M17X-R2 POOR Quality Anodized Aluminum

I have to say that I am pretty disappointed with Dell in regards to the promised "Space Black Anodized Aluminum"... On a $3000+ system I expect a terrific paint job not a flimsy half rushed job. IMHO more time and care should have been spent on the manufacturing methods in which the aluminum is anodized in these units. When I pay a premium for a machine I expect MUCH better results then this... I am sending this unit back and I'm considering getting the silver hoping for a different outcome since I think that the silver units are not painted. Black paint on the heat-sinks and copper pipes is unacceptable...

 

Hmm hopefully you didnt just prove you voided your warranty with that picture.

 

They do it on purpose to keep the system looking the same from the exterior, it's even more prominent on the M15x laptops:




You're not going to get a better result, personally I think it's great that they took the time to paint the interior to keep the exterior look almost completely black.

 

I agree... I personally am extremly happy with the job they did on mine. It looks PERFECT.

 

I agree on this. It's not overspray, but the reason it was done was so that the heat sink doesn't shine through the grills, which IMO would give it a cheap look. I agree that I don't like the heatsinks painted at all, but it's not all bad. At least from the exterior it looks good and they didn't paint more than needed be. My guess is that the silver is going to have the same paint on the heatsink pipes so that they are not visible from the exterior. But I could be wrong.

 

Another thing to think about is this... Alienware doesn't plan on anyone seeing it like you do unless they plan on voiding their warranty and modding the computer, at which point they dont care how it looks to you... It is meant more for people that will never see the inside and only look at the outside.

 

Just taking the cover off doesn't void the warranty... You can go as far as replacing the GPU and CPU without voiding your warranty, so long as you don't break anything and put the original parts back in if you need to use your warranty coverage.

Basically Dell/Alienware doesn't care what you do as long as you don't break it, ad that you send it back with the original parts if you EVER send it back.

 

Yeah well maybe I guess your right if your looking at it from the outside.

You think so? I heard someone here at nbr say that the aluminum wasn't painted that it was it's natural color.. I could be wrong about that too tho.

 

The silver is a natural unpainted color, but the heatsinks will probably still have paint on them.

As far as voiding the warranty, your fine. The warranty is only voided if you damage something. Than the damaged piece is no longer covered by the warranty. I've replaced my CPU with out voiding the warranty and still recieved a full refund for the system on my R1. Besides, I'm 10x less likely to damage something than a dell tech is. Personally I'd let the tech watch as I worked on the system, but I doubt I'd let him touch it.

 

Yeah i was kinda put off by the black paint on the copper as well, but its really just for the "looks". I'm sure it does interfer with the thermal disipation but its such a small degree that its not going to be noticed.

But it does look alot better than having copper fins visible on a completely blacked out notebook

 

Curious thing, having in mind that Lunar Silver cost more than Space black, which is free by default

 

Only nebula red costs more, AFAIK.

 

Time ago i had to pay more for every color different to Black space, now is for free too . . . (Dell.com.co)

 

Now it's the same price. I got Lunar Silver and the build quality is simply superb.

 

Is there silver spray on on your heat pipes? What color are the fins? Thanks unreal.

 

on mine there is black spray (i've got a silver)

 

Thanks for the info. So I guess no matter what color system you get its probably a safe bet that your going to have an over spray line. Oh well.