*OFFICIAL* Alienware 14 Owner's Lounge Thread

WOW! That was quick! We are glad to have you on our community.

 

Hi guys, do you know where I can buy a new battery? I'm already at 13% wear

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You're still under warranty, call Dell Tech support and try to get a new battery.

In fact, I tell everyone to do this just before their warranty runs out. Dell seems pretty good with that.

 

New to the forums and tried searching for specifics about this.

I normally order a laptop with as much screen, video card, and CPU as I can afford while minimizing the RAM and hard disks as much as possible. In this case, I ordered the Alienware 14 model with the nicer 1080p panel and GTX765 card which already comes maxed out with 16GB of RAM. I also got the 4900MQ CPU upgrade. However, I left the hard disk option at the 750GB HDD (no SATA). On that trim level, there wasn't an option for the 2nd HDD in the ODD bay so I'm getting the BD-ROM/DVD-RW drive - which I'll likely almost never use.

I already have an mSATA module on the way along with a 1TB Seagate hybrid hard disk to add/replace in the appropriate default spots. I'd like to add a second of those Seagate drives in the ODD bay which, as I understand it, is quite possible.

The question I have is this - what part(s) would I need to swap out the optical disk for a second hard disk bay?

I've already found the parts list at the start of this thread and I've tried looking around for the appropriate parts, but it's not entirely clear which of them is necessary. I also tried searching the entire forums here and I'm finding it quite difficult to locate the information I'm looking for.

Maybe it would be a good idea to put together a short parts list for those that want to swap from an ODD to a HDD in that bay (and vice-versa)?

Thank you in advance for anyone that can help.

 

The second post of this thread has a list of parts.

 

I *saw* that and mentioned it in my first message. The problem I'm having is that it isn't clear which parts would be needed to go from an ODD to a HDD (besides the requisite hard disk). The part descriptions aren't clear enough to know for sure.

I'm looking for some direction on the required and optional parts from that list to do the conversion.

EDIT: The part about the short parts list for the ODD-to-HDD conversion (and vice versa) I mentioned in my first post would be a sub-set of the full parts list at the start of this thread so those looking to do the conversion (like myself) wouldn't need to guess at which of the trays, covers, brackets, etc. to dig up.

 

What's happening good people?

I recently ordered the AW 14 with the 765m and the 1080p and am stoked. Reading through this forum I have gotten a lot more excited about the IPS panel. I didn't realize it was such a special screen.

Question for you. Is there a way to disable the optimus software? I have an older AW 14x and I have gotten pretty used to whitelisting games and stuff to get the nvidia card to run them. It would be nice to not have to bother with that. Also, I remember getting a volt mod from slv7 for my last AW and it totally increased my the OC on the videocard. In reading around on this thread it seems that the new card lets you OC but then throttles back inexplicably at too low of a max temp. Is this still the case? Is the only way around it to get another BIOS from slv7? Thanks in advance and I'll see you guys on the interwebs.

 

So to show you I'm not entirely lazy... I have determined that you can disable optimus by running in discreet mode. This is done by holding fn and f5 and restarting. I don't know if this setting reverses if you do a reboot later? I don't know if running in discreet mode changes the behavior of cooling for the nvidia card. It seems like it would still throttle. It doesn't seem that there is a modded bios for the AW14. So then I imagine that the +135 mhz is the max oc and that you can't manually adjust the max temp?

 

Svl made a modded vbios for the 14. I've been able to get +250/+300 out of it, no throttling.

 

Can you share the link?

You can usually get those from TechInferno.

 

SVL's aw14 bios is on tech inferno as well..

 

No problem. HERE

You'll either have to make some posts or donate to download the file.

 

Hey guys, so I have a 2 day old Alienware 14. It's great fast etc, but I'm getting rubberbanded to hell in games, and it's making me want to try to get my money back or something. I'm not very techy, but I do know that I don't have a broadcom wireless card, I have the Killer 1202, and I still get rubberbanded. Any ideas? You guys said that disabling the WMM fixed it for some people. Does that still work/work for killer 1202? If so, where do I do that? I''m willing to spend a little money to get a new card or something, just don't want to if I don't have to. Thanks!

 

Rubberbanded?

 

I have some ghosting image with my screen, like with the old screens when you have a "burn image" is this normal with an IPS display? I saw that it burn with a facebook feed page.... it only look under some colors... I noticed because when windows lock, I saw this ghosting image,

 

Ya I get them too, I think its normal.

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It's an IPS thing.

 

Does anyone know(Or installed previously) 3 SSD's in place of the ODD and stock HDD? Is it possible to run 2 Sata and one Msata drive? I figure why bother with moving parts when i can easily get 2x512 Sata SSD's and 1x256 mSata for my OS. Forgive my ignorance if this is completely ludacris.

Also, is the ODD a Sata connection or would i need an adapter?

thanks for your thoughts?

 

Yes you can. Alienware will send you the kit to swap out the optical with a HD. I am running 2x250gb evo's in raid 0. I had a plextor mSata but sent it back waiting for the new evo mSata drives then I'll add a 250 mSata and run raid0 x 3 drives... Works great!

 

Wow. I was seriously underminding the ability to use all ssd. Hmm... Maybe a link if you could? I would be very interested :thumbsup:

 

What do you need a link to? Ill be glad to help all I can.

 

I have had a quick boo on the AW and Dell sites and cant seem to come across the aforementioned "kit"

I will give them a shout and see what they say, but if you have a link to the item or a part number I would be much obliged.

 

I can't find the kit either. I am strongly considering swapping my ODD for a spare 750GB HDD I have lying around. Then I'd have my 500GB SSD for games and programs, and 750GB 7200RPM HDD for movies and TV shows.

 

There's a 480GB mSATA SSD out there and you get to keep the ODD in place.

Newegg.com - Crucial M500 480GB SATA mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT480M500SSD3

Cheers,

 

I don't need another SSD. My ODD has been used once (testing to make sure it worked), and has gone unused since. Since I already have a HDD lying around, I figure a HDD caddy for the ODD bay would be pretty useful.

 

I understand, I too have several SSD drives so I don't really need more. However, I think for many, the mSATA option preserves all their storage and allows them to keep the ODD.

Cheers,

 

Hi! Im new to this site and i dont know to post threads so i asked here. Ive got my New alienware 14 last month. Since then I havent tried it on sleep mode until now; When I close my laptop thats already on sleep mode right? Is it supposed to be shut down on sleep mode? cause when i open my laptop it doesnt wake up. I always have to turn it on again but the good thing is when i sign in on my account again. Its back to where i left it before. Its just weird that it shuts down on sleep mode. Please reply. Thanks!

 

It looks like it hibernate instead of being suspended... Check your power settings in the control panel

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I spoke with Dell support and they say that Dell doesn't offer a conversion kit for converting ODD to HDD. Has anybody had any luck in finding one?

 

Is there some other way to DL the necessary files? I don't mind donating but its not working... is there a certain amount that needs to be donated?

 

I made the posts required to DL, I'm not sure how much you need to donate. Some other members have donated and been able to DL right away IIRC, but I haven't done it personally.

 

I was wondering if anyone has the entryprice 14 with i5 Dual core and 750m ? If someone has it do you mind reviewing some temps and performance to me? It Would be awesome thanks
Note i'm thinking of buying it for some on the go gaming so no need for insane High super gfx settings

 

Here are some reviews and benchmarks with the different configurations.

Review Alienware 14 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

Thanks but it only contains the quad core cpu's and the i5 is Dual core and i know the Answer with the gfx cards but the i5 Dual core is what i'm looking for you know.. Is it to weak or is it good enough?

 

IMO, don't purchase the i5/750M combo. If you're going to buy an expensive computer (which the Alienware 14 is), you might as well get the performance to match. You can get a used i7/765M model for the same price as a new i5/750M model.

 

Well it dosn't need to be crazy just neat looking and Well working with the Best temps the Dual core and gtx 750 should be good for l4d2, nfs and dota or lol on the go am i Right? Is it REALLY worth the extra money for beter gfx and quad core? thanks for the Answer tho

 

Most modern games need more than 1gb VRAM to run decent IMO. The price difference is so minor compared to the performance difference.

 

It'll be more than enough. The i5 version of the Alienware comes with a 768p screen. My 6550M on my Acer 3820TG plays all those titles very well in low-to-mid settings at that resolution.

I'd still pay the extra couple hundred and opt for the 1080p screen if you're set on this laptop. You can still stick with the 750M if those are your main titles.

 

Is there any 14 owners that wished they would have bought the 17. I've been going over both for what feels like weeks and I'm trying to justify the extra weight and power over the extra $500 difference. I like the portability of the 14 considering I'm a college student who needs a laptop at school, but I do want to be able to game in between classes. I need a computer that does a little bit of everything from writing term papers to playing a few games. I have been wanting an alienware for too many years to consider anything else. I have a desktop at home (MSI Windtouch - that I love) so I don't need a full desktop replacement. So basically is everyone happy with theirs or are they having buyers remorse.

 

Me. I wish I bought a 17 with a 780

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I love my 14 got it cos can carry it around
will never go to a 17 ever,
had that its too heavy to carry around

 

I have a shop and sell the 14, 17 and 18 and I personally chose a 14. It has an amazing screen and keyboard, the 765m is no slouch and I love the form factor compare to the 17 or 18. The only issues I have found is the sound quality is worse than the r2 and the battery life is pretty poor (even with optimus enabled).
All in all this generation is a great release from dell and the new alienware has a massive performance boost over the r2.

 

Thanks for the help. I'm going to go for the 14, the 17 really does seem to be too much to lug around all day. Has anyone bought theirs from the outlet? Can you work deals with them the same as when you're buying new?

 

It's probably not that easy but you can always try calling in.

 

Not sure if this happened in an earlier version, but the latest version of the Alienware Command Center software (v3.5.14.0, at least that's what it shows for mine on Windows 8.1) allows one to select black for the touchpad color independent of the other zones. Woo!

Also not sure if this was announced anywhere else as I couldn't find it with a thorough search here nor via Google. I just happened upon the setting today after upgrading the software a little while back and figured I'd share. Hopefully, this will get aggregated/announced elsewhere for others wanting to know how to do it "properly" vs. modding a config file.

 

Any of you guys have dead or stuck pixels?

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Not on my just purchased 14. It is indeed a very nice screen. I have to say the machine is mostly very quiet, even while gaming. Perhaps this is due to my going with the 750M vs the 765M? All in all a nice package for a very good price that does what I need it to do, but the initial reviews of loud fans had me worried.

 

Thanks for the help. Calling did work. I got Win 7, i7-4800, 16gb, 750, 2gb 765, and BD for $1,260.25 (with tax) after a 25% off deal and free shipping. It's confirmed for 1/8/14. They have a better selection when you call into the outlet, which is how I got the 4800 instead of the regular 4700. I doubt I'll get the snazzy foam box, but for the discount, it's worth it.

 

I would like to put in my two cents about the Alienware 14...

First, I want to preface this review by stating that after a month and a half of going back and forth with Dell/Alienware about issues I had with my previous M14X R2, Alienware came through with a replacement, which I received on New Years Eve. It was a long and rough road, but it finally got here. I still have to work out details with Frank L at Alienware about switching out the processor, but otherwise, here is my review based on what I received.

Specs:

Intel Core i7-4700MQ
16gb Ram
nVidia GT765M w/2gb vram
256 msata w/750gb WD Scorpio Black HDD
DVD/BluRay
1920x1080p Anti-glare screen
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

When I opened the box, I wanted to make sure that everything that was quoted to me, as well as documented on the order was correct. Trust me, for what I previously went through, the paranoia was worth it. I opened up the bottom panel to peer inside this beauty. I say beauty because Alienware bust have been listening to customer feedback this time around to design a completely new form of the AW14. The bottom plate was a little more difficult sliding open than the previous model (I wound out unscrewing all of the screws on the bottom, thinking it was necessary...idiot). After releasing the plate, I took a gander at the build. Needless to say I was very surprised by the arrangement. The battery was a little smaller than it's predecessor, but not a big deal to me as I am mostly plugged in when using the laptop. What took me by surprise the most was the mSATA. This is a spec'd 256gb drive, but the form factor surprised me in that my previous model had a 256gb SSD (stock) and was a 2.5" drive...amazing how tech evolves.

Everything else had a similar arrangement, but it was the cooling/venting design that struck me proud. The previous model, which many of you are familiar with, had only two vents, one over the memory module area and the other of course, for the fan and heatsink. This design has a full-length grate across the laptop, to which you can see everything from the mSATA through the heat pipes to the fan. This look to be an obvious redesign based on feedback for the previous model in how hot the unit would get. It was time to put this bad boy to the test.

At boot up, I was greeted with a brief message about running a RAID config util (anyone know why?), but then I got the friendly Alienware logo, followed by the Windows logo and login screen. Boot time was slow than before, but after a couple of reboots later, boot time decreased...another feather in Alienware's cap. After completing the windows install (computer name, my name, wifi, etc.) I was at the desktop. I should also note that there was a redesign of the keyboard and touchpad. I am pleased to see that the brightly, all-lit touchpad will fade out after a few seconds, so no worries there. The keyboard's size is a little smaller in comparison to the M14X R2, but I think this redesign is much better as the keys are a little bigger and they combined a lot of "F-Key" functions into more keys. Since this was an initial install of Windows, the screen was uber bright! i currently run with it about half brightness, that's how clean and bright the LED screen runs. I did find out later this is a LG/Phillips screen.

After getting the last of Windows updates installed as well as installing my necessary applications, I tooled around the laptop once more, connecting my external mobile HDD to one of the three USB3.0 ports (sorry folks, no USB2.0 anymore). Everything so far, ran super fast and smooth. The real test was coming soon...gaming.

I am, by no means a hard-core gamer. My main reason for buying Alienware in the first place was the ability to customize a lot more of the hardware over other models, not to mention the Alienware name. That being said, I mostly do complex graphics work, renders and simulations but I do find time to game. My favorites are Skyrim and Bioshock. After getting those reloaded on the system, it was time to test. I ran Steam and selected Skyrim as the test. It did it's checks, one of which to pay attention to was the game's graphics settings. Prior to starting my games, I did take advantage of the switchable graphics mode, which worked great and I now know that everything I do on the system is run through the nVidia chip. Anywho, the game check in Skyrim stated that it set the game for ultra graphics. I had a moment of surprise again, but some caution. I didn't think it was possible to run ultra, and if I could, how bad would the framerates be? Well, now it was time to get the results.

I fired up the game, played it for about an hour or so, and there was not one instance where the "hair dryer" kicked in. Before, on my M14X R2, that hair dryer seemed to run all the time and I treated it as normal...no hair dryer meant something was amiss. While I played Skyrim, I got great framerates. Now, I don't have a tool to measure, but my eyes are still sensitive enough to detect any skips, stutters or other anomalies consistent with throttling. I had no of that with this laptop, my fan ran much quiter than before, and this is all with playing the game at ultra settings with everything maxed.

Overall, this laptop, if I had purchased it, would have been worth every penny. The build quality is much better than the M14X R2, in my opinion. The hardware used (WD Scorpio Black, for example) is worth it, the screen is amazingly sharp, clear and bright. The response and functionality of the hardware is great.

All I have to say is the Alienware has done well, at least for what I use this laptop for. Maybe others out there have much more detailed analysis and would scrutinize further, but I'd say for those who are on the fence, wait no longer, this is a great laptop to own. While the weight of the laptop is still a factor (I for one am used to it), there is quite a lot of power packed into such a small form factor. The redesign of the lighting is another plus, although I'm indifferent about the completely lit touchpad (NOT a deal breaker). I think it's safe to assume that the cooling design is a major step up (even though I do use a riser and maybe that factors in to the fan speed).

Well, that's it in a nutshell, no issues with this machine, outside of the hardware swap I am awaiting notification on, and I am extremely pleased with this laptop. I'll be very hard pressed to give this up when Alienware comes out with a new model as I find it hard to imagine they would change this laptop again.

 

You know, I love Skyrim too and when I loaded it up via Steam and the game configured itself for ultra settings I was surprised since I'm running the 750m in mine as I'm not hardcore either. I purchased it with the idea it would run Skyrim in high settings which is fine for me and notebook check shows that it shouldn't be playable at ultra with my card but I'm happy to report it plays great at ultra with the 750m.

Agree with you on build too. The AW 14 is a nice rig.