Alienware M17x Windows Experience Index?

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r_manic

r_manic

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Jan 7, 2009
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Does anyone here have an Alienware M17x? A friend is considering this laptop, but he finds the 5.0 Vista WEI a bit low. I was trying to tell him that the max is 5.9 anyway, and would also want a figure in Vista to show just how powerful the desktoip replacement.

Here's the Vista WEI courtesy of NotebookReview:
38019.jpg
 
The reason it's 5.0 is because of memory, which is almost never a bottleneck in gaming or normal tasks anyways. I wouldn't worry about WEI - look at other benchmarks to determine performance instead.
 
ALIENWARE'S M17 is pretty
BUT I'D tell my friend to RUN THE OTHER WAY! & don't look back!


I purchased a M17 Alienware laptop a few months ago. It arrived with most of the barebones defective. Called Alienware the first day and worked with them in good faith only to have them toy with me til the30 days was up.

pls ignore the ratings you read about the M17, its only numbers .. the most crucial information is
your day to day experience & how you're treated if something goes wrong

I remember the M17 didn't see my 2nd HD. I had to listen to Alienware tech support give me a long speech about
it being the HD's manufacturer's fault and not theirs. After he finished,

I reminded him the 2nd HD came from Alienware. there was ABSOLUTE SILENCE , you could've heard a pin drop!
..... still no resolution was offered

From day one all "requests"for a replacement or refund were ignored.

Finally they offered a new replacement if I agreed to first reformat the laptop to see if that would resolve the problems. It didn't! To my shock, Alienware denied ever making this offer. I was so furious I responded with 'DEMANDING" a replacement.

Alienware now claims there are no notes of my ever "requesting" a refund or replacement. Their only notation is of my "DEMAND"which was on the 31st day! Thus refund and replacement are no longer an option.

Alienware, equip from what I heard used to be great quality created by gamers for gamers and the word was they
took pride in what they produced and pride in creating customer satisfaction.

I don't know when this all changed but now [with Dell as their new owners] they are imitating DELL"s old deliberate schemes of sending defective equip disguised as NEW equip. Been there! Done That!

I am here to tell you, even if you are lucky enough to receive perfect equip. the M17's ease of use is disappointing and uncomfortable. Sad because it sure is pretty. Guess that's a girl thang! hahaha

M17's Poor Keyboard re-design is a mistake that should have been corrected before being released to the public.

the keypad is useless if you do accounting, because they moved the decimal point to the opposite end; However, it becomes an issue for everyone by taking up valuable keyboard real estate; forcing constricted and awkward KEYBOARD key spacing.

CRAMPED KEYBOARD the keyboard keys are so tightly cramped, typing is awkward; its impossible to not keep hitting a a wrong key

PALM PRESSURE PLAYS HAVOC WITH SCREEN the keyboard is set so far back from the front edge you can place an dessert place between the front edge and the beginning of the keyboard. Hence, making it difficult not to have the heat from the palm of your hand detected by the touch pad while you're typing; causing unexpected and frequent havoc with your screen.. In my opinion, this is a design defect that should have been corrected before being ready for the public.

The screen blacks out frequently don't know why! it just does!

RUNNING OUT OF MEMORY even with 4gig of RAM I am constantly getting "Out of Memory" messages. or unable to save file because of insufficient memory. let me see if I have a screenshot to share.

alienwareerrormsg.png



I'm not alone, search Google: you'll see too many lawsuits against alienware for deliberately sending defective merchandise to consumers instead of taking the time to have them first. fixed properly

The State of California even took control and responsibility to protect its residence from Alienware by applying California consumer protection laws over Alienware's equip that arrives and resides in California. California consumer protection laws now take precedent over Alienware's home state of Florida's protection law.

Alienware also has a secret clause in their warranty where you waive your right to defend yourself. can't remember the exact words, but if you' search you'll find it. and unless your state doesn't have a law protecting you against that clause, well you're on your own.

My M17 experience may be an isolated case! But I don't think so!

Ironically, I'm in the middle of responding to one of Alienware's "Critical Issues Unit" [aka WEAR YOU OUT TIL YOU GO WAY UNIT] arrogant "above the law emails with a link to this post. please keep in mind any glowing reports about M17 on these forums might be posted by Alienware's employees.

SO PLEASE TAKE CARE AND GOOD LUCK!



 
I agree with the guy above... It's not worth the extremly high price...

My wife bought a m17x, and unfortunately it's a crap. It's supposedly a laptop for gamer... well... poor gamers...

After a while some things start to not work, like the HD led, the second GC is sometimes so hot, because its position in the laptop is bad, that the whole comp freezes.
And the best of all, you can't even pay online (for a computer manufacturer it's great)

Well i won't write everything anyway, i think since Dell bought Alienware, all went bad. I regret i met my wife after she bought that crap, and i'll for sure never recommend it to anyone. For now i think a desktop is far better, and you should get a laptop only if you need it for working, so you don't pay $2500 for something hard to upgrade and never as efficient as a good desktop...
 
Very sh*itty comp...keeps on freezing when i turn it on..probably because the windows vista ultimate is acting up weird....I only play fps games...I would personally rate the touchpad a 4 on a 10 scale because the sensitivity isnt the best....the size is horrible...this thing is HUGE and HEAVYY.

Speaking about their services, I called em up because I had received a different AC Adapter (wtf? how do u get that mixed up..?)...after 4 calls I got the AC Adapter in two-three days. I agree with half and quarkz and all the other ppl out there against Alienware because its SH*T.

Mine isn't even maxed out because a comp like this doesn't really require overclocking..well it shouldn't...depending on your comp specs and what you're gonna use it for. I spent about over 5 grands for this retarded junk which took alone 30 days to come. Worst of all...I had a feeling when I was unpacking it that it might be worthless because all the parts and labour was done in CHINA.

I can only use this computer for checking out solutions to my problem :pfff: :non:

The face recognition software doesn't work like it should...and I also agree with halfpiint about the front ledge thingy....huge and cheap plastic >.>

I haven't really had any problems with the memory...just as yet....

I honestly cannot tell the difference between the integrated and discrete graphics...but its not really my main concern because i still have hd...the laptop itself isn't 17"...only the screen is...bet ya no1 informed you about that..this caused a lot of problems for me when i was trying the purchase a bag for it..

Would I recommend it? Well, what do ya think?

Dell has really done it this time....anywayz..if any1 does have a solution for me plz contact me at manjeet_merik@hotmail.com

I would really appreciate it because its been just over a month and Dell is being a beach.

If you ask me, I say just get a desktop. If you really want a gaming laptop..well there aren't any out there that are that good from what I know..just do your research..check up on Rock Direct and their new Xtreme laptops..
 
Could have got an Acer 8730 for much less money... it scores 4.8 in Vista, but it is still a very capable gaming laptop. It's not SLI, but it still plays most games adequately.
 
Not sure why people are having problems with the M17X because I have had mine for a few months and think it personally is the baddest laptop Ever built!!! Have had an Alienware Aurora 7500 desktop for Four years and have Never had a single issue with it either. When I first recieved my laptop anf got it running it did seem quite slow for the 3K I spent on it so call Tech support and they did a speed check and said everything was running way slow... long story short it was a static electrical issue and had me remove the battery, ect. and after abot ten minutes my final test went from a 2.3 to a 5.9 and it seems lightning fast to me, looks Awesome and the audio and video is second to know other laptop I have seen. I am still a big fan of Alienware but I do feel your pain for spending that much money and not being happy and having issues with a brand new unit!!!
 
I think some of you are talking about the old m17 and m17x machines, they are complete junk honestly and have been nothing but crap.

I have a newly redesigned "all powerful" version of the M17x (HUGE DIFFERENCE between the two machines, even thought he name is the same, two totally different monsters) and I am completely blown away by it. The cooling is the best I have ever seen in a laptop, performance is everything I expected it to be and then some. The service is also much improved since Dell took over this model. I would recommend to anyone easily and will very likely buy another in 3-4 years.
 
Zachary totally right bro. The "NEW" M17x is far above anything that Alienware has come out with before as far as laptops. I got my New "All Powerful" M17x in august and have not had one problem with it. It is the best system that i have ever used. I previously had a Dell m1730 (3 of them actually) which all ran like crap and couldn't even play COD half settings.
Now I can run any game i want "MAXED" with absolutely NO problems. Thanks to Alienware for a Killer Laptop and dedication to making my and many others gaming experiences "Unbelievable"!!!!!!!!!
If you get this Laptop you WILL NOT be disappointed. Runs like a dream!!


-Nathaniel Nicklas
www.myspace.com/leftbehindlegacy
 
I stumbled on this thread a few minutes ago, i have been up all damn night with my new Alienware M17x trying to get it to work right...

this is going to be long winded so bare with me, but i feel consumers need to know what is going on with Dell and their poor quality equipment.

it all started 2 years ago when i made the big decision to Fork out 3500 dollars on a XPS M1710 laptop... i had purchased a HP laptop before that for around 2 grand and it was a piece of junk and i wasted my money... i have been playing world of warcraft pretty much since release and with my travels for work i needed a quality high end laptop that would blaze the FPS and leave me feeling like i was at home sitting in front of my desktop while i was at the hotel. and i was willing to spend the money to get it.. at the time.

My first XPS the screen was all screwed up from the very beginning.. i was heart broken and couldnt believe it... and dell screwed me around and wanted to send a tech out to replace the screen... I was like WTF are you kidding me! i just spent 3000 plus dollars on a NEW laptop not a laptop that needs fixed at my house.. send me a new one.. after weeks of arguing they finally sent me a replacement.. but this one had vista on it .. and once again from the very beginning the sound in world of warcraft crackled and sounded horrible and the screen would mess up and go into a milliion collored lines all over the screen.... after this of course i spent hours and hours on the phone with tech support doing the you know.. normal re load the system etc etc etc.. which never fixes anything other than wasting your time.

once again i sent that one back and demanded my money back. now this leads to a whole new dilema .. i sent the laptop back then i start getting phone calls from dell telling me i am late on my payment 😵... so i fight with them for another moth or so to actually refund my dell account the correct amount..

now i guess either i am just stupid or there simply are no other gaming laptops in existence.. that was my plan was to find another laptop.. but i couldnt.. no one had a 7200 rpm hard drive and no one at that time advertised their laptops as being ment for gaming..that i could find... and anyone i asked was clueless... keep in mind this was over 2 years ago.

so i called up dell spoke to a salesmen thinking i could explain the horrific experience i had in hops to get a great deal and some extra upgrades for free... the only thing they did was upgrade the processor slightly.. from 2.0ghz to 2.3ghz... wooo big deal.. but anyone i went with it.. this time the laptop worked fine other than the crappy fps in world of warcraft..and i called and complained about that until i got tired of calling and finally gave up.. but this time the laptop actually never failed until this year... the video card 7950 GT GO i think.... failed 2x this year... then i called and complained again... and again and again this year then gave up..

2 weeks ago i get a phone call from dell telling me that they understood i was not happy with my system and wanted to make it right... 😵... hmm really after 2.5 years of complaints.. 3 m1710's and 2 video cards your just now going to decide to do something about this mess? ok fine whatever.. now i was told i would recieve a replacement in 7-15 days... i received the shipment yesterday afternoon and i opened the box and it was an Alienware M17x O.O.. i about fell over with excitement! (i have always thought alienware was miles better than the xps) i turned it on and it looked so cooll i was excited...

this all quickly changed.. i installed world of warcraft on it... and i noticed the computer was just insanely slow... very slow
while installing the game.. it took forever... it took longer to install the game than it did to download all the patches.. to give you an idea.

next brings the new epic story... i logged into world of warcraft for the first time on my new Alienware M17x and my jaw hit the floor

0.05 Frames Per Second

yes that is right, and i triple checked everything quadruple checked everything.. and also spent 5 hours on the phone with Alienware support, and yup you got it.. what did he do!! he reloaded the operating system.. 😵

well after he reloaded the system and yes it took forever... rediculously slow... he hung up and told me to install wow.. well i noticed there were like 68 some odd updates for vista 64bit so i let the computer do its thing... i fell asleep on the chair at midnight right after i hung up with the dell tech... i woke up at 4:20 am it was still not done... now mind you yes it was done downloading i have a 10 mb/s cable connection here with a 2mb/s upload speed.. it was still 45% done installing the updates.

which brings us to now.. i got bored and turned on my desktop and started doing google searches of this boat anchor i have sitting here and stumbled on this thread... it finally finished updating now at 5:30am having started the entire project yesterday around lunchtime.. so that includes a system OS re install and all the updates... from then to now... that also includes install world of warcraft but not downloading any patches.. because windows was downloading updates at the same time i closed world of warcraft so windows could finish what it is doing and i am about to start finishing the patches on wow here in a min and let you all know what happens... and see if i get better than less than 1 frame per second..

now this laptop has a T9600 2.8ghz duo core 2 500gb sata 3gb's hard drive.. 260 GTXM SLI, DDR3 1066mhz 4GB system memory, so this machine should just destroy anything i throw at it for the most part imo.. i have 2 260 GTX's in my desktop in SLI and it does pretty good but i am using a quad core rather than a duo core...

i will go ahead and post this and continue my tests.. i will provide HD tach results for the hard drive and a Passmark performance test results for the computer itself.. so anyone thinking about buying this can judge for themselves if the money is worth spending...
 
ok i think dell screwed me again i think the reason for all this on the Alienware is the processor must be bad... heres my results for the windows performance test...

Processor calculations per second: 2.5
Memory: 2.9
Graphics: 5.9
Gaming: 5.3
Hard drive: 5.9

 
If the processor were defective... you'd have a much bigger issue... your system likely wouldn't even POST, let alone complete the WEI tests. The problem seems to be that your processor isn't running at full speed... are you doing these tests on battery or AC power? Make sure your power scheme is set to High Performance when on AC and ensure your processor is running at full speed.
 
Rodine: some things to try out...

1. Make sure you have Alienware Stealth mode disabled. 80% of peoples performance issues out of the box are caused by this little feature:)
2. If the stealth mode disable doesn't work: Download c-puz from Tech Power-up and see what the actual frequency of your processor is. Windows will show 2.8 regardless of the actual speed, I have mine Overclocked to 3.4 and it still shows 2.8 in windows so see what speed it is actually working at.
3. The M17x comes with Hybrid SLI, which means you can switch between the onboard 9400 and the SLI'd discrete cards. Make sure your video cards are actually working in SLI mode as well: Go into the BIOS and disable the Hybrid and Integrated settings completely, this will force it to start up using only the discrete cards in SLI.
4. Don't EVER call Dell for support for the M17x EVER unless you know exactly what is wrong and need a part shipped out or something. Call Alienware support, they are much more educated on the products.
 
Also Rodine: you are a very lucky dude to get an upgrade like that:) I have heard rumors of it happening, but never actually 'met' a guy who had traded up courtesy of Dell. Congrats!

Just remember, it seems crappy now, but once you figure out what is causing the glitches and remedy it, your laptop will scream. There is a lot of firepower under the hood trust me.
 
You could also run DXDiag... the reason Windows reports 2.8GHz is because that's what's in the processor's ID string. If you run DXDiag, it will tell you T9600 CPU 2.8GHz ~ 3.4GHz or whatever speed it happens to be running at.
 
This is all interesting. I have a m17x that since I upgraded to W7 is slow. I can't even run Fallout 3 in High settings. I realize the WEI doesn't mean much, but mine is a 3.8--and that's because of the processor. I'm going to try disabling the hybrid graphics in the BIOS, but wouldn't that force the laptop to only run the GPU that's on the motherboard? I also know that the laptop is not running in stealth mode.

Any one have any other ideas to check? I've been trying to return this thing for a refund (I've had a ton of problems with it), and no dice so far. I've spent so much time on the phone with Alienware tech support that I've fallen alseep on the techs.

I just want this thing to scream and it's not even close!
 
*Sigh*

Gotta love it when people ignore troubleshooting advice. Download CPU-Z or use DXDiag to determine what speed your processor is running at. If it is being throttled, it is because the system is overheating (which is likely when running 2 high end GPUs in a laptop of all things) or because your power settings are off and need to be adjusted.

IF YOU HAVE A LOW WEI SCORE WITH A HIGH END CPU, THEN ENSURE THE PROCESSOR IS RUNNING AT THE CORRECT CLOCK SPEED.

Your processor isn't defective... it's being throttled for a reason. If updating the BIOS doesn't help, then you should be checking your temps and power settings... and for God's sake don't ignore advice that may actually help you. If you have performed these troubleshooting steps, then say so damnit. I'm not a mind reader. But if you want to continue to be disatisfied with Alienware, then go right ahead.
 
What's the Serial # of an Alienware M17x ? Can someone please tell me theirs? I have to guess the last 8 characters of an Alienware M17x to win it... Thanks and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
 
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