Alienware M17x R3 vs M17x R4

What are the differences between the R3 and the R4 variants? I take it the R4 is the latest? Also, when I receive my laptop, is there any way of knowing/confirming which one of the two I've received?

 

R4 is ivybridge, so power it on and look for intel 3XXX cpu.
Also it should have nvidia 675 or ati 7970 card. depending the order.

 

if you have an ivy bridge cpu or if you have the GTX 660m, gtx 675, or the 7970m.. its the R4

 

Ah, that's all I needed to hear. Thank you fellas!

 

Isn't the sound better on the R4?

And the R4 has a mSATA slot that the R3 does not.

 

Thanks for that. Anything else? Also, I heard the M18x build quality is superior to that of the M17x.. Is that so?

 

Both hdd bays run SATA III on the r4 as apposed to one ( with specific bios) on the R3.

I think the R4 may have an additional vent on the bottom of the chassis, but I'm not sure about that.

The m18x can run dual gpu's ad the m17 can only run single. Also, the 18 has an anodized aluminum shell vs the plastic 17.

 

Sorry, my earlier question was too vague and broad-spectrum since I missed a word there. Original post edited now. What I meant to ask was the difference not in hardware, but the build quality... Which you answered. Thanks And is it really that noticeably? I hope the M17x doesn't feel cheap as opposed to the M18x? I've checked out a M18x in person at a local store, and I found it to be good. Never really seen a M17x, so I have no idea how it compares. I've one on order regardless.

 

I've never felt a M18X, but I don't think my R3 feels cheap.

 

The build quality between the R3/R4, from what I have seen and read, are about the same. Later model R3s came with a 3rd vent in the middle (mine did). If you ordered you system from Dell within the past month, then you got an R4.

Edit: The build quality of the R3/R4, in my opinion, is great. Feels a lot better then most other 17in systems I have checked out. Of course the M18X has a better build quality because of it's aluminum finish. With that said, I think the plastic rubberized finish of the R3/R4 is top notch.

 

Plus 4 ports USB 3.0 instead of 2 (in the R3), better sound system (Sound Blaster)


Take a look.


Alienware M17x R4 Notebook Review - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

^^Thanks. And I'm officially out of rep points to give out today! What do they mean by "gumming on the lid" ?

 

I completely agree!

late R3's (like mine) are identical to R4's. I love my R3...so the R4 externally is the same and it is of the same high quality

 

If you already own an r3 and wish to migrate to r4 now, i believe its not a very rational move unless you have deep pockets and critical need. But if you are considering R4 now after not being confident in pulling the trigger on R3, then I would say R4 is a stabler platform compared to R3 just as M17x R2 was to M17x R1.

This I guess is an unavoidable but necessary evolution which annoys owners who already own one, including myself.

The motherboard is different and yet an improved version...The rest of the bells and whistles are for you to be dandy with.

Aside this its my belief that unless Euro Economy's weather changes giving impetus to the rest of the world, we are going to start seeing lower quality products due to cost cutting in the later half of the year after the current stocks get depleted. This will happen across all the range of products the world sells and buys. Manufactures are being hit hard due to the dwindling confidence in consumerism and cash to dole out.

 

I never said I owned a R3. I've never owned an Alienware! I was asking because the ones sold locally are the R3 ones, and wanted to know how they compared to the ones sold in online American stores.

 

i don't really like aluminum or any kinds of metallic finish, they produce lots of statics here in where i live, especially plugged in. its quite prickly and irritating when the static actually jolts my hands and or fingers.

 

glad to see I'm not the only one who experienced that on metallic finished notebooks. I love the rubberized alloy on the m17x, its soft to the touch and doesn't produce static. It is also quite durable in my experience.

 

Dear Prasad,

R4 is very much available locally in India..When you call them, they tend to try push the older preconfigured system out to the customers.

Also, when you look for the specifications online, it would state very limited hardware options.

To truly get all the options you have to be clear and cut across their BS and ask what are the options available at each customisation point.

Eg. In Dell India...i7 3820 is not listed. But its very much available when you customise it with a dedicated and knowledgable salesperson. Some are very lazy and others who are competitive will give you a good picture and even their personal mobile numbers.

Try this Salesperson

Poonam Lemoriya
Inside Sales Account Manager
Dell India | Consumer
Office : 080 2510 3283 Mob: 9663922558
* Email : [email protected]

 

I've already ordered from PNB for a price and configuration that Dell India cannot even remotely compete with! Oh, and I was talking about stores in Bahrain, since that is where I'm currently located on vacation. Thanks anyway ..

 

If you've never owned an Alienware before, make sure you check out the R4 very thoroughly. I own an R3 and it's a great computer, but there's a litany of little annoyances (can't install a graphics card, camera won't work half the time, can't use headphones because of cheap materials) that come with it. If they've fixed most of these, I'd go ahead and pull the trigger (edit: on the purchase).

 

what?

ten chars

 

What do you mean, what?

 

If you have an R3, you can change the graphics card...the only caveat is no ATI cards in R3's with the 120hz screen...but nvidia cards work. If you have the 60hz screen, you can change graphic cards all you want

your camera should work all the time, if it works some of the time, its a driver issue. If it doesn't work at all, then it should be replaced under warranty

and

what do you mean you can't use headphones? Something wrong with the plugs on your R3?

these are not atypical R3 issues

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhh.

I had a brain fart right there, I said graphics card, I meant wireless driver. (Okay, I just re-read that sentence...maybe my brain just completely shut down).

I'm having trouble getting my wireless driver to work after a clean install.

And as far as the headphones go, here's what happens:

I plug the headphones in, listen to music, then unplug them and the speakers stop working because the computer thinks that the headphones are plugged in. You have to do some voodoo to get the speakers back working again. This is the case for all of the headphone jacks. It's happened to other people as well: ( link 1, link 2)

The camera not working is a driver issue, but when I install new drivers, nothing changes.

 

All user/software problems. Learn how to use a computer, would be my advice.

There is nothing overtly wrong with the R3 or R4 - sometimes there are problems, but more often than not, it is the users.

 

I have this problem too. I just plug/unplug the headphones to get the speakers to work again. Never looked any further into it.

 

To the OP question, I just got my R4 replacement for my R3 and although basically the same the sound is WAY better. I'm no audiophile but the difference is clear (no pun intended).
It is probably the creative chip but I've seen threads where someone mentioned that the speakers were different, but both machines state klipsch

 

Be wary of the R3 if you utilize sleep often. Regardless of GPU, sleep often fails for me with a blackscreen on wake.

 

Seems to be a common problem with no single fix. I had this start about 1 month into my R3. Tried a bunch of stuff and ended up disabling hibernate just so it never happened - but sleep was still hit-and-miss. It started to act normal after a reinstall of windows - not why I did it but ...

R4 - Been good so far

 

Good to hear. I can use all the ammunition I can get to build a case for replacing problematic R3's with R4s.

 

You're welcome - it worked for me (bunch of other probs though), replaced my R3 with an R4 last week after 5 months use, well, 5 months ownership, very little actual use

Good Luck

 

I hardly ever use sleep, so not an issue. But thanks for the warning!

 

i believe the r4 also has better battery life.

 

its nvidia chipset i believe...check out ur device manager

 

Thanks. My understanding is that the Nvidia audio drivers are for DVD via HDMI output. The R3 had the same Nvidia drivers as well but the on-board chip was an IDT, which many users have said is poor. You could purchase the Creative MB software (as I did with my R3) but this still used the IDT chip. This one has a creative chip on-board -Soundblaster Recon3Di in device manager, and is in a different league as far as just listening to music with the internal speakers

 

Actually, the sound from the R3 is decent if you know how to tweak it. I made a thread on it some months ago. The Nvidia HD Audio is for audio over HDMI which bypasses the internal sound card.

The R3 uses an IDT driver on probably a generic Realtek chip. The R4 uses a Creative chip. The reason both laptops state Klipsch is that it is likely that they are Dell's OEM for the speakers which are unchanged with the refresh.

 

Thanks, As I thought re the HD audio drivers. I had 'tweaked' the IDT and was perfectly happy with it. It was only when I played some music on the R4 I heard it right away. Of course it could have just been the creative mixer default but it just sounds 'better'.

I only commented on the actual speakers as someone posted on the video of the R4 teardown (can't find the thread - sorry) that the speakers were different. I never looked too closely at the ones in the R3.

 

Have any of you compared the quality difference between both webcams...I started a thread on it but no many responses.

 

Not me sorry, I never used it much so no base data...