Ok everyone, finally I can provide a review of my Alienware 51m 7700 machine.
If, and when you order the machine from Alienware please keep in mind that it is a good idea to call those guys and ‘confirm’ your order. This generally speeds up the process. You will jump from Phase 1 to Phase 3 almost immediately. My machine has spent total of 9 days in production – 7 of those days was in phase 12 ‘Extensive/Final QC’.
Shipping:
Not much to say here. Only problem I had was the FedEx guy leaving my $4,000.00 machine on my doorstep. Outer box is very sturdy and was very firmly packed. However, the actual box, containing the machine itself, was rather flimsy and was poorly constructed. The damned thing looked as if it was made in Chinese Lego Factory. Anyway, that’s the only complaint I have as far as the shipping is concerned.
Total time from the moment of order to the actually arrival was about 12 days.
Machine itself comes with an external FDD and a shitty Targus rip-off generic laptop messenger bag. So, it is a good idea to order an Alienware backpack or messenger bag. They not only look cool but they are also very nicely constructed. I think Targus makes those for AW, but AW puts their own cute Alien Logo on them. Those bags are awesome. Obviously you get the XP Install Disk, Driver/Utility CD and stuff as well. Also I would advise to get an Alienware respawn DVD.
Machine itself:
Well, what can I say? This baby is awesome. It is heavy, much heavier than an average laptop by far. So please keep that in mind. Power button, the way it is imbedded into the case, is little tough to get used to. It feels as if it is little stiff, but it really is not – it’s just that you have to hold the button down for about a second to turn the machine on and it starts up real quiet like; so, no worries there.
Keyboard is very nicely laid out. I love the built in number pad. When you buy this machine, it is imperative that you buy yourself a Cool Pad and install the GetThermal Utility available on these here forums. She is a heat-producing beast.
As an afterthought, all of the fans on the bottom of the unit are INTAKE fans. I used GetThermal with the AKASA Cool Pad; at first I made a mistake and reversed the fans on the Cool Pad. Machine stayed at about 53 Celsius. After I actually played around a little with the fans I realized that the fans are intake – I have reversed them back to normal – where they are actually blowing on to the bottom of the unit. The machine now Idles at about 49 Celsius and goes to 56 under load.
I always wanted to own an Alienware Laptop. This machine has exceeded all my expectations and I hope that it will work 3 years from now as well as it does today. Grnted I only owned the unit for about a week but she is awesome.
AKASA Cool Pad Modifications:
I have used a standard Hand Drill with a standard Hole Cutter. The wiring itself is pretty easy and straightforward. I was little confused when I saw that AKASA did not include Red/Black wire distinction on the wires but what I did is put my add-on fans side by side with the AKASA internal fans and went by Left/Right wire layout and it worked without any issues. Drill holes, install 70 mm thin fans (I pulled them out of the old Antec Cooler). Anyways, it worked perfectly well. All of the fans on the Cool Pad are blowing UP on to the bottom of the machine and as I mentioned before the machine now stays at about 49 Celsius.
So, feel free to peruse the attached pictures and if you have any questions let me know.
Cheers.
If, and when you order the machine from Alienware please keep in mind that it is a good idea to call those guys and ‘confirm’ your order. This generally speeds up the process. You will jump from Phase 1 to Phase 3 almost immediately. My machine has spent total of 9 days in production – 7 of those days was in phase 12 ‘Extensive/Final QC’.
Shipping:
Not much to say here. Only problem I had was the FedEx guy leaving my $4,000.00 machine on my doorstep. Outer box is very sturdy and was very firmly packed. However, the actual box, containing the machine itself, was rather flimsy and was poorly constructed. The damned thing looked as if it was made in Chinese Lego Factory. Anyway, that’s the only complaint I have as far as the shipping is concerned.
Total time from the moment of order to the actually arrival was about 12 days.
Machine itself comes with an external FDD and a shitty Targus rip-off generic laptop messenger bag. So, it is a good idea to order an Alienware backpack or messenger bag. They not only look cool but they are also very nicely constructed. I think Targus makes those for AW, but AW puts their own cute Alien Logo on them. Those bags are awesome. Obviously you get the XP Install Disk, Driver/Utility CD and stuff as well. Also I would advise to get an Alienware respawn DVD.
Machine itself:
Well, what can I say? This baby is awesome. It is heavy, much heavier than an average laptop by far. So please keep that in mind. Power button, the way it is imbedded into the case, is little tough to get used to. It feels as if it is little stiff, but it really is not – it’s just that you have to hold the button down for about a second to turn the machine on and it starts up real quiet like; so, no worries there.
Keyboard is very nicely laid out. I love the built in number pad. When you buy this machine, it is imperative that you buy yourself a Cool Pad and install the GetThermal Utility available on these here forums. She is a heat-producing beast.
As an afterthought, all of the fans on the bottom of the unit are INTAKE fans. I used GetThermal with the AKASA Cool Pad; at first I made a mistake and reversed the fans on the Cool Pad. Machine stayed at about 53 Celsius. After I actually played around a little with the fans I realized that the fans are intake – I have reversed them back to normal – where they are actually blowing on to the bottom of the unit. The machine now Idles at about 49 Celsius and goes to 56 under load.
I always wanted to own an Alienware Laptop. This machine has exceeded all my expectations and I hope that it will work 3 years from now as well as it does today. Grnted I only owned the unit for about a week but she is awesome.
AKASA Cool Pad Modifications:
I have used a standard Hand Drill with a standard Hole Cutter. The wiring itself is pretty easy and straightforward. I was little confused when I saw that AKASA did not include Red/Black wire distinction on the wires but what I did is put my add-on fans side by side with the AKASA internal fans and went by Left/Right wire layout and it worked without any issues. Drill holes, install 70 mm thin fans (I pulled them out of the old Antec Cooler). Anyways, it worked perfectly well. All of the fans on the Cool Pad are blowing UP on to the bottom of the machine and as I mentioned before the machine now stays at about 49 Celsius.
So, feel free to peruse the attached pictures and if you have any questions let me know.
Cheers.
