**Sigh... disappointment

So i received my m11x r1 about 2 weeks ago. I was in my alienware fanboy bliss zone, and impervious to any flaws. Now that that part of me has left, I am kind of reconsidering the choice of buying this laptop. I'm running into essentially every problem in the problems thread; hinges, keys touching the screen, screen glare, BSODs.

Also, the wireless card seems to be problematic. probably a defect, but I'm getting ridiculous ping , and I have a pretty new router that works fine on any other laptop.

I get multiple freezes and crashes while playing simple source games = frustration.

Im not getting anywhere near the battery life of some of the people her on this forum, after hours of optimizations.

I don' want to seem like the person who is never satisfied, but I just don't know if this was the right choice.

I'm still within the 21 day return period. Should I?

Post your thoughts.

Thanks!
-K42

 

Seems like you've got an absolute dud on your hands. You should return it and get another if you can. I'd recommend calling them and getting someone to come in but considering you have a shopping list of problems I'd say it really isn't worth it.

The screen glare is an issue you will always get with the reflective screen, the best solution is to get an anti-glare screen protector.

Honestly the M11x R1 is an incredible machine and mine (which is one of the very first built) has been pretty much flawless including the hinges. But what you have sounds problematic to say the least, and will probably cause you nothing but headaches for the duration of your ownership.

If I were you I'd send it back now and think about whether or not you want to try another.

 

Yeah, send it back and get a replacement, or save for one of the newer versions. Definitely wouldn't advise wasting time fighting with so many issues at once!! I got one bad R2 which had a bunch of debris under the screen but the replacement R2 was just fine, and I have no issues with the R3 I have now.

As the previous poster said, if the glare bothers you, you'll need to get a screen protector. The glare is about the same in all revisions.

Good luck! Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

 

Wow, that was really helpful. I'll call them tomorrow.

i really want to love this machine, and I get good framerates in all of the games I play (GTA IV excluded of course.)

I dont know. I feel kinda bad because I was just SOOO escited when i bought it. I have been looking at buying this since October 2010. I had actually ordered an r2 and then canceled for external reasons.

Im thinking i ether get it replaced or go for this: Newegg.com - Acer Aspire AS5742G-6480 Notebook Intel Core i3 380M(2.53GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

Oh well. Thanks anyways!

-K42

 

Hinges, key touching the screen, and screen glare were all known facts and you should've known them before purchasing. It is unfortunately that you got hands on the ones with hinges issues. I would return immediately just for that issue or get a replacement. BSOD? What are you doing to your computer?

There is a possible fix for this issue. Search in this forum.

Drivers up to date? Is it using the correct GPU?

What are your numbers? The optimum battery life comes from using the onboard GPU and minimal brightness and that is around 7 hours. Max brightness, 335M, and gaming would obviously give you much less battery time, to even 2 hours.

Before purchasing, you should have known these possible defects in this machine that's widely known already, and be prepared to deal with them if needed be. The choice was yours... and still yours to whether keep using it or return it.

Your decision. I would return it and get a new one, that is, it really is the manufacturer's problem and not yours. If it's your problem, the problem will persist whichever rig you get.

 

Now you're talking about the 15.6" machine that's much bigger, so I assume the size isn't an issue for you.

There are several computers out there that are the same price or cheaper than that of Alienware yet have better configuration in various screen sizes. What was your first reasoning of getting an Alienware?

 

I would QQ to Dell over the phone and ask:

"Due to the disappointment and inconvenience I received with the M11X-R1, I would like to make a replacement upgrade request to the R3. Now, I know the price difference is 400$, so what I am will to do is split the 400$ with Dell. Do we have a deal?"

An R2 is almost guaranteed as a free inconvenience upgrade in your case too. I've seen R2 posters get a free upgrade to R3 offers already, so R1 to R2 free, shouldn't be a problem.



I believe you have a solid chance of getting an R3 if you cover some of the tab. Push for the supervisor and if that doesn't work, e-mail the "president" (the reps monitoring that e-mail tend to be quite generous to retain customers).

 

Comments like these are completely unnecessary.

To the OP maybe post up what you are looking to spend around on a laptop and the size range you are looking at.

 

Let's see: keys touching screen - we put small soft velcro pads on the top of the bezel to prevent that. Oddly enough, our hinges are still perfect, though it's early days yet.

Reflections and glare - yes, it is a PITA. So we got Photodon anti-glare film - and while it was a PITA to apply ( read this thread carefully), the results are very good: very slight reduction in brightness and clarity, major reduction in reflections and glare (still present, but now acceptable), and major improvement in viewing angles / color consistency.

We also did completely fresh Win7 installs, and followed the recommended driver install order, and had no gaming problems.

 

Exchange. If you're not happy with the second one, then return it.

 

That i3 isn't worth the money you're paying for. Either upgrade to an i5 or stay with the c2d, m11xr2 should do it justice

 

the acer that was posted in the link has a full voltage full power core i3. and is faster then even the i7 in the R2.