Was their any point in releasing the M17X R3 ?

I'm not sure about anyone else but i didn't see much point in bringing out the M17X R3 when the M18X was released soon after, personally i don't buy a laptop for gaming but i guess that most Alienware owners do buy theirs for gaming.

The M17X R3 is a single card system with a non RGB LED screen so apart from sandybridge which doesn't look that much of an improvement i don't see much point in the R3, the build quality doesn't look as good as the R2 and some people have been reporting that the finish has started to come off theirs already.

I'm struggling to see what the point of the R3 is as its not an upgrade from an R2 as thats a dual graphics card system, i don't want to go into the power differences between Xfire 5870's and the 6970M as thats another debate.

It just seems odd to release the M17X R3 when Dell knew that the M18X was coming out not long after, lets say i'd be gutted if i'd bought an R3 then the M18X was announced that it was being released soon after.

No doubt the R3 owners will defend their laptops to the hilt but personally i don't see the point of it as its not a huge step up from a well specced R2.

 

M18x doesn't have RGB LED screen either but contrast isn't good as M17x R3.

 

I know it doesn't, i'd expect a quality screen to come on the R2 version. Its more i don't see any point with an R3 as its not a massive step up from an R2 and its inferior to an M18X.

I'd expect the 2nd hand prices of the R3 to be pretty poor, they certainly won't be as strong as the R2 second hand prices over a similar period as the R2 still fetches very good money.

 

While I can understand your point there is a very good reason that the R3 was released. It was released to replace the M15x and give a powerful but not dual gpu option to other people that don't want to deal with a dual gpu config. There's a lot of people that like powerful single card laptops which is what the M15x was but this gives a slightly larger screen, more powerful gpu/cpu, dual hdd's, etc with a frame size that's about the same.

Edit: The one thing it seems you may have an issue with the R3 for is your expectation of it, it shouldn't be named the R3 as it's not a succesor to the R2, it's a completely different target market. M17xR2=M18x M15x=M17xR3.

 

The m17x also has a much lower price point than the m18x. It is less powerful, but for my casual gaming use it is more attractive economically.

 

DaneGRClose is right, this system was designed to replace the high end m15x users. You rat on the screen, but the m18x has an even worse screen. Maybe the m18x will get RGB on r2, but maybe the m17x r4 will go back to aluminum and dual gpus and RGB. No one knows for sure, so speculation is pointless. The r3 is designed to compete against clevo more directly, with their 17in packing the same(ish) configuration. This system is also much cheaper (1499 base compared to 1699 I believe), and more portable (~2lbs, not that big a deal), and far better battery life (double r2).

If you hate the m17x r3 so much, please feel free to go m18x or clevo x7200. It is not a "true successor" to the m17x series, more of a deviation to cover the m15x EOL.

 

I guess you just don't need to buy the R3 then, huh?

I love my R3. Really didn't want a 12 lb laptop that's too big to put in my backpack which I love. Also, the only other option for a single 6970m out there is a Sager/Clevo, and those are the only 2 highest-tier machines likely to be out for this tech cycle. So, I'd say it was a smart choice to release a great single GPU solution to the market.

And really I'm not sure why I've even left a detailed response, as I feel like ultimately I'm just feeding the troll.

 

Yeah I own an R3 and I use it primarily for college/work.

The ability to switch from dGPU to iGPU for a 5 hour battery vs a 1 hour battery in itself is a reason to buy this laptop, not to mention I have a desktop at home already thats faster than any laptop you can possibly build.

Its just designed for people who want a gaming LAPTOP, instead of a desktop replacement.

 

I don't hate it, i have no reason to hate it.

When Dell/Alienware bring out a new model like the M17X R1, R2 and now the R3 the latest revision is supposed to be a significant improvement over the previous models.

The R2 is a significant improvement over the R1, i just don't see the R3 as a significant improvement over the R2.

Where Dell went wrong is i thing they should have called the R3 something else as its obviously aimed at a different group of people, maybe something like the M17S which stands for a single card system which would seperate it from the M17X.

By calling it an M17X R3 a lot of people who are not computer savvy will have thought that its the all new singing and dancing improvement over the R2, its not as its aimed at a different market and like people have pointed out it replaced the M15X but with a bigger screen.

 

Agreed, the name should be different. This has been discussed probably 100x already, the name should have been changed but it wasn't. We know what the R3 is and what it isn't, no need to bash it as it has it's place.

 

It is what it is and this has been beaten to death... the 17xR3 is a fine system.

Done.