*OFFICIAL* M18x Owner's Lounge Thread

[mobiousblack]

This is a waste of $20 IMHO. It's not a better sound card, it's just software. The IDT Control Panel has plenty of options. I ordered this on an XPS M1730 a few years ago and was very disappointed with it. I ended up just getting rid of it.

+1

I totally agree, I actually thought it was a sound card but then I read the fine print and saw it was just software, this of course is after I went ahead and bought it lol.

[Aikimox]

+1

I totally agree, I actually thought it was a sound card but then I read the fine print and saw it was just software, this of course is after I went ahead and bought it lol.

I was wondering, since you own both a Clevo and AW, what's your impression regarding build quality?

[tanderson]

If you only get the basic one year, when you get it, the options to upgrade your warranty is spendy after the fact. For mine, they wanted almost 1700 U.S. for three additional years and accidental coverage.

[shawnwalters]

Hi all,

My m18x will be here tomorrow

Specs:

i7-2670QM
8GB Ram
750GB HD
GTX 560M

What I want to do is change out a few things:

Memory - I want to upgrade to 16GB ram. Can I just use 2 x 8 sticks in the back under the battery? And speaking of ram, I have this at home: Amazon.com: Komputerbay 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 PC3-10600 10666 1333MHz SODIMM 204-Pin Laptop Memory 9-9-9-25: Electronics that I bought for my mac, but haven't used yet. Or will I get noticeably better performance from PC3-12800 ram? If so, any recommendations? Kingston?

BD Drive - is this the BD drive recommended?: Hitachi-LG HLDS CA30N Blu-ray Combo BD-ROM Slot DVD/RW | eBay - And is changing it pretty easy?

HD - Eventually, I want to swap the HDD for a SSD - again is that pretty easy, is there a tutorial for it? Any drive recommendations? Samsung?

And finally, how about bloatware to remove?

Thanks! Coming from a mac, so I'm excited to tinker around with it.

[Zero989]

alienware doesnt really have bloatware but i always do a full reformat anyway.

the ram should work and no idea on the bluray.

crucial m4 or samsung is fine for the ssd. avoid sandforce controllers until Vertex this year 4 etc...

[shawnwalters]

alienware doesnt really have bloatware but i always do a full reformat anyway.

the ram should work and no idea on the bluray.

crucial m4 or samsung is fine for the ssd. avoid sandforce controllers until Vertex this year 4 etc...

Thank you for the info so far! Are there Windows OS install discs included?

[Zero989]

Thank you for the info so far! Are there Windows OS install discs included?

yes of course

[Aikimox]

Changing the optical drive is probably the most difficult moment, you will need to remove the palmrest to get there.

[mobiousblack]

I was wondering, since you own both a Clevo and AW, what's your impression regarding build quality?

In all honesty, both keyboards feel kinda flimsy, with the Alienware being mroe so but I guess that's expected due to the backlit LED lighting. The Alienware definitely feels more solid but then again it has to be its huge.

The frame around the m18x's screen kinda worries me a bit, because of how I open it when its closed, you do tend to put alot of pressure on the area where the web cam is and there is definitely some flex there.

But other than those things, I would say the Alienware definitely feels alot more solid then my Malibal P150HM, the P150HM does present flex on the body when there is no battery inserted which also always worried me a bit.

Also I actually took both apart at one point in time and I have to say I found the Alienware to be much easier to work with and I worried less, the innards did not feel like they would break on a 5 year olds touch lol.

Now when it comes to quality control, thats a whole other matter, the screen on the m18x came flawless while my clevo even after choosing the dead pixel guarantee came with 3 dead pixels, VERY small ones though and I barley noticed them until I actually was looking very close to the screen, literally around 1.5 to 2 inches away from it. So that's another plus for alienware.

But overall quality control I have to give it to the Clevo manufacturers, there are just so many horror stories with alienware laptops its not even funny, I am just glad mine is running well so far. Also that's to be expected I guess since there is a lot more demand for alienware laptops. Those are just my two cents. Hope that helps, if you want me to compare anything specifically like speakers, screen hinges, etc just ask.

[johnksss]

In all honesty, both keyboards feel kinda flimsy, with the Alienware being mroe so but I guess that's expected due to the backlit LED lighting. The Alienware definitely feels more solid but then again it has to be its huge.

The frame around the m18x's screen kinda worries me a bit, because of how I open it when its closed, you do tend to put alot of pressure on the area where the web cam is and there is definitely some flex there.

But other than those things, I would say the Alienware definitely feels alot more solid then my Malibal P150HM, the P150HM does present flex on the body when there is no battery inserted which also always worried me a bit.

Also I actually took both apart at one point in time and I have to say I found the Alienware to be much easier to work with and I worried less, the innards did not feel like they would break on a 5 year olds touch lol.

Now when it comes to quality control, thats a whole other matter, the screen on the m18x came flawless while my clevo even after choosing the dead pixel guarantee came with 3 dead pixels, VERY small ones though and I barley noticed them until I actually was looking very close to the screen, literally around 1.5 to 2 inches away from it. So that's another plus for alienware.

But overall quality control I have to give it to the Clevo manufacturers, there are just so many horror stories with alienware laptops its not even funny, I am just glad mine is running well so far. Also that's to be expected I guess since there is a lot more demand for alienware laptops. Those are just my two cents. Hope that helps, if you want me to compare anything specifically like speakers, screen hinges, etc just ask.

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