Alienware M11X. Friend Or Foe?

For the longest time J's been whingeing that his laptop that he bought just over three years ago is really slow.

I can't remember how many times i've heard him complain that the graphic card is so bad that even the most basic games out on the market can't run on his good-for-nothin' laptop. And that each time he gets kicked out of a game it's because his computer was lagging.

I think it all started to go down hill when he had that argument with his ex on the phone over two years ago. And in a fit of rage, he threw the phone at the screen [by accident of course] resulting in a massive crack right in the middle of it. But due to financial constraints, he never got around to fixing it and has since been using an external monitor.

Fast forward to now...

For the benefit of those silent readers who have just tuned in, my relationship with my boyfriend's obsessive gaming has been everything but good. In fact, at one point it even tore us apart and i threatened to leave.

But i'm happy to report that ever since the ultimatum and those 6 days he had to go away for business, life at home has been going relatively better than i ever expected.

Perhaps it was the distraction of trying to find a new apartment in the last month which has forced him to spend less time playing Battle Ships/World of Warcraft/chatting with his online friends. Or maybe my tears finally struck a nerve and he actually thinks our relationship is worth fighting for.

*shrugs*

Anyway, for the last two months J's been going into Mediamarkt [a store that sells electronics] nearly every week hoping the sales person would reduce the price. And each time he's gone, he has been successful.

Then yesterday he went back and spoke to another sales person and he was even able to knock down the price lower!

So when J's Christmas and birthday money finally arrived yesterday, J called me to ask whether i wanted to accompany him to Mediamarkt so he could finally get the laptop he's been dying for.

I was having a relatively good day when he called, so instead of being a bitch and throwing sarcastic hateful remarks about his gaming as i often do, i agreed quite happily to go with him.

I've realised i've wasted many precious hours of my life arguing about how i've felt ignored due to his new habit/hobby. So now i just have to remind myself to stay calm and get on with whatever i was doing.

And anyway, seeing that it's not my money to begin with, he should be able to do pretty much whatever he likes [within reason of course].

***

So first protocol was to find a mouse that didn't click so loud.

If i had my way, the mouse would be silent. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be one.

Many times i've been beyond annoyed with how loud his intense clicking has been. I can tell his computer is lagging not only by his yelling but by those irritating repetitive forceful clicks. Currently his desk is less than a metre away from the sofa in the living room, so you can imagine how distracting that can be when one is trying to watch TV.

Plus the sound travels so well through the apartment that even if i'm in the next room with the door shut i can still hear it.

A.N.N.O.Y.I.N.G!



We eventually settled with a Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse. It's not the best for gaming but for the time being it'll do. It still makes a little noise when he clicks but no where near as annoying/loud as the one he currently has.

It retails for 41.99 € but J managed to bring the price down to 40 €.


Next was trying to find the correct sized laptop protector. He settled for a 12.1 inch Philips Netbook sleeve with HeatProtect in yellow/grey, the other option was lined in pink. Apparently the HeatProtect layers prevent heat build-up and protects the netbook from scratches.



And last but definitely not least, unveiling the 11.2 inch Alienware M11x by Dell and inspecting the contents of the box.

As they were about to make the final deal the sales guy who originally said he could lower the price down to 800 €, suddenly forgot he ever mentioned it.

But lucky for J, J had gone into the store earlier to speak to another salesperson and he also agreed to 800 €. Thinking that J was probably lying, the guy that was serving him went to go ask his colleague if he did quote that amount.

He did.

And because of J's persistence the guy included the Philips Netbook sleeve with HeatProtect which retails for 19.99 € for FREE! So for the Alienware M11X + Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse, it only cost him 840 €.

Dell is selling it for 949 €. And although cyberport.de is selling the exact same machine for much cheaper at 699 €, the amount stated doesn't include delivery charges. Plus one has to wait several days maybe even a week or more until it arrives.

***

So we get home and i start preparing dinner whilst J's already unpacking the items out of the box. Minutes later he calls out to me and says there's a problem.

Oh shit. Now what?

Placed on a flat surface the laptop wobbled side to side if i touched one corner. And whoever screwed on the casing from underneath didn't do a good job because it wasn't even screwed on properly.

J was so annoyed that he didn't see these mistakes at the store, he got back into the car in a huff and drove to Mediamarkt which so happened to be only 5 minutes away.

20 minutes or so later, he's back with a new laptop and the whole procedure of unveiling the ultimate netbook gaming machine repeats itself.

And would you believe it, J finds ANOTHER mistake!

The side of the screen where the glass meets the edge was not aligned properly causing it to stick out.

At this point i'm starting to think maybe J's horoscope was right when it said that he should refrain from buying electronics during December due to malfunctions. I tell him this and that just irritates him even further.

Oops. Bad timing.

So he repacks everything up... again and drives to the store for the third time believing that all good things must come in threes. But this time wishing harder that he doesn't find anymore mistakes as that's the last of its kind at the store or at any of the other nearby branches.

After having installed everything at the store and triple checking the hardware, he's back within half an hour.

And here it is...


J's new toy accompanied by his 23 inch Samsung SyncMaster F2380 monitor that i bought for him last month from his brother for 130 €.



For those who are interested, above is the review.

***

So what do i think?

Well the resolution and the machine itself is far more superior than what J used to have. Although a wee bit small for my liking, i can only hope for J's sake that it means less frustrations and less shouting.

But another positive angle would be should we ever be traveling by train anywhere again, J can easily carry his new laptop with him and we can watch movies or use the Internet should we get bored.

So now that he has possession of the ultimate travel-size gaming laptop, how do i feel it will affect our relationship?

I dunno but all i do know is he woke up this morning in a better mood. I'm not sure whether the laptop had anything to do with it or that him and his team won yesterday's online battle.

I guess only time will tell.

Delayed Trains and Frozen Body Parts.

Here's some advice for anyone who plans on traveling by train to and from Germany via Deutsche Bahn in Winter : PLEASE DON'T!

J and i spent a total of eight hours traveling [including waiting time] for our trains yesterday. We were either freezing our arses off waiting for delayed trains or sitting in an overcrowded cabin.

On the last leg of the journey the dumb arse train conductor was so inconsiderate that he left all the doors open for a whole twenty minutes in minus degrees Celsius temperatures. So J made his way up the front of the train to tap on the train conductor's glass door to ask if he could shut the doors and turn up the heat.

Anyway, one would think we were traveling from one end of the country to the other. We weren't.


By car it would take about an hour an half but since many people were warned beforehand to be very careful on the highways as some parts were/are iced over, we opted to take the train.


The estimated time [including one change over] would have taken about two hours and twenty-three minutes but due to many other trains breaking down and tracks having technical glitches and not functioning, schedules were interrupted.

But the funniest part was, we only spent one hour at our destination before we had to rush back to the train station to get back home.

What originally was meant to be a two hours and fifty-one minutes journey back, ended up being just over four and a half hours.


Waiting on an exposed platform for a train at night that first said it was going to be 20 minutes late but ended up being nearly 45 minutes late can be really uncomfortable. However, for a normal situation when the temperature is decent, i can imagine it could be an inconvenience but when you're standing there and you can't feel your toes or fingers, it can be damn right irritating.

We get to the station where we're supposed to change trains and realise we're half an hour too late. Our train is not there. Lucky for us another regional train passes through there every hour.

So J wanders off to look for the loo.

And as usual, the second J leaves me alone, some random guy starts talking to me. I did my best to answer him in German and i even used grammatically correct sentences.

Was that his attempt to chat me up? Maybe.

I didn't get his name but if my tired brain serves me correctly he was relatively good-looking, perhaps in his late 20s and had a friendly persona.

Had i been single and he spoke English, who knows what could have happened.


I'm joking. Nothing would have happened except maybe a nice conversation just to occupy some time.

So J returns just in time as my learnt German vocabulary was about to run out and before i began stuttering. But by the looks of it, i don't think J was too impressed with the other guy standing so close to me. Of course i introduced J straight away as my boyfriend and i could tell the other guy looked slightly disappointed.

One could immediately see a change in his body language.

Oh well.

Forty-five minutes later the train arrives.


And delirium is starting to kick in.

As time ticked on and all the food we had brought along with us was consumed, we had no choice but be creative when it came to entertainment. That teaches me a lesson, never doubt whether or not i should bring along my iPod and headphones. One never knows when you might really need it.

So our journey started at 3:38 PM and by the time we arrived in Köln we were delayed by only half an hour. Which meant we arrived at our destination at 6:35 PM. Our train back was at 7:57 PM but due to so many delays we finally reached the end of our journey at 12:30 AM. Most of which were spent in the freezing cold by the way.

But i'm not complaining.

At least we weren't in the fast train that broke down half way between stations and in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, that would have totally sucked!


We were lucky it didn't snow the whole of yesterday because i'm sure that would have made it a whole lot worse. Apparently, the weatherman predicts more snow for the next three days and i just heard on the radio, they're planning on shutting down a few airports.


Last night there was a full moon. Maybe she's partly to blame for the chaos.


After walking for what felt like the longest five minutes in my life to get to the park house, i checked the thermometer and it was a frosty minus 15˚Celsius!

No wonder i couldn't feel my face.

At 1:30 AM we were in bed and i passed out the second my head hit the pillow. Five hours later our alarm clocks were screaming for us to get ready for work and cease the day.

RAWR!!!