Alienware 18 screen observations

Good luck, brother.

 

I just got off the phone with Alienware Tech support and they told me this is normal behavior for this screen technology and they are refusing to replace the screen saying it will not fix anything. I spoke to a supervisor and they told me the same thingthat this is normal and that you shouldn't leave your screen on for more than 20min on a static desktop background. I was told the Alienware Engineers are aware of this but who knows if this is true or not. Oh well..

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Yeah, sure. Emm... Call again until you find someone you can reason to.

 

I honestly think these screens are not going to be replaced. I can understand people's frustrations though. I think AW should offer some statement of something official as I have the same issues but I don't perceive this to be a problem as it never stays or interferes with game playing. However for editors or people who do different tasks may be severely affected by this. I'm not sure how common this is with other manufacturers PLS screens.

 

My notable instance happened while I was playing Crysis. I paused the game on a guy's face to go let my dog's out and came back after about 5-10 minutes. The outline of the guy's face was still visible on the screen after I un-paused the game for a few minutes, then it went away. It is more of an annoyance than anything, but I am almost certain that this is an issue with everyone's screen, not just a few.

Also, does anyone else have backlight bleed behind the Alienware logo under the screen? Even when I turn Alienfx off for the logo, the backlight still lights up some of it.

 

5-10 minutes on the same frame shouldnt burn in parts of the frame. Thats way too low time.

Most Plasmas and high quality IPS displays have almost eliminated the problem and they have to show the same picture for a really long time before burn in takes place. I wonder if this PLS display may not be top notch quality or some quality control problems with the display type.

Good thing is that its only temporary and will return back to normal after a while. Bad news is that Dell can throw this in our face and tell us it is expected from an IPS display (like they told SH1).

Hmmmm

Edit: Some Dell guy say its not normal to have these lines, and screens will be replaced...
http://www.alienwarearena.com/forums/topic/52884/hardware/alienware-18-4700mq-765m-sli-display-issues/

 

I got mine replaced and it is still there. Dell support wants me to send it back to depot instead of sending screens to see which has no problems.

 

Oh Yea I'm definitely going to show them that post and find out what's going on.

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I think something is seriously wrong if they are telling people that leaving an image for 5-10minutes on a screen would lead to permanent burn-in or some other such thing (AND THIS IS NORMAL!)...From what I've read, the old image goes away after a bit and that's ok for me, but if it's permanent after a few minutes, then these things IMO aren't ready for prime time and they should just dump the IPS if it's that bad...It really shouldn't have this issue since during a normal workday, you probably have browers open with the same color, etc showing...Something is seriously wrong if it's that bad.

That said, so far, I don't notice any issues with my screen (yet), but something is wrong IMO if it's so pathetic. We have a plasma TV and a few minutes doesn't do anything to it...

 

Hey Guys (and Ladies ),

like many of you, I'm an other one who made this observations "burn-ins" or "shadows" in Alienware 18 Screens. Having read your many dealings with Dell Service, I was a little surprised about the lacking understanding of the technical support. With some small tests (there is really nothing specially to know about hardware or low-level software , just restart computer and panel and use display-"diagnostics" to screen for damaged (sub-)pixels) you can find out that there is actually no burn-in or any actual damage on the screens (at least yet). You can get rid of any of these shadows by simply displaying plain RGB planes (maximal brightness of each sub-pixel) over the whole screen. I'm not completely sure if it's on software or hardware side, but pixel with high contrast to neighbour-ones add the old information to the new one instead or overwriting (or don't completely reset and set to the new colour of the change value). Consequently, shadows happen. The "sudden" dissappearing is because sooner or later they will (even just for one image time) show max brightness in the different RGB channels ( => and automatically be resetted ).

=> So all of you, calm down! The only questions remaining :
- Can this bug persisting over longer time damage the panel? ( A priori I don't think so, but cannot say it for sure without long-term tests or exact cause. )
- Will Dell investigate a Firmware/Software update to get rid of that? ( We only can hope so, but I think I will give Dell Support a hint in that matter. )

Best regards
PhysicsNut

 

How does that go?......" if it ain't broke....you haven't fixed it enough"

 

Just an update: Received the replacement AW18 09/09/13....the lappy is on 8 to 16 hrs day......no issues with the screen so far (fingers crossed)......no complaints.

 

Yes, but 3 notebooks out 3 that I received showed lines and burns even during the diagnostic test as well--mostly visible with red, green, and greys. I would hardly call that a bug. I often see two lines in the upper and lower section of the LCD that cut across the screen left to right. Lately the upper one is visible while running Heaven 4. I guess I have to add blue to the list of colors.

 

I think most of you are experiencing image retention, not true burn in. Run a blank white sweeper like plasmas have for twenty minutes to see if that resets the pixel. It would also be a good idea to set your screensavers to turn on after a few minutes. I leave my desktop IPS on all day but the screensaver kicks in after a short idle period and so far there's been no image retention problems.

Sent from my GT-N7000

 

Yes I made mention of this earlier with a link that people can run. It's merely image retention for most. I happened to have a giant cluster of stuck pixels which necessitated a new computer. However most of the issues here are just "what we get" with a standard, par for the course PLS screen. The images won't burn permanently. We are way beyond that. However feel free to run the following for 10-20 minutes and see if this helps "burn in" issues.
Plasma screen wash - YouTube

The real things to look out for are dead/stuck pixels. I have seen another member mention in the exact same words "a pinhead size cluster of pixels" on his track pad. Mine was on my screen. When you get the computer, check for those things as these are not top tier screens and it's relatively a new line for AW and I am sure a new distributor is involved and there will be kinks that will have to be addressed in their quality department as they forge this new relationship I presume. I can see defective screens being an issue but not regular issues that tend to be common for this type of screen. Even quality phone screens have bleeding, uneven lighting. I have a ton of image retention from just my wallpaper as the outline will be displayed for a period of time after I switch screens. It WILL fade and will not be permanent. No fears. But use the youtube link as it's very commonly used on Plasmas but I believe they really were intended for Old School plasmas where burn-in was an actual issue.

 

Had my new Alienware 18 laptop for a month now and I am noticing some screen burn. It happens almost instantaneously. I was playing Bioshock:Infinite and left my laptop for 10 mins and when I came back the 'pause' screen was burned in. It will eventually dissipate but its still annoying, especially after paying 2300 for it. Will Dell replace the screen for free?

 

Does anyone have any experience with requesting a replacement part to be dispatched directly to your home? I am going to be requesting a replacement screen as the light bleeding is becoming a real annoyance. I would like to just have the screen sent directly to me rather than to a technician as I would much prefer to replace the screen myself.

Is there some way to convince them to let me do this? I tried once with someone and was told that it would be too risky for me to do the swap myself, after he consulted with his supervisor. Is there a number to call that would get me someone from Puerto Rico or the U.S. to talk with? The Indian call centers don't ever seem to produce the results I want. =/

 

I don't think all these problems are worth it vs the old screens.

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As a North American customer you should not be speaking to anyone from India. If you call 1-800-ALIENWARE you should get someone with a Hispanic or North American accent. You're not likely to get much cooperation with the Dell Support staff in India. Better to call back or ask for your call to be transferred to someone in Costa Rica.

 

I got a replacement Alienware M18 to solve the alleged screen problems I have. During first boot on a new system I had almost the same problem.

Called Dell and they say this is normal.
What does other users/owners here say? Is it normal with back light bleed trough?

This is a picture from first boot. The background should be 1color: black.

Left down corner is almost white. "normal" according to Dell support.

 

Hey.. it was the same with me when i got mine. Only situation where i noticed this is while booting though. On my old M18x R1 and R2 there was no such distortion.

If i have this kind of screen in windows while working i will definitely give them a call.

 

Sorry to say you might be facing a LONG road if you intend to have a perfect edge to edge screen with no backlight bleed. I am very disappointed in the screen they're using on these and in fact am on my 2nd one that's only marginally better, will be calling for a 3rd before my warranty is up but after that I've come to the realization that I'll have to accept it since there really isn't much I can do. Best advice really is just use a nice external display (when possible) and relegate the internal one to extended desktop duties.

 

I merged your thread with one we already had. Read through this thread starting from the opening post. You can minimize this problem by loosening some screws to relieve stress/distortion of the panel. I know that several people have had good results with this. Replacing the display won't do any good because the new panel will be in a bind the same as the one it replaces.

 

Brother shompa, were you able to improve this situation by loosening up some of the screws?

 

I have used LCDs since 1999 (22inch ACD) and never seen anything like this. Thousand of panels.
Look at this game. The middle part of the screen is notably more withe.
The sad thing (and the problem) is that most PC users don's see this/or dont see it as a problem. I do, since I am used to quality and demand perfection from Alinware when I fork out 4K to them. I mean: this is not even a high end screen. Any high end tablet have a better screen today for 1/10 of AW price.


View attachment 107624

 

I have been "battling" AW/Dell support for month.
"The screen works as intended"

That is the problem. That attitude.
Someone at Dell needs to be a "hero". Talk to their manager. Escalate this. Every single screen have this problem even if most don't "see it".

And its easy to fix: QA needs to step up in FoxConn/Quanta/HonHai where Dell manufacture their stuff. If you tell them to stop destroy the screens with tightening the screws to much, they will.

 

Pretending everything is OK won't make it so.

 

I think one of the problems with Dell is the typical "grown too big problem"
Too many products, too many people involved across many departments, too much standard protocols which gets in the way etc etc.
This result in a more passive organization that rarely snaps up the problems thats being voiced out by customers. If they ever get to know about it, the problem have to go through a big route of departments and people, before a decision that elevates the problem is being made.

 

Actually, I was wondering if this has more to do with them being private now and people are simply more concerned with keeping their jobs and anyone who can fix/work on this has already left the company. Typically, these companies go private, restructure and fire a ton of people (not in the public wallstreet eyes to face negative criticism) and go public again after all the "cost" is out of the company showing how profitable they are...

You would think the product lead or managers of the new line of laptops would have some pride in their engineering work to address this since it's not a bad thing to at least acknowledge the issue or state whether they are working on it or state there are some complications with MSFT if we fixed it (the adult way of running a business), but it is sad all the old Dell posters seem to have gone.

I understand job loss, but it's 9 months now and not a peep about a fix/attempts at a fix?

I don't know why they would hold the release of a fix prior to a new refresh though.

 

This certainly could be part of it. After all, most people work to support themselves and their families rather than sport or a way to consume their free time.

Yes, you would think so. I would expect nothing less under normal conditions. But, I can see where it would be difficult to focus on business priorities if you're waiting to find out how you fared in the "pink slip lottery" and we can appreciate that at a human level. It would be unreasonable to expect a workforce concerned about their future to be productive and maintain a customer-centric perspective. Once this situation is behind us, we may see them become responsive and take swift action on issues like we are accustomed to seeing.

 

I believe my suspicions are correct...Look at these layoff articles that are as recent as of today and within the past week..Most (all?) point to the same article I believe, but layoffs happen pretty much all the time during these private equity deals to cut cost and I think a lot of people are going to get canned...Simply too worried/stressed to really do any work.

17000? You can bet there are plenty of AW people getting the axe...also mention of 20% across the board:
ABJ editor: 17,000 Dell layoffs? Please, let the cool heads prevail for now - Austin Business Journal

1/3 gone?
Dell staffers react to news of 1-in-3 axe dangling overhead

Report Of Layoffs At Dell - Business Insider

Dell looks to be heading toward staff layoffs of 20 to 30 percent | Business Tech - CNET News

 

It seems as though the popular concepts of "doing more with less" and "efficiency" have become severely overused clichés in corporate world. In some cases companies become so bloated with employees that are siloed into an excessive number of "specialist" roles that they become ineffective. A small percentage of staff actually takes ownership and responsibility for achieving business objectives and maintaining service/product excellence, and profits go down the toilet because they have more staff than what they actually needed to be effective. You end up with an abundance of superfluous workers that have no power to make decisions, no drive to achieve excellence at anything, and wind up being top heavy in "leadership" positions that are glorified babysitters and decision-makers for a massive army of grunts.

In a pay for performance environment the most conscientious, dedicated, productive, intelligent and talented employees are often those which get cut from the payroll first because the bean-counters are looking too hard at how to cut costs quickly and deeply. They step over dollars to pick up pennies. Even though these top performers have earned and deserve much higher wages than their peers for being an "exceeds" employee year-over-year, they are often targeted as a liability rather than an asset. Oftentimes what is left is a slightly smaller staffing pool composed of their most incompetent losers. These are the affordable and disposable "churn and burn" laborers. In the end everyone loses from this approach... the company and its customers.

It seems a socialist view that untalented labor deserves to be paid the same and receive the same benefits as a highly skilled and elite workforce is growing in popularity, so lowering standards is another way to control expenses. I hope that Dell manages to avoid that demented view and handles their reduction in workforce with an eye on retaining their world class talent. They need to retain staff with a passion for their brand, demonstrated commitment to excellence and a strong focus on customers even though doing so will be more expensive. If Dell does it the right way, the 20-30% that are let go will be primarily the dead wood that perhaps did not deserve their jobs to begin with. Through proper diligence they can purge their losers by using objective measurements... for example, the last 5 years of annual performance reviews. They can identify their top talent and sequester that group for exemption from termination. They can re-purpose that remnant of top talent into new roles in whatever manner business needs dictate with a greater degree of confidence for a successful future. If they use the more common "peanut butter spread" and cut from each department arbitrarily "to be fair" it will end up being the same kind of mess we have seen with other large corporations, many of which go through multiple "reorganizations" before they finally go belly up with a 100% reduction in workforce.

 

Can anyone here honestly say Dell has created anything that is new and exciting over the last few years? I certainly can't and as a result I haven't purchased a single new product from them in a long time and I don't plan to either. If I was going to purchase a $2k laptop I'd look at razer and apple first and then Sony or Samsung.



For a tablet, Microsoft would be my first pick, not Dell. Smartphone is Nokia obviously. Gaming system? Well for me personally, I am tired of thick and heavy boxes. Give me a thin 17" that uses a plug in slice that has self contained gpu modules and I'd be all over it. Those like Mr Fox that want thick systems with uncompromised performance aren't getting that either and Dell refuses to address fundamental flaws in their design decisions, it is par for the course for them.



I honestly feel Dell will spin off its consumer divisions like AW and focus more on enterprise. That is why they went private.


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That's fine and dandy if you're satisfied to live with the likes of what Razer, Apple, Sony or Samsung have to offer. If you can actually be happy with that, it's all good. I am simply not content to accept that sort of compromise, so that definitely won't work for me or other people with the same personal preferences... Not now, not tomorrow, and probably not ever.

It's unfortunate to see someone that was once an enthusiast to become satisfied with status quo, and embrace it. The fact of the matter is, Dell is not alone in this. Nothing truly new and exciting is available from those other brands either, so there is no reason to call out Dell for the same behavior. The other options mentioned are simply overpriced mediocre hardware bundled with a variety of proprietary gadgets and wrapped in varying levels of bling.

At the point when mediocre mobile products are all that is left to choose from, I will more than likely eliminate enthusiast mobile benching and overclocking from my list of interests and spend gobs of money building something that is anchored to a desk. It will get used only when I feel like parking my butt in one spot long enough to enjoy it. The rest of the time I will use a $299 pile of trash for web browsing and email rather than spend $2,000 on half-hearted "gaming laptop" that cannot handle extreme performance tweaks. That's just too much money for something that delivers too little value in return. It won't be the end of the world, but it will be extremely disappointing to see nothing left available for purchase anywhere that resembles a truly high performance mobile beast.

 

I haven't given up on enthusiast performance rather I made the transition back to desktop and built something that offers considerably more performance than any tweaked out notebook could hope to do. However, as far as bulky gaming notebooks are concerned, I guess you could say I had an epiphany one day when laying in bed with the M18x on my lap and thought to myself "damn this is uncomfortable, I wish it were much lighter" and realized the M18x class notebook just was too much. I couldn't even step down to the M14x because it also is bulky like a tank despite its underwhelming components (display, GPU). So that left me with an alternate solution that I could live with: Build a desktop with the best GPU money could afford (at the time) and then use a very light weight notebook when I'm resting in bed or if I need to travel. Now after owning a phablet, I find myself using the desktop and laptop even far less unless I need to do serious work. But for everyday media consumption, this 6" phone pretty much does most of what I need.

Plus Dell's lack of QA and creativity, cost cutting and bad design decisions just left me jaded. While Apple may not be cutting edge, it has much better QA than Dell could ever dream of having and their customer service is just as good if not better since you can run down to the local mall and hand over the laptop for repair. Razer while being a much smaller company is taking the initiative with new ideas, their project Christine, their handheld gaming tablet, even their notebooks w/the switchpad (even if we find it useless). It shows that they are willing to try new things to bring some excitement to the segment, not just carry on with rehashing the same old same old.

I brought up the external GPU idea because it would potentially satisfy the majority of notebook gaming enthusiast save for a few such as yourself. You could have a 1-1.2" thin notebook made of metal with a high quality display similar to a Razer notebook which docks to modular GPUs that have their own power supply. This way you could play high end games when you want on say a pair of 780M or use the internal Intel iGPU when on the go with a thin and light notebook. If something that innovative was made (and I bet Razer will probably eventually do something like this), I'd have purchased it right away. I refuse to buy a 14-15lb notebook that comes with a 3-4 lb power supply that is 2-3" thick, times have changed and I guess I changed with them. I still think there is a market for both but Dell currently isn't doing a good job satisfying the extreme enthusiast market that wants uncompromising performance at a $5,000 price tag. But to be fair as you said, Dell isn't the only guilty party, Asus, MSI and Clevo are also going down similar (if not worse) paths.

P.S. I still think Dell will get rid of Alienware and most of its consumer notebook line. They haven't been shy about announcing their transition to being an enterprise company.


Edit: Price tag aside, how many here would pick M14x over this? Imagine if Dell had made the M14x/M15x this thin with a similar GPU and kept M18x for ultra performance with everything unlocked.

 

I am in agreement that I think Dell will also spin out the consumer division and try to be like IBM and focus on the enterprise market. Whether they achieve this will be tough considering HP has been wanting to do the same thing and IBM isn't even doing that well (stock wise last year, worst performer of the Dow I think). The enterprise is changing with things like Amazon in the cloud and probably companies moving on to things like that vs. trying to figure it out themselves (AMZN has that new CIA contract too I think).

Anyhow, I think everyone looks at this situation as too black and white. Maybe it's like politics...If people sit back, they'll realize a lot of the politicians are actually probably more alike than the media portrays them to be so so different. Maybe a few percentage of the population want extreme performance over everything else and some people just want extremely thin/light, but I think a lot of people are more likely in the middle. The majority of AW laptop buyers just want a machine that can game decently and is mobile for the many different reasons that offers (like not having to lug a keyboard around).

I think there's actually very little innovation in tech generally. As great as some of these things are like iPhone or twitter or facebook, a lot of these things have been done in some form or another before. It is done a bit better, but I suppose it's not the wow me factor people normally hope for. Google does seem to be coming out with stuff that seems a bit more out there, but $1500 for google glass? Really? Too much money in SV.

As for Dell, I don't think I was really expecting them to really do insane innovation with much of anything. At the end of the day, I think for me and a lot of folks, our old machines were getting old (5+ years) and we needed something new. In the rare moments we can play a game, we want that experience to be the best so we buy the 18. Yes, it'd be nice to get something totally out there like water cooling, ultra light, the whole kitchen sink, but unfortunately, Dell is still a business and they would like profits (which have been lack luster across the board for all PC players). They probably maybe also getting out of this market (too little money to make a difference for them) so it's the whole industry going down this way....

I agree the 14 is way too heavy/big.

 

This thread sure has come a long way from screen observation.

I would pick the Aorus X7 over the Razer 17 or Alienware 14 anyday. With 2 GTX 765M vs just 1 in the Razer, it could be 2x the FPS.

And I agree with Joker, Dell's QA is far behind Apple's. Every generation of Apple products bring something exciting and new. Dell didn't do it this time with their Alienwares.

As good as DTR are, for me personally nothing short of a GTX 780/ 780 Ti in SLI or 290/ 290X in CF on desktop, is what I'd define as enthusiast level.

My 18 will tide me over till Maxwell GPU comes out, then it's back to desktop.

 

I was just reading about the Aorus x7 too...Good thing is maybe the engineers there will eventually put out something with dual 780m/880m 's SLI and there will finally be more competition. With Dell/AW crippled right now, it's probably the right time to strike and fill a product need...

More competition helps all of us...Less so for Dell/AW though.

 

Man I have the same problem.. its only there when its black, could it be because of the keyboard / bezel lightning?

 

someone wants to be a hero, then convince dozens of people to go to corporate level of support and raised tickets through BBB instead. Demand the resolution be , not a replacement, but physical attention from those responsible, and make sure to keep the cases unresolved/disputed until Dell answers it.

 

I got my new Alienware 18 few days ago. Screen is so bright it hurts your eyes, took me a while to get use to it. It's really nice looking screen but is this normal ? :

 

Would you take some pic of your screen ( black only ) and post them ?? I like to compare it to my

 

It does seem that your screen suffers from noticeable back-light bleeding. Could you take more pictures with the lights off?

 

without light

 

The back-light bleeding is very noticeable as you show it in this picture , which does seem to be a bit overwhelming. However, does it hinder your daily use of the computer? For example, if you watch a movie, do you find the back-light bleeding all over the upper part of screen (black band) and the video? And what about when you game? In dark and gloomy scenes is the bleeding disrupting and annoying? If that's the case, you better ask for a screen replacement.

If the bleeding is noticeable in a blank screen but won't bother your daily use I'd say you could live with that. Keep in mind that aside from a few lucky cases, it's my understanding that several among us have to some extent screen that suffer from back-light bleeding. For instance, I have it, but I notice it only with a blank screen like in your picture.

 

The back-light is only noticeable in black pictures and dark scenes, but what i have done is I've loosen some screws by LCD panel and now it look better almost even. Now I cant really see back-light bleeding but this is not the case. I paid 2000 £ for this laptop and I got faulty screen. I wonder how that even passed the quality control. I am going to call Dell and complain about it, maybe they'll give me new screen.

 

Yes. Samsung LTM184HL01-C01

 

Yes, I can understand your frustration. Did you contact Dell?

 

My screen suffer the light bleed too from the first day of receiving it. It's been almost a month now and I don't noticed it as much or nearly as much before. Give it a month at least for the screen to break in.

 

I spoke with Dell few days ago and they will replace my screen. Dell is waiting for new LCD assembly revision which will arrive soon . Hopefully the back-light bleeding will be resolved and gone.