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    Question about purchasing Alienware 17 on Amazon

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by luminaire1, Sep 3, 2014.

  1. luminaire1

    luminaire1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi, so basically, I need a laptop and I've pretty much decided on the alienware 17 (I think). Their estimated ship date currently is 9/17 which is too long for me, as I need one by the 10-12th. I found one on amazon :
    http://www.amazon.com/Alienware-ALW.../B00JXLGE6Q/ref=dp_ob_title_ce#productDetails

    My question is, does purchasing one on amazon ruin any of my warranty or anything negative like that?

    My one complaint about the amazon build is that it only has an 80GB msata SSD. Is it possible to remove the 80gb msata and replace it with something like a 500gb samsung evo or something similar?
    And then remove the traditional HDD and replace it with another SSD (not msata though)

    How would I go about re-installing windows onto that SSD afterwards (I dont believe the purchase on amazon would come with recovery media)
    Does all this modification void my warranty (if I even have one)

    Let me know your thoughts
     
    luminaire1, Sep 3, 2014
    #1
  2. Ethrem

    Ethrem Notebook Prophet

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    These are good questions because I've been considering an 18 on Amazon to swap my 9377 parts with. I'm curious about the same things.

    Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
     
    Ethrem, Sep 3, 2014
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  3. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    Hi, according to dell the warranty on machines already built and resold have exactly the same warranty coverage for a new user. I've not heard of any 'issues' with the exception of the machine being sold into a country where Dell do not sell a particular model.

    The 80gb msata is the perfect starting point for an SSD upgrade. The current SSD is being used as a cache drive and dramatically speeds up drive access. The OS will be on the HDD. In tests I saw only 3 seconds difference in boot time over a dedicated SSD.

    To avoid any issues with caching the upgrade is simple as well. DO NOT move drives around. Simply put your new SSD in the spare bay and change the boot order in the BIOS, followed by a fresh install (or AlienRespawn recovery). The existing HDD now becomes fast access data and if the install goes bad you simply revert the boot order to return to the original install.

    Once you are happy you simply format the 'old' drive.

    I have seen badly configured machines from Amazon where the caching was not setup correctly. If you see the 80gb drive in windows explorer then it needs some configuration work to fix. The drive should be invisible to windows explorer and only visible in Disk Management.

    Oh, and dell do not refuse service if you upgrade your machine but they can ask that original parts are returned - unless you get the upgrade from Dell.

    Good luck.

    Edit: Forgot to add do your research on the 880m - not a 'safe' buy, especially as the new GPU's are reported as imminent...

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...xperiencing-problems-880m-list-them-here.html
     
    MickyD1234, Sep 4, 2014
    #3