*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

So, I just got a 30% off coupon. Gonna cancel my 18 order and replace it to get an extra $1200 off. Insane discount FTW. I'm gonna wind up paying pretty much exactly what I did for a 4800MQ/single 780M 17.

 

LOL, these coupons are crazy... $1,100 off a brand new Alienware 18? I don't have enough money because I bought a 17.



:thumbsup:

 

The early adopters had a hard time trying to get even 5% discount. Less than 2 months from launch and now they give out 10%, 20% and 30% discount. Talk about slapping us in the face.

 

No kidding... I'm very disappointed. I wish I was rich! I need more time! They expire tomorrow...

Think they would allow us to apply this coupon after the fact, in some sort of refunded discount? Probably not.

 

Nope. Have to cancel/return and reorder from what they told me.

 

Unfortunately for me, the process would take too long and the coupon would expire.

Maybe I'll give my coupon to brother Steve and he can get himself a new Alienware 18. He did go through a lot... With the refund he got from Dell and my coupon, he should be able to get a maxed out Alienware 18. It doesn't make things right, but it may make him happy, and I won't be able to use this coupon anyway. Is this offer valid in the UK, though? It would be a shame if not.

 

FWIW, you can use the DPA and pay it off once you receive your refund.

 

I used my DPA for my Alienware 17. I'm a college student with "fair" credit - I don't have any available credit on my DPA.

The only way I could do this is to sell my 17 today, for cash, and then buy another system.

 

Ah, that sucks. You'd probably wind up saving close to nothing at the price you'd have to sell the 17 at. I got lucky in that I just sold a ton of guitar gear, so I've got some spare funds.

 

Yeah, I doubt it would be worth it. Oh well... Just my luck.

Runs to the pawn shop down the road and takes out a loan on my car... Must... have... Alienware 18!

 

So, my order is finalized and I got an 18 with 4930MX, dual 780Ms and a 2 year warranty for $200 more than I paid for a 17 with a 4800MQ, one 780M and the basic warranty.

 

So lucky...

 

Pro tip, they're able to combine the discount with anything you negotiate off, but they won't negotiate after it's applied.

Spoiler

So go in without saying anything about the coupon, negotiate as much as you can (I just got them to match the initial $350 on the 17 I ordered in June, otherwise the chat guys wouldn't give me more than $100 off), then say that you have a coupon. They'll then apply the coupon on top of the discount and you'll save crazy money. My price before negotiating was $4598, then I got the $350 off, and free NBD shipping. Then they took 30% off of $4258, to make the subtotal $2980.60, which is just a tad more than I paid for my 17 with tax (like $30 more). Then after tax, my total was $3226.50. So stoked. Now I just have to hope no manager catches on and cancels it...

 

Good morning everyone, I ran into an issue.

I just got my new Alienware 18 last night. Quite a nice piece of work. I ordered it with the standard 750G & 64G caching SSD drives. However, it came WITHOUT the 64G drive. I called support which didn't seem to surprised. They did a screen sharing session over gotoassist and checked the disk configuration in windows, then had me go into the bios. No disk. And it's physically not there (I checked.) They will be sending a disk to a local technician for him to install within 24/48 hours when I call back (not at home at the moment.)

What really is annoying is there was no apology, nothing... just "call back when you can." Now I have to spend my time, gas money, and probably a toll-bridge fee to get what I ordered. I really wouldn't expect this from a $4000 notebook.

The morale of the story is, CHECK your hardware. A caching SSD, if not familiar with them, might go unnoticed in a beast of a rig like this.

On another topic - I'm thinking about getting 3 Samsung 840s... and ordering the ODD drive caddy part# RJF2Y. Would it be worth it to keep the 64GB msata in there as a caching drive, as 3 840's raided together would be a ton faster...Also, I'm wondering what the odd slot in the side of the case would look like. If it'd be open, if the drive caddy blocks it, or if there is another part I can get for that side that doesn't have the slot...?? Any help would be appreciated.

 

It makes you wonder how much these systems cost to Dell for them to still be able to profit on a system with more than 30% off... Maybe staff members get similar discounts.

You're very lucky to have gotten this deal. Though, I wouldn't be going around bragging about it until after the system showed up at my door, just in case.

 

You cannot cache SSD with SSD. Caching only works with HDD. You would be better off putting a 1TB HDD in the ODD caddy and using the mSATA to cache that as a fast data storage drive and put two SSD in RAID0 in the normal drive caddy. The caddy does not block the slot in the chassis. If you look closely, it probably has flaps in the opening that a DVD is inserted through, and that acts as a sight shield so you don't just see an empty slot.

 

I cannot find the second group of ram ? Is it under the KB like in the r2 version of the m18x ? :S

Also, one of the plastic clamp broke when I removed the ram (the side part and it still has the melal part). It is the side ''grip'' that you need to lift when you install the ram. Will I be able to install ram anyways or not ? It's the first time I experience this and I guess it was very weak from the factory build !

thank you

 

posted in error

 

Personally, I'd save the cash and just grab a PM841 and another 750GB HDD to RAID with the stock one. In fact, that's what I did. There's really no point in having a ton of SSD storage, IMO. And in like 90% of cases, I haven't been able to notice the extra cache speed. A 512GB PM841 is $380, and another 750GB Scorpio Black is $70. 512GB is more than enough to store frequently played games for fast boot times, and everything else can go on the RAID 0 HDDs.

 

Got and order confirmation call and my 18 is now in production. Looking good so far.

 

do you have windows 7? if you don't do not waste your time with a small ssd, because the alienrespawn with windows 8 do no install on small drive. I just returned mine to order with w7!

 

I was going to wait for the this weekend, which was going to be tax free weekend, but the 30% Discount was too much to resist. Discover card has a 10%CB for Dell, but that is a hit or miss since I used a coupon. Also used Dell Advantage to get another 5% CB.

I got the Alienware 18 BTX Base Mod | i7-4800MQ | 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz | Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M | 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching | Blu-ray Reader .

Status: In Production
Estimated Delivery Date: 8/22/2013

 

hwo much did you get it for?

 

Order Subtotal: $2,413.30
Shipping and Handling Total: $0.00

Tax Total: $205.13
Total Amount: $2,618.43

 

damn im ran out of time to purchase the item

 

Hello Everyone!

So excited to say that I'm finally upgrading my M17x R1.

Placed an order two days ago for a spanking brand new Alienware 18 with the following specs:


Windows 8 Pro
i7 Extreme i7-4930MX Processor
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M
32GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
Samsung PM841 256GB mSATA SSD
1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive

With 4 year support and 4 year accidental damage.

Now to get ready for the long wait. But so, so happy. Few things match the feeling of receiving that brand new lappy. Looking forwar to opening the box, the smells. The feel.

Anyways. Just all around excited. Will share my impressions soon as it's here.

 

I finally got my new Alienware, I ordered June 13. it is large. Even compared to my 17" Vostro.
I sure like how bright the screen is.

OK, I made a recovery USB with respawn. My two drives are not setup as Raid 0 although my 64 gig msata says raid 0.
I have never setup raid 0 before, should I call Dell or could I do it myself. I have re-installed many operating systems since dos\win3.1

I will be leaving it as msata and two 750 drives for a while.

 

Well, if you ordered 1.5tb Raid HDD's, they didn't set it up like that at the factory - instead they just installed everything to one and cached it by the looks of things....

 

yes it was ordered as raid 0

 

Well, Dell didn't set it up in RAID, going from your previous screenie. I guess not a huge deal as you can always raid them if you want. Bit sloppy on Dell's behalf though....

 

I have my own thread but it's not getting the action I need. Any m18 owners running the regular wifi drivers and experiencing online choke during their gaming? I am mainly playing CS:GO and CS:S online with severe choke. Ping and connectivity are just fine as are my download speeds. My R1 still plays just fine. Need help.

 

Further research is showing me that with basic Win 8 Home Edition does NOT have the ability to search for gpedit.msc. This would allow me to manipulate some internet settings that are dedicated to Windows 8 which uses considerable resources and could be the culprit of the lag. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a workaround since i do not have access to the command prompt. It must be in the registry through regedit but I have no idea where it is. I can't be the only one experiencing this lag in games? Thoughts gurus?

 

Isn't cmd prompt on the Start menu? Maybe this will help http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2754-elevated-command-prompt-open-windows-8-a.html

 

Sorry I mistyped. Yes CMD prompt is available but the prompt to manipulate gpedit.msc is not available. However I have found and posted a work around in a dedicated thread so owners don't miss it but this individual fixes the issue and I have confirmed it to work:
(HD) How to reduce your online game latency (lag) FOR WINDOWS 8 - YouTube

 

I finished my registration for my Dell Advantage. How do I use the 5% of my purchase price? I never received a card in the mail or is that sent out after registration is complete? I'm pretty bummed I had so many issues and I could have ordered a computer with 20% off the other night with the 'mystery gift' plus used my government employee purchase. I would have saved so much more and I haven't even gotten to really use the system yet because I have been doing all the steps Dell has told me to when I get home from work to troubleshoot. I am just about out of my 30 day window and I am not sure I could return it anymore as it takes 3-5 days on ground transport. With the weekend coming, I would be just outside my return window when they get the system. It would have cost Dell so much more to fix my system and sell as a scratch and dent, I really thought a more amicable solution could have been had.

 

You just have to ship it by the 30 days, IIRC. Or maybe it's just request a return.

 

Dell says that you cannot have two drives in raid 0 with an msata caching them. As it is my msata is only caching the one drive.

Does anyone know if WIDI will work if I switch to the intel display and get my wifi card changed to something compatible with WIDI

 

You can definitely cache two HDD in RAID0 (I am running that as a matter of fact, and have been for a good while) but you cannot cache SSD with SSD (one or multiple).

The Intel wireless display works with the HD graphics (not discrete GPU) and the Intel Ultimate-N 6300 and some of the other Intel WiFi cards do support that. It's not much use except for streaming movies or web surfing using your TV as a monitor. It is basically worthless for gaming since you have to use the Intel HD graphics.

 

A month before the current generation Alienware laptops were revealed and released, I contemplated on pulling the trigger on an M17X R4 from a re-seller. When the new designs were released, I liked the new design and found that the older generation (as beautiful as it is) to be a little dated next to the new one (I'll get flamed for this!). I planned to buy a laptop this September but my wallet took a hit from getting a bunch of stuff and won't be making the purchase till late-October or early November.

With my budget, the best I can get is the base AW18 model (4700MQ) with 780s.

1. Would the 4700MQ hinder the 780s when gaming, watching videos (both stream and from DVD/Blu-Ray/other)? Is it even competent?
2. Can I experience at least 3 years of High End smooth gaming experience from dual 780s?
3. I would like to have a Blu-Ray WRITER but Dell only offers a Blu-Ray Reader. Are there any aftermarket options to have a Blu-Ray writer? I admit, I won't take advantage of the writer very much but I intend to use the writer down the road. Also, having the extra perk doesn't hurt much.
4. I don't plan on doing much modifications (other than Blu-Ray Writer) and I wouldn't really push the machine via OC'ing unless there's a definite need to do so. How reliable are these machines? I guess this is too early to ask?
5. I'm concerned about the Aluminium body's potential to get dinged and nicked. Are they easily dinged with a few hits? Are they hard to repair? Can they be hammered/massaged out?
6. The previous generation AW laptops were notorious for having loud fans. Are the fans on the newer 18 a bit more quiet? The last I want is to get kicked out a library or having my computer's fan distract others from their business.
7. The website says the laptop I want is ~2900. Can you guys @ what price I should try to hit when haggling? Of course, I'll try to include the student discount (if it's applicable to AW machines. Would it be smarter for me to wait until Thanksgiving/other holiday season? With that said, I'm not in desperate need of a new laptop but I would like to have one before January ends. I can pay the ~2900 but I'd like to save as much as I can.

I know I posted a similar thread months ago regarding an M17X R4 but I'm more certain with making an AW18 purchase in the months to come. Please forgive me if my questions and terminologies come out as "infantile" or "noob". I'm starting and trying to get into the world of computer enthusiasts.

Thanks in advance...

 

I'll do some of the basic stuff like adding SSD's and RAM upgrades. I can do those relatively easy plug and chugs and following further instructions if necessary.

Sorry for double posting.

 

It Will run games pretty good i'd say newest haswell and Dual 780s ? I mean.. You are very good to go ^^ and later you Can upgrade ram and ssd and Best part is you Can do it Yourself !

 

everytime i restart my laptop, my wifi not connecting to the wireless network, i had to disable wifi and re-enable to get internet working.
any solution to this problem? its annoying to repeat the process again and again.

 

Hello and sorry for my englisch

After one order cencelation I finally get my new Alienware 18 next week (i7 4900MQ, 16GB DDR3L 1600MHz, 750GB + 64GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M SLI, Windows 7) and I want to change the hard drive to Samsung 840 pro 512GB and leave the factory hd as storage. I never done it before (i have now the M18x with i7 2670QM, 8GB DDR3 1333MHz, 750GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI, Windows 7), how can I do that?
I want to have a exact copy of the factory drive on the ssd with the recovery partition to make a factory restore.
Can someone help me step by step?

 

Just make sure you do a alienrespawn to a flash drive or to 2 DVD disc before you formatt the Hard drive. Very easy to do, note. the windows7 recovery disc don't have the factory configuration.

 

But the factory hd have a factory configuration in the recovery partition...
I never do a recovery with alien respawn on my m18x and with no problems i can restore to factory...

 

1) I think people have said the CPU could now be your bottleneck for gaming so I'd get as much as you can. I just pulled the trigger on 4800MQ which most posts say is best value for the buck. Go top cpu if you can, but like most people, money is limited for a lot of us.

6) Most reports say the fans are not as loud this time around. Very quite / no fan noise for general use.

7) Dell just had a MPP 10-30% off coupon sale. If you're not desperate to buy now, I would just wait for a holiday sale since it's possible this sale will come back or at least some other sale. Since they just had this sale, they may not have as much incentive to do one immediately after. I paid about 3k after tax for 4 year extended warranty/accidental and 780m sli and 4800mq. Had 30% off coupon + 2% mpp and a 5% gift card not included in 3k price is coming later. Obviously, if you cut the cpu or warranty, you can drive this price down to less than 2500. The 4 year support was 500+ alone. I honestly wasn't planning to buy and wasn't ready to buy for financial reasons, but 30% off was too tempting for me and I didn't know how the coupons would work next time around and Dell might go private as well soon which rushed my decision since I don't know what they will do with prices/Alienware unit. It's also the new model since I held off buying when I had about 28% off on the M18x r3 a few months back.

 

Thanks for the help

My 9 year old son will be using the computer for gaming and I will be streaming home movies and pictures to the tv for the grandparents, also web surfing. My original order (which I cancelled) m18x R2 had a 2230 card which was WIDI capable. My camcorder takes very large size full HD .mts files and the intel graphics plays them fine on the new 18. I also have many older 10 gig each .avi movies which is one reason why I went with the alienware for the large HD capacities.

Will raid 0 on the 2 - 750 drives help out a lot or not much in my case? As it is I could put all my movies/pictures on the non accelerated drive, they will play fine from there.

 

Man, you're more then ok with that configuration! My M18XR1 with i7 2760QM and 580MSLi can run Any games out there with not problem, even metro last light and crysis3. You will be ok with that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It may help. RAID 0 is supposed to double your read/write times.