*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

Is the screen really 120hz on them new aw 15s? also how good are the viewing angles?

 

People report no light bleed and good viewing angles on the TN. Wondering about gamut and contrast. Also wondering about the banding issue and the system freezes people with the Gsync display experience.

 

Has anyone found any official reviews on line (not casual Youtubers but actual notable sites)?

 

Rewind back to the future by one month and check notebookcheck.net

 

How is your laptop performing btw?

 

I searched the site but could not find any 15" R3 reviews... can you provide a link?

TIA

 

I posted a first impressions a little earlier on (in this threat I think). Unfortunately I haven't had enough time to really play with it. Just an hour or two here and there in the last week (it will be a week this wed. that I have it).

I've had two issues, the light bleed, which I have initiated contact with Dell, but must now call their technical service line to sort out. I haven't had time to call them but I plan to conduct some benchmarking & stress tests to make sure I don't have an CPU heat issues (none to date and cores seem even, but I want to be sure). Hopefully they just send me another and I send this one back. Worst case they send someone to repair as I am sceptical if this would work and would probably be tough for me to schedule. I'll keep you guys posted.

I did have another weird issue, the Alienware sound app that is preloaded was causing static and popping in games music/soundtracks as well as youtube videos but NOT for game sound effects (ie. disable music and no popping). I disabled the app and no other issues. Haven't tried to troubleshoot to see if I can resolve and I may not worry about this as long as it keeps performing well.

 

So looks like the 6820HK is an option again for this special Dell MPP Black Friday Alienware 15 R3

http://deals.dell.com/mpp/productdetail/40f

 

But not the 120hz screen...

 

No i meant it will be up in one month. Thats why i said future. ;-)
If you force them, they will replace your laptop. But if your cpu is performing well you should not do a replacement, since a lot of cpu's in 15r3 are misbehaving.

 

The only thing that is preventing me from buying this beast is the weight. It is just too heavy for a 15inch. Otherwise, this would be a near perfect choice.

 

The 15 R1 was about 3.2 kilos which is already a bit heavy for my taste, but it was a good tradeoff considering the low voltage cpu options in de A13 r1/r2. The 3.5 kilo A15 R3 was just too heavy to cary around in a backpack. Note: the 240 watt power brick adds is about a kilo itself.
You also need a large bag/backpack since the r3 is much deeper.

The 15 r3 can be a great laptop if Dell/Alienware solves the heating and display issues but I don't consider it to be portable.


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so all those high refresh rate panels are all TN panels? no ips or oled options?

 

All TN on the 15/17

 

More people than me having problems with the backspace and return key being noticeable different compared to the rest of the keys on the keyboard? Mine sound kind of like banging against an empty tin can every time I type on them. And the buttons below the touch pad are also really loose and more rattles than anything else when used?

Also noticed that the upper corners in the front of the machine (those close to your wrists when typing) are REALLY sharp on my machine, same with yours? All other corners seem to be well rounded though.

 

Considering to pull the trigger on a 15 with 6700HQ, 1070, FHD, SSD.
Would have loved to get the 6820 or the 120hz FHD, but too many problems with both.

 

The 120hz TN should be fine on the AW 15; The 1440p on the AW 17 is having problems

 

The panel itself is fine, but it seems everyone who has received the 120Hz panel has overheating problems with their 6700HQ, so I don't blame him holding off.

 

That, though I am having a hardtime seeing why.. It seems color gamut and accuracy pales compared to the IPS, at least on the 17. To be expected I suppose.

 

OK, curious as I am I decided to look more into this. I had a feeling that the main problem wasn't really the LCD panel itself but rather how it was fitted to the laptop and the overall build. So I decided to loosen the plastic bezel surrounding the LCD panel...and immediately at least 80% of the screen bleed disappeared. Put it back on and....the sceen bleed was back. So the problem here doesn't seem to be the panel itself but rather how it is mounted in the laptop and the plastic bezel pressing against it when mounted. Not to impressed Dell...

 

By applying a slight "twisting pressure" to the bezel when putting it back I was able to put it back again without most of the screen bleed reoccurring. A bit hard to explain how in writing but the key to success is to try to decrease the pressure the inner part of the bezel put on the actual LCD panel. If you are seeing yellow clouds, then it is most likely pressure on the LCD panel. You can test this yourself by simply putting some slight pressure to the LCD panel with a finger or something and you will see how it looks. Will report back if the improvements remain over time but as of now, my 4K screen has gone from HORRIBLE to at least "a decent LCD with almost no bleed but so so black levels".

 

The 17" 120Hz panel has the other problem of banding, which no doubt would also cause bad colour accuracy. Personally I find the colour gamut on the 15" 120Hz panel to be really good, but then I'm coming from a 5yo HP laptop that I think only had 42% gamut. I believe the 120Hz panel is supposed to be 72%, same as the 60Hz IPS panel.

This is pretty standard for almost all light bleed issues (all brands & all IPS screens); they're usually caused by having too much pressure at the edges.

 

I've just found a hilarious bug with at least my AW15. If I continously hold down a key, like the W to run forward in an FPS, the TouchPad will no longer respond to movement. First i thought it was Crysis causing this but now I can notice the same thing happening in Windows as well, like when writing this. Anyone else experienced the same thing? That would just be to much for something claiming to be a gaming laptop (although probably no one would try go game with the touch pad)

 

It isn't a bug, it's a 'feature' of Windows (nothing to do with Dell/Alienware). Details here: http://www.howtogeek.com/223404/how...s-in-windows-10-and-other-mouse-enhancements/

In summary, to fix it, go to Start -> Mouse & touchpad settings, then change the Touchpad setting to "No delay".

 

Nope, doesn't change a thing related to this when I tried. I believe you might be confusing two different things here, the delay thing is to prevent unwanted movement. In this case, it is wanted movement

The cursor will continue to work until thee "key repeat" kicks in, but as soon as it does, the touch pad won't respond anymore. At least not on my AW15. Could be driver related though.

 

Are there any special considerations you have to take into account when reinstalling a Windows on this laptop? Like Windows not finding the SSDs unless you load specific drivers first etc? I know some systems have had problems with NVMe drives. Works fine installing from an USB? All necessary drivers and software available for download from Alienware/Dell?

 

Does any one of you have a new AW 15 6820 HK without any overheating issues on the CPU?

 

I realise it's wanted movement; the setting is set to 'Medium Delay' by default which prevents the touchpad from being able to click for a short time after the keyboard is used. I experienced exactly the same symptoms (both with the AW15 and with a Metabox P650RE-G) and changing this setting to 'No Delay' fixes it.

Haven't noticed any issue with it not being able to move the cursor, only an issue with clicking. There is another setting in the trackpad settings itself (driver settings rather than windows) that is supposed to prevent palm movement, which I disabled. Perhaps try that?

 

It's easy to reproduce, just keep moving the finger on the touchpad and the cursor will move as well. While moving the finger, start pressing a key on the keyboard and once the period for the auto repeat has expired it cursor will freeze and will be frozen until you let go of the key. At least it does on my AW15 no matter what the setting for delay is.

 

Yeah, that doesn't happen for me. I've been playing games quite a lot using the trackpad over the past few days and haven't had any problems since disabling the Windows delay setting. As I said though, I have disabled the palm movement prevention in the Touchpad settings too, so check for that.

 

Glad to hear, then it is probably a software glitch and as I am to reinstall Windows anyway lets hope I never see it again

 

When will you get your replacement unit?

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@

I gave the i7559 to my son but it was the BOE screen. In windows with a black background it was unnoticeable and in game during the cutscenes it was barely noticeable from 2 points on the bottom.

I crossed off the r3 as well when I first started looking. If you want a 1070 your options are: Asus GL502VSMS, GT6VR Pro, Eurocom Tornado F5,or Clevo.

Originally I had I was set on the GL502VS, but between the reported poor cooling and for us in Canada the keyboard is bilingual so after much thought and consideration I cancelled my order from Amazon for which I snagged it for $1999 CDN.

I then thought about Clevo and Eurocom but I don't really like their styling and I wasn't a fan of their warranty or hassle of having to ship the laptop if there were issues. The Eurocom is still on the shortlist pending how this Alienware ends up.

I bought the GT62VR after reading about all these issues with the R3, but I decided to try the AW 15 R3 lottery for a good unit for a little while until I get annoyed and will probably go with the GT62VR or Eurocom. The R3 is also cheaper for me than the GT62VR.

The Asus is the lightest of them all with Eurocom, MSI and Clevo in the middle. It all depends on your use case, but for me I rarely take the laptop out of the house its more of convenience in moving it where ever I want in the house and when I do go on vacation. In the case when I travel I most recently have started using backpacks with the luggage handle slip through so the weight is irrelevant.

But, I may be back in a year annoyed with the weight.

As @hmscott pointed out you can always return it. If you like the laptop you really have two choices: 1. Order it, test it and hope you get a good unit or 2. wait until the dust settles. I'm sure Dell will eventually sort this mess out although there's no real indication of how bad this is. I mean it looks pretty bad, but it's generally in human nature to seek answers when you have issues, but not spend time posting when you have no issues.

 

Not sure. I should be getting a call from them today to organise the replacement. My guess is it'll be at least a couple of weeks.

 

Did you request for replacement?

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That happens on my AW 13, forgot about that until you mentioned it. To turn this off, turn off palm rejection (touch pad properties>Sensitivity)

 

Yes. I spoke with a Dell tech on Monday to organise a replacement, and he said I'd get a call within 24 to 48 hours from the team that handle it, so they should be calling me today.

 

Thanks. A shame though as the Palm Rejection is really there for a reason. I always find myself wondering how it can be that even though the Touch pad on the MacBook Pro is not close to the same in Windows than it is in Mac OS, it is still the best Windows touch pad I've ever used.

 

Yea, most touch pads suck completely; there are a few jems, like the Surface Book I had for a while. Who knew it takes Microsoft to build a touchpad that works with Windows? iIf only they would share the secret

 

Microsoft does know how to make peripherals. The intellimouse was pretty awesome as are the Xbox controllers!

 

Spoke to Dell Technical Support today about the 4K light bleed on the 15" r3 I ordered. After a couple of quick diagnostics and them loggin on to snap some screen grabs of my device manager, etc. I was offerred in home repair. Until she realised that I had a 4K. After verification, she told me that the in house repair was not possible for two reasons, 1, takes too long and 2 they've got new units shipping with a different LCD. Told me they will call in 24-48s to confirm my specs with me and ship me a new unit. I can keep this one and check the new one once I get it. Hopefully this all works out.

I'll keep you guys posted...

 

removed desktop icons , background solid color black. taskbar set to hidden and following specs in hwinfo
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare 300-nits
Monitor Name: LG Philips [Unknown Model: LGD049B]

backlit bleed is horrible. if pull inwards on both bottom corners of the screen it does help it go away .

not sure if getting a replacement would have the same issue tho.

wondering if i can change out the display only for a 15.6 inch UHD (3840 x 2160) IGZO IPS Anti-Glare 300-nits Display

keeping everything else the same .

 

Interesting, what LCD panel do you currently have (ie make and brand)? When was your system built?

 

What RAM brand do they ship with? Assuming I want to add a 8GB stick myself.

 

I went with the 2x8GB 2667MHz option, and the RAM sticks are 8GB Micron Tech. PC4-21300 sticks.

 

I will check tonight and report back...

 

Ordered a 15 with the 120hz screen, 6700, 1070, got a good price. Will see how it is...

What SSDs are you guys using (assuming buying yourselves)? I am considering getting the 950/960Pro but some reviews ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/9702/samsung-950-pro-ssd-review-256gb-512gb/10) show bugged/non-working power management.

 

I went for a crucial M500 960 GB SSD. Managed to get it for $100..... because I ordered a 240 GB crucial drive from Amazon and they sent me the wrong one

 

Does anyone here have the AGA and 120HZ screen?

How does this work? the AGA turns off the GTX card and runs the the laptop monitor through the iGPU (resulting in Frame losses). But iGPU is disabled in GSync models

With the 120HZ GSync screen does it directly run the Laptop monitor now? No more frame rate loss when running laptop monitor vs external monitor?

 

The display is no longer wired to the iGPU with gsync. It has to go through the dGPU if using the laptop display.