Hello all, I've been reading about the spate of recent negative comments on AW notebooks and would like to add my 2 cents here. Around the end of last year, I purchased an Area-51m 7700 with a P4 3.4GHz 2GB RAM Geforce Go 7800 GTX config. I received that shipment in 10 days, all the way from Ireland to Hong Kong, where I live. The service was fantastic and in the last 4 months, I've had absolutely no problems with the notebook whatsoever. It has performed flawlessly. In February this year, a close friend of mine offered to buy the notebook off me and I took the opportunity to order an Aurora m7700 FX 60 unit. Would like to provide some feedback on the ups and downs of my experience.
(1) Ordering
I ordered on 22 February with an estimated ship date of 31 March. This was far from smooth. In the first week, the customer support staff had many problems with collecting payment despite me having bought from them 2 months before. To cut a long story short, there was some miscommunication and after 1.5 weeks of faffing about, they finally collected payment. Towards the end of March, I was told there would be a delay due to some parts being in shortage - one customer support officer told me the "D900T Clevo video card was not in stock". Anyway, I was told my order would be given priority and should be shipped within 7 working days from 31 March. And then, voila, on 6 April, I actually received the unit all the way from UK to Hong Kong, earlier than expected! A pleasant surprise, "only" 6 days late which I have no problems with. All in, roughly a 6-week wait....not bad...
(2) Initial setup
I set about installing various software and games over the last 4 days or so. On the 2nd day, I started getting the famous BSOD (blue screen of death) intermittently. Thinking oh no, here we go again, all the stories are true (even went out and bought myself some new RAM thinking it may be some bad sticks)....I figured I should uninstall some of the software which I had installed just to make sure it wasn't software-related. When I uninstalled the first software I had installed prior to the BSODs, Kaspersky Anti-Hacker firewall (oddly enough), the BSODs stopped! I can't quite figure it out (I'm no novice, but not exactly a pro either) but the BSODs have not recurred ever since. Fantastic! (had not changed the RAM sticks) 3 days later, I am playing HL2 and Fear with absolutely no problems. Also been putting the system through some 3DMark05 testing with no problems. Running smoothly and a real monster performance. The FX60 chip is so much better than the P4. It seems to run cooler. I was very pleased with my Area-51m but the Aurora FX60 really kicks it in the teeth.
(3) Benchmarks
Initial run with the Nvidia 79.31 driver clocks in at burn-in mark of low 6,800s with 3DMark05. With the 84.20 driver, it clocks in at 7,100, with Zone Alarm and Kaspersky Anti-virus running in the background! Huge gain with change with the new driver! In contrast, my Area 51m with P4 3.4GHz clocked in at 6,400 (81.94 shipped) with some small gains with the 84.20. Haven't yet run 3DMark06 but I'm guessing a roughly 10% improvement over my Area 51m score of 3,277.
Added 11 April: 3DMark06 score comes in at 4,085
(4) Games
With the inbuilt test module in FEAR, I was getting average 58fps with 4xAA and 4xAF everything else at maximum (except soft shadows off) running at 1024x768. At the exact same settings for the Area 51m, I was getting average 50fps. Roughly a 15% better performance. On HL2, which has a known stutter problem due to the way audio sounds are loaded, I needed to use the "Maldo fix" (head over to Steam forums to find out) to get rid of the sound stutters on my Area 51m (and a very good fix it is). With the Aurora, there was no need for the fix, the game runs smooth with no lags or stutters. I have also been playing Pro-Evo Soccer 5 on the Aurora with a marked improvement in speed over the Area 51m - I've even had to turn up the resolution to the maximum possible to slow down the game as it was running TOO FAST for me to get a grip on the game. The ball was zipping around like no tomorrow. The FX60 really kicks P4's a*se.
(5) Overall
After a shaky start, I am very very happy with the Aurora. No BSODs over the last 2 days playing games and running absolutely smoothly. After reading the horror stories here, I considered seriously cancelling the order over the last 6 weeks. However, in part because of my promise to my friend and in part because of the innate optimist in me, I stuck it out. And I have to say, I am very pleased with the result! Remains to be seen whether the BSODs will return....has not returned even once after I uninstalled Kaspersky Anti-Hacker, which I find slightly odd (given Kaspersky's good rep) but such is life and computers. The optimist in me tells me it will all be fine. I hope this story helps to console some of the other people out there waiting for their Auroras! My conclusion: customer service 7/10, notebook 9/10 (assuming no more BSODs), not 10/10 probably because of the cost. One final comment, my Aurora actually had the D900K and not the D900T in the end.
Here are my specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-60 Processor with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional UK with SP2 - English
Warranty: Aliencare Free Phone 1-Year 24/7 Warranty
Case: Alienware® m7700 Case with 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 Display with Built-in Camera
Memory: 2GB DDR PC-3200 400MHz - 2x1024MB
Video Card: Alienware® m7700 NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800GTX with 256MB of DDR3 memory
System Drive: Dual Drive Configuration - Non RAID - 200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
Optical Drive One: DVD-Burner: 8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24x CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA
Wireless network: Internal Wireless 802.11a/b/g miniPCI Card
Home Video Editing: Pinnacle Studio version 9 SE
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
Modem: 56K Modem with V.92 Technology
Ethernet NIC: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (DSL-ready)
Bluetooth: Belkin® Bluetooth™ USB Adapter
Keypad: Mobile Keypad - English
(1) Ordering
I ordered on 22 February with an estimated ship date of 31 March. This was far from smooth. In the first week, the customer support staff had many problems with collecting payment despite me having bought from them 2 months before. To cut a long story short, there was some miscommunication and after 1.5 weeks of faffing about, they finally collected payment. Towards the end of March, I was told there would be a delay due to some parts being in shortage - one customer support officer told me the "D900T Clevo video card was not in stock". Anyway, I was told my order would be given priority and should be shipped within 7 working days from 31 March. And then, voila, on 6 April, I actually received the unit all the way from UK to Hong Kong, earlier than expected! A pleasant surprise, "only" 6 days late which I have no problems with. All in, roughly a 6-week wait....not bad...
(2) Initial setup
I set about installing various software and games over the last 4 days or so. On the 2nd day, I started getting the famous BSOD (blue screen of death) intermittently. Thinking oh no, here we go again, all the stories are true (even went out and bought myself some new RAM thinking it may be some bad sticks)....I figured I should uninstall some of the software which I had installed just to make sure it wasn't software-related. When I uninstalled the first software I had installed prior to the BSODs, Kaspersky Anti-Hacker firewall (oddly enough), the BSODs stopped! I can't quite figure it out (I'm no novice, but not exactly a pro either) but the BSODs have not recurred ever since. Fantastic! (had not changed the RAM sticks) 3 days later, I am playing HL2 and Fear with absolutely no problems. Also been putting the system through some 3DMark05 testing with no problems. Running smoothly and a real monster performance. The FX60 chip is so much better than the P4. It seems to run cooler. I was very pleased with my Area-51m but the Aurora FX60 really kicks it in the teeth.
(3) Benchmarks
Initial run with the Nvidia 79.31 driver clocks in at burn-in mark of low 6,800s with 3DMark05. With the 84.20 driver, it clocks in at 7,100, with Zone Alarm and Kaspersky Anti-virus running in the background! Huge gain with change with the new driver! In contrast, my Area 51m with P4 3.4GHz clocked in at 6,400 (81.94 shipped) with some small gains with the 84.20. Haven't yet run 3DMark06 but I'm guessing a roughly 10% improvement over my Area 51m score of 3,277.
Added 11 April: 3DMark06 score comes in at 4,085
(4) Games
With the inbuilt test module in FEAR, I was getting average 58fps with 4xAA and 4xAF everything else at maximum (except soft shadows off) running at 1024x768. At the exact same settings for the Area 51m, I was getting average 50fps. Roughly a 15% better performance. On HL2, which has a known stutter problem due to the way audio sounds are loaded, I needed to use the "Maldo fix" (head over to Steam forums to find out) to get rid of the sound stutters on my Area 51m (and a very good fix it is). With the Aurora, there was no need for the fix, the game runs smooth with no lags or stutters. I have also been playing Pro-Evo Soccer 5 on the Aurora with a marked improvement in speed over the Area 51m - I've even had to turn up the resolution to the maximum possible to slow down the game as it was running TOO FAST for me to get a grip on the game. The ball was zipping around like no tomorrow. The FX60 really kicks P4's a*se.
(5) Overall
After a shaky start, I am very very happy with the Aurora. No BSODs over the last 2 days playing games and running absolutely smoothly. After reading the horror stories here, I considered seriously cancelling the order over the last 6 weeks. However, in part because of my promise to my friend and in part because of the innate optimist in me, I stuck it out. And I have to say, I am very pleased with the result! Remains to be seen whether the BSODs will return....has not returned even once after I uninstalled Kaspersky Anti-Hacker, which I find slightly odd (given Kaspersky's good rep) but such is life and computers. The optimist in me tells me it will all be fine. I hope this story helps to console some of the other people out there waiting for their Auroras! My conclusion: customer service 7/10, notebook 9/10 (assuming no more BSODs), not 10/10 probably because of the cost. One final comment, my Aurora actually had the D900K and not the D900T in the end.
Here are my specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-60 Processor with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional UK with SP2 - English
Warranty: Aliencare Free Phone 1-Year 24/7 Warranty
Case: Alienware® m7700 Case with 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 Display with Built-in Camera
Memory: 2GB DDR PC-3200 400MHz - 2x1024MB
Video Card: Alienware® m7700 NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800GTX with 256MB of DDR3 memory
System Drive: Dual Drive Configuration - Non RAID - 200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
Optical Drive One: DVD-Burner: 8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24x CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA
Wireless network: Internal Wireless 802.11a/b/g miniPCI Card
Home Video Editing: Pinnacle Studio version 9 SE
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
Modem: 56K Modem with V.92 Technology
Ethernet NIC: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (DSL-ready)
Bluetooth: Belkin® Bluetooth™ USB Adapter
Keypad: Mobile Keypad - English
How about some pics?
Good on ya!
(1) Ordering
I ordered on 22 February with an estimated ship date of 31 March. This was far from smooth. In the first week, the customer support staff had many problems with collecting payment despite me having bought from them 2 months before. To cut a long story short, there was some miscommunication and after 1.5 weeks of faffing about, they finally collected payment. Towards the end of March, I was told there would be a delay due to some parts being in shortage - one customer support officer told me the "D900T Clevo video card was not in stock". Anyway, putting aside that amusing comment, I was told my order would be given priority and should be shipped within 7 working days from 31 March. And then, voila, on 6 April, I actually received the unit all the way from UK to Hong Kong, earlier than expected! A pleasant surprise, "only" 6 days late which I have no problems with. All in, roughly a 6-week wait....not bad...
(2) Initial setup
I set about installing various software and games over the last 4 days or so. On the 2nd day, I started getting the famous BSOD (blue screen of death) intermittently. Thinking oh no, here we go again, all the stories are true (even went out and bought myself some new RAM thinking it may be some bad sticks)....I figured I should uninstall some of the software which I had installed just to make sure it wasn't software-related. When I uninstalled the first software I had installed prior to the BSODs, Kaspersky Anti-Hacker firewall (oddly enough), the BSODs stopped! I can't quite figure it out (I'm no novice, but not exactly a pro either) but the BSODs have not recurred ever since. Fantastic! (had not changed the RAM sticks) 3 days later, I am playing HL2 and Fear with absolutely no problems. Also been putting the system through some 3DMark05 testing with no problems. Running smoothly and a real monster performance. The FX60 chip is so much better than the P4. It seems to run cooler. I was very pleased with my Area-51m but the Aurora FX60 really kicks it in the teeth.
(3) Benchmarks
Initial run with the Nvidia 79.31 driver clocks in at burn-in mark of low 6,800s with 3DMark05. With the 84.20 driver, it clocks in at 7,100, with Zone Alarm and Kaspersky Anti-virus running in the background! Huge gain with change with the new driver! In contrast, my Area 51m with P4 3.4GHz clocked in at 6,400 (81.94 shipped) with some small gains with the 84.20. Haven't yet run 3DMark06 but I'm guessing a roughly 10% improvement over my Area 51m score of 3,277.
Added 11 April: 3DMark06 score comes in at 4,085
(4) Games
With the inbuilt test module in FEAR, I was getting average 58fps with 4xAA and 4xAF everything else at maximum (except soft shadows off) running at 1024x768. At the exact same settings for the Area 51m, I was getting average 50fps. Roughly a 15% better performance. On HL2, which has a known stutter problem due to the way audio sounds are loaded, I needed to use the "Maldo fix" (head over to Steam forums to find out) to get rid of the sound stutters on my Area 51m (and a very good fix it is). With the Aurora, there was no need for the fix, the game runs smooth with no lags or stutters. I have also been playing Pro-Evo Soccer 5 on the Aurora with a marked improvement in speed over the Area 51m - I've even had to turn up the resolution to the maximum possible to slow down the game as it was running TOO FAST for me to get a grip on the game. The ball was zipping around like no tomorrow. The FX60 really kicks P4's a*se.
(5) Overall
After a shaky start, I am very very happy with the Aurora. No BSODs over the last 2 days playing games and running absolutely smoothly. After reading the horror stories here, I considered seriously cancelling the order over the last 6 weeks. However, in part because of my promise to my friend and in part because of the innate optimist in me, I stuck it out. And I have to say, I am very pleased with the result! Remains to be seen whether the BSODs will return....has not returned even once after I uninstalled Kaspersky Anti-Hacker, which I find slightly odd (given Kaspersky's good rep) but such is life and computers. The optimist in me tells me it will all be fine. I hope this story helps to console some of the other people out there waiting for their Auroras! My conclusion: customer service 6/10, notebook 9/10 (assuming no more BSODs), not 10/10 probably because of the cost. One final comment, my Aurora actually had the D900K and not the D900T in the end.
Here are my specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-60 Processor with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional UK with SP2 - English
Warranty: Aliencare Free Phone 1-Year 24/7 Warranty
Case: Alienware® m7700 Case with 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 Display with Built-in Camera
Memory: 2GB DDR PC-3200 400MHz - 2x1024MB
Video Card: Alienware® m7700 NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800GTX with 256MB of DDR3 memory
System Drive: Dual Drive Configuration - Non RAID - 200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
Optical Drive One: DVD-Burner: 8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24x CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA
Wireless network: Internal Wireless 802.11a/b/g miniPCI Card
Home Video Editing: Pinnacle Studio version 9 SE
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
Modem: 56K Modem with V.92 Technology
Ethernet NIC: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (DSL-ready)
Bluetooth: Belkin® Bluetooth™ USB Adapter
Keypad: Mobile Keypad - English
I just got my Aurora 64 FX60 on May 25th 2006 and the same EXACT thing happened to me. The blue screen came up after I reinstalled the os from xp home to xp professional. The xp professional was Alienware software from my last laptop (the one I killed by trying to take a memory stick out without grounding myself and fried the motherboard) anyway, I installed system machanic pro 6 which has Kaspersky anti-hacker software on it and pow, the dreaded BLUE SCREEN. As I write this my Aurora is in Tenesse getting surviced by AW. In fact it just arrived their today via fed-ex. The tech's at AW thought it might be the memory sticks too, and tried to walk me through fixing it over the phone. I couldn't get one of the screws out and given my horror story with my last lap top, I really didn't want to go into the system myself anyway. I'm so glad I read your post, I'm hoping that's all that is wrong with mine too, but it sure sounds like that's what the problem is. I probably won't get it back for about 3 weeks but when I do, I'll let you know what happens. I'll be curious to see what it is too; but after reading your post, i'm almost 100 percent certain it was the anti-hacking software. Thanks for the post. I'll keep you posted too. Pun intended, sort of . lol
Have fun with your Aurora; I plan on having fun with mine upon it's return. I wish I had it right now, but all good things come to those who wait. Just look at the phase phase and you know what I'm talking about. lol
bye for now
astronut
If you want to give your 7700 away since it's ancient, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands to save you from the costs of getting rid of it...
THIS IS GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO HUMANITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
at least materially speaking!!!!! and there is 2 s55 benz's downstairs so i know the finer things... never thought i would be making that comparison!!!!
Hands down the greatest laptop in the world!!!!!!
YANG you will love it...
when i play cs/sourse on all max max settings i get an fps rate between 120-155...actually every game i play at least has 40-75 fps when full eye candy is turned to the UBER level!!!!!!
it is silky smooth.... EVRYTHING IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE ABOUT THIS MACHINE!!!!!!! ALL THE HATERS ON AW I KNOW WERE LIKE DAMN I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
a real review will be done soon pm me in the mean time if you want any quick answers...THIS THING IS THE SEXIEST BEAST ON THE PLANET.....and doesn't complain to me at all......no error messages and i have close to 100 gigs of programs and data loaded!!!!!!!!!!!! ..... on a sad not my Father is in the hospital and it's gettin pretty scarey so sorry if i seem confused i am in a world of "DAMN THIS AW IS THE BEST" to damn i hope my dad makes it to see this thing!!!! he is gonna love it and maybe get away from that pos uber 10k mac he has!!!! back to AW just pm ne if you have any quick q's i will be checking and i will get back asap!!! This machine deffinitely a 10/10 in my book and i am extremely picky when it comes to the finer things in life.... damn this blue is deaper and richer than my friends STI it is a real beauty and whoever is still waiting on her.....GOOD LUCK B/C THIS IS ONE BEAST AND YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPOINTED!!!!!!!! PEACE
....a real review w/ benchies soon!!
oh and yes here are my specs i am actually usuing the combo drive instead of the dual layer b/c i love the slot drive!!!!! i have another dual layer drive too!!!
1] Aurora™ m7700
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-60 with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service / AlienAutopsy / Respawn
LCD Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD Clearview Display with Built-in Camera
Motherboard: VIA K8T890 + VT8237A Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Video Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7800 GTX
Hard Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 24x10x24 CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo w/Software MPEG2 Decoder
Secondary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS PCMCIA
Primary Battery: Alienware® m7700 12-cell Lithium-Ion Smart Battery Pack
Additional Battery: Alienware® m7700 12-cell Lithium-Ion Smart Battery Pack
Notebook Coolers / Stands: Xbrand 360 Adjustable Stand with USB 2.0
Additional AC Adapter: Alienware® m7700 220 Watt Auto-switch AC Adapter
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Wireless Network: Internal Wireless 802.11b/g miniPCI Card
Bluetooth: Bluetooth™ USB Adapter
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
Mobile Transport : Alienware® Odyssey Backpack + aluminum case
keyboard: wireless logitch laser mouser/ keyboard
and sorry to hear about your dad, hope he comes out ok w/ a quick recovery
sorry but purple can you post your specs again
thanx
I <3 you for saying this!!!!!!! Thank you! More info please! More pics! More everything!!!!!!