M17x R3 RELAUNCHED! (w/460M/6870M/6970M)

are you guys seriously discussing battery life on a high end hi performance desktop replacement laptop, it surely beats a car boot full of stuff no matter what, I could care less if it had no battery included, it is still portable performance, I can check my email on my phone

 

Yeah, I'm the same way. only thing I use my battery for is as a UPS, which is kind of handy, but I'm never going to use it off battery. IMO even a low end notebook designed for it, you'd tear through the battery too quick doing that.

 

Of course battery matters. A gaming PC isn't always spending its time gaming. The fact that the R3 can go more than 3 hrs away from an outlet seals the deal for me over Sager's offerings.

Students, freelancers, etc. may be using the thing as their one and only computer. For lots of people its better to have 1 super powerful all-in-one machine than it is to have a bunch of separate machines. The HDMI-Input is conducive to this purpose (axe the need for a TV, seperate gaming computers, save space in the dorm room).

If I were driving a Ferrari (I wish) at less than breakneck speeds, I'd like to be away from a gas pump for a bit.

 

Battery life certainly matters to me. I don't always stay plugged in, especially when I want to sit around and do general things like browse the internet/watch youtube or whatever

 

Battery life is what separates the r3 from the r2 I think. Not sure what the difference is, but with the 6970m switchable optimus whatever, the r3 lasts a lot longer than the r3 with the 460m, and the r2.

 

Batt- life in the R3 comes down to the 9 cell batt- over the 6 cell in older M17x models, as well as the onboard v-card

if you have the 3D model, you will never get the onboard video card to boot as it can not run the screen (the 120hz screen). That will hinder the batt- life. Other than that, the 9 cell batt- should run the M17x longer, and much MUCH longer if you are booting with the 60hz/non 3D model.

 

Seems like I cant disable the battery. Fn + F2 always shows "battery enabled".
Restart does not work. Any idea ? :|

 

ran in to that once. I booted the computer on batt for a bit, then let it charge back up, rebooted, then Fn+F2. That worked for me. Hope it works for you, let us know.

 

That is what I talked to a few Alienware sales reps about as recently as today, they all say that the 3d bundle has optimus and switchable graphics and WiDi with an intel compatible card. They said that the only time you can't switch or use optimus is when you are using the 3d. However normal browsing and other non 3d functions could use the integrated graphics.

This has been six reps in the last week, I have talked to who all said the same thing. I cannot believe they could be so wrong about one of their products. I am so confused and torn. I want to believe the people posting here because most of the posters are extremely knowledgable and well informed, but in my heart I want y'all to be wrong because my machine is supposed to arrive tomorrow or the day after and if I can't use WiDi, or switch between graphic cards then I am sending it back. I could give two toots about 3d, but I was told if I wanted a nvidia card I would need the bundle. One of my big draws to the machine was the WiDi and wireless streaming, I don't want to feel like I am getting less of a machine because the sales person wanted me to sell me a 3d bundle.

It's bad enough I am constantly reading a few peeps on these forums saying the 460 card is weak, or the r3 is cheap, or cheaply made, or cheap plastic, or that the screen sucks cause it's not rgbled and how this or that is terrible and how that sucks, etc. I appreciate honesty, but sometimes it feels like a few people are going out of their way to bury the r3 in constant criticism. Combine that with feeling like I got sold something with features that were promised from the sales reps that aren't apparently there and this whole process has left me jaded and sad. I shouldn't feel that way buying a kick new computer.

 

It would be a bad thing if the GTX 460 uses Optimus...you really wouldn't want that.

It's not a low end card though...I mean it's on par with AMD's second to best GPU, so it's strong enough, though obviously in a system like this it OUGHT to also offer the GTX 470 and/or 485.

 

After watching Avatar in 3d, and getting a headache, I don't know how any of you can stand 3d.

 

Just a quick heads up for anyone who wants to order an R3 with a i7 2920XM processor, this website just started selling them

hidevolution.com - Alienware M17x R.3 R3 non-3D Custom Built to Order

 

interesting review, I wonder what an AW R3 with XM and 485m would bench at

Review Nvidia Geforce GTX 485M graphics card - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Who's Jeff Gerstman? Also, GI is published/created by EB Games/Gamestop = corrupted reviews sometimes, I'm sure you would agree. Kinda like how radio stations are paid by record companies to put certain artists/songs at the "top" of the list <-- true story btw, was told this by a person who's brother worked for a popular radio station.

Mine's 3/30. Not exactly early, but hopefully this gives you an idea of the general layout of EDD's out there.

Is there a section in the manual or something somewhere which describes and lists all the secrets/hotkeys/shortcuts for these kind of special functions (e.g. Fn+F2 and Fn+F7 for switching gpus)?

 

You can order Alienware from UK now. It's on the alienware uk website now.

Not sure if it was already posted.

Also I can't belive the prices...it's even more crazy then I thought. Also there is no option of a red case as of yet. Some new alienware bags there as well.
Alienware Gaming Systems | Dell UK


I'm going to look somewhere else or try out HIDevolution.

 

For the Dutchies, its there now. Damn, about 2600 euro for the 3D model.

 

Yeah. Informally just among people I know, less than half can deal with so-called "3D", and most of the rest don't want it. I only know one person who seems to be "take it or leave it".

In my case, I didn't get a headache, but my vision was left WEEEEEEEEEEEIRD for more than six hours after seeing it. SUPER unpleasant and freaky-never going to do "3D" again. Some interesting stuff from an expert who wrote in to Ebert about why so-called 3D CAN'T even work...

GiantBomb.com ~ Video Game Reviews, News, Videos & Forums - Giant Bomb

He ran Gamespot, and a few years back got fired-and took almost the entire staff with him. They're doing Giantbomb and other Whisky Media sites. It's awesome, as is the Giant Bombcast. Since then I won't go to Gamespot, nor pay attention to their reviews. Many think the firing happened over a negative Kane and Lynch review.

Well I'd assume that, but that's not what I've found. I actually think the articles are the best or among the best of any of the magazines out there, and their reviews more often critical than other magazines...I've seen them give 5s or whatever to stuff other magazines have given near perfect scores to. So it SEEMS like it's less biased, if anything.

Plus it's got the best covers of anything out there IMO (Everything else is a generic character action shot inelegantly plastered on the front for some game we already all know about.)

 

I'm going to give HIDevolution a go as well. Either with the R3 or the Asus G73SW.

I'm just concerned about warranty as every us based dell chat rep says that the warranty is valid in the uk, some threads on here say thats only true with the advanced warranty. The uk chat rep I spoke to said its not valid... grr

 

The R3 is by no means a weak or cheap machine. All people are doing is comparing things like the metal build to the R2 and in the case of the screen, it's not RGBLED. Nor are you paying for those features. So no worries.

 

the warranty and ownership can be transfered anywhere in the world, that's why it's called "International" the basic plan does not cover accidents - Advanced does and premium plan allows more interaction and control over home visits etc

http://support.dell.com/support/top...ce_contracts?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1

Transfer of this Agreement. Subject to the limitations set forth in this Agreement, you may transfer this Agreement to anyone who buys your entire System before the expiration of your service period (as specified on your invoice), provided you are the original purchaser of the System and this Agreement, or you have purchased the System and this Agreement from its original owner (or a previous transferee) and have complied with all the transfer rules in this Agreement.
TO TRANSFER

 

I'm just wondering if it is worth it to upgrade the wireless card. I plan on playing games with it plugged into my router anyways, so just wondering if it's actually worth it. thanks

 

Processor-wise the R3 is much more powerful than the R2. SB processors are much more faster than the last gen cpus.

One 6970m will probably give you a better overall gaming experience than a dual 5870m set up.

 

Strange, it was availble this morning in Holland. Now there is a message that its not possible to order online and that you have to talk to a sales person to order.

Very strange....

 

I would. You can buy it elsewhere for cheaper though. I actually got a new router too. I can score an A at pingtest.net while someone else is streaming or downloading files.

Networking is a two-way (or more) street, the router as well as the card needs to be quality parts for the best experience. In many cases people will upgrade one without upgrading the other and then complain about poor performance.

 

My last SLI setup didn't boost games run in windowed mode (makes sense to play certain MMOs in a window). I'm not sure if modern dual GPU setups still have this limitation, but if they do, a single chip would be better.

 

OMG, I just configured my configuration on the UK and German site. Its 2600 pounds or 2900euro(4100$), or the double amount in $$$(2150$) i payed on the US site! Ordered on the HID evolution site. Advice to my fellow european buyers: Order your alienware in US, and find a way to ship it to your country. Its so overpriced in europe, i just cant believe it. (Alienware's are already overpriced in the USA, but this in Europe, its not acceptable!)

 

MY BRO's R3 has arrived

i7-7270qm
gtx 460m 3d enabled
320gb hardrive
8 gigs of ram.

Hope everything runs smoothly for him. I'll be sticking around in the owners lounges pretty soon. One quick question though,

someone mentioned something about the vertex 3 SSD. Any idea when those will be released? Also, u think 80gb will be enough just for programs?

 

Thanks, ill probably just upgrade later as my router would need to be upgraded aswell.

 

higher numbers don't always mean better, check out the 555m and keep the feet for dancing

 

That lucky son of a gun. I'm so jealous of you all !

 

They dont build these things 24x7 do they?

 

yes been down this route already, a very basic system was working out at £3300 that's almost $5000. they are really taking the

 

Of course not. Otherwise, I wouldve received it by now They're prolly screwing me over cuz I've called them too much to bug about this.

 

Just gotta breathe deep. Time only moves forward. As soon as we receive our laptops we'll be dreading the day the R4 makes us look stupid (which will come much faster than us R3 owners want it to).

 

Meh. I won't actually start feeling bad about my purchase until another line of processors starts coming out (Which outside of ivy bridge seems to be year(s) off)

The performance RIGHT NOW for a laptop is great and I'd think its safe to assume it will continue to run newer games well as there doesn't seem to be tons of new graphics technology coming up. I think most games will be designed like the DX11 games now (but, as time goes on, they'll obviously become more optimized)

And when I say that I don't mean new models of GPUs.. I mean stuff like DX12 and whatever else is waiting for us in the future.

 

Not me. I won't buy another comp till at least after my warranty ends (3years). Or, if Heart of the Swarm somehow requires a supercomputer that's beyond the R3's max capabilities.

 

My wish list right now is the Nvidia GTX485m then I will be very happy but I want it as an upgrade as opposed to buying and fitting myself to maintain warranty cover for such an expensive part, come on Dell even the press are saying you need to do this - the 460m is a weak link in the 3D machine

 

+1 rep just for having to wait so long

 

Highly doubtful this is the case.

They aren't that organized.

 

Eh?

 

Thx for the support guyz. I really do hope that the config I got is as good as you guys make it out to be. I really hope that I'll be blown away by how damn good this machine is

 

Bah, This wait is way too long, Some people get their laptop in 10 days? What in the world? You guys count weekends with your wait time or what?

 

No idea. I've only been counting business days. It's been 7 so far. IMO that's way too long for a build-to-order company. Way too long for anything that's built on an assembly line. Maybe it's just taking long cuz it's gotta ship from China, and NBD is just a sham.

 

I just ordered my R3 today. Estimated ship date is 04/07/2011. That does seem like a long time, but I have been shopping for so long another three weeks or probably won't kill me.

Looking at various Sager models before deciding on AW, wait time for the Clevo base systems is holding them up as well. I am sure there is a large backlog due to the Intel chipset recall issue.

 

Wow, I read that Radeon 6970 review, and it's impressive! I'd still rather have a GTX 485 for the drivers and somewhat better performance, but they're both monsters.

It sounded good, but not as good as I thought it would be...I mean the core count went from 800 to 960...but the ROP count it turns out DOUBLED from 16 to 32, so at a given clock speed it should have double the fill rate!

Its performance across the board was pretty much 2x the last gen Envy 17's Radeon 5850.

 

Does anyone know if I could still do 3D with the 6970 if I connected the laptop to my 3DTV with an HDMI?

 

Yes it can.

 

Yes, but your tv has to accept hdmi 1.4 or watever it's called

 

Awesome! Thanks guys. And I'm pretty sure any TV that's 3D supports HDMI 1.4

 

My main gripe with the M17X r3 which is stopping me from ordering is the colour being black only lols, i would prefer red