Alienware m18x or m17x r4?

MINUS12 · 7 Aug 2012 at 19:51

Gutted for you mark? Not like UPS :confused:

opstrat · 7 Aug 2012 at 20:48

Metalface Mark said:
07/08/12 10:00 BPO - GLASGOW NOT REC'D/INCOMPLETE IN DEPOT.

Guess i aint getting it today.

u got it today mark?

if not get donw the depot and raid the place, ill help ya. infact the depot is is about about 1000yards from me. which kind a sucks, i always get my ups deliveries last when they are on the way back to the depot rather than early in the morning when the just start thair run.

Metalface Mark · 7 Aug 2012 at 21:30

No, its coming tomorrow apparently, I called them up and they have scheduled it for tomorrow.

Metalface Mark · 7 Aug 2012 at 21:31

Ram work okay in it?

slidebed · 8 Aug 2012 at 07:44

Great thread ive not seen a decent r4 yet.Yesterday at 1418
saw a bog standard one gtx675 lower res screen ect.
I think jt was about a grand inc vat.Im waiting for a 7990.
Bluray 1080p screen what do you think my chances are guys.

Metalface Mark · 8 Aug 2012 at 11:24

Pretty good, i wouldnt bother with bluray though, unless you feel you would watch a lot of films. Me and Minus got good ones last week (his had 1080p, my 900p which I wanted) - but with 7970's you just gotta keep your eyes out.

Mines out for delivery today.

fish · 8 Aug 2012 at 11:27

And mine which is out tomorrow

Metalface Mark · 8 Aug 2012 at 12:34

Laptops arrived, worryingly beeped when i first powered on, turned off and on and it seems to be working, just sticking my ssd in to clone now and ill see how we go with it

Metalface Mark · 8 Aug 2012 at 13:00

Opened the cover and its the battery which is loose, it wont sit in its battery slot properly (the internal bios battery). Does anyone know if its supposed to go over or under the prongs on the right hand side of it? It has a lip on the left but nothing to hold it in on the other side.

slidebed · 8 Aug 2012 at 13:09

Thanks mark il keep looking i read the 1080p screen is far better then
the 900 is that just a myth?
The bluray was so i can play films through my projector.

Metalface Mark · 8 Aug 2012 at 13:10

I wasnt overly impressed with the screen on the m17x3 (the 1920x1080) and the 1600x900 screen is of similar quality to those, its alright but nothing special.

Ill be using it with a 24" monitor anyway so its not really an issue for me.

Metalface Mark · 8 Aug 2012 at 13:11

That said it will be going back if i cant fix this bios battery.

Salamander81 · 8 Aug 2012 at 17:51

Hi guys, been following these threads for a while, my first post as realised I couldn't conttrbute as Lu h as the rest of you guys up until now :-)

Just a quick question with regards to the Dell outlet...I've read on some other sites about the use of Dell outlet discount codes (some as high as 25%), are these available in the UK aswell as the US, and if so how frequent are they with regards to AW lappys , looking for a m18rx2 with a decent GPU (7970 Would be great) as I've never actually seen a m17rx4 come up, think the eBay scripters beat me to it everytime!

slidebed · 8 Aug 2012 at 18:53

Thanks mark il bare that in mind.

Metalface Mark · 8 Aug 2012 at 20:45

They tend to come in fits and starts, ive always been able to get one by checking the site every half hour or so.

Dell engineer coming to change the motherboard tomorrow because of the faulty cmos holder, pretty darn good service, got my SSD installed and all running well other than that.

TNA · 9 Aug 2012 at 06:11

Metalface Mark said:
They tend to come in fits and starts, ive always been able to get one by checking the site every half hour or so.

Dell engineer coming to change the motherboard tomorrow because of the faulty cmos holder, pretty darn good service, got my SSD installed and all running well other than that.

With the ssd, did you use factory image to restore to it? If so did you not get the error saying the ssd is too small? Or did you have to manually shrink the size of the partition from disk management and create a new image of that so it works?

Also did you use gparted or other similar software to realign the ssd?

Thanks Mark.

CEUOTC · 9 Aug 2012 at 06:36

TNA said:
With the ssd, did you use factory image to restore to it? If so did you not get the error saying the ssd is too small? Or did you have to manually shrink the size of the partition from disk management and create a new image of that so it works?

Also did you use gparted or other similar software to realign the ssd?

Thanks Mark.

If you make a backup on a 16gb USB stick using Alien-respawn l found it straight forward, it just flashes what ever size you have (within reason). As the backup if a factory fresh install this generally will easily fit on a 64/128/256 etc.

Regards.

C.

neoboy259 · 9 Aug 2012 at 10:33

Metalface Mark said:
Ram work okay in it?

Hey Mark, yes the Ram works ok, think i'll be shelling out for * or 16gb soon though!

Have to say, the m17x R4 is probably the best bit of computing kit I've owned. I absolutely love the feel and heft of the machine.

Played a few hours of Diablo 3 and Battlefield, and the machine still feels cool to the touch. The fans really ramp up whilst playing BF3 though. However, the palm rest and keyboard were still very very comfortable to use. My XPS and Retina MBP would both be unbearably hot after an hours' so of gaming.

fish · 9 Aug 2012 at 10:55

Mine has just arrived just setting it all up now. What drivers are recommended for the 7970m?

neoboy259 · 9 Aug 2012 at 11:33

I'm currently using the driver I got from the Dell site, performance seems sweet so far. Will probably give the 12.7 beta drivers a bash over the weekend.