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Alienware Laptops they have been announced on the site now!

Set point doesn't even see the G300 mouse I tried that about 10 minutes before I made this video. I was a little frustrated as even Logitech told me to use setpoint which their web site clearly only gives me the choice of the gaming software when it detects the mouse or you pick it and select downloads. I clicked a lot cause I was watching though the camera and couldn't see the color change and I also thought I missed the button.

got a little frustrated with Logitech so I created this little video, granted the angles are a little off but it shows what happens as clear as day I hope. - YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9KyQe0p6Kc&feature=youtu.be

Just ran windows updates and fully updated my windows 7 ult. install and its still working! a few more personal apps but those are mostly image editing and the vmware workstation which I don't think will have any affect since this all started about the time I got the gaming mouse. I had forgot that I had a wireless mouse for the first month of owning the R3 and was able to switch graphics, once I got my gaming mouse I stop needing the ability to switch so didn't notice it as much. I can say though now i have a clean install with all the software and none of the other crap that was in here. Its also running better then it did before since I have not messed with the video drivers at all. the OC I did really makes the games fly now I just need a new mouse or Logitech to fix the software. Wondering if I should send a message about this to Dell/Alienware and see if they can push things along or find a way to block the issue from happening I don't know. I just don't understand how the Logitech gaming software, which isn't even a driver really, can mess with the video switching software to the point that a clean install is need to fix it. The software is used for mice and keyboards in logitech gaming line and controlled the extra buttons on my mouse. Guess I would have to know more about how the switching works with AMD/ATI cards. Anyway this is what I would call solved. Still going to test video driver updates and older versions of the gaming software and see if I can keep it working. This is when I wish i was right handed then getting a new mouse wouldn't be an issue.

will have to make a post on how I create the system image with everything installed. Then the steps need to mount the file like a real drive for testing. Creating it is pretty easy, theres an option on the left side of the backup app built into windows 7. Mounting that image and making it bootable is a little more tricky but for testing its worth it to me. my VHD file is 79.5GB in size and that's 90% of my software and 2 games. So you need space if you have a lot of stuff. Oh yeah and all my personal files are in there too.

so far without windows updates I have installed 80% of my software and still doing great. Currently installing my steam games and going to do another sys image. After that I was going to test older mouse software and update windows a bit pretty sure its only the mouse software and I have a trouble ticket with Logitech.

Well found what I hope is the only problem software, Logitech G300 Gaming mouse Title: Logitech Gaming Software (Current) Software Version: 8.20.74 I installed this and testing the switching and that little screen I posted wouldn't pop up and it wouldn't auto switch, I quickly uninstalled the mouse software and restarted and the switching works again. So some how this software does something to the switchable graphics app. I plan to write to logitech with my full system specs and everything and see if they with try and patch it or something. I really liked this mouse since they had a profile for BF3 it was easy to program the extra buttons for in game commands. BF3 only sees 2 of my 6 extra buttons with out the software. Still running stock drivers and have not updated windows, I do have a system image created less then 24hrs ago and might start doing updates and stuff and see how updated I can get without something breaking again LOL.

hey people, well been doing a lot to my R3, re-pasted the GPU and dropped the temps about 10c and am using trixx to OC to 800/1175 which gives me a steady 50-70 FPS in BG3 with temps no higher then 74c on the shader temp which always seem to be the highest in monitoring software. Also found out the logitech software for the G300 gaming mouse breaks the software that does the graphics switching. Also still running the factory installed drivers. Not sure I want to test the new ones just yet but will at some point. I also used windows image creator to create a VHD file of my system, with windows ultimate you can boot from a VHD file but with some editing of boot files, which at some point I am going to set up so I can have a test setup and my normal working system. then I can test drivers or what ever and if things don't work out a simple restart and select the regular system and I am back without hassles like I have had. I would image the HVD files could be run in a virtual pc also just don't think testing drivers would be as affective.

so far all the software I have installed has done nothing to mess it up. I am going to have a look at avail windows updates and see if I can read about the Intel update I got something tells me that's the issue. Before I test that theory out I am going to create another system image since once it screws up I can't correct it. but at least for today just installing software. Starting to wonder if I will be able to run 12.3 or 12.2 drivers since I know where the issue came from at this point.

well to keep the updated. On my own I did a factory restore and installed a bunch of windows updates, one with an Intel something. I have switching working fine and installing BF3 and other software checking that it still works and as of this writing I took this screen capture. So far so good, just installed my security software and still working. will make a system image with all my software and then start working my way thought windows updates and see which one knocks out my switching. then I can report this to dell and Microsoft and maybe they can fix it. Pretty sure there are others who have this issue but just don't switch over enough to even know it yet or have not installed the same updates from windows to have it crap out. Not sure how long it will take to go though all the updates think there was about 130 I did at once hehe.

I have to try and remember all this stuff, having to start from factory, normally takes me about 8 hours if I just sit and tweak windows and install software. Going to wait until next month to repast and start messing with the bios, I don't have a good place to tear down that far and I would like the extra 5-10 degrees in case I push things to far. I know there are settings I could use that would improve things I just really don't have much experience tweaking settings. Always had cheap laptops and really couldn't do anything besides the basics. I wanted to tweak and mess around with my alien just didn't know there can be so much tweaking possible I don't know where to start. Windows I have covered for the most part, AMD/ATI drivers not so much. BIOS have not really done anything with one in like 10 years LOL. I need to find a alienware tweakers guide for dummies

Didn't really get into OC or benching but having read there was hidden features I had to take a look. of all the laptops I have own this is by far the only one that even had as many options before unlockin it. I want to do a repast before I start messing around with settings as I don't want to damage anything. am I correct in think that if you disable something in the BIOS that its also not powered? like the wired network, could I disable that and it not be powered up to save a little battery life. yeah I know it wouldn't be much but disabling a few things could possible in the end mean more time. Like the Bluetooth radio having that enable would suck power, I have it disable in the BIOS and turned off any auto run process since i don't use it anyway. well mega tired so I am not sure that made sense but something that I always wondered about.

Mark thanks for all that info! I knew about the USB cases as I have one for laptop drives and have seen them for optical as well. I think the first upgrade I do will be a SSD drive as that should be the most noticeable in the short term. never thought about swapping out the DVD for another HDD. I currently have 1.1TB in total space right now and have a 314GB download I am working on and only have about 600GB free lol. I almost bought the killer wireless but wanted the mifi feature of the 6250. I also liked the wimax feature. going to have to read even more about SSD drives, I understand they are still pretty new and getting better almost every day. I figured doing a lot of large file transfers etc would wear them out faster but I guess I could be more careful with it. will have to do a better search about the LED alien head mod.

well tested out the unlocked version again and it works. Not sure what most of it does LOL but it works.

Ok this is basically just the start of the questions I have about upgrading. As its been about 8 years since I really did any builds or upgrades I have fallen behind in the new stuff out today. I am looking to upgrade everything that I can in the system speced in my sig. granted not at once but over time I want to max out what this system can have in it. 1. SSD - was looking at the M4 drives. I do tons of large file copies, rip DVDs I buy, tons of photoshop work and bryce renders. How long should an SSD last when any given day I could move 20-30GB of data around? should I get a small drive and work with 2 HDDs for my work load? or get a large drive for the speed. 2. CPU, I got the lowest CPU I could so I could get the best GPU off the start. I see on laptop monkey that there are tons of better CPUs. So would it be best to jump to the fastest CPU or maybe take 2-3 step ups. what is currently the best CPU that will go into a R3? 3. bluray, have thought about this and wonder if I should replace or just get an external since I don't use the drive for anything but ripping new DVDs I buy or burning backups of my photos. what brand would be best? 4. colored LED in the lid alien head, would this be possible? is the lid easy to open? have been inside the main part but don't want to break anything and have not seen any videos on this matter so not sure where to start. 5. would a laptop skin hurt the finish on an R3? I want to get a custom skin made up of one of my space scapes to put just under the alien head but little worried about messing up the finish. Also thought of custom painting the entire thing but again worried it might void the warranty. Any thoughts suggestions? 6. RAM, already have 8GB of Corsairs Vengence and going to get 8 more. would anything over 16 really be ever be used? have done some heavy renders and think I only used about 9GB of ram so I think even 16 might be over board. Also would having the mix be hurting performance ? 7. anything else I might have missed upgradable that could be worth the upgrade? well I think I covered everything and I will be reading posts about these upgrade plans on any post that covers that subject or reading it a second time to make sure I understand the new tech without having to ask all the time LOL. Thanks for reading this and any possible answers that might come of it. Like I said this won't be happening any time soon but it will at least get me up to speed and see what kinda $$$ I will need to save up for upgrades and just plain fun of opening such a sweet laptop that truly can have upgrades.

on is 100% on no dimming etc. Was in a text chat with a tech and he said the amd card should go into some type of power down like disabling it in device manager and maybe my card isn't doing that which is why it doesn't switch over. I can disable it in DM an it switches and then I can switch back but that is a pain. Thanks for the info the the nvidia card, will make sure i get that or better if they don't have em now.

I bought these same chips but only paid 50 bucks. Amazon didn't have them in stock at the time and not sure where i went but got em for less and want to replace the Samsung ones i have still in the system. I also need to sell off the ones that came out to put towards buying more Veng chips.

Well talked with Dell, followed their instructions and it worked for an hour again then wouldn't work after letting the computer sit for a while. dell thinks I have a bad 6990 and they are going to figure out if the can reproduce the problem with a system with the same specs and software which at this point is BF3, firefox and yahoo IM. I used my second HDD and restored my system to factory OS and after sitting for about 5 hours it wouldn't switch from the keys or the software so dell might either replace the 6990 or offer me a nvidia card. which nvidia card matches the 6990? any m17xr3 owners that have a nvidia card what is your F7 key have on it. mine is dedicated to graphics switching was wondering if switching cards would really make any difference or would I have to replace the keyboard too? Well I will post after they call me back what they offer to see what you guys think before I give my answer. I threw in the convo with the tech that I was retired army and it really turned the guy around to helping me. Didn't really like playing that card but it seems to have gotten my issue attention on their end and he stopped doubting my ability to work on my system. He was going to send a tech to check out my baby but I gave him my certifications and said I was a SSG in the army and that I am working on becoming a tech for dell. So i can work on my system so I am lucky and no strangers fingers will be inside this alien.

was just messing around on Dell and Alienwares sites, dell doesn't list the M14x as for sale right now. It also took me jumping around different pages on alienware to find the M14x. I also noticed that the m17x has very limited options at this time. Granted they might just have supply issues but I think the web sites are getting ready for this years models.

Well after downloading BF3 and doing nothing else but leaving the system on while I slept the switching doesn't work again!!! I give up trying to figure this out. Not worth my time and energy to solve this one. Totally don't understand how this driver is being change automatically without my input. I would also guess its why the switching doesn't work.

I just did a factory restore and am going to test out drivers now and see which ones work and which don't. I did notice that before i did the restore my intel drivers were set by ATI not intel. I couldn't get it to fix so am trying this. At the restored point with a clean slate and the switching works as I said. going to install 12.3 over this factory driver and see if I still have switching if not system restore back and try another until I am close to newest but still working. report back later what happens. Update 1. well installed 12.3 which the version number of the driver is strange everything works, no restart needed and I have switching and the newest drivers or at least I should. I will explain later and maybe take screen shots so I can explain better. Anyway have my system back and now installing the games and other software I use and happy that I have a 100% working system once again.

the M17x R3 has HDMI in and works with both intel and the AMD video. If I still had my machine like factory then I was able to switch graphics with a right click on desktop, FN F7, or going to the CCC and picking which graphics chip to use. the screen would go blank for about a second and return using the intel or AMD video. With the new drivers installed it doesn't work and has become very hard to switch. Its even harder to fix once done too. Soon a clean install will fix that and I will wait on Dell to update the drivers instead of not having this feature.

oh yeah would also like the audio stuff you talked about. Added after 4 minutes: Now boobs do you smoke to get high or whats your reason? I know there are times I like the high from it, like some like the buzz from drinking. The biggest reason I smoke weed now is the pain relief I get. Granted this could be all in my head not sure but I like the affects better then most pills doctors suggest for pain. Took me about a month maybe 2 to figure out the right about of smoke to use to get relief from the pain without getting the giggle at everything high.

Going to have to look into this, I too wish to stop smoking, health and money are my biggest factors. Tons of things I could do with the money we could save.

will check it out after I get some sleep.