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

Windows 8 will be a personal thing - personally I prefer Windows 7. Windows 8 is fine for touch screen devices if that's your bag.....

 

I'd get windows 8 if it's not too late. I really like the small changes like the new file transfer window.

You can use something like classic shell until 8.1 comes out.

 

Windows 8 takes a lot of getting used to. I used it for months and still ended up reverting back to 7.

In the end it's up to you. There are a lot of people that think Windows 8 is great, but there are just as many that can't stand it.....

 

I was planning on upgrading Windows for the sole purpose of having more memory. But I haven't decided which version, yet. I have Windows 8 Pro, but I don't like Windows 8 that much. However, upgrading from Windows 7 Home Premium to Ultimate seems kind of pointless - if I'm going to upgrade, I might as well actually "upgrade," right?

But yeah, Windows 8 does take getting used to. I just wish it had a feature to where you could switch between Windows 8 style or Windows 7 style, but still have the Windows 8 as the OS. I would most definitely use Windows 8 if that were a possibility.

The other option is to buy StarDock8 (or whatever it is called) for $4.99.

 

The one I bought is called StartIsBack, but there are free options too. Also, 8.1 will bring back the start button and allow you to boot straight to the desktop from what I've heard, so I really don't see any reason not to get windows 8.

 

Oh, that's nice. I haven't read up much on 8.1.

 

The "start" button in 8.1 just brings you back to the Metro Gui/Tile Interface, it's not a start button like Windows 7

 

That's what it does in Windows 8. You mean 8? Or it didn't change.

 

Hmmmm, maybe it's not changed as they say it is in Win 8.1 then, either that or they hadn't changed it yet in the developer preview I tried....

EDIT: Did your lappy ship yet???? My briefcase and chill mat just shipped.

 

Nope, not yet. I called today and spoke with the case specialist handling my order. He told me that my expedite request went through and the order is done, but waiting approval for shipment. According to him it should be delivered by Wednesday (Oct. 3rd), but the order status page still says "In Production" and still has an EDD of October 14th.

So, unofficially, it should arrive sometime this upcoming week. Officially, it won't arrive until the 14th. I hate the fact that it finished on a weekend...

Note: When it arrives, I'll probably make a thread/post. I've got some plans to do a quick unboxing, a short review, upgrade videos, and some benching with the Alienware 18's PSU and a modded vBIOS. Supposedly the 780M can score over 10k on 3DMark 11 with the modded vBIOS - I'm hoping to push it further with more power. Hopefully Alienware will get us a new BIOS to unleash the 4930MX as well...

 

Very cool, looking forward to it and I'll keep my fingers crossed that it ships first thing Monday morning for ya!!

 

I just got an email saying my 17 is now shipped . Just in time for the weekend also . So that means I will get it Tuesday or Wednesday . If all goes well. Can't wait anymore . Oh wait I have no choice .

 

Another question.

I checked the invoice tag on my order and it had a service tag number. So I went to the dell download drivers site and enterd my tag number just out of curiosity and all the drivers for my system came up . I'm guessing it's the latest drivers for my hardware . Everything was there , invidia driver , Igpu driver , and so on but no bios driver at all. I even went to the list that let's you choose wich drivers you want to display like chipset , graphics, and the rest but bios wasn't even in their. Does that mean mine already has the latest bios installed and all the other drivers that show up under my service tag still need to be updated. Sorry I've never had a computer where I have to manually install drivers and what not. Thanks in advance.

 

No, it likely has some older stuff installed, which is normal.

You may need to check drivers and downloads by just choosing the Alienware 17 as a product instead of entering your service tag. "Choose from a list of products." Doing so will bring up every download available for the AW 17 and you will then have to choose the correct stuff to install.

Try that and let me know if you see everything.

 

Yep sure enough it's all there including bios.
Well that's kind of pointless to have a place to enter your service tag for drivers updates if it's not even going to have all your drivers in it. O we'll I know how to find the all now anyways .
Thanks for help.

 

Where did you find your service tag?

 

Should be on the underside of the machine, or you can find it it by entering the BIOS at boot.

 

Ya, I know that, but he hasn't received his laptop yet........kind of hard to look under the machine when it's still in the box in the warehouse/on a truck

 

Hahaha - my bad! - I thought you had the machine!!

If you can track your order on line, I think there is a link to see the packing slip - from recollection, that should detail things.....I think....

 

Correct kind of nice you know if all is alright with the order that way..

 

Has anyone here had any issues or difficulties upgrading the RAM or anything else in their AW 17's? Just curious... There hasn't been much discussion about upgrading the 17, if any at all.

 

It is, but it is too late to change anything as, at that point, the order is already shipped.

Still a cool feature though. I figured out how to do it with my second order for my briefcase/chill mat. Once my lappy gets marked shipped, will definitely be checking it out. Thanks for the tip guys!!

 

I went to the page that shows your order progress. Once it goes to shipped on the right side there is an option for . ( view packing slip ).click on that and then it will ask you for customer number. Enter that then click submit and then some information will come up with you new laptops service tag number.
Hope this helps.

 

Ya, figured that out with my other order that is shipped....

I chatted with a Rep toady and they actually did submit an expedition request. Will find out Monday if it was approved and when it will ship. The rep said if it was approved and when the new EDD will be. He said if it's approved then it **should** ship by the end of the week.

 

i always check my service tag inside BIOS. (all DELL/Alienware PC has inside BIOS)

 

Read back 1 page. . Lol

 

Sorry message wasn't intended for you redneck boy I know you already figured it out.

 

Ha, I was watching a video on YouTube ( seen here) about the Alienware 17 and someone posted a comment saying, and I quote:

What an idiot.

 

lolololololoo

I do have to admit, I could build one helluva gaming rig for the money I dropped down on this laptop, but that's comparing apples to oranges. If you want a beast of a laptop, it's going to cost you your first born.

If you buy a beast of a desktop manufactured by someone else, it will cost a helluva lot as well. I'm sure if you bought an alienware desktop with the same specs, it would cost the roughly the same, though I haven't checked. The only savings with a desktop is I can build my own desktop, which saves me thousands.

If I could build my own laptop, I would and TBH, this laptop is upgradeable, so it's not completely useless. In a couple of years, instead of spending this much on a new laptop, I can just slap a new cpu and gpu in and I'm good to go again.....

 

There are reasons beyond what most people care to realize when it comes to purchasing a laptop vs desktop. Not only is the person who commented making himself look like an idiot, he obviously did not watch the first video (unboxing) where the member who posted the video clearly explained why he bought a laptop instead of a desktop. I'm pretty sure anyone spending thousands of dollars on a laptop realizes that a similarly priced desktop is going to perform better... Like you said: it's like comparing apples to oranges.

 

Exactly!

For me, it's a guilty pleasure. Kind of like that guy that wanted a certain model of car his whole life and is finally at a stage where he can actually afford to get it.....do I need this laptop? Hell no, but it's something I've always wanted.....a high-end laptop, covered by a great warranty that I don't have to worry about for 3 years. Anything at all happens to this puppy and it's covered. It's peace of mind, knowing that this laptop will last me for years to come.

Go out and buy a $300 laptop and tell me if you can say the same....

 

Haha, he's halfway right, but maybe exaggerating a little! But it's a good point, if you're gonna drop 1000's of dollars on a laptop with the sole purpose of playing games, then it's healthy to ask the question: do I really need this to be portable?! If the answer is no, then you've got yourself a damn fine desktop!

 

I don't like all the mess of wires/cables that comes along with a desktop myself...

Plus I am really big on the lights... lol

 

He's not right at all, at least for this specific situation. Let me explain:

First of all: the cost of the laptop in that video is not even close to what he is suggesting it is. Second: the person bought a laptop because he was going to college. If it were some other person who just wanted a laptop for the heck of it, then it's a different story. But this person could not have bought a desktop for that sole purpose, period. So, no. He couldn't have gotten a desktop with a GTX Titan, a 4960X, 64GB's of memory, and ten SSD's. It is literally not possible in this specific situation.

He made that ridiculous statement based upon the typical bias people have with Alienware without even considering all of the facts and reasoning behind the purchase.

EDIT: Hypothetically, that is like telling a man with three kids and a wife that he could've bought a Camaro instead of that Honda Odyssey (minivan) he has. Both take you from point A to point B, but there's more to it than that.

EDIT 2: I don't know why I felt I had to explain, LOL. I suppose it just annoys the heck out of me.

 

I'm not sure if there is a thread for this or not . If so please direct me .
I was wondering if you guys are running pc tune up utilities software on your systems like norton utilities or system mechanic . I had good luck with norton utilities on my old computer but it only had a hard drive. My alienware 17 will have a 256gb boot ssd and 750gb hard drive. What do you guys use if any. Or what do you suggest if any . Thanks

 

For a tuneup, I recommend "AVG PC Tuneup" because it actually works quite well. However, I tend to remove it after I use it... It comes with a bunch of bloatware, which is annoying, but can be avoided (for the most part) through custom installation. I also recommend running CCCleaner at least once every 3 - 5 months, if you tend to download quite a lot of junk. There are many more programs out there, but these two have always proven best. On top of that, MalwareBytes has proven to be a great program and keeps your PC running very nicely. It's free, but I decided to go ahead and purchase the Lifetime Pro version for $20 to support further development.

Hope that helps.

 

Are these programs safe to run with ssds. I've herd some are not good for ssds. Like disk optimizing .
Thanks for the quick response . And yes it did help

 

Yes, they're safe. Just avoid running them every day and you'll be okay. :thumbsup:

 

I am thinking of getting Alienware 17 780M/120hertz screen combo and i have a few questions i didn't find answer in last 40-50 pages of this thread.

Anyone has tried newer a05 bios to see if there are improvement over a04 as far as 3d mark 11 goes?

is there anyone that has measured sRGB colorspace on 120 hertz screen? if so what is the percentage?

What is the lap temperature when gaming with highest/extreme settings? Does this thing required a laptop cooler or you can game directly on your lap? (at 75C ambient)

 

The A05 bios does not seem to benefit anything, but I'm sure it does. It's not like they made it for the fun of doing so.

Lap gaming? I don't recommend it. You'll probably be blocking the vents. Of course it is possible. Get one of those laptop tables for your lap and it will be fine.

 

For whatever reason, I can't get to the drivers page to look at the changelog for A05. I thought the latest was A04

 

There isn't a changelog. I'm not sure why.

 

My fedex information shows my 17 shipping from Torrance California . Is that we're there made or assembled. I thought they were made or assembled in a land far far away lol.anyway that's like only 3 1/2 hours from where I live. I wish I could just drive down and get it.

 

That must be one of their warehouses. They are not made here.

Congratulations. Looks like your system will arrive come this Monday.

 

The delivery date shows Tuesday but Monday would be nice. I just hope I don't have any problems like some of the horror stories I've read about alienware owners having. Fingers crossed for a good experience . This is my first time ever dealing with dell period and also for alienware. Will let you guys know how it turns out when I recieve it.

 

i have the same 120Hz half matte/ half glossy DELL using.........the NTSC is about 84%.

(DELLs True life screen lays around 80%-90% NTSC depending you get LG philips or Samsung.....I havnt seen any AUO in True life models now days....some years ago DELL used AUO a lot)

here in Sweden...first shipping date (all AW 17) is 14 Oct.........

 

Mine says October 14th also, but that's just an estimated date. My system is done and should ship tomorrow. :thumbsup:

 

Added to post #3 on first page of this thread...

 

Nice to have a fresh parts list!!! - thanks!

 

Ok can anyone tell me who truly understands how to use EVGA for overclocking what the purpose of the power target slider is? Like if I'm overclocking should I be sliding that all the way up to 146 % that's what I've done now had added +50 TO GPU clock and memory clock as well getting around 7900 in 3Dmark 11 on performance setting. Is this correct? Do you think I can push the overclock further? My GPU temp went up to around 76 but not over. FYI I have already repasted GPU and CPU about a month ago.