Replacement R3 for R2

I just got the order specification for my new replacemet M17x. It looks like it is going to be a R3 instead of my old R2.

Could someone please have a look at the specs to see that it looks to be in order.

I also wonder what screen this is? "Display : 17.3in WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD 230-11837" 3D capable or is that just with Nvidia?

Old system:

ALIENWARE M17X MLK : BASE SPACE BLACK
PROCESSOR : INTEL CORE I7 PROCESSOR 740Q
DISPLAY : 17IN WIDEUXGA 1920 X 1200 - BE
SHIP ACCESSORY : SWEDISH DOCS
RESOURCE DVD : ALIENWARE M17X MLK
MEMORY : 8192MB (2X4096) 1333MHZ DDR3 DU
HARD DRIVE : 1.2TB (2X640GB) FREE FALL S
OPTICAL DRIVE : 8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE
POWER CORD : EURO 250V
POWER SUPPLY : ALIENWARE 240W AC ADAPTER
BATTERY : PRIMARY 9-CELL 85W/HR LI-ION
GRAPHICS : DUAL CROSSFIRE 1GB ATI GDDR5
WIRELESS : INTEL WIRELESS 6300 (802.11A/
WIRELESS : EUROPE DELL BLUETOOTH 370 CAR
KEYBOARD : INTERNAL SWEDISH/FINNISH QWER
OPERATING SYSTEM : SWEDISH GENUINE WINDO
SOFTWARE : DATASAFE LOCAL 2.0 BASIC
AVATAR : ALIENHEAD 3D
NO SOFTWARE ANTI-VIRUS
TIMEZONE : (GMT + 00.00) DUBLIN, EDINBUR
NAME PLATE ENGRAVING - GENERIC
STANDARD SERVICE - 1 YEAR OF NEXT BUSINE
3 YEAR HARDWARE SUPPORT - NEXT BUSINESS
3 YEARS ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT
ALIENWARE M17X MLK ORDER - SWEDEN
FREE FREIGHT

New system:

Alienware M17xR3 : Base Stealth Black 210-34923
Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 2630QM (2.00Ghz, 6MB, 4C) 213-13053
Display : 17.3in WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD 230-11837
Camera : Integrated 3.0 Mega Pixel HD Camera 319-10631
Ship Accessory : Nordics Docs 340-24207
Resource DVD : Alienware M17xR3 340-24210
Memory : 8192MB (2x4096) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel 370-15261
Hard Drive : 1.5TB (2x750GB) SATA Raid 0 "Stripe" (7,200rpm) Dual HDD 400-22276
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software 429-15640
Power Cord : Euro 250V 450-13573
Power Supply : Alienware 240W AC Adapter 450-16348
Battery : Primary 9-cell 93W/HR LI-ION 451-11606
Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M w/ PowerXpress 490-12594
Wireless : European Intel Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 (802.11a/b/g/n) Card 555-13548
Bluetooth : European Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Card 555-13552
Keyboard : Internal Nordic Multi-Language Keyboard 583-14362
Operating System : Swedish Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) 619-23038
Software : Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic 640-12302
Avatar : Alienhead 3D 644-10025
No Software Anti-Virus 650-12454
TimeZone : (GMT + 00.00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London 654-10009
Name Plate Engraving : Generic 657-10008
Standard Service - 1 year of Next Business Day coverage included with your PC 754-56825
2 Year Hardware Support - Next Business Day 754-61389
2 years Accidental Damage Support 755-10555
Alienware M17x R3 Order - Sweden 799-16969
Notebook - Freight 1 Unit 990-14788

 

It looks like you have the 60hz screen that is offered with all AMD 6970 R3's, it won't be 3d capable, that's a Nvidia thing as you suspected. As far as the rest of your specs, it seems fine to me.

 

No, you won't get 3D with your AMD card. Did they try an offer a replacement R2? or was the R3 the first thing they offered?

 

No they did not offer me the R3. I just figured it out when I got the order by mail. Unfortunately I am missing a year warranty from my first order. I har problems with the R2 from the beginning.

 

I had the same spec r2 as you, I had tons of problems with it and now they are exchanging my r2 with a r3 with the same specs...Just waiting for it to get out of the build stage and sent to me...

 

What happened with your warranty? Did you get the same as you had with the R2 or did they give you one years less on the R3?

 

Your extra warranty will be applied to your new system after it is build they need the tag number. Give them a week or two after you receive it to be done if it is not call them. you have not lost your extra warranty all is fine.

 

Any comments on the new gpu setup? I now have the 5870 crossfire and i am getting a single card. better or worse?

 

In theory the 5870 crossfire should be better but it all comes down to drivers. The single 6970M will be great. On some games it may even be an advantage to just have a single card.

 

Is it possible to have dual xfire 6970´s?

 

Not in a r3.

 

If you want dual 6970s, ask them if there is an option to get the M18X as a replacement. It will have dual 6970s as an option. Since you had a Crossfire configured system before, you should get a Crossfire replacement. The M18X was rumored to be available today, though it is not yet configurable on the website. Still, you could ask them and see what they say. It would be of much interest to many other R2 owners who may have similar problems and need a replacement system.

 

x2

IMO a single GPU R3 IS NOT a replacement for a R2.

Ask for a M18, or demand a refund and buy one later

 

Agree with the advice to call Alienware and press for an M18x. The R3 also does not measure up to the R2 in build quality. Its chassis is grossly inferior and getting an R3 as an R2 replacement is a downgrade in more than one way. The R3 has awesome potential, but they cut way too many corners on the build.

 

Although I am very happy with my r3, I have to agree (on every point). I would return the r3 for an m18x without question.

 

The R3 is a great gaming machine and the single 6970 does compare well to the Crossfire 5870s, but that's not the issue I would be selling Dell on. You paid for 2 GPUs, you should get 2 GPUs.

Agree also on the chassis point. I would much rather have the aluminum casing than the plastic. I think you could get AW to concede a moderately spec'd M18X with CF 6970s for your trouble. If it's not available at this time, tell them you'll wait. Don't let them give you something that you aren't 100% satisfied with. I think it will be easier to get a M18X than a refund. Pretty difficult to get your money back.

 

Ok. I will call them tomorrow and see what they say. I is kind of strange, they never told me what a replacement i would get before i red the order confirmation. I had a m1730 at first that got exchanged for the R2 and in that process i got to have my say about the hardware. This time it were a surprise.

 

Wow, so you got upgraded from a M1730 to a M17X R2? I'm not sure if they will oblige you this time around, but it is definitely worth a shot. Let us know.

 

So the chassi is made out of plastic on the R3? How do you mean that the design is not as good as on the R2?

When I got the replacement R2 for the M1730 i were forced to purchase an upgrade xfire 5870 although i had dual nvidia 8800mGT. They refused me an free dual 5870 in the R2. This time they have not choice but to give me a single card as long as the offer the R3. This means that i have paid extra for xfire and never got the chance to use it. I recieved the R2 in November and had severe problems from the start.

 

plastic with rubberized "soft touch" finish which can rub off / peel quite quickly (did for me in 2 months of careful use - but I am sure that is a rare case; only 2 nbr forum users have had this issue). Lid is quite flexible, media bar (hardware buttons) is popping up at the top right corner for just about everyone.

 

This answers my question of upgrading my R2 to an R3. Thought about selling the R2 but it sounds like the R2 is a better build and close to performance with the dual 5870's. The one major reason to go with the R# would be the 3D. Looks like I will hold out for the M18.

 

I had an M1730 and got my M17x R2 as a warranty replacement for the M1730 as well. I did not have to pay for anything. My M1730 had the 4-year Dell Complete Care Next-Day On-Site warranty with accidental damage coverage, and that transferred to my R2. The exchange came after a total of 12 on-site dispatches for defective part replacements in less than 2 years, and a replacement system during the first year. The M1730 was a real lemon. I could not be happier with my R2.

The plastic chassis and "soft touch" finish on the R3 is extremely disappointing. To me, that would be a much greater concern than getting a single 6970 GPU. The single 6970 does hold its own in benchmarks comparable to the dual 5870 in CrossFireX mode.

 

The outer shell or frame of the R2 is aluminum. The area around the keyboard including the palm rest and front grill is plastic. This provides for a more sturdy feel, although it does also give you plenty of static electricity shocks during the winter months. But it is totally worth it in both look and feel. It also adds quite a bit of weight over the R3 which is all plastic. The soft touch coating over the plastic has been known to peel and could look pretty bad depending on the degree of peeling. Others have referenced this already.

If they forced you to pay for the upgrade to the CF 5870s then you should definitely have enough bargaining power to get an M18X with CF 6970s. If you would like to take a look at a lot of speculation about the M18X with some really good links and information take a look at this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/562455-alienware-new-model-speculation-thread.html
Search the last 20 pages or so of that thread for usefull links to the M18X if you are interested.

 

The 3D would be nice if they offered the 485M. Movies will still be nice to watch, games however, not quite.

 

What are you guys getting replacements for? I just got off the phone with arguing with these basstardss about crossfire issues and they won't give me an replacement or send me a box. After argueing after an hour on the phone they won't do anything for me. Yesterday the tech made me wipe out my machine and start new and I have the exact same problem still. I told them they replaced my cards 3 times and have the 2 year accidental plans and asked for the supervisor and they gave me nothing.

It makes no since why I should get 30fps in all games and benchmarks with crossfire on and off..

 

Regarding the replacement procedure there are no straight answers. On my M1730 i had a technician come to my house about 10 times before i got the computer replaced. On my R2 i have had a technician at my home for close to 10 times before they finally agreed on replacing it. My problem/luck is that i bought my M1730 from another person, thus i am not the original owner. This means that DELL can not give me a refund on any of my laptops, Swedish law prevents it and Dell are forced to replace it.

 

Oh and another thing. I just noticed that my R3 is out for delivery. Should I sign for it or just let them take it back straight away? If i sign for it then I will not open the box until I have had an answer from DELL.

 

If you've paid Dell for the upgrade to XFire 5870, then you should definitely get a dual GPU system. You just need to be persistent and patient.

 

I spoke to the DELL representative on the phone before the R3 arrived. He told me that DELL would refund me the money that i spent on the "upgrade" GPU for the R2. I believe that when the money is in the bank. So the R3 just arrived and I have to say that is a VERY big difference in quality and feel between the R2 and R3. The R3 is just a lot of plastic! I havent had time to start it yet but i will do that tomorrow and see the difference between them. Next week I will call for Dell to come and pick up the R2.

Oh and i spoke to the representative about the missing warranty. He told me that he would look into it and get back to me, I will not send them the R2 until the warranty problem is settled! I do not think it is acceptable to loos approx 7 months worth of full warranty and accidental to get a plastic replacement! Do you!?

 

Will they let you send it back and wait for an M18x? The R3 chassis is a quality downgrade. So is the 1080p from 1200p display. Dell policy has always been equal or better.

It may take a week or two for the warranty to transfer over, but that should not be a problem.

 

It depends on how much you are willing to fight with them to get the system you want. Another option would be to get your CF upgrade money back and try to sell the R3. If it has decent specs, you can probably get good value for it. There is still a good market for single GPU systems and the M17X R3 does measure up well in that category. Then you could purchase an M18X on your own.

I think if you continue to fight with them and refuse the R3 as a replacement, you will eventually get what you want. But it will be a lot of work and arguing to get it.

 

I have both the r2 & r3 and the r3 is not in the same class, as the r2, the M18x would be very close.

The r3 is great, no fan noise, fast ,light weight, cool, never gets hot. I really like it better than the r2 for my use.

 

I would have been pissed in your situation if Dell tried to downgrade me to 1 GPU from 2 GPU and put me on an R3 from an R2. I love the fact that the R2 has actual metal, the idea that the R3 is plastic makes me nervous about ever possibly having one. And from Dual 5870s to 1 6970 is insane, especially since you had to pay to upgrade to the 5870s in the fist place. I would get on the phone constantly and fight with dell for a computer matching or better than the specs of the one that went belly up. Especially with the M18x coming out, it makes it feel as if they're trying to push an inferior model on you quickly so that they wont have to upgrade you to a M18x.

 

I agree, fight for better upgrades on the r3.
Tell Dell you want the value of your r2 transferred to the r3, whatever you paid for the r2 should be applied to your NEW r3.

Since the M18x is not available for sale at the moment, Dell will not exchange it for that, Only the M17r3, unless you want a refurbish r2 . IMHO

 

Refurb R2 > New R3 (IMHO)

 

Still waiting for the salesdapartment to contact me regarding the cash payback as with warranty problem. Why do they not replace R2 with R2? The R2 is still available on the swedish site.

 

For those that agree the only legitimate replacement for the M17x R2 is the M18x, the latest word is that it will be released next week. Don't accept the inferior plastic-chassis'd R3 as a replacement for your R2. Check out this thread: LINK.

 

I agree, but I would think Dell's management will not allow any exchanges from a m17r2 to a m18x for a while, they want to sell the new m18 not exchange it away, well, at least for a little while. IMHO. "Hey I could be wrong". you did notice a time span the M17 r2 stop selling and the availability of the m18x.
They want to force the r3 on the r2 replacements for a while, Dell will save tons of money with that program. Poor consumer gets it stuck in the b-- again. Oh well that's business as usual.

It's like my business, timing is everything.

 

Ok, lets say that i accept an R3 replacement for my R2 and then, with my apparent luck with DELL computers, it dies. If there is no R3 still selling, what would be your qualified quess for a replacement??
Will they consider that i at first had dual gpu‘s or will they just look at the most recent configuration??

 

If the R3 is retired, the only equal or better replacement would be the M18x (assuming it is still in production when that happens).

If you accept an R3, I think your argument for a dual GPU M18x will be a far tougher battle because you accepted the single GPU R3 with a plastic chassis and lower quality display. Almost anything Dell would offer you in an M18x configuration would be an upgrade to the R3. That's one reason why, IMHO, it would be a huge mistake to accept an R3 as a replacement for the R2. You cannot unscramble an egg.

Another reason is the value of an R3 is generally less than an R2 (depending on configuration, of course). It's hard to make a good argument that a $1800 system is a good replacement for a $3600 system. If you take the R3 in trade, Dell would be replacing a $1800 machine, not a $3600 machine.

 

Hold off until M18x hits the dell website for sale. I would never accept an R3 as an exchange for R2 knowing M18x is around.

 

The problem is that i have already had an R3 delivered to my home. DELL had send me an R3 before i had my say about the replacement. The day before i got the R3 delivered i got the order copy by mail and then foud out what the had shipped! Now i hace both the old R2 and the new R3. I have only opened the first package to see that it was not broken, i have not started the R3 yet. I am getting very frustrated and i will send DELL an email and say that i do not accept this R3 as a replacement for my R2 and that i want the samt laptop as a replacenent as i had before (R2).

 

My fear is this is why they moved the flagship alienware into 18, so when people returned or exchanged the m17x r2 under warranty or death of the machine, Dell would say, here is the next gen M17 as a replacement. When you say but my machine had ano alum body, dual gpu, extreme processor, rbgled screen. They can say our upgraded 17 is the R3, not the 18, its a different line, sorry, please accept this single gpu, rubber coated, wled machine for your r2.

I am hoping that Dell isnt trying to do that, and people with r2 warranty replacements are now given a M18x because that is more equal then the r3 imo.

 

Comrade Ynot - hopefully your concerns are unfounded. Dell's replacement policy is the best out there. It has always been equal or better hardware. There are hundreds of us that received an R2 as a replacement for a defective XPS M1730 and the difference between those two machines is significant. The R2 was treated as the successor to the M1730. The R3 is only similar to the R2 cosmetically, but not in build. The M18x is the only machine currently offered by Alienware that is comparable to the M17x R2.

I am also aware of a couple of folks (on NBR forum) that started out with a Dell machine built prior to the M1730 that now have an R2 as a warranty replacement.

I think it has more to do with who you end up speaking with at Dell/Alienware Support, whether your case is properly escalated, how you behave when speaking with them, what you are willing to accept from a Rep that is not offering a fair trade up front, and what sort of history you have with a particular machine.

Happy Easter!

 

UPDATE:
Got a call from Dell. They told me that I had two choises.
1‘I keep the R3 that they have shipped with a cash refund for the x-fire 5870 that they made me buy.(even though l had SLI before)
2 I return the R3 and then send them the R2 for repair. This would mean being out of a computer for 2-3 weeks.

Comments/advice on what to do. I am supposed to let them know by mail in a few hours.

 

tell them this is not acceptable that you have next business day warranty and that they by their own warranty have to prove the same or better specs for replacement . Tell then that if they dont make things right then you will contact the bbb and file a complaint. Do not send either computer back until you are happy.

 

What is bbb?

 

Better Business Bureau

 

How much is the cash refund ?

 

Kunekaden told me the same thing. I'm calling tomorrow to tell them about my uneasiness and unhappiness.