Alienware 13 Pre-Release Speculation Thread

I feel your pain. And I think you are correct, March or so is likely, but it all depends on the timing of the Broadwell release. I'd like to get an AW 13, but with Dell not hinting at when but only that they will, release i7's, it keeps me holding back. Looks like I will have to live (for uber-portable gaming) on my M11x's for the time being

I have been struggling with this question as well... whether a lower clocked quad or the higher clocked dual makes more sense, I tend to lean in the direction of the dual ultimately... but it's disappointing nonetheless that by nearly 2015 we are still stuck with lower power ULV chips. The real issue here is that Dell was not about to put out a Razerblade-like system that was going to cannibalize sales from the chunky AW 17, pure and simple. I still say knock off $250.00 USD and we have a system that creates a niche for itself, but at the price it's just steep. Back in the day there was about a $500 difference between the average M11x and the M15x, but now the jump in performance to a 17 for a difference of only $400 doesn't make any sense and doesn't appear to make sense. Now, I know mobile gaming on par with the AW 13 pushes the price some, but still.... the memory of the power of the Alienware 14 weighs heavily at this stage and the power for the price.

 

I just pulled the trigger, and I got this
2 Year Limited Warranty
Accidental Damage Service, 2 Years, for free!!! + a gift card or something like that.

 

$50 off coupon for 13. Can be combined with other coupons and discounts, except for that other $50 coupon.

 

they dont offer a i7 on them?

 

Not yet. Wait until Broadwell-U.

 

So im looking for a laptop to play World of Warcraft, and do some coding... Any reason to go with the 1440p? im guessing i5 will be fine..

 

how did you get all that for free?

 

Well I tallk the sale rep. The configuration I want, and that configuration whent up to this
Subtotal: $1,751.26
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $148.23
State Environmental Fee: $0.00
Total Price w/Discounts: $1,899.49

So I tal the guy that my budget was about 1600. He said left me tak to my supervisor, and meke the story shorts I end paying this Order Subtotal: $1,458.57
Shipping and Handling Total: $0.00
Tax Total: $122.25
Total Amount: $1,580.82.

 

I wonder why they're shipping so late. There's no way it takes a month to make a system with the motherboard basically housing all of the main components.

@Bumbo: Did he tell you when it will be shipped? Sooner than the website says?

 

so you went with this: Alienware 13 Gaming Laptop | Dell and what extras?

 

@supermiguel. The one that start at 1,099.00.

@Jdre it will ships on 12/16/14.

 

I unloaded my NP9150 a week ago, and put in an order for a 1080P/8GB/1TB AW13 today -- managed to get it for ~ $1190 shipped after talking to a rep on the phone.

Going to hold off on the graphics amplifier for the moment, let it get some real world testing before I pull the trigger on it. I'm pretty happy with the price, if an I7 drops I can always unload this one and move over, I don't imagine it'll be a tough sell.

 

so u guys are leaning more for the 1080p than for the 1440p?

 

@supermigel: I've, personally, never had nor will I ever have a desire to touch my laptop screen to navigate Windows 8 -- so, that aside, I generally game in 1080p everywhere else, so I see no need to tax the 860m any more than necessary. For me, 1080p in a 13" screen is fine.

This is a gaming toy. For everything else, I have a 13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro. /shrug

 

Well, I order with the highest resolution. I will tests the machine and if I dont like it, I'll return it, about The amplifier we will see later...

 

What Shipping date did you get?

 

Know the feeling - I looked at someone else's ASUS with a 13-inch at 1080p... it looked pretty darn good, 1440p I think is going to be a hard to make use of on such a small screen - but if the 860m could drive it, I might be convinced. 1366x768 on an 11" is pretty good, all things considered even. This is an M11x replacement for me, as parts and support are not long for this world, I will probably end up picking one up even if they stay on ULV, but I insist on an i7 regardless dual or not.

Really looking forward to the real-world benchmarks on here from folks with the different resolutions.

 

Delivers by 12/16, but I was told it'll most likely ship in a week.

 

Yea, that's pretty much my thoughts on it as well. If I'm not impressed by the performance and portability, I'll simply send it back and wait for the refresh. No restocking fee if returned within 30 days -- I think it's safe to say I know in a matter of days whether or not I'll be keeping it. For the price I got it for, it doesn't need to be amazing.. but I don't want to feel like I'm sacrificing too much either.

 

You mean a week from the order date...?

 

Dec. 16th is my birthday.

Hope you guys enjoy your purchases. Please post feedback regarding temperatures and FPS.

 

Oh, really Cool. yeah I Will!

 

On the Canadian site, they changed the Alienware Graphics Amplifier name to Alienware Echo-Series Docking Station. I like Docking Station better.

 

Probably because they realized it doesn't exactly amplify anything, lol. An eGPU Docking Station or "Dock" is a fairly accurate description.

 

Looks like I'm gonna order from HIDEVOLUTION. My best config was $4500 with 2 x 512 gb ssd and anotger 1gb SSD with 16 gb of ram, 1 eGPU with 980 and extreme global warranty. At least when the laptop starts to chug on games I can use it as a dedicated work computer like I do on the m11x. It's a lot of money but I can expense under my company. I would be using it as my main work computer as well so in a way it pays for itself eventually. The eGPU gives it some extra life in my opinion. I'm also going to get the nvidia shield controller with screen to replicate what I'm doing on my edge but in a smaller form factor. I have a chronic back injury so I often game while lying down or I try to game sitting but can only do so for about 30 minutes. I'll set up the eGPU next to my TV so I can also treat the AW13 like an Alpha for times I can lounge on the couch for 30 mins. As for real PC gaming I'll be buying a motorized standing desk from ikea. I could bring down that price alot if I go 512× 2 with 1 TB 7200 rpm harddrive but I'm thinking I wouldn't mind going all out with SSDs...be great for busses and bumpy trains.

 

Hello !

Do you think installation of Windows 7 PRO/ Ultimate is possible on this new AW13?
I dislike Windows 8.1...

Thanks very much!
Best regards from France

 

It might not be possible. Some PC's were made specifically for one type of OS in the past.

To answer your question: we don't know, yet.

 

If you examine the options on the US site (not sure about France), you will see there is an option to load Windows 7 Pro, so it definitely supports it.

 

It is almost certainly possible. The issue you may run into is drivers. As with any instance where you're installing an operating system that a particular computer didn't ship with, your biggest problem will be finding compatible drivers. It's possible all the necessary drivers will work fin in Windows 7, but some may not. We just don't know yet.

 

Many thanks for your answer, it's a really nice news!!!

 

That's what the rep alluded to, yes. It could possibly be in hand by Thanksgiving.

 

Also, it's worth mentioning -- Dell has no drivers listed for the AW13: Product Support | Dell US

From what the rep told me, since there's no optical drive, no media is provided. All OS/driver/recovery related data is on a 'recovery' partition instead.

 

If that's true, whatever OS you order with the system is whatever you'll be stuck with. Drivers will be a pain to find.

 

I'd wager they just haven't gotten around to posting them on the website yet.. presumably because no one has the AW13 in-hand yet (at least I hope that's why..) Alternatively, if the installable driver packages are on the recovery partition -- I'll be sure to copy them and put them online if no one else has by that time.

 

They post drivers for everything and keep them up forever; getting drivers would be the last concern I personally would have. The trend is going to be not having media for recovery, allowing you to make your own or pull down what you need.

Considering most people aren't loading anything but Windows 7 or 8 you will have no issue. Stray off to loading Linux or something else, and well, have fun with that

Lucky you - hope to read some reviews and benchmarks over turkey and dressing :hi2:

 

I really wanted to grab the base model with a 1080p screen. It's better than Inspirons at $999. But I hate that i5 processor. That's holding me back. Hopefully Broadwell-U is added to the configurations soon. I could use something small for class. Those lecture halls have the tiniest damn tables. They cram us in these Halls like sardines in a can.

Spoiler

I refuse to join the Apple fan club.

 

Wow, That's a real fan club!:laugh:

 

I'm disappointed that you have only a single 2.5" hard drive space to work with. I find it hard to believe they couldn't find space for a single M.2 slot somewhere on the motherboard.

I'm in the process of putting my 750GB mechanical drive back in my Alienware 14. I was running a 256GB mSATA system SSD and a 256GB 2.5" SSD for games, but I keep running out of space on my games drive. I suppose I could drop a drive in the ODD slot, but that's just additional drain when I'm running on battery. I'm already disappointed with the battery life, I don't want to make is worse.

I'm actually OK with the AW13 processor (hello battery life!) and I love that it has a "dock". I hate having to plug/unplug 6 different cables every time I want to take my laptop into the living room. I often don't bother and grab something else to use. I would be tempted to get a Latitude so that I can get a proper dock, but the GPU options are a joke.

I also recently tried Steam Streaming and it works exceptionally well on my network. I plan to sell my AW14 and use my old i5 ThinkPad T410 with Steam Streaming until I find something else. Steam Streaming may eliminate the need for a gaming laptop for me.

 

You can have upto 2 M.2s, so there are 2 M.2 slots; the problem is that the M.2 slots and HDD slot share same port, which is a weird design choice for thinness.
It might be due to the size of the battery, which is huge (in surface area) for a 52w battery, that isn't another slot.

 

It seems i7 AW13 will be out January 6th.

Because Broadwell i7 ULVs are apparently going to be launched at CES 2015, which apparently begins on the 6th.

Src:
Intel to launch Broadwell "U" series CPUs at CES 2015

I am really hoping the AW13, having decided to go ULV, will at least take the best out of them. Which looks to be the i7-5557U. Which seems to be comparable to the i5-4340M.

Src:
Intel Core i7 5557U Notebook Processor - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Not long now. Again. Lol.

Btw if anyone is looking for essentially AW13 specs plus a quad core, there is this: Defiant 2 Mini 13" Gaming Laptop - Chillblast

 

How much of a price increase do you guys think there will be between the i5 and i7? Around $200 USD?

 

That laptop is a rebranded Clevo W230SS, the only other gaming 13" laptop available now. But I didn't know it only had 1 fan.

 

Now all we need is Nvidia to hurry up and release the mid range 900M series of GPU's :thumbsup: 950M, 960M or others.

Cheers.

 

It's a shame that they did not put a 4702HQ/MQ processor in the AW 13. I am fairly certain that it would support it thermally. It looks like a good design.

The i7-5557U (Broadwell-U) is 28W and the 4702HQ/MQ are both 37W. That's a difference of 9W we're talking, and nearly double the performance in that 9W.

 

Yes, it is a crying shame

Who knows, they might do one after all, nothing is set in stone. We'll know more after CES and PAX South are both over most likely.

That's a shame as well, a dual-fan solution just makes so much more sense in terms of cooling and sound-levels and would have qualified as near-perfect for what I am looking for.

 

I'm thinking closer to $150 USD if I recall the spread on the M11x series...

Wonder if it's a question of thermals and price then...

 

The 13 does happen to be smaller than the Clevo laptop (2.79cm vs 3.2 centimeters in height); if we were to imagine them both being rectangular prisms (they have height, depth, and width, so it's a good approximating approach), both have a volume of 2150.532 cm cubed and 2397.12 cm cubed, respectively, and a surface area of 1855.754 cm2 and 1854.68 cm2, so that could be the reason. The 13 has more surface area (not by much), but its volume and height are shorter by a good bit.
The Clevo ships with a 120w charger, so we know it can't be due to power consumption. It would be logical to assume the 13 cannot handle a full-voltage Broadwell or Haswell CPU due to its size. Then again, the dual fan layout would ensure a cooler laptop. And while the thinner 14" laptops are able to have full voltage, crazy CPU and GPU combos, in terms of area and volume, they're bigger, so the 13 is in a tight fit.

 

2.5" bay? 2x M.2 slots? Dell live chat told me it only has one m.2 port?

 

If our assumptions are true, then it stands to reason that (as I have indicated a few times before) that Dell is playing it extra safe with thermals and component lifetimes to the point of being too conservative in their designs now. Someone there in power seems awfully afraid of a lawsuit or a wave of support issues due to heat or other issues... like they had with the M11x hinges. The M11x runs hot relative to the other members of the family, and when you factor in the throttling we see with temps on the M14x-R2 (which can be overcome with tools), it looks like it's all driving Dell to be too conservative on heat now, at least IMHO.

One 2.5" bay with a bracket assembly for 2x M.2 slots, so either one regular 2.5" drive or 2 M.2 drives with the bracket in place from what it says in the online order system.

 

so when selecting the 512gb SSD option when ordering online, any idea what you get?

Dell, as usual, completely bungled my online order so I canceled the order I had for 2x 13's. Now will probably wait for broadwell. Just wondering what drive config they would have shipped with, tho...

Anyone have any tips for ordering an alienware? My experience has always sucked, because, for the 3rd time in a row, they've billed me for 1 more machine than I've ordered (in 2010 they managed to bill me for an epic 3 machines when I wanted one!). I think I'll phone order in the future...