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The ALX-Files: ABOVE TOP SECRET: Uncovering Area-51's Biggest (& best kept) Secret of All >< (Aurora R1 - R2 Secret Xposed)
With the official debut & coronation of the heir apparent coming up (whom I've grown fond of calling Area-52), Area-51 R1 has a final wonderful secret up it's sleeve I'd like to unveil upon the world pretty soon: this secret is so secret that top-level Alienware personnel - perhaps not even the President - Michael Dell himself may not know anything about it at all; if the secret's been kept by someone, somewhere, locked in the vault, it may've been privy only to the select few:
Classified: "Above Top Secret Majik-12 Eyes Only" ...
Soon I'll be taking you inside & outside the walls of my newly renovated Twin Towers, w/a write up on what kinda cool tinkering I been up to the past several weeks. Here at my SkunkWorks - aka Hangar-18 - hopefully what I've done to the walls of DreamLand (the Manhattan Project) not only blows your mind a bit, but does a final justice to the R1 that the original architects (& certainly those of the R2) can take heed & careful notice of, once I drop 'the secret that was hiding in plain sight' on you like an A-bomb.
I wanted to do the unveiling at the same time the previous model's set to relinquish its crown over to the newest flag-ship; I'll have the full write up done sometime in the next 1-2 weeks & buy a new camera in order to take / upload some good pics of the upgrading / modding projects I've done that I'll walk you through. Time's flown by, I'm admittedly behind schedule, so for now I'm posting this teaser: a trick I learned from the MadMen over @ A-ware. Favorite this page, stay tuned, & 'member to check back, because ...
... the Old Area 51's Are Coming Soon ...
************************
Edit: On another episode of the ALX-Files ...
Apparently Milena & Mark weren't on a need-to-know basis re: Alienware's top Top Secrets & are about to find themselves seriously left-out-of-the-loop. Milena w/her pure skepticism & empirical objectivity while Mark there w/his boy-ish enthusiasm. So much for Dana Scully & Fox Mulder ... ... ... ... & skull-duggery ... the villain of this plot soon materializes in the guise of an interloper, aka:
the Trickster from Gamelion
Cass-Ole
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November 1st, 2014 01:00
{Edits Use An Orange Convention} Ty to staff for revising this non-original script not 4 me not 4 you but 4 tender ii's & ears
-->Proceed w/caution & @ your own risk when doing mods or following instructions. If you've questions I may've answers<--
- Punkin' Heads -
Here on the east coast, not far from NASA the Pentagon & White House, it's been a fun-filled All Hallow's Eve; we were havin' a costume party here at Hangar 18; la fiesta's just dwindled down, the last song of the set list is Type-O-Negative's: the Wolf Moon to help cast us just the right spell ... now that it's the Witching Hour & we're well-footed in our Lupine ways ... it's time for Trick or Treat. I was dying to call this project: The Shining. Even so, a funner provisional working title had already emerged (which I've been fingering my way to finding a G-rated iteration of on the keyboard lately) to circulate:
"Marilyn Monroe ... or ... Finding your Area-51's Hidden maGic-Spot .."
It's common knowledge that Marilyn Monroe, the Sexxx Goddess for the Ages, couldn't have an 'organic experience'. Imagine that: a world where her bed-time stories were left w/no happy endings so no doubt she's been called the loneliest-person-in-the world, & for no better reason then that. From Joe Dimaggio to Arthur Miller, none of her lovers had the right stuff. Her psychiatrist a Dr. Grafen-somebody-or-other (it matters not), did eventually show her the secret of the 'how to'; his approach was to convince her that achieving the exquisite feeling of coming rather than going all starts & it all happens in the mind 1st; only then heading southward in due course of its corporeal nature towards the blissful state we know as the point-of-no-return. Therefore, in the end Marilyn learned that the only person truly capable of giving herself one was, well: herself of all people. I found all this intriguing, since the moral of this story is: 'it' is a mental experience before 'it' becomes a physical one; from Kevin Costner we learn a similar lesson, basically this: if you build it it will come. I think of this as your inner mental fantasy becoming your external physical reality: so stop looking out & start looking in. Only you can take your Area-51 case up, up, & then over its last & final un-realized frontier, helping you both to reach a breathtaking climax for it. Perhaps a smoke afterwards, as well. I wanna show you some things & if you like them, I can show you how to have them, but you're the one that'll be faced with the hard work of just 'doing it'. It'll be up to you to rediscover the secret that's been hiding in plain sight. No one else but you can find fiddle or diddle your way to uncovering your case's hiddenG-Spot, soon to be defined. In the fine tradition of a Voltaire, or the Nexus Plexus & Sexus et cetera, I'll use colorful metaphor you'll use colorful imagination we'll get the picture & our Marilyn will have a happy story-book ending ...
- Welcome to the Fortress Tall ... I'll take some time to show you 'round ... -
Spend a moment reflecting on the reflections coming off my Area-51 while I try to spin your thinking 90 degrees through Selective Amnesia, the Force of Suggestion & the Power of Persuasion & help you Forget Everything You Knew.
- Electric Eye -
{ "I take a pride in probing all your secret moves ... my tearless retina takes pictures that can prove .. " }
Now. I want you to say it out loud with me, the question that's waiting to come out ... you know the one: "why couldn't & why didn't Alienware ship my desktop w/a paint job just like that guy's on day one?" I'm going to let you in on perhaps Area-51's last, final - & probably its biggest & best kept secret of them all.
Psssst.
*whispers* Alienware did ship you your desktop with a paint job just like mine ...
... only you never knew it ... none of us did ... it's been hiding right there in plain sight all along ... the longer you mesmerized at your Area-51, basking in its effervescent beauty, the more its finest beauty secret slipped right on by you. That ain't frumpy lil' Norma Jean you've been alone with in your bedroom or study all this time ... it's Marilyn ... waiting to come ... out ...
If I told you that your case could look just like mine for about $20 in supplies, you'd probably laugh: "yeah, right. Not". Don't shake your head no at me ... because after I'm done telling you what I'm going to tell you, in the end I'm going to make you agree to shake your head yes (yes, yes!). If you want your Area 51 to look just like mine, for $20 or less ... I'll make a deal w/you ... I'll tell you how if you do me the favor of taking a little journey down a long winding road w/me, & let me tell you what I know about just about the last mystery that's to be solved about the Area 51 R1.
My Area-51 was purchased from Goodwill.com / St Louis, $700 shipped, arrived in near mint condition thankfully; looked & smelled brand new. I thought maybe a St.Louis Ram had donated it; it had to have come from someone wealthy, someone who's home smelled nice 24 hours a day. I'd struck gold.
Or so I thought. Goodwill listed it as an ALX. I 'member I pushed the Alienhead on day one second one *I'm going to activate your motor now. This is why I bankrupted for you* but the panel neither motor'd down nor motor'd back up. Crikey. I got online, ran the service tag, finally figured out that I'd been duped: had I researched more b4 bidding I would have knew right away this case of mine was a little bit 'too shiny', what I call semi-gloss (& what Aware called Cosmic Black), & therefore a non-ALX for it. I did give mine the front panel motor to make it feel more ALX-ish anyway. Jan of '13 I bought an ALX from Dell/eBay during that swarm where 28 units were sold in that two-month long online clear-out:
- Proudly owned w/the original set-up; I'm a bona-fide Dell customer & glad to be one -
I look back on all this, & trust me, I love shiny things, I just had to have an ALX regardless the fact I'm not a matte/satin person, I'm a semi-glossy person. Who don't like a shiny sparkly thing? I know why I wanted one though: ALX can do everything my stndrd model can, plus do other 'stuff', while the reverse Isn't true. I think alot of people feel that way. Stndrd A-51 can not do the ALX 'one better', it just can't. There's nothing the stndrd can do that ALX can't do just as well, except maybe be a lil' more shiny? That's kind of a so-what. I'd got the top model to offset the fact I'd got the base model, & life went on.
Came across this u-tube Feb '13, a month after ALX arrived. Go on. Watch the first 2-3 minutes & let me know how you feel afterwards if not emotional once he teaches us the visual definition of the words 'luster clinging to a master-piece': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlRD7L1GDMs set your u-tube to HD720p/1080p
That guy's case? It is dy-no-mite; it's a game changer that's set a very high benchmark. It's only 'flaw'? If you look closely, the lower panels are unpainted (maybe they got sprayed later, maybe never, who knows, but it is an indisputable b4 & after example of high-gloss vs factory-semi). The top, the doors & the front? That's a custom paint-job, sprayed & doted over by a pro: I can tell by the glossy top vents, can't you? I was all love @ 1st sight amazed by that video (who ain't) because I really really really have a thing for mirror-finish black paint jobs, & was so really really really envious. To me, it looked like dude payed $500 or more to get that deep wet-look. But I for one, like all others I suppose, knew that there ain't no 500 dolla in the budget for frivolous expenditures. But as it sat? Dude's paint job blew mine away, & everyone else's, & I knew it.
Perhaps you understand the feeling when you watch that video - & - perhaps you'll feel it when you look at my case too? It's called envy; seeing something someone else has & the knowing you'll either never have it, or never have it come easily nor quickly enough. Can I ask you? What is it about my case, that automatically makes you think you can't have it too? Or that you 'could' have it someday ... but ... always a but ...& I asked myself the same question too: "why couldn't & why didn't Alienware ship my desktop w/a paint job just like that guy's on day one ". When they can look like his? Why don't they? Which bean-counter made that call? Why the semi & why not the high-gloss? Why din't Mr. Dell spring for the master-piece? Or trickle the cost down to the owner to divy-up for a high $ high-gloss option? Can you imagine Cadillac or Mercedes selling semi-gloss cars? Hun-uh.
I've given you the chatty back-story so you know the steps that led me toward my interpretation of how to take standard Area-51 to the next level: by bridging the gaps between ALX's added features & the bench-mark set by that Margot Robbie w/looks that could kill on utube. And none too soon, what w/the release of the R2, the new kid on the block that asks us to forget everything we know. Fine. I just did. Now, w/a clean-slate for a mind it is time to learn something brand new; the best place to learn is in school & school is now in session. Old-school. We can teach the new comer a thing or two, give it a hard & fast old-school lesson on what the four maGic corners of Euclidean-space are designed for & in the process draw Area-51's paint-job to its logical conclusion; with the non-subtle use of brute-force, two strokes of a broad-sword & one-fell-swoop Area-51 can find & fulfill its place in this the "best of all possible worlds", à laVoltaire's Candide.
In the same vain as the Black-II'd Peas: I gotta feelin', I undertook a pet project last month that's been on the burner ever-since I saw that guy's video ages ago. I've been waxing/polishing cars & polyurethane finishes since '95, & I put off the hard work of 'doing' my case for a long time now. Not anymore. The wait is over. Here are the results & the results are exactly what I am here to discuss & why:
- De-Classified. What you are looking at had been classified: Above Top Secret Majik-12 Eyes Only -
{You've now been given a Security Clearance; Click to gain elite MJ-12 Access}
In keeping w/the time-honored tradition of the War of Sibling Rivalries, I will now shoot the 1st Warning Shot across the prow of R2: a gentle reminder that it has & will always have its Bigger Brother's looks to contend with. This is a necessary measure & hopefully one it will 'never' Forget.
An unforgettable problem: the benchmark for what Area-51 R1 'looks like' has now just been redefined
- How To Train Your Dragon -
{How-to Polish Area-51 Into Its Coat of GLX Armor}
Area-51 ALX has an anodized (think electro-plated) finish. We could pretend the A stands for anodized, LX tends to stand for luxury. Anodized luxury model: sits well w/me. I've christened my case the new Area-51 GLX (G = Gloss). Remember the name 'cause I definately found its G-spot: its Glossy-LuXury spot. Call it the spot - errrr - shot heard 'round the world. Vive la différence!
My foreign language skills are a tad rusty, I think that's French for: this changes everything. In English we'd probably translate as: ... this is the game changer ...
Standard Area-51's suffer from the fact they're 'shiny' - but unremarkably so - like this poor chap here listed on eBay recently whom I call: 'close but no cigaro'. A more accurate title might be: 'the shame in an un-realized potential'. They'll try their best to cast a reflection at you - but with a sort of catarax effect to my eye anyway: I call it the 'haze'. This one's still playing by the old rules in a world where the game's now just been changed: its looks may be time-less yet they are so 5 minutes ago. Not one - but now two new Area-51's have just hit the streets & your old one's about to be left behind in the wake of it. If the new model hasn't left you breathless & panting & you're unsure what to do about the old one to reinvent the way it looks & spicen up the marriage, well there's plenty of hope for that poor chap above & hundreds just like him ... perhaps even yours. With good panels? And a good day's hard work?
I see the Pauper's inheritance turned Princely. And so will you.
With a wave of the Majik-12 Wand & an Abracadabra, this is what happens:
- " Ego nunco pronunciari mendagio ... sed ego sum Homo Indomitus " -
The finish on my desktop - everyone's desktop - has literally been in a suspended state of cryogenics. All I've done is un-thaw mine & for all I know the phrase up there's his way of saying:
..."I Am Not of This World" ... and I'd believe it.
I give 'em a hard time sometimes, but I want to commend the people @ Alienware for trying their best to give us something other-wordly. They did what they could, they passed the baton: now we take over & run it the rest of the way ... (wait for it, wait for it) ... yes, to the finish-line. They've much to be giddy about here in all this actually; I hope we all find a sense of humor & then we can move on with it by saying: they put the Area-51 semi-gloss paint job in a cryo-genic deep freeze. Now how cool is that? Your Alien can not re-animate itself, not 'til you thaw it out. A dead alien in a freezer somewhere's one thing; that might grab a headline or two but one that thaws out then gets up & starts to walk around's another. The sci-fi folklore that tends to surround itself & attach to the Alienware brand hits an all-time high w/me, but I'm not laughing, I'm drop-dead serious. This is no longer just a computer: it is an absolute Work of Art, one that I have almost nothing to do with. Oh yes. Once polished, imo this is now the finest example of mass-produced workmanship to ever hit the market. Ev-uh. This is simply Alienware - caught red-handed - in their finest hour. Bravo.
Now. I've done my best to spin a good light on the paint jobs we all got, increased the Alienware mythos in the process, & injected the necessary hype designed to tempt one into undertaking such a project. One: we can be thankful they've used a paint that's easily worked with & two: something positive can be done with it. There's much to be done in fact. The 1st gap we'll fill is that between the mediocre factory paint job & the delicious Margot Robbie wet-look: your Area-51 can not & will not realize its true potential until it has one. Enjoy yours. Here is how I got mine ...
I'm brand loyal to Meguiar's car-care products so I'll be using one of their car polishes for the wet-work. A polish like this is basically a micro-abrasive suspended in a beneficial lubricant: poor out a dollop on your panel & if it just sits there it will do 'nothing'. But if you use a back & forth motion with a polishing rag & apply pressure, pretty soon a heat-friction will build-up. The combination of micro-abrasives & heat energy you supply into the system as friction will literally start to 'melt' a g-spot into the surface @ the micro then macro-scopic level, turning it into a smoother-glassier-glossier-happier-ending-finish: literally apply a little heat & melt their cryo-semi-gloss haze right off, huh? These are the basics of what is about to happen here as I understand them. Whether it is accurate or not is irrelevant to the fact it works.
Knowing how to buff out a shine w/their stuff, way back I'd done a side-window mod, saved my 11x17 'cut-out', used as my initial polishing 'test-piece'; b4 / after results were impressive ... most impressive:
- 5 minutes of rubbing easily helps bring things into focus: Grade A high-gloss disguised as a Grade B semi - Trick? Or Treat?
It's simple paint that can be polished, knowing this inspired me to tackle the entire panel suite. Once you polish out your very 1st section? The finish can never go back to original: it's all or nothing. Once you buff your 1st spot ... it will be so shiny you'll have to do the rest of the panel to get rid of it.
edit:4/12/15 I've polished a bunch of original & bought panels by now, it is possible some of the early models had clear-coats, later on perhaps the clear was axed in favor of a simple glossy-base. On black (or grey) doors 'without a clear coat' your polish rag will turn black or grey, meaning you're removing paint, a good thing, the top haze is coming off. If you polish & your rag doesn't turn color? It might have a clear coat on it. My front panel, the lowers acted like a clear but the top panel acted like no clear & that's when my rag turned black, odd. Either type you'd be wise to stick to a low-impact hand-polish. Be gentle on doors with no clear-coat, the kind where black or grey transfers to your rag.
If a power buffer's your idea of less-work, approach w/caution so as not to burn through the paint. My advice: allow buffer to do some (or half) of the work, then finish the rest off by hand. You're about to see I've hand-rubbed & buffed out my once semi-gloss panels into a dazzling diamond-gloss finish & produced the 'wet-look' I'm after using Meguiar's Ultimate (rubbing) Compound, finished off w/a couple coats of Meguiar's Gold-Class liquid carnauba wax you can read a newspaper out of, once you cut through the top haze & rub it ( & rub it) to get at the inner depth & imbue it w/near crystal clarity:
Took a whole Sunday to finish: started at noon w/the football game, was finished by half-time of the late game. Time invested? Aprox 8 hours:
*** This is good for standard Area-51 only - I'd never try this on my ALX; matte, flat, satin & egg-shell finishes shouldn't be 'polished' as far as I know - ALX's matte finish can never ever be polished out to be this shiny (however, I do wax mine twice a year, mainly as a finger-print removal regimen)
*** That person on u-tube had his top vents sprayed: you can not rub out your plastic top vents to get that shine, they must be painted, like his are
- So there's no subjective differences on how deep that shine goes, let's ask the former President to render his objective opinion for us... -
{Should I have grabbed a $1 bill instead? In case Jackson was 'subject' to fibbing whilst Washington would never tell a lie?}
Now that that little mystery's been solved, if Vanilla Sky's one of your favorite movies too, you will know the meaning to the words: Mr Pleasure Delayer. I hear you asking what all the 'real fuss' is about. Well my good man, in that thing we know as the Timeless Art of Seduction you should never rush in too qwickly: for only a fool rushes in. You must build up the tension first, allow it to become palpable, the urge undeniable unto itself & yet tempered with some restraint ... lest things happen pre-maturely, fizzle out then start to expire ... you should always save & savor your best for last ... & btw:
For an impossible shine this deep wet & sumptuous, follow guides & recommendations below
As my mind works over many levels even that of the sub-conscious for the viewership, may I say here & now that the Abracadrabra debut photo from prior is intentional: it is meant solely to announce the unquestionably hardened presence pre-built into their design. Allow me to show you now the softer side: the fairer nature of unspeakable delight kept hidden from us ...
The following Photo Portfolio, I have titled simply: Beauty & the Beast
- Setting the Stage -
The correct music choice best lent to a dreamy aura turned Fantasy Suite both for our senses & to precious moments in time of course could be none other than: Claire de Lune by Claude Debussey ... the white cotton drape the metaphor for the essential element of the Moon Light. It has set the proper stage like on a thousand nights before: plays its vital role, knowingly watches over the unknowing participants as will we. There to entrance, cast the right spell, intervene the delicate hand of fate. The most delectable form of a shared hypnosis will soon unfold, leave them vulnerable, illuminated by their celestial Muse down the very path they've been pre-destined for ...
... on an enchanted evening ... unforgettable & unlike any other ...
from the Suite bergamasque Mouvement trois, Debussey
- Watching the Watchers -
{ Who watches whom ... our mutual acts of voyeurism, seemingly undeniable ... }
Apparently, we've been discovered. These then are now part of some of the wonderful occurrences that can happen at any moment here in the Hangar. Results can border on the startling, earning comments from friends whilst twisting their tongues. Btw, if you passed over my musical advisor for a Chopin Nocturne I would forgive you, so long as we both call it a tie. If you think a lively lovely modern song will help lift your spirits, Josh Groban's: You Are Loved - from the debut album Awake - will do no better:
And from Awake Live ... it's all good
To help your own personal love story write its way into the pages of a book, we'll have to get back to business. Any other brand of rubbing compound or polish, you will either achieve the same, achieve superior, achieve less, achieve worse to even harmful results - who can say - depends what you use: I can speak for Meguiar's Ult. Compound only. For this job, it's all you need. To prove it could be done this way, I cut up an old clean 100% cotton t-shirt. That is all I used. The use of other materials, results may vary. FYI: in the hands of someone who knows exactly how to use one, the door panels appear to be excellent candidates for a low-rpm power buffer w/bonnet - which I did not use - since I wanted a good old-fashioned hand-rubbed finish to prove it's possible.
Since I don't know the thickness of their paint job, or how many coats the factory sprayed on - nor do you - my recommendation is a 100% cotton shirt & the stated Meguiar's products
Edit: TIP: the road to a perfect finish is paved by always rubbing back n' forth in straight lines:
- Area-51 GLX ... providing you with the Newest Alien Fx: double your pleasure double the fun -
Over a dozen of the side views turned out nice, using an entry-level $60 Polaroid 18Mpix; all my pics throughtout this project are originals unless I did a reverse-angle splice like above: a simple photo trick like this may've worked wonders on the original ad campaign ... when photos such as these appear from out of no where, we can be sure that a new breed of Alien which is an old breed now walks among us. If this was the bean-counters idea of an inside-practical joke, can someone go now, find & inform that man please that one of them finally thawed out & 's now woken up ....
Count on polishing your work 4-5(+) times / 4-5(+) sessions:
Yes, after a while your t-shirt (etc) little-by-little will turn 'Cosmic Black'; that's perfectly normal (you're removing the top 'haze', a good thing) & have no fear you'll rub the paint off or burn it. Won't happen. Like washing a dirty mirror, you're simply removing the "crust", while uncovering the underlying hidden beauty that's always lurked beneath; hidden in plain sight (: Also, eventually your compound will break down & become pasty & turn into a polishing rouge, which means: designed to polish without any cutting action. This is fine, but is indicative of finding a new dry spot on the shirt to polish "cut with":
- Here's a series of good looks @ the front panel catching the diminishing sunlight -
- Got GLX? -
The G stands for Glossy: we know that by now. I think you'll agree w/me after you polish your case too that the LX will stand for more than just simple-understated-luxury. Luxuriousness is more like it: pure, un-adulterated, more like a state-of-being, which are the best kinds to have. You & your case will move out from the category of the have-not's & straight into the category of the have's ... & got's ... Are you ready to be part of the new GLX-Club? I've shown you mine, now show me yours. Who wants to be 1st to drop a photo-portfolio of their GLX results ... make it your New Year's Resolution.
I gave my doors & lowers about 5 or 6 sessions & achieved the results I was after. This means I polished an entire door panel 6 times for instance. Meguiars has a huge product catalog, any one of their compounds & polishes could have worked I suppose, but the Ultimate Compound is what I used &, true to its name, it worked. Any of their simple 'spray-on' or liquid waxes I can/do recommend also, as you'll follow-up your polish job w/2-3 coats of wax. I used their Gold-Class liquid Carnauba. Ultimate + Gold-Class = $20. For touch-ups between waxing (finger-prints etc) perhaps try their Kwik-Detailer. I would say yes to polishing cloths & micro-fibers, I'm gonna say no to the simple "terry-towel", but try what you like. I've no need to be running out after materials & so have no recommendations short of a 100% cotton tee which worked here @ Hangar 18 for all hand-jobbing duties ...
In person what I have done here looks as nice as the guy in the video: I'm as close to his case as I need to be w/out paying someone to (needlessly) paint a new wet-look finish on it. Once you've hand-polished 90% of your case panels for a scant 20 dolla, then you can consider & possibly even afford the top vents as the finishing touch, while your spray-pro color-matches them; worth considering since 'shiny' top vents gives A-51 a classy new meaning to the words: 'the finishing touch'
Area-51 is called Cosmic 'Black': once polished, you'll reveal the true color which is more of a Cosmic BlackRaspberry Metallic-Flake - or - simply Cosmic DeePurple, huh? In some light it's black, other's this
- If you lust after luster like I do: take the $20 challenge. Hold a twenty to your case door; if you can see it real good? Read the serial # off it? Stick it back in your pocket. If you can't? Take it & yourself to your local store & get some Meguiar's -
If your Alien would be hard-pressed to bounce back a kind of shine at you like this, then he ain't playing ball &'s probably more like one a them 'dead-one's' they keep stored @ Area-51 we've all heard about. In fact, I prefer to think of it this way: Area-51 is literally storing your Alien's dead-body - in the form of your dead-finish - right there inside its very walls - hiding in plain sight & where you'd least suspect it: it's been kept under lock & key, entombed in a guarded secret perpetual suspended state of animation. Meguiar's is the key that unlocks your Area-51's greatest secret:
Re-animate your Alien. Give it the Spark. Bring it - & your finish - back to Life ... and it will play ball. And I mean like Dr J ... Majik Johnson ... & the real game changer: MJ-23 .... all rolled up in one
- By now we would begin to pick up on the richness of the blackness it can exude ...
... but ...
-It can be Cosmic Black or Cosmic Black Raspberry...the Dragon's pick which depending on their mood-
Your A-51, it's not a true pure jet black, it's deep purple -->the polish-job really brings out the dark violet hues in the paint. The way they shipped these cases to everyone - half shiny half hazy - I can't help but think: "PurpleHaze all through my brain / drivin me insane" .. make sure your panels are dirt & dust free & stay dirt & dust free: when rubbing w/pressure, if a piece of 'grit' ends up on/in your shirt/compound, you will scratch up your finish with every hand stroke, lol. Keep your panels & materials clean from contaminates for best results. The door panels were taken to my tub & washed off 1st w/the shower head, dried w/tee, air-dusted, then wiped off w/tee. Then polishing could reasonably begin. Once finished - rendered speechless I'll borrow words from our latest corporate slogan:
'Behold the jaw-dropping power of 12K: it’s a breathtaking display you can lose yourself in'.
Like a Cosmic Black Hole.
- Animal Magnetism: how much more's the Knight Fury worth, now that he can do that? -
Cosmic Black? No. Nuh-uh. GLX comes in its own brand new color: Stellar Black
polished stellar black-gloss finally gives the chrome-silver brite-work treatments a run for their $
Tip: The silver brite-work that's always sent a dazzling cascade of pure-wow-factor up & down your panels is absolutely polishable w/the Ultimate Compound; in fact, do polish them too, since the result will amaze you. However, I recommend using a very very light touch when you do so. Wipe a small 4" {10cm} section lightly back & forth for about 20 seconds to get the hang of it. Allow compound to try for a minute. Wipe clean. Now. Do you see that black residue? Smell it even? You've just removed a top layer of that chrome-finish. Good, see how it shines? You've now uncovered an even deeper shine in the process as if that were even possible. Now, lightly polish it one & only one more time using the same method. Got it? Polish it just twice. Then hit it with 2 coats of Gold-Class / or equivalent wax. Your brite-work will not need another polish job til next year probably. For now, look into it & see your smile beam back at you. The chrome-treatments on either side of the front panel are a bit trickier: do what you can with them if you like. As for the rest of the case, it may not need a re-polishing treatment for another year or two. To maintain the finish in betwixt that time, perhaps a full re-waxing in about 4-6 months from now. Polishing smoothes out the surface & gives it the luster; now that it has it, waxing protects the finish & can add an even further level of gloss n' shine.
Tip: be on the look-out for edges & corners of your door panels & front panel which may have 'lighter coats' of paint sprayed on them, due to gravity & the angle of the paint sprayer. The front panel has a center 'crease' also. Go easy, lightly on the outer edges & corners of your door panels, & lightly over your center crease & outer edges of the front panel. Polish those areas w/a lighter touch.
Tip: Above all, do your polishing in a clean environment: if there were ever a time to clean your case & de-dustify it --> it's now. I'll reiterate that to introduce 'grit' is to introduce an abrasive, which is to invite micro-scratches in your finish, that you yourself will polish straight into it, undermining the very thing you're so hard at work to achieve: a flawless finish. Stop @ WalMart etc & get a plug-in air-mattress pump, to begin the work and to use after your work: your now 'impossibly shiny black case' will dust over quickly, driving you qwite mad as you'll grow to become qwite jealous of it's flawless new finish & want to keep it qwite looking its best.
Tip: new door panels & lower panels (sometimes front bezels/panels) can be bought on eBay for $50-$80 & less. If you want to buy new doors/lowers/bezels to buff out - & keep your old ones original - that is an excellent & affordable plan these days. May I suggest some things: if you're now in the market to buy a new or nice used panel, try a lower 1st since they cost less. When it gets there, try & polish it up to get the hang of it. Then move for the door panels & front panel when your courage & experience is up. Or perhaps you know someone (who knows someone) who knows a thing or two about polishing a car ... ask them to try Meguiar's UC for you, huh?
Twin brother ALX was blessed from birth w/three coveted initials. For yours to earn its new letters, take your hand, & in a back n' forth motion, wave the Majik Wand: etch them in yourself
- Are you starting to get the picture now ... -
What do we learn from these results? The workers sprayed but weren't paid to buff our paint jobs for us; thankfully the shine is still there waiting under all that 'haze', a diamond (gloss) in the rough, all you have to do's go in there & get it. A long time waiting & I finally went in & got mine. An ostrich feather duster from Wal-Mart & what stands before me looks unassailably breathtaking (= Too flowery huh? Dude it looks sick. And so can yours. I've always been glad I got my A-51 from St Louis Goodwill ...
I've finally uncovered the reason to be glad it wasn't an ALX.
May I offer the sentiment that there is a level of intimacy here that exists & is at work; unto which the object of our affection has been thoroughly now tamed by ... the singular exquisiteness found in the nature of the forces at play are perhaps what is best called:
- Love at first sight ... ... ... and now best to leave it at that -
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- Daniel-san! Wax on. Wax off. -
There's no clear-coat on our painted case panels, but the hand-polishing process is identical to hand-polishing a car's paint. Machine tools (buffers) are great so long as you're careful w/one & their use for this project's probably best left in the hands of one with experience in their safe use. Doing it the old-fashioned way is my advice. Whatever you do or use, you can search online for the best ways to polish paint, car paint especially, or call around to a respected body-shop near you etc. Polishing your case should increase its value - whatever the definition of that word means to you - so you want it done right; research is a handy free tool to have & use. My projects are over, my research is done, my work here is 'finished', but here are some utubes on basic Meguiar's products to help get you started:
=( Non-polishable ALX panel )= >< =) Polishable stndrd Area-51 panel (=
- WARNING: DO NOT TRY TO POLISH YOUR ALX -
{ How to tell if you have an ALX or a stndrd A-51: http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19519738 }
Once upon a time there were things the ALX could do that standard Area-51 could not but those days are over. ALX can be matched once you drop in the front panel motor etc. And then here's the one thing that standard Area-51 can do - that ALX simply can not. In the looks department ALX's not only been out-classed it's literally been out-shined. Who needs anodized when you can have Guh-lamourized ... Back to basics here: none of us knows the actual thickness or thinness of the layer of anodization on ALX. I'd never try to polish mine, try to 'remove' a top layer looking for 'shine' underneath that ain't there. Wax it? Yes. Twice a year. Polish it? Never. Heh heh. The roles are now possibly reversed: in the past, the ALX owner had nothing to be jealous of over the standard Area 51 & it's 'so-what' finish ... not any more ... A51 wearing the Stellar Black GLX package finally has sumpin' up under its sleeve: an Ace of Spades to make the ALX package envious of & truly becomes the pièce de résistance in the process.
In the real world of the U.S. military, the top-secret installation at Groom Lake within the Nevada Test & Training Range is known to the insiders who work there as Dream Land. I hope I've delivered what I promised from the get-go: 'the Old Alienware Area-51. Coming soon'. Or simply. Wet DreamLand.
Welcome to the new Alien-Fx.
- Alienware - & Cass-Olé - have made a Masterpiece together -
... I've gotta feelin' ... that tonight's gonna be a good good night ...
********************************
I realize some of you are ALX owners, but it's Halloween night afterall & it is gonna be trick or treat all night long here @ the Hangar. As a fellow ALX owner, I know 1st hand that handsome fellow over there in the corner is a stroke of genius in its own sipping his brandy, reading the newspaper tryin' to stay sane in a house full of crazy young adults wearing their costumes having a party in the basement w/their rock n' roll music up too loud. I've got live Aliens & alien body parts stacked to the ceiling here: let's see what they're up to down there ...
- How to Train Your Dragon: Part II - Behold l'Dragonaut -
Having watched Train Your Dragon 2 about 2 1/2 months ago, I changed my eBay user-name to Drago_Bludvist because, I've been secretly building a Dragon Army ... my R4 showed up in Sept. w/matte black panels. Ho hum. I'd wanted an Aurora ever since my Goodwill A-51 arrived & I started looking at other Aware models; I really liked Aurora R1/R2 which also came in Cosmic Black.
They kinda shine ... I kinda like that ...
I own two brand new R1/2 panels, this one's still w/the factory paint job. Is it shiny? Yes. But not breathtaking. Nope. This is the 1st time this panel's ever been installed on a case b4 ... this is what they look like 'new'. This is why they need your help. After the results I achieved recently w/Meguiar's I bought new panels - two removable side panels in particular - in the Cosmic black for lil' Toothless:
Now he's a shiny lil' dragon ain't he.
"... Say heh-lo to my lil' friend ..."
"... Now I Am Become Death ... the Destroyer of Worlds ..."
Meet the new Aurora Australis; now available in the new Stellar Black finish. R1/R2 panels are your newest doorway into the impossible, shine that is. Just in time too. $20 can spicen' up the marriage: you're gonna need it.
In fact, despite the fact he roams in the same lair as the other Bewilderbeast's, don't let his pint-size fool ya ... he's the new Alpha. 6 initials in the insignia: an ALX wearing GLX armor ... day-um son. His top vents & front panel will be swathed in a smooth supple black Italian lamb-skin in the near future, since dragon's do wear leather; a finishing-touch that'll pull his full appearance package together nicely:
black lambskin de Italia like this - or a smoothe supple style - using sticky-backed velcro & hand-cut appliqués for top & front panel -
The in-person effect of his diamond-gloss armor is basically unreal 'cause the comments keep coming. Time invested is about 3-4 hours. Lunar Shadow R1/R2 panels are ok too, huh?
I have an opinion about these Aurora panels; they're a form of ABS-plastic I'd think; what matters is the finish on them seems to have been sprayed on 'lighter' as the result then on Area-51 which uses aluminum panels. That lighter coat of paint polishes up so smooth as to defy logic. To get Area-51 these same results would require a machine-polish &/or perhaps a wet-dry block-sanding process - which are choice staples in the polishing industry for a beautiful finish - but not knowing the thinness/thickness of paint being worked with, I've chosen not to discuss such matters but you can talk it over with your local pro as you explore additional polishing options / methods / expectations. Aurora r1/2 panels on the other hand have no limitations short of the amount of elbow grease you're willing to spend on them. In a side-by-side hand-polishing working w/new panels, Aurora wins the 'I can see forever into that finish' contest. In my haste to whip this together I deleted a vital folder containing many pics of the Jack-o-Lanterns @ our party tonight, so I've substituted prior photos from w/my old junky camera to help keep the momentum going. Sorry.
Is it Live? Or Is It Memorex?
w/out flash >< w/flash - the metallic-flake in the finish gives an odd result w/flash on. Normally it's black
Stellar Black turned Black Raspberry
Yes, that is a panel, not a mirror, a mirror-finish on a panel
- I can see my self-ie -
R1 / R2 panels are getting harder to find, which is why I divvied up now for a pair of side skins. The unpolished panel from earlier will be majik-wanded & prepped for a window so I can see my new stuff. Toothless has more to show you on the inside ... more on him later ...
- take the $20 challenge to your black or grey panels. Don't have an ALX? --> polish it into a GLX -
******************************************
Edit: 11.26.14
I've just purchased a new full Lunar Panels Suite @ a great price. Mthrbrd panel gets polished 1st
12.01.14: R1 / R2 Lunar panels arrived >< b4 / after
merry x-ms.
Which half is better ... heads? or tails ...
Meguiar's = smoothe as gl'***
u can take your ii's off that pink n' grey sleigh ... can't u ...
a peek @ the lower half ... note how brand new side panels come w/a factory lens protector (=
$30 shipped? woohoo!
- Toothless Also Gets Optional Aurora R3 Dark Chrome Panel Suite -
NRN8M > ASSEMBLY, CHASSIS, PWA INTEGRATED, STANDARD, CRM, 875, AUR3
NRN8M dark chrome panels were a $200 option on R3's
here's one that landed on eBay / US > talk about tiny n' shiny
I bought the three-piece chrome panels for my baby knight-fury, but they're going to stay new in the box. The door / side panels landed on eBay, they're direct from Dell as surplus stock:
The lower strip - 2PW3N - is very hard to find; I have a contact in HongKong (my lil' geisha girl) who bought toothless a lower strip & leap-frogged it here to us for $40/shipped:
looks just like a lower strip, lol ... more photos of Toothless-1000$ up n' runnin' later ...
La Manhattan Proyecta: "Ave Lolita ... You've got ta see her ..."
This is a spectacular photo of a new review sample Lunar-51
... while this lil' señorita needs a lil' help ... --> ayúdame, por favor! <--
Darker colors are more reflective than lighter colors. Of the three color choices, Lunar's always been the one that needs a little help, something to make it 'pop'. Notice in the right of the photo, the far-corner of the door's trying to reflect 'something', but we can't see it really for the 'haze'. This then is the everyday situation for "semi-gloss" factoy panels.These Lunar Shadow cases in particular are dying for a hand-job as a way to help the color-choice become more pleasing to the eye. Gray + hazy can never be as exciting as gray + wet, that you can be sure of
The studio photo up there of the review case is amazing to me, & it inspired me to go shopping for my own; I wanted to try my hand @ an empty Lunar-51: the one in the auction photo you just saw was available so I bought it. The guy actually put his home phone# in the listing - I called - talked him down to 270/shipped via Paypal invoice & that was that. Ran the service tag - to her credit she got ordered w/a solo hd5970 ($400 card) & 1100watter (pre-1200watt build date) but a whimpy i7920, soon to be corrrrrrrected. Build date on the case is Dec 8, 2009 - a year to the day after my apartment burned down where I lost everything but the car I had parked outside & the clothes on me back. Creepy. But kinda cool too. Heh heh. This case was fated to me ... purchased from a Spanish fellow on Long Island New York in Corona, which is in Queens & right next to Manhattan - thus the project's name. My Alx is the monarch of the Empire, known as KingJeremy_theWicked, while la niña ... la chica here, who hails from the Empire State - Queens no less - pues, el nombre de ella es Lolita:
Regina ... Latina ... AveLolita ... (Blondie: Maria)
Regina(trill rrray-hee-na) is the Spanish / Latin palabra for Queen, so yes, now restored, my ♥ (el corazón) it beats like a subway train y me encanta *these are my thought processes of late*. "There is a Rose in Spanish Harlem" gets hummed alot 'round here lately as well since she showed up ...
- fa la la ... la, la la .... la, la la ... la! -
---> "He's going to pick that Rose ... & watch her as she grows ... in his garden ..." <---
@ my age, it's the lil' things that tend to bring the pleasure anymore ... like a song ... about a girl ... & my oh my (oh me oh my!) has she grown up since delivery day, when she was a skrawny bare-bones thing from the barrio. But not n-e-more: in a script not so far removed from Pretty Woman, I put some choice meat on her bones, phattened her up a bit & exposed her to some culture .. now she's an uptown girl ready to take on the Manhattanite-class of high-society from Broadway to 5th Avenue yLa Traviata. Bienvenido a la historia la transformación y la metamorfosis de Lolita ...
Manhattan Project right? Littleboy & Fatman? Well, LittleGirl anyway (the boy dragons are hip to calling her J Lo). The Twin Towers are the Cosmic Black & Lunar Shadow cases, while the ALX is the Empire State Building. Code name:Trinity. Toothless is the new Alpha, he's the Freedom Tower: all of these in the Manhattan area, si? What will happen harkens to the similar tale of La Cenerentola - or simply - her Cinderella story; & so expectations are high I can deliver her happy-ending: I'll have to work qwik lest she turn into a pumpkin come midnite. I ordered an all-new Lunar Panels Suite: polishing took place immediately. Blue tape masks off a straight b4/after line. Results are dramatic on the new panel:
Right Side? Can't see **** >< Left side? Exposed nubile flesh
The original door that showed up arrived w/a long scratch dead center, so I cut out the window by no real choice. 1st cut, then polish, then install window, then stop then stare:
- bathed in Royal Purple ... obviamente -
*******************************************
- Messing With the Aliens Known As "Greys" -
This is the only pic I have left of my old 1986 Machiavelli GTS; I know 1st hand the desirability of having a slick-to-the-touch jewel-like finish on such a color as 'gray' with black accents. Gray can reflect, alot, just not like dark paints do, like black & dark blue. My car was fabulously shiny 'cause I layed hands on it all the time: put a black car next to it & you'd think it had no shine at all, nor does the photo do a thing to capture it. However, in person these Lunar panels really gleam, really beam, just not like the Stellar Black, but I knew that going into it. I can watch youtube all day long out of the reflection from the grey panels, so, the answer is yes they do polish up to a mirror finish you can read a newspaper out of, but due to the nature of light, the grey comes 2nd to black in the pure shine dept.. Don't get me wrong, Lolita's shiny as ***. But the Knight Fury? He's shiny as f***. Toothless? Forget about it. He's so shiny he's shiny as f****** ***. Bottom line, your Lunar-51 is an excellent candidate for the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, which can turn it right into a GLX in a matter of hours ... (you turn it into a GLX rather, in about 6-8 hours lol).
- The Portfolio that follows is titled: Veneralia -
Just a lunar shadow model? Heaven's no. No sir. This fine beauty is now the new Claire de Lunar-51
Front panel Is replaced, I was lucky I found her a new one: the now new polished part's part of the Hangar18's Spa Bath Massage & Facial Facility. There are no more dry dead rough spots to be found in that finish. Exfoliated. Now her appearance is that of having been slicked over in a baby oil: a visual lotion that not only looks but feels as smooth as glass, a simple rejuvenation process that would allow her now immediate access onto any beach in Rio de Janeiro on into the spotlight of the warm glowing sun. Sun tan lotion I would think. She is an alien, not of this world, I have had her under close observation of course here in my lab at the Hangar: the closest earthly comparison to some other life form here is that of the cicada or 'Tree ***': a temporal dormancy over many years, molted from & shrugged off from the exuvia of the older protein coat, emerges as a livelier smoothier supplier more colorfulier creature which can now mimic its surroundings in all shades of the visible spectrum, ready to begin a new phase in her life cycle. These are just my initial conclusions. Closer study is required of course ... science may be forced to invent a new word for what's taken place here. For now I describe it: the Metamorphic-Extrovertic Effect.
Her personality, if we could call it that, is that of an extrovert. She does not seek the closed darkened confines under my desk. This has nothing to do with her size, for even a 50lb canine will try to be your lap-dog if given half a chance. This in comparison to other introverted aliens out & about in the wild of the populace, which do in fact seek shelter & hiding in cramped unseen places, due to their optimal compactness of size or perhaps other logical reasons... her award-winning design is a show-piece, she comes out front & center, lives in my living space itself, a part of my family, not apart from my family. While my ii's concentrate on amazing picture set quality, the lusciousness itself is a welcome part of my daily peripheral vision ...
How does one measure the finer dimensions of beauty anyway? One way, two ways, three ways? Fine, do so now w/the 2D still pictures I present. But know you this: she & the Knight Fury now both posses the quality of the 4th dimension: were Einstein here he'd point at them & utter: 'these are little clocks'. Their glimmer & shimmer & mimic effect ensure they can never look the same way twice ....they've become visual time clocks. They are both a conversation piece & a literal figurative time piece that at one glance can tell me what goes on there in the other part of my room & further still which celestial body's scheduled to make its 1st & last appearance over my head in the natural circadian rhythm which is my life all wrapped up in one. They reflect my life. With Fidelity. Both what goes on inside of it & outside of it.
Euclid & Mr Relativity would measure my four magic corners out with the very fabric of time & space.
Say it ain't so.
Their stronger more unified fields of gravity & attraction can both bend it & warp it ... like they're tryin' to break through it. E.T.'s might be tryin' to phone home up in this joint.
They may look naked, but they do in fact robe themselves in & with the ever-changing cloth of reality.
These Aliens here can do the impossible.
- Neither g'friend nor b'friend: GLX is your new AlienFriend -
Metaphors for the prior portfolio, if you missed them: coming from out of the coldness & the dead of the darkness & moving out in the warmth of the rays of the life-giving light. The yellow bed sheet. Both Heavenly bodies now reign joys down upon her, perhaps even a 3rd as I see a hint of the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. The rattan wardrobe: the shrugging off of the former shell, the former self, the mortal coil as it were ... the Goddess Venus strikes her pose on her SeaShell ...
music choice this time's an opera buffaduettino ... the legendary beauty in the feminine voce: Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto >< the Letter Duetby Heir Wolfgang A. Mozart ...
Yes. Open the love letter to discover the joys inside. And fine. Ya caught me. My new G-friend. Least she's a looker. She doesn't make that raspy *** sound either when we talk, more like a sultry latina Scarlett Johansson in the movie where ya date your OS ... Her.
The music is a lofty feminine duet: it presages a latent dual-personality structure. If you passed in favor of Vivaldi's: Le Quattro Stagioni >< the Four Seasons that was a righteous fittingly perfect choice: turn it up @ the willowy-whispily-blossomly-cello-y sweet violin crescendo of La Primavera of course for me please, so we can be sure the birds n' the bees n' the krickets are all out there in fact chirping & busily-being in the new vernal equinox of the springtime sunlight ...
In the past we might've said stndrd Area-51 & ALX had undeniable rugged good looks. I've now served you Norma Jean turned Marylin Monroe on the dinner plate of a See Shell. Yes. Did ya see the shell? A simple (nay brute force) $20 make over becomes a next level beautification process: a form of Swedish massage therapy it's old creaky bones were dying to receive after all these years. For a deep-tissue massage: power tools. Had I used a buffer on these cases? My goodness, a standing ovation. If you learn nothing else here from me, remember this: never lend your tools out to a friend or you'll never get 'em back.
In fact. I challenge anyone in the audience right here right now, I will give you that twenty I been floating around if in twenty words or less you can convince - I mean convince like Mozart had to, in order to sway the Emperor & royal court's opinion in Amadeus, to showcase the brilliance of his master work Le Mariage de Figaro - convince me sir, that the make over itself does not & did not in fact bring this case from out of the simple lunar shadows right into the subtle complexity & brilliance found in the Light of the Moon ... & pass the critiquing process itself that can not hide & has no where to hide while in the unforgiving brilliance of the light of the sun ...
I'm in a swell mood here, if you are too & you'd like something else to listen to except me, try this modern, never to be questioned in a lifetime music choice on for size, so fittingly purrfect right about now if I do say so: oh my, take a moment & watch & listen in on this lovely Sasha grey thing for yourself:
Beyoncé ><That's Why You're Beautiful>< I Am Yours ... Live
uh huh: diamonds used to be coal ... her beautiful new panels are dripping w/the new GLX wet look ...
I've hand-polished three cases ... you have my utmost sympathy for your solo project
MidNight MoonLight in the Garden of Good n' Evil ...
*w/a whisper in its ear* ... be patient love ... that could be us ...
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Once upon a time I'd used this space to read R2 the 'Riot Act' & question its Industrial appearance. In the interest of not coming across as a "We Need to Talk About Kevin" & poppin' my baby sissy's eye ball out, I've removed it in a 20/20 hind sight. I welcome the newest addition to the family, with a hug n' a kiss. Smooch. My opinion's firm it could still use a lot of help though, simply put:
... they need to give it a piece of their beautiful ...
(Odd for a well-established company not to offer an assortment of flavors at launch-time: if they ever scoop one out in vanilla white, I'll lasso me one into the garden here). If you caught some of the symbols & some of the sublime I left you in the sublim earlier, like Vanilla Sky: somebody needs to play some jazz on one of these Area-51's, just invent something & I guess it'll be me. Back to business.
- Hands-On GLX & Other Upgrades Work-Shops -
Let's take a look at her body & see what she's packing under the blouse, then work our way inside once we do a peeping-Tom through the window. Is she Stacked n' Packed? Yes. In fact she's just had a breast implant (a boob-job, ok?). Her brand new front panel is not only polished but it now sports an ALX motor, motor switch, & a 604GC master i/o board on the case floor to run it with. She's all the accoutrements of ALX, does everything ALX does & she demands equal pay & r.e.s.p.e.c.t. por Dio!
{How-To Part II: A51 ALX ODD MOTOR / SWITCH INSTALL}
Claire de Lunar / Sasha Fierce will truly earn one of the three initials in her last name: she got the Gloss, which gave her the Luxury; now she's going under the knife to get the X-factor & bridge the 2nd gap, the one between her & ALX, & she can then move on to next level called: 'I am on equal ground with you now Mister'. This is my 2nd-go @ the Bionic Implant; I'll walk you through w/a complete how-to on the steps necessary toward converting A-51 over to a motorized front panel, to make it act & feel more ALX-ish: stand in the gallery as Lolita gets a silicon breast augmentation before your very ii's:
... she's gonna get a bustline as fine as that of Mrs. Knowles herself ... another part of the beautiful ...
The prior owner, uh, he shipped the case w/out the mthrbrd tray then said it didn't come w/the case (****). Paypal Resolution Center & w/in 6 days I get $30 in my account & $30 out of his, right? So now I need a Mobo tray {¿buenas suerte con eso, verdad?} But I finally find a guy parting out an ALX so I ask for his tray & front panel, 40 bucks shipped for both, so I figure I payed 10 bucks for the ALX panel & the Paypal dispute payed the rest & it all worked out since the hunt for the tray led me on the trail straight to a panel - wonderful cause + effect. Donor panel had serious cosmetic issues so I stripped it of its motor, ribbon cable, Alienhead switch & downstream wiring / lights, the only parts still good on it. For this go 'round @ MeatBall Surgery, I'll be using just the motor:
I would like to thank 'epartsandmore' for selling me a brand new front panel to start off with. Flawless. One of those Unisys new-old-stock surplus parts that keep coming from Puerto Rico, know the ones? When it got here last month, I polished the front panel's semi-gloss finish to a high-gloss. Now that the motor got here, it's time to put it in; I'll walk you through that right now. I used latex gloves, & blue 3M painter's tape for this job, a t-shirt for padding & some foam to lay the panel in. No special tools, just a philips screw driver. I'll be here a bit, need about 2 hours of good non-stop background music; choice:
Your front panel's made up of 4 parts: Top & bottom painted panels, an insert for the drive bay area & the over-all 'body':
circled purple are the 6 outer case clips, blue circled items are the lock that gets removed, & the screw you back out to release the brass-belt 'springy-thingy'. Circled green are the 4 lower panel rear clips, red are the 'insert' clips which you press later
If you get this far, note the ribbon cable. It is delicate, & it is fine so long as the lower panel can protect it. Once you remove the lower panel, you've exposed your ribbon cable to damage. From here on out, protecting it from yourself while you put the motor in is your #1 priority. You've been warned. From here on my ribbon cable's exposed, & from here onward I do everything I can not to damage it, which is why I began by lifting the body up & placing the box under it, to get at the lower panel to remove it (earlier).
I do not have pictures of the insert removal step, I was too involved to worry about you guys, had my hands full etc. Drop your front panel all the way down. Basically, the insert has four rear clips, two top / two bottom (photo earlier). I unclipped the top two, I "pushed" the insert out FROM UNDER the top i/o plastic (the top of the body where your power on button is, it is aluminum in photo of rear body @ top power button). After the top of the insert emerged from UNDER the top i/o part, I applied blue tape to that area (see photo) to protect things.
front panel has now parted ways with insert / arm-guides
Next, I popped the insert's bottom two clips out & wiggled the bottom out about half way. With half the top sticking out & half the bottom sticking out, I grabbed ONE SIDE of the insert and pulled on it while simultaneously 'pushing' the painted top panel's 'arm' from out of the guide until the panel 'popped out'. Yes, the idea is to pop the front panel (& its arms) out of the guides but 'leave the insert behind'. When the top & bottom of the insert are both half way out as was mentioned, & your panel's dropped down the whole way, it helped me at that point to slant the top panel at a 45 degree angle. As was said, the idea is to break an arm free of the guide - (the insert wants to 'stop' you from doing this) so when the arm breaks free, the other arm slides/lifts right out. As I look at the panel, I broke the left arm free. To do so, I pushed the right side pf the panel up so the panel was skewed to 45 degrees. When it was, I pushed THE LEFT SIDE OF THE INSERT OUT (FROM BEHIND) WHILE I ALSO PUSHED ON THE LEFT ARM TO BREAK IT FREE. It is delicate work, nerve-wracking, & hard to explain. If you break your top panels arm(s) in this process, plastic-glue it back on, super-glue it, plastic weld it etc. & remember you're doing this delicate surgery @ your own risk. I got lucky, my left arm popped free w/out damage, now I can work on removing the gear assembly:
Remove the top screw, & put your gear in a box. Now I've inserted Lolita's Bionic Breast Implant into the same space, securing the top screw. Eazy-peazy:
Once the top panel broke away, I removed the insert fully of course. Now it's time to reinstall them:
ve protected the plastics @ the top area w/tape. The actual top (w/the power button) must be 'lifted' to allow the insert to go back in
I suppose you could try to 'push the bottom of the insert out' from behind the front panel as its sitting fully down - but - I tried that on the donor ALX & broke an arm off its front panel (so what). I got better results by skewing the top panel 45 degrees and pushing just one side out of the insert to pop the arm free.
Now that the insert is back in, I raised the top panel all the way up, tightened the bottom screw:
Next, I raise the top panel, put a newspaper under it, & prepare to pop the bottom panel back in. It has two arms & a "slot" on the left arm for the ribbon cable to pass through, so be sure your top panel's up all the way & line the bottom panel's arms up before popping it back in / on:
Phase One is complete, Lolita now has her Double D's, & it's time for a mini-implant - next I'll be soldering in the micro-switch, to work the motor up/down later after power is applied
{ Phase Two Implant: Areola Enhancement }
Here's where I cut my chops on the micro-soldering job: a spare standard ribbon + pcb + success
I've sourced the correct identical micro-switch ALX uses
I've the now 'ALX' ribbon/pcb/switch etc from the photo above, but, Lolita's front panel is brand spanking new & I want to take advantage of leaving the ribbon & 'everything else' alone - I'm not putting the 'ALX' ribbon + switch in, I'm soldering in my own switch. I've prepped the panel by removing the alienhead & protecting the GLX surfaces in layers of tape, aluminum foil ( to protect from the solder iron) & a t-shirt. I leave the mini-pcb-board exposed:
Basically, I took a 2mm sliver of blue tape, & taped the button in place on the board (necessary to hold it in place long enough to melt @ least one contact, which will then secure it as you work the other three points one-by-one. I used a skinny 25watt solder tip. It's delicate work, no room for error & made easier with a magnifying glass:
Once you're satisfied it is soldered to the pcb-board @ all 4 points, you can break out a volt meter (with audible continuity tester or simple "ohm's test"). Probe the mini-10p connector labeled 'Alienhead' over the orange & purple leads ... press your micro-switch down
My semi-invasive micro-surgery's a success. Unwrapped the mummy & popped the Alienhead back on ... this panel will be air-dusted, waxed, buffed, & reinstalled onto Lolita's sexxxy bod & plumbed into the master i/o board to test for bionic ability ...
Plug the Professor into the Hyper-Drive ...
Success.
I motorized the panel down, then up, then down then up, checked the ribbon cable for binding - none - so my job here's done. Not a scratch on that panel & no damage to the ribbon cable: I did good by being overly over-protective with this beautiful new part, working in a sloth like fashion at all times, since the job is nerve-wracking w/calamity & 'a stupid mistake' every step of the way.
Finding a New / Spare Lunar Front Panel
It's become 'impossible' lately to find lunar front panel / bezels here in the USA Canada UK, out of stock through Dell Sales for the past 6 months, & I've looked everywhere using Bing / Google. I finally found & bought a pair yesterday from Velocity Electronics. My FedEx tracking page says they were picked up in Round Rock, Texas which is of course where Dell's headquarters is situated, so I can be sure these are straight from Dell Surplus. The sales rep described them as 'new system pulls', they had 21 in stock, now today they have 19. Priced at $110 each then you pay shipping (register for a sales account 1st). Use their website search box, search R841R which is the part# for a lunar front panel (edit: both arrived brand new, not a scratch nor spec of dust, new new new). I can not say of course what your panel will look like; hopefully one of the 19 they have left will be a winner. Otherwise, they are very hard to find, you're welcome to source the part elsewhere & call on Velocity if need be. When you contact them, perhaps mention how you "found Velocity mentioned on the Dell Alienware Club forum". On your quote request, your target price should be about $100. Good luck.
delivered 4.28.15 --> one 4 me >< one 4 Airene <-- brand th'pankin' new.
new spare lunar fronts for our twin girls ... polishing will commence soon ... ya think?
4.30.15 b4 / after
left side? right side? ... luscious lustrous luster
11.25.14 > Finding a Spare ALX Panel
The part# for the ALX front panel / bezel is X504R. You can buy them new from Dell, check eBay often or run the part# through Bing / Google.
Today my pair of ALX 'parts panels' arrived @ a killer deal: 32 dolla / shipped for both. No, they were not easy to find (no they're not for sale either, lol). After seeing what I got to work with, what I have in mind here is to make 'one good one' by removing the scratched top panel off one & transferring the good top panel off the other, as a now solid spare w/out issues for my ALX. I'll remove the motor-ribbon etc from the 'bad one', held as a spare & recycle the damaged shell which isn't worth keeping.
I present the photo & update here as proof they can be found: I ran down three in the past 6 weeks. Basically, carpet bomb anyone who sells A-51 parts w/a message if they have a known-working ALX panel for sale. If they say yes but it's a wee bit beat up - scratches / dents - don't mention you're out for just the motor & could care less what it 'looks like': use whatever cosmetic issues it might have as leverage to get the price down. You might say: 'it don't make much sense for me to replace my ALX panel (lol, as if) w/one that has issues, but @ the right price I'd be willing to give it a go; maybe try to make 'one good one' out of mine & yours' ... ok? Hopefully a stealth maneuver like that helps ya bag one @ a great or even crazy price. The 1st one I bagged came from a guy selling just a stock motherboard: I messaged, asked if the case it came out of was there w/him, & if so if it might be parted out, so there ya have it. You'll need a new correct ALX master i/o board, 3 different part #'s, any will work in your stndrd A-51 & here I've done an mi/o remove / replace guide in the middle of this post:
I know it's seldom, but sometimes you'll see just the motor come up for purchase: if so, you'd grab it & solder in your own micro-switch, as a viable option as you saw. Other times you'll see the motor+ribbon available: in that scenario you might drop it all in, & if so, take note of how your old stndrd ribbon routes etc. then transfer the alx motor-ribbon over (if your small pieces of 'clear tape' that secure the ribbon junk up in the process, you can buy clear 'nylon-reinforced' sticky packing tape from CVS etc to get new tape back on). If you buy a full panel w/issues, perhaps salvage your parts & toss the rest ...
Edit: 12.15.14 W558R Cosmic Black Front Panel Bezel
I ordered a new part# W558R Cosmic Black front panel bezel from Dell last week (above); since the R841R Lunar front panel is either no longer available or temporarily out of stock (they don't know which), I wanted to get a factory fresh w558r while I still can. It was listed as $115-shipped, but I smoothe-talked her down to $100-shipped. If I were you, stay away from eBay & just pay Dell the hundred bucks til they've sold out. Factory new is what you want & what you'll get. I'll dis-assemble my spare alx panel soon, grab the motor, dis-assemble w558r above, install that alx-motor & solder in a new motor switch & of course polish it into the stellar black armor while it is apart. Buying a spare panel while I still can is a wise decision: if any photos or added info emerges I'll post upd8's
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We've seen what there's to see on the outside - plus - beauty's only skin deep anyway, so let's peak inside, see what's what in there ...
Dios Mio. An AMD board's in there. Claro. El PussyGato. Her Lips are Devil Red & her skin's the color Mocha. ---> she's livin' la vida loca y I'm livIn' la vida broke-a <--
Sabertooth 990FxR2 + Fx8320 Vishera finally meet & mate up to DreamLand. You like? Back at the end of Dec 2013 I was tinkering with a master i/o board mated to my SaberCat 990Fx; I installed command center, got a few lights to work etc, then removed it. Having bought an empty case waiting for a mthrbrd, thought I'd slap the AMD in, add a new twist to the A51 mthrbrd swap:
Lolita'suna chica ... ella esuna mujer ... no doubt her gender's changed: she can't be an Intel... 'cause ... the boys have different hardware ... *bad joke, I know it*
CmndCntr 2.08.09 is doing all AlienFx chores, it acts 'wierd' sometimes but so did my Intel SaberCat & I've found no difference here to how CC acts in the face of a Mobo swap regardless 'who'... 90% it works, sometimes acts wierd, sometimes odd reportage of data, but ...it is what it is ... as good as it gets. Memory is Patriot Viper 2133; I chose these since the copper & black heatsinks 'uh look good' on the earth-tone SaberCat who looks right @ home inside the color nuetral grey exterior. I'm very happy. And yes, your ii's do not deceive: that's an R4 Asetek Premium cooler sitting on top of my Fx-Vishera ...
The following is a how-to article I typed prior:
{Aurora R4 Asetek Premium Cooler & Corsair H80i 38mm Rads}
I bought four Aurora Premium coolers; 3 used & 1 new (Toothless got a new cpu so he gets the new cooler ... it's good to be Alpha). The rad's 38mm wide & is thus over-sized for A-51's rad / fan cage when using the stock 38mm rad fan (it protrudes the rad/fan assembly down a tad too far) which means what I had to do here would apply to Corsair h80i & other 38mm cooler options. To compensate for the 38mil rad, I bought three CoolJag / Everflow 32mm x 120mm pwm fans, & installed them using 1 & 5/8" (6/32 thread) bolts. I had to remove the Aurora 7pin connectors from the coolers & apply the correct Molex SL-series 5pin for A-51. Last, since the Alienhead's ii's are see-through I made a home-made led which denotes true pump 'on' status. I only made one led kit so far & more will follow.
To install the Asetek prem cooler, I found the best way in the end is to remove the motherboard & tray & remove the top active vent assembly (photo & see your service manual for the how-to).
circled - that area plays havoc on the 38mm rad install. The rad likes to catch there. The cage doesn't want to lock for it. My work around? Install top cage 1st, then push the rad/fan assembly up & bolt to cage. Active vent top comes off as the price of a 38mm rad install.
Several ways to bolt the rad to the top, but w/the mthrbrd & active top gone, you can take two of the standard smal rad / fan screws & bolt the fan to the rad in two places ... slip the cooler / fan in your cage & use the 1 5/8 bolts to secure the rad, then for the last two holes, use standard fan screws to screw the fan to the top. Right? It's basically solid that way, & all eight rad / fan holes get what they need. Slap your mthrbrd tray back in when done & clamp the new cooler down w/new cpu paste & your appropriate retention ring.
The stock Intel 1366 retainer works on the Aurora cooler, & way back when I had to buy an Asetek universal retention ring kit which worked (eBay from the Asetek store), & I borrowed the socket AM3+ retainer ring from off my other Asetek / AMD-Fx cooler which is now in storage. If you can't find 1 5/8" 6/32 bolts, buy 2 inchers and dremel-tool them down to 1 5/8 w/a cut-off wheel. Last but not least, Toothless gets a new cooler & I've borrowed a pwm 25mm Everflow from my AMD cooler to keep 4820k running super-kool.
The led kit is my 1st attempt; it uses a standard 12v led & 22awg wire, which I plumbed it into an adapter:
I've run the led in behind the cooler top because it simply twists/pops on & off. When I have more time I'm liable to type-up a 'how I did the led mod', which would apply to Aurora of course. I've made just the one at the time I write this, I'll make three more (for instance this case shall get a purple led later) & by that 4th one I'll have a method layed in stone to potentially spell out. Alienware should've had this already done though actually:
A chat w/Dell sales says this cooler is $200 new. $200? And no led? Pathetic. The price is pathetic, the non-led is pathetic. The cooler's sweet - now anyway.These then are what make up the basics of my x4 cooler-mod adventure:
ALX's 130w tdp i7 960 gets one
Haswell gets treated kindly too this month - Trick or Treat!
{1.15.15} Xtra cooler arrived today.
All 4 Aliens run a 01YGW 38mm Aurora Premium Cooler; 5th here's a spare
50MM Wide Antec Kooler
@ 2min 30secs Margot Robbie sports an Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 with huge 49mm wide radiator
whether the top rad-fan is 25mm / 32mm / 38mm I'm not sure; note the kooler was moved to the middle spot (I assume to give CPU 8pin some room) & the black snap-lok's removed from the mthrbrd tray / wall for added room. Try a 50mil kooler at your own risk: new Corsair H80i GT is 50mm also.
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Cherchez la femme
Moving back to la femme fatale's hardware/mods list, once again I've done the triple top fans mod. The blue CoolerMaster 120 x 25's are bolted to 38mil spacers which bolt to the roof; they're super qwiet & run off a 3.5" Vantec fan controller. The system fan blows down & in, the CM's both blow up & out, the rear fan's a pwm by CM w/38mil spacer to get it closer to rad & north-bridge heatsink; might help / doesn't hurt. Again, I added a 3rd white led light theatre light up behind the cage handle (wht/blk wires).
I got a steal on four Radeon's so she scarfed up a pair el rrrapido. I've installed an Nzxt HUE internal led controller, but haven't routed the cable yet. Speaking of Nzxt, I'd sold off Toothless' would-be Hale90 1000w psu to help pay for sexier new 'stuff' (he ain't happy 'bout it, as in like when he blow'd up Hiccup's dad he ain't happy), but I have a basically still brand new Nzxt Hale90 1200 v2 w/low-miles I'd bought in July for another build; as a bare-bones case sold w/out a power supply, I'm obliged to slip Hale90 slowly but surely in through the rear for good measure. You can imagine the pleasure this must bring.
- Hale90 1200 can run 4 vid cards when using its eight vga ports -
I keep my Hale90 cable set new in the pouch & I've custom-made a cable set for this build using a new Antec HCP-1300 set I had, & rebuilt it to Hale90/A-51 specs & correct new modular connectors when needed. I chose Antec 1300 cables because they use upgraded 16g wire where it counts & I like the black look to 'em as well. They seldom use 18g wires, but when/where they did in a few spots, I modded them to 16g specs by jumping a 20g wire along w/the 18g where an 18g + 20g = 16g (=
I hand-made the 7" 24pin extension, 3-wire sense extension, & master i/o harness. Topping it off, this Hale90-Meets-Antec-Meets-Area51 cable set also uses gold-plated Molex psu-pins throughout. LaRegina's now been lavished in gold ... el oro ... pearls ... diamond gloss' ... & sleeve ... I ran out of sleeve finally, but here for the 3rd time I've sleeved up an A51 interior. I'm 80% done, too tired to finish, too lazy to buy more sleeve. It will all get done one day, bet on it. I've seen a couple of real nice Area-51 mods that were using some well thought-out touches. Lolita's been pimped out to the best of my current ability, certainly up & running though not entirely finished but far enough along to make her public debut ... la quince añera es Deciembre Ocho ... I hope (espero) you like the last of the photos:
- the four maGic Corners - or - why bigger is better -
- Change of the Seasons ... Time for Candy's Canes -
one last look at her lower ...
any complaints w/the new GLX wet look? anyone? no?
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We'll wrap this up w/a closer look at l'Dragonaut. Basically, I got a steal on a bare-bones ALX; $165/shipped w/stock Delta 825w (@12v) psu. Figured so long as I had an empty case I'd wait a bit to do anything with it. Plan was to slap in an Asus Rampage IV Gene mthrbrd w/1000w PSU. But right away I got a steal on a stock Mobo, then a steal on vid-cards, steal on new cooler & I finally had enough to, well, put a stock R4 back together.
B4 I had anything, when it was still bare, I went to work on the sleeving, cable mngmnt & case harness, since I don't like how slack Aware runs their show inside these cases, & a lack of attentions to detail. I won't lodge complaints about Aurora's design but I do have several: 'what were they thinking'.
That was bare. That was then. This is Toothless now, dressed to the hilt:
{left & right hdd sata & door contact harnesses are re-routed to help the sleeved mthrbrd/cpu/main-sata harnesses fit under the vid-card}
I've not done but a little modding in here. I'm running a pair of 2000rpm Scythe 100 x 12mm top fans, blowing down/in - though I could have turned them 'round to blow up/out. The routing of the stock case harness is redone to be more efficient, IMO, & it's now 'fully' sleeved (I got lazy & din't do the individual sata's, will go back & re-do them).
I wanted a solo Beast-Card, but because I got a killer deal on (low-wattage) Radeon 270x's, I didn't feel the need to do a psu swap yet - however - I have rewired & rebuilt the case harness slightly.
The case harness is a type of one-of-a-kind, although if Aware had their act together they could've & should be doing the same mod on the vid-cable side of things: they've had umpteen years now to figure out how to give 4 'real' vid-cables w/8-wire 6+2's, they could sleeve things in there & do top 100's, they could do all three but dont wanna - or it's a serious failure of their imagination. I hope. Stock psu gets upgraded harness. I compromised. Here I helped out w/fan upgrade tips in Aurora:
1.16.15 Edit: Solo Beast Arrived Radeon 290x
Service tag says the original order for this Aurora was a 4930k paired w/a 290x. Nice. I don't need a 4930k, but I've gotten Toothless a lil' closer to his original build pedigree today w/a used card from STS-Parts Round Rock, Tx (eBay) for $230, whom sold me most of this setup at to-die-for pricing. Gracias Scott ... yes I keep forgetting to remove my cooler's cling-wrap thing. I prefer AMD cards so both giants co-represent in all my Aliens ...
![_5164.PTDC0007.JPG']()
![_8kwnv.JPG']()
- Oem Dell 8KWNV 290x Card -
Uh, slapped in a small SSD & spinner w/se7en Ultimate. The last I have for show n' tell, is I had to wait a good while til I could get a cpu. I'm 20 & 30 minutes away from a pair of MicroCenter's. The October 'sale', is if you buy an Ivy-Bridge cpu you get $50 dollars off your mthrbrd purchase. The prices on their 4930 / 4960 are stupendous, but I went w/a basic 4820k for $250 new. The day b4 I went to get it, I hopped on their website looking for 2011 boards & they had an AsRock Extreme4-M, listed for $80 on clearance, last one. Usually you have to use the Jedi-Mind-Trick on those people to discount a board like that, but w/no hassle at all they slashed $50 off the AsRockStar for me; good thing too since my bank account's about to burn up, like so much kindling:
Buy an Ivy-E @ a great price & get rewarded w/$50 off a mthrbrd
$50 off a clearance mobo amounts to pocket change. Here's a shot of the online sales receipt they email you. "Pictures or it din't happen", right? Final price: 30 bucks. It happened.
Board is new, never handled, accessories are new/sealed. Cpu/Mobo Combo @ killer price. So, Toothless got a new cpu & new cooler, then down the road I'll slap in this good-looking x79 µ-atx. That's it. Mild stuff going on in there til the mthrbrd &/or psu swap goes down. Next project is a side-window.
Edit 12.02.14: The latest project's been a new Claire de Lunar Panel Suite, proudly presented here as:
Train Your Dragon III:
A True Aurora Borealis
The Verve >< BitterSweet Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyu1KKwC74
Yes change, I can change, I can change, I can change ... but I'm here in my mold ... I am here in my mold ...
... but I'm a million different people from one day to the next ... I can change ... my mold! ... uh huh ... ya huh ... uh huh ...
You'll need to take a longer harder look in 2015 at why you're there settling for a old dead-grey Aurora, when for 20 dolla you can liven up your finish & re-animate your alien w/an all new look
A. Borealis ... Dorian Grey, if you prefer ...
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- Having a Strumpet Over for Tea -
For the Halloween Masquerade Party, the boy's invited a friend over as a snack ...errr for snacks. Yeah. She's not a Dragon, but she is a Phantom; fitting actually given the occasion & her name's Phantasia, a Saucy Little Strumpet, according to the boy's anyway who fell sort a head o'er heels for those dusky deep blue ii's, the infectuous giggle & an unforgettable costume ...
Dragon's normally like to eat fish of course - well the combination of Sñr. Homo (hetero, lol) Indomitus' fishy Jack Daniel's breathe (which I'm used to & apparently she wasn't), & of whom slipped off to the bathroom - returning as 'Puff the Majik Dragon' at some point - that & that shine I put on him went straight to la cabeza (fancied himself el nuevo Rico Suave) ... this mythical creature left for el sanitario w/an accent sounding like Cheech & on return sounding more like Tommy Chong ... he'd had one too many of the Witch's Brew, so, Phantasia had to leave unexpectedly early ...
(it was embarrassing actually, uh, I kid you not: he {& his stinky breath} introduce themself as 'P-Diddy', rejected the notion he may have once 'lived by the sea' & outta no-where some cockamamie story about hailing from 'a land called Honalee'. KingJeremy_the Wicked scoffs by saying "Vato. You're from St. Louis, no?" & that's when the night (fury) took a turn for the worse since Toothless' Alpha Powers failed to bring dude back on-line in time; in some loco Dukes of Hazard moment a mumbo-jumbo ensued, something about: "Fan-ta-see-ya's the prettiest girl en Atlanta" - (we're outside D.C.) - uh, the way I 'member it he then asked to find her g-spot then tried to find it w/out asking & when the conversation awkwardly tried to turn toward how J Lo's from 'the Big Apple' he managed to fire off some words (no I mean fire literally came straight out of la boca) about 'having the girls go bobbing for apples' & that's when Lolita & I (she's used to these sorts of rascally Dragon's) finally intervened, claro?).
He doesn't get outta the Hangar much, developed a thing apparently for equines &'s in need of some more Training ...
find a place in your ♥ ... she's got a Dell Inspiron 531 mthrbrd & AMD dual-core in there ...
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- Back in Black -
'Back in the back, of a ... Cadillac ... #1 with a bullet, I'm a power pack ...'
subconsciously, you know it needs only a $20 polish n' wax job to be a purrfect 10 ... don't cha ...
... You Had Me At Hello ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LLS1BUpfto
Beyoncé: Hello><I Am ... Yours Live
The un-shy flaunty looker above, yes takes my breath away *whispers*wellhello there beautiful ...
But I know too much by now & so do you: I wouldn't kick it out of bed for as good as it looks (in fact I'd like it to whisper back: I am yours) ... but nor is that what they 'look like'. My personal opinion is that whomever owns this desktop is a mere one day & two steps away from owning an undisputed work of art in its now known-to-be completed state of purrfection: by inclusion of an ALX motor then polished into its ready willing & able coat of glossy Stellar Black armor. The game's just been changed. The mold's been forever broken: they belong now to the Ages as the finest looking desktops ever built.
Area-51 GLX has no equal. It shares the podium with no one. With nothing. Name Victorious.
R1's simply waiting on R2's hardware to renew its lease on life & the Game Victorious pedigree.
That torch is passed now to the new comer. R1's Warning Shot was just the 1st in a 21-Gun Salute:
For Those About to Rock the R2 ... We Salute You.
For those about to Roll R2's mthrbrd in your R1: clever boy ... re-animate your Alien & you'll earn a 51-gunner ...
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- Wrapping It Up -
They say Marilyn was qwite fond of New York. One day while out & about w/a friend in the Big Apple, basically staying low-key, able to walk the streets w/out notice - playing the part of Norma Jean - well she turns to her friend & says: "here ... do you want me to be her?" According to the friend, she all of a sudden 'did something', a certain je ne sais quoi & w/in moments a crowd began to assemble; gazing, gawking, feverish ... as Marilyn Monroe magically appeared in public for all to see, stare at & be amazed over ...
Your Cosmic Black & Lunar Shadow-51's basically have the same altar-ego thing going on there ... it amazes me to see all those used cases for sale that are basic scratch & dent models, as if the owner stopped caring about that $5000 case for some reason ... a form of Broken Windows Theory perhaps; like Aware chinched on the finish & so it subconsciously works on the mind not to give it the respect it deserves (a devaluation process). How unusual, since all my friends, even myself are immediately struck by the value of the GLX finish, as if Steinway's were here in my room & everyone afraid to touch ... last year they were all up in my case, fingering it, poking, prodding. Not n-e-more; I've seen 'em reach out to touch then draw the hand back as if knowing ... for fear harm might be done or an accident befall it. Those were the same people, those were the same cases, now all of a sudden they're aware they're in the midst of, beholden by something precious, to be protected. Send a plain box in the mail - you take your chances. Wrap it in birthday wrap - you've near 100% guarantee it gets there in one piece ... If you go in & grab the GLX finish for your case, you'll know what I mean. A new found respect, as if the case magically turned 'valuable again', easily the most talked about thing in the room. Like that u-tube video we looked at ... could you tell that thing was mondo-expensive? Don't even breathe on it? Huh?
Grab Meguiar's. Grab a t-shirt. Grab a Sunday afternoon. See what happens. Realize it.
A project like this could easily help you fall back in love w/your Area 51 all over again once you've uncovered what hidden secret lies beneath. I've sold off about all my other non-Aware 'stuff' to put these four soldiers together. Little bit of everything going on here, each is unique in its own way. I said I'd drop an A-bomb, maybe I did, maybe I din't. I hope the project made a 'still small sound' anyway.
My very last thoughts are these: I will ask you & I will now ask Alienware: how much more exciting would the Triad be if when the Stork shows up on delivery day & drops off the owner's newest investment at their doorstep - their case comes jumping out of the gift-wrap wearing nothing but its birthday suit like the shiniest of black lacquer jewelry boxes. I'd suggest it's about time Mr Dell spring for the lively high-gloss option (& stop-investing in the now proven dead finish). Something to help make the new AlienFx dance shimmer & glimmer off. And if the design is as revolutionary as you say, then why wait on making it into a revolutionary little piece of glass called obsidian accented by the electric-quasar blue you're pushing. You would do well here to follow my lead, wave your Majik Wand at the manufacturer's point-of-origin this time, say those Majik words & in a ball of smoke & light conjure up & then cash-in on a shiny sparkly thing. Some sexxx appeal, gentlemen. Not a vanishing act. Were this to happen it would certainly earn my respect. But not until such time. There is always time to go back & correct the Area-51's in whatever flavor they come in, & which are in sore need of corrrrrecting.
Triad is too much beast, & not enough beauty.
Someone's bound to point out to them sooner or later that the 250 year-old fairy tale penned by de Beaumont & which helps invent our notions of the story-book happy ending: as the fair maiden weeps over him, her wet love-laden tears have the power to turn him into the Prince of her dreams & they live happily ever after ... is the one we all know & love & it is called Beauty & the Beast ... yes?
My Homage to Mr Diamond-gloss David Lee Roth in Hot for Teacher: Claaaaaaass Dismissed !!!
MegaDeth - Hangar 18 - from: Rust In Peace
Welcome to our fortress tall ... I'll take some time to show you around
Impossible to break these walls ... For you see the steel is much too strong
Computer banks to rule the world ... Instruments to sight the stars
Possibly I've seen too much ... Hangar 18 ... I know too much
********
Foreign life forms inventory ... Suspended state of cryogenics
Selective amnesia's the story ... believed ... foretold ... but who'd suspect?
Military Intelligence: two words combined that can't make sense
Possibly I've seen too much... Hangar 18 ... I know too much!
{ @ 1min 10 secs {http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tzWc3Xl4B0 }
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11x17 Window Mod Post is here, or see my favorites for other projects & other's posts: http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19512876
- The Black Stallion & I ... we are Cass-Olé -
"... a deal's a deal: I've shown you how to do some things & you took the long winding journey right along with me as your part of the bargain. Thanks for making it all the way to the end. I'd like to thank the Dell/Alienware staff & the full membership of the AlienwareClub for allowing the modicum of a dispensation, the several degrees of freedom & the warmth of latitude which were used to express my show n' tell & in the mannerisms I've chosen for it ..."
edit July 31 2015
- A new case harness & USB 3.0's for Lolita -
original usb2.0 cable is ~75cm/29", these cables are 70cm / 27.5", close enough, get the ones with 'tabs', remove/desolder usb2.0's (~75cm / 29"), 'solder the tabs' to your pcb board
remove front bezel / top activent assembly / hdd bay trim --> yank old / install new <--
I made Airene's ax1500i case harness for mod part2; they inspired me to make my own set
I've used fat 16gauge wire & gold pins 'everywhere'
02.14.15:
Valentine's, our newest members of the GLX Club.
- brand new GLX girls that want to come to my pool party. see these lovely things below -
Area-51 Pegasus Part Two >< Part One
anathema1
7 Posts
0
February 18th, 2015 18:00
>[DEAD LINK /owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19618405]Area 51 Pegasus Mod<
DELL-Milena M
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2.7K Posts
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October 24th, 2014 11:00
Thank you for sharing that information though we haven’t been notified about any relaunch of the Area51's so there is no way for us to tell if this real.
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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October 24th, 2014 11:00
All of the rectangles are gone so only triangles now.
Gamesters of Triskelion
Cass-Ole
2 Intern
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1.8K Posts
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October 24th, 2014 14:00
@Alienware-Milena --> if you're there trying to make heads or tails about my post, I'm here trying to make heads or tails about yours. As a Dell / Alienware Technical Support Rep, might I suggest you mosey on over to either Alienware.com or AlienwareArena. If you've not been notified of the new R2 as of August like I was, putting the simple search term: 'New Area 51' into the Arena search box yields .com gold (in fact its been plastered on the net for se7en-ish weeks now):
There's a special event @ the HighLine Ballroom, featuring A51 R2 - but you mus' be 18+ to attend. If you're in the Big Apple come Rocktober 27th from 7-11pm - & over 18? - stop by there, as I'm sure your credentials would be fine:
Enough about your night-life; back to your daytime ventures: if you'll be responsible soon for tech support on R2, odd you've not had a seminar yet. Might I suggest that Chris_M may have info, if you've not been set up to speed on what $5000 desktops you guys are about to unleash on us lowly homo sapiens sapiens. Lastly, if you guys aren't ready yet to show me yours, all the better since I'm not ready yet to show you mine ... coming soon is the mutual buzz word ...
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Edit: Re: your next message down there: "Oh yeah you are totally right I just saw they are launching this system with the Area 51 name". Now, dear, we seem to be spending more time talking about your new one & less time talking about my old ones ... [li] You'll get your head lines, for now please allow mine theirs ... this isn't about you & yours, 'tis 'bout me n' mine ...[;)] I'm out to out-shine yours dahling, in several key departments btw ... givin' it me best shot n e way
DELL-Milena M
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2.7K Posts
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October 24th, 2014 15:00
Oh yeah you are totally right I just saw they are launching this system with the Area 51 name.
markshaheen
372 Posts
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October 24th, 2014 16:00
3 Quick questions; ETA. month, 2?
Are you still buying back Aurora's towards system upgrades? How many drives will it hold? I'm assuming they are on the outside, inner ring.
I've been waiting to upgrade from my R4 for 6-months now.
markshaheen
372 Posts
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October 24th, 2014 17:00
So you're not going to answer my questions I take it?
[8-|]
Cass-Ole
2 Intern
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1.8K Posts
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October 24th, 2014 17:00
The funny thing is ... Mark ... this thread I created here, is (scheduled & reserved to be) about my Area 51 R1, the last model ... see the pic? I'll delete this thread if it grows to become a lounge or waiting room for idle chit-chat re: 'the new model'. I'm about to drop an illustrated 5000 word essay as A-bomb on the modding world w/what I've done here to my 'old' models & an bomb on you personally for hi-jacking my thread w/questions addressed to no-one about the 'new model'. Please start your own threads if you've questions re: 'the new Area 51', or direct them to the link down there. The next person who should post here is me, & only me, with whatever it is I'll eventually have for show & tell.
Unless you've a good reason to talk about my Twin Towers - FatMan & LittleBoy - b4 I do, please type elsewhere. This thread's a place-holder for 'the Manhattan Project', due out soon in a store near you. Crikey.
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Edit: re: ... Mark ... re: will I not answer his questions?
Everything there is to know & is currently 'known' about possible hardware & features for Area-51-R2 is mainstream news all over the inter-web. "When will the R2 finally launch?" is a question that Mr Dell is probably still asking his #1 over @ Aware @ this very moment. I don' work 4 Dell / Aware, but even people who do (^) don' know a whole lot yet, other then: ... it's coming soon ... & so are mine ...
It says there in your signature you've an x58 WarTime, so I won' go hard on ya for lo-jacking more of my thread down there, bud --> [:^)]
Cass-Ole
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1.8K Posts
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December 3rd, 2014 04:00
I like to think our dear & qwite helpful Milena was notified in spades of the relaunch of the new Area-51 & Aurora GLX's ... & yes honey, they is real ...
I'm proud of the work & progress I made this year towards the old Area-51 & Aurora. Last January 1st I announced that good things were headed our way in 2014. I mastered the Area-51 power supply swap, where 17 people & counting from England to France, Germany to Australia & here in the US came along for the ride, bought & used my hand-made cables to toss in various styles from Seasonic's x-1250, Corsair's ax1200 ax1200i ax1500i, even a Dark Power Pro 1200. I did the AMD mthrbrd swap & made an adapter for Aurora to Mind-Meld w/an H80i cooler (I'll make a dozen of them soon & see if anyone here wants one), & nothing's left there standing in my way of an Aurora psu & mthrbrd swap.
I got led's to light up on the 604GC master i/o board w/its unique 'interior rgb led' connector (apparently slated to be a CmndCntr-AlienFx 'changeable interior lights' nicety that may have coincided w/a factory side window: two options that never happened). I upgraded all my liquid coolers to the newer/better 38mm Aurora R4 Premium type, which is awesome sauce of course. I'm using some Radeon R9 cards & tried my 1st ssd this year. Whatever else is gonna happen inside Area-51 will be next year. I wanted to try an A-51 R2 mthrbrd swap, but the closer I look into it, the more mediocre the mobo seems. If I try it it'll be when those boards sell for $100 used, that's all they're worth to me to get a next-gen Aware pedigree in one of my sytsems. Not much happens from team industrial worth shelling out for; drab blue mobo, 32Gb mem where every other MSI board gets 128Mb & some thought into appearances ... industrial mobo ... Aware feels alien to my six senses lately ...
Outside Area-51 as you saw, I took my Twin Towers on to the next level. My Manhattan Project majored in Dream Land: if you own a standard semi-gloss A-51, or maybe intend to buy one soon but haven't seen my post, I'm cashing in here one more time, pushing this thread back to the front of the page so it can get some views - give some ideas on how to rejuvenate the way they look: just when you thought nothing can be done with it ... well ... the outside of the case was the last to fall ... if you've already seen & read my post? Bored w/it? Well, there's new photos to look at, when you get unbored.
My project also minored in Aurora, but my Alpha, Toothless, he's been doted over pretty good I'd say recently. My new R1/R2 panels arrived Monday, I worked my voodoo & I'm done editing in some photos up there of the progress. Most people come to the AlienwareClub in need of a techie bail-out, or hardware upgrade ideas & advice. What I offered in my post was a way to freshen up & reinvigorate the way your desktop looks when it looks back at you & your family & friends: the 'glow' - a positive aura - a more appealing presence ... call it what it is: the old volume knob that now goes up to 11. I hope the pics & how-to's inspire some of you to think about the outside of your Alien as well as the in, as 2015 approaches. Area-51 GLXPhobos comes in new Stellar Black & Claire de Lunar finishes as you saw.
Aurora GLX gets qwite becoming make-overs too. Introducing our newest Deimos ... code-named:
Aurora Borealis
Wikipedia: from the latin word aurora, which means sunrise, & the name of the Roman goddess of dawn. Auroras are natural recurring light displays in the sky: A. Borealis are the Northern Lights. My Alien however has been ionized, as you can see & like majik he's experienced the rare phenomena & now wears adoringly this invitingly come-hither LunarMoonRise ensemble for this year's winter solstice ...
& of course for last month's potion of Halloween blak majik, we saw the new look but don't touch:
Aurora Australis
'G'day mate! ... matte black panels? ... that's not a knife ...'
A. Australis are the Southern Lights: think Australia --> think AC/DC --> think: back in stellarblack
If you own an R3/R4 w/dingy matte black panels like I do, browse my pics: think about a refresh for your outside using R1/R2 painted panels. If you already have an R1/ R2, you can spruce things up & be on the lookout for new panels to work with, say eBay where I got mine. Cost? About $80-$150, depends.
I'm chiming back in to my thread to announce to Milena the newest Aurora GLX: it's a look I had to wait a few weeks on before owning it - & naming it - & I felt it important for R1-R4 owners to see how the lunar panels do in fact have plenty to offer now in the looks dept. Mine look ravishing, so I wanted to appraise the unpretty Industrial Team responsible for the new R2 on what a lil' grey pc looks like w/a shiny finish on it, in case they weren't sure how to make 'theirs' into something more alluring for 2015.
... these are the days it never rains but it pours ...
& I look forward to seeing if any people jumped into my post w/their own GLX's by this time next year
tell 'em ya want a pair a hotties gift-wrapped waitin' under the tree: GoldClass + Ultimate Compound
The Dragon Army here @ the Hangar wish you & yours Season's Greetings & a very wet New Year. Here's to hoping on some more majikal things to happen again in 2015, gentlemen ...