Alienware Area-51 m15x Review Discussion

The unit you reviewed did have the WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD resolution right? I looked at the screenshots of the screen and in most of them it looks like it has a glossy screen, it looks awesome. I didn't order mines with a WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD resolution becacuase I thought the Matte screen non glossy wouldn't look as nice and crisp as one with it.

I'm used to seeing my G/f's Matte screen on her thinkpad thats about 2 years old and it doesn't look to nice, seems the M15x matte screen looks better unless theres something wrong with my eyes lol The screen looks awesome tho and it looks clear and crisp and glossy also.

BTW Chaz, I ordered mines with a SSD, what do you think about the SSD vs their regular 200 gig 7200 rpg hardrives? (lets assume the cost of the SSD isn't an issue for me) I ordered mines with a smartbay 200 gig 7200 drive also. You think this setup is good? How does SSD perform when booting up games, loading app's and games?


Thanks Chaz

EDIT: Was planning on canceling the unit to see what voodoo was going to release in 6 weeks, thats why I was asking about the screen, might consider getting the higher resolution instead.

BTW CHAZ how did the high resolution screen look compared to other laptops u reviewed WITH the glossy screen? Thanks

 

@First - Trust me, do not buy a SSD at this point in time. A regular HDD will actually give you quicker write times if they aren't constant write times. Honestly everyone here seems to agree that if you wait 1 or 2 years buying a SSD will be much more practical and you won't be shooting yourself in the foot for paying $1000 for next to no space.

Actually, go with a 320GB 5400RPM drive. It is actually faster than the 200GB 7200RPM because of platter density .

 

stone thanks for the info, gave your + rep. So your telling my the 200 gig 7200 rpm and even the 5400 rpm hardrive out performs the SSD? Btw price isn't an issue when purchasing the SSD, and it actually went down in price to $800 I believe.

 

Is that the same for the m17 as well?

Thanks!

 

What does this mean? And how did you find this out?

 

@first,
I hope this helps, btw I'm pretty sure 5400rpm is NOT faster than 7200rpm...

 

@Dae - That benchmark is just what it sounds like. A benchmark. In the real life you won't actually be noticing that performance, trust me on this one. I have used one or two SSD's and I noticed nothing except that my friend got ripped off.

By the way, if you read what I said, I said a 320GB 5400RPM is faster than a 200GB 7200RPM. The reason is because of platter density, this means that it takes less time to find stuff because everything is packed together tighter. If you want more info Chaz has the "official" word if you don't believe me.

Finally: Benchmarks for hard drives are bull****. Look at real world results. Don't go blowing 1K out your ass because you listened to some benchmarks which made a SSD appear like it was worth the money. (No offense to anyone who owns a SSD, I just don't think they're worth it).

 

The m15x we reviewed had a matte WUXGA screen; the only glossy screen available on the m15x is the WXGA+ one. It was bright and clear for a matte screen, and quite sharp. I really enjoyed all the space offered by the high resolution. I think the camera made the screen look glossy in some pics. I assure you it is not.

The SSD will improve overall performance because it's faster than a regular hard drive, even the 200GB 7200RPM one, and will produce basically no heat. It will also help with battery life. Sounds like you ordered a wicked setup.

I don't get many matte-screened laptops to review anymore. Based on the laptops I have reviewed with them, the Alienware was about the same (a godo thing). It has a much nicer/brighter screen than my WSXGA+ matte Sager.

 

Thanks again Chaz, as always you have a great amount of knowledge. Does the smartbay 7200 200 gig hardrive run just as fast as a internal 200 gig 7200 ahrdrive? Was wondering if it was esata etc.. Thanks, gave you and stone rep!

EDIT: You think the SSD setup + smartbay 7200 200 gig hardrive is a good setup? And will SSD help load games faster?

And since you are quite familiar with the tech aspects of laptops, I was just wondering, how hard would it be for AW to update their chipet from santa rosa to montevina? Couldn't they jsut use their existing Chasis and modify it a little for the monty chipset? I just don't understand why AW wouldn't do this, everyone in the AW forums are saying they WON'T and can't update it and that they will have to release a new notebook all together.

I Just don't see how AW would not update the systems as when the end of june hits, montevina will be released with the clevo's and quite possibly for VooDoo also + all other rebranding companies. Just need your insight on this chaz since you pretty much know the business side of it as well as the tech side of it.

Thanks

 

With all do respect to the esteemed reviewer, the popular and credible review sites are all saying the same thing, ssd drives have a Much quicker random access/seek, but are either close to or way behind in sequential reads and writes. Bottom line, the higher density drives on the market way outperform even the best ssd's in the consumer market(sub 2k$) in performance and have mixed results in power gains(see macbook air's)

 

@First - It really dun make any differences in speed between 200gb 7200rpm and 320gb 5400rpm. Unless u wanna sit there and time it with a stop watch. I also notice the 7200RPM is a little noisier.

Hope this 2 links helps u decide better

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...o-320gb-5400rpm-vs-hitachi-200gb-7200rpm.html

DIY to speed up your HDD
http://partition.radified.com/partitioning_2.htm

 

See this review:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4387

 

^^ Need your input chaz ty

 

Yes, it functions like a normal internal hard drive and the computer will see it as such.

The SSD is going to be fast - how fast relative to hard drives I don't know, I've never used one. Based on benchmarks, around the same speed as the 200GB 7200RPM.

Montevina is a whole new platform . . . Alienware would need to design a whole new motherboard and use many different parts. It's a very radical change. The only thing they wouldn't have to change would be the external appearance most likely. Alienware probably isn't doing it because it's not worth the cost.

In one of the Alienware threads, someone posted that they emailed Frank at Alienware (an executive) and he said that Alienware will not be using the Montevina platform this year.

 

Bummer, we are stuck with the M15x santa rosa then unless I buy a Voodoo when they rebrand the Clevo

 

Damn I like the AlienWare laptops... They always surprise me with fantastic quality and this m15x isn't different either...

 

@FirstN - So I'm guessing you are going to be going with the 5400RPM 320GB than, as it is a faster and quieter drive. Someone posted a link comparing the two and the 320GB was quicker even on a 300mhz slower system

Oh and please don't go with an SSD. You will feel like an idiot when in a year or two years you can get like 64GB for around $200 or less.

 

Is the touchpad really that bad? I tested for a good week the EEE 1002ha of one of my friend and i hated the touchpad, my finger was always getting stuck by moist (even dry the feeling was really bad). Comparing to my asus g1s

 

I've bought an alienware m15x, and i would not recommend this laptop to anyone.

1. the whole laptop case is made from the cheapest material on the market. It looks cheap, and feels cheap.
2. 2 keys broke off from my keyboard after 20 mins of use.
3. right hinge broke off after only couple of days.
4. if you rest your hands next to the touchpad to use the keyboard it actually bends and makes contact with the cpu-fan. (im not talking about pressing hard, just resting one hand on it).

 

I guess the model you received may have been a lemon. Anyway, hoping that the m15x refresh is just around the corner.

 

I agree with eldee, do NOT buy this laptop. I bought one a year ago near when they first came out. I'll try to be unbiased about my experience.

My laptop is an Alienware m15x, 2.4Ghz Duo Core, 4GB RAM, 8800M GTX.

Out of the box:
Pros: This laptop looks ridiculously awesome. The case looks nice (scratches and smudges easily) the keyboard glows (makes it easy to see what key you're hitting) and it just generally looks very streamlined. The power in this machine rocks.

Cons: The touchpad is extremely weird. If you don't put the sticker on it doesn't work at all. If you bump the pad with your palm (very easy to do because of placement) the mouse jumps everywhere. The pressure buttons on top are fidgety and not very responsive, and for some reason they stop working if you take the laptop out of sleep on batter power. The CD bay ejects via Fn + F8 keys, mildly inconveniencing. The keyboard came warped, and the paint had dirt in it at places. The light pipe was mostly painted over. The screen cracks when you open it or when you adjust it (very scary sound lol). The color customization options are actually fairly limiting, or maybe the program is just too complicated and comes with no directions. Also, don't expect to take this anywhere it is HUGE. Weighs like more than 10lbs with batteries in, and doens't easily fit into most bags. Fan is loud and needs good ventilation because it shoots out lots of hot air.

The first day I opened it I went to install Crysis and it wouldn't install because it thought the drive was pirated... I contacted support and they agreed to send me a replacement. The replacement came disassembled, but it wasn't really hard to figure out. No directions tho... Anyway, I ended up downloading a no-CD crack for it because of the stupid drive, which sits lopsided in the switch bay, by the way. I had few problems with it for months, except Vista slowing everything down. Then the right hinge split, popping the screw out and leaving the screen boards exposed. I sent it in again ($400 dollars by fedex, they don't cover international shipping...figures) along with the complaint that one day I was playing WoW and the screen suddenly started pixelating and strange rendering issues with the windows when I dragged them around. They sent it back in a few weeks, and the case was brand new, but the video problems didn't get fixed. Switching first to XP then to Ubuntu linux (which runs great on this pc btw) temporarily aleviated the problem, but eventually I got a BSOD some way or another whenever I tried to start a game up. I sent it back again, this time right at the end of my warrenty. They replaced the motherboard...... and now the card is still reporting problems. At the end of it all I am left with an extremely cool looking, wicked expensive web browser that gets beat out by my Acer Timeline in gaming. I still don't know what the problem is exactly, except it's probably video card burnout. There goes another 300 bucks on this thing...

In short, this laptop is as fast as they advertise, with a lifespan to match. You're overpaying for poor service and low quality design. If you want to take the chance for the performance, by all means go for it. But there are many, many other laptops out there that are lighter, less bulky, less expensive and a better value than this one. In the end though if you need a gaming machine buy a desktop. They're way easier to upgrade, better performance and cheaper to boot.
If I still haven't dissuaded you I'd suggest coughing up the extra few hundred bucks for the 3 year extended warrenty so you don't run into the same problem as me. Oh, and if you do need to get it fixed, pour coffee on it or smash it with a hammer to make sure they replace everything, otherwise they might replace the wrong part.

Note on the performance: When it works it is awesome. When it doesn't you just get pissed because you know how awesome it is when it does work.

Plays Crysis on Med-High settings @ 30fps, slightly noticable screen lag.
Plays WoW on Max settings @ >100fps. No lag even in large groups.
Plays Assassin's Creed on High settings smoothly.
Plays Grid on Med-High Settings smoothly.