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

I'm looking for a new small laptop for video editing, currently using a Clevo W230ST with i7-4700MQ CPU but it has "issues" not related to the CPU so I would like to replace it with the Alienware 13.

However, I'm concerned about the CPUs installed the models currently available in the UK - the 5500U and 6500U are given benchmarks not much better than my dear old M11x-R3 and far lower than my current 4700MQ:




Could anyone enlighten me, please?

 

Might be better to look more than one benchmark.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-6500U-Notebook-Processor.149431.0.html (Has tons of benchmarks to look at)
Notebookcheck has it relative to the mobile Haswell i5 processors (i5-4210m to i5-4300m) and the mobile Ivy Bridge dual core i7 (i7-3520m). That's not too bad for a dual core CPU, but it will be weaker than a quad core with hyper-threading because it has less cores and threads.
Also, keep in mind that the CPU in the 13 won't be throttled or would be throttled in rare scenarios. So the i7-6500u would be above average, per say, to other laptops that have the CPU.
As for the i7-5500u, it's a generation weaker and what it's relative too is also a generation weaker (which is to say, about 5 to 10% weaker).

 

Thank you, Game7a1 - I'll have to soldier on with what I've got rather than spend ££££ on something that won't be an upgrade.

Shame, I can't wait to get another Alienware keyboard under my fingers

 

Shogun played fine on even the i5. I then picked up an i7 but ended up returning it as I didn't get on with the glossy screen. I have just had a 1080p i5 r2 turn up so I will run a couple of benchmarks for you.

Games that I did find that struggled with the dual core were:
Ashes of the singularity
Black ops 3 beta (haven't tried full release but can now)
Squad alpha.

Noise seems fine on the i7, it was just not as quiet as my i5 (which seemed to stay at about 35db even when gaming

 

Shogun played fine on even the i5. I then picked up an i7 but ended up returning it as I didn't get on with the glossy screen. I have just had a 1080p i5 r2 turn up so I will run a couple of benchmarks for you.

Games that I did find that struggled with the dual core were:
Ashes of the singularity
Black ops 3 beta (haven't tried full release but can now)
Squad alpha.

Noise seems fine on the i7, it was just not as quiet as my i5 (which seemed to stay at about 35db even when gaming

 

Excellent thanks man, i really appreciate it. I think I'll probably go ahead with it when that OLED screen is available (everyone seemed to rave about it at CES).

I only really want a laptop for certain tasks. Outside of these if it is portable, relatively durable/well made and can also play games to a reasonable standard without turning into a hairdryer then that's what I'm after.

Thanks again

 

Hi,

I'm considering this as a replacement for my Macbook Pro 13, as it looks cool and has better gaming capabilities on the go.

I have read that it gets way too hot to use on your lap, is that true?

Also, how long do you find the battery life? I fly across the states a lot and like to have at least 5 hours

 

With the 13 R1 (i7-5500u, 1440p screen, GTX 860m, 51 wHr battery), I average between 5 to 6 hours. Very few times did I go above 6 hours, but battery life did dip to 4 to 4.5 hours. However, battery life was only measurable at the end and was constant even in idle (instead of dropping).
With the 13 R2 (specs in signature, 62 wHr battery), I can get 1 to 1.5 hours more than my 13 R1 at best. However, battery life is both measurable and can be very high when the laptop is idle (possible up to 10 hours in idle). I assume battery life with the standard battery will be similar to the R1, but much more manageable.
Battery should be better if you have weaker components (such as the 1080p screen, i5 CPU, and 2 GB of VRAM).
Both laptops were cool when using on battery when doing light workloads (like high 30s to 40s).
(Off topic, but did the forum just come to a halt? I accidentally triple-posted.)

 

Thanks for that. I have the AW17R3 and love it.

Interesting, so you feel you could use it on your lap for light use like watching Twitch.tv / Youtube etc. ?

I was planning to get the UHD model: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015P3SO72

I believe it comes with the 62 war battery

 

The 62 wHr battery is an upgrade option, and the default battery is the 51 wHr battery. I would ask the seller what battery the 13 R2 has on Amazon.
To answer your question, yes. The most it hit was in the 50s when watching a video, but that was because I pretty much blocked the bottom of the laptop with a blanket (I needed the warmth). My light use is just browsing the web and doing some Office, but I suspect watching a video wouldn't be bad.

 

I have that system from Amazon except that it has the 512Gb SSD instead of hard drive. I can confirm that it comes with a 62wHr battery.

Something to keep in mind when buying from Amazon, and I'm not sure how legal this is, but Dell considers your warranty to begin when they shipped the computer to the Amazon seller.

I purchased on 2/2/16 and dell says my warranty starts on October of 2015.

Kenny

 

Request for 13 R2 owners. Could you do the following for me and see if you notice a difference?

1. In an area that you can type on (like a search bar), hold down any key besides the backspace key.
2. Afterwards, put the laptop to sleep.
3. Wake laptop, and repeat step 1 (you can do this on the password screen).

Just want to check if there's something wrong with my keyboard. Also mention which BIOS version you are on.
EDIT: Never mind. Found my answer.
In BIOS 1.2.7 and 1.2.8 (A07), the keyboard, after the laptop is put in sleep, cannot "rapid fire" keys that are held down. BIOS 1.2.0, however, doesn't have this problem. Not sure if 1.2.2, the version my laptop shipped with, has the problem too. Probably a good idea for someone to check.
The only way I know of to restore the rapid fire is plugging in a USB device.

 

What kind of battery life are you getting on your AW13?

 

Also I have read reports of a very bad trackpad. Is that your experience?

 

There is Alfreds a Thread which Adressen this Problem. U can manually set the repeatrate to normal value by using a Cmd command.

Very anoying problem...

 

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying (in the bold).
But I spoke too soon. The repeat rate (the correct term you provided) is still affected in 1.2.0.

 

I am sorry... :/ Auto correction from my iPhone.. I meant: there is already (Alfred ) a Thread in which the Problem is mentioned.

I wrote a little batch that i put into autostart.
Mode Con Rate=32 is the cmd i remember. I cant Look it up right now as i am not at home

 

Hi all. I just got good deal on AW13 with i7-6500U Skylake, 16GB RAM and 512 NVMe PM951 Samsung SSD. Only problem is that it has swedish keyboard. Any place in Europe or worldwide where I can purchase EN keyboard? I need to send it to Czech Republic. Thanx for reply.

 

its been slow so here is a theme ive been working on, unzip it and place it in "Documents\Alienfx"
its what I use to showoff the colors in college. Hope you guys like it.
EDIT: Decrease the action duration and/or increase the tempo for a more trippy effect; enjoy.

 

Was thinking about picking one of these guys up and wanted to see if anyone has tried playing The Division on it?

 

Hi guys,
recently, i have a ref alienware 13 r1 and i experienced uncountable freezes and nvidia recover, especially when i press alt+tab to switch from game to other programs,so i decided to rollback to dells' official vga driver and A03 bios. As a result, it getting better but still freeze sometime.Also the weird nose come from the E R key at the back and i believe that isnt the sound comes from fan.
Furthermore, the power management problems like charging over night and close the lid and i can not turn it back on. Every time is does, i have to open the back and unplug the battery and it good to go again. Does anyone have the same experience as me? What are the solutions for this? or should i ask for warranty ?

 

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us...ls?productCode=alienware-13-r2&driverId=8V9VR
Like I predicted when the 1.2.7 BIOS came out, the GTX 965m (2016 edition most likely) is coming the the AW13 R2. Not sure on the VRAM, though.

 

The 13 R2 is now available with the GTX 965m 4GB option (should be the 2016 version as well given the N16E-GR code in BIOS 1.2.7, so it's better than the GTX 965m in the 15 R1 and 15 R2 models). It's a $200 upgrade from the GTX 960m 2 GB option, and I'd recommend it over the GTX 960m 4 GB upgrade.
I personally want to see the thermal results of having the i7-6500u + GTX 965m in the laptop.
Also, in the US site, the 62 wHr battery seems to be the standard battery. Of course, the price of the 13 R2 raised because of the change.

 

If anyone knows where I can get a new chassis of the Alienware 13 R2, let me know. Speaker grill on mine broke into pieces.

Need the whole bottom part I guess? Not sure. Anyone know the part number?

 

There's always Dell's Parts and Accessories department. There's also this, but I would ask them if it's for the R1 (2014/2015) or R2 (late 2015) as it looks like it's for the R1.
Also, there seem to be 62 wHR batteries for sale on ebay. $100, though. Quite the cost, though. Just something extra.
------------------------------------
Aside from the reply, I did a little adventure with my laptop.

• The M.2 bay is not necessary for total dissembly.
• The 62 Whr battery is slightly taller than the 51 wHr battery. It also fits in the R1 bottom chassis as well (I have a spare R1 bottom).
• The R2 motherboard almost fits in the R1 bottom chassis. The HDMI port is located where the mini DP port was before. Saw plastic removing should fix that problem, though. As well, the TB3 port will look small compared to the USB 3 port, so it's something to consider.
• I replaced the factory thermal paste with my own Gelid Extreme. Not sure about the improvements (I'm not the best at applying TIMs), but there was too much factory goop. Thankfully, none of the screws in the process were damaged.

Only reason I did all of this was because I messed with the RAM settings (I got some Hyper X 2133 MHz RAM and wanted to do some tinkering, but nope), so I had to remove the CMOS battery (and who knows when I'll get back to putting it back in). The XMP profiles may be the cause because, well, they don't exist. Selecting them in the BIOS just goes back to the default profile.
The new RAM has slightly better latency than the stock RAM at 1600 MHz, though (9-10-10-28, but it should be 9-9-10-26).

 

Thank you.

Before I pull the trigger on that bottom assembly, do you think it would be worth extending the warranty instead (and purchasing accidental damage) to possibly get a new machine? Or should I just proceed with disassembly and reassembly with the new bottom piece and hope it all works out?

From my experience, DIY is best.

 

I mean, I extended my warrant just for a new machine. My 13 R1 was at their depot between the end of warranty year 1 and beginning of year 2. Had I not extended, I may have not gotten a new machine, and I probably would have had to wait much longer to get a laptop. I also avoided/convinced the reps to not charge me an out-of-warranty fee (my 13 R1 bottom chassis was damaged all the way to the end, and it wouldn't have been covered under regular warranty).
That said, I would also get the part as well. If I remember the details about Dell/Alienware's warranty service, the warranty cannot cover damaged parts before the initiation of (accidental) warranty. So if your bottom chassis is damaged already and you get accidental, probability of you getting support (the damage being free of charge) is low. Though I could be wrong, as this is what I remember what a rep said. But given what I said about my 13 R1 above, who knows. You may luck out.

 

Soon as they release the red Oled version in April, I'm buying

 

can't wait as well .. should be a good companion to my red alienware m17x r3.. had to control myself from buying one today.. that gtx 965m should be a nice upgrade.. c'mon alienware, release the oled display already!!!

 

I would wait a few months till the pascal versions come out. the 965m is a decent performer but will surely be overshadowed by a more cool running Pascal.

 

I'd wait if it was a sure thing that pascal would be released by this summer .

 

I agree. The 1060M and 1065M will be 30%+ better than both 960M and 965M.

@Game7a1,

Appreciate your help. Will probably go ahead and buy a year of extra warranty and get accidental, and then call them a few days later to report the issue and hope they are able to take it and fix it.

 

Do you know the Dell part # for the 62whr battery? I want to buy one and put it into an r1 version. The battery life is the only thing that bugs me about this laptop.

 

When I put back my CMOS battery in my laptop, I'll reply back.

 

Dell claims their system only shows the 51whr battery. I don't think this battery can be bought except by buying it in the AW13 r2 itself.

 

Is there someone who switch from Aw17 to Aw13 and tell me if is it a bad move? I mean for the screen dimensions, i already know about different perfomance.

 

965M will definitely be interesting in the AW13. As stated before, curious as to how the temps will be. Makes me wish I didn't spring for the warranty on my AW 13 860M .

 

How could anyone respond to such a subjective question?
Yes, the screen is smaller which could be good or bad depending on your point of view.

In my case:
I had a Samsung Ativ Book 8, 15in, 1080p, touch (glossy), 8770M video card, silver chicklet keyboard, 8 cell battery, Win 8.1, weight: 5.5 lbs.

The AW13 was my choice because:
13in non glossy screen that allows it to weigh about 4.5 lbs.,
GTX 960M video card,
Black, non-chicklet, backlit keyboard with shaped keys and full sized arrow keys,
Can be plugged into the graphics amplifier to be used as a desktop.

So the main reason for me was TRANS PORTABILITY!

That extra pound and a few inches allows me to take it anywhere without thinking about it.
For me it was a good move, but an expensive one because I already had laptop and didn't sell it, so in the end it was a close call.

 

Ke

Keep both that what i did.
The QHD+ is a good option to compensate the size of the 13 inch screen.
I like the 13 because of the transportability. I play in the train, as we have 100W sockets in my country and that is very pleasant.
I keep my 17(980m) at home to play latest games but i never move it.
My next move will be to stop buying 17 inch laptop. For my need a good desktop and 13 inch gaming laptop is the best combo.

 

So ufomammut, don't you feel the little screen when you switch from 17" to 13"?

 

Yes of course the difference is real.
The fact is that there is 2.8 times more pixels on my 13 screen than on my 17. It plays a lot to me. I am still not that old and have an excellent vision so i can benefit from the high resolution. It is definitely not the case for someone older or with deteriorated vision.
On the other hand in gaming situation you lose a bit of immersion.
13 and 17 are just two different beasts not for the same usage.

Maybe you should have a look on whatever 13 inch laptop in a store to see in person if the size fit for you.

 

Ok thanks all!

I would like the 13" with 1366*768 screen (for better view), but all people said it's a very bad screen.

 

Save for the fact that you're actually getting a screen, it's not just a "very bad screen" -- It simply doesn't have a place for any notebook in this day and age. My friend whom received his AW13 with the 1366 x 768 res screen says its dimmer than 200-nits..

 

That would be a mistake IMO
save for fullHD or QHD+

 

Or the OLED QHD.

 

When is that damn thing coming out?!? I've been waiting patiently and its starting to dry out! Hahah

 

Should be this month or next month.

 

Has anyone tested the new GTX 965M in the Alienware 13 and compare it to the GTX 960M?

 

Also can someone confirm what version of the GTX 965M it is? The GPU recently got an update from Nvidia (used to be called gtx 965m ti). To find out, just see if the base clock rate is 924 or 935 MHz (the higher one indicating gtx 965m ti)

 

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-965M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-960M/m24481vsm27242

The 965M is what the 960M should have been all along. I have the 860M and with a easy overclock through PrecisionX it outperforms the 960M from my other Alienware 13.