The case of Alienware's disappearing m15x edge lighting

The forum jockeys riding NotebookReview have whipped themselves into a rightful tizzy over their new Area-51 m15x laptops. It seems that the first round of recipients received their swank gaming machines with that programmable edge lighting intact. The rest lost it completely without even a hint from Alienware and certainly without the consent of its paying customers. The situation then turned ugly when at least some owners complained only to be told by Alienware's support that the power button was the 6th promised light zone, not the LCD edge. Now the good news. The light tubes are in there, but for whatever reason, a software patch must be applied to activate them. Crazy, right? The patch is available just beyond that read link.

[Via NotebookReview, thanks Richard H.]

[Blackster @ Feb 8th 2008 7:58AM]

bling bling!

[Bobs @ Feb 8th 2008 8:03AM]

The laptops would look very nice and neat if it didnt have that ugly alien on the cover. If they kept the LED lighting, they should have at least have made it pulse to the music.

[mark wright @ Feb 8th 2008 9:58AM]

What are you talking about...

[suineg @ Feb 8th 2008 10:20AM]

I put a book over the alien every time I go to sleep I hate it.

[bombgigitty @ Feb 8th 2008 4:36PM]

Where did you score your acid?... No really...I wnat some.

[Flashpoint @ Feb 8th 2008 8:05AM]

I don't see the practicality of fancy lighting on a laptop...but, if you must, might I suggest fiber optic cable hooked to a single L.E.D?

[Kamokazi @ Feb 8th 2008 8:59AM]

So are you saying there is practicality to fancy lighting on a desktop? I think fancy lighting on just about anything is impractical, it just looks cool.

[Twitchy @ Feb 8th 2008 8:08AM]

Reminiscent of another device recently mentioned for having hardware underutilised by the manufacturer.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/htc-further-responds-to-video-driver-issue-will-improve-future/

WTH is that all about? It's not as if the consumer hadn't paid for the functionality, otherwise the hardware shouldn't have been installed. I would not only take the laptop back, but deliver a sterilizing kick to the crotch of the idiot who canned the feature in order to prevent him from breeding.

[mattclarkie @ Feb 8th 2008 8:20AM]

I see no point to this feature, but if people paid for it, then they should get it.

[XGM @ Feb 8th 2008 8:52AM]

Remember this is Alienware, they are mostly paying for the name and a ugly case. My friend can build a laptop from Sager at thats 1900$ less then the equivalent Alienware laptop.

[Kamokazi @ Feb 8th 2008 9:06AM]

@XGM

This is the only 15" laptop with a 8800M GTX in it. The best I've seen on any other 15" is a 8600M GT.

In many cases you do pay for the name, but sometimes they have things that others don't.

[Dr. Evil @ Feb 8th 2008 12:54PM]

"The situation then turned ugly when at least some owners complained only to be told by Alienware's support that the power button was the 6th promised light zone, not the LCD edge."

Oh that's nice.

[XGM @ Feb 8th 2008 2:35PM]

@ "Kamokazi" Shure it may have the 8800M GTX, but a 15" is just too small for a desktop replacement, while being too big to be easily portable.

With that said, lets compare a M9750 Alienware to a NP9262 from Sager;

4,460$ From Alienware gets me;
2.33GHz C2D (best CPU)
512MB 8700M GT (x2 in SLI)
4GB 667MHz Ram and 2x200GB 7200 RPM drives
2x Dual layer Blu-Ray burner

4,530$ From Sager gets me;
2.66 C2D (slowest CPU)
512mb 8800M GTX (x2 in SLI)
4GB of 800MHz ram (faster) and the the same harddrives (option to add a third)
Same blu-ray drive with nero

Size factors are the same, build quality are both good too. But the Sager gets much better performance on every component for 70$ more, and i can upgrade to a Core 2 Extreme with a third harddrive if i wanted to.

[derred @ Feb 11th 2008 3:29AM]

at XGM,

"@ "Kamokazi" Shure it may have the 8800M GTX, but a 15" is just too small for a desktop replacement, while being too big to be easily portable.

With that said, lets compare a M9750 Alienware to a NP9262 from Sager"

What did you mean it's too big to be easily portable? It's 15 incher laptop which is portable compared to "With that said, lets compare a M9750 Alienware to a NP9262 from Sager". M9750 is heavier and bigger than m15x.

Did you realize that? And m15x is thinner than m9750 too. It's called technology, Mr caveman.

But at least you gave real example which is great. I hate to see typical comment about how Sager or Clevo is damn cheaper than Alienware bla bla. Thing is, like some other mentioned, Alienware has what others don't. So if Alienware is your company, why in this world wouldn't you charge a lil bit extra when you pioneered things? Be realistic, not some poor fact-twisting lil bastards who can't afford to buy AW and make fake news out of jealousy.

Facts are facts, and make it clear. It's Arima by the way, not Clevo anymore for Alienware. Keep spreading the words from now will ya. Thank you.

[Justin @ Feb 8th 2008 8:40AM]

I think the before and after picture in this is switched around.. before should be the after

[moisturerichsoy @ Feb 8th 2008 8:48AM]

I think the before picture is supposed to be the customers who bought a the laptop before the change (change being the feature no longer included ie lighting software missing) and the after picture represents the customers who purchased after the change.... hence no lighting.

[Matthew @ Feb 8th 2008 8:53AM]

Anything over an inch thick is too thick.

[Tom Oliveri @ Feb 8th 2008 8:59AM]

lol snob

[Andir3.0 @ Feb 8th 2008 9:00AM]

I'll keep that in mind when the engineers come around with the latest bridge design. ;)

[Kamokazi @ Feb 8th 2008 9:06AM]

Maybe for you. But believe it or not, people actually prefer different thing. Like some people don't care how big their laptop is, as long as it can be moved easier than a desktop. They may be concerned with things like...performance?

[John B @ Feb 8th 2008 9:26AM]

Luckily for you, my mind's not in the gutter this morning. :P

[pliu @ Feb 8th 2008 10:08AM]

Thats what she said! ......?

[Precision @ Feb 11th 2008 2:08PM]

Matthew, is that all you're packing ? ^^

@John B: unfortuantly, mine is :p

[Tom Oliveri @ Feb 8th 2008 9:08AM]

i dont think alienware are cool anymore.

[o29 @ Feb 8th 2008 9:40AM]

Were they ever?

[Didou @ Feb 8th 2008 9:10AM]

Maybe one of their first customers spontaneously combust with the laptop on his lap. :-P

[Richard @ Feb 8th 2008 9:12AM]

Thank you for posting this Engadget! Maybe it will get Alienware's attention and push them to improve customer service.

[Eric Hobbs @ Feb 8th 2008 9:25AM]

Speaking of the m15x, whatever happend to the m17x?

[Kelmon @ Feb 8th 2008 9:26AM]

I'm honestly shocked that the useless case lighting comes included in the base price but you have to pay $50 extra to get the one item of useful lighting - an illuminated keyboard. "The Fast & The Furious" has a lot to answer for in my opinion.

[dreampc @ Feb 8th 2008 9:58AM]

Alienware too my $3k+ and that laptop lasted less than a year... and had to be returned TWICE.

Beautiful Disaster..

[eEZER @ Feb 8th 2008 10:12AM]

The troubles for mankind runs deep indeed...

[Chris Aubeck @ Feb 8th 2008 12:01PM]

What spam are you smoking?

[Joke Ordero @ Feb 8th 2008 12:07PM]

It looks like Alienware still hasn't solved their customer support issues--it's the worst customer support I've ever experienced. I purchased an m5000 laptop expecting the best, it was the most I'd ever spent on any electronic. They sent me the wrong laptop, wouldn't take it back, argued about it. I got what I paid for eventually but it took many angry phone calls and a lot of trips to the Fedex office. I'm not surprised that they'd pull a scam like this.

[Wilco @ Feb 8th 2008 12:24PM]

Yeah, this doesn't come as a surprise to me either. Alienware's customer support is TERRIBLE. I paid more than I ever thought I would for a computer and it didn't last even a year.

I think it's important to note that they don't usually make the notebooks they sell. They're actually re-branded OEM notebooks made by other manufacturers (like Arima and Clevo). However, as soon as they put their name on it they need to assume responsibility for any issues that arise (which are pretty much guaranteed to happen with an AW machine).

[mb67 @ Feb 8th 2008 1:37PM]

@Wilco:

I bought an AW Area-51 m5500 in Apr of 2006, and the customer service has been outstanding. They contacted me after it was delivered to make sure that everything was working properly, and they even called back after a month had passed just to follow up. I have never had an issue with them and the laptop has been working flawlessly.

[Paulmichael @ Feb 8th 2008 3:22PM]

Same here. I've had a wonderful experience with them, but their upgrade policy seems a bit shady...I was under the impression that I could upgrade my mALX at a later time, but now it appears I might not be able to. This was supposed to be my desktop replacement that would last me all through college...Now, it will still be able to, but not with games playing on all maximum settings...

[mb67 @ Feb 8th 2008 3:32PM]

It's really difficult getting a gaming laptop that will stay competitive for more than a year or two. I think that this m15x would be just about as close to future-proof as you could get, especially with the 8800GTX. I just read an awesome review that states the 8800GTX benchmarks blow away the SLI 9750's. Most impressive...

[Hoos @ Feb 8th 2008 3:31PM]

Who buys these things? The same people who install neon accents under their car to help highlight their spinners? If I saw someone using one of these at a cafe, I'd just laugh at them. And point. And ask if they were out past their curfew. Well, until someone with a MBA came in.

A little more important than the pooter bling is whether or not the thing works. But a large number of NBR folks seem more caught up in appearance than in performance.

[Aguiluz @ Feb 9th 2008 11:39AM]

I'd laugh at you if you have a car "that's good in performance" but it's really banged up. Or you have a high performance laptop that is scratched up. Sure, if you can take care of the computer's appearance, you are responsible enough to take are of it. Are you? I want one of these, screw the haters because they are afraid of ruining a good looking laptop or ruining a good looking car or whatever that looks good. Stick to your Toughbook! (No offense)

[Greg @ Feb 8th 2008 7:57PM]

Lol, it really is amusing seeing the comments made by some people about how 'crap' and useless Alienware are. Come on, you're all the jealous guys who would actually want one, yet cant afford one....or you're the type that takes the moral high-ground about 'spending an extra 200 when i could get something slightly better'.

You're paying for the brand name! Alienware is always going to be top-notch for gaming, etc. Sure, there may be Sagers and Dells with slightly better components for less money. But i'd rather pay that extra cash for the goregous look + name, than sit down to a plain block - that would make me weep, no matter wth is inside.

The new M''x series looks funky and futuristic. Buy one!

[Newfiejudd @ Feb 8th 2008 11:06PM]

This system rocks. And if you think the built quality is the same between the clevo/sager and the M15x your very wrong. THsi unit also score over 10k in 3dMark06. I can play Crysis at 22-28 fps on high settings in a portable 7lbs system. Yes the lights are a little different but the keyboard is fantastic.

I just hope some one figures out how to unlock the GPU with a BIOS update. Happy I bought this system.

[Wwhat @ Feb 9th 2008 4:54PM]

Still, if it has lights in there why disable them?

Perhaps it's a rights thing, perhaps philips patented it as 'ambilight' and they just found that out at alienware.