To people thinking about purchasing an M14x - honest opinion.

Mine was delivered yesterday and sadly I have just made the pained decision to send it back.

Don't get me wrong the chassis is solid with minimal flex and and if you are looking for a sub 15" gaming laptop I wouldn't hesitate to recommend looking at it considering its cheap price... but if you have high standards I might be tempted to look elsewhere.

Plays WoW "perfectly" not a hint of lag even while 25m raiding @ 1080p with everything on ultra, 16x AA, etc. I'm a hardcore raider and it effectively doubles the frame rate I get from my old Sony Z11 series (1GB GT330m), so this is not an easy decision for me....

Anyway, in a Nutshell Dell have taken another good laptop and ruined it. The drivers are patchy at best, the HDMI cable keeps "falling out" (I KNOW!! ) with the slightest movement of the laptop while it is plugged in - this ofc bounces me back to the laptop screen which screws the game, etc so I have to litterally wiggle the cable back into place, it resumes on the monitor and I continue.... not ideal to say the least.

But the killer, and I accept this will not bother everyone, is that I like to use the laptop keyboard and place the laptop in front of the monitor. All my previous laptops have allowed the screen to go almost all the way back, but the M14x basically does about "a tad more than vertical" before it stops. Now I was considering just mounting the monitor on the wall so that it is higher and removes the problem... but the screen is like a dam mirror. I've seen people say this in other threads, but I've had glossy screens before (even had the M17xR1 back in the day) so I thought people were just exaggerating, but I have never seen anything like it. Seriously if it was hanging on a wall my mrs would stop to check her hair. Not good.

So... in summary - bad drivers (check my post in the GT555 vanishing threads), sloppy hdmi port, crackling sound from the speakers (see my other thread), latest BIOS (A07/A08) removes SATA3 support because they were too lazy to fix it, looking into a mirror all dam day makes my eyes hurt and poor screen movement make this a non starter for me

Gutted.

The annoying thing is that going back to my Sony Z11 just makes me appriciate the little Sony all the more. It is a masterpiece of engineering and I can honestly say it is the best laptop I have ever owned. The only reason I wanted the M14x was for 16/32GB RAM (virtual machines) and the upgraded graphics. Both of these I can make do without for another 6 months so I'm going to stick with the Sony. If you are thinking you want a small laptop that has the power of 10 tigers with the size/weight of a small netbook - try and pick up one of the Sonys on ebay or whatever. Mine cost me £2,700ish almost 2 years ago - so you might be able to pick one up used for a bargin price! I made the following review of it when I bought it - take a read and then look at the M14x. Look back at my Sony Z series. It is now diamonds!

Fastest laptop disk setupever?

 

How much did you purchase it for?
What warranty did you take out?
Do you still own it/ consider selling it?

 

Shame, i've really loved mine since november. Bought it for £750 after discounts. chewsw through games, and i know its not going to hit ultra on everything! Its only a GT card! But it makes battlefield 3 look great! Keyboard is brilliant, very strudy construction. Not had any issues with drivers yet. Gaming not an issue, but then i stick it on a desk if i'm gaming! As it gives the fans a chance to breathe!

Its personal preference really! I'd say to anyone to give it a try. dell will always refund it for you in the first week or so.

 

honestly all your opinion, while justified is only that.. An opinion. All that is nitpicking and while i do hate the glossy screen portability + power is what makes this a true "gaming" laptop. Sometimes im dissapointed with performance but tweaking can get you the most out of the laptop. Alienwares have always been like that. I appreciate the power it has and honestly i love it since i got it in November. Thankfully i've had no problems and i'm glad. Hope you find something better for your needs!

 

it sounds more like you had a bad laptop build.
my hdmi never falls out or comes loose and it is constantly connected to my tv and amp.
bad drivers?!?! what
move the laptop and it screws the game. what kind of postions are you playing in

 

agreed - it is solely my opinion - but what else can I provide? I've had LOTS of laptops and I consider my opinion to be worthwhile.

I'm sticking with my old laptop for now. The M14x felt slower even with HyperX SSD in it.... there was random pauses... nothing I can validate or attribute to a specific action, but they were there.

I would still be tempted to buy an M14xR2 - but I would need the following:

1) Matt screen option
2) screen to go further back
3) SATA3
4) Dual hard drive option from factory instead of a mod.
5) WWAN option from factory.... they did it originally but now they offer the stupid HD wireless display rubbish that only 1% of people will actually want... so the WWAN has to be a mod
6) To give me a little assurance of quality...

 

I like my m14x. I know its not the best gaming laptop at its price point at all, but plays games really well (for now at least), and is a pleasure to use everyday and look at without getting bored, something you get from other laptops, even more expensive ones. Seems if you get a replacement unit it would be a lot better for you. Sata 3 shouldn't be a deal breaker, especially for a laptop.

Most people who send it back are people who expected gaming power, received a faulty unit, or other more drastic flaws. But if you want a true gaming pc, more power, dual drive support, etc, for cheaper, check out xoticpc. Can get a gtx 570 for the same price.

 

the only thing as far as drivers is concerned would be the nvidia which has now been fixed for most of us...other than that, the only real issue ive read is motherboard failure (which could have been mis-diagnosed by dell tech...before these recent drivers were released)

i love mine...yes the screen glass is a little annoying playing in day light, but so is my plasma 58" tv...either learn to control your surroundings and get a matte finish protector to help with some of the glare.

hdmi issues like that are warranty and you should have demanded a repair instead of bowing out all together because the screen doesnt fold flat...sorry but thats a pretty lame complaint if thats one reason you sent it back.

before i fixed my video card id say, yes, steer clear...but as for now, my only complaint is no american employee's working at alienware tech support.

 

For me, the screen is the most important part of a laptop and I'm disappointed in how ridiculously reflective this screen is. That's why I ordered the anti-glare screen protector, so we'll see how that goes. If it sacrifices too much screen quality, I might just ending returning the computer since I just got it...

 

I don't think there has ever been a 14" laptop with dual hard drive bays. Like in the history of 14" laptops.

 

All nitpicks.

Bad Dell drivers? Get'em somewhere else.
Glossy screen? Get thick sun blocking curtains.
Can't hang on a wall? Come on it ain't a moose head for crying out loud.
Iffy HDMI plug? Go wireless, it's 2012. Dell can preinstall a wireless TV tuner thingy that allows you to send your HD movies and games to your 60" TV in glorious 1080p (isn't there?).

 

Agree. The m14x is a decent machine, some people ask a lot more out of it. Sata III, dual hdd bays, MXM graphics cards (some people). That's not what this 14 inch laptop is about.

 

No complaints about mine. I would buy another one in a second.

 

i bought mine essentially the day that they made them available to buy. in that time i have had zero issues. i played 62 hours of skyrim on it, modern warfare 3 and battlefield 3, not to mention zero issued with Starwars the old republic.

now i bought the system with just a normal hard drive, no sata 3 or ssd drive. so for me, taking everything the way they got it and using some tricks to update my graphics driver, i can say that i have been ver happy with my m14x.

one must consider that on internet forums, unhappy customers speak louder than satisfied ones. as always your mileage may vary, but i would buy my m14x again without any hesitation.

 

I LOVE MY M14X!!! BUY ONE!!! NOW!!!

 

as far as I know all the current selling Alienware laptops have SATA 3. just wanted to clear that up.

 

To be honest I'm thinking about selling my m14x as well. I'm in the process of selling my old m11x and with that money and the money I could get for my m14x, I can get a m17x. Now before people start flaming, I like the m14x for what it is and I would recommend it. There is nothing really wrong with the m14x, but it just doesn't blow me away. For me the downsides are:

Display quality: The screen is overal pretty good, but the color gamut is pretty low compared to other laptops like the dell xps 15 screen. Add to that I would like to game on 1080p.

Performance: Can play most games on high quality, but there is always some tweaking involved. The GT555 might be the best card they can put in this system, but it isn't high end by any means.

Heat: The heat problems are manageble, but there is no denying this laptop gets hot. I turned off turbo boost and it helps a lot, but I don't want to turn it off. I have experience throttling in skyrim with OC to 750/1000/1050, which is considered a medium OC. Ofcourse I could go and repaste the cpu/gpu, but fact is I don't feel comfortable doing so.

Other than this I'm really happy with my 14x. But I can't help the feeling I could have gotten something better for my money. I didn't have this feeling when I bought the m11x. I'm still in love with it (the m11x) and actually am sad I have to sell it.

 

well, we all have different issues... as for me, the m14x is ok for a 14" laptop... power and performance did come with it... a little low on the v.card though but that's manageable.. it's still a beast... so yeah, it's pretty awesome for a 14" laptop...

 

I'm sorry, but no. I don't think he's nitpicking here.

I think what the OP is trying to say that when he purchased this laptop, he had high expectations and expected it to be a true powerhouse machine.

Correct me if I'm wrong, OP, but he expected the Alienware brand to be better than he expected and Dell ruined it?

I'm afraid that if I say anymore however, I'll end up in trouble for expressing personal experiences.

 

I am in the same position as you. Sell the m14x, get at least 800-1000 dollars. The m17x is always a better value for performance. The m14x puts a premium on portability, which isn't a bad thing, but I don't take it anywhere. Im not sure if I'm gonna sell, but I'd really like an m17x, with at least a gtx 560. I should have bought the m17x in the first place, but I still love my m14x.

 

I think the bad Dell drivers and glossy screen is a little nitpicking but everything else is fine. I do think it depends on your needs, for example the niko and vortex, they both already have an m11x/MBA so I can perfectly see why they don't like the M14x much. If I had either notebook I'd probably end up building a desk imo, but I don't like having mulitple computers and I prefer giving up a little mobility to have my desktop all in one. There are always tons of alternatives though

And to anyone thinking about purchasing an m14x that reads this, all I can say is with the m14x you kind of get that all-in-one desktop. It seems to me like Alienware kind of crammed alot of different features in this line. Like the M17x for example has great performance and such but it lacks some of the features like a subwoofer, while I find it weird theyd put one in the m14x. I just woke up so this is hard to explain what Im saying, sorry, but basically its going to be like a mobile desktop where you get great performance, a high res display, amazing sound (imo) and good battery all in one. If you get the M11x you get like a gaming netbook, and if you get the m17x/m18x you get a true mobile desktop, while the m14x is a mix of being able to sustain that desktop replacement performance, have very nice features for mobile people like, again, the sound thats good enough to fill a room, while still being able to be a true notebook with 6 hours of battery. Does what Im saying make sense? I need to go back to bed

 

heh - perhaps a little background here.... I used to run the IT for a company and Dell was the primary supplier, so I've ordered, used and been around litterally hundreds of different Dell desktops/laptops/etc. I've had to deal with Dell's "technical support" many, many times and my tolerance for their crap is somewhat low these days. I had a new Dell laptop every year from 2001 up to 2009 before I went to Sony due to consistant build quality/driver issues from Dell. I even owned the Alienware M17xR1 (had my Dell account manager send me one of the very first units)... it was a *really* good laptop and I loved it... but it suffered from DPC latency issues and when the mass refund/recall happened 6 months later for affected units I sent it back for a full refund. Was actually sad to see it go, but the audio stutter and lag really was unacceptable. Next I splashed out and got a fully loaded Precision M6500... that also went back after a couple of days as the build quality on that was SHOCKING.

Anyway - the point I am trying to make here, is that I've suffered *lots* of Dell's laptops before and of all of them the Alienware was by far the best value for money and by far the best build quality. Based on that and the fact I don't need 17" powerhouses anymore my last laptop was a 13" Sony Vaio VPCZ119ZE "power of ten tigers" laptop - that set me back about £2,700 and it is AMAZING.... but I don't want to spend like that again this time so considering I was never against Alienware's build quality I decided to give the M14x a shot as it isn't huge, isn't that heavy and still has enough power to kick a little here and there.

My issue with the M14x is that the screen is like a mirror and people saying otherwise are simply kidding themselves. I have had many laptops with glossy screens but this one is taking the urination. I have no issue with the build quality as it is quite sturdy (albeit the speakers/hdmi... but I'm getting that sorted via a replacement system hopefully). I also have no issue with the performance as for a 14" lappy it is rather good. I don't think Dell's attitude to drivers/BIOS updates will ever change, but while I don't like that attitude, I bought the system knowing exactly what they are like so I'm not sure I can really complain too hard, but I certainly won't take it lying down either. Anyone that isn't contacting Dell to complain about them disabling SATA3 support in a BIOS update is simply giving Dell reason to pull this crap again in the future.

I havn't replied until now because while I am happy to give people my honest opinion on this laptop to people that are interested, I have no interest in defending my opinion against *some* people who obviously are blindly defending their beloved system. Telling me I am nitpicking because my HDMI cable litterally falls out on even the slightest movement of the laptop is lunacy.

wall of text.... I'll stop

Its not a bad laptop, but it has some obvious flaws and I don't think anyone can deny Dell are doing their best to ruin it.

I've bought and handled hundreds of laptops from various manufacturers, can people critising my opinion can also claim that?

 

fail.

Some yes, but manufacturer drivers shouldn't be this bad. Also - can you get 3rd party BIOS updates? thanks for playing....

Seriously.... I want to be polite, but.... seriously.... perhaps I could take these sun blocking curtains and hand them up on the train next time I have to go to London and I'm not in a dark room.

learn to read.

/sigh... Yes you are quite right, it is unreasonable for me to expect the HDMI port to work on a new laptop when there are other more expensive and unessessary alternatives available.

 

Ok, I should've added a /sarcasm line. Sorry.

My point is that although it's not a perfect machine, I don't think your points are valid enough reasons to go through the trouble of returning it.
Then again I'm not in your shoes, and your needs are different than mine, so I humbly apologize.

You're right, I didn't understand what you meant with the hanging thing. Maybe I should work on my reading comprehension, or maybe you need to work on your writing also?

The glossy screen was the biggest issue for me, but I soon realized that I game in the evening, so it ended up never being a problem (so far). I had read about this before and when I ordered I figured it wasn't a real issue for me. Also, why game on the train? You would get about 30-45 minutes only.

Your HDMI port is a problem though, since the build is concerned. Not sure if I'd return it though, as there are ways around this. For me, if I can find a solution then there is no problem. If I can't/won't, then maybe I should buy a Mac...

Anyways, my reply was selfish and spiced with ignorance. I should've thought about your needs, not compare your issues with the way I use the M14x, and I should not have commented on things I don't know enough about.

So again, I apologize for offending you.

/conflict

 

no worries pal no point arguing over the internet, i think we both understand eachother and its all good. Cheers.

 

You couldn't have said it better

So I'll either sit this one out until I have enough saved again to buy a new laptop, which is totally fine. The m14x is still a great machine.

Or I'll sell this one right now, while it's still worth a lot and get a m17x for a few 100 euros more.

(Btw I sold my m11x r1 for 50% of the original cost after 20! months. Thats amazing imo and tells how much alienware devices give value for their money.)

 

ok chaps - final decision is to send it back.

Despite the initial problems, I was slowly beginning to warm to it.... then just a minute ago when I was opening the screen.... the screen cracked around the hinge, not just a fracture crack either, I'm talking 1.5cm long right from the hinge.

So:


1) wireless dropouts all the time. have opened the laptop, reseated the aerials and updated drivers, still the same. Also does the same behaviour on both work and home WLANs when other laptops are there sat next to it working perfectly.

2) HDMI cable "falls out" at the slightest movement of laptop (not kidding...)

3) speakers crackle outside of windows (max volume! sounds terrible. Did a PXE boot to put an SCCM image on earlier and it crackled on full volume in middle of the office for about 5mins while it downloaded the image!!) as soon as it loads the windows driver they stop and work perfectly. I blame dodgy BIOS.

4) The screen just cracked around the hinge when I opened the laptop....

I have called Dell and told them to come and get it. shame... but I have to admit, this is just another Dell laptop now in terms of build quality.

 

could grab an m17x, more sturdy and doesn't have half as many problems

 

I need portability. Gone of the days of working in the same office. I spend much of my time travelling now so the 13" Sony has been perfect. I was happy to go with 14" at a push but a 17" is a non-starter.

Might have to look at 15" laptops - but that is bigger than I wanted

 

am now thinking about either the Dell Precision 4600 (because apparently I havn't learned my lesson...) or the Lenovo W520.

I'm leaning towards the 15.6" Lenovo because I know the build quality will be rock solid, it is actually LIGHTER than the M14x, has a 1080p MATTE screen, two disk bays by default, a better graphics card. Admittedly it is about £500 more... but I think it is worth it.

The Alienware is thicker and deeper, but the Lenovo is approx 3cm wider...

any thoughts?

(yes I know it is a workstation class system, but I don't mind spending the extra to get quality)