jamster001

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that they were also able to change the case coloring from Space Black to Nebula Red.

I just got off the phone with a AW rep and they were able to change the GPU's for me. Instead of getting the 460m's, they were able to give me the 6970m CrossFire's. I am quite please and very thankful. It does pay off to get that extended warranty when available. :D

They have decided to send me a NEW M18x replacement laptop because it will apparently take twice as long to get a refurbished M17x. Not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. Below are the M18x specs they are sending me. I really wanted a Nebula Red Case and have been told that the 460m SLI is not that great compared to the 6970 Crossfire's but I already tried to call and have it changed and they said they cannot do that. Anyways here are the specs. What do you all think??? Quantity Item Number Description 1 225-0887 Alienware M18x Space Black Anodized Aluminum 1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install 1 313-8791 AlienFX Color, Mars Red 1 317-6849 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS) 1 317-6854 Intel Core i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache) 1 318-0770 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio 1 318-0843 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader, BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW 1 320-2269 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED 1 320-2270 Dual 1.5 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M 1 331-2425 Standard Nameplate 1 331-2428 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter 1 342-2628 750GB 7,200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 1 410-0548 Adobe Acrobat Reader 1 410-9453 McAfee Platinum, 15 Month, MUI 1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp 1 420-9956 PC Restore 1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG 1 421-1305 Roxio Creator Starter 1 421-1723 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware 1 421-5099 Alienware Command Center, M18X 1 421-5789 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media 1 430-4150 Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 a/b/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology 1 469-0549 Bluetooth 3.0 Any comments or suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Would it be worth it performance wise to just install a better graphics card setup myself or will the included ones work fine for gaming? Thanks again.

Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks again.

Thank you both for your replies. LOL...I did not actually create a table for the specs listed above. I just copied and pasted from dells website. I will try to see if a RGB screen is available. Or better yet, I will try to transfer the old screen to the replacement if it isn't a pain in the butt. I am looking forward to receiving the replacement laptop this evening when I get home from work. I do however like the looks and feel of the silver laptop that is broken over the matte black laptop. Wish they would just send me a Red one. lol. Oh well, as long as the lappy can run FPS's with no issues, I will be happy. Do you guys know if the graphics card they are sending in the replacement laptop is actually two seperate cards or are the cards just combined into one in a single bay? Thanks again.

Hello Everyone! As this is my first post I would just like to say that I am an Avid reader of this forum and greatly appreciate everyones knowledge when it comes to these over priced machines. lol Anyways, I have had my M17x R2 now for over a year and the motherboard burned out after a "Alienware Tech" took remote control of it to flash the BIOS with an update. Nice! Anyways, they are sending me a replacement which I confirmed today that it is another M17x R2. Not sure if this is good or bad since I been reading pros/cons about the R2's and R3's. I was actually hoping to receive a M18x but oh well, I cannot be greedy. Well here are my questions I am hoping you may be able to point me in the right direction. Here is a spec list of my "broken" R2... Quantity Parts # Part Description 1 FMPTP ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., NOTEBOOK..., SILVER..., ANW, M17X10 1 8WK6F Keyboard, Alienware, 101, ENG-US, Personal Computer 1 M960G Card, Wireless, Bluetooth, 370 Latin, 5DB, No Bios 1 WRD6T KIT..., DOCUMENTATION..., ANW, M17X10, ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., D/B 1 W075J Battery, Primary, 85WHR, 9C Lithium, Dynapack InternationalTechnology Corp 1 F836R Pad, Mouse, Alienware, M17X 1 K1NFP LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 17WUXGA, RED/GREEN/BLUE..., LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., AG, SAMSUNG... 1 DW6RN Kit, Software, W7HP64, Multi-Language, Alienware 1 1803X KIT..., DOCUMENTATION..., WYBL, ASSET RECOVERY BUSINESS..., EXCHANGE..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION... 1 TR555 Dvd+/-Rw, 8X, Serial Ata, SLOT, Sony Nec Optiarc Inc. 1 KVCX1 Card, Wireless, Half Mini-Card, DW1520 2 H299F Dual In-Line Memory Module, 2GB1067MHZ, 256X64, 8K, 200 1 9JPNY ASSEMBLY..., BRACKET..., HDD, FOAMKIT, M17X 1 XDNFF HARD DRIVE..., 250GB, S2, 7.2K, P11, SGT-HOLL 1 J408P Adapter, Alternating Current, 150W, Delta - Ac Adapt, 3P, World Wide, M09 1 H754T Assembly, Bracket, Video Graphics Adapter, Heatsink, M17X 1 FGF8T Processor, I7-620M, 2.66, 4MB, Arrandale, C2 1 C8245 Card, Graphics, Hard Drive, 5870, Parker, Mid-Life Kicker 1 K2490 Cord, Power, 110V, 6F, AlternatingCurrent, 3W, PROPOSITION 65..., United States HERE IS THE REPLACEMENT R2... Quantity Item Number Description 1 CD91C Base,Notebook,Black,Configure To Order,Alienware,M17X10 1 2835C Module,Documentation,Airborne,2-DAY,DELL DRCT 1 2J4FR Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP64,Alienware 1 5FJ8M Module,Label,Intel,Notebook,CI7 1 5PN1P Module,Processor,Clarksfield,I7-820QM,1.73,M17X 1 6FY1X Module,Accessory,Alienware,M17X10,England/english,Dao/bcc 1 6RDR6 Service Install Module,Software,Alienware,M17X10 1 7X54D Module,Information,Audio,M15X 1 8WG28 Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17WUXGA,Light Emitting Diode,M17X10 1 C465T Module,Bracket,Hard Drive, Second,With Connector,M17X 1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc 1 CTX0X MODULE,INFORMATION,WIRELESS, BLUETOOTH,370 1 D0W4H Module,Software,Alienware,COMMANDCNTR,M17X10 1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook 1 DNF92 Module,Information,CHASSIS,Black,M17X 1 GFWWN Module,Shipping Material,Pack,M17X10 1 H608T Module,Hard Drive,500G,7.2K,SGT-HOLL,Across Line Of Business 1 JY598 Module,Information,Software, Alienware,ALIENFX,Red 1 JY638 Module,Software,Alienware,AVATAR6 1 K972H Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,240W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide 1 KP779 Module,Software,Alienware,WALLPAPER,AW6 1 N329P Module,Information,Artwork NAME-PLT,Generic,M17X 1 N971H Module,Cord,Power,125V,2M,C13 United States 1 NT799 Module,Information,Alienware,AUTO-UPDATES,ON 1 NWTF3 Module,Card,Network,6300,Alienware 1 P1RPJ Module,Card,Graphics,5870,Parker,DUAL,Mid-Life Kicker 1 P398P Module,Software,NERO,9 Alienware 1 P811N MODULE,INFORMATION,DIRECTSHIP,FLEXTRONICS 1 R0N0R Module,Dvd+/-Rw And Bd-Rom,Hitachi Lg Data Storage,BARE,Alienware 1 T780J Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR 9C,Dynapack International Technology Corp 1 TN351 Module,Software,Breed-Theme,Alienware 1 V3C5M Module,Card,Network,370,Foxconn,Alienware,Dell Americas Organization 1 VW0X1 Module,Keyboard,Alienware,101,ENG-US,Personal Computer 1 W795M Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,8GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X4G 1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer 1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business 1 Y2FYM Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multi-Language,Alienware 1 Y540P Module,Software,Alienware CYBERLINK,YOUCAM I am having trouble trying to determine if Dell is "screwing" me here since it seems I am getting a slower CPU, a Non-RGB Screen, and I am not sure if the GPU is better or equvilent to the broken laptop. I do not see any real qualifing research on these CPUs and they are not even for sale when customizing a M17x on the Alienwares customixze ordering page. Any info on these processors? Sorry for the noobish questions but I am still learning all the tech-talk. Thank you all for your knowledge and patience with me.