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

The more I think about the default 18 is a way better choice than upgraded 17 at 2k. Default 18 has true life screen so your game looks great from any angle and 765m sli which is just a little below 780m performance. Both system is large and the chance of you bring it outside is slim to never since battery life is short and gaming outside is undoable. Should I upgrade to at least 770m sli if I want to play games 2 yr from now on high or medium high? Or should I wait for the 770m price drop and upgrade later?

 

I'm with you on this one . If they offered a 120hz display on the 18 my order would already be in!

Simple rule of thumb for video cards, get the most powerful you can afford, or even compromise elsewhere to get them. It will always cost you more later on anyway so why not start with the best (unless you are a casual gamer and don't mind dropping a few settings down in the future.)?

 

If Dell could not offer both screens on both models, 120Hz for the 18 and PLS for the 17 would have been a better choice...

 

All part of Dells drive to use generic parts and keep costs down. Back in the day AW would get manufacturers to make special parts (like the alienhead on the lid and the power button;now gone ). One of the reasons for the premium pricing. Now they are taking on the other guys by price something has to give...

 

I consider myself a level below hardcore gaming lol I'm not anal about having every setting at ultra, high is good enough for me. I would love to be able to get the fastest gpu but I'd would hav to sell a kidney for a 780m sli lol. I'm on mobile so I can't access laptop config, but don't 18 support 120hz 3d display now or couple month from now? I think I can do 770m sli without selling my organs btw on the review for the 18 it's brightness is lower than 17 wth lol how can this be? also is it a drawback? Is 765m sli performance alittle lower than 780m?

 

SO BE IT. I don't mind if Alienware is a Dell Precision knockoff if it offers Dell Precision quality in all areas (including the screen) and class-leading performance. I would pay more for better quality and a provocative appearance though.

 

Sound the same as me as far as gaming goes, no need for those very subtle settings that hammer the FPS. As a guide my GPU still plays all the latest titles on combinations of ultra and high. I'm only now looking at a 680 (the only one I can use and still retain 3D) to see if the price has dropped enough to get one.

I haven't looked at the performance stats yet on the 7 series cards but I'm sure the data is out there

And lastly, no 120hz 3D on the 18. It's always been that way. 3D can be done but needs an NV 3dVision kit and an external 120hz monitor

 

I'm surprised they managed to get a PLS screen. I'm pretty sure that is already custom manufactured for the m18. An 18 inch 3d display isn't worth it to dell because they can't use it in multiple systems like they can the PLS screen. With the 17 inch panels they can also use it in the XPS machines as well.


770m SLI is faster than a single 780m, but not sure about the 765m SLI.

 

I imagine that Dell is not in a rush to make better screens for these.

1. Dell is Dell.
2. Consumer-grade GPUs don't support 10-bit IPS panels like the one found in the Precision m6700, which might be the only top-notch screen Dell offers in a 17-inch laptop. So much the better. I want to stay away from those LG panels.
3. 17-inch screens are common, so Dell can recycle them. 1080p 14 and 18 inch screens are hard to come by, so Dell can source its own. The one in the 14 doesn't even seem great, and sourcing a poor quality IPS screen for the 17 would be disastrous. Because the 18 is the flagship, Dell offers a decent IPS screen.
4. The highest gamut TN matte screen commonly found in 17-inch laptops is 72%. The Chi Mei CMO1720 panel available for the Dell Precision m6700, MSI GT70, Asus G75, and some Clevo models is a known quantity: not superb but much better than average.

The thought is interesting and might work if Dell existed in a vacuum, but it does have competitors offering "better" matte screens in smaller laptops with the same performance for lower prices. Selling a 15-inch Alienware and offering 95% gamut matte screens would solve the problem, but again, Dell is Dell.

I'm still hoping for an RGB LED matte 1080/1200p screen though.

 

I am interested in buying an m17, but because I will be carrying it around a lot, I want to use a 512 gb ssd. I have swapped hdds on computers before reinstalled OS etc, but I read a few places that the BIOS needs to be changed for a ssd. Can someone tell me (or point me toward) what I would need to do to install the ssd.

The laptop I am looking at comes with a 750gb hdd with a 64gb msata caching. Thanks!

 

You guys are sure it has the HDMI input? I could sware from the photos it looked like it was not there which would be a HUGE bummer.

 

its in the spec sheet: HDMI in/out in one port

 

It does not take a different BIOS to install SSD versus HDD. Nor do you need to adjust BIOS settings to install an SSD. It is a bolt-in part exchange. You do need to use certain settings to create a RAID with two or more drives. The configuration of what you are looking at possibly buying would use the mSATA SSD to accelerate the 750GB HDD. This will provide very nice performance as an alternative to SSD. Although not as fast as Windows installed to SSD, it is MUCH faster than a HDD that is not cache-accelerated. Before you invest in a costly 512GB SSD, you might want to test that setup and see how it performs. You may find that it suits your need for speed and provides an extra 256GB of storage space.

See example benchmarks below for a general idea... The image in the lower left is a slow (5400RPM low-power) 1TB HDD accelerated by an mSATA SSD in my M18x R2. It performs surprisingly well.

 

Is it better to save by getting the 770m and upgrade to I'll say the 880m come next year? Just wondering in case the 780m is too much for me now.

 

So if what I see is true, this might just be the easiest notebook to access ALL of the internal parts. Plus for us

 

Don't make any BIOS changes. They are not necessary for an SSD and it only reduces load times by a couple seconds. If you're into benchmarking you might want to change to AICH but you will loose the cache drive and it will be just another drive in your system.

Leave everything as it is and you will end up with a super fast SSD for boot and apps, along with a speeded up data drive. Win win! (and use the AW win install or you can get in a mess with the win install selecting the wrong disk drivers - easy fix, just PM me if you need help, or search the forum, it's been covered a few times )

Good luck.

 

So all I do is need to swap out the drives... That is a lot easier than I thought. And I realize that the 512 gb ssd is costly but I am paying for it mostly with the money from selling textbooks back to Amazon, so out of pocket money is the same thing for either setup. Basically all I plan to have is the ssd, and maybe the cache since the configuration comes with it.

Anyway after I swap its just a clean install of windows and the drivers correct? I plan on Windows 7 so it should be easier. I know there is a whole thread dedicated to this in the main alienware forum. Thanks for the help!

 

I'd say just stick to your own knowledge on this one, no gotchas I can think of except mentioned below.

You don't want to swap drives as this will mess up the caching. Just change the boot order in the BIOS. Other than that you are good to go. You may think that using a 'vanilla' windows install will be better (no trash) but use the one supplied with the machine otherwise you have to manually select the correct disk drivers at the start of the install.

Good luck

 

Usually its cheaper to upgrade from the seller (dell) than to upgrade yourself. The top cards by themselves are very expensive, and hard to find for the first six months they are out. Also we don't know if Nvidia plans to keep using the same MXM format (but my guess is they will)

 

Weight is no different, battery life is negligible.

 

actually its usually the other way around. I got my 6990m for $300 and that was still the AMD flagship card at the time. You just got to know where to look.

 

Well it's 9 to 12 pounds, and if portability is a concern (albeit both are big) the 17 is conventionally more portable. If that also doesn't matter, 18 is the way to go
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

True that; the 17 is big, but the 18 is enormous. I ike this comarison pic of the three sizes:
View attachment 97693

But, 100% if size/weight and money are not an issue, go for the 18

 

So... Just to clear this up - you can turn off all the LEDs, right? Even the one on the side and the mouse pad? I keep hearing how many incredible different things you can do with them, but nobody says if you can just shut it down

 

Yes, most likely you can. On my M11x r3 and when I had a M17x R1 you just go in the light changing FX and turn them off. I think only the power button light wouldn't turn off.

 

Yup, just 'go dark'. What it does on the new ones remains to be seen. On mine the power button does go out but the lid alienhead stays. Now they have dropped the mulit-light AW power button I would reckon it won't go out.

 

Im not 100% sure since my first Alienware is still on order, but I would assume there will be an option to turn off all the lights (for classroom use, to save battery, etc...)

 

Here's what you do: Go in AFX, and change all colors to BLACK, equivalent to turning the lights off.

 

Can't you just select 'go dark' from the taskbar right click menu?

 

yup, and you can also turn all the lighting zones off this way. You can't do that front the alienfx menu.

 

Awesome, thanks guys

Now there's only one left on my list of cons - price... And you guys are lucky, prices in dollars are low compared to crazy euro-land!

Will see how much it is in my country and then decide how badly I want to avoid the compromises of Asus/clevo

 

Asus will be just as expensive more than likely


Has anyone had hands on with one yet, all the screen shots seem to make the laptops, even the 14, look REALLY thick, I don't know if it's the designs but they look massive compared to the current range :L

 

Nope. Just seen the page go up. 3000 euros for the 780 model. I could almost buy TWO Asus for that price. I don't think it's worth it, sadly

 

I'm not suprised the 780m has only just been released, I can't even find an Asus with the 780 model..

 

The cheapest you can get the 780m is $2199 on the AW 17. The cheapest Asus offers on their G750JH with the 780m is $2499 (because they don't offer any variations yet). So AW is a little less expensive.

 

I am considering a couple different ssd for the new alienware 17 and was hoping someone could give me a recommendation based on compatibility, and value considering size of the drive and if there will be a noticeable speed difference (mostly gaming)

Samsung 840 Series Solid State Drive (SSD) 500 GB SATAIII 2.5-Inch MZ-7TD500BW $350
Samsung E840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 512 SATA_6_0_gb Solid State Drive MZ-7PD512BW $450
Crucial m4 512GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT512M4SSD2 $380

Thanks again!

 

I am not too sure if this is still legitimate information, but I have an M4, and from what I remember they have good read speeds, but have not got that great write speeds (500/200 I think).


I haven't had any experience with the Samsung ssds though.

 

Just get the cheapest. Unless you are moving large packages of data constantly, you will never notice the speed difference. I have used Samsung 840 and never had any problems, also have an Intel 520 which is supposed to be faster, but don't notice any difference in gaming. Even going from a 7200 rpm HDD to an SDD you will only get about 5 fps gain. The biggest gain is loading times when launching a game and area loading screens are faster in some games.

 

Again, prices in euros are different. The Asus 780 is going to be much cheaper than aw. Too bad.

 

Wow, I just visited the Euro site, they really screw you guys over. Do they expect a loyal fan base outside of the US? Seeing how they are all made in the same factory, what gives?

 

Tariffs my friend

 

Does anyone know the true dimensions of the new M17? The two reviews I've read differ by a massive amount.... Right now I have an M15X - which is nearly as big as the M17X R4 and weighs .2lbs more. I'm wondering if the new M17 will fit into a similarly sized backpack.

 

The dimensions right from Dell's website:

Dimensions & Starting weight
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)
Starting at weight with optional SSD: 9.1494 lbs. (4.1501 Kg.)

 

New to the Alienware product but really looking forward to getting my hands on this and running it through its paces.

PROCESSOR 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit, English
MEMORY 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
HARD DRIVE 750GB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200 RPM)
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5

I have (2) 512GB 2.5-inch SSD 840 Pro Series ssd's sitting and ready for setting up a RAID0 configuation. Tentative ship date is 22/7/13, but I hope its sooner.

 

Still can't decide between AW 14 or AW 17. AW 14 is verry portable, but the GPU is too weak. AW 17 has greay performance, but is like €900 more expensive. God damn it.

 

How often do you need to move it around? IMO if you like playing new games and usually spend a lot of time using your laptop the AW 17 would be the best choice.

 

I'll butt in here cause I'm still trying to decide as well. My situation is that I'm going to college and so I don't know what will fit me better.

 

Ordered my first alienware on the 22nd of June. I get a small discount through work $40 and they happen to have a $200 off for the middle lower confige of the alienware 17. Upgraded to the gtx780. Sweet laptop laptop for $2060 all in with tax. Will add a ssd to it. Ship date is set for the 22 of July but hopefully it'll show up before that. Very excited

 

How did you get $200 off?

 

It was on sale at the dell Canada website from the June 22 to the 24. $200 off