Alienware Area-51 m15x Sold Without Side Lights (UPDATED)

UPDATED: There is now an official response from Alienware to the screen side light issue and they have provided a software patch to fix the light for those that got a model without this working. Going forward all m15x laptops will have the screen side light activated.

There has been an interesting development regarding the new Alienware m15x gaming notebook. Our forum members have discovered that the Alienware Area-51 m15x is no longer being offered with the lights along the side of the LCD - the side lighting is apparently no longer a part of the "six distinct lighting zones." In fact, Alienware has taken down all pictures from their site that show the lighting and redefined what the "six distinct lighting zones" are. See the following two images - the first one (courtesy of CNET) is from CES and shows the side lights as part of the six, while the one does not: instead the power button is counted as one of the six (note the circled descriptions):

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Numerous members who have received their m15x over the last couple of days have confirmed that there are in fact no side lights. Alienware told our investigative forum members different information regarding the issue. A corporate sales rep in the US says that an update will be released to enable the lighting for those that do not have it:

"The lighting is not currently working on the systems that are being sent out, but an update will be available in a couple of weeks either for download from our site or sent directly to the customer. So even if you do get a system without active lighting, a fix should be along soon after."

Forum member Velacio was told that the preconfigured models were shipped with the side lights while customized orders did not, with no mention of an update being available (translated from Spanish):

"We have been informed that the computers that where preconfigured (Those that no change was done to when the order was placed) Will have the lights on the Side Screen LCD, but not on the keyboard. In Exchange, ordered perzonalized (like yours) will not have lights on the LCD screen, but they will on the keyboard."

It is unknown at this time whether the lights are there yet disabled or not included at all. According to mrwater, who has an early preconfigured (non-customized) m15x with side lights, says there is no way to tell whether they are installed or not:

"I already said before- there is no way to tell that there are sidelights when they are turned off. It's not the same as the touch pad or alienware name, it kind of is built into the plastic. The bright glow is what seeps out of the crack between the black and grey plastic."

Adding to the story story, An Alienware UK rep says the m15x will no longer be offered with the side lights, also with no mention of an update being available:
"Regarding your inquiry, currently, the Area 51 m15x is not being offered with the lighting around the LCD. Some of the models sold in Alienware US do have this feature. It was a limited option which is no longer available."

In a nutshell, the m15x is not being offered with side lights at this time according to our information. Where the confusion starts is why. Alienware reps have said different things:

1. Only the preconfigured models had the side lights (unknown whether that applies to current preconfigured models)
2. The side lights were only available for a short time and are no longer being offered (no mention of the configured/preconfigured issue)
3. The lights may be fixed via a BIOS update

Read the full thread in the forums

OFFICIAL RESPONSE FROM ALIENWARE:

 

People actually give a darn for the lighting effects! Any further than a lit up keyboard is beyond gimmicky.

 

Well, whether or not you like the lights is immaterial. Some people do and expected this feature. Alienware should have been more up-front about whatever their problems are. If they had, they wouldn't be getting bashed in the forums, our news and gadget blogs around the web.

 

@ crinzema Well you would care if you paid for something you didn't get.

Engadget news...

Link to fix issue...

 

sorry for intruding on this thread but thought I would post a link to the patch that Alienware released to sort this problem out.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=216863

Delete Me, by the time i posted this someone beat me to it, Cheers Johnny T

 

I just posted it above too ...heh

 

Please don't tell me people buy this laptop just for the lights....
Personally I don't care if my laptop has lights or not. If it has them, great, if not.. well you get it.

 

same

i canceled my order with ROCK, after seeing the m15x on the alienware uk site.

and having lights is just a gimmick to me, even if i did have it, i would turn it on to show it off but wouldnt have it running if i was playing games or whatnot.

having no lights is minor, its already a sexy laptop

 

We all know how incredibly long it takes to custom configure and then receive an Alienware notebook. If people paid for this lighting feature and it didn't show up on their model, Alienware tried to cover the whole thing up with power button light excuse, and nobody at Alienware has a cohesive response to the problem, then I'd be upset too. It doesn't matter if you like or dislike lighting. I like it personally and to many people it adds to the style of the system's casing design. People have a right to get upset when something quietly disappears without notice despite the fact that they paid for it. It's bait and switch plus false advertising. These notebooks are not cheap!

It kind of sounds like Alienware released a product without finishing it, thus the public became beta testers. This kind of behavior goes on all the time. It should NOT be acceptable in any industry. Alienware's official response to this will probably be the typical smug approach of "the rest of you are haters and not cool enough to be Alienware owners". They'll probably deflect and ignore the issue altogether, which just dumps their credibility down the drain, again. If I buy a laptop over $2,000 I expect it to be PERFECT.

 

Amen to that.. exactly like the white paint issue for m1330.. said it would be discontinued.. and ppl who wanted white at the time.. chose other colors.. a month later.. start offering again.. people are being lied to, or lure in by false information.. this kind if behavior like Dragon_myr said earlier must not be tolerated no matter how big or small the issue is, whatever is promised.. must come through.

 

Thanks to Chaz for bringing this issue to the front page. I might have missed it otherwise.

Call me crazy, but I think this is a serious issue. It foretells the type of customer service and customer experience one might expect from Alienware. The idea of a 15" notebook with an 8800M GTX is attractive to me. But I've heard and read bad things about Alienware in the past. I was hoping that they might have gotten past that. Looks like they haven't yet.

Granted, a patch was released. But why was it disabled in the first place? Makes you wonder what engineering and reliability concerns might be lurking around the corner only to show up after a couple of months of ownership.

Or worse, warranty expiration +1.

I'm with Dragon. If I pay >$2000 for a lappy, it better be as close to perfect as humanly possible. In the event that it's not, the customer service ought to be as hassle free and close to perfection as is humanly possible.

 

Just out of curiosity, has anyone with one of these notebooks ever tried running a non-windows OS? How does it affect the lighting? It looks like the whole thing is software controlled, but is there a hardwired hotkey functionality or something?

I always run Linux on my laptops (possibly dual booting) so it would be important for me to get all the hardware features available OS independent.

 

how will we ever play crysis without all those circus lights?!

 

well considering people paid high premium for those flashy lights and 'gimmicks' why wouldn't they be pissed about it. and considering how much of a graphics whore everyone is around here and enjoy cranking up all the bells whistles playing games i'm surprised that same preference doesn't translate to appreciation of physical lights and glitz.

 

I'm just gonna go ahead and throw this out here since no one else has...

What does it say about a NOTEBOOK BUILDER when they can't get LIGHTS to work correctly?

 

My sentiments, exactly.

 

I guess if I was foolish enough to pay for flashy lights I would be pissed too. I would probably drive around in a wimpy import with a huge spoiler on the back and racing decals all over it too. I guess it all comes down to what's really important to you. I will agree with the main point; alienware should be liable for delivering what they advertise.

 

emmm, Buggati Veyron maybe?.... or AMG>?? at last.... pls

 

I was making a point that all the flashy crap doesn't change the performance. I was referring to the masses that drive around crap honda civics and the like, all gaudded up with decals, lawnmower-sounding exhausts, and whale tail spoilers with no balls under the hood. I obviously wasn't referring to actual sports cars, just the posers. If I hated imports I wouldn't have an elise on order

 

It's not like we upgraded to the lights, so no one is foolish here. Even if we didn't want the lights we would still have had them. No other 15" laptop has the performance of the m15x so comparing it to a crappy Honda with flashy looks is a mute point. There is probably a premium for the lights and some paid over 3000$ for the laptop. Even if it's something as small a non functioning light, it's still annoying because for that price and that company it should be perfect.

 

Am I missing something here?

It's a ****ing light. It's not an amazing turbo megalight. It isn't an overclocked GeLight. It's not even an HD Radeon.

It's a ****ing light.

You know what? Yes. Lights were definitely cutting edge components. About a century ago.

 

Well, if we didn't already know, I guess its clear that Alienware monitors what is being said on NBR. Now if we could just start the same kind of uproar here over the delay in the release of the m17x, maybe we could get an official response with an official date!?!?!?! lol

 

You also gotta understand that they have very stringent test criteria and that even though it's only a light, they still have to test every single component that goes in that laptop.

 

To make sure it works with a freaking light?

 

lol, i know what you mean!
its just a light.

but people like flashy lights
I mean they paid for a laptop with side lights so i assume they would want it to work

 

Well yeah. If you put a light, even if it's only a light, there are still standards that the company needs to adhere to.

 

That explanation sounds a bit fishy, but oh well. It's an official response and it came out reasonably quickly after the initial news posting. It's just a light, but buyers of expensive boutique notebooks expect perfection, and having a light out is not perfection so I completely understand the outrage. However, I'm sure Alienware doesn't want melting LCD bezels replacing exploding batteries as a major consumer concern so their explanation is also alright. Getting the most power per watt is a major concern in notebooks and lights do draw energy.

 

I was lucky enough to be at the front-line during the Xbox360 roll-out. With high-end technology like this, there is a mad rush to meet the deadlines and unfortunately sometimes there will be some bugs.

Thankfully this is a minor one, and although it is an indication that all is not perfect in the Alienware camp, I don't think it's so bad on the scale of things. The Xbox 360s were overheating crashing and scratching disks.

The problem with this error is that people require perfection from such a high end component, as do I. I've ordered mine now and if it comes with all lights de-activated I would give a toss frankly.

If the GPU overheats, or the CPU makes too much noise, then I'll get annoyed. I paid for the laptop and didn't pay any extra for the lights, they were included.

I just hope I can turn them off since the only practical lights are the keyboard and keypad. Shame there is no brightness control, since in low light conditions very little is needed to see the keys.

I don't like the idea of my battery being used excessively if I'm working on a plane for example. Well, I'll just wait and see.

Poor Alienware, they are trying their best and for a company growing so quickly, and probably still melding with Dell, they are doing a pretty good job imho..