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

[Devianti]

Cheers, hope i get it sorted, ive heard the 810 is only sata 2? xD!

Well when you do get it sorted, are you gonna need a BF3 buddy? Cos that's the first game I'm gonna be burning a lot of hours playing as soon as mine turns up.

PM me your Steam ID!

[willz92]

Can some of you owners PLEASEEEEE start posting vids up on youtube? I keep searching but havent come across any yet. Thanks

Im currently uploading my own m14xr2 unboxing vid, ill post a link when its uploaded to youtube. Once i get some decent games on this laptop i will do some gaming video's, already ordered sniper 2 and pre ordered diablo 3! xD
The only game i have for pc atm is crysis 1, i let the game choose the graphics options and it chose high xD

I'm beginning to wonder if the 810ssd is suppose to be used in the US raid0 256x2 configuration. They don't list the 256gb ssd drives as 6 Gb/s like they do on the M17x and m18x raid0 options. Maybe they used the slower ssd when paired with the mSata 256 card. So the big question: which is better/faster the single 512gb ssd or the Raid0 256x2 ssd setup?

Yeh there might be something like that going on in the us but the uk site offered the single 256 ssd 6gbs/sec as a storage upgrade. Bill says that a few systems have been released with the wrong ssd and i think i am one of them, ill try sort it out tomorro with the reps...xD Im not sure about your question im all new to this raid stuff =)

Well when you do get it sorted, are you gonna need a BF3 buddy?

Yep cant wait to get that game, might order it tomorrow if i can find one with the latest map packs already included ;P I loved it on ps3, now to let my alienware show me what it can do!!

EDIT: Heres my unboxing vid...enjoy xD!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeEEjjNdpQo

[M.H]

nice vid and nice tune Willz92 - congratz on a new system. Any plans for game benches?

[willz92]

nice vid and nice tune Willz92 - congratz on a new system. Any plans for game benches?

Yeh will probz do a game and benchmark video when I get my hands on some more games =)
Playing crysis on high settings averaging 50fps is nicee!

[elsk10]

Should be unpacking my Alienware today, just have a rather nooby question first.

My friend has an M17x with an ATI GPU and has to install Alienware specific graphics drivers, is this the same with Nvidia cards and the M14xR2?

[sirwilson]

Does the R2 have switchable graphics?

[Crimefighter]

For those of you in the UK, do you reckon the i5 CPU option will end up being the Ivy Bridge i5 chip when it ships?

The UK Dell site is listing the Sandy Bridge chip, but I note that earlier in this thread a UK buyer got their i7 upgraded from Sandy to Ivy when it shipped. Seems like an error on the UK website?

Anyway the i7 IB is like £200 more which is quite a jump - Id be happy with an i5 Ivy Bridge if it is indeed available. Not so much an i5 SB.

Edit: Sorry I didnt realise there was a pre order questions thread before posting this! Move? Or shall I cross post?

[gadgetjunky]

Ok, after a bunch of research I think I'm just going to go with the single 512gb ssd. I did see a video with SSD's in Raid 0 and it was fast, but I also had the M14xR1 with the 256gb SSD for a couple of weeks and it was pretty zippy booting up and opening programs. Now this way I can have the open PCIe slot for something else later.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? And I don't mean "don't buy you SSD from Dell" thoughts.

(oops, I thought this was the pre-configure section - but if anyone has the Raid 0 256x2 setup, please let me know)

[elsk10]

Ok so I just unboxed my M14xR2, recovery disc is being created as I type.

Just a few annoyances so far.

1. There is some sort of scratch on th etop, its tiny and you cannot see it unless you hold the laptop at a certain angle but you can feel it like a rough spot sticking up from the smooth matte finish.

2. The intel i5 sticker and Win7 stickers are wonky! Must be OCD but they look so wrong, can I remove or do I risk ruining the surface below?

3. The cloth case is somewhat frayed at the edges, I can see stitching coming undone in the near future.

So am I being pretentious or should I expect better?

[gadgetjunky]

Ok so I just unboxed my M14xR2, recovery disc is being created as I type.

Just a few annoyances so far.

1. There is some sort of scratch on th etop, its tiny and you cannot see it unless you hold the laptop at a certain angle but you can feel it like a rough spot sticking up from the smooth matte finish.

2. The intel i5 sticker and Win7 stickers are wonky! Must be OCD but they look so wrong, can I remove or do I risk ruining the surface below?

3. The cloth case is somewhat frayed at the edges, I can see stitching coming undone in the near future.

So am I being pretentious or should I expect better?

Oh man, I just re-watched Willz92's unbox video and they are putting the stickers on top now. My R1 had the i7 sticker on the bottom. I could deal with that. Try a hair dryer to soften the adhesive a bit, they should come off without damaging the surface. I believe there have been post about this, but I never thought it was on the palm rest. SHAME!!!

Scratch on the back or monitor or the palm rest. My R1 came with visible dent in the soft-touch just below the track pad buttons. I tried to ignore it, but finally called in. They can send a guy out to replace the casing if it's an issue. They wanted to see a picture of mine and sure enough, it was bad enough to qualify for the on-site repair.