M18xR2 Pre-Order Configuration Questions... Ask HERE

My m18x took 2 weeks to ship. It's suppose to be here by Thursday. So just under three weeks ordered to at my door. If it arrives on time.

 

how much u paid for yours?

i was just wishing they do in a week, cause build time+ shipping, idk whats extra 5 days for... to make it 2 weeks

 

It takes time to build these things, and you certainly aren't the only order they have

 

In addition to demand, it can also depend on your configuration. If your configuration is more exotic and has more expensive options, it needs to be assembled to your specs. If you choose a default configuration, it might ship faster if it is already assembled and ready for a FedEx label to be attached to the box.

 

I paid just under $3000 after tax. I got the backback and the blue ray upgrade.

 

whats ur fulll specs?

did u pay for extra upgrades?

 

nvidia press release states that the 680m will be available for the m17x and m18x in a couple of weeks

Cost unknown

 

I paid extra for the 750 + 32gb msata drive, the blueray upgrade and the backpack. Everything else was the stock middle option.

 

Nice! When are u expecting it to arrive?

 

They said the 7th. But the tracking information hasn't changed since friday so I'm getting worried.

 

whend did u place the order?

cause weekends dont count as working/business days from dell/alienware

 

18th of May. Hopefully it will be here by Thursday.

 

got a quote of $2300 with tax

base m18x r2 upgraded wiyh 7970m sli.
5% gift card
$200 gift card
free m18x backpack
2nd day shipping.

o_o still deciding

 

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Go for it! I would definitely say yes to that one!

 

Wow great price! take it!

 

Yes... Cheapest i got that config was 2480.

Do it!

 

Maybe spend a little more and upgrade the processor and ram. Wouldn't hurt!

 

people say i can buy it cheaper for the ramm i just need to find someone who can do it lol, for processor it doesnt make difference on games.

 

The scariest part of upgrading the ram atleast for me was when removing the plastic bezel around the keyboard, down by the arrow keys its very flexible plastic and it can snap very easily.

I wish the systems came with the ram slots under the keyboard filled in first.

 

My order was placed on the 18th of May and the delivery date was suppose to be today. I called last week because the order had been in production for two weeks and I wondered if something was wrong. They said it should ship soon. A dell representative called on Monday and said the order had shipped and should be to me in three business days. I just got off the phone with the shipping company and it hasn't even entered the country yet. So It's going to be over a month from my order being placed to it arriving.

I'm starting to regret going Alienware. I could have gone to my local computer store and got an Asus machine with the same specs for $1000 cheaper and would have been using it for the last three weeks instead of sitting around waiting.

 

I can appreciate your anxious wait but trust me when I tell you it will be worth it - good things come to those who wait

EDD's can be frustrating but they are given simply as an estimate as they indicate. A normal ship time would probably be around 2-3weeks from my experience, so you arent massively overdue yet. If your order has shipped, I very much doubt that it will take longer than a few days from now to arrive. These systems move through the chain pretty darn quickly once they are dispatched.

As for choosing an Asus or other notebook of similar ilk, you simply would not find the same level of build quality that you find in an Alienware system. Seeing (and feeling) really is believing, as they say.

 

At 2pm today it's in Calgary. I'M GOING CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! I went Alienware because I wanted upgrade paths but 3 WEEKS! It will drive a guy crazy...
https://eshiponline.purolator.com/ShipOnline/Public/Track/TrackingDetails.aspx?pup=Y&pin=REL000018164

 

Out for delivery today. Our long national nightmare is over. Now I just have to sit by the door all day.

 

Hahaha - I am sure the wait will be worth it. Grab something comfortable to sit on while you wait by the door

 

Concerning the manufacturers that produce similar/equivalently spec'd machines ( Asus, Samsung, and Sager) comparative build quality, I would argue that they are just as well built as any Alienware...........if not better in some instances.

 

This is the only laptop besides Apples I've had that has a metal enclosure. Asus and Samsung both have plastic. Sager might be in the same league as Alienware but I have no experience with them.

 

Hey guys looking for some direction here...

This is my first step into PC gaming. I have no background in PC gaming but MANY hours on consoles.

This seems like an EXCELLENT community and I have read practically all the pages here on the config/owner/680m threads, and you guys have helped so much already.

I am left with a few questions though before I pull the trigger, so far I am thinking.....

3720qm......i guess the $150 seems like a good deal for the extra hertz....

6gb RAM.....this seems easy enough to upgrade, and probably cheaper to do myself....

GPU 7970..... this seems like the reasonable choice and don't want to turn this into 7970vs 680

256GB SSD....

Now here is where I have a few questions. I would love an SSD and have read that is one of the single best upgrades. I have read that I could probably install one myself rather easily, BUT I am not sure how to go about reinstalling the OS onto my SSD. While I am not a total idiot, this is something i have not done before.....ie. a standard hard drive upon ordering and after delivery installing the SSD and moving my OS to my new drive.....what say you guys....lol

Network Cards...

Killer vs Intel.....

I am not sure here either. I love online gaming, but I also have some serious TV's throught the house. Most of the 3d capable. But I guess with the AMD's its not even an issue since it's not supported....?? Is the Intel better then the Killer if I want to sync with any of my tv's.....??? Is the Killer card available to install and upgrade later on and is this difficult?

Blue Ray player.....

Also is it needed....its embarrassing but I own.....zero....lol. I game don't watch to many movies in my free time. Is this something difficult to upgrade later?


Warranty.....

I do plan to go with an Advanced warranty. I do plan on having this laptop for quite a few years. But to keep my budget around 3.2k I was planning on going 1 year advanced and when Dell starts calling when its almost up.....i would extend then.....?

Also, about the warranty. Should I just go with the 256 SSD right off the bat, since this would be covered under warranty? If I understand correctly, Dell doesnt warranty any of your upgrades.


I am about to start teaching Electrical theory in the fall after work, and at times I may arrive at school 2-3 hours before class starts. I plan on using my M18 to pass the time and get my gaming and class prep done on it.

My budget is around 3.2-3.5k before taxes......


Thanks so much guys!!! Even if I don't get any help, this community has done so much already.....

Hope to join you guys soon!


-Jason

 

The i7-3720QM is the "sweet spot" as far as CPUs go for gaming. You can do some basic overclocking if you need more speed, but for the most part it will be powerful enough for anything you will be throwing at it, which makes it a great deal.

Yup, although getting to the two slots under the keyboard is a bit harder than the slots on the bottom of the device, but either way 6GB of RAM is likely enough RAM for any modern gaming.

The 680m is not even around yet, so if you are thinking about ordering soonish, it is not even a factor.

The current price for the Samsung 830 is about 280$, and the Crucial M4 is around 215$, so it may make more sense to buy your SSD aftermarket.

Get the 500GB hard drive option with Dell, after you get the unit play with it for a day or two to make sure that you like it, then burn the recovery disks in the OS. Install the SSD, and then switch the boot order in the BIOS, and then install Windows from the recovery disks. That should be the process in a generalistic view.

The Killer card is available and is fairly easy to install. The Intel card's wireless display (WiDi) only works with the integrated graphics, though, from what I have heard, so it is will be entirely useless for you if you want to stream game content to one of your TVs. Dell used to offer another wirelessHD card, but currently does not have it in stock, I believe.

The aftermarket cost for the bluray player is about the same for the direct from Dell one, so if you think you may ever want to watch a bluray movie (and with HDMI-out, you could use your laptop as a bluray player for one of your TVs) it'd likely to be best to purchase it now. The install process is a good bit more complicated than upgrading the wireless card or the bottom two RAM slots.

Dell normally charges three to five times the cost to extend your warranty after you have purchased your device than if you were to purchase it off the bat. Your best bet would be to call Dell up directly, and try and haggle with them to get the best possible deal as the warranties are where they can make the largest cuts in price normally, from my experience.

The warranty for most SSDs will likely be three years, and it'll involve roughly the same process you'd have to deal with for Dell (call them up, have them figure out that it's broken, send it back to them, they send you a new one), so it really is not worth the doubling in cost to go with Dell.

So long as you have access to a power outlet, that shouldn't be an issue. Sans external power, you likely will not have the battery life to game for more than an hour or so. I'm sure that won't be an issue, though.

You may be able to take advantage of the 200$ off deal going on right now through Dell, but I'd also suggest reviewing the main Alienware page for money-saving tips. Hopefully you can get exactly what you are looking for at a price you can live with. Good luck!

 

Guswut....I can't thank you enough! That was exactly what I was looking for.

Do you recommend the standard 500gb hard drive or the 500 with the 32gb mSATA?

 

i have had mine in production for 3 days now and so ready to get my m18x. here is the specs
Intel Core i7-3820QM
12GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
Duel GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M
1TB RAID 0
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video and Bluetooth 4.0
Accidental Damage Service, 1 Year
$150 gift card to get a backpack and a coolermat
2 day shipping
Subtotal:
$3,012.44
Shipping and Handling:
$0.00
Sales Tax:
$207.44
Total:
$3,219.88

the price was over $3600 but haggled on the phone, what do you think?

 

No worries, I'm glad to be able to help. The mSATA drive will be another drive entirely (think of it like a USB3 32GB flash stick stuck into your system internally), so you would only want to go with that option if you want to have an additional 32GB of SSD space. It will be faster than a mechanical drive, but as far as SSDs go it will be fairly slow as the size is fairly minimal (the larger the SSD, the faster it is, in most cases).

Also, so you know, Crucial must be rolling out a new set of SSDs soon, or they've just decided that SSD prices need to be lower than dirt as the 512GB M4 is now 400$ off of Amazon ( Amazon.com: Crucial 512 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT512M4SSD2: Electronics and Amazon.com: Crucial 512 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT512M4SSD1: Electronics for the 7mm height, which may be better suited for the m18x). For the same price you were going to pay Dell for 256GB, you can get a 512GB drive. The performance difference between 256GB and 512GB is much less pronounced compared to 256GB and 128GB, but if you want to double the space for double the price, it may make more sense to go with it. When I finally get purchasing authority with my organization, I will likely be going with one of the 7mm 512GB, myself.

~~~

I would suggest attempting to get them to allow you to purchase a longer warranty, at least three years if possible. The warranty on these machines is one of the best reasons that they're such good devices.

Otherwise, it looks like a good system!

 

Guswut....once again thanks!

Getting some brews in me now, and plan to call in my order after a couple more. Maybe I will be able to haggle a little better.

Can't wait to be part of the team.

Thanks!

 

I love it - this Centrino Wireless N 2230 is horrible, says connected at 117 to 130 Mbits, but I am only getting 25 to 35 Mbit transfer speeds from a server that can provide 600 Mega Bytes/s connected to the wireless via a gigabit. My XPS 17 can get 70 to 80 Mbits at the same spot in my house.

So, I called up Alienware and wondered how much it would be to buy the Killer 1103 wireless card - 101 USD. I can find them online for around 50 USD, but they are all out of stock. EDIT: Found Hidevolution.com, which is selling them for 59 USD, so I cancelled the Intel 6300 order and went with the Killer instead.

 

Ok, I am now an Alienware owner....thanks guys!


1 hour and 24 minutes on the phone with dell..lol.....before the lady would break on the price.

We go thru the whole build thing, and she quotes me the internet price. I was like , and she says the best I can do is give you $50 off if you open an account. I asked about the $200 promo, she tells me to hold.....well I crushed 2 beers while on hold...she comes back and says they cant do the $200. I asked her how these people on the internet wind up with at least $250-$500 off and get free express shipping. She says she has no idea I then told here thanks so much but I may just wait till the 680 comes out in July and call back.......BTW she quoted my final bill at 3.6k with taxes.......FINALLY she asks what are you willing to pay! I tell her 3,250 total with 2 day shipping. She goes ooohhh.....I cant be sure.....can yoou hold......well another 2 beers later she comes back.....OK your total bill will be 3,242.08.

So who knows if I got a deal with the way I feel now.....lol, but I did order it.

3720 upgrade
6gb ram
7970 xfire
500 gb HD
Killer N
Blue Ray

and 3 year Advanced warranty

Should be here around June 29th......


I thank you guys so much for all the help, not sure about the wife though.....lol

I just hope I get some help when I comes time to install the SSD and move my OS.

Thanks
Jason

 

Glad you stuck with it and got money off! For the SSD install, check out this video guide: HOW TO REPLACE RAM HARD DRIVE ALIENWARE M18X DISASSEMBLY GUIDE - YouTube

Never fear, I used this EXACT guide. Also, you may notice the cross-bars in the hard drive bracket - it's removable so you can fit 3 9.5MM height hard drives in it!

Now, for OS migration - I'd suggest just installing windows fresh from the DVD provided, and then installing the drivers and software from the other DVD. Sure, it takes a bit more time, but it will eliminate any partition size problems that could occur. Yes, I did a fresh install on my SSDs to avoid that issue.

 

Excellent quote!

 

ya i called and changed it to have 3 years accidental so i shouldn't be worried now

 

Hey guys I'm upgrading from an M15x and I'm not very familiar with the m18x so if you guys would give me your thoughts that would be great. I think i want to upgrade to a blueray drive in the future and maybe upgrade the cpu. I will mostly be gaming on this laptop.

Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7 2670QM
12 cell battery
4gb DDR3 RAM-1600mhz (seller is upgrading it to 8gb either 1333 or 1600)
Intel Wireless 6300N
Bluetooth 375
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
750gb 7200rpm Hard Drive
DVD+-RW Drive
Dual AMD Radeon HD 6990M GDDR5 Crossfire
18.4" 1080p Wide Full HD WLED Screen

 

I have (almost) the same specifications (see signature) and I can tell you, performance wise I am very happy with the M18x.

I previously owned an M15xR2 which had an nVidia GTX260m and I had no problems with updating drivers, or clock speeds, etc however with ATI graphics cards you may get frustrated at some point with updating the drivers or the cards refusing to run at full clocks. If your eyes pick up well on FPS changes during gaming you most likely will notice micro-stuttering with CrossFire 6990m's which may or may not annoy you. Nevertheless the performance of the 6990m is very good and should be able to max out the games of today, especially in Crossfire. All you need is a little knowledge and patience to get these cards running the way you like. But if you have the money to spend I would go for the SLI-GTX580m's if possible, better drivers, slightly better performance, and games tend to run better on nVidia cards than ATI cards.

If you are going to use the laptop for gaming mostly, you do not need to upgrade the CPU. Faster CPUs are only needed if you are going to be using programs like AutoCAD, video editing software, video transcoding, etc.
Upgrading to a BluRay drive is possible, but you may be happier getting an external BluRay drive if you can't find a compatible internal one, and converting your current DVD drive slot to hold another HDD/SSD if you like.

Also, you won't lose out on the aluminium chassis you are used to on the M15x if you switch to the M18x (R1/R2), which is nice.

 

Thanks prank I love my 15x with the gtx 260m however it barely holds 25fps in bf3 and i don't want to try and upgrade the videocard and have it not work.

Im looking at one on ebay right now for $1709. The seller has agreed to upgrade it to 8gbs of ram, hes gunnna try and find 1600mhz if not it will be 1333mhz.

 

Great, but honestly you will not notice a difference between 1333MHz and 1600MHz especially if the most intense thing you are going to do is game.
My advice is ask for the 1333MHz instead of the 1600MHz and try to get a (small) discount on that.

 

Let me know if you need a good price (in sweden) on an M18x R1 with Dual 580m

 

And if I can help, let me know

 

Ok guys so it is me, the annoying guy. I wanted to ask if it is worth having to order online the new R2 with the 7970M, and let my canadian friend ship it to Egypt, or should I just buy the R1 with the Xfire 6990m.

Another issue is that if I am going to order online how do I ship to canada because it does not give me the options to pick countries (only US states) and does Alienware accept Visa ELECTRON? if it dosent I am stuck with the R1

 

The 7970M crossfire is easily twice as powerful as the 6990M crossfire, so I would go with the newer one if you can.

However, there are folks with the R1 that have upgraded to the 7970M crossfire out there.

 

Yes but do you know if Alienware accepts Visa Electron ?

 

Electron is a debit card? If so, it varies from dell's regional site to site. You would be better off finding a reseller that accepts international CCs and does international shipping as well.

 

do you know anyone who can do that? and ship to Canada? That would be GREAT. all I need is the 7970m Xfire, the 3820qm and 8 gigs of ram since i know ressellers dont have the option for customization and yes the electron is a debit card because last time we payed through credit card with a subscribtion they took away from my uncle 180,000 dollars (i know he should have canceled the sub but he aint tech savvy )

 

I got my m18x from hidevolution, no complaints!