# Travis' Alienware M15x Review



## Sir Travis D

Hello, and this is my Alienware Area-51 m15x laptop review. When I came home from school, it had arrived. I cannot post an unboxing video as my mom opened it. :'(

Here are some sized down pictures of it.









I will summarize the computer in to categories about it.



*Screen:* The screen is a gorgeous 15.4" display with clearview. It has a 1440 resolution, which is more than i'm used to. I have not found any dead or stuck pixels, and it is bright. However, the screen is really wobbly. 

*Keyboard:* The keyboard is one of the selling points of the m15x. It, along with the logo, bezil, touchpad, and alienhead lightup in different colors. You can even set it to pulse. In terms of performance, I do not really like the keyboard as much as other laptops. You can't type fast, because it misses some letters, and there is some give or whatever in the lower right area by the arrow keys. This is bad for gaming.

*Touchpad: *Again, the touchpad lights up. Other than that, I would say it is average. It is really glossy, but that's why I have a logitech mouse.

*Optical Drive:* The optical drive can only be opened with the fn+f8 keys. I don't like this, or the fact that it is a little flimsy.

*Sound: *I haven't tested it yet. I'll get to it later in a later post.

*Performance:  *I will post cod4 benchmarks later.

*Other ---*

This laptop is in my specs. 8700m gt graphics card, T8300 2.4ghz processor, dvd burner, 15.4" 1440 resolution, and lights everywhere.

I have been satisfied with it so far, except the OWNER IDENTIFICATION CARD WAS NOT INCLUDED


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## Kill Bill

Ouch that sounds terrible. On a mac you just hit F12 and it ejects the dvd /cd.


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## `PaWz

And yet _another_ mac fanboy comment from you. 

Pressing Fn+F8 would be too much effort for you, wouldn't it?


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## Kill Bill

`PaWz said:


> And yet _another_ mac fanboy comment from you.
> 
> Pressing Fn+F8 would be too much effort for you, wouldn't it?



My laptop doesn't have FN, What does that mean? And it's not a fanboy comment its the truth. Do you need a rolling demo to set you straight.


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## `PaWz

Who cares if it's the truth?  There's nothing 'terrible' about pressing two keys to open up an optical drive.  The fact that you think the mac is better because you can press one key instead of two makes it a fanboy comment.


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## voyagerfan99

You could always get "CD Tray Pal" and configure one key to open it.


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## Sir Travis D

I think it's alienware's stock drivers, as they are always bad. After a while of playing cod4, the display stopped working ect. I'll update the drivers later.

On gta san andreas, 1440 res with 2x anti, I get 50-60fps.


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## G25r8cer

Ha my stock HP pc has 2 open buttons for each tray! LOL 


Alienware is over-rated! Thats the TRUTH


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## G25r8cer

Sir Travis D said:


> I think it's alienware's stock drivers, as they are always bad. After a while of playing cod4, the display stopped working ect. I'll update the drivers later.
> 
> On gta san andreas, 1440 res with 2x anti, I get 50-60fps.



And how much did your mommy spend on that? Thats crap frame rate!! I get more than that with my 8600gt!!! And I bet I have half as much money in my pc as what that laptop costs!


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## G25r8cer

I want to see some 3dmark06 scores and get more beef on it!


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## Kill Bill

Sir Travis D said:


> I think it's alienware's stock drivers, as they are always bad. After a while of playing cod4, the display stopped working ect. I'll update the drivers later.
> 
> On gta san andreas, 1440 res with 2x anti, I get 50-60fps.



OUCH!  Uninstall the GPU and Sound and grab some from the Nvidia/Realtek etc web sites


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## speedyink

(@ g25racer) Woah dude...edit button



Kill Bill said:


> Ouch that sounds terrible. On a mac you just hit F12 and it ejects the dvd /cd.



On my laptop I don't have to hit any keyboard key, I just push the button on the dvd tray.

Who'd a thunk?


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## Washrag

I've been looking at this laptop myself actually. Interested to see your results.


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## G25r8cer

Sorry speedyink! I just get heated about people wasting their money b/c they have it and they get some over-rated crap and try to show it off! LOL


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## Sir Travis D

I can't get the x-540's to work

i have no idea what to plug where theres millions of cords im about to put the speakers back in the box


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## Vizy

g25racer said:


> Sorry speedyink! I just get heated about people wasting their money b/c they have it and they get some over-rated crap and try to show it off! LOL



LOL, thats not funny at all. He bought a laptop and he's showing *us*. not showing *off/B]. And if people pay money for something they're going to use, it's none of you business is it?*


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## Vizy

Sir Travis D said:


> I can't get the x-540's to work
> 
> i have no idea what to plug where theres millions of cords im about to put the speakers back in the box



Umm...how many possible sockets can a laptop have?


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## Sir Travis D

the subwoofer has to have 4 different cords pluged into it  - then there's this other cord that plugs into a converter, and the sound still doesn't work. Just don't worry about it; they're packed away for now. I'd rather spend my first few hours of owning this playing games than setting speakers up.

And how am I showing off? I don't have a $4000 laptop with sli 800's I have a gaming laptop that has lights - so? Someone here said about wanting the m15x, so that gave me another reason to write this.


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## Sir Travis D

Okay, some people complain about the sound, but it is ok for me. Maybe that's because i'm used to headphones and laptops, but it is crisp and loud.


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## G25r8cer

Sir Travis D said:


> the subwoofer has to have 4 different cords pluged into it  - then there's this other cord that plugs into a converter, and the sound still doesn't work. Just don't worry about it; they're packed away for now. I'd rather spend my first few hours of owning this playing games than setting speakers up.
> 
> And how am I showing off? I don't have a $4000 laptop with sli 800's I have a gaming laptop that has lights - so? Someone here said about wanting the m15x, so that gave me another reason to write this.



SLI 800's??


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## G25r8cer

Wow!! You spent almost triple what I did and mine will still kick your to the curb! LOL


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## Sir Travis D

I will not continue this review due to ignorant and mean comments


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## G25r8cer

Im just speaking the truth and nothing less


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## CPTMuller

What about the silent few who want to read your review? Just because fanboi bill and racer boy here don't seem to care about gaming laptops, doesn't mean none of us want to read the review. More pictures would be good too!


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## computeruler

i wouldnt get an alienware cause dell bought them


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## Vizy

Com on travis, i would really like to see more pics  Skrew the comments of g25 racer. His rag may or not beat yours. But u bought a Alienware, classy  

Don't make me PM u


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## `PaWz

You can just block racer.  Don't stop what you wanted to do just because some immature child had nothing else to do and flame the thread


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## G25r8cer

Ask the pro's and they will agree with me!


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## Sir Travis D

ok i'll try to get more pics and vids up - light pulse time!!!


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## Vizy

g25racer said:


> Ask the pro's and they will agree with me!



Shut the hell up, i'm not denying the stats of ur computer ok? Just show a bit of respect and don't flame.


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## Interested

@racerg25, dude, calm down. lol. I paid less too. but guess what, he can move his lappy around! he can have internet everywhere! He can even play games @ good settings anywhere! Whats the problem.

@ Sir Travis D: nice lappy. ill post a review of mine, since i've had it for 3 weeks, long enough to post a review....


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## Sir Travis D

You have the m15x too? cool
cmon stupid youtube I have a great pulsing video trying to upload..


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## voyagerfan99

g25racer said:


> Alienware is over-rated! Thats the TRUTH



Majorly.

For a while, I was looking for a slightly older A-51 laptop on Ebay. Most of them had bad motherboards, so that shows that Alienware uses cheap mobos.


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## Interested

no, i dont. haha, i wish...i love ur lappy. i have a dell vostro 1500, look in the sig for specs. Pretty good for games; you might laugh at the 8400M GS, but it plays CSS at max settings and race:wtcc as well, not to forget team fortress 2. I love my laptop very much....hahah.

cant wait to see the vid


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## Sir Travis D

alienware is overpriced, but they lightup. That's what matters to me.


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## Interested

hahaha....nice thing to show off to friends...lol. i hear ya. sometimes i wish my vostro did something special, but its just plain black. haha.


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## Sir Travis D

well i have the video, its 15 megs but I can't upload it to youtube or any site,,, it just disconnects


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## Interested

convert it to a lesser quality format, then try.


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## Sir Travis D

I converted it from 50 to 15 megs
the problem is my internet connection - when its uploading, it stops in like 2 minutes


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## Interested

oh.....upload it to a website like tinypic.com, see if it works.


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## Sir Travis D

I tried that before. Now kaspersky is blocking messenger even though its whitelisted. I have to reinstal it.


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## G25r8cer

Interested said:


> no, i dont. haha, i wish...i love ur lappy. i have a dell vostro 1500, look in the sig for specs. Pretty good for games; you might laugh at the 8400M GS, but it plays CSS at max settings and race:wtcc as well, not to forget team fortress 2. I love my laptop very much....hahah.
> 
> cant wait to see the vid



Here we go again! DELL, another known crap company!


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## G25r8cer

Why is it that always the youngsters like dell's? Prob b/c they are cheap and everyone can afford them but they are not even worth the cheap price that you pay.


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## `PaWz

g25racer said:


> Here we go again! DELL, another known crap company!


g25racer, another known idiot and troll!


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## djcon

Thanks for posting the review Travis, Very Much appreciated 

G25racer is just jelous


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## Vizy

Yea, thnx Travis. it is helpful because it wasn't biased....at least i don't think it was


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## CPTMuller

Actually, the Pro wow players use Dell Machines..... and at a semi pro tourney (CSS) I was at they used alienware machines...  Clan PMS uses dell machines as well.


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## G25r8cer

That means they are dumb too!


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## CPTMuller

g25racer said:


> That means they are dumb too!



Yeah I'm sure the people who demand the most out of their machines are dumb for using a brand that is tried and true as opposed to risking reliability for 50 pts on aquamark...
You sir are an elitist prick.


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## G25r8cer

Are you kidding me? DELL a reliable company? LMAO


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## CPTMuller

g25racer said:


> Are you kidding me? DELL a reliable company? LMAO



Relative to something you put together in your mothers basement, yes.


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## G25r8cer

What?


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## fatdragon

lol Sir Travis D who cares what other people say about your review atleast you have the guts to make one but anyways great review


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## TrainTrackHack

g25racer, chill out a little, dude. This guy is just making a review, not a big fanboy statement, it's a fairly good go considering Sir Travis is a 14 years old student  Hell, Ian didn't hire him as a pro reviewer... he's using his free time to make a piece of review for us, it's not going to take him anywhere in his life, unless you count the little experience he's gained, c'mon man you've got to give him some credit. Plus, you can't really take your desktop to some nice, quiet spot outside in sunlight and have a good time... sometimes you'll have to pay heaps extra for extra convenience over performance. And how much money did you lose because of this - or how many people have died? If the answer is "none", it can't be that bad after all, can it


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## daisymtc

Is that lappy hot after playing games?

You know some other brand hit the problem of overheating when playing game...

By the way, could you run some benchmark programs on your machine? just interest about what marks it score.


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## Sir Travis D

@daisymtc
Alienware released a bios update regarding the heat - and I don't have the burning hot 8800m gtx I have the 8700m gt which is still a $150 upgrade from the 8600..

Also, I will try to get more framerates after the drivers and bios updates, but I have to go to school right now 

I do have the alienware benchmarks from them. they have their test ratings saved on my laptop

*[FONT=Courier,Arial]Burn-In/Benchmarks[/FONT]*





Doom 3
Doom 3: 126.8 fps
 
3DMark 2006
Customer Information:
3DMark Score: 5,859.00 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 2,493.00
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 2,264.00
CPU Score: 2,164.00
Game Score: 0.00 Points
SM2.0 Graphics Tests
GT1 - Return To Proxycon: 20.19 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest: 21.37 FPS
CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley: 0.69 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley: 1.09 FPS
HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests
HDR1 - Canyon Flight: 19.07 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze: 26.20 FPS



Oh and guess what? My nameplate that goes on the bottom of the laptop is "back ordered" - well bye for now


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## G25r8cer

$150 upgrade from the 8600? Wow thats alot esp since your score is only a little higher than mine.


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## royalmarine

there's a big difference between a desktop and a laptop so lay off him for that.

for a laptop, thats pretty high specs.

sadly to say my DELL m1710 beats all


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## Kill Bill

Travis D: Not a bashful comment coming: Hows the graphics on it and the heat. It really sounds interesting any tips on how to remove lots of heat.

Source 1 why I might be asking this:

1. I might be getting a MBP tomorrow
2. They heat bad from what I hear when you watch DVDS or play games

Source 2: 
1. It's an alienware, I wanted the M9750 version last year but I just got a desktop computer
-------

Thanks.:


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## CPTMuller

Kill Bill, one thing I did when my laptop started to run hot was to simply prop up the back of the thing with a DVD case or one of those plastic computer game boxes (roughly 2 or 3 dvds thick), it allows better ventilation and is essentially free.


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## Kill Bill

CPTMuller said:


> Kill Bill, one thing I did when my laptop started to run hot was to simply prop up the back of the thing with a DVD case or one of those plastic computer game boxes (roughly 2 or 3 dvds thick), it allows better ventilation and is essentially free.



Wouldn't the laptop not burn the plastic on the games


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## CPTMuller

I didn't put it under the vent, the rear IO ports never got hot enough to do any damage, though if I had put it like IN a vent or something maybe.... I suppose macs vent through the back don't they? I suppose that might not work so well for you, regardless it was a very simple fix, and it certainly left my temps in check.


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## speedyink

g25racer said:


> Are you kidding me? DELL a reliable company? LMAO



Alright dude, lay off.  If you don't like Dell, fine, all the power to you, but stop being a prick about it.  I own a Dell laptop, and I've been extremely happy with it.  It performs awesome, doesn't overheat, everything works awesome, and I still get quite a bit of battery life out of it.  I can argue that Toshiba is crap too, but I don't, I keep it to myself, because it's relative to personal experience, which would mean nothing to people here.


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## Washrag

I've been looking at this with the T9300 and the 8800 GTX, but if those get really hot as you say, maybe an 8700 would be better.


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## TFT

Now then Travis 
Keep on going with the review, you gotta lot of interested guys wanting your thread to continue. Just ignore the sarcastic immature comments, they aren't worthy of a reply.


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## royalmarine

speedyink said:


> Alright dude, lay off.  If you don't like Dell, fine, all the power to you, but stop being a prick about it.  I own a Dell laptop, and I've been extremely happy with it.  It performs awesome, doesn't overheat, everything works awesome, and I still get quite a bit of battery life out of it.  I can argue that Toshiba is crap too, but I don't, I keep it to myself, because it's relative to personal experience, which would mean nothing to people here.



+1 to you. i love my dell. its very reliable, tech support are great when i had a broken screen. arrived the next day and took 15 mins to replace it.
comp doesnt get too hot and its wicked fast and portable.


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## funkysnair

Kill Bill said:


> My laptop doesn't have FN, What does that mean? And it's not a fanboy comment its the truth. Do you need a rolling demo to set you straight.



FN is the "function button" there will be a serries of small pictures on some of the keys, when fn is pressed and one of the keys with the picture it does what the picture stands for....

well thats what it has on my past 3 laptops


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## Sir Travis D

sorry people I was at school lol

The heat is not noticeable. Earlier, the m15x got really hot until the bios update. I haven't used the update, but the 8700m does not get hot. 

For the function keys. Fn+f8 does eject, fn+f7 switches between the integrated and dedicated graphics for the battery, fn+f4/5 toggles the screen brightness, fn+f11 brings up the light control thing, and fn+f12 lets the touchpad lightup even if alienfx+an external mouse is used.

The case itself, well, the monitor is wobbly. I knew that though.

Again, if you want graphics get the 8800. Alienware released a bios update about the fans malfunctioning. Now, it doesn't get that hot. But, the 8800 is a $500 update, this laptop would have costed us over $2400.

I'm going to play gta again   --without cheats
BTW, it is running on very high detail, 2x anti, and the full 1440 res and getting over 50fps. It sounds like that is good, similar to my m9750 before it was returned.


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## speedyink

Sir Travis D said:


> fn+f7 switches between the integrated and dedicated graphics for the battery



Wow, thats an awesome feature


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## Sir Travis D

Yes, 1.5hours versus 3hours of battery life at the click of a button. 
Well, I installed new nvidia drivers, gotta restart and test 

(400th post)


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## Sir Travis D

Okay, installed 173.90 drivers, and I will test them in gta:sa. 

BTW, my windows experience rating is 4.5, with the ram the lowest. It is only 1gb atm.


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## Sir Travis D

As some of you probably know, the m15x has smartbay. The laptop has one video card, one hard drive, and one battery and dvd/blu-ray drive. If you take the bluray/dvd drive out, you can insert a 2nd battery or hard drive. I tried it to see how it looked. Here are some pics.

Here is the smartbay dvd burner.





Here is the inside of the m15x





now to gta tests

edit: ok, on the same settings, I'm getting about 10-15 fps higher, around 53-60fps driving, 60-70 walking at cj's culdesac. Also, I haven't seen any of that lagging like before.


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## computeruler

wow thats pretty cool


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## Interested

g25racer said:


> Here we go again! DELL, another known crap company!



dude, wtf? i built my own computer.....what, you want me to build a laptop too? please. heh, at least i paid $600 and i dont know about you, but i think for $600, my lappy is a steal.

travis, the integrated/dedicated switch is awesome. i think thats how every laptop might be in the future. And the smartbay stuff is kick ass too!


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## computeruler

Interested said:


> dude, wtf? i built my own computer.....what, you want me to build a laptop too? please.



http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=laptop+barebones&um=1&ie=UTF-8


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## Interested

/\/\/\/\/\ LOL. and im suppose to get the other parts where?


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## CPTMuller

Newegg and the like sell the parts that you would need to finish putting together most laptops granted you have the GPU MOBO and casings.


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## Kill Bill

Sir Travis D said:


> As some of you probably know, the m15x has smartbay. The laptop has one video card, one hard drive, and one battery and dvd/blu-ray drive. If you take the bluray/dvd drive out, you can insert a 2nd battery or hard drive. I tried it to see how it looked. Here are some pics.
> 
> Here is the smartbay dvd burner.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the inside of the m15x
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> now to gta tests
> 
> edit: ok, on the same settings, I'm getting about 10-15 fps higher, around 53-60fps driving, 60-70 walking at cj's culdesac. Also, I haven't seen any of that lagging like before.



The GPU thing and thats pretty impressive I guess the smart bay is IDE so the HDD can go in but what about battery 2 lol. So it has stuff like a thinkpad


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## Sean89

I've got the m9750, had it for a couple months I love it .  Only thing that is annoying is that I still haven't upgraded the ram on it been lazy, 1gig of ram with vista is just a no go .


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## Gogey

g25racer said:


> Why is it that always the youngsters like dell's? Prob b/c they are cheap and everyone can afford them but they are not even worth the cheap price that you pay.



Here you are talking about how expensive his laptop is, then you criticize people for going with a cheaper computer.  Yes, I built my computer.  No, I most likely wouldn't buy a premade one.  But that doesn't mean everyone shares our opinion.  There are people that don't have any need for a 1337 rig.  Those are generally the people that go with premades because they get the job done.

And don't talk about your computer owning his.  Mine owns yours, and there are thousands of other computers out there that own mine.  Deal with it.  Its a laptop, last I checked, they weren't the best gaming machines.


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## Interested

Gogey said:


> Here you are talking about how expensive his laptop is, then you criticize people for going with a cheaper computer.  Yes, I built my computer.  No, I most likely wouldn't buy a premade one.  But that doesn't mean everyone shares our opinion.  There are people that don't have any need for a 1337 rig.  Those are generally the people that go with premades because they get the job done.
> 
> And don't talk about your computer owning his.  Mine owns yours, and there are thousands of other computers out there that own mine.  Deal with it.  Its a laptop, last I checked, they weren't the best gaming machines.



+1


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## claytonr1973

Travis- You need to go to your profile and add a few people to your IGNORE list. I know I will after reading this thread. Congrats on the new lappy. I got my XPS M1710 yesterday at 2:00 by DHL and by 4:15 I had spilled coffe(lots of cream and sugar) on my keyboard and now the keyboard is toast. No biggie,I called Dell today and they are sending me a new keyboard. The worst part is I never have drinks near my lappy and this time I was standing in front of it waiting while my Sprint broadband was installing. I took a drink from my coffee,it went down the wrong way and I started coughing and got some on keyboard. I was MAD. I'll try to get some pictures of it on here after I get new keyboard installed. Keep the review coming.


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## Washrag

claytonr1973 said:


> Travis- You need to go to your profile and add a few people to your IGNORE list. I know I will after reading this thread. Congrats on the new lappy. I got my XPS M1710 yesterday at 2:00 by DHL and by 4:15 I had spilled coffe(lots of cream and sugar) on my keyboard and now the keyboard is toast. No biggie,I called Dell today and they are sending me a new keyboard. The worst part is I never have drinks near my lappy and this time I was standing in front of it waiting while my Sprint broadband was installing. I took a drink from my coffee,it went down the wrong way and I started coughing and got some on keyboard. I was MAD. I'll try to get some pictures of it on here after I get new keyboard installed. Keep the review coming.



That is terrible. My mom spilled coffee on my expensive mouse the day after I got it.


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## computeruler

wow i would pretty much kill my self for spiiling coffe on my computer! and i would pretty much kill my mom for spilling coffe on my mouse! ok mabye not my mom cause i would just tell her buy a new one x10 times better then that one for me cause u broke it


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## CPTMuller

thats an auwful story


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## mep916

There's a similar review in this month's Maximum PC. They gave it 9-10. The model they reviewed costs over $4,000. Unbelievable. Sir Travis, do you think it's worth the price? How much did this model cost?


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## claytonr1973

mep916 said:


> There's a similar review in this month's Maximum PC. They gave it 9-10. The model they reviewed costs over $4,000. Unbelievable. Sir Travis, do you think it's worth the price? How much did this model cost?



If your talking about the OP's laptop his signature states he paid $2000 not $4000.


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## mep916

claytonr1973 said:


> If your talking about the OP's laptop his signature states he paid $2000 not $4000.



Ah thanks. I didn't see that.


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## Sir Travis D

If you can afford $4000, it is worth it. You can get a better deal with $2000, but I got sleek looks and great performance. And battery life.


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## claytonr1973

Travis-You been to busy enjoying your new laptop to finish your review?


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