unreal25

Great looks! Just stunning.

Now if only it had IPS or RGB LED...

Thanks. I used a gift card I got through some giveaway few weeks ago and knocked down the price to $70. It should be on the way soon!

Question: any thoughts on (seller or manufacturer) refurbished routers? Good/bad idea to get those? One could snatch WNDR3700 for about $80 (vs $120 new) off eBay.

Well Ive no idea whether that one also works as 'thick' one as suggested in the guide?

Any thoughts where to get MX-3 or TX-3 paste cheap? It's about $20 on Amazon.com with shipping.

Human eye cannot detect the difference between RGB LED and WLED. Yeah, and I am Santa Claus.

I found RGB LED pretty decent in terms of accuracy I guess after you play a little with calibrations. I was adjusting it using this website: LCD monitor test images but I do not have a professional color calibrating kit.

Not to go off topic, but I was comparing the M14x and Thinkpad W520 with nVidia Quadro 2000M. The score some guy on NBR got ( Result ) of ~11.5K in 3DMark06 seems to be inline with ~11k with GT 555M that's recorded on Notebookcheck for Dell XPS 17. But the price will probably be a bit lower for M14x (it's about $1.8K for W520 with this graphic card) + the Dell warranty is somewhat better I guess (how sad is that ) unless one is willing to go into $2K range and pay for extra onsite warranty.

Other than that, both laptops seem to have about the same weight, similar regular screens with the exception that Thinkpad has a matte one.

"LCD: 18.4", 1920x1080, WLED, TrueLife glossy panel" (this is a sarcastic, golfclap)

Wbabt007, how is he keeping focus on multiple programs? I lol'd. Good one.

Nah, don't have that much time to play around with it. But OK, thanks! I'll check out the BIOS. I thought it was for XM-only.

DR650SE, these are insane scores. The only way I could beat those if I abuse the low temperature lab in the corridor next to mine, which I don't will happen. The 920 and 940Xm are just brutal for overclocking. I had no idea the M17x power supply can power 125 W TDP on the CPU.

It's like saying I won't ever buy Alienware again because I have had crap experience with M11x (with literally every possible part of it). Both ATI cards work fine on my M17x-R2. I am still looking forward to T|I review of R3, but I don't see where all the hype is coming from. The only advantage I see is that it weighs 1kg less (while still being pretty heavy) and uses a single card that can match up the crossfire setup of R2. Is it at least more quiet?

In all other aspects, it's equally capable or worse machine than R2. Out of curiosity, which graphic card did you buy then?

Ah well I am joking a little. I think Dell's support website got screwed a little at some point... so my old R1 is showing as R3!

I don't think it's a typo though, because it used to say "R1".

Btw:

Heh... I hear some of the noises you mentioned here on my Thinkpad X200t. It's fan is always dead silent tho so I can't complain.

Reference: M14x FAQ - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

by Chris-M@Dell:

Processor type =

Second Generation Intel Core i3 Processors

Second Generation Intel Core i5 Processors

Second Generation Intel Core i7 Processors

Processor speeds =

i3-2310M, 2.1GHz, Duo Core

i5-2410M, 2.3GHz, Duo Core

i5-2540M, 2.6GHz, Duo Core

i7-2630QM, 2.0GHz, Quad Core

i7-2720QM, 2.2GHz, 6MB

i7-2820QM, 2.3GHz, 8MB

System chipset = Mobile Intel HM67 Express Chipset

Memory = 8GB 1333/ 1600MHz unbuffered non-ECC dual channel DDR3

Hard Drives =

Up to 750 GB 7200RPM

Up to 256 GB Solid State HDD

RAID = None

LCD types =

14.0 inch HD WLED with TrueLife 1366 x 768

14.0 inch HD+ WLED with TrueLife 1600 x 900

Video =

Integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000

Discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 555M

Video Memory =

Integrated 512 MB dedicated video memory (for total system memory greater than 4 GB)

Discrete 1.5 GB

TV Tuner = Optional

Camera = 2.0 megapixel HD Camera

Audio = Realtek ALC665 High-Definition surround sound audio controller

USB =

One USB 2.0-compliant connector with PowerShare

Two USB 3.0-compliant connectors

Media bay options = DVD+/-RW 8X,9.5,SATA SATA

Wireless LAN =

Intel Wireless 6250 Card

Intel Wireless 6205 Card

Bluetooth = Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Mini-Card (Optional)

NIC (LOM) = AR8151 Gigabit Fast Ethernet controller

Modem = External USB modem (no internal option)

I/O card slot = 9-in-1 card reader

IR support = Consumer IR

Connectors Left = VGA. HDMI output, Display Port, USB 2.0, Microphone, Headphone, 9-in-1 Media card reader, SIM card

Connectors Right = Optical Disc Drive, USB 3.0, RJ-45 Kensington lock slot

Operating system = Windows 7 (64-bit only)

Docking support = No internal dock, USB APR

AC adapter = 150 watt low profile AC adapter

Battery = 8 cell smart lithium ion (63 Whr)

Keyboard = Illuminated Keyboard

AlienFX Lighting = Blue (Default), Red, Lime, White, Yellow, Fuchsia, Aqua, Indigo

Physical Dimensions =

Weight = Weight with 8-cell battery and optical drive (starting at): 2.88 kg (6.35 lb)

Height : 37.80 mm (1.49 inches) Front and Back

Width : 337.00 mm (13.27 inches)

Depth : 258.34 mm (10.17 inches)

I guess at least you can put 2 HDDs if you toss out the useless optical drive.

Clint Mansell - Tree of Life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3z_4bka2fc

Yeah Ill give it a shot. Thanks!

I am contemplating on snatching that one WNDR3700 (or its "Lite" version) of eBay as soon as I figure out what my tax return is going to be. I think my WRT54GL isn't really working well anymore. (I tried doing a hard reset and the same problems. Only Skype connects and the WiFi works a little then stops until I reconnect.) Besides, I only ever got up to 1-2MB/s on WiFi.

Realistically the M17x-R3 makes sense for you and me Michael since we don't game heavily anymore. But knowing how much we crave power in a small form factor, the M18x will be calling us--like those sirens that would tempt men lol. OT: I saw that stealth bomber at a local air show, it looks quite deadly up close, especially when it's flying really low. I got a chance to touch it too, didn't feel exactly like metal.

Dammit, they are cutting the corners on their build quality too! Where does it end?!

I don't game that much too any more but I'll be still playing some new games, like Star Wars MMO and such. About the R3, I'd consider swapping my R2 for it maybe if it had a good (B+RG LED, RGB LED or IPS) screen. I'd go even for 14" version if it had a better screen. I know there's XPS 15 but I am not buying that crap- also the graphics performance is a joke.

Ah ye, I don't hear those noises. Only fans.

Speaking of which.... Have you tried downclocking/undervolting the graphic cards in order to reduce the fan noise? Does it even have any more quiet profile?

I typically use Stealthmode + Power Savings mode (or just Power Savings since with Stealthmode it feels a bit slugish), but I feel the fans are always on, on their minimum setting (2K RPM according to HWInfo32). I guess it would work more quiet had they actually enabled the IGP.

I play the new DLC of Fallout New Vegas, Magicka with a friend of mine and trying to find a decent Minecraft server.

That's neat. I might see if I can sell mine when I go home. It's just: a) I don't feel like dragging M17x on a crossatlantic flight and I just like this laptop too much.

The weight is certainly the advantage but I am not that sure what to think of R3 build quality and the new screen downgrade. It's puzzling they offer XPS laptops with better screens. I was contemplating the idea of just getting a single laptop and using it with a DIY ViDock for gaming (in that case it would def be Thinkpad X220) and getting an external IPS screen. But I don't think I can be bothered with spending that much time on all that, so might as well stick with what I have now.

Do you move the laptop around much?

P.S. AW Withdrawal - I know!

Eric G on this blog mentioned "another" screen in plan for M18x. Whatever it is, I guess it can't be worse than the regular R3 WLED screen. So I would add "Hopefully a better screen". I vote cancel too.

Btw why did you order R3? It seems marginally better than R2 (and that seems to depend which game we're looking at), it has worse screen and worse build quality.

If the weight is concern, I doubt the 18" crossfire beast will be any ligther than M17x. In that case, why not wait for M14x with me?