be pretty reliable these days and I'm sure you'd more than likely get a good computer that you'd be very satisfied with.

 

I purchased my M15X some months ago. I can't say I've ever regretted getting this machine. I purposely waited, and found one of the first Penryn-cored Laptops, and quite simply put, That was my entire driving force for buying Alienware. Sure, the name-brand was pretty well known and almost intimidating to me. But that didn't stop me.

Since I first got the Laptop, I've enjoyed it's awesome performance. Knowing what I do about computers, I left UAC on, unlike many others; because of that, I've been able to enjoy a virus (and Anti-virus) free system. I don't even have Windows Defender (default on, in vista), running. Anyways. I do a lot with my system, including Video editing (Premiere Pro), Image editing (Photoshop), Programming (Visual Studio 2008), browse and play games. I've even been using Google's new Chrome browser... what fun that one is! but I digress.

No real problems to report. there are little quirks about the system I wish they'd fix... there's a slight lag of the entire system when ejecting a CD using the Fn + F8 combination, lasts less than half a second, but it can be extremely annoying. Also, there's a lag induced by the SD Reader that I've experienced. When reading/writing to media, the system just stutters. It's terrible. But I use SD media so infrequently, that I don't mind.
I had a hinge start to go on me, but tightening a screw stopped the issue from getting worse... I have yet to send it in for the full repair.

A friend of mine bought an M15X after experiencing mine (using it briefly while I was busy)... he purchased the lowest end model and recently I had the chance to ask him what his overall of the laptop was... he said that he loved it, except the touchpad.

Personally I don't mind the touchpad at all. Screen wobble is a more serious issue IMO. Both are minor, no matter which way you cut it.

Whatever you choose, good luck man. Don't forget to compare with the laptops at Xotic PC www.xoticpc.com. (I'm surprised noone has come by saying "the m15x sucks, get the sager blah blah blah")

Make a fair and balanced decision.
Good luck!

 

I've had my m15x for about 4 months now and I've had zero major issues with it. No joke. Contrary to what you will find on this forum, there are a bunch of us who love our machines, and I am one of them. It's stylish and powerful. There is a hinge risk but if you never experience it, the m15x should become a part of your family. I'm actually going to be doing a 6 month review in 2 months, but you'll probably have already decided by then.

Some things that still set it apart, even today:
-Smart Bay compatibility (Ridiculous battery life/increased HDD space/blu-ray and dvd r/w compatibility) One of the biggest advantages, IMO.
-AlienFX and AlienSense (facial recognition)
-Stylish design, Ripley for a more "serious" look and Skull Cap for a more "aggressive" look
-Ability to easily switch between integrated or dedicated video card. (Even more battery life.) You can also start up in integrated mode to avoid wasting any time or battery by restarting.

 

Ok guys all of you seem to be really happy with the machine, except for the hinge thing.

One more question, is buying it now a smart thing? or will I buy it and a new one will pop out with a new videocard and better design in two weeks?

 

Alienware hasn't hinted to anything new for 15.4s so now is as good a time as any, I would say.

 

I agree...

 

I'm in the same boat as the others, still a very happy m15x owner. The only real problem of the m15x is the hinge, which you have to be really careful with.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=316976

That's a link to my thread, it shows how I did a lil remedy for the m15x hinge problem.

 

Ok, being as english is not my primary language, I am not sure I understand what the hinge problem is.

What I understand is, its the lttle thing at the sides that rotates when you are opening a laptop, is that it?

 

If you want to know what is the hinge problem, have a look at the thread on my signature. If you scroll down of the first post, the hinge problem is pictured there.
Good luck

 

I was about to post a link to milc's thread, but yeah that would most accurately describe the problem.

 

Well, that thread sure seems to show some proof of why there´s some trouble with the machine. I would like to know if at least some of those things have been adressed and maybe not present with the machine anymore.

 

But from what I've heard and others have said, they have reinforced the hinge so it shouldn't be an issue anymore...

 

I think it's totally worth it. The fact that I could either: max out games and enjoy them at a friend;y resolution of 1440x900 (with a nice LG screen ), OR have 3 hours of battery life (get up to 6 with second battery or 1 TB space with two hdd's) when on integrated (as I am doing now) is mind boggling and makes this laptop very appealing. Of course, there's also the lighted keyboard, sleek design and lights to boot. This laptop is highly desirable in my opinion and I had NO problems with it ever since I received it in June.

 

The hinge issue is not exactly gone yet but plenty of us have not experienced it.

 

Oh well, I just ordered mine. Went a bit crazy with the specs.. 2.8 cpu, 4gb ram, 9800gt card. bluray burner, 1900x resolution, solid state drive... cost me my left testicle.. I am not gona use it for gaming only. I basicaly want a good sized laptop for every day use that looks cool and sleek but if I want to sit on my bed watching tv with my laptop on my lap playing CoD4, to have no problems doing it. I didnt buy it for games only, I bought it for everyday use but with the added possibility of playing games on high settings whenever I want to and wherever I am, as I already own a desktop for games but I cant put that on my lap...

 

Cool. ^^ Have fun!

 

Thanks I hope everything works well

 

The one main advantage to buying a Clevo / Sager is that you can buy from places like xoticpc.com. The advantage of buying from there is that while the tech support may be limited, it is DOMESTIC!

With the M15x you may run into the Hinge issue but other than that AW has seemed to fix most of the problems that it was having.

 

Wow I doubt cod4 will full at 1900x1200, but you can still have medium/high.

 

What do you mean do you think 1400 was a better choise?

 

Umm...I can easily max out CoD 4 on a 1900x1200 monitor with my m15x. Although the text on my friend's m1530 (who has WUXGA) is kinda small. But the amount of screen space you gain is amazing.

 

COD4 is not that excessively demanding. Plus, you don't have to play at that resolution, it's just recommended if you're on WUXGA.

 

yeh, Plus I didnt buy the computer for gaming only. I thought it was gona be a good computer for everyday use, it also looks fairly sleek and elegant. it doesnt screem out IM A GEEEK!! LOOK AT ME MY PC HAS AN ALIEN ON IT!! like most alienware pcs. I am also geting married in a year and my honeymoon is gona be long aso I wanted a machine that by that time is still going to be powerfull enough for games and also to use it for webcam conversations and things like that

 

I think I'll forget about this by that time so I'll say this in advance:

Congratulations on your marriage and hope you have a wonderful time on your honeymoon!

 

Dude forget the laptop and enjoy your honeymoon!!!

But congrats on your machine, I also ordered basically the same spec as u except with the 2.5ghz and 1440 screen.

 

Thanks for the good wishes guys, thats nice of you.

its still a while from now, I gave her the ring a little more than a week ago and even if I knew she was going to say yes (we had been in a relationship close to 6 years already, back when she was 18 and I was 23) because we talked about it often and stuff like that. It still didnt make it any easier. I didnt sleep very well the days before I gave it to her and my stomach was driving me nuts that whole night.. its not an easy thing to do! but Im happy.

and yeah you are right, I will concentrate on my honeymoon for sure! I just mean I want a laptop that works well for things ranging from, talking to my parents or her talking to her parents via webcam to maybe playing some Call of duty (or whatever game is good by that time) when you are basicaly doing nothing but changing tv channels in the room at night.

Which I am sure wont happen very often.. its a honeymoon after all!

congrats on your PC as well, did you get it already?