Poll: AW m5550 laptop working fine or has issues?

Bless your heart, Bryan...I know you're very worried about having another problem - let's hope that doesn't happen.

Unfortunately, even a poll here isn't going to give you a representative sampling. And, it will probably be biased towards those who have problems...satisfied owners often don't go on an internet search. Chin up, fingers crossed that yours is perfect!

well, I got mine last week and i have absolutely no problems with, I think the ones that come with the new newer bios version 2.03 are working alot better. I haven't had any random shut downs, and I run it almost all day long and hardly turn it off. The only thing that could be better is if the battery life was longer. but other than that. no complaints, works very well.

Once I try switching out my RAM and still no fixy on the shutdown, I will be sending back to AW for repair.

I was able to convince them to reset my warranty (e.g. 30 day return policy, etc.) I had to talk to a supervisor to get approval (I got his ext. and email for future communications) - the typical support rep could do nothing except irritate me. I thought about returning it all together, but don't want pay the 15% restocking fee.

ps - I did not try flashing my BIOS - AW support seemed to think that I have the updated version.

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Area-51 m5550

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Display: Alienware m5550 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD - Saucer Silver
Motherboard: Alienware Inte® 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Hard Drive: 80GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVidia GeForce Go 7600
Sound Card: Intel 7.1 High-Definition Audio
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Total Price: $2209.00

M5550 Good!!

Since recieving my laptop, I have had only nuisance issues. The inherent performance drop, but that was fixed quickly with a fresh windows install. I had the laptop shut down only once for no apparent reason. It was the first time I used the battery, I turned it on, and within 2 minutes, it shut down for no reason. However, once I turned it back on, it was fine. No shutdowns since, but I also have not used my battery since, I was only checking battery life, as I don't use it that much on battery. I will probably be checking battery life again soon, and will keep my review updated. It games just fine, FEAR plays like butter, not problems whatsoever. Other than those problems mentioned, it works just fine. Hope yours comes to you just as good bryan.

I have had mine for a couple of weeks with no problems whatsoever.

2 days after I got mine I had to return it to Alienware tech.

Problems I faced: Overheating, internet dropping all the time, drivers not working, a dead pixel, and performance issues.

Don't get me wrong, it's a sweet lookin' laptop, but I didn't buy it just to sit on my desk if you know what I mean

Hope it works as it should have when I get it back from their facilities.

Day 1 with the m9700, and it is exceeding expectations. Just getting ready to load some games. Preview pics here.

i'm not certain i've had problems yet but my laptop has randomly shut down twice in 2 weeks, both times more than 9 days ago

it seems to be doing fine, but the wifi card doesn't initialize correctly when i come out of sleep mode. i dont know if that's just with me but my PC at home does that too

I got my m5550 a little over a week ago and the only problem I have had is a few random shut downs. It seems to do better if I have the laptop up on something so there is more space between the bottom vents and the table or what ever it is on. That is what I am doing until I find a laptop cooler but it has worked well. I have even had good luck with the battery too. I turned on the laptop once at half battery and played WoW for about 50 minutes(one whole lecture) and the battery was at about 5-10% when I got done. Anyone know how long they take to get things worked out for a dead pixel? I have one in the middle region but if I am going to lose my laptop for a month I will just live with it becaus I need it for school and things.

It's been about six weeks since I received mine. Three random shut downs during the first three weeks. Twice while on battery, outside, running a diagnostic program on my car and once while sitting idle, with ac plugged in, on my desk at work. If it happens again, I will try re-seating the memory. Bios version is 2.02.
No other problems to report.
Battery life is ~ 1.75 hours.

This is my first lappy, so I have nothing to compare it to, but overall, I am pleased with it. Screen quality is great, it's quick (even though it's just a plain core duo, not the core 2 duo), GPU temp. runs beween 62 deg. C and 72 deg. C. At work, it's up and running all day. It is serving me well, doing what I purchased it for (email, web surfing, photo editing, basic business functions, automotive diagnostics on my cars, mobility and bling).

If I had to rate this rig on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it an 8. I deducted two points for the three random shut downs, less than two hours of battery life and the fact that there is no internal bluetooth.

I will definitely buy Alienware again.

ive had mine for 2 weeks and have not had one shutdown, or evenone moment where the thing got hottert than luke warm, and i play games pretty much during all my free time.

i got the go 7600 also. at the rate its going, i will guarantee it wont shut off.

Mine had the shutdown issue and had done so maybe a total of 5 times.

I have since reseated the RAM and also updated the BIOS.

I haven't had a single shutdown in 2 and a half weeks. Everyone should reseat their RAM. I seriously think that this is the issue. I updated the BIOS just last friday. It was running fine with the old BIOS. I just did the BIOS update to be up-to-date.

I think quality control at AW needs to be a bit more scruitinous to check for properly seated modules.

Old BIOS, no shutdown so far.

Ive had my m5550 for about 3 weeks an I had 2 Random shutdowns in the first week. None since then. It was sitting flat on my desktop when those occured and it had been on all day long both times. I have it proped up now and I havent had any issue whatsoever. I do wish the battery lasted longer than 2 hrs though. I get bout 2:30 with screen brightness all the way down. Still worth it to me though.

It seems that my problem with Random shutdowns may be isolated. After much effort I have concluded with AW Support that my issue was caused by the GPU overheating during video play or Idle. The heatsink would only detect CPU heat and engage only when the CPU was active. AW is going to look into replacing the motherboard since it was not responding to GPU heat. I'll report back when my system is returned in a month or so...