*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 Ranger (2013) Owner's Lounge Thread

Anyone have the link to where I can download all of the programs that came with my system? Like PowerDVD, SoundBlaster, etc. I believe Dell has a page that you can access and look up your service tag to find out what came with your computer.

 

It says its up to 18.4" but I think an 18 would be a little too big for it (especially the AW18)... in my opinion anyway. The AW17 has a nice amount of space around the edges (roughly 1.5cm ish each side) and its comfortable. Granted there are no fans but from what i've read, the fans on notebook stands do very little in the way of reducing temps. I do a lot of photo editing as well as gaming and I much prefer to be sat on the couch in front of the TV where i can be comfortable rather than sat at the table, its perfect for that.

Ive not noticed any play between the parts when I was looking over it yesterday. Ive never owned the R4 but I can say from a techy point of view that the hinges for one are much better than many of the other 1000's that i've used/replaced screens on etc and the overall build quality seems to be very good. But i guess time will tell once it gets used more and more.

The one thing i'm a little concerned about is the soft touch finish on the plastic (which it a nightmare for fingerprints!). It seems like it will wear off or peel over time and i'm worried about scratching it off with my watch when typing. I think the R4 had the same finish, has anyone experienced this wearing/peeling/scratching easily?

 

I think I will change my u3 for this one as it is cheaper and more likely to be comfortable on my lap. Some reviews state it is not suitable for hot laptops though from what I have seen the aw17 on really gets hot out the rear right fan - have you noticed any issues with heat?

 

You mean the cooler master notepal u3? I'm currently using one. The build quality is quite good. The feature I like the most is the ability to position the fans (3 fans in total) anywhere you want so that you can focus on the area that needs more cooling. You can also control the fan speed manually.

 

You need to register on 'my dell downloads' for the licensed software that comes with the machine.

https://smartsource.dell.com/Web/Welcome.aspx?ReturnUrl=/web/main.aspx

 

I am using one for my current machine. It certainly does its' job well, making my machine 10+ degrees cooler under medium load... My biggest complain: it scratched my plastic shell I got my laptop into. It literally imprinted itself to it and then the shell left a mark on the bottom of the laptop... then again, this started happening during the period I had to use 2 VMs at the same time and as you can guess, the temps were really high.

 

Would it work on a lap? Worried it would be too unwieldy and I can't seem to find any stands designed for lap use for the AW17. I will mostly be using on a sofa or in bed

 

Check out targus lap pad. Perfect for lap use and easy to move with the laptop. Targus Lap Chill Mat 17-inch: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories it has a nice soft underside cover as well. Not a looker for sure but great functionality for bed use

Edit: It is slightly small on the width, laptop overhangs around 1/2" each side but not a problem for stability, and it makes it easy to move as a whole unit...

 

I received mine today and had the same issue. Spoke to technical support and apparently they do not have a part number for that plate yet, and therefore, cannot issue a new one until they do.

 

Yes I did see that one. But are the dimensions not too small? Or am I looking at this wrong

Targus Product Dimensions 38 x 30.5 x 5 cm

Height: Front: 1.820 in (6.24 mm) Rear: 1.908 in (48.46 mm)
Depth: 11.772 in (299.00 mm)
Width: 16.282 in (413.56 mm)

 

Is the bottom plate the same size as the previous M17x nameplates?

 

It is slightly small on the width, (perfect depth) laptop overhangs around 1/2" each side but not a problem for stability, and it makes it easy to move as a whole unit...

 

There is hardly any flex and absolutely no gaps anywhere on my machine. Even the bottom cover is pretty sturdy. I also think that the "plastic" is not fully plastic. It's like 40% magnesium mixed with ABS or something like that.

Not at all. It's long and not even rectangular. Like a rounded corner diamond shape.

 

Sadly no. Sucks you cannot get a custom one anymore.

 

Argh just found a dead pixel on my screen! Is there anyway to fix or should I get alienware to send me a new one? Will they?

 

i have 8gb ram. they are in modules 1 and 2, so that if you want to upgrade later, you can add them in the easy to access modules 3 and 4.

because my 3 and 4 are empty.

 

Not an expert but most high-end laptops come with a 30-days zero dead-pixels warranty. Give them a call... If it is a stuck pixel, you can fix it with either software or by applying some pressure on it.

 

Looks like you need 2 for a replacement: Dead Pixels on Notebook Screens

 

Anyone having issues with upgrading the memory in their system? Some people are reporting that regular 1600MHz memory does not work in the new 17.

 

That list is from Feb 2005. I don't think Dell had Alienware at that point, and screens were much different.

 

To me it looks like 1.5v 1333 might be incompatible as well - I was expecting a downclock on the other two sticks it came with, but instead I got 4 beeps Might be an issue with one of the slots though, I'll be trying that after I get my GPU fixed.

Pretty annoying; I was really looking forward to having 24GB of ram instead of 8. (2x8gb sticks, I had been using them in my r3 with no problems)

 

You tried install 1333MHz memory? I think 1600 and 1866 are compatible.

Can anyone confirm if aftermarket memory is compatible?

 

Maybe need to try 1.3v/1.5v dual low voltage memory.

 

I am trying ud pixel now will leave it on for an hour or two. However I have a feeling it won't go away as it is a grey pixel and does not appear on a black background. Hopefully if they wont replace I can use the fact in the T&Cs there is a seven working day cooling off period (could even use the gpu temp lock if I was desperate) - will call them at 8 and see what they say tomorrow if ud doesn't fix it.

 

Didm't notice that. AW were in the list (at the bottom). You'd need to search dell's site for the latest. I read here it was 3 but no idea of the exact policy. Our friendly dell rep is a little quiet today

Here is the last one dell published (09): What Is the Dead Pixel Policy For Alienware M17 Laptops? | Dell UK

 

You may be right.

 

Very true. You can still call and say either fix it or give me my money back - good luck

 

On another note, I purchased the 3 year NBD warranty but when I go onto the dell page (where you put in service tag) it says

LS - Premium Hardware and Software Support Warranty with an end date of 10/07/2016. •Next Business Day Warranty with an end date of 10/07/2014.

Is that not wrong?

 

Can anyone tell me where the image is located that appears when you first power-up your alienware laptop resides? ( at the point where you can choose boot options, etc ). On an AW17 it's a blue alien head and i'd like to change it.

 

Unfortunately, I think that image resides as part of the BIOS. Changing it would require a BIOS modification - which while possible, is probably not something you should attempt yourself.

 

The AW 14 and 17 require DDR3 capable of running at 1.35V - found this out the hard way. I don't know about the 18.

 

Seriously? In that case, we really need a BIOS mod that adds ram overvolting (So I can "overvolt" my ram back to 1.5v)

And great, ANOTHER thing my replacement laptop can't do that my r3 could. Equivalent or better my a** - It would be worth it for a performance upgrade, but I'm really only seeing a 20% boost. (lost some nice CPU features, eSATA, Optical audio out, VGA, swappable batteries, and media keys, for starters - I just felt that if I was going to lose all that, I'd at least get something faster)

 

Awesome! I'll get on to dell again tomorrow when I get chance and find out what the score is and when we're likely to see these turn up

I've been gaming on this for the last few hours (BF3, Metro, RE6) and the underside doesn't get particularly hot. The exhaust vents at the back however! Cant see heat being an issue on the Belkin CushDesk and to be fair for £12 its not going to break the bank if the heat does affect it. Definitely worth the money in my opinion if you use your AW17 on your lap. If you plan on using it at a desk then get the Notepal for the added cooling

I have to say one massive plus is the keyboard on this thing, by far one of the nicest i've used for typing on. Much prefer it over my Macbook Pro

 

Does it flex anywhere? Any loose keys or missed keystrokes? What do you think of the trackpad?

 

I've never had an issue gaming with my r3 or 17 on my lap - it doesn't seem to impede airflow too badly, and the bottom stays at a comfortable temperature. Of course I haven't had the highest TDP of cards, so who knows how the extra 30-50W will impact things.

 

I am using a chopping board at the minute that also works but you look a bit weird

 

So I am super excited!!! My order got placed today for my AW 17. I was gonna get the 14 but I decided to bite the bullet and get use to the size increase. At least now I have a mobile monitor for my consoles . I got the base model with 1 year accidental damage, 1080p display and (don't kill me) Windows 8. Should arrive within the next two weeks so I'm one happy guy

 

Congrats! I ordered the 17 instead of the 14 as well.

You should ask Dell for the Windows 8 recovery DVD because when you order Win8, you don't get a disc or anything.

 

The only flex I've found (and its very, very minimal) is on the number pad but its so minimal it isn't noticed unless your really pressing down on it. Coming from a Macbook Pro the trackpad was never going to impress me, however its responsive and does the job well. Manufacturers need to follow Apples lead and start using glass for their trackpads. I'm not a huge fan of the buttons though, they're a little too spongy for my liking but thats just personal preference.

I was paranoid about the GPU throttling and wanted to make sure i'm not restricting airflow, didn't want my fps to take a hit because it was on my lap rather than a flat surface.

 

I also come from a MBP and I worry about the trackpad. Overall is it "bearable"? Or that bad compare to the MBP? Unfortunately other companies -usually relying on Synaptics touch pads- can't use a similar trackpad, as Apple holds the patterns for them... :/ However MS said that they are trying to push manufactures to use bigger and better quality touchpads...

 

I got a disk with my Win 8 machine. It says Resource on it so maybe it doesn't hold Windows?

 

That's just the drivers and utilities disc. You don't get an OS disc with Windows 8.

 

Does the 770m model come with two or three pipes for the GPU heatsink? If the 770m is reaching that temperature with three, I don't see the 780m ever reaching 10k GPU in 3dmark11 in the 17.

But if that's the case, the m17x r4 has better cooling.

 

Thanks, emailed the rep about that. So glad I double checked that it was the recovery dvd not the resource dvd

 

One more confirmation for the throttling 780M issue:

3DMark 11: P5662 out of the box
Throttling at 66 C, 587Mhz core, 400 Mhz Memory

3DMark 11: P7329 with EVGA Precision setting the target temperature at 80 C
No throttling, the benchmarking was short, the temperature didn't go over 75, 849 Mhz core, 1248 Mhz memory.

The room temperature was 24 C.

However running EVGA Precision also creates multiples instances of EvgaVoltageTuner.exe, all running at 100% core occupation each.
What does EvgaVoltageTuner do? Can I disallow the process from to run?

Just confirming the throttling issue with the 780M/

Mine throttles at 66 C out of the box, it scores P5300 with 3DMark 11 and the 780M runs at 587/400 during the throttled parts.

With EVGA Precision setting the target temp at 80 C, it scores P7300, and the GPU runs at 849/1248, the temp didn't exceed 75 C.

The room temp was around 24 C.

The very strange thing that happened with EVGA Precision was that it created multiple instances of EvgaVoltageTuner.exe, all running at 13% CPU load, meaning 100% load per thread on the i7-4700. Am I doing something wrong? Are those processes necessary? I want to disallow the process from running at all.

 

I don't think you are gonna use it on your lap. Because I found that it is very unstable. For sofa/bed use, it should work as long as you place the fan high enough so that the sofa/bed doesn't block the fan and the air coming through the fan. However, you might not feel very comfortable with that. The cooling pad itself will raise the back of the laptop. When you are typing on the bed, I feel a bit uncomfortable with a inclined keyboard position. But, it is a matter of personal preference.

Another thing that I want to add is you have to clean the fan regularly. At least once every month I think. The fan will produce slightly more noise when dust get trapped inside.

 

I have been typing on mine for close on 12 months and my watch is often rubbing on the L/H edge of the laptop and I am pleased to tell you that it has not made a mark that I can see.

 

I certainly wouldnt worry too much about the touchpad, coming from a MBP you have to trade off multitouch gestures etc but thats the same for every non-apple machine. Id have liked to see two finger scrolling but you can at least customise some of the scroll settings/area in the command centre which is better than most other windows notebooks

Thats good news, I was worried my system would start to look shabby after a while

 

And I thought Windows had two-fingers scrolling by default... My order was just shipped! Calling them and asking them to prioritize the order worked afterall! Now waiting for my tracking number to work on UPS' website.

 

Do you have optimus enabled? I noticed this happening to me whenever I clicked "apply" If you tell EVGA to run on startup and it loads the profile at 77 degrees then you won't have this problem. Also, I noticed that I didn't get this problem when in discrete mode. Just a quirk I think but you can terminate the processes in task manager