M18x Makes Landfall! Pictures, Videos, Unboxing Thoughts, etc. Share away!

I do photo editing for my website when needed but I do use photoshop more and more lately for other purposes. What attracts me to a high gamut screen is seeing more colors on screen vs a lower one that looks washed out. In some games, the difference pops out at you--e.g. frontlines fuel of war, the canyons on a 72% gamut look washed out vs rgb led. The MBP 17" has a 90% gamut screen I believe and it does look quite good.

 

The MBP has been sort of the standard for laptop screens for a while

People may complain about them for various reasons, but Apple always uses VERY nice screens in their systems and devices

 

ye,ye,ye. 5150joker hurry up man, can't wait je je je

 

Just a thought again about the screen.....anyone know what screen is in the R3 for 1080p?...only thinkin' that Dell got confused marketing-wise between what was in the R3 and whats in the M18x.....If its a Sammy screen, seems from Joker's link to Samsung - they only do one 18.4 full HD laptop screen anyways......

 

The M18x has just landed! It will be about an hour before I report back, going to record an unboxing vid real quick and then take some pics. Might take a bit of time to get it all uploaded, stay tuned.

 

Can't wait!!

 

Sweet!! I can wait to see what you upload Joker!!

I've been refreshing these boards all day waiting for you to say that! lol


Farson

 

oo man, looking forward to an extensive opinion (no offense to anyone else who already received). faster joker, faster.

 

Congrats on your new baby BK....looking forward to your insight into things, especially the screen!.

 

Congra Mann, can't wait

 

Congrats!! I also can't wait for the video's!!!
+1 rep in advance

 

It has LANDED. Let the unboxing and the review begin.

 

The Joker faceoff! Get it goin guys.

 

Even 5150joker got his. So now both the jokers have the m18x, eagerly waiting for more stuff

 

WOOOOOO Congrats to the Jokers! Ill be refreshing this every minute now for the next hour. lol

 

time for a bench-off

 

Unboxing Time!

Top of Box


Front


Side


Back


Top


Open Box


In Box


There She is!


Wrapped up like Christmas.


Completely Out!


Red looks really amazing

 

Just a quick reminder folks (yes, I know the excitement level is high ),

Please do not post huge images. Anything over 500x500 pixels should be thumbnailed or linked only. See our guide for where to host images here and how to resize images here.

Help out the unfortunate folks who are accessing the forum from their work desks/conference rooms/starbucks/etc. using a lower resolution display drooling over your new systems....

Thanks!

 

Top


Right Side


Rear


Left Side


XPS Studio 16 Comparisons

 

That looks beautiful. The decision between red and black will be much tougher now.

 

Ah sorry BatBoy I chose the 640x640 there wasn't a 500x500 image. I'll see if I can resize them to that. Looks like the uploader does 320x320 or thumbnails. I'll do thumbs from now on. I thought surely everyone at least has 640 resolution

 

MWAHHAHAHA...at one time you said it was a HOMO/FEG color and now...hmmmm.....

 

anyone getting the system in black in the next couple of hours?

 

First Impressions:
Ok after getting the initial photo's out of the way I wanted to dig into my initial impressions before I start benchmarks. This is the first Alienware I've ever owned so I'm coming from an XPS 16 so please keep that in mind. All of this review is of course subjective and it's just my opinion. I'm sure some will not agree or they may be use to the alienware brand but this is my initial impressions based on my expectations.

Build Quality:This thing is a TANK! It's big and when you lift it well you feel the weight for sure. I'm 6'2 and don't have any problem carrying it around but it is big and it is heavy. That being said the construction feels very rugged. It may look like a TANK but it feels like it too. Very solid, 0 keyboard flex, much much better than the Studio XPS 16. Hinges are very solid and I haven't ran any games yet but it's very quite. 0 shakes rattles or rolls it's just a very sound well built and good looking machine. I'd say initial build quality impress is definately a 10 / 10.

Keyboard:Coming from the XPS 16 this keyboard feels amazing. Lots of key travel on the keys and I don't feel any key flex. It's very solid and feels much like the logitech gaming keyboard I have. Again no gaming yet but the keys feel good. I'd say of course I've used better dedicated keyboards and I'm more of a natural keyboard user vs. straight keyboards but I'd say for me it's a 9 / 10.

Sound:
I'm not sure if something is wrong here or not but I have to say I really am not impressed. I guess seeing the Klipsch name and hearing about how all these improvements in audio quality have happened from the XPS line well I'm skeptical. It sounds ok for laptop sound but nothing out of the normal and definately not Hi-Fi sounding. There may be a problem of course or it may have issues with Dell's install but I plan to reinstall on my SSD and use Windows Ulitmate so I'll revisit this but for now I'm giving it a 5 / 10. Ok so perhaps I was a bit harsh on the sound but I'm still not impressed. It's better than normal laptop sound sure but not what I would have expected. I raised the score to 5.

Screen:
Ok on to some more news that really didn't impress me. The screen is bright enough and not overyly bright and has good unifority. No clouding and seems to have decent contrast. Those are the positives. However the screen is no match in color to my RGB LED XPS 16. I know that's not what people want to hear and I'm not going to return the laptop because of this but the saturation of color just really is no where close to the RGB LED. I'm definately going to miss this feature in my XPS. This is of course a side by side comparison so after time I'm sure I'll miss the RGB LED less as I've sold my XPS 16 it will be gone the first of June but man I'm I sad to see this go. I'd say the screen is a 7 / 10. Updated screen to 8 /10. I am very impressed how sharp the text looks even though it's a lower DPI screen. It's very clean and easy on the eyes. The screen seems more crisp than my RGB LED but the RGB LED definately takes the cake in color gamut and saturation. Colors look more washed on on the 18x vs the Studio's RGB LED. Again this is in side by side comparision. When I first booted the Alienware I thought the color was pretty decent until compairing side by side.

Webcam:
Ok. We've come to the worst of the review. I'm not sure of their 3mpix claim but it's lousy. It's a creative variety of a sensor but I have the cheap creative live HD cam and it's easily 3 to 4 times better than this built in one. In a normal lit room the webcam was jerky and might have been 10fps at 720 resolution. In my opinion this thing is really unusable. My lowest score 3 / 10.

Ok so now I'm off to start benchmarking the machine and seeing if I can fix the sound because that's really bothering me.

The machine is definately fast and you can tell the 7200rpm HD is holding it back as you wait on reads etc...while the processor is just begging for more information.

3dMark 11
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/1218991

More to come....

 

Thanks for the update OTJ. I'm particularly curious what your experience is with the laptop as your config. is virtually identical to what I'm considering.

 

That's a beautiful machine, I'm still eagerly awaiting some black M18x pictures since that's what I will be ordering in a few weeks....

Would be nice *cough*

 

Welcome aboard, Bro! Join the madness! Can't wait for my red mothership to land!

 

So pleased I ordered red... that looks stunning! Thanks for the pics.

I have to say tho I don't know what people expect from a laptop in terms of external audio quality. Speakers need air to move and a sub speaker would need to be the entire size of an M18X to start moving enough air to be considered a subwoofer anyway. Have to use headphones or external speakers for any sort of real quality. Frankly I'm surprised a recognised brand put their name to speakers inside a laptop. Just sayin'...

 

5150Joker:
My biggest questions:
1.) How do you compare the display of M18x to the M17X-R2 RGB-LED
2.) Noiselevel of M18X compared to M17X-R2 if in maximum mode (intensive gaming or benchmarking)

Many thanks and congrats to that powerfull machine.

 

well Im sure once the blacks come in.. they are stunning also. I cant wait to see one

 

I never expected some dazzling sound but I did expect an upgrade from the XPS but in reality they sound about the same to me.

 

@The1TruJok3r :

can you take a quality picture of the 330W PSU ?

 

Phew just finished the unboxing video and inspecting the system for flaws, so far I haven't found any *knock on wood*. After I edit the video I'll toss it up on youtube, not sure if I can post a link on NBR since it has mention of my personal site in it. I took some pics too but the other Joker posted some pretty good ones and both of ours are red so it may just be redundant.

Quick impressions: I've owned Alienware M15x, M17x-R2, M17x-R3 so I'm no stranger to Alienware systems.

Display 7.5/10

I know I've made a big fuss over the display but I will admit this is a decent display. For those expecting a 90% gamut panel, don't count on it. It looks very similar to the M17x-R3 72% gamut panel which isn't bad, just not the best. It is not as bright as the M17x-R2 panel nor does it come close with respect to color reproduction. The contrast ratio isn't the best to be honest, it could have been better. That said, it is a pretty good panel (better than most notebooks) and very few people will have complaints. Those of you that haven't experienced an RGB LED won't be missing anything.

Build 10/10

Alienware took the best of the Alienware M17x-R2 and improved upon it. It is anodized aluminum like it's predecessor but also boasts a superior palm rest (soft touch rubber which seems higher quality than the R3). I have no complaints at all, it is Alienware's best built system thus far.

Weight 9/10

M17x-R2 owners will feel comfortable with the M18x, the weight is very similar. Because the M18x is wider, the weight is more spread out so it actually feels lighter than the R2 when you hold it or put it on your lap. I do not feel that build quality should be sacrificed for weight therefore I feel compelled to give Alienware high marks for building such a high quality system while maintaining a reasonable weight.

Sound 7.5/10

The sound beats the M17x-R2 and M17x-R3. Once you adjust the wavemaxx settings in the IDT control panel, it is crisp and loud. The subwoofer produces decent bass although it could be a bit better. If the volume was a bit louder I'd have given it an 8/10.

Keyboard 9/10

Feels solid, not much if any flex and the keys are fairly responsive. The alienware fx lighting is uniform. My only complaint is a hollow sound when you type because of the ram slots underneath.

Media Panel 8/10

Very responsive, feels great and I don't miss the capactive buttons from R2 at all. I wish the they were a bit more understated so I'm docking 2 points for that.

Design 9/10

Alienware took the best elements of the M17x-R1/R2/R3 and built the M18x and it shows. If they had an IPS panel and slightly better sound, the system would probably be their best system ever made. But what's up with removing the color configuration from the alien head??


Edit:
Unboxing Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNTgjHKefjU&hd=1

 

Will definately be awaiting a great review by you as always.

Can't say I'll be an active user with my new job + summer classes but I'll be following along like always

 

This is fine. Congrats on receiving today! Take a stim and enjoy messing with the system!

 

How are the G cards? So far there has been no surprises as far as expectations go. The XF are the feather in the M18's cap and I would like to hear about that. Joker?

 

Thanks!

I haven't tested them yet, I'm in the process of doing some video editing. Once I complete it and post up an unboxing vid, I'll do a quick vantage and 3dmark11 run both stock and OC'd.

 

Congrats on the new machines .

Looking forward to seeing some big numbers .

I told Speedy we will see 30k on the GPUs in Vantage when its all said and done . Hope i am not wrong ..

 

Brian how easy was it to change hard drive on it?

 

I ordered a black one, should have it tomorrow. Will take some pics for people. What's the best place to post pictures? Imageshack?

 

Hey The1TruJok3r question, in the link for the 3D mark you posted at the end of your description post I followed the link and it shows P5534 3DMarks and "Your Score is Low Compared to Similar Systems" is that normal or it just a glitch. Could you elaborate a little bit about this?

 

It's showing low due to one score. All the other scores are higher so not sure. Also I'm fighting now to put on latest AMD drivers and re-run the test.

 

Do my eyes deceive me or does it list the "Display Type as: RGB Color" This would be the best gift Dell could give us.

 

My congratulations pals! The jokers are fast and accurate...
4me, never mind the sound I have very high fidelity sound system 4that, but the screen... oh my God! this is the turn down 4me
This: " It is not as bright as the M17x-R2 panel nor does it come close with respect to color reproduction. The contrast ratio isn't the best to be honest, it could have been better" turn the red light on me...
I can't believe Dellienware is doing that to it's mothership... (and to all of us)
It's so sad!!!

 

My m18x cries when run The witcher 2 , the framerate with ultra settings in 1920 are 6-7 fps.

The1TruJok3r or 5150Joker, when you switch graphic mode, (Fn+F7), cumputer needs reboot ?

Congrats for machine !!

 

With respect to the display rating, I made a typo and didn't even realize it. Score should have been 7.5/10 not 6.5/10. Just corrected the original post, if you quoted me please make the change. Thanks!

 

I'm happy to hear the display isn't as pitiful as once was believed. I have never owned an RGB type screen, so it really won't make a big difference for me.

 

On the M17x R3, a few people reported that the buttons popped up, since the chassis is different, does it feel more solid compared to your old machine?

 

The media bar in the M17x-R3 doesn't sit flush on the right side because Dell used some kind of adhesive to hold it down which doesn't exactly work very well. The M18x doesn't have that issue, it sits perfectly flush. As far as the buttons go, they feel almost the same to me and I never had any issues with the M17x-R3 buttons either.

BTW guys, I haven't run any benchmarks yet but I'm doing some light video editing that causes the CPU fan to spin up and it's a lot quieter than the M17x-R2 fan during load. It's the same fan used in the M17x-R3.

 

Any regrets on the color choice?