Alienware m11x

I can confirm that my last gen one, 3820GT, has two fans. That is strange that they would drop it down to one unless it is significantly bigger and manages to cover both heat sinks sufficiently.

Didn't the new macbook pros have a throttling issue with Sandybridge? I haven't checked but it would be interesting to see how that panned out.

The notebook review forums are full of information. I spent allot of time there before pulling the trigger on mine.

Wow, I forgot this forum existed n_n

I've actually had an m11x (R2) for the past year, pretty much since they came out. In short, it's crap. Overheats ridiculously hot, like I literally can't use the keyboard too long or rest my hands on the wrist-pad (or whatever it's called). The bottom metal, I'm not kidding I could probably cook something there.

I've given up on it because despite being expensive, it's pretty much the worst laptop I've had. I actually liked my Dell Mini 10 more, a notebook, and I used a Dell 11z and it was very usable too.

I hoped to use the m11x for gaming, but it gets so hot after 15 minutes that it's unplayable, and it will randomly restart itself due to overheating.

This might be due to it being designed in Antarctica or whatever, but I've used other laptops in Mexico just fine. The weather is not THAT hot, it's pretty cool where I am actually.

It's an i7, I figured it would run cooler because it probably had to work less to process stuff, but apparently it was the other way around. The way they explained it to me, something about Intel's speed throttling tech makes it run slower and hotter than an i5. The speed isn't bad, it's very snappy, but the heat is ridiculous.

Anyway I've resigned it to downloading duties for torrents and porn videos, but even then I have to place it upside down so it doesn't overheat too much... The screen is ugly too, and every time I closed the lid, the keyboard would leave smudges on the screen. I gave up on cleaning it after a few months of owning it just to see what would happen, and now you can clearly see the outline of the keyboard on the screen, like it was drawn.

Oh yeah, the screen sucks too. It was worse than the inspiron 11z, and after I got a mac it was ridiculously worse.

On the other hand I recently got a Macbook Pro and it's the best laptop I've had, hands down. Even runs a few games too, turned me into a Mac whore.

Oh yeah, I forgot, it had a problem with the hinges where they literally split open o_0

They cracked every time I opened the lid, it was really bad. Very "ghetto" as they say, hehe. I took it out once with a friend and had to explain that piece of crap cost me like 2,000 dollars, with the cracked open hinges showing whatever they stuff in there >_>

Dell replaced it after about 2 months of reporting it, they said they had some supply problems, I think because a lot of people experienced that hinge problem. So for about a month and a half I was using my fancy laptop with smudged screen and broken hinges that cracked every time I slightly moved the screen. Man, never even gonna try Alienware again

Mex, I had the exact same problems with my r2. After going through all sorts of tech support hell (their tech support guy broke my motherboard during the hinge replacement) I eventually got them to send me an r3, which has addressed a lot of the heat issues w/ the r2.

Don't know if Acer's new TimelineX laptop got mentioned here (search turned up nothing), but it sounds pretty sweet and it's available in the US.

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium - 64-bit version
2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-2410M Processor 2.30GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.90GHz
4GB DDR3 Dual-Channel Memory
500GB hard drive
13.3" HD Widescreen CineCrystal™ LCD display (1366 x 768)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M Graphics
Mobile Intel® HM65 Express Chipset
high-definition audio support
two built-in stereo speakers
webcam
multi-gesture touchpad
802.11b/g/n WLAN
gigabit LAN
Bluetooth®
USB
HDMI™
2-in-1 card reader
6-cell battery
1-year limited warranty

Compared to the m11x it's cheaper, has a faster processor, same GPU, larger screen, allegedly great battery life when not gaming, AND the real kicker is that it somehow weighs less. Hard to see what's bad about this.

edit: unless the build quality sucks, of course.
edit part 2: forget it. Apparently it has serious throttling issues that Acer has yet to fix.

Mao, yeah, we talked about all that last page. Shame.

MannishBoy wrote:

Mao, yeah, we talked about all that last page. Shame.

aha, I'm getting forgetful in my old age... too bad indeed. Hope acer can do something about that.

If only I could insert a comma into this picture.....

IMAGE(http://www.malor.com/gamerswithjobs/roflmao.jpg)

I got one... but have yet to open it.. was kinda hoping for a quick fix on the throttling issue from Acer, but its looking like I will send it back to Amazon unopened. shame since spec wise it was really looking good.

Mex wrote:

Wow, I forgot this forum existed n_n

I've actually had an m11x (R2) for the past year, pretty much since they came out. In short, it's crap. Overheats ridiculously hot, like I literally can't use the keyboard too long or rest my hands on the wrist-pad (or whatever it's called). The bottom metal, I'm not kidding I could probably cook something there.

I've given up on it because despite being expensive, it's pretty much the worst laptop I've had. I actually liked my Dell Mini 10 more, a notebook, and I used a Dell 11z and it was very usable too.

I hoped to use the m11x for gaming, but it gets so hot after 15 minutes that it's unplayable, and it will randomly restart itself due to overheating.

This might be due to it being designed in Antarctica or whatever, but I've used other laptops in Mexico just fine. The weather is not THAT hot, it's pretty cool where I am actually.

It's an i7, I figured it would run cooler because it probably had to work less to process stuff, but apparently it was the other way around. The way they explained it to me, something about Intel's speed throttling tech makes it run slower and hotter than an i5. The speed isn't bad, it's very snappy, but the heat is ridiculous.

Anyway I've resigned it to downloading duties for torrents and porn videos, but even then I have to place it upside down so it doesn't overheat too much... The screen is ugly too, and every time I closed the lid, the keyboard would leave smudges on the screen. I gave up on cleaning it after a few months of owning it just to see what would happen, and now you can clearly see the outline of the keyboard on the screen, like it was drawn.

Oh yeah, the screen sucks too. It was worse than the inspiron 11z, and after I got a mac it was ridiculously worse

Well my hinge finally broke on me and I was also experiencing the heating issues that you had Mex. I called Japanese Dell support expecting the worst but a guy came the very next day and replaced the screen and just about everything else excluding the hard drive. I have now practically a brand new m11x. Have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. So far I haven't experienced any heating issues whatsoever. Here's hoping. The good thing is that I have another year left on my warranty so if it ever happens again I won't hesitate to call Dell support.

Another candidate for 13.3-14" light laptop for me: The MSI X460DX. 14", 4.2 lbs, i5/i7, Nvidia 540M. Starting at $799, but the one I probably want is $850 @ Amazon.

Thinking of moving to a monster laptop instead now that I'm less likely to actually move it much. Since I'm lazy, the m18x is an easy choice but I bet someone else makes something a little more practical. I wonder what the used market for an r2 is like...

VeggiePirate wrote:

Thinking of moving to a monster laptop instead now that I'm less likely to actually move it much. Since I'm lazy, the m18x is an easy choice but I bet someone else makes something a little more practical. I wonder what the used market for an r2 is like...

FYI, Guru is selling a pimped out m18x over in the Trading Post thread. If you're seriously considering selling your r2, you might try the Trading Post as well. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who would be looking longingly at it.

Podunk wrote:

FYI, Guru is selling a pimped out m18x over in the Trading Post thread. If you're seriously considering selling your r2, you might try the Trading Post as well. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who would be looking longingly at it. :)

Thanks for the heads-up, I always forget to look in there.

Well, currently I'm having this odd horizontal lines issue. I found a thread detailing the exact problem here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alie.... Unfortunately, they don't seem to have found a solution. Basically, whenever you wake the monitor after it powers off, you see "ladders" of horizontal 1 mm thick green/purple lines on the screen. Bringing up a window gets rid of them. I'm still under warranty for another month, so I figured I'd try and get some hardware replaced. Updating my video drivers didn't help anything. If you take a screenshot when the lines are there, you don't see the lines in the screenshot. Seems like a hardware issue.

Anybody else have this issue with an M11x R2?

I've got a tech bringing a motherboard apparently. Hopefully that solves the issue. I'd love to get a new LCD out of the problem because mine has those permanent key marks on it (I complained about that about 6 months back).

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Well, currently I'm having this odd horizontal lines issue. I found a thread detailing the exact problem here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alie.... Unfortunately, they don't seem to have found a solution. Basically, whenever you wake the monitor after it powers off, you see "ladders" of horizontal 1 mm thick green/purple lines on the screen. Bringing up a window gets rid of them. I'm still under warranty for another month, so I figured I'd try and get some hardware replaced. Updating my video drivers didn't help anything. If you take a screenshot when the lines are there, you don't see the lines in the screenshot. Seems like a hardware issue.

Anybody else have this issue with an M11x R2?

I've got a tech bringing a motherboard apparently. Hopefully that solves the issue. I'd love to get a new LCD out of the problem because mine has those permanent key marks on it (I complained about that about 6 months back).

Yeah, I have that problem too - I can't see the screenshot because I'm not registered there, but I know what you're talking about. It happens a lot when the machine is overheating, so I think it might be a problem in the graphics card. Might be dying, yeah-

Between broken hinges, overheating and random shutdowns, and little details like that, man... This laptop is crap, honestly...

Mex wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Well, currently I'm having this odd horizontal lines issue. I found a thread detailing the exact problem here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alie.... Unfortunately, they don't seem to have found a solution. Basically, whenever you wake the monitor after it powers off, you see "ladders" of horizontal 1 mm thick green/purple lines on the screen. Bringing up a window gets rid of them. I'm still under warranty for another month, so I figured I'd try and get some hardware replaced. Updating my video drivers didn't help anything. If you take a screenshot when the lines are there, you don't see the lines in the screenshot. Seems like a hardware issue.

Anybody else have this issue with an M11x R2?

I've got a tech bringing a motherboard apparently. Hopefully that solves the issue. I'd love to get a new LCD out of the problem because mine has those permanent key marks on it (I complained about that about 6 months back).

Yeah, I have that problem too - I can't see the screenshot because I'm not registered there, but I know what you're talking about. It happens a lot when the machine is overheating, so I think it might be a problem in the graphics card. Might be dying, yeah-

Between broken hinges, overheating and random shutdowns, and little details like that, man... This laptop is crap, honestly...

That's rough. If I remember right you had the i7 version. I've heard a lot of bad things about that. I have an i5 which has never had a problem with overheating (I even overclock it a bit). I haven't had any issues other than the permanent keyboard marks on the screen. Apart from that, and my current issue, it's been a great little machine.

Edit: This is what it looks like when the monitor wakes (taken from that thread).

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/EXhbHl.jpg)

The tech came out today with the new motherboard I requested. That didn't fix it, so he told me to call in and request a new LCD this time. Hopefully that fixes it. At least I can get a new upper section without the burned in keyboard marks. Yay! No complaints about the customer service, it only took them a couple days to come out.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

The tech came out today with the new motherboard I requested. That didn't fix it, so he told me to call in and request a new LCD this time. Hopefully that fixes it. At least I can get a new upper section without the burned in keyboard marks. Yay! No complaints about the customer service, it only took them a couple days to come out.

I've had that start happening awhile back, and it was right after I updated the Intel video drivers. I manually downloaded a newer one recently, and it seemed to clear up after that.

VeggiePirate wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

The tech came out today with the new motherboard I requested. That didn't fix it, so he told me to call in and request a new LCD this time. Hopefully that fixes it. At least I can get a new upper section without the burned in keyboard marks. Yay! No complaints about the customer service, it only took them a couple days to come out.

I've had that start happening awhile back, and it was right after I updated the Intel video drivers. I manually downloaded a newer one recently, and it seemed to clear up after that.

I'm sure that's the problem, and I've sorta suspected it might be. I haven't manually updated those intel drivers at any point recently, but maybe they were updated with windows update somehow, causing the problem. I'm just trying to get that LCD replaced. Dishonest, yes, but I'm sorta pissed they wouldn't replace it after those permanent keyboard marks were burned into the plastic.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
VeggiePirate wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

The tech came out today with the new motherboard I requested. That didn't fix it, so he told me to call in and request a new LCD this time. Hopefully that fixes it. At least I can get a new upper section without the burned in keyboard marks. Yay! No complaints about the customer service, it only took them a couple days to come out.

I've had that start happening awhile back, and it was right after I updated the Intel video drivers. I manually downloaded a newer one recently, and it seemed to clear up after that.

I'm sure that's the problem, and I've sorta suspected it might be. I haven't manually updated those intel drivers at any point recently, but maybe they were updated with windows update somehow, causing the problem. I'm just trying to get that LCD replaced. Dishonest, yes, but I'm sorta pissed they wouldn't replace it after those permanent keyboard marks were burned into the plastic.

Oof, mine are still easy to wipe off regularly but it also gets much less use than yours I think. Also, I *do* remember there being a windows update for the intel drivers at some point. I'd bet that's how they got on there. I know mine is no longer doing it though, so I must have updated again at some point.

With the BF3 Beta coming up, I'd love to hear performance stats from r3 owners, as I'm thinking of picking one up next time I'm back in the States.

Just when I thought I had everything fixed, a new problem popped its ugly head up. It began when I tried to play Victoria II. I fired it up, and I noticed that it was running using the integrated graphics. So, I tried to create a profile which presented its own problem. As soon as I associated the "High performance Nvidia processor" with the Victoria 2 .exe, hit apply, and closed the window, the profile disappeared. The only way for me to get it to run with the Nvidia GPU was to right click on the .exe and force it to start using the Nvidia GPU. I managed to get rid of this problem by clicking on "Restore Defaults" in the Nvidia control panel. After that, it would let me create a profile.

So, with that problem fixed, I fired up Victoria 2 and tried to go through the tutorial. Now it will freeze (video & audio) a short ways into the tutorial. I generally have to do a hard reset to get the computer working again. I've tried Shogun 2 and Portal 2 and both games have this problem now as well. I've tried 2 sets of drivers so far. I'm going to try the most recent Beta drivers after doing a complete driver clean. It doesn't seem to be overheating. I'll have to monitor the temps when I try troubleshooting next. I REALLY hope this is a driver issue. I'll probably just do a clean install of windows before calling tech support. I don't want them to have to replace the motherboard again, as they just did that.

Grrr.

Edit: After trying different video drivers, doing clean installs, and whatnot, I just did a fresh windows install. That didn't work. Time to make the phone call.

On the phone now with tech support. I've just been informed that doing a fresh windows installation voids the warranty. F**K! You've gotta be kidding me.

Update: Well, after I was informed of that fresh windows thing, the guy still helped me. I allowed them to remotely control the computer and he proceeded to download the unigine heaven benchmark. My work internet connection is slow, however, so after half an hour my phone connection cut out. So, I re-called them using a landline and ended up getting through to somebody else who picked up where we left off. Got the unigine benchmark going and it froze up as usual. That was a good thing because they're going to replace the motherboard and the memory. I don't think the memory would have anything to do with it, but whatever.

They're coming either tomorrow or Monday. I really wanted to have my laptop for international goodjer day, but it looks like it was not meant to be.

The saga continues...

So you're going to get a 3rd motherboard? Jeez.

Mex wrote:

So you're going to get a 3rd motherboard? Jeez.

Well, you know what they saaaay. Third time's...

what?? reinstalling Windows voids the warranty? how does that in any way make sense?

Chairman_Mao wrote:

what?? reinstalling Windows voids the warranty? how does that in any way make sense?

That's what the guy was telling me. He was a tech specific to Alienware. The second tech I reached today was a straight up Dell tech who didn't give me any problems (I didn't mention the Windows 7 reinstall that time). Apparently it's in the fine print somewhere. Granted, this is re-installing windows without approval. You can call them up and notify/ask them apparently which is okay.

At any rate, the guy didn't seem to act on it. *shrug*. I'll definitely be more careful about mentioning this type of thing to techs in the future. It's not like they can determine if you've done that.

They might be voiding your warranty because they're not getting paid as much for the crapware they load as they should be.

Malor wrote:

They might be voiding your warranty because they're not getting paid as much for the crapware they load as they should be.

The Alienware versions of Dell computers actually don't come with any bloatware which is kind of nice. They are extremely clean right out of the box. I've been really happy with the M11x other than the little problems I complained about earlier and now this big problem. Hopefully this new motherboard fixes it and I can get a year or two out of it after the warranty expires next month. It really is perfect for playing less graphically taxing games (when it's working of course).

Edit: I just remembered that it DID come with Steam pre-installed which is probably the biggest form of bloatware ever considering how much money I spend on Steam. But yeah, there weren't any trial versions of MS Office, antivirus software, or anything like that installed.