*OFFICIAL* Alienware 14 Owner's Lounge Thread

Was that a question or statement?

assuming the former;

That looks to me to be a mini-PCI-E and bluetooth cardslot combination, for the broadcom equipped laptops. Just an educated guess.


Speaking of which,

Placed my order today to replace the R2. Warranty finally gave out, I'll pass it a long to my nerdy nephew before he leaves back to school.

I went a little crazy and just maxed everything out, interestingly I managed to snag the Back to school special through the EPP program, so I had mine configured with the 256GB Raid 0 SSD's.

Does the HM87 Chipset have bandwidth problems like the R2 had? IE, will the drives capability be wasted? Not that it really matters, just food for discussion.

edit;
it appears the sales person mis-quoted my config, it was not spec'd with the Raid 0 configuration, but a (better for me) single 512GB config.

 

What is the 256gb ssd drive manufacturer on the AW14?

 

It was a question, I have the broadcom Wi-Fi, its on the other side of the laptop, So i dont think is for that

So assuming its a mini PCI-e I can connect somthing there?

here are other pics, I just open to see the mSata cache disk (curiosity), next to the mSata its the wifi module, and then I see that blank space and just want to know for what it is







So still the same question, what can you plug here? or what type of port is?

 

I think AW/Dell uses samsung for their ssd's. I know the 64gb cache ssd's are samsung 830's. Three ultra thin laptops i bought for a client all had samsung ssd's.

 

Dell's the only one that's going to be able to answer this question. my second guess would have to be either a proprietary mobile broadband card or other digital media device (ie TV tuner) considering the pre-formed pathways for cable routing that go to this area. or it may be a left-over diagnostic port. In any case, there's no mention of it in the disassembly manual, and this basically is a complete breakdown of everything from the memory modules to the tron lights. Clearly the space and area existis in these pictures as well.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...laptops/alienware-14_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf

Curious indeed, I had no idea there was a provision for this.

 

AW uses Lite-On cache ssd's, as you can see in my coment before there are a photo of it

Well maybe asking some of the representatives here in the forum, I make a quick search and as you say there's no mention of it, now im even more curious of what is it :/

 

My cache ssd is a samsung 830 in my 18...

 

Dell is notorious for sourcing from various vendors for components, although generally they do seem to have stuck with Samsung SSDs for the past few years now.

 

Well maybe it's like they screens, the auo and LG models, I read some users having the lite-on models too

Sent via Tapatalk 2 via Sony Xperia S

 

I'm hoping one of you can tell me whether what I'm experiencing with my Alienware 14 review unit is normal.

The sound from the speakers is muffled - so muffled in fact, it's as if it's coming through several pillows. The lifeless speakers on my HP business notebook have superior output. The headphone jack on the other hand works perfectly.

I connected with an Alienware tech via their support line, they started a GoToAssist session and looked through pretty much everything - driver updates, BIOS update, putting settings to default. Unsuccessful.

Is this sound quality normal then - do the speakers on this notebook just suck? Because the M14x R2 we reviewed had fantastic sound quality ...it's hard to imagine Alienware taking this far of a step back.

(PS - if I had to guess, it's as if only the subwoofer is functioning - none of the other speakers. Which would explain the lack of mids/highs. Either way this is a first for me).

 

have you tried turning off the dolby home theatre?

 

Yes - actually made it a little worse. Thanks for the reply though.

 

The 14's audio isn't anything to brag about by any means, but muffled as if by pillows isn't normal. The "subwoofer" they have in there is weak to the point that people aren't sure it works. It's more of a mid than a sub.

 

Guys my audio works pretty well... Actually it is quite loud. For a 14". As slikie88 stated,, the subwoofer is more a mid range

 

For me the audio its ok, the sound its loud, and dont get distortion (only at high levels), the bass are not as good as with the m14x I have to accept that, but almost 95% of the time I have headphones, and in my house I use a Logitech audio system, and I believe most of us do that, because what is play a game without a good sound?, most of the times the sound on the laptops are very bad, but for me its pretty decent

 

i wasn't very impressed with the speakers at first. but really is worth playing around with all the various settings in the dolby app. it has helped me and now depending on what source i am listening to, i just toggle between the movie/music/game. overall, i'm happy with what i hear.

 

Only the M14x R1/R2 previous owners with the new Alienware 14 will understand when comparing the audio quality of the new alienware 14 to the soundblaster recon on the r1/r2. The quality of the audio on the new Alienware 14 is not as good and there's something missing like the quality is lower but at least it kept one thing that the r1/r2 had, and that's the loudness even at lower volumes. but like I said you would only know this if you owned the r1/r2 with soundblaster recon but fortunately the audio quality is great when using earphones/headphones when I had the AW14 a month ago.

 

Alienware's offered to send us a replacement. I'm chalking it up as a hardware problem. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Well no one seems to reply to any of my post on this thread and that okay. But if anyone is having problems with their Broadcom 802.11 ac Adapters with latency issues there is a thread here:

!! Stay away from Broadcom wireless adapter !! - Alienware Arena Forums

I called alienware about it, for I notice when playing online it tends to jump. When playing using an Ethernet cable it runs fine. The Representative escalated the case and said that I'm not the only one with this problem, and many are experiencing these issues with Broadcom Adapter. She said she'll get back to me and that perhaps a driver update or something can solve this.

 

ours in the uk only come spec'd with the killer wireless card. you had a choice of cards?

Nexus 4 via Tapatalk 2

 

I've been having a problem with the Killer, myself. Not with the wireless performance but with Bluetooth. My headphones (Rocketfish RF-MAB2) which I'd been using for months on my previous system with no issues have constant hiccups and delays and sometimes even get cut off outright or lock up the system. I hope this is merely a compatibility issue. I have ordered a new set (Able Planet BT400B). If they have the same problem, I think I'll be needing a replacement card. But I also have a Bluetooth mouse (Dell WM524) which has been behaving perfectly fine. So, again, hopefully just a compatibility issue with the Rocketfish headphones.

 

the US Spec AW 14 comes with the killer BGN card, or on the higher spec'd models a 802.11AC 2x2 broadcom 4352 (I suppose it's perceived as an upgrade due to the AC support)

and it's the one I bought.. great.

I wonder if it's due to the 2x2 connection used by the card. I seem to remember a 802.11ac router roundup and the Belkin trying to use a 2x2 setup and it having ridiculously crappy performance and even being unable to connect to clients at anything more than 10 feet.

the *really* crappy part is belkin told the reviewer (it was tomshardware I think) that the next generation product will resolve the problem.

ie, customers are screwed.

 

I imagine there would have to be a fix for the latency spikes on the broadcom right? Isn't this card used in the entire Alienware line along with the new Macbook Airs (and I assume the Pro's when they come out) and the Asus G750?

 

it is not used in the £999 and £1099 aw14 listed here Alienware 14 Laptop Details | Dell UK the killer NIC 1202 is the card used.

 

Hello,
I received my new alienware 14 few days ago, and at this time I think this is the worst machine in all the time I saw in my life...
I expect for a price like that, A portable with no problem at all.

in exemple, the discreet card (nvidia GT750m) don't work at all.. when I hit FN+F5 normally it would switch graphic card after ask rebooting.. it do not work. says always something lilke
switch graphic card: your graphic solution is automatically configured for optimal performance that's all.
If I try to force the change by select the card I want in the nvidia config panel => 3D setup parameters: when I restart my laptop, after Metro If I try to go to my desktop, the screen became black and still like that. and I can do anything else except reinstall the laptop.
even restart the computer do not correct the probleme.
as the screen is black I can not acces repair restart option in windows to boot in safe mode (so I just have to reinstall the laptop)

for a price like 1400€ I expect something better..

If I want a bloddy laptop with a intel HD graphic card I buy a packardbell one for 400€ and I have the materials for the price I paid

indeed install the nvidia drive 326.XX can be done.
but when I do it I lost the possiblity to switch manually graphic card for each program/game in my computer.

So alienware/Dell what are you going to do for us....?

my new laptop is 4 days old , and I reinstall it 6 times yet... do yo think this is normal?


Ps apologize myself for my english..it is not my first language

 

Sorry I know ever since I got this laptop, I have been complaining. I have been reading, some people are very frustrated like me, but some people really love their machine. Here are some pros and cons from my view, after one plus month:
pros:
- amazing screen, plenty bright, really colorful (this is my replacement unit, the first unit was really dim at its brightest)
- I really like the back lighting
- very comfortable keyboard
- not too heavy
- runs very cool for the games I play
- very powerful
cons:
- whilst america might have amazing service, service in australia for alienware is shockingly bad, - the phone operators have no idea what they are talking about, but on the other hand the technitian was very helpful
- keyboard is squeky (first keyboard was really squeeky on some keys, replacement keyboard had faulty keys that could not be pressed down properly, keyboard on replacement unit has mildly squeeky backspace key, which I dont think I can be bothered changing)
- quality control for alienware is, in my experience, really bad
- speakers are not too bad, but since I have really sensitive ears, these ones seem to hurt my ears because they are a bit piercing, - but im sure most people will find this ok
- subwoofer working on replacement laptop, but might as well not be there due to really tiny sound
- battery is not too bad (first unit lasted sub 3 hours doing minial things, but replacement unit is almost 3.5)

replacement unit: after so many things wrong with first unit, dell didnt wanna replace my unit but keep sending replacement parts( some of which were refurbished), so I asked the place I got it from if its ok if I swap it over and they said ok

why am I writing this review? Because I now use my bluetooth speakers to listen to music from this laptop, and for some reason it doesnt work well with IE or firefox cos they keep crashing. Im sure this is a small problem with some software fix that I dont yet know about. Is it the speaker? No, happens with both my big jambox and jbl onbeat xtreme. I can use wired, but hey, bluetooth is there for a reason

but after all these problems I really wish I spent my 2000 on another machine
beginning to realize how annoying the sqeuaky backspace is …. when typing this
- depressed alienware 14 owner

 

All I can say is..bad luck mate
Many of your "cons" seems to be the problems of your particular machine
The speaker is ok for me, as I didn't expect much from them...I listen to music with some quality earphones with amp and stuff
I bought mine in Australia as well, but everything seems fine to me
The keyboard is alright, over 4 hrs of battery life(from the power menu)
I don't get the chance to communicate with the phone operators at all

I hope you will understand one fact: buying electronics is all about luck,
if you're lucky enough, you can get perfect product from a crappy brand, and you could go the other way round
people get faulty products from every brands, even nokia lol

 

Just finished speaking with a representative and got a quote for an AW 14, and I think I'm going to go through with the purchase. I decided to get it mainly for school and light gaming outside of home. I'll probably place the order Tuesday, after the holiday passes.

 

In case anyone is suffering from rubberbanding in online games with the Broadcom card, someone in the AW17 forums said turning off WMM from the card's advanced menu in device manager helped fix the issue. Gonna give it a shot later but figured I'd mention it in case anyone was looking for possible fixes.

 

Are there any updates available through Dell Drivers? You shouldn't have to disable a feature for it to work, hopefully they will fix it.

 

Very awesome machine IMO. I bought one to add to the stable. For the days I don't wanna carry the 18. It's a great little machine. It's going to be my main travel machine for photography and editing on the rd.

 

ummm...envy..
I want a 18 at home as well.....but I'm still a student and buying the 14 nearly bankrupted me

 

I'm pretty sure WMM is a power-savings thing. It allows the adapter to enter a low-power state if the router also has the feature enabled. Disabling it should just cause the adapter to always function at full capacity. At least, that's what I gathered from Google.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/mar...les-regulations-must-read-before-posting.html

 

Oh, I see. Learned something new today!

Ha, I feel ya. It took me a while to find a representative willing to negotiate.

 

I have the latency problems with a Cisco-Linksys Wag120N Router, Ive just disabled wmm on advanced settings and for now is working fine, i will be testing this settings and repost.
I have another modem, now i dont have the model but with that it just works fine, the problema is in my office with the linksys and sometimes it just shows that is connected with full signal, but i have no acces to internet, as i stated earlier i will try this with the wmm disabled but i just have seen faster connection, time will tell...

Well after a few hours of testing, it still have problems and now and then freezes, just reload page or program and it restablishes internet conecction, i have a netgear n router that im going to install to see if it works or have the same problem,

 

Just got a geekbench score of 11845. That should shut up those macbook hippies.
Alienware Alienware 14 - Geekbench Browser

 

Hi I just bought it from amazon: Amazon.com: Alienware ALW14-4682sLV 14-Inch Laptop (Silver): Electronics
can someone please confirm me if this is the latest 14" model (with this specs) or did I buy an old version? :s

Also, I wanted with 16gb ram but wasnt avaliable, is it easy to upgrade the ram?

Thanks!

 

Yep, that's the newest one. I trust Computer Upgrade King. I bought from them before and had no issues.

To upgrade your memory, you will want this type: Amazon.com: Kingston Technology HyperX Plug n Play 16 GB Kit (2x8 GB) 1600MHz DDR3 PC3-12800 Non-ECC CL9 SODIMM 1.35V Notebook Memory KHX16LS9P1K2/16: Electronics It's pretty simple to upgrade, don't dread over it. It'll probably take 5 minutes.

 

I have these running in my `4 and they are great, fast and cheap. Additional 10% off right now as well.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GRSL

 

Thanks a lot!!

 

So I just bought mine too from Computer Upgrade King w/ Amazon Prime (nice).

If I wanted to add an SSD which one would I need? the MSATA, if so will it void warranty and which brand should I go for?

 

Hey guys. I just bought the 2013, AW 14 not long ago. I am wanting to buy an external monitor, to run through HDMI for gaming. I have the 765m graphics card, 16gb ram verison, and the 1080p IPS screen. I am wondering what the frame drop would be, playing games like BF3, running on these two resolutions - 1920x1200 & 2560x1080. Thanks

 

Alienware's Canada site doesnt offer the config options i want, i ideally wanted the $1299 config on the US site but Canada doesnt have it for some stupid reason. I noticed that BTOtech offers the Alienware 14 and i can customize it the way i want, whats everyone opinion on BTOtech? are they trustworthy and reliable?

 

Hmm, not a whole bunch, but it would definitely be noticeable. I wouldn't go over 1080p with the AW14, though. There's no reason to and you'll only have worse FPS. More negatives than positives when going higher resolution with limited GPU power. If I were you, I'd get two 24" 1080p monitors and have a triple-monitor setup. (The laptop's plus two more.) I may do something similar...

 

For new page.

Also, I heard it's possible to upgrade the video card? Just need the new VC and a modded bios to allow it to run? How hard is this?

 

The best SSD on the market is the new Samsung 840 Evo - the 250GB model starts at around $185.

As for upgrading the GPU, I don't know, but to do this in the old M-4x R2, it required complete disassembly of the entire system down to the motherboard.

 

I thought it was an MSaTA slot? Or do you mean remove the 750gb and add an SSD.

I want to keep the 750gb too. So my SSD for my boot and some games and the 750 for media and what not.

 

I don't think 2gb VRAM is sufficient for much over 1080p.

The Samsung EVO shines on the 500gb or higher. The 250 is average performer. I'm not sold on TLC drives and am personally still only buying the 840 pro drives. There is one mSata slot and one standard 2.5 bay. I put a plextor m5m 256gb mSata in and replaced the 750 with a Samsung 512gb 840 pro. Makes this little machine come to life. Plus loads BF3 maps in about 8 secs.

The GPU is soldered in but the CPU isn't. Only wy to upgrade is change the motherboard out.

 

hey guys, im on my replacement unit
i just noticed the backlight on everything turned off.
at first i just rebooted, then tried turning off the machine completely. this seemed to do the trick
now its happened again, like 1 or 2 days later.
is this a glitch ? does anyone know about this problem?
another thing, the surface of the laptop around the left corner where the palm goes is wearing off, 10 days after i got this unit.

so what do i do about the lights?
has dell ever given a refund for a laptop ?