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

Alienware Refreshes Lineup With Laptop Updates, And Liquid Cooled X51 Desktop

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9568/...-laptop-updates-and-liquid-cooled-x51-desktop

 

Just tried.
FN + Right Arrow Key = Next Song (Forward)
FN + Down Arrow Key = Play/Pause
FN + Left Arrow Key = Previous Song (Backward)

 

Edit: Never mind.

 

http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_alienware_laptops/alienware-13-r2_Reference Guide_en-us.pdf
http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/a...tops/alienware-13-r2_Service Manual_en-us.pdf
Manuals for the 13 R2 is up (and only the 13 R2 for now). It's pretty much confirmed it'll be the Skylake-U CPUs. That said, there's no mention of an mSATA. Must be a typo on the configuration page where it meant M.2.

 

Hope they update the configuration page with Skylake soon!

The new QHD+ display is IGZO as well, so that should save power. I bet the battery life in the R2 is greatly improved upon.

 

Yep, exactly the same here. It would have been handy if they had marked the keys with something.

 

Will Skylake U bring any significant boosts compared to the broadwell U processors? the results from testing of the 6xxx desktop processors didn't seem like a big jump even from haswell.

 

Exactly 4.2% in synthetic benchmarks. They have other benefits, though. More efficient, less heat, greater stability, etc.

 

There will be technically better graphics performance, despite the GPU being the same, because Skylake-U runs at PCI-E 3.0 as opposed to PCI-E 2.0 in Haswell-U / Broadwell-U (in other words, more bandwidth). Could be a 5% to a 10% increase in graphics performance.

 

The 960M has a slight bottleneck in a few CPU demanding games with the 5500U. I've tested some games with a 4720HQ and 960M, and they performed about 10% better (3~ FPS). I'm worried the 1060M may be severely bottlenecked with the 6500U, as it offers no significant improvements over Broadwell.*

The 1060M should be about 50% faster than the 960M. The 6500U is a mere 4%~ faster than the 5500U. You can see my concern.

*It's also worth noting that people are using desktop graphics (e.g. GTX 970) with the dual-core, so it will still be playable. That I have no doubt. However, we may never see the "full potential" of Pascal mobile GPU's with limited CPU performance unless they allow us to overclock, which only seems to be available when connected with the GA.

 

So if the battery charge sometimes only lasts for 2 hours while not gaming and they show up to 8 hrs on the web site, then why isn't there a huge protest or call for a recall on the forums? I read that if you boot up while the charger is plugged in, then unplug it will last about 5 hrs. If you boot up while unplugged, it will discharge too fast? Did you find this to be true using empirical data?

I have a 4 hr web design class that includes a lab. I got the AW13 for the keyboard, matte screen, <5lb, and gaming on the go. If it can't get me through the class without a recharge and I have to lug around the large power supply, it will defeat the <5lb purpose and the reason for using a 15Watt CPU. Hardly any laptop can last much more than 1hr while doing heavy gaming, but <4 hrs while not gaming is barely acceptable.

 

Just placed an order for a new Alienware 13... Does anyone know any place that sell clear skins (similar to Zagg or Best Skins Ever) for the AW13?

 

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about downgrading to the Alienware 13 from my 15 for the sake of having something lighter and portable.

1. Do you find it easily portable?
2. Does the dual core really make a difference that's noticeable compared to the AW 15's quad core?

I don't do any heavy-duty processing outside of gaming and currently own the Graphics Amplifier with a GTX 970.

Thanks!

 

I got the AW13 instead of the 15 just because of the portability. If you get the neoprene carrying case it becomes a nice compact load. BUT, if the battery discharge rate is random like some say, you'll have to carry around Dell's large power supply.

I don't have the AW15 so I can't compare the CPUs. I don't think the 2 cores will hurt too much unless you run Autocad or do a lot of video editing or transcoding like streaming servers that have to transcode video on the fly.

If you can wait I would get the AW13 R2. It supposedly will have a bigger battery and more efficient processor.

 

I wonder if the i7 6500U will be much of a noticeable difference over the i7 5500U..

 

Maybe not for speed, but lower power consumption with bigger battery and the same or slightly more weight would make the difference in usability and portability.

 

One thing I dislike about the AW 13, so much so I'm inclined to give up on it, is the battery life. It's seemingly entirely random. I'm not sure if it's Windows running something in the background or what, but battery life goes from 2 hours to 5 hours (sometimes), which is annoying as hell... Hopefully the R2 is better.

The first couple days it was constantly 4-5 hours. Now it's acting weird. May be Windows related.

 

I called the Alienware tech support to see if the new 62WHr battery from the R2 would fit in the R1. He said the chassis are quite different and the bigger battery would NOT fit. Bummer!

I REALLY wish battery charge life claims from the manufacturer and even from reviews would be more in line with reality. It would make it SO much easier to compare models and choose the right one to buy.

 

I'm looking at both the R1's and R2's service manual, where the R1 has the 51 wHr battery and the R2 has the has the 51 and 62 wHr battery (don't know why both are shown), and there seems to be very little differences in the chassis between the two revisions. Sure, there's a USB-C port and no mini DP, but that's it. Everything else looks pretty much the same. If there is a difference, it might be the screw layout of the palm rest, but that would be it.

 

I brought my brother a Alienware 13. Its light,nice and sturdy. AW13 sound is impressive, can beat my AW14 sound however my AW14 is much louder though. I prefer the AW14 trackpad than the AW13 one(Clickpad?), not because it lights but its not hazzle free. The battery life is also moderate, about 3-5 hours usage. The LCD panel of the 13 is also good but for some reason, the 14 is much for clearer. Havent tested it for gaming but i bet it runs fast.

 

You may be able to fit the new battery in the R1, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it. The BIOS may freak out and not recognize it.

 

Alright guys, I'm about to upgrade my Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. It was long-overdue for me. Anything to do on the Alienware 13 laptop I have before upgrading?

 

I had touchpad problems and a slight problem with the amplifier, but nothing else really after the windows 10 upgrade (still detected that the laptop screen was in use, even when closed, so no hardware video acceleration on my monitor).

Assuming the touchpad drivers got fixed? I haven't upgrade and am just going to ride it out until new drivers come out (hopefully)

 

Sad, I'll have to wait then. I mainly use touchpad, so I can't bear with it not working properly.

 

Be sure to do a proper back up of the operating system... I regret not doing so. Had to do a clean install of Windows 8.1 because Windows 10 just wasn't working for me at the time. It sucked. Had to go to Dell's website and download all the drivers and install everything from scratch. (Note: I had deleted all the partitions that were on the hard drive from the factory... big mistake, at least for me).

Dell's Touchpad driver for Windows 10 DOES work. No issues. My main issue, the driver for the wireless card would randomly give me the BSoD. It was completely random though. If the system was idle and I fired up something that required the network driver, the system would crash. Other times, I could be downloading games from Steam for hours without a single hiccup... and then out of nowhere, BSoD. It was very annoying.

The sad thing of it all, if you look at my signature, aside from my old school computer, all my systems are running Windows 10 and vary in age. New Alienware laptop.. still running Windows 8.1

 

Okay, I'll do 2 backups just in case.

Oh, that's good to know. Wireless card however, is still preventing me from upgrading. I use it all the time. :/

I'll keep in tabs with your signature's Alienware 13 section. By the way, is it R1 or R2? Mine's R1, late 2014.

 

Wireless card is preventing me as welll from running Windows 10

And it's an late 2014 (R1).

 

Yeah, if it's close, I bet I could make it fit. The hard part I'm thinking is to get them to sell me the 62WHr battery by itself. Heck, my current battery shows 9% wear level, so the new battery would be 30% more charge and give me about 1hr more use per charge. That would totally be worth the effort.

 

I could just put the old one back then. I think the risk is low and to try is worth it if I can even buy the R2 battery or at a good price.

 

Just a future reminder.
R1 = Late 2014 / Early 2015 (Haswell/Broadwell)
R2 = Late 2015 (Skylake)

 

Hi guys i want to go for 13 r1
i7 16gb 256ssd 960m
Qhd touch
is it worth it and is the 13 inch odd or something should i go for 15
please give me some suggestions
Thank you

 

Does anyone think they will ever have an AW 13 with an i7 quad core?

 

ok so I was out on vacation for two weeks and apparently I'm looking into R2 already ... :/

The differences between R1 and R2:
- USB-C port
- no Display port
- I can get i7 with SATA HDD - meaning I can add one of these 1TB Samsung 3d SSDs without buying additional cables?
- I can get bigger battery
- I can get the small screen with i7 now, among all options.
- I can only get the small screen with i5
- PCIe SSDs available ? ... I still need the 1TB Samsung SSD, lol.
- the wifi went from 1525 to 1535. I bet it's the same thing.
- no Win 7 option. Damn. I'll have to order some other windows and then buy me a separate Win 7 I guess ... and hope for driver support.

did anybody buy the R2 yet? .. if so, please post GPU-Z screenshot. I'd like to see if the GPU is still using the PCIe 2.0 x4

Am I missing something ?

 

The 13 R2 hasn't even shipped out yet, so no person would have a GPU-Z screenshot. That'll be until late this month / early next month.
The bandwidth for the GPU should be PCI-E 3.0 x4 because Skylake-U runs at PCI-E 3.0.
As for the SATA thing, yes, if you get the SSHD, no need to get additional cables.
The non-touch screen is removable, so you can opt for the base and then buy the 1080p screen for somewhere else and do the upgrade yourself.

 

Nope. Unless Intel releases an ULV Core i7 quad core, do not see it happening.

 

I've been looking for AW 13 owner's opinions anywhere I can find them: are you happy with the AW 13 even though it's has a dual core?

 

I would only get the AW13 if you need portability. The power of this machine at 4.5lbs is almost impossible to match thanks to the 960M and 2GB of VRAM.
I would get the 1080 screen. 13" is too small to notice the higher res. Touch screens are reflective and only useful if the touchpad doesn't support 2 finger gestures, or if you like looking at a reflection of yourself a lot.
I'll admit the touchpad has a rough feel that makes my skin crawl and the tap to click or two finger tap for right click is unreliable and has a 'cheap' feel.
To run 2014-15 games at higher than 1080 you need to lower the graphics for 30fps. At 1080 you can run at high graphics and get 30fps. I think that is due to the GPU and not the CPU. The dual core CPU is fine for most programs especially the I7 version.
Does any program really use more than 8GB of RAM?
The 256SSD is too small. You'll fill that up with almost nothing.
I would put my money into a larger SSD (500GB or 1TB) instead of the 16GB RAM.
If you want higher resolution gaming, use the Graphics Amplifier and a QHD external monitor that is large enough to enjoy it.

I'm very happy with my AW13!

 

Look here:
https://na.alienwarearena.com/search/all/alienware 13

or the forum you're on now.

 

it says i7-5500U so it's the same CPU as in R1.

 

Read the manual. It's been said earlier in this thread and in the refresh thread, the upcoming lineup only has Skylake mobile CPUs.
My points stand. I suggest reading through the refresh thread to get caught up with information.

 

As it's been stated several times, the upgrade will happen during the production process.

If you are unwilling to believe the previous posted proof and system specs, how about an actual order?

 

Yes, the dual core Core i7 works just fine. That, paired with the 16 GB of RAM and SSD, I am able to run a few VMs, all at the same time, without issue. My only minor gripe is that I didn't wait a few more months for the R2 with the larger battery and higher resolution screen, but oh well. The laptop works great

 

I dont know how you order but this is what I get when I go to place an order:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




---------------------------------------------------------------------------
obviously the i7-5500U doesn't go to 3.1GHz so Dell need to fix their website. Until then - no order, lol.

 

jeodelly posted his invoice/ tracking page. You'll see the change when you look at that page, but you'll have to place an order first.
Even then, the 13 R2 in other regions has the i7-6500u listed. Not all regions, but the Skylake CPU will be there in the invoice.
It's not a problem to wait a month but to not believe us when we're telling the truth or the information on this forum is, well, sad.

 

Hey Guys,

Skylake is now available at Dell Australia:
http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-13-r2/pd?ref=PD_OC

 

When I placed my order it still showed the i7-5500U as well, but since Alienware has stated numerous times that it will be a free upgrade, I ordered based on good faith that it would come with Skylake. My picture is the detail from the "Order Status" page after I placed my order and as you can see, Alienware appears to be acting in good faith and will delivered what they stated.

 

Thanks for the inputs

 

You won't notice any performance gains between the 5500U and 6500U.

Benchmarks may score about 1%-4% higher with the 6500U only because it is clocked 100MHz higher.

Skylake is focused on efficiency. Improved battery life is what you'll notice most.

 

I am a student and planning to use my laptop for moderate gaming and easy portability is my key concern. I have an HP 2nd gen i7 which is not working as well as it used to. It has the AMD radeon graphic card which HP stops from updating the drivers and causes overheating issues that can burn the skin off your lap.

So I zeroed in on the Alienware 13 R2 and am planning to order by this weekend. Will it ship with the Skylake processors if I order now?
I recently came across this thread and posts seem to suggest the same. Please let me know regarding the same as I need to buy a laptop soon.

Also, I stay in the U.S

 

Yes, it will ship with Skylake. It just says 5500U because Intel has a hold (NDA) on them until September 18th.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...and-15-r2-refresh.780681/page-7#post-10083199

If it says 3.1GHz in your order, this means it will ship with the 6500U.