New Alienware 18 Config and Order Status Thread

Initial review will be up in 5 or so hours....can't wait for the unboxing ritual

 

My system is supposed to be in by 10:30 this morning. Unfortunately I will not have much time to look at it I have meetings all afternoon.

 

Have a broken leg nothing to do all day but download games and test this bad boy out

 

They just updated my EDD from 10/22 to 10/27.

 

I have a broken hand and did not get me out of work , come Saturday and Sunday I will eating up some bandwidth downloading.

 

I need to break something. Hmm.

 

Mine is out of the box on my desk, a ordeal that began over 50 days ago is finally over.

 

I'm sitting rocking back and forth waiting for the doorbell to ring

 

It's here!!!!!!....right configuration no dents or bruising on the box...we made it boys!!!!! THERE ARE ALIENS AMONG US!

 

I'm home now and waiting. FedEx doesn't usually show up here til later in the day.

 

This thing is stunning !!!....we chose well

 

Does it have the same packaging as the 2013 anything new in the box? Come on boys this thread needs pics now that aliens are among us.

 

It showed up 30 mins ago. Config is correct and it looks really good. No scratches or anything. Ran the dead pixel detector and the screen has no defects. Also ran cupid, gpuz and core temp. Everything shows good and stable so far. Need to test games though to make sure the video cards are good. I had to enable SLI but no big deal. It has the latest bios on it already. It came with the usual pamphlets and also an Alienware resource dvd and Windows 8.1 pro 64 dvd. I have auto updates disabled and I also set the lights like I want them. It obviously has a mechanical hard drive in it so I can't wait to get my 2 SSD's in it and reload it. I may have to wait for the weekend to do that though. It's still really fast even with a spinner in it. The packaging looks the same as what I saw of the older ones on Youtube. Also need to run Memtest.

 

I have to wait until tomorrow for mine to arrive. I think I am getting sick *cough *cough guess I will have to work from home tomorrow.

 

Please post some pictures!!!!

 

You should ALWAYS have to enable SLI, as it's a sign of a fresh install.

 

Well I couldn't stand it and pulled out that hdd. Installed my two ssd's in raid 0 and reloading now.

 

are you going to do win 10?

 

was it too loud... or???

 

Well I hope those of you that have received yours already are enjoying them! I was told by my specialist that there were delays because they were short on parts and that the manufacturer said the order would be released tomorrow. I don't know if he meant that the order for the parts would be released tomorrow, meaning it will take another week or so, or if my 18 should be released tomorrow. He didn't really make it clear in the email. He said that he'd keep my updated. So it looks like it will be atleast another week or so before mine even ships, but I bet it will be longer than that. Mine was a replacement, but it is also the top tier laptop with the i7-4940MX and Dual 980M in SLI, 32GB RAM, SSD + HDD and so on. I guess since it is a replacement, I won't be a priority. Even though I've been without a laptop for over a month now.

 

I'm in the exact same position man. I should get my sig going (I wanted to wait until the system actually comes to be safe). I had a system similar to your original one, but it started overheating (I cleaned the thing out properly every month or so, so it was definitely not user error) and it got replaced after an ordeal with a 4900MQ/780M SLI model. Similar issue with that, but with an even more theatrical failure of repairs (the thing literally went up in flames) and so the same model is coming in. They gave us a really sweet upgrade, so I can't really complain that much. On one hand, I've gone through absolute hell with them and they've lied to me, lit my computer on fire, and screwed me over multiple times. On the other, they've given me a computer with literally double the gaming performance as my original machine and quite a performance boost all around. As long as I get this within the next week (in time for my break) I will be super pleased and stoked.

 

No not loud but I could tell it wasn't nearly as fast as with an ssd. Now I have two 500gb ssd's in Raid 0. It is screaming. Win 8.1 Pro clean installed and drivers. Installing some games on Steam right now.

 

This is what I just read to see if you have win 10 ready updates installed or downloaded ready to install. Look for KB 2952664 (likely on Win7 systems) and KB 2976978 (likely on Win 8.1). Also look for KB 3035583 (both Win7 and Win 8.1).

 

Why bother doing 8.1 updates, when you can go straight to 10 with: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 ?

 

That was a warning for people. Win 10 and possibly the Win 10 ready updates are causing the bricking of LCD's. There is a thread on it. Otherwise I would have done a clean Win 10 install like on all of my other computers.

 

Yeah I won't complain... yet haha. I really enjoyed my M18X and all its nice features, but double the gaming performance and a new one at that, I'm a happy camper. I don't mind waiting a little extra time, just as long as it's done right and I know exactly what is taking place. When I'm told it'll be a few days here, a couple more days there and they will "keep me updated", that's when I start to worry and get impatient. I know this 18 will blow my older configuration out of the water, with the extreme processor and 980M being nearly twice the 680M. So I just have to try and keep my mind off of it and be patient.

 

I believe screens die on Windows 7 as well.

 

I'll say it again, I would not risk putting Windows 10 on these machines. Atleast not for a good while. Windows 8.1 seems to work, and the others have possible issues. Why chance it? If Windows 10 was completely risk free, they'd probably ship with it considering I think the other models come with it preloaded instead of Windows 8.1. Just my 2 cents.

 

So far so good. Games look great. I let it run all night and doesn't seem to be any issue from that. I've never seen a power brick that huge. It's not built like a tank like my last AW m17x r2 from way back with the dual 5870's but it's very solid.

 

3dmark11 and 3dmark firestrike bench, post them up!

 

oh man, I just received an email from dell saying it has shipped. the dell site still says in production though, and they haven't given me a tracking number yet.

 

My EDD was changed from 10/22 to 10/27. In order for that to happen, with my 2nd day business shipping, it has to ship tomorrow. Fingers crossed.. Again..


Also... Wheres the pictures people!?!?

 

It seems to me that they're shipping big bunches out daily right now, so you'll get yours shipped either today or tomorrow. my only regret is that i didn't call in to complain hard enough for me to get 1 day shipping.

 

I tried, but they wouldn't give it to me. Will call again and check to see if i can again. This is my 3rd order so far.. and I've been a DFS account holder since 2006.. My friend who ordered a AW 17 R3 got his EDD delayed to 10/29 but today they cancelled his order without previous notice.

 

As far as Windows 10, I actually spoke to Dell last week about an unrelated warranty question. As we were finishing the call, the rep made a point to advise me not to upgrade to Windows 10 on my 18 incase I didn't know about the issues yet. Thought that was good of them.

On a side note, I am so jealous of you guys getting the new 18. Looking forward to hearing more about them from you.

 

This thing is the greatest piece of hardware I have ever owned...lighting fast even with mechanical HD. ..it's sturdy as hell and I can't hear the fans or hard disk at all...worth every penny...

 

Just called and got a free upgrade to Next Day Air.

 

*borat voice* VEERRYYY NIICCEE

 

It would really suck if I nuked this thing on my first day with it. However, I rather have that be the case and wait another few weeks for a new one as I use my 880m's than deal with an in-place install or risk nuking my screen after sending my old system back. Anyone else tried upgrading yet? I'm fine being the test dummy, but it'd be nice to have some confidence too.

 

I'm Absolutley blown away by the audio in this thing ad well ...we did very well boys ...

 

Doesn't seem like there is enough information which leads me to believe that it's not as big of a deal as it's made out to be...If it was there would be alot more complaining and Info online.

 

DO IT FOR GLORY (btw will you be using using a bootable usb and formatting, or doing the upgrade through win 8.1? I heard that doing a clean install from usb is like likely to go wrong)

 

I just got my tracking info sent to me... it's at a delivery warehouse 20km from my house... :-| if it doesn't come tomorrow, i'm castrating myself.

 

Yeah it seems like a smaller percentage overall when you think of how many people have these computers. I am installing updates but just making sure I don't install the Win 10 ready updates now that I know the KB's.

 

Nah, just doing the update and selecting "keep nothing" or whatever the option is. I don't think there's any advantage to the clean format and USB stick, but it just takes longer and is scarier. I honestly think the issue has to do with some specific "enthusiast" software (I've heard EVGA Precision) or some mods (like molded vBIOS) or some combination/common factor of them. With HWinfo, Afterburner, Intel XTU, and stock bios, vBios, drivers (well, graphics through GeForce Experience, not Dell), I've been totally fine for nearly 3 months now. So I'm not too worried. The machine will be totally stock when it comes anyway. I'll have to update gfx drivers and install the above listed software to benchmark, but that's about it.

 

I don't overclock so if that causes the problem or contributes maybe I will dodge the bullet.

 

Genuinely happy for y'all who have received your systems. This thread was becoming a downer, nice to see it taking a more positive direction.

Personally I'm still playing the waiting game. Here's to hoping I catch some of the luck others here are having!

 

when did you order yours?

 

how are these things still in hiding? share some pics people!

 

people are too busy enjoying them I expect :'(