*OFFICIAL* M17x R3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 3

[remedy1978]

As stated earlier, I'm in Afghanistan but heading home in about 1 month, having parts shipped out here isn't really an option at this point as there's no guarantee I'll get them in time. (Those that have been out here know how predictable our mail is) To add to that, the environment I have to work and play in is far from conducive to effective repair of components that include screws as small as these are.........and the dirt and dust that I'd end up trapping inside would probably counter any improvement I'd see by causing some other issues.

On another note, when I booted this thing up this morning it hung on the "Starting Windows" screen for about 10 minutes............forced shut down as the HDD wasn't being accessed, it was just sitting there, and when I restarted it went into repair mode............spent 20 minutes doing that before telling me it couldn't be repaired and I should click finish to shut down. Did that, powered it back up and it started fine, albeit slowly.

Not getting a warm and fuzzy here with this expensive toy. Really shouldn't have to "fix" something I paid this much for. Don't count the SSD as a fix since I wanted to do that and planned for it when I ordered the machine, but the keyboard and boot issues do annoy me.

Off to do a search on which BIOS I should use, currently has A09 in it, vaguely recall seeing something about A08 being the better performing BIOS.

A08 will enable the full SATA III speeds. A09 borks it. Instead of 6GB you'll get 3GB I believe.

[Japinther]

Just found these forums. My M17 R3 was delivered a month late due to the hard drive shortage but it was worth the wait!

AW M17xR3 - Black
Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz
16GB DualCh DDR3 1600MHz 4DIM
Slot-Load DL DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Internal HD 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Win 7 Home Prem 64 SP1,Eng,w/Media,AWNB
Wireless 802.11 g/n

Kinda wished I hadn't skimped on the network card after the fact. I'm already looking at upgrade options. Oh well live and learn.

[remedy1978]

Just found these forums. My M17 R3 was delivered a month late due to the hard drive shortage but it was worth the wait!

AW M17xR3 - Black
Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz
16GB DualCh DDR3 1600MHz 4DIM
Slot-Load DL DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Internal HD 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Win 7 Home Prem 64 SP1,Eng,w/Media,AWNB
Wireless 802.11 g/n

Kinda wished I hadn't skimped on the network card after the fact. I'm already looking at upgrade options. Oh well live and learn.

The wireless card can easily be upgraded. You can purchase the 6300 card from Newegg. I wouldn't have skimped on the screen. The 1900x1080 LCD is much better.

[GeoCake]

Runs butter smooth when maxed out. Gameplay/graphics so far is awesome!

After an hour:

[blink_c]

Runs butter smooth when maxed out. Gameplay/graphics so far is awesome!

After an hour:

What game is that?

[GeoCake]

Syndicate

[sjefferson]

decided to look into m17x. i'm coming from thinkpad and i use my laptop for both gaming and everything else. recently sold w520 because it cannot manage heat from gaming...

1. does m17x manage heat well? i'm getting 2730qm with 580m setup and i play games mostly an hour or two at a time but can sometimes pull an alnighter

2. does it require one adapter like 99.99% of the laptops or TWO adapters? i heard sometime ago that highend alienware requires two adapters to be plugged in simultaneously to run games but i'm not 100% positive on this

3. how's the build quality? if i grab it in one hand, would i feel like it's going to disintegrate right on the spot? i always liked thinkpad's build quality and i don't expect the alienware to be the same but i'm curious... especially from someone who can explain the build quality of m17x compare to thinkpad's...

thanks!

[SlimShady]

decided to look into m17x. i'm coming from thinkpad and i use my laptop for both gaming and everything else. recently sold w520 because it cannot manage heat from gaming...

1. does m17x manage heat well? i'm getting 2730qm with 580m setup and i play games mostly an hour or two at a time but can sometimes pull an alnighter

From what I've read on here, not with the 580m, many people with heat related throttling issues, the 6990m doesn't have nearly the number of complaints

2. does it require one adapter like 99.99% of the laptops or TWO adapters? i heard sometime ago that highend alienware requires two adapters to be plugged in simultaneously to run games but i'm not 100% positive on this

Mine has a single adapter and yes, to game with graphics intensive games you will need to be plugged in.

3. how's the build quality? if i grab it in one hand, would i feel like it's going to disintegrate right on the spot? i always liked thinkpad's build quality and i don't expect the alienware to be the same but i'm curious... especially from someone who can explain the build quality of m17x compare to thinkpad's...

I'm not overly impressed compared to an ASUS I've had and other computers on the market. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not a tank either.


I would suggest the 6990m and the 1920 X 1080 screen. I just got mine yesterday in this configuration and it seems like it will serve for gaming quite well. Not impressed with the keyboard, a lot of flex in mine, but others have said this should be an easy fix and isn't the norm, something about it not being seated properly. Have to take it apart to see if that's the case. Also not impressed with the HDD performance, I have the 750GB 7200rpm........would suggest your first upgrade be an SSD. Also not any point in spending money on more than 8GB of memory unless you do some serious work on your laptop.

thanks!

Replies in Red.

[sjefferson]

Slimshady,

thanks for your helpful comment!
can i ask how much you paid for your setup? i'm trying to locate online coupon and all i could find was measly $50 off coupon. by chance u know any?

[SlickDude80]

Dear Sally,

As far as heat goes, the m17x has the best heat management of any gaming laptop. For example, the sagers get much higher temps than we do...probably 10-15c. A common temp for a 6990m in a repasted Sager is about mid 80's c on load. I hover in the high 60's c while gaming.

I think the build quality on the thinkpad is superior. They are built to get banged around...HOWEVER, that said, when i opened up the box the first time and I saw my m17x, i was like "WOW"...great laptop. The first thing that popped into my head was that they didn't spare any expense. Plus i like the design compared to more conservative laptops. You won't be disappointed