*OFFICIAL* M14x R2 Owner's Lounge Thread - READ BEFORE POSTING

I know that haha, but I mean it won't run at all. In other words, what isn't more powerful than my desktop? Haha.

Anyway, Daemon, with those specs you should be pumping out GTA IV on ultra. Something might be off there, is it only GTA IV?

I've seen worse specs play GTA IV on ultra at 1080p on big T.V.'s, thats very strange..

 

Yes noticed that too. I guess canned air can blow dust away.

 

Yeah, compressed air is my #1 choice..

 

How much time? Between production to ship? in Dell's official page?

 

That varies a lot. It depends on if they have all the parts in your configuration in stock, if they have an order backlog, etc.

Best just to check it regularly.

 

I check it like 20 times a day ...

The Alienware have any issue with the fan? like the XPS serie? the turn on/off/on/off ? thanks...

 

I used to do that too

No , it doesn't have any such issues.

 

Got my m14x yesterday! I made sure to check EVERYTHING on it after receiving it and I'm happy to report that it is 100% OK. (No dead pixels, no bad lights, no problems with the card reader, webcam works great, etc.)

I have also yet to actually hear the fan, though I've also yet to run any recent games on it. I should be able to judge that in the next couple days!

 

Heya

I currently have both an r1 and r2 at my disposal, and I have been comparing them over the past day. In short, it appears as though the r2 shames the r1 in some fundamental ways.

When testing the 3d graphics using 3dMark 11, the r2 tests around 2400 This is 65% more powerful than the gt555m in my r1!

Continuing the fun, I ran a stress test using my VJ program. All I do is overlay two particle generators, with several effects applied to each. After 30 minutes, my r1 had hit a high of 98c using Coretemp, with an average of 93c. The r2 maxed out around 65c when running the same project and had average temps around 30c lower than the r1! Not only that, but the cooling fan was nowhere near as loud as the r1 when under load. I have not tested the GPU temps yet, but I assume that has also dropped?

Fundamentally, the r2 seems to be quite a bit more powerful. And I haven't even mentioned the SATA III ports, mSATA slot, improved audio, etc..

Anyone else been able to directly compare the r1 and r2?

**specs**
r1 - 2760QM, gt555m 1.5GB, 8GB 1600MHz HyperX, 500GB 7200RPM HDD
r2 - 3610QM, gt650m 2GB, 6GB 1600MHz, 750GB 7200RPM HDD

Some quick questions that seem to have baffled the AW guy I just spoke with on the phone:

-How do you get digital video out of the Minidisplayport? I want to use two digital outputs at the same time - HDMI and a second (adapted from Minidisplayport) HDMI. These will run to two different displays. My understanding is that the laptop will support two digital video ouputs. However, the highly-rated MDP-->HDMI cable I bought from Amazon seems to do nothing. The display never blinks, and nothing is detected. I have asked Dell several times now about the correct adapter to buy, with no useful response.

-Can the r2 output digital audio from one of the headphone jacks? I still have a mini "toslink" cable from my MacBook, but it too seems to not work. I get the pop-up audio jack dialogue, but I don't see any options for "coax", "digital", "optical", etc..

-Why would the WEI score for graphics drop from 6.9/6.9 on the r1 to now being 5.4/7.1 on the r2? I know it doesn't mean much, but it seems weird that the r2 has such divergent scores for the desktop vs. gaming graphics

thanks!

 

That's unusually low, mine is 7.2 and everything is stock settings...

 

got mine this morning at 8am everything looks and runs great. The fans can

become louder then my desktop with 12 fans and a gtx 580. Doesnt bother me

because I wear headphones. This laptop is simply amazing.

Also I have the same thing going on with wei score

7.6
7.6
5.3
7.1
7.9
That is with it plugged into the charger and on high performance profile

just re ran the assessment and got
7.6
7.7
7.1
7.1
7.9
That looks better to me

 

Because the Optimus technolegy doesn't turn on your Nvidea card as long as its not needed to save battery. If you set up a profile in the Nvidea control panel, for something like, firefox, and run the WEI while firefox is open, you will get the 7+ score as well for the graphics.
To sum up: The nvidea card saves battery by only utilizing itself whenever needed

Here is a link for a better explenation on the optimus technolegy.
nVidia Optimus Technology | Dell
Link was provided to me by Alienware-L_Porras

 

Thanks for the info. I understand optimus to a degree, yet still confused by the scores. my r1 had optimus, and the scores never wavered from 6.9/6.9 during all assessments.

Would love feedback re: the minidisplayport and digital audio output :]

cheers

 

Thank you

 

Got mine just over 4 weeks ago and it's amazing but i gotta let her go. If anyone in the states is interested in it PM me.

 

WHAAATTT?!!!!

How is that possible?!

 

yep, i think i'm selling, too. it turns out they actually went backwards w/ support for external displays on the r2. i have been vjing with three displays on my r1 - internal, vga projector, hdmi projector. no problems ever with running all three. an AW csr told me today that the m14xr2 now supports only ONE external display (just verified at home). the only choice is to disable the internal display and then it will allow you to use two external..? my whole vj setup is fu**ed because of this choice :[ i'm done with this brand. they always fall back on gaming instead of trying to be something greater. Clevo is next for me, though i know i will be sacrificing certain things...

 

Hey guys, I am looking at buying an m14x R2 and would like to know if overclocking the gpu voids your warranty?

 

Hey guys. I'm typing this on my 2 year old M17x R2. I've been wanting to get a smaller, more powerful laptop for some time now and have been looking closely at the m14x.

I'm a college student going into a game design program so I want to make sure I will be able to run development software such as UDK and others with relative ease for my own personal projects. The portability of the m14x will be a massive upgrade from my hulking 17 pound m17x r2. I realize this sacrifices having a great screen and powerful graphics card, though the m14x r2's card will be much more powerful than my current card, especially on the lower res screen.

The question that follows may be idiotic.... My main concern is the graphics card. I'm fine with what it is right now but I am worried AW might provide an upgraded card soon since they announced at e3 that the m17x and m18x would be getting new graphics card options. However, I'm not aware that the m14x r1 ever had a graphics card change so I'm not sure if the r2 will either. Obviously no one here will be able to give me a solid answer but can anyone speculate as to whether or not the m14x is likely to get a new graphics card option in the next couple months? Or should I just go ahead and order my shiny new soft laptop now??

Thanks for all the other info so far guys! Great forum!

EDIT: I plan on getting a fully decked out red m14x r2 aside from the hard drive (Can't afford an SSD at the moment.)
i7-3820 QM
16 GB RAM
2GB GT 650M
750 GB SATA + 32 GB mSATA SSD
Killer Wireless-N
Blu-ray Drive

Any pointers/advice on better specs or where to get a better hard drive or RAM cheap would be lovely!

Current Specs:

M17x R2
i7 Q720 @ 1.6 GHz
4 GB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
1920 x 1200 Screen
1 TB HDD

 

I think the m14x will always be the red-headed stepchild when it comes to Alienware's 14/17/18 lineup. If you're really worried about longevity, I might suggest going with a Clevo instead. Check out the backlit p150Em SE at malibal.com.

To give you an idea, the gt555m scores around 1350 in 3D Mark 11, the gt650m scores around 2400, and the gtx675m scores around 3400. The Radeon 7970 scores around 5400! With the m14x, you're stuck with whatever gpu is soldered on the board. I love the machine, but I have had nothing but problems when trying to push it to the max with media projects.

IMO Alienware is all about gaming, and my experiences have proven this. They cater to the gamer who will demand good frame rates, but people who try to use their AW as an all-around mobile workstation are going to find themselves on their own. They are very sneaky about stated specs and don't seem to care about people who demand the most from their products.

This laptop is turning into a nightmare :[ The mSATA screw feels like it's immovable stone and stripped on my first attempt. No boot drive installation for me. Now I'm wading through their phone line and it's ringing endlessly at the point when the tech usually answers. Aaand now back to the hold music. And now disconnected by the CSR! Something tells me this will get pushed to monday...

Now I know why humans cry.

 

You may want to reach out to Alienware-Mark_O. He leads the team of Alienware techs on NBR.

 

I am running two external monitors (24") plus the internal with no problems...
mini Display and HDMI


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Could you please tell me what sort of MDP cable you are using? What is on the monitor end of the cable? Dell will not answer squat re: what cable/adapter to use to get HDMI out of the MDP. I cannot get the m14x r2 to detect both external displays at once. It always disables one of the three when I try to apply the final layout. That is when I try using internal + HDMI + VGA. This limitation was confirmed by an Alienware CSR on Facebook as well as a second, depressed-sounding CSR when I asked today at the official AW tech support phone number.

 

The problem is the VGA, both signals need to be digital. Maybe try a mini display to VGA converter?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have an Acer 24" to the HDMI, and use a Belkin MDP to HDMI converter cable to hook up to a 24" LG.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Hi

Thanks for the info - It's definitely an r2 we're talking about, yes?

I have this MDP to HDMI cable:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CADYDO/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i00

It does nothing, as far as I can tell. At least with the VGA and HDMI, the displays are detected (tho gimped to one external).

Could you please link to the Belkin model?

This issue will literally decide whether I keep this laptop, so pardon me if I seem hyper-persistent.

Thanks

I've noticed this is a trend with Alienware. Keep things unsupported so they can brush people off. The r1 had the SATAIII conundrum, plus major heat issues. The r2 now has external display issues. How can people using the same hardware get different results? So annoying!

 

If you are worried about the graphics performance but want portability I would recommend looking into something like the Eon-15s from origin pc.

 

Negative on Origin. All Origin sells are rebranded Clevo laptops at a significant price markup. The EON-15S is a rebranded ClevoP150HM, AKA Sager NP8150. I suggest looking those up instead.

 

Just wondering if the m14x powerful enough to run 3 screens at once at 720p on MW3? I have heard that some people are having trouble running 3 screens at all. has this been resolved?

 

I dont think it has something to do with different cables at all. Try to right click on desktop and manually configure the connected monitors with the NVIDA systemtools. i didnt got any signal out of my M14x at all before configuring my beamer and my external monitor and saved the settings.

Now i only need to plug the cable in when i need it and it works without any further configurations.

 

I understand that. I mentioned it because if he is looking into AW then he is interested in a boutique system, I would assume. All boutique systems are going to have a premium associated with them. Does not matter who you buy it from. Boutique systems are usually rebranded. If he does not care whether it is boutique or not then definitely go for the cheaper option. It is hard to complain about price premiums because people should know what they are getting into when they buy a system of that sort

 

malibal.com

They seem to have relatively reasonable prices on the best Clevo models.

 

It's funny seeing pictures that I took of my M14X an ebay listing. Anyone else ever experience this?

 

As long as it's not your laptop that's being sold, it's OK

Sent from my LG-E900h using Board Express

 

Hi guys and girls,

Thinking of picking up and M14x in the next couple of weeks, and I've a few questions:

1 - The 650M. Is there a difference between the cards other than their memory? (DDR3 vs. DDR5, more shaders, etc.) Dell's website (as ever) isn't the clearest with this.
2 - Audio. What's it like? I've used an M17x R1, and an L702x.
3 - Screen. I won't be needing the 16x9 panel, so to anyone with the 13x7, how is it?
4 - Cooling. I've seem temperatures, so I'm not that worried, but how loud does it get?
5 - Battery. With WiFi on, screen at about 50% or so, how long do you guys get just browsing and Youtubing and the like?

Thanks in advance!

 

1. As far as I know, the memory is the only difference, and this difference will not affect game performance.

3. You really should upgrade to the 1600x900 display. Even if the resolution of the stock 1366x768 display is acceptable to you, an arguably bigger issue is image quality. I spent some time with a 1366x768 Alienware M14x at a Dell Kiosk, and the 1366x768 display was absolutely terrible in terms of contrast. It is not something you should look to get in a $1200 laptop, and it will ruin an otherwise nice system. But the upgraded 1600x900 display has very good contrast (deep blacks), and is definitely one of the better 14" displays out there. Really, you shouldn't consider buying an Alienware M14x in any configuration that includes the stock 1366x768 display unless you require its larger text for eyesight-related reasons. And you shouldn't hold any upgrade to priority over the 1600x900 display upgrade, because the display upgrade's combination of increased multitasking workspace and substantially better image quality will affect you more than the benefits of any other upgrade.

 

I do.

I could just up the DPI on the 16x9 display, but I'm sort of stretching my budget as-is with this, so I'm not sure I can manage it.

 

I'm thinking about picking up an M14x in the next few days for college. It would be the base model with the 900p screen and the first tier i7. I just wanted to know what current owners thought of their M14x's and if they had any regrets or complaints. I've heard the screen is very glossy but besides that it seems like a great machine.

 

I'm in exactly the same situation, so feedback would be much appreciated.

 

I just ordered mine about a day ago, I am basically going to use it as a desktop replacement for college. I really like that i can have the power of a desktop(sort of) when i want it.

Ill keep you updated on how I like it when it arrives.

 

That's why I want it as well. With the $200 gift card that comes with it I'll probably pick up a monitor. So it'll fit in my bag when I need it for class but has enough ports (and power) to be an almost desktop replacement. I'll definitely get a cooling pad for it as well.

 

I love mine! I had a gateway 17" that was heavy, was used mostly as a desktop pc, and the video was crapping out on me. I saw a deal, so I do not have any regrets. I was about to buy it for about $1400, but I waited and was able to get mine for $621 with the new Ivy bridge, 900P, 6gb, and new 1gb 650m. I added a crucial m4 128gb for the OS for $110 and a 8gb Hyperx for $45 on ebay.

Just like everyone has said, I love the power and portability!

can't beat a sick laptop for about $800 after all the additions

Don't hate

 

Did you get it through a price glitch? I think I saw some guy on Youtube said he got his for like $700 because of one. I'm glad it's working out well for you! I'm guessing this deal is no longer available?

 

Yes I did. It was a month ago and was running for about 2-3 days. I was one of the lucky ones to get it without any issues.

 

Generally speaking,

Pros:
+Portability, +Battery (a little over 7 hours on power saving mode), +extremely fast, +looks & feels amazing (rubber soft touch), +AlienFX (lights), +For work & play, +Audio (best audio I've heard in ANY laptop), +Graphics
Cons:
-High on maintenance to keep it clean (carry a Microfiber cloth with you), -Screen glare (you can get the Green Onion anti-glare), -keyboard is okay, but not great.

Side notes: You'll need to buy a cooling pad for long gaming session or other intensive load programs. If you don't already have a mouse pad and mouse, then add that to your buying list. These are essentials to really enjoy this powerful laptop.

There's still some drivers & software that have hiccups and need to be fix, so expect a few. I would recommend the extended warranty for the peace of mind.

 

I also got the 621 deal and I've only had 1 issue. The RAM took a crap on me but dell tech came a day later and I'm up and running again.. AWESOME laptop.

 

I've had mine for about 2 weeks now and have very few complaints.

It's performed above and beyond my expectations (It can play SWTOR absolutely maxed out at 1600x900 with 60fps.)

On the flipside, the fans kicked in after a few minutes of gaming and they are LOUD. Also the entire chassis got noticeably warmer, including the keyboard. Didn't make for a pleasant experience.

 

I had mine for about a month now and the only issue I had was that the HD was acting up and it would not boot. I went into the BIOS and it is now working fine!

 

I've had mine since December.

One week in, the keyboard freaked out and I had to order a replacement. I replaced the keyboard myself. Easy fix. Bad left shift key.

One month in, I shut the machine off as I normally do, went to work, then came home and tried to turn the machine on and got 7 beeps. CPU/Motherboard error. Alienware sent a tech to my house 7 days later and replaced the motherboard.

Eight days later, the same problem happened. They sent the tech out again, and he replaced the motherboard and CPU. The tech neglected to reconnect the fan and the keyboard backlighting. Luckily I noticed the fan issue before it melted my computer into a puddle. I had to completely strip the machine down just to be able to plug the connector back in. Upon starting it back up... you guessed it: 7 beeps.

I discovered that by constantly shutting down and re-powering the machine up I could get around the 7 beep error. So now, I just don't shut down my machine until I can finish the projects I'm working on, and will be able to send the machine back for a replacement from Alienware.

Many m14x users have had this problem, and they have no idea what's causing it. Obviously there's no CPU or motherboard problem, as I'm able to use the machine perfectly fine. But if I shutdown right now and power up, I'll get 7 beeps.

Does it run hot? Yep. Don't buy this machine without getting a laptop cooler/stand for it.

Is it stable? Other than the issue I mentioned, it's been great. If only there was a solution whatever is causing the 7 beeps lockup, this machine would be perfect.

Good luck.

 

So far i have only had my m14x r2 for about 2 days and so far i love it. The only issue or nuisance I'm experiencing is that every time i shut down, reboot, or log off i get the force shutdown screen. It doesn't stay on there very long but it is still not something i would expect to have to deal with when i payed well over $1000 for a computer.

I have already restored the system to factory and that didn't fix it so i'm unsure what can cause it. I have looked around and it seems like it has something to do with alien command center.

I will say though that if you plan on getting better RAM or HDD/SSD then do it yourself as it saves allot of money.

 

I've had mine for a month and love it. It's a bit heavier than I'm used to but still pretty portable, it's extremely powerful, I'm not limited when it comes to games, and the sound is amazing for a laptop. The screen glossiness is a bit annoying sometimes (especially since my previous laptop was matte) but it's not an issue indoors (at least for me). I do find, like someone else said, that the screen attracts dust so I carry a cleaning cloth with me.

The fact that I loved it so much I bought a second Alienware (cheap M11x R1) should say something .

Oh, and I haven't had any issues with the fan. It's silent when I'm not gaming and even gaming it only comes on after a while and not for every game. I do use a notebook cooler, though, which of course helps.

My only regret is not getting a SSD right off the bat and now it seems like it'll be too annoying to install one (since I'm settled in and have moved all my files and everything). I really don't need a SSD (the laptop is already super fast and I haven't had heat problems) but posts on here definitely made me interested in them.