M17x-R2 1200p Screen out of stock

Hello everyone,

I need your help, I've been thinking for weeks but don't know what to do. the problem is that Dell will replace my Alienware M17x-R2 for a new one. The good thing is that they will upgrade some parts, as the video cards to the ATI 5000 Series, with Xfire, which I didn't had before, but they will downgrade my screen to the (17in WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 - Beyond HD (900p) - Dual CCF) instead of the (17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - Dual CCFL) I currently have because they are out of stock for that screen, and as I see that dell US is not selling the R2 anymore and in Spain they start selling the r3 I don't want they to offer me to change to an R3 as I prefer to keep with an R2.

do you know if in US they are out of stock for that screen or an RGB for R2.

BTW, I´m in Spain. sorry if I didn't mention it before.

Best regards.

 

If there's nothing wrong with your current screen I would insist they either ship you a new screen OR more likely insist they swap the screens to the new one.

DO NOT let them downgrade your screen.

 

Do you think it is possible if they will let me swap the screen?
I will send an email to Dell now, to ask if they can do that.
thanks for the reply, I will post back again as soon as I get an answer from them.

 

I don't know if it's the same elsewhere but it's in their policy here in the US they are not supposed to downgrade you on replacements, only equal or better components are allowed.

 

I agree with the posts above. I had the same problem as you did. I got upgraded from my old XPS M1730 to the R2, but they were out of the 1200p screen. I ended up writing an email to the Dell rep to say that I cannot be downgraded and that I must have the same resolution screen as the old XPS. He then agreed on the phone to do just that, but when the actual machine arrived it was with the 900p screen!!!!

Naturally I was furious and called up XPS support right away, and explained the situation. It only took the tech to take one look at my old laptop specs and the new laptop specs that they sent me to realize that I was indeed entitled to the 1200p screen. So Dell kindly sent an engineer around to replace the 900p screen with the 1200p screen. Although it was officially "out of stock".

Bottom line is: Dell's warranty service providers (who are 3rd party companies) SHOULD have stock of 1200p screens even if Dell themselves don't (to repair those laptops whose screens have broken, otherwise no repair would ever be possible!).
Soo
1.) make clear you want 1200p.
2.) after receipt of laptop call up Dell to have the screen replaced if it had not been done!

 

I had the same situation here in the USA with my R2. The R2 had developed a problem with its 17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200. Alienware offered to replace the entire machine with a refurbished R2 that had upgraded components than my R2 but there was a downgrade on the LCD screen to a 17in WideXGA+ 1440 x 900. They have to according to your warranty replace your parts with comparable parts, and if none are available, they have to upgrade the part. There are no 17in Wide UXGA 1920 x 1200 in stock on these refurbished system exchange units. Alienware in the US does have R2 17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 screens (not sure if they are new or refurbished) that they can install on your R-2, but I refused that offer as well. Instead, I got them to replace my R2 with a brand new R3 that has the new 1920 HD screen. Whatever you do, don't accept the LCD downgrade. Once you have a 1920 display nothing else will be seen by your eyes as acceptable.

 

the screens have been unavailable for most of this year, looking like they are not going to stock them again, why not just go for an R3, it really is a great machine.

 

The R3 is great, but most people that have had an R2 with the 1200p screen just really cannot stand the R3 after they get one. I will not say more because that discussion never goes well.

I honestly don't see why they couldn't just swap the old screen into the new machine if the old screen is fine, if they insist on saying they are out of stock (highly unlikely they actually are).

 

well if you can hold em of for another month, make them up you to a 18x maybe they'll have a similarly nice screen for their new flagship model?

 

Wonder if this will happen to me as well. My R2, although only 4 days old from outlet, has a scratched bottom from the start. I spoke to the rep and he agreed so he is sending me an exchange - what that be - I dunno.

As long as its not a downgrade (some say the R3 is a downgrade...) - I am fine. If they ask me to accept a downgrade: I will laugh, say no thank you, and ask for my money back.

I purchased a...

Intel Core i7 740QM
17 inch UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) RGB LED Display
Crossfire 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo

and would like something like that (hopefully) or better...

 

Is ironic, but I’m now in that problem, They are offering me an R3, which I have read a lot and as you said, people think is an downgrade.
This are the specs that my current system have different from the R3 they are offering me:

My R2:
Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 620M(2,66GHz, 4MB, 2C)
Display : 17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200CCFL)
Hard Drive : 320GB (2x160GB) fall sensor Raid 0 "Stripe"(7200RPM) Dual HDD
Graphics : 1GB ATI GDDR3 MOBILITY RADEON HD 4870
Wireless : Dell Wireless 1520 (802.11n)

The R3 they are offering me:
Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 2630QM (2.00Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
Display : 17.3in WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Hard Drive : 512GB (2x256GB) Solid State Drive Raid 0 "Stripe" Dual HDD
Graphics : 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870M w/ PowerXpress
Wireless : European Intel Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 (802.11a/b/g/n) Card

The things that I don’t like, is that:
I don’t have any more the possibility to upgrade to do crosXfire anymore
I don’t have the possibility to upgrade to a RGB LED display anymore
I´m not sure but I think the screen is worse, not for the difference between 1200 to 1080 but because is not CCFL.

The things that I like are:
Solid state drives
I think that the processor might be better, even if the clock rate is lower as is a Quad core.
And the video car is 2 series after mine.

What do you guys think. I´m sorry for asking, but this is a hard decision for me. As I won’t be able to buy a new laptop for the years coming, so I want to make sure I making the right decision.

Regards

 

if we where to list 10 performance features on the R3 9 of them would be at least 30% upgrades and 1 would be arguebly equal (sli vers single card) as for the screen, I cannot imagine any screen being better than what I'm looking at right now

10 features includiing stuff like cpu - memory - bus speeds - HD speeds - USB - battery life - connectability etc etc etc

 

Feliponnn, I agree with you in saying that I don't personally like the R3 chassis at all and I think its a downgrade from the R2 (the chassis, not the components). HOWEVER, in YOUR case its NOT a downgrade because your original R2 only had a SINGLE GPU and not Xfire. The R3 only has a Single GPU as well. So like for like, you get an excellent upgrade actually. Also, the SSD HDDs are a dream!

You say its a hard decision, but I actually don't see why in your case. You are getting an upgrade in every system!!! You say you'd like the opportunity to install xfire GPUs - yes thats nice but you've had your current R2 for a while now and you had your chance there and didn't do it - think first how REALISTIC will it be that you will actually in a years time spend another $700 on an aftermarket second GPU??? If the second GPU (and the screen) is the only gripes you have then I'd say definitely do it.

The only situation where I would not recommend the R3 is if you had DUAL GPUs in your R2. Because you should get like for like. But since you didn't this is not an issue.

 

Is because people say that the keyboard is to flexible, and there is this rubber thing that makes it uncomfortable, haven't been able to see any yet. about the screen, I wont get the same as you, but one w/o the 3d capabilities and w/o the 120Hz as its an ati card.

I think I might go with that one, but I will ask them to see if they can give me a 2GB video card, in exchange for a lower Windows 7 version, no office and less ram. as I already upgraded to a Xfire, like 1 month ago, and I have 2Gb of video, and with the system change, I will loose 1 card. and about the ram, my system came with 4Gb but I upgrade it with 8Gb, so I will use this 2 dimms on my new one.

I dont know if it is possible, but I will ask, and post back.

Ty for your replys.

 

I forgot to mention, that what i wanted to upgrade from the video card was from my series 4 ati xfire to series 5 in xfire.

By the way sorry for my bad english.

 

Hey guys, at the end I went for the R3, and this are the specs of the new M17x-R3 that I will recieve.

Alienware M17xR3 : Base Stealth Black 603,45 603
Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 2630QM (2.00Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
Display : 17.3in WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Camera : Integrated 3.0 Mega Pixel HD Camera
Resource DVD : Alienware M17xR3
Ship Accessory : Southern European Docs
Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Hard Drive : 512GB (2x256GB) Solid State Drive Raid 0 "Stripe" Dual HDD
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software
Power Supply : Alienware 240W AC Adapter
Power Cord : Euro 250V
Battery : Primary 9-cell 93W/HR LI-ION
Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M w/ PowerXpress
Bluetooth : European Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Card
Wireless : European Intel Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 (802.11a/b/g/n) Card
Keyboard : Internal US/International Qwerty Keyboard
Operating System : English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Software : Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic

And after it arrive, I will upgrade:
Memory: 8MB 1333MHz DDR3 Dual channel
Operating System: Windows 7 Enterprise

I really apreciate all your help guys, thanks to you I'm getting this nice M17x

 

Great news. That's a nice config. Hope you enjoy your system!

 

Nice, that is a definitely a very nice upgrade for you, enjoy it!

 

Hi Everyone!

I hate to necro this thread but better that than create a new one, especially since I'm in exactly the same boat.

I've got an:
M17x R2
1200p RGBLED
4GB DDR3 1333 (I installed 8GB, but that's besides the point)
500GB 7200RPM HD
80GB Intel X25-m V2 (mine, I'm keeping it)
Crossfire 5870m

I've just determined my M17x R2 needs a 3rd (!!!) motherboard replacement, and I'm told if that was the case then I'll probably be looking at a whole unit replacement.

I'll really hate to give up this screen! It's easily my favorite feature on this bad boy.

Aside from the screen, the new M17x R3 is only single GPU! I'm feeling like I'm about to eat a big downgrade just to get a working computer

I know it was said in here that they'd have to give me something with dual GPUs, well the GTX460s in the M18x are a big downgrade from the 5870s that I use in my main application (bitcoin mining) and the 6970s are an upgrade. I drool at the notion of SLI GTX580s, but I don't know if I'm entitled to top of the line now, just because I bought top of the line 8 months ago, and even with those, I'll still be losing my favorite feature of this laptop. Maybe they'll let me pay the difference to upgrade to 6970s or 580s? But then, should I get one of these because I'll be forced to take a screen downgrade? Arrgh!

I know the processor would be an upgrade but honestly I'm happy with the one that I have right now... I guess I'm just worried because I don't even know what I'm fairly entitled to with a replacement, and I'm a bit worried I'm about to get downgraded in more ways than just my screen.

 

ask for the 6970, i wouldnt mind the ssd's

 

Don't even think of accepting a R3 IMHO. If you bought your R2 new i think you'll be better off with a refund and just order your favorite specs.
What's your CPU btw?

 

Doh! I knew I forgot something, good catch

It's an i7 720QM

 

Explain that you currently have a dual GPU setup and that's what you want, also that a reason you bought the M17x was its aluminium build and to fill the gap concerning the quality of the RGB led screen vs the M17x R3 screen you find that the M18x would be a proper replacement for you.

 

Okay, thanks! +rep

Also, do you think they'd let me upgrade to GTX580s (open to paying the difference)

 

I would estimate your replacement would be something like this:

Old:
M17x R2
i7 720QM
1200p RGBLED
4GB DDR3 1333
500GB 7200RPM HD
Crossfire 5870m

New:
M18x
i7 2720QM
1080p (there is only one screen type for M18x)
4GB DDR3
500GB HDD
2x 6870m Xfire.

About the GTX580s they will usually let you upgrade if you pay the difference.

 

They are right, you can ask for a m18x, as Dell policy says that always they most give you something equal or better, and the RGB screen you cant get it with the R3.

I got an R2 before and now I have this R3 and I love it, maybe because the specs are way better also. this new processors and wiith my graphic cards is awesome performance, and ofc with my 2 SSD drives in raid 0.

but you can get all that in the m18x also. so go for it. they cant say no.