M17x R2 Exchange info from Dell

Paid around 4k for my M17x R2 when they first came out in 2010. Got the extended warranty. Ended up getting the dual ati cards, RGB Led screen, Blu-ray burner. with only a 500 gig HD.

Unit was great for the first few years. Well lot of problems lately, sent in for repair 5 times all together, 4 times in last 2 months alone. Well they approved an exchange. however unit is not being made anymore.

Wondering what type should i settle with. So far they offered me a M18X with 500 SSD drive which i kind of like, with dual video cards (dunno what kind). problem i do not like is no silver case (only black) and no blu-ray burner. (they said they will upgrade to blu-ray burner but need an answer now. I told them to keep looking, i will not except it. I am not gonna take first one they throw at me. They gave me no ram or chip info.

I know the unit is over 3 years old, but should i fight for M18 unit or 17x unit. I am more into video watching with recreational game playing. (however, large single player games like Max payne or GTA, Scryam)

 

I'm not really sure your issue here? So far you're not happy because of the case color? Did I get that right?

 

Sorry they offered an m18x R2.

My issue is that I feel they are offering me a subpar unit compared to what i have. ( I am seeing bad reviews on no RBG screen & Sound ). I paid for a silver M17R2 with blu-ray burner, they offer me a black M18R2 with DVD burner.


I am looking for info on what is the best upgade from an M17xR2 ? Will a M18X R2 but a step up or step down? Is there a good comparison between the 2? How about the New 17x?

They only offered me the one so far, they are still looking for the same configuration to what i have, will have to decide tomorrow.

 

Maybe I'm missing it, but I'm not seeing your current specs. Could you post those up?

Then we'll see what we can do here to help

 

224-8108 1 Lunar Silver - Anodized Aluminum
317-3656 1 Intel Core i7 620M 2.66 GHz (3.33GHz Turbo Mode, 4MB Cache)
317-3660 1 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
330-7841 1 Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
320-8856 1 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
320-8858 1 Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX
342-0668 1 500GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
313-8797 1 AlienFX Color, Terra Green
421-2261 1 Alienware Command Center, M17x
421-1400 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
420-9691 1 DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic
420-6436 1 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
421-1574 1 Alienhead Chrome Blue
421-1593 1 Alienhead Chrome Blue
410-1883 1 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
313-8570 1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
421-1304 1 CyberLink PowerDVD 8.0 Software
421-1305 1 Nero 9 Media Burning Software
313-8944 1 5.1 Channel Audio
430-3688 1 Dell Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini Card
330-6348 1 Automatic Updates: On
950-7447 1 4 Year Limited Warranty
980-5878 1 CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Inspiron, 4 Year
908-2108 1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Extended Year(s)
908-2207 1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
907-3733 1 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, 3 Year Extended
922-3410 1 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
421-1719 1 Soft Contracts,Consumer Complete Care,Alienware
421-1724 1 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
990-4683 1 Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
994-3730 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
430-0628 1 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR

 

Without knowing what other specs are being offered, I can't really help you here. So far, everything you've mentioned seems okay, in that you'll get the SSD, and the BD Burner.

The color thing you can't help though. If they don't have any Silver available (and they probably don't as the R2 is long gone from End of Life) and the only color they have now is black.

If you reject the offer, the next step will probably be just a full refund.

At this point, whatever they offer you CPU/GPU wise will most likely be a step up anyway, based on how your current is most definitely EOL.

 

I agree seems they are offering a m18x in place of a m17x thats a step up color won't make it run better. Just make sure the
spec's are same cpu , gpu or better. If you don't except the replacement they may offer you a refund or maybe a new build. I had
a m17x R2 they are replacing with a 17 R5 . Now I agreed to go from duel 5870's to one nivida 780 as it is more powerful
than the 2. Be ready to work with them a little and I am sure you will come out ok. Hope this helps.

 

ok just got the full specs on the replacement


3XT2R Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth 4.0 LE Module
38TR2 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED WideFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1080)
V627F Processor: Intel Core 3rd Generation i7-3840QM Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)

9 M4YW6 512 GB Solid State Drive
12 DV88G Space Black Anodized Aluminum
13 V9KPP Processor Label
16 H9XM4 Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 4.0
17 XM544 Image Restore Software
18 K68JV Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

21 Y5G3F Dell Outlet Alienware M18x R2 Laptop

23 NDGPD Windows 7 Professional

26 F928P Powercord,125Volt,15Amp,10 Foot

27 995JJ 330W A/C Adapter

31 FHYDV 512GB 2.5 inch (SATA3) Mobility Solid State Drive

38 YY3D8 32.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS

41 96FCH Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M - SLI Enabled

42 PJGG2 12 Cell Battery

Looks like It will be a step up. It does come with a dvd burner, but they will send me a blu-ray burner for free in a new package. They can not change that config there.

#9 & #31 list 512gb SSD so Supervisor and I believe it to be 2 drives, Hopefully i can set a raid0

I had Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX, getting Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M - SLI
so looks like a more powerful video card

Had 4gb of ram, getting 32gigs now
Had i7 620M 2.66 GHz (3.33GHz Turbo Mode, 4MB Cache getting i7-3840QM Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0

Overall, i think it will make a good free replacement to my 3 1/2 year old M17x R2

Told them to send it. what you guys think?

 

Looks good man, definitely a step up from all factors that I can see. Tell us how it goes when you get it!

 

The machine they are offering is a huge increase in performance across the board. I would take the swap in a heart beat and not even think about it.

 

Follow Homank's advice. What they're offering is an absolute beast, and the CPU is the top-performing non-extreme ivy CPU, compared to the cpu in your machine which was an i7 in name only.

 

thanks for the advice. Looks like i am not getting screwed after all.

How does that gun metal black look? How hard is it to replace the dvd drive with the Blu-ray drive? They are suppose to send me a link on how to exchange the drive after i get it. I was under the impression that the ivy bridge was better, is there a any difference?

Waiting for the shipping tag now, can not wait to try this beast out. Now off to look for an intense game to try this out with.

 

I have a "Nebula black" m17x r2. It looks awesome. I think it's the same paint design.
Afaik, replacing the optical unit is not quite the easiest thing in the world, just like replacing CPU/GPU etc. isn't either, but it's still accessible with a proper guide. If you don't feel safe doing it yourself, have a service firm do it for you. Should only be like ~15-30$.
Ivy Bridge is pretty much the best you can order right now, since any Haswell IPC improvements were canceled by matching power consumption increase. At least Ivy is a known quantity.

 

Holy cow. ..... And you are asking if you should take it?????

1st gen 620qm to 3rg gen 3840qm
4870m Crossfire to 680m Sli
4gb ram to 32gb
500gb HDD to TWO 512gb SSD's

AND they are gonna ship you a BluRay Reader AS WELL!! (I imagine that if you asked, Dell would send a technician to install it for you too....)

Seems to me like you lost a penny and found a winning lotto ticket....grab it. Congratulations.

(makes my replacement offer even more of a joke)

 

well they did want to send someone to install it but no one in the area lol. They had to pay over night shipping 4 times and unit is still not fixed. No techs in like 100 miles around my location. I will call today to find out if they shipped it yet. I guess i need to check if i can get another extended warrenty with it or just add my last year available

It looks like it will blow my 17xr2 out of the water.

 

It certainly will blow your old machine away, without a shadow of a doubt. As for warranty, you should be able to extend it up to a maximum of 5 years from original date of purchase.

 

can anyone recommend a good cooler for this unit. I usually lay down in bed with the laptop on my chest watching videos (i work on an oil platform(BP)) lol. The R2 use to cook me, any good coolers that will fit the M18

 

What about the notepal U3

 

The U3 is good for on a desk, but its open on the underside, so if you had it (and your machine) on your lap, the U3's fans would be directly on top of your chest....

 

If you don't take it, I will. Jesus.

 

I am tracking it on fed ex, they sent it over night. should get it this after noon. I have nothing to complain about this warranty. After a 3 1/2 year old computer, they can not repair, they are sending me a bad updated one, over night for no cost.

My next laptop was going to be something else due to the problems i had with this unit and do not like dell taking over (seems cheapened), but know since their warranty hooked me up, all future laptop purchases will be alienware.

 

I wish I had the same resolution and felt the same way you do. Congrats on the machine though

 

Has anyone bought their broken machine back from them? Wondering if I can keep my old one since it is discontinued. will they sell it back at a reduced rate? Or just keep it and not send it back (i still have it and suppose to send it back to them).