*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

You know, that would have been extremely cool. First assemvle the chassis, then the fans, then the motherboard, GPU, heatsinks etc. What a fun and interesting way to learn how notebooks are designed and put together

 

Says the pkg. is 22.1 lbs. That'd be a heck of a lot of paperwork.

 

It actually would be very cool if you like working on your own system. I would actually prefer to assemble my own from parts like a kit. What a perfect way to become familiar with a new system.

It is probably "partially shipped" because it was given a tracking number and the box is all ready to go except for the fact that it has not left the facility (or it has left and status has not been updated). I have actually seen examples from myself and others where a system or parts were delivered to me from Dell before the order status and tracking was updated in the system. On return parts and systems the status page sometimes does not get updated for a few weeks to show it was received by Dell. I believe it may be manually updated by staff, so the accuracy might vary with how busy they are. It does not appear to be "real time" tracking information.

 

Excellent, I see the same now as well. I was concerned because when I had originally placed an order for an M18x R2 (cancelled due to delays), I had two two orders listed and one of them was a bunch of Dell advantage paperwork, so I thought it might be more paperwork for the new order.

I'm not new to SSDs, but how exactly does the caching work? My order comes with "750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching" but I'm going to drop in two Samsung 840 pros in RAID and drop the 750GB drive.

 

It works quite well...

Intel Smart Response Technology Explained | Hardware Secrets

How to Set Up Intel Smart Response SSD Caching Technology | PCWorld

Here is my setup...

 

Your the man. I am going to download all the monitoring tools in one of your past posts. One of the things about the system, the I7 4900 MQ processor was not overclocked to 4.0 as was advertised, It was 3.7. There is OC1 level in the BIOS.which brought the processor to about 4.0. It appears you can adjust all 4 cores to a certain degree. I am going to try do some more overclocking this evening.

 

Run a wPrime 32M and a wPrime 1024M test with the benchmark set on 8 threads and see if the CPU overclock holds under load. That will be the real test of the overclock and whether it really adds value. (Obviously, if it idles at high speed but drops under load, it is providing no benefit.) You can download it here: http://downloads.putme.net/wPrime209.zip

The lower the score the better. Open CPU-Z before you run it and you can watch the clocks/multiplier speed. Here is an example.

 

There really wasn't that much paperwork in the box. In fact, they forgot to include my copy of Windows 8 (I called Dell they are shipping to me). The days of the nice leather manual, which came with my Area 51 desktop are gone. All the manuals are now online.

 

They started doing away with all of the extra stuff (cloth cover, leather manual, mouse pad, baseball cap, etc.) with the M18x R2. Did you at least get a mouse pad? I hope so. They're really nice. The mouse pad and cloth cover are the things I would miss the most.

I could be wrong, but I think you not getting a Windows 8 installation disk is by design. Dell (and other OEMs) will typically only provide a Windows 8 installation disk if you call and ask for one after the machine in delivered. Micro$oft's new business model calls for eliminating OEM Windows installation media. Micro$oft's intent is that customers CANNOT do a clean install... only "restore" an original Windows configuration done in the manner the OEM prefers that it be done. If you had ordered it with Windows 7, it probably would have come with the disk.

 

Surprisingly, there was no mouse pad or cloth included this time. I was surprised as there was no protective sheet covering the screen.

 

Interesting. I have a feeling you are right. I called anyways and complained. The person on the phone said that Dell would be sending me a flash drive with Windows 8.

 

There is generally no product key (or COA) with the OEM Windows 8. The version you will get on USB matches a SLIC certificate in the BIOS and it should install and be pre-activated with no product key. Windows 7 OEM was often like that as well, but there was still a COA and product key, and it would work on any Dell/Alienware PC. I believe Windows 8 for an OEM might only install on *certain* systems with the right SLIC certificate in the BIOS. There is a variety of part numbers for the Windows 8 USB sticks which varies by computer model (due to the BIOS certificate that has to match). For example, the USB stick for an AW 18 may not allow you to install Windows 8 on an XPS laptop, or vice versa. Not 100% certain of that, but I think this is how it works now. Additionally, Dell is not permitted to sell you the USB installation media for Windows 8 if your system shipped with Windows 7.

Download and install Advanced Tokens Manager and it will allow you to backup and restore Windows 7, Windows 8, MS Office activations and also saves your product keys in a text file. You can grab that here: Josh Cell Softwares - Freeware Solutions | Amazing Products - Be sure to save the backup program and folder on a USB stick or external HDD in case you need it later. The backup should let you activate the same version of Windows 8 on the same computer regardless of the installation media source utilized for the OS installation.

 

Here are the specs on what I hope is the last laptop I will need for at least 4 years. Now I need to go explain to the wifey why she needs to go get a second job.
The only other thing I wanted was Windows 8 Pro but I ordered through AAFES and it kept saying configuration error if you picked Windows 8. I can aways upgrade later.

Alienware 18 Alienware 18
Operating System Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit, English
Memory 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
Keyboard English Keyboard
Video Card Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI® Enabled
Hard Drive 512GB mSATA Boot + 750GB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200 RPM)
CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
Wireless Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
McAfee Live Safe No Anti-virus Requested
Cable US 125V Power Cord
Service 4 Year Alienware Enhanced Support
Placemat Setup Instructions English
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Trial
Documentation/Disks Documentation, English
Support None
Systems Management Alienware Command Center 3.0
Retail Software Dell.com Order
Packing Label Dell.com Order
Processor Overclocked 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4930MX (8MB Cache, up to 4.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
Primary Battery 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr)
Color Choice Silver-Anodized Aluminum
Shipping Material Shipping Material
Resource DVD Resource DVD
LCD 18.4" WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display
Labels Windows 7 OS Label
Power Supply 330W A/C Adapter
Additional Software Additional Software
Optical Software No Optical Software required

Preliminary Ship Date: 7/26/2013

 

No clue zantetsuken. Try calling Dell yet?

 

Nice config. Congrats.

If the wifey is a smart lady, you will be the one getting an extra job. That, or she'll confiscate the new 18 since she is the one paying for it, LOL.

 

Very nice, similar to mine. You should have opted out of that harddrive and just bought your own from newegg to save a few hundred and get the brand you want.

 

This is the first Alienware for me. What I want the most is the PLS screen but they didn't make it too clear on the order. The redesign is what drew me in and looks a lot cleaner like the Asus gamers I have been using. I play some games but I just find the gaming machines to be better. I see the laptop is huge but can I use it while lying down with it on my stomach? Hasn't been a problem so far but this one is bigger. So glad they put the AC plug on the side. I just went with the base model because it sure seems reasonable to me.



Item Description Unit Price Quantity Total Price
Alienware 18
Alienware 18, Windows 8, 64-bit, English $2,099.99 1 $2,099.99
Alienware 18 Alienware 18
[210-AAOW]
Memory 8GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
[370-AANF]
Keyboard English Keyboard
[580-ABEK]
Video Card Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M with 2GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI® Enabled
[490-BBHS]
Driver Broadcom 4352 Driver
[658-BBOD]
Hard Drive 750GB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200 RPM)
[400-AARV]
Operating System Windows 8, 64-bit, English
[619-ACJV]
CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Loading 8x SuperMulti Drive (DVDR/RW) (Standard)
[429-AAGC]
Wireless Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
[555-BBEQ]
Cable US 125V Power Cord
[470-AAKG]
Documentation/Disks Documentation, English
[340-ABEU]
Service 1 Year Alienware Basic Support
[950-9797]
[994-3730]
[995-5993]
[995-6013]
Systems Management Alienware Command Center 3.0
[640-BBLG]
Resource DVD Resource DVD
[658-BBOI]
Placemat Setup Instructions English
[340-ADGB]
Retail Software Dell.com Order
[332-1530]
Primary Battery 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr)
[451-BBCB]
Processor 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
[338-BCHY]
Packing Label Dell.com Order
[332-1530]
Color Choice Silver-Anodized Aluminum
[320-BBDZ]
Shipping Material Shipping Material
[328-BBEK]
FGA Module AW18_1403_001
[730-5460]
Optical Software Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD
[430-XXYQ]
Labels No OS Label Required
[800-BBEV]
LCD 18.4" WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display
[391-BBDS]
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Trial
[630-AAAU]
Additional Software Additional Software
[658-BBNW]
McAfee Live Safe No Anti-virus Requested
[817-BBBP]
Power Supply 330W A/C Adapter
[450-AAKK]

Limited time offer! Save $150 on select systems - $150.00
Subtotal: $1,951.19
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Environmental Disposal Fee: $1.20
PST: $0.00
GST/HST: $97.56
Total: $2,048.75

 

So, if they are no longer including a Win 8 installation disk, how would I go about installing a 512gb SSD as the boot drive in my new AW18? I was planning on opening it up first thing, dropping that in and doing a fresh install right away. Is that not going to be possible any longer? Will I have to call Dell and get that shipped to me before I should bother getting everything else set up? Or should I just use the current config with the 750gb+64gb caching as primary and use the SSD for games and such? I realize I'm losing the benefit of having the SSD as my primary drive, but having to wait another couple days before I can actually USE the machine seems slightly annoying.

 

Why would you need to wait to use the machine? You can use it the way it ships just fine. You can add the 512GB SSD later on, once you get the Windows 8 installation media. It would be a waste of the SSD to use if for something other than your OS boot drive. You don't really need the SSD speed for data storage, and using the cache-accelerated HDD for data storage will work out very well.

There are tons of people that have purchased new computers (all brands) with Windows 8 preinstalled that have run into the same dilemma. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it would have been better to purchase the system new with Windows 7, have that installation disk available from Alienware, and then purchase your own non-OEM copy of Windows 8. Then you would have installation media. It seems that buying Windows 8 from Microsoft is the easiest way of securing installation media. I bought all of my copies directly from Microsoft, so I have ISO and two optical disks (32bit and 64bit media) available for doing clean installs. The ISO media is digital distribution, from which you can burn DVD or create USB media. The disks were purchased at an extra cost (inexpensive add-on during online check-out), but they are universal installation media so I only purchased one set of disks.

 

He can do the alienrespawn to a flash drive or to a DVD disc. And keep the hd with the windows 8 just en case.

 

Because I've heard and read numerous times that the most stable way to get your OS onto an SSD is a clean install. Granted, I could use the migration software, but again, moving to an SSD, I've heard that could cause issues. Why would I go about loading games and programs onto the computer if I'm going to have to do it all over again in a couple days...seems counterproductive to me.

 

AlienRespawn can make recovery media. And you can also download Windows 8 and put it on a disc, if you want.

I'd just grab Windows 7, like suggested above. I don't like how there's no media disc included for Win8.

 

I have all of my Steam and Origin games installed to my data drive. I install Steam and Origin to D:\Steam and D:\Origin instead of the default path, then I can do whatever I want with my OS without having to download hundreds of gigs worth of stuff all over again. This also allows me to use the same Steam and Origin installations in a dual boot configuration. In fact, Steam and most Steam games will run fine as portable apps, without any registry entries. Just launch the D:\Steam\Steam.exe file and go. (That does not work so well with Origin games.)

Reinstalling other things like MS Office and Adobe CS are not a big deal like the space hogging games that take so long to download.

What you have heard is correct. Doing a clean install is by far the best way to go. Sometimes cloning from HDD to SSD can cause issues and degrade the SSD performance. Some have been lucky and it worked out fine, so that is something you can try while you are sourcing Windows 8 installation media. It certainly would not hurt anything.

Sometimes that does not work. I have done it in the past, but the last time I attempted to use Respawn recovery media on a drive of a different size it failed because the volume on the new drive was smaller than the original. This was with Windows 8, and I did not have that issue with the latest Windows 7 version.

However, there are other imaging options that will work, like Macrium Reflect and Acronis True Image. I finally got frustrated with AlienRespawn being too temperamental and quit using it out of frustration. It worked extremely well for me with Windows 7 and I got the paid version because it did. It has never worked to my satisfaction with Windows 8. The Windows 8 version refuses to work like I want it to. It seems to have some limitations that Respawn did not have with Windows 7.

 

Hey Guys, Well i am one of those whoz order got cancelled. I wass furious and MAD!!!!, but it was kind of a blessing in disguise!! Well i called up my rep and went thru all the re-order process, but this time after much consideration, i thought would be best to go for a higher processor. I wasnt really happy with just the 4700QM. So with abit of pursuation and a abit of blameing them for a inconvinience, i Managed to get a massive discount. Half a grand. YES!! 500£, not USD, but GBP. So now i have to pay about 250£ extra ( To what i had already payed for my cancelled machine ) but i get a i7 4900 QM instead of the baby brother the i7 4700QM, I get 16 GB RAM instead on 8 and also get a Blu Ray reader.

And to top it all, My EDD is the same day as it was on my cancelled order. So i dont have to wait as much as i thought!. Well me personally im glad my machine order got cancelled, hahahah and i hope to get this better one really soon. I just hope this one doesnt get cancelled thou :S . How are the rest of u doing, the once who got their orders cancelled?? Any good luck?

 

This is my point, the last thing I want to do is degrade my brand new SSD. This will be my first Alienware, so I have no opinion yet on AlienRespawn, and may attempt it, but due to your latest comment, am skeptical at best about my luck with Windows 8. What frustrates me about the whole thing was that I called a sales rep prior to my purchase to ask if windows 8 media would be included in the order, they (obviously) did not know, so told me to contact Alienware tech support. AW tech support assured me that media is included in the order with all new computers, so silly me for believing them. Fool me once shame on them...but will not be fooled again.

Haven't yet ever had to purchase DVD-R's, but looks like I should pick some up for these future endeavors. Sigh.

 

DVD-R media will work fine. It will probably take 2 or 3 of them. It takes only one BD-R. I have a couple of BD-R Respawn media tucked away "just in case" something happens and I need them. My preference is USB thumb drive. AlienRespawn will tell you what size it needs. Usually 16GB is enough. The restore process is a lot faster from USB than optical disk.

I recommend using Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image for cloning and imaging. I use both and think they are fantastic utilities. Disk size doesn't matter using them. It won't cause any physical damage to your SSD to clone from HDD to SSD. The worse that could happen is it would not perform as well as advertised because Windows did not optimize things for SSD. But, it would still be a huge speed improvement over HDD. Once you do a clean install to SSD, using cloning or imaging for backup and disaster recovery is excellent. It is only going from HDD to SSD by cloning that sometimes causes a reduction in SSD performance.

 

has anyone across US or Europe got their alienware 18 yet ?

 

Yes. Look back a few pages. I think at least two, maybe three, have posted about receiving theirs. I know for sure at least one person (USA) received his last week.

 

I have done an internet search and I am having a hard time finding wPrime 32M to download. Any sites you recommend? Thanks in advance.

 

Are you pulling my leg, Brother Blackjack? I already gave you a link and it is quoted in your request for the same.

32M and 1024M are the size of the tests. The 32M is a short "down and dirty" test. The 1024M takes longer, but helps verify the behavior you can expect of the CPU under extended conditions (such as video rendering).

 

I am bad, right there in front of me.

 

I need to slow down a bit...lol. Really enjoying playing around with my new laptop. Losing sleep!

 

The link is to the newest version, so it should just click and run. But, Windows 8 is sometimes picky. There is a remote chance you might need to right-click and run as admin or use Windows 7 compatibility mode.

Understandable... you have good reason to be excited. I would be losing sleep staying up late playing as well.

 

Ok, will do. Thanks agrain bro.

 

Oh , wrong sub-forum. Sorry.

 

No, installing your own SSD (or RAM, or other aftermarket parts) will not void the warranty. It won't be a covered part, nor would any user-induced damage be covered. But, Alienware allows you to do anything you want as far as customization is concerned. See what is in the signatures of our Brothers from Alienware Support? If you have questions on this, feel free to send them a PM.

 

Ow damn that's nice. Thanks for the help, and sorry for posting in the wrong sub-forum, I thought this was the AW 17 sub-forum . Oops.

 

No worries. It is a valid question in either place. It is nice that they even provide video help in their YouTube channel as well as teardown instructions in the owner's manual.

 

Might as well check that out.

 

DELL Corporate Office "hello,sorry mr shaw we cant put your booking onto the system because your card was declined!!!"

Unhappy Customer 20 days into original order "i wouldnt mind you have my money already from the 2nd of july!!"

DELL Corporate Office "we dont want to just hold your machine, we havent had your money"

Unhappy Customer 20 days into original order "i told her im not interested anymore and put the phone down."

This will be the 3rd time, im having to reorder, how bloody hard is it to get a laptop these days??!?!?!?!?! DELL DONT YOU WANT MY M0N3Y

 

Hi BlackjackCZ what do you think of the screen? Can you tell that it is PLS rather than a regular TN?

 

people, if you received your alienware 18, load up some photos ! or videos ! or game videos !

 

Just checked and my ETA from FedEx got changed from 7/9 to 7/10. However, the pick-up location is an hour away from me, so here's to hoping it comes tomorrow!

 

I'll be getting mine tomorrow. I will likely miss the arrival (can't take off work) so will have to go pick it up wherever it is being housed. I then will be downloading some main games from steam and also some essential benches. I will upload several pics of both the m18x R1 and m18 hopefully in the next day. I will follow with some benches. I wish I could take off work but I just can't. The weekend can't come fast enough because I will be gaming the entire time

 

I'M happy for you brother!

 

envy you so much , i have no idea when mine even lands...
european spaceships.... sigh...

 

Congrats. Post some pics and a video for sure!

I want one pretty badly, but I'm going to have to wait until next year.

 

The screen is really nice! I haven't owned a lot of high end laptops so I can't tell you if it is PLS rather than TN. The viewing angles are superb, much better than 3 year old Sager I own (which has a pretty good screen in my opinion). I believe you will like the screen.

 

Will posts some game pictures for you tonight, after work. I have two games loaded up at the moment, Crysis 3 and Metro LL. Also, will give you an idea of FPS.

 

Brother Blackjack. What the max OC on all 4 cores ?