Alienware Mx17 R3 offered as replacement for dell xps16

Hi guys just a quick question as i never owned a alien ware
at the moment i have a dell xps16 with i7 820, 4gb ddr3, ati hd 4670, full edge to edge rgb led screen, this has overheating issues so dell offered to replace with mx17 r3 with the following spec
i7 2630QM , 17.3 WideFHD WLED LCD, 8gb ddr3 , 1gb amd hd 6870m w/powerxpress

do you guys think i should take the offer or just ask for another xps16??

 

I'd jump all over that and never look back! I was looking at the XPS16 machines before getting my R3, they are not up to snuff spec-wise.

I think the 2630QM ranks just above the 820 in the hierarchy of CPUs, the 6870 is nearly twice as powerful as the 4670, twice the RAM. Your only hit in my opinion is in the screen. If the XPS16 really has an RGB FHD you will notice a difference with the FHD screen on the R3.

Although to be fair to the R3 screen, it is not bad in any way IMO.

Something else to consider, depending on what sort of things you are doing with your rig from day to day. Are you carting it back and forth to work or school every day? If so, the XPS16 is smaller and lighter. It also has a more "professional" look to it for a business environment. Just a thought.

I say jump on it, go for the Alienware, it is a much more powerful machine!

 

I use my xps16 as a desktop replacement to save space, ya i tought the screen was a downgrade, but the rest seem good and i just hope not to have anymore overheat issues as the xps16 is like an oven

 

So far, from my experience and reading that of others, Alienware seems to have really figured out how to control the heat within the R3. Mine stays very cool under moderate usage and reasonably cool while gaming on the ATI card.

 

Uh, no brainer. I would think the only thing is that the i7 820 in your old machine would be equal to an i7 2720 in the new. But if you are like me (and listen what Azureal said), you will take the replacement and the newer tech. The 2630 is still better than what you had.

 

The 2630 is much more powerful than the 820. Look at some benchmarks. Well, maybe you just meant it's the 1st lvl in this machine whereas the 820 was the 2nd lvl in the other. That wouldn't bother me though considering it's such a nice upgrade.

I'd say you're very lucky to get this offer! Just check it really carefully when you get it to male sure they didn't give you some refurbed sloppy seconds!

 

Bold=EXACTLY!
I wasn't saying it wasn't. What I WAS saying is that in his XPS16, the 820 would've been an upgrade (maybe). And that the 2630 comes standard in the R3. Know what I mean? Still would take the replacement in a second. I was just saying if he had leverage, he may want to try for an upgrade on the CPU since the 820 would've been an upgrade on the XPS. Got me???

 

Actually, that's a great idea. OP, you should try that!

 

Unfortunately, dell usually doesn't look at first this, second that. Only if you got an extreme processor, then they cut you some slack and give you extreme. Elsewise, they go right by the specs. Hence why some people had a C2D running at 2.66Ghz in thier r1s, and got replaced with a "lower ranked" i7-640(maybe 620) at 2.66Ghz.

The 2630qm will squash the 820qm like a bug anyways, but higher is always nicer lol

It's a good idea, but I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Everything you're getting is an upgrade over the xps, with the exception of the screen. My friend has an xps 16, and it almost the size of a 17iner, so you won't notice much jump in size.

 

how will i know if its a refurb??

 

We have both systems. If you do much gaming then go r3.

If you mainly surf or email and need more portability then stay xps.

 

Eh, just look for dirt, scratches, worn stickers...

 

And sometimes Dell/AW will put a green or red sticker on the bottom indicating that it is a refurb. Still prolly gonna be better than what ya got.

 

RIKO, like pmassey31545 says, even a refurbished unit will look and feel brand new. If it had some horrid issue like being all scratched up or what not, you could return it and demand something in better condition.

I think Dell really doeas a number on refurbed units, they don't just send you some machine which was directly returned from another user, they tear all of those down and rebuild refurbs with the usable parts and dispose of the scratched or damages parts. The only reason to mark it as a refurb is because of laws relating to selling "used" product as new, a huge no-no and really bad press.

If you did get a refurbished unit, I suspect it would look and feel just like new, plus you will get the warranty of a new machine.

I say jump on it before they retract the offer!

 

thanks guys for all the info , just accepted the offer it will be delivered by 12th of may looking forward to it

 

Wow, what a spectacular replacement offer.

 

How do replacements arrive before customers who purchase new and pay "full sticker" price...

 

Cause he bought his laptop multiple years ago.

 

That is so not fair

 

Life isn't fair

 

@ the OP-Did you ever get your machine and how do you like it? Let us know when it comes in.

 

Hi guys just quick update, recebeived my machine today ( using it right now lol) and loving every second of it . And got a suprice they upgraded the CPU for some reason lol so here is the final spec i received today
-Processor : I7 2820QM (2.30Ghz, 6M, 4C)
-Display : !7.3 WideFHD (1920 x 1080 ) WLED LCD ( my old old was RGB but this one looks good as well)
-Software : Facial recognition ( this is getting deleted on my fresh isntall, don't see the pointo in it, if u guys think otherwise let me know)
-Memory : 8192MB (2X4096) 1333Mhz DDR3 Dual Channel
-Hard Drive: 750GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) - This is getting replaced with Vertex 2 SSD
-Op Drive : 8x DVD+/-RW
-Graphics : 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870 w/PowerXpress
-Bluetooth : 375 Card
-Wireless : 1501 wireless-N
-Camera : 3.0 MP HD


my review so far , this laptop is amazing , compared to my xps1645, even with a normal HDD looks fast , looking forward to see it when i get my SDD working.
the only thing thats annoying me is the wirelless card , as i have a netgear router that offers 3ghz and 5ghz frequencies this card only workks on 3Ghz frequency, so i might have a moan see if they change the wireless card.
Also tried some music to listen to speaker quality , sounds good but with song with bass the speakrs ratle a bit( any ideas what this can be , or is it normal?).
overall i'm verry happy with this replacement for my studio xps1645. just have to transfer all my stuff across now lol

 

Congrats on your replacement! Welcome to the Alienware Family! I also came from an SXPS, but mine was a 1640 to the Alienware in my specs. SOOOOO Glad those days are over!

 

Ya the SXPS is a nice looking machine but the great downside of it is the overeating , and there's nothing that dell could do about that cause its a design flaw, hope the M17x does not suffer from the same issue

i noticed that u installed the SSD on yours , did u fit it yourself or u got it like that already ?

 

I got it like this, and Don't worry at all the M17x's cooling systems are far superior to the SXPS series. I agree that was a horrible design oversight with the screen. Happy Gaming!

 

dude just got a couple questions lol seing that u got a similar spec to mine
Have you done a clean install??
if so will all the stuff be in the disks? like alien fx , etc?

also i just tried to install a second drive , changed from raid to AHIC and the pc didnt want to boot up , changed to raid again and it works but doesnt find the second drive

also do u get ratling on your speakers when u pumping some bass tunes??

sorry about all the questions lol new to alien ware , just seen the pc inside and the build quality is far superior to the sxps 16

 

@ OP

Nice upgrade, that's crazy, you got a sweet deal

 

I did do a clean install

What do you mean it would not boot up? How many drives do you have and are they in RAID 0 or 1. You have an R3 BTW which is different than mine Mines is more like the M18x (just the previous version). The rattling in the speakers is common thing on the R2 and R3 with Bassy songs.

I agree even though I have not seen the R3 in person, but the build quality of Alienware's in general recently have been solid(R1,R2,R3,) Just be careful with that soft touch stuff it has been know to peel off.

 

it czme with 1x750gb hdd, i put another 500gb hdd on the hdd2 slot, then first boot was fine but dindt reconize the 2nd drive 500gb, went to setting and it was on RAID , changed to AHIC and tried to book again but didnt work just kept restarting , soon as i changed back ro RAID it was fine but still no finding the 500gb HDD , i think i have to change to AHIC and then do a fresh install maybe that way will work

 

@ RIKO, et al.

If I can butt in here. I have a SXPS 1640 and have also experienced the blazing heat issues. I would like to know any suggestions on trying to get a similar deal.

About 7 months ago, without a blink of an eye, Dell replaced the heat sink, fan, motherboard, power cable and even my worn keyboard. Still have major heat issues. While looking into a new M17x I came across this forum.

Any keywords to use in an argument for this novice would be appreciated. I'd like to go in "guns a blazin'" THX for any help.

 

Congrats on your replacement.