Alienware M17x owners complaining of 'skipping, stuttering audio,' with no fix in sight (updated: fix in sight!)

Sorry, dudes and dudettes: It seems that a number of you who've purchased Alienware M17x rigs are running into some serious latency issues, particularly skipping and stuttering audio. According to a reader named augur, he has pinged the company, from whom he has received "no positive response or resolution." In addition, we've come across a number of detailed complaints from users all over the Interwebs, including postings on the Notebook Review and Dell Community forums. So what's the deal, Dell? Are you on this, or what? And dear readers, have you been running into problems with your Alienware?

[Thanks, augur]

Update: Dell and Alienware pinged us to say that they are aware of the issue and making strides to issue a fix. Huzzah!