*OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R1/R2 Owner's Lounge

Has anyone extensively played games while on battery power and had issues with the screen dimming and USB ports not working after a few minutes of playing? This is driving me nuts.

 

I've played on battery before and have had no problems with it other than turbo boosting not working once the battery capacity gets very low (it reactivates once the battery capacity hits a high enough percentage).

 

even on battery mine is still having this problem.... its annoying

 

I couldn't disagree more. The problem I have with the trackpad is the general use of it. It doesn't matter what application I'm using (or none at all).
I don't know if it is because of the physical material it is made out of or if it is a sensitivity issue, but my mouse pointer almost always jumps between the time I stop moving the pointer and and when I try to left/right/double/etc click.
I've never had this problem with any previous laptop I've owned.

 

Perhaps i've already asked...but is there someone with 768p screen that can make some photos? Just to see the screen quality.

 

I get my AW13 tomorrow. I got the I7 5500U, 1080p screen, 8Gig ram, 1TB HD, GTX 960M (supposedly).
I've been reading this thread about the video drivers. Are you saying that the drivers that are on (or go with) this computer will make my supposed gtx 960M act like an 860M? Doesn't that mean just a few Hz in speed? What is the vBios and is it flashable?
If I run Gpuz, will it show the 960M (1096 MHz) clock rates?
Please spell it out for the noob that I am: Am I buying a gtx 960M or not?
Despite the clock rates I also want this:
"Nvidia said it's been able to squeeze out more performance by tuning its GPU Boost 2.0, and the parts will also reap the benefits of process improvements. The company also said BatteryBoost is improved on the newer parts. "

 

The 860m thing was before the 960m released. All 13's since mid-March have a genuine 960m (unless you are buying the one with the i5-4210u then you'd be getting a bona fide 860m).
Don't stress yourself too much over this.
You'll be getting the features you quoted.

 

I can't believe they said that. Try going into the device manager and look at your blutooth or USB devices (wireless USB).
See if they have a 'power' tab and uncheck the 'allow device to shut down to save power' setting.

Are you sure the power profiles aren't dimming the screen?

 

Anyone suffering from Audio stuttering still?, even clean install of 8.1 does not help.

Dell sent a tech to change my speakers but does not seem to work , emailed samples of video but they dun seem to be able to solve my issue.

Happens only on streaming of video over the web, in games once in awhile... But mp3 or blue ray 1080p videos offline seems fine.

 

Just received my AW13". Specs: Core i7 5500U, 16 GB DDR3L, 256 GB SSD, GTX 960M, 1440p touchscreen, Windows 8.1 Pro. So far, everything seems to be working great. Haven't had much time to mess with it, but the time I have messed with it, everything seems solid. Just updated the BIOS to A04.

 

Update: Last weekend I used my 13 with my 3rd party 90W adapter. This time instead of warning me it was a 90W adapter, I got a warning saying it couldn't determine the wattage. As a result, it would power the laptop, but at restricted performance; and it would not charge the battery (even if the laptop was off).

 

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Alienware/alienware-13
According to this, the BX100 and MX200 should work on the 13. Not so sure about their claim that the MX100, M500, and M550 working unless they have an updated firmware.

 

I got the same sort of warning as well when I plugged in a 90 watt dell adapter. It still charged, but I was just surfing the web. I'll run some benchmarks to see if there is throttling. The 860m draws about 60 watts correct?

 

Anyone did one to one set exchange ?

 

Well, I just ordered my AW 13 (i5-5200U , 960m, 1366 x 768 TN & 4 year accidental) I'm sending my AW 15 back.....absolutely HATE the macro keys on the left side...just can't get used to it, also I didn't purchase any extended warranty and I deeply regret that.

So, to save some money and get a 4 yr warranty I downgraded to the AW 13. I'm keeping my GA and still have my GTX 780 & 27" G-Sync monitor in my office.

 

Hello AW13 owner, I have a quick questions hopefully you guys can help me.

I currently own an M17x R3(?) with a 580m GTX card. I like to change to the AW13 due to portability. I dont game a lot but the game I do play often is Starcraft 2 heart of swarm, currently I can run everything near extreme at 1080p however it does slow down if I play custom games like Marine Arena (when there is a lot of unit on the map). My Question is should I get the I5-5200U or I7-5500u? would there be a noticeably degrade in performance if I do go from my current setup to the new AW13 with the GTX 960m?

any information would be helpful, thank all.

 

I own a m17x r3 with 560m previously and upgraded to the aw13 and went with a i7 5500u.... My alienware m17x r3 bottleneck when using pro-e

 

I'm sorry what is pro-e?

 

Pro- engineering, similar like AutoCAD

 

The i7 on my m17x was a i7 2670qm which was more powerful and a quad core, the i7 5500u on the aw 13 is a dual core which is slightly less powerful and consumes less power

 

i understand that much but from what I been reading the processor of the AW13 is the bottle neck for games?

 

As for gaming IMO it does not really affect that much, I feel gaming is more on gpu..but if you are doing 3d, heavy editing of videos the dual core and quard core makes quite a difference

 

I can get 5-6 hrs on balanced mode on the i7-5500u if that mean anything for u. For $50, i think it's worth the upgrade when u consider its going to stay around for 2 years.

I can play Heroes of Storm in Ultra on this config easily above 45fps w this machine if thats your tupe of game.

 

leslie, have your issues on audio been solved?

 

I got that message the first few times I used my non-Dell adapter. Ran fine and benchmarked nearly the same as the OEM 130 adapter.
This last time it said it couldn't determine the wattage.

 

Yup I went into the device manager and did that uncheck. Updated bios. Went thru all the power profile options and couldn't fix the issue. Eventually I called support again and they were willing to replace the laptop, but I was so annoyed by their initial response that I just returned the laptop for a full refund.

 

Had no choice but to settle for msi gtx970 amour oc since msi gtx 970 gaming could not let the cover close.

 

I've been checking out my new AW13. I found a couple of issues with it that I want to know if they are 'normal' or if I have any 'problems'.
First I noticed the USB ports on the right side seem to move when a connector is installed. They seem like they are allowed to 'wiggle' and stress the motherboard.
The USB on the left doesn't move as much as the ones on the right.

The speakers sound raspy and distorted even at low volumes. I disabled every sound 'effect' I could find including in the Sound Blaster application.
Like when I do the Windows 'asterisk' sound it sounds very 'harsh'.
Is this normal for these speakers?

Also, Is there a way to darken the bright and annoying power button and maybe the status lights without going 'dark' on all the lights at once?
I can select black or dark for every zone except the power and status lights using AlienFX.
It totally distracts from the keyboard lighting and I would hate to get out the black tape for this.

 

@ttfid
see the attached screenshot , also my speakers are fine(normal sounding)

 

I wanted to do the opposite of that setting. I want to darken the power button not darken the keyboard.

I found out the loudness enhancement under the sound drivers was causing the speakers to distort. In fact the speakers can barely take any enhancement at all, even from the Sound Blaster software. It shows that hardware shortcomings cannot be overcome by any software.

The trackpad has a cheap clicky feel to it. I don't use the buttons on the touchpad. I like to tap to click and when I do there's a slight give to the surface giving it a very cheap feel. I really expected better quality in the plastics and connectors for this price.

 

can I change my wifi card to a intel one?

 

Yes.

 

do you have any recommendation?? intel 7260?

 

The last Intel card I've used was the 6230AC. It was fine, but it had problems with Win8.1.
I think the 7260 should be better, though.

 

I can't seem to find one 7260 on amazon that fits the aw 13

will this fit?

http://www.amazon.com/Authentic-726...432745354&sr=8-2&keywords=Intel+Wireless+7265

 

It should.

 

Good news: The 13 has HWInfo fan support.
Bad news: Well, you can only choose between three fan speeds through manual: 0, 3000, and 6900 RPM.
So-so news: But you can modify the "Custom Auto" but with select sources (the CPU and GPU are sources, though).
More bad news: You still can't control the GA's fan speed through HWInfo (I've tried and failed).
There appears to be 3 fan ports according to HWInfo, with 1 and 3 being occupied and 2 being vacant.

 

Hey I saw this while catching up

So i had this issue, was better when on power rather than battery.

I ended up finidng a solution that worked well. I uninstalled the dell support agent program.

Once i did that no more issues. Let me know if this helps

 

I had a change of motherboard, so gonna test out .... if its okay

 

Is the killer on board card suppose to be better then the intel ac

 

I've had better success with the Killer 1525 than I did with the Intel 6235 or whatever it was called.

 

Does the AW13 have a light sensor? I tried to use the screen 'adaptive brightness' setting, but it didn't seem to do anything.

 

Ok, so here is my solution to the problem of Dell engineers deciding, for some reason, to not allow full control of the power button and status lights actions. It's a very low tech solution, and I'm pretty pissed I have to resort to it.

IMG_20150529_141555398[1] by ttfid posted May 29, 2015 at 4:19 PM

 

How did you get HWInfo Fan Support? I can't seem to use either HWInfo or Speedfan to detect fan speeds.

 

Disable EC support.

 

I didn't noticed it recently so I guess it gone away for good. I didn't do anything special though. Suggest u try headphone mode. If the audio issue doesn't surface there, it's probably the physical speakers causing the issues.

 

Headphone can be heard , changed the motherboard ,speaker.... I am unsure if the wifi card is causing it

 

Now the waiting begins... order acknowledgement email recvd. Have to wait for payment confirmation, boxing, and delivery. Be at least a week.

Ordered with i7 and GTX960. Big splurge was 3yr warranty. No budget left for SSD or even a carry bag. But YAY! .

 

Im looking at 13 inch light laptop for work what you guys recommend me between this laptop vs macbook air?