*OFFICIAL* M17xR3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 1

finally, sweetness - congrats dood!!!

 

How do you know they have hit the build stage?

Sorry im an anxious noob, waiting for his first alienware (R3) to arrive.

 

What makes you believe the system is not going to ship with the 2nd drive caddy?? Seriously, there is no reason to worry about this. It will come with it.

I mentioned this in a previous post but you may have missed it.

Lets stop the rumors now that the system only ships with 1 drive caddy. lol

 

even mandrake took the plunge, nice - greatly anticipate your review too!!!

 

Thanks man, looking forward to it, it was in production about an hour after they placed the order so hopefully they were serious this time.

It's in the build stage usually a day or two sometimes less after it shows "In Production" on the order status. In production includes: getting the parts, building the system, testing the system, and packaging.

 

I got my R1 12 days from ordering it, once it goes to build stage you are on the home stretch

The rest of the time was just waiting in line to get into the factory assembly line I think.

 

Mine's in production too giggidy giggidy

 

mine has been in production for the past 5 days... how long does it take normally for dell to ship it to you once the built has been completed?

 

Once the laptop is assembled it goes to Texas to get packaged with all the manuals, cds, stickers, hat, etc then it goes to you.

At least that is my understanding of the process?

 

I think it depends on where you're at, all of my orders have shipped out of TN and I'm in UT. I think TX is more of a corp headquarters for offices.

 

Maybe, I am in VA.

 

lol, im no where near the states. im in singapore. but the factory for alienware is located in china am i right?

 

Yes but that just means we understand the process even less overseas.

 

I always thought Alienware laptops were put together in Miami. Or perhaps that's just where the corporate offices are...

 

What is AAFES, and how can I get this 30% discount? 30% is amazing... blows the 2% EPP discount out of the water

I tried searching AAFES and I only found some Air Force stuff and Black Friday ads.

 

You only get 2% epp........heh...I donno howe you got that short end, but when I bought my R2's I was getting 20% from my corp EPP

 

AAFES is for the members of the US military. Can't fake that one I don't think.

And Miami is where old school Alienware was based. I think that Dell/Alienware still has some offices there.

 

ooh, i can get my brother, the commander, to buy me one!

 

Army & Air Force Exchange Service. Gotta be a member of the military. Like scook said, no way of getting that as they check records to verify your membership as you sign-up.

 

yet another reason to become a navy chaplain.

 

Well, Another one for the "call in to get the best deals" party

First Alienware system, finally decided to get something other than a Thinkpad mobile workstation (my W700 is starting to have heating issues)

Alienware M17x Soft Touch Nebula Red
Base System + 2720QM + Blue Ray + 3D Package + 1yr accidental damage

Talked him down to $1900 even + Free shipping

EDD 2/11/10

Now I just have to pick up a nice SSD and some Ram and I'll be set

 

Oh, so it was that Air Force site. Well, for what the military does, they deserve 30% off Alienwares! Heck, I say give them 50% off . I truly respect members of the military.

Anyways, how do you get 20% off with EPP?!? That's insane. I'm a high school student about to head out to college, but my mom works for a local state government agency that has en EPP with Dell (and Alienware ). But, she, and transitively I, only get 2% off, so it's only a tad cheaper D:..

 

It all depends on hat your company has negotiated with dell.

 

I just tried building that configuration to see how much you actually saved. Building that config comes up to $2,070, so you saved $170 and got free shipping. That's pretty awesome especially since it's so new.

 

Does anyone know if the R3 has provision for a dual GPU configuration?

I know its not configurable from the AW site but if it had the space it'd be great to upgrade.

 

No, according to the documentation (see post#1) it is not a dual GPU system.

Please check out post #1.

thanks.

 

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System
So I checked the video cards well..the 6870 is up as an option so how is it standing up to the Nvidia 485m rumored to be added...or is it that circle argument of 5870 vs. 460m. oh gawd...is this a typo...dont do that to me dell. 6870 does not support 3D it semms...well the Nvidia 3D kit...which is understandable. Does this mean that the new era of video cards are up and running now with a ship date of 2/8/2011??

 

All your questions are answered in this thread if you took the time to look around.

- The 6870M is not compatible with the 3D screen.
- The rumored 485M is what it is "A rumor". Pure speculation...
- The 6970M which has been announced and appears in the manual is coming but no one knows when. Most likely in between the end of February to beginning of March. Again pure speculation on the time frame.

 

The 6870 is slightly underclocked in comparison to the 5870 and has some updated DX11 support (supposedly). It compares quite well to the GTX 460 just as the 5870 does. . It however is not the top of the line 6970 which is what you may be thinking of which is the closest comparable to the GTX 485

I don't know what to do with the rest of your post.

 

you guys know what, it's so frustrating with all this time speculation, if it wasnt for being fat and 1-hour battery, i'd take sager (gtx 485m) with no thinking over it...and it would've cost the same as if i bought an alienware with a gtx460 n >ceteris paribus<
p.s. i was laughing for about an hour when they shown this vid. alienware reps filmed on CES'11 when launcheg black ops on r3 with low resolution ... "as you can see guys, the graphs are really nice, all playable" .... make a pure customer product out of pure hardcore gamer product... way to go Dell, way to go. actually, turn down Alienware production at all and get XPS17 that gtx460m!

 

When does NBR get their test unit?

 

Hello NBR!
First time poster here... I have been following the AW forums here for a few months now as I have been planning on purchasing an AW. As much as I would like the duel GPUs and the RGB LED I am caving in and getting the new R3. I took the advice in another thread and called to order and I thought I would share my experience with it. The following is the deal I got:

225-0536
1 Alienware M17x Soft-Touch, Stealth Black
317-6114
1 Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
317-6116
1 MOD,DIMM,4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
331-1347
1 Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
320-1932
1 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
320-1938
1 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
342-2218
1 320GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
313-8792
1 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
421-4655
1 Alienware Command Center Software, M17X
421-1400
1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
420-9691
1 DataSafe Local BackUp
420-9956
1 Vista PC Restore
421-0092
1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
410-1883
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
318-0395
1 Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
421-4541
1 Roxio Creator Starter,No Media
318-0424
1 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
430-4021
1 MOD,CRD,NTWK,6300,ANW
330-6348
1 Automatic Updates: On
410-9452
1 McAfee Platinum, 30 Day, MUI
939-0320
1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
939-0340
1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
950-3337
1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
421-1721
1 Soft Contracts Service Hardware Agreement for Alienware
994-3730
1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
330-0171
1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
331-1349 1 Standard Nameplate
464-7516 1 DHS $50 EPP DISCOUNT MATCH
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL

Subtotal: $1,869.00

A little side note to help people with a discount.. I Called EPP first and got a discounted price from them. Then I called an AW rep and asked a question about the computer I just got a quote on from the EPP rep. The AW rep I talked to wanted to steal the sale and offered me $50 more dollars off. On top of that I got the AW Orion Backpack, TactX Mouse, and TactX keyboard all for $75 dollars as well. What do you guys think? Good deal? Or should I cancel the order and try for better?

 

I would be very happy with that deal

 

Peeps, the format for posting your system:

CPU:
GPU:
RAM:
LCD:
OS:

 

Yeah, that makes it alot clearer. So you basically got the 3D model + upgraded 2720 processor + upgraded 6300 wifi? I can't tell what other upgrades you got

 

Wow! That's great deal man

 

He got the $1699 3D deal + the 2720 cpu, the cpu is the only difference there at all.

 

He also got the mouse keyboard and backpack at a heavy discount as well as some cash back.

 

Yeah didn't read the bottom portion just the specs that's an amazing deal you got there, the mouse keyboard and backpack are what like $300 normally?

 

I don't quite understand why people don't opt for the blueray but go for the 3D bundle. There aren't Many yet but wouldn't 3d blueray movies not work without it?

Great deal though I have te br playr, 2820 and SSD and mine was $3k . Canada prices blow lol

 

You can watch 3D content without having a Bluray disc. It can be purchased online and you can always buy an external Bluray player at another time if needed.

Also, I hate to be nit-picky, but there is no "e" in "Bluray". I see this everywhere. LOL! Its not a big deal, just pointing it out as I see it all the time on this forum.

 

Idk about everyone else, but I have a PS3. I'm sure many people already have 3D bluray players too. Also, lots of people (especially the ones on this forum) don't like 3D and think it's just a gimmick. I like 3D though XD! Idk how 3D would be when playing FPS games competitively, but I could definitely go for a 3D movie.

 

i am one of those people who are getting the 3d and no bluray. Many of us are getting the 3d bundle, not for the 3d aspect but for the 120Hz screen. and NOT getting the bluray simply because i dont watch movies much on my laptop. if i do watch them they have been ripped. if the movie is ripped into a file, you dont have to spin your disk player to watch it and you save a LOT of batt.

 

That and the 3d kit is basically free along with the 120hz screen if you're upgrading to the 1080p screen so it's kind of a no brainer on the 3d. As for the bluray it's something most people just don't care about enough to shell out $150 for, most people that want bluray already have it hooked up to a big tv at home

 

When I dove in to purchasing my R3 (at a fairly crazy discount - thanks for the call in tip) I was extremely happy. As it turns out, the rep set up my purchase using the installment plan instead of my DPA.

I got my agreement pdf in email and almost lost my mind; over $1000 (edit: $1500) in interest (which is why I would never opt to use an installment plan). I've tried calling in 9 times now, 2 of which were to DFS canada. No one seems to be able to help me get this purchase thrown onto my DPA...or even tell me if it's possible to transfer it after receiving the system. Most reps seem to think "Installment Plan" and "Dell Preferred Account" are the exact same thing.

I hate to say it, but I guess I'll just wait for my shipment then send it back within my 30 days (Canada seems to get 9 more days on the complete satisfaction policy). Or at least threaten to do so. Maybe that will get their attention.

 

I have been one saying that the 3D stuff is all gimmick, but I have a 3D capable TV coming next week so may dabble in it myself haha. It is 3D by coincidence, the draw for me was really a 60" 1080p TV for $700 brand new

For the curious, Dell can hook you up with a TV too!
MITSUBISHI ELECTRONICS Mitsubishi 60" 120Hz 1080p 3D Ready home Cinema DLP HDTV : HD TV, LCD, LED & Plasma TVs & Flat Screen Television Mounting | Dell

 

Wow! That sucks!

For big electronic purchases, it's better to just save up and then splurge, than deal with interest and pay in installments imo. The interest is a killer. I'd rather wait a few moths and then buy, compared to paying 1k+ in interest XD

 

I always use my DPA. When I'm sure that I am satisfied with the product, I pay off the balance in its entirety.
$0 interest.

Here's an excerpt from that .pdf "agreement" (That I never agreed to)

 

I actually received an even better quote than that. I got the 3D deal with the 2820 and the 6300 wifi for $1960.. But I heard that the 2820 is only a 3%ish upgrade over the 2720, which to me isn't worth $200 more dollars. So I am pretty sure I am going to go with the 2720 to save the $200... After I actually get the machine I am going to upgrade it some more with 8gb or RAM and an Intel 160GB SSD.

 

That's 2720 + 3d crap + 3 year next day warranty
with 13% tax
in canada (base system is 1600$)

The point isn't how good of a deal I got - that's a few pages back (over $500 saved) - it's that the savings are pretty much moot as I seem to be locked into a 4 year, ridiculously high interest installment plan when I specifically asked to use an alternate payment method.