*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

I said it before and I will say it again. A high performance laptop is not only one that has high quality components and materials. It has to have high standard QC check as well. My display failed in 2 days so it obviously was flawed when they installed it or they did not installed it properly. That is a big oversight from their part. All I want is for them to acknowledge their mistake and compensate me for the all the trouble of repacking it, wasting at least a day waiting for them to pick it up, waiting another 2 weeks for the new order to arrive through no fault of mine. I lose time and money during this process. I don't get why this is so hard to understand for some people.

 

Back to insulting remarks, eh? - He's NOT saying that 'the best notebook in the world' cannot EVER have a hardware issue, what he IS saying that it is unacceptable, to him, that his BRAND NEW machine - that is STILL within his LEGAL return window - has hardware problems. There is a difference in having to accept a repair much later on than having to have a two day old machine repaired. You don't get that fact, but choose to have a go at him instead for exercising his rights as a consumer, and for having the 'audacity' (as you think it is) to perhaps think that Dell would maybe offer him something for his troubles in the format of a good will gesture - something we see plenty of, which is at Dell's sole discretion - you are not Dell, so why should it bother you if he maybe get's a small token as an apology?

Why don't you go and read Brother daveh98's thread detailing his own problems with a brand new machine: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/727406-i-have-decided-proceed-replacement-m18.html - his machine had a dented bottom panel - easy fix. He also had some display problems - was offered a new screen. He rejected BOTH options, and he's elected to accept a replacement. He could have had a refund. Are you calling him stupid, too??? - he was also using his rights as a consumer to his best advantage. Nothing wrong with that , but you continually hammer people for doing so - simply because things do not work like that in your shop, or in Norway. Sure, Brother dave mentions that he was offered no compensation, but the fact he mentioned it indicates that it was something on his mind. Again, nothing wrong with that.

I can't help but feel that you think that Brother Ramthor (and other people) are trying to 'defraud' Dell with your attitude about the cost of these instances to Dell. You keep defending Dell's profit margins like there is no tomorrow, even when people have problems beyond their control. I don't know if you have ever heard of the phrase "People in glass houses should not throw stones" in Norway, but I could easily say that you have attempted a very mild form of fraud yourself recently - by trying to use a 30% coupon - that was not mailed to you - to reduce the cost of your intended Alienware 18 purchase: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/726850-dell-mystery-code-9.html#post9311437. Does that not eat into Dell's profits in the same fashion as, say, someone getting a token good will gesture of possibly a ram upgrade or someting??? - probably a LOT more so, as that would have reduced a loaded 18 by over $1500 for you - technically, you were not entitled to that discount, as you were not sent that code. Nit-picking? - maybe, but it is still obtaining something that you were not really supposed to get as you were not mailed it - someone else was, and whichever way you cut it, you were trying to exploit the system, and Dell, for your own personal gain.

It might appear 'tasteless' to you - but it his his RIGHT to return - for whatever reason he chooses - within his return period. Norway law is not global law, and he does NOT have to accept a repair if he does not want to, because he is within that return window. He did not buy from your shop in Norway, he bought from Dell UK, and he is only exercising his consumer rights that many other people have, too. We should, as a community, support those who have these kind of experiences, instead of belittling them. You are very quick to enforce 'Norway law' and your own opinion on others, and if they do not meet with that, you jump on them like a tonne of bricks.

It has NEVER been policy to sell returned machines as new - it is illegal to do so. Sometimes, it is pot luck as to what you get from the outlet. Some machines do not get categorised correctly - certified refurbished should be pretty much perfect, scratch and dent obviously carry some signs of user wear or damage. The problem is that Dell do not detail the level of cosmetic damage, and sometimes, someone can get a scratch and dent sent out when they were buying certified refurbished. That's why you see posts complaining about scratches etc on machines bought from Dell outlet. Sometimes, scratch and dent machines are quite badly damaged, too - and the lack of detail again is a reason for such posts.

And this is relevant to what exactly?

The pictures in the spoiler below are not indicative of someone wanting to buy back into Alienware any time soon:

Spoiler

Before:

After:

End Result:

Soon to be for sale:

Sorry to disappoint. There will be no future announcement from me about purchasing a new Alienware machine......and even if I did change my mind, that would be my choice, with my money, to do so. In effect, all I would be doing is buying the 'replacement machine' that Dell offered me in the first place - but I would have to put more of my own money to it to actually get a true 'like for like' machine, instead of what they offered me - but then retracted. So, nothing wrong with that, if I did choose to do that, so no scoffing required, thanks.

Apologies for the long, somewhat 'off-topic' post - but just a suggestion here, why don't we try HELPING someone that has issues, rather than bashing them?? - wouldn't that be a novel idea?

 

Anyone tried this out? http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/721574-official-alienware-18-owners-lounge-thread-123.html#post9315797

Could anyone also try to overclock the display to 75Hz refresh rate by creating custom resolution profile in Nvidia control panel? It really feels much more fluid compared to 60Hz, especially in games)

 

I don't understand this either. Why post in an Alienware forum if you don't even own an Alienware, especially if your sole purpose is to insult and down others based on choice and opinion? I thought we were all a bit more mature than this, but here lately it's been a few that keep saying the same thing or bringing up the issues of others in a flamebaiting and trolling manner.

Newsflash folks, this is an Alienware forum, ergo you're going to have people who are going to enjoy talking about Alienware, even if you're not happy with what's said or not. If you can't contribute positively, then find another hobby, damn.

 

So what's the best way to get a Windows 7 install CD/DVD or USB drive to re-install the OS? I didn't see a FAQ page on the 1st page so wasn't sure...

It's too bad there are only 2 standard drive slots. I really don't want to have to buy a 120gb OS mSATA SSD. Is anyone using the 64GB mSATA SSD Caching as their O/S boot drive for windows 7? I read 64GB should be enough, but have to be careful to keep some space free on it. I was hoping to probably get maybe the new Samsung 840 EVO and raid 0 it for Enterprise Quickbooks. My master file is unusually large (> 500 MB) and think the striping may help since running reports and some processing lags now.

Oh, I also wanted to keep my blu-ray drive so didn't want to use that space for a SSD.

 

"Back to insulting"
If you read his post which I responded to, you can see he called me "stupid".
I admit I was a bit harsh against him but the way his arguments, like "world best notebook" shouldnt have any issues. Its so far away from the truth. And just by looking at his last post, "the display died on me after 2 days so clearly there is a quality control issue because Dell should have known this". Also far far from reality. Things like that get on my nerves.

This whole discussion shouldnt even have been in the first place, because I thought that Dell sold these notebooks as new to other people, after they replaced the display. That is why I reacted because If that were the case then some other guy would have drawn the shortest straw because the previous owner refused to have some technician come over.
My fault of course.

As for the coupon, They gave away these codes for them to be used. And it was completely random who got it. If I got the 30% and didnt need it myself I would of course give it away to someone else who do need it.

 

Fair enough, regarding the insults - but stupid is as stupid does - as Forrest Gump said.

At least we agree on one thing...this never should have got to this stage. I say that because when a relatively new forum member, with a brand new machine with problems comes here, they probably expect a degree of support - right or wrong. He/she does not need a lecture in what is right or wrong from ANYONES personal perspective on wether they are entitled to good will or not - he/she should be supported and guided in the best way to resolve such problems. Belittling their issues solves nothing, and only creates animosity - which no one needs.

As for my coupon example, it was simply to show you that you too were also wanting something from Dell that you (personally) were technically not entitled to - just like you seemed to argue about Ramthor not being entitled to any form of good will because of his poor experience. Let's be realistic here - neither action would have any severe impact at all on Dell - they are not gonna go bust by giving you 30% off your 18, or by giving Ramthor a GWG. I personally have nothing against people sharing coupons or tips or whatever to get the best deal available, that's fine - it's also why I ran my 'money saving' thread for three years - to help people get better deals. Nor do I have an issue with anyone getting a good will gesture from Dell if they have had a bad experience.

A little patience, a little understanding goes a looooong way.

Again, in the infamous words of our friend, Forrest...."That's all I have to say about that......"

 

My house was on fire so I didn't really bother to read into every 'interesting' comments, but as of now Dell's customer service isn't very good, and we all can agree on that. Like Apple, Dell needs to bring their offshore operations back into US.

And the discount code, well Dell's a big corporate, so they don't really care too much about the minority part of their customers. I feel smacked in the face but returning the machine and re-buying one would be a lot of trouble. To be honest, now to think of it, returning it might be a better idea, but it's too late now as the coupon has expired. The day the coupon was expiring was the day after the fire in the house, and I was too busy trying to clean up all the crap from the fire and water damage. A few hundred bucks is nice, but my life is more important. You can only give so much f*** to a company that doesn't treasure its customers.

Stevie are you selling the Logitech G9X mouse? I have the same mouse, and have been using it for years. Not a bad mouse by all means.

I have tried running at 75Hz and there was no problem, although I didn't really bother running it at 75Hz all the time. With Dell's poor CS, I am not brave enough yet to risk breaking the display.

 

I agree - life is more important than a small saving and a lot of hassle to get it - I hope things get sorted with the house soon. As for the mouse, yeah....no need for it any more. Great mouse, nice weights, got an extra wide-load black grip for it too, from Logitech. I'm gonna have lots of stuff to sell off soon, including a very lightly used G13 gampad and a new/sealed G19 Keyboard - amongst other stuff. Just waiting till my refund clears, then it's all going.....Actually, Dell need to pick up the machine first - something that they are having great difficulty in organising. I was told 29th.....still waiting....great skills - not.

I also agree that great service belongs at home, not farmed out. I'm not from the US (although I did find out recently I have family in Illinois!) I'd love to see country specific support, but I guess Dell just want the cheapest Indian labour possible....same goes for manufacturing - they should bring it back to home to create more jobs in the US.

 

Wow. I normally lurk, but what happened to just either getting the laptop fixed or getting a refund? It's a simple decision.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4

 

No, I did not call you stupid. I gave you 2 options: ill-intended OR plain stupid. YOU chose the latter. Why would you do that is beyond me, but maybe you are on to something...

 

Guys, knock it off please. I don't have time to delete a bunch of silly posts or hand out infractions for being rude and insulting. If it continues I will make time, but I would prefer to do something else today. Please man-up and stop bickering.

 

Finally Mr. Fox! Welcome!

(I was waiting for you and your scissors intervention since several pages ago )

 

I deleted a bunch of posts. Start a clean thought.

 

So, I was just on the phone with Dell to see if I could expedite my order, and they told me there was nothing more they could expedite at this point as it's already built and on the way to the Dell depot in TN. Ordered it last Tuesday at ~1am, so looks like they've got production up and running full steam on these now. Hopefully I'll have it by the end of the week with NBD shipping. Kinda wishing I didn't have it shipped to my mom's place now since I won't be there until Saturday at the earliest.

 

I got a shipment notice today:

"We are happy to let you know that your purchase (or part of it) has shipped on 08/05/2013 and is on its way to you."

I ordered July 30... Delivery should be on Wed, Aug. 7.

 

Damn, that's even faster than mine. Guess the 4930MX probably delayed mine a few days. Ordered same day at 1am and mine should ship in the next few days. Original EDD was the 19th. Though I just got an e-mail from the lady who processed the return of my 17 that said it just entered production today and should be here the 19th, so I dunno. Gonna go with the one I like better and hope it arrives later this week.

 

Just got my replacement system from Dell. Repasted everything with IC Diamond immediately and swapped out the hard drives. No benchmarks yet.

HUGE PROBLEM I noticed is I think the screen it shipped with is defective. When the screen is black there are huge glow spots showing up on the on the top and bottom of the screen. My other screen works perfectly though so unless someone can post a quick fix or the problem goes away by itself I'll probably have to open them both up one more time just to swap the screens. Huge bummer and waste of time but oh well.

EDIT: Oooooo baby, I just hit 9.5k on Firestrike with some very mild overclocks (+140/+450) and the GPU's didn't even break 80 degrees! CPU barely broke 70. I'm liking this new rig. Or perhaps my paste job was particularly amazing this go around

But the stupid screen has these stupid glowing spots.... sigh always something. I'll swap the screens tomorrow, and that better be the last time I have to open this rig up for at least a year -_-

EDIT2: I believe what I have is called "light leak" or "light bleed" and unfortunately a pretty severe case. Oh well... I'll swap the bloody screens -_- Just LOVING that Dell quality control btw

 

It's IPS glow. You'll have to swap the screen.

 

Light leak with modern panels is just a very common thing and happens with even the most expensive ones out there. It's just the nature of the technology, not so much a problem with Dell QC.

 

Could anyone, preferably who owns the new 18 and one of the old models, take pictures of the screens to show how the IPS glow looks like?

 

My camera phone is pretty bad but hopefully this shows what it looks like in general:



The bottom left and top left glowing spots are the most evident.

 

Hey Titansfan! I am planning on repasting once I get my replacement system. Was it a difficult process to teardown the system? Any videos or instructions that you followed? Thanks in advance!

 

Thanks.

Isn`t that just standard light bleed you get on all sorts of screens?

 

the one I returned has this to, but on the bottom left and top mid.

 

Just the owners's manual on the Dell site: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=ftp%3A%2F%2Fftp.dell.com%2FManuals%2Fall-products%2Fesuprt_laptop%2Fesuprt_alienware_laptops%2Falienware-18_Owner's%2520Manual_en-us.pdf&ei=HjEBUtq7LaHXygG5soHoDg&usg=AFQjCNGvD6xLZSBdXrahvbE4UhA2DnCkdw&sig2=KD_Buw73gbdINalzHssx4A&bvm=bv.50310824,d.aWc

It's pretty easy to take apart, especially compared to the 14x. Just unscrew and unplug everything on the back and then pull the keyboard/palm rest front area off. Unscrew and pull the screen off and everything is open for you. After you've followed the manual step by step once you'll have it memorized pretty easily. Good luck!

 

Man, people are getting their computers after one or two weeks after the order, i order myn for 2 months ago since that day ive been having problem with dell, after making phone calls and fixing my issue with the order, it finally was on order status, and when it was 2 days left from pre production to production mode, i get an mail says your order will be delayed due to few parts are not aviable, so dissapointed at dell taking this time, now its gonna take another month for me to wait, and its killing me because i have tournaments to be on, i cancel those tournaments because of not getting my computer, since my older one is broken...

Is anybody else have the same issue?, i live in sweden by the way.


Those who are interested of specs:
4930 MX proccessor Dual GTX Nvidia 780 SLI / 32Gig Ram // 500GB SSD storage + 750 Gb


thanks in advance, any replys are appreciated.

 

Hi all:
Am about to download most updated drivers etc. and thought it best to download the new BIOS A02 first.
Still have the A00 factory installed version.
Are many using this new version? Any problems with download or using it to worry about so far?
Thanks.

 

Yeah I'm not sure if IPS Glow has any specific differences from light bleeding or other screens in general, but luckily my other screen is flawless and it was a relatively quick swap out.

Feels good to be finallllllyyyy done tuning the software and hardware. Running Windows 8.1 in UEFI off of the mSata and have Samsung 840 Pros in Raid 0 for installs and videos/music/documents etc. Repasted with IC Diamond, and moved the SLI cable above the hinge so it wasn't pressed up against the heat sink. Updated the Bios to A02 and flashed both cards with the new unlocked VBios from Techinferno.

All that's missing is an unlocked core current option so the CPU can hit its full potential.

 

Yeah typical gamble like all screens then. It cant be IPS technology that does it since you got a new IPS screen without that light bleed.

Also make sure to keep yourself updated on when the new Magician 4.3 comes out. It will enable RAPID for your system. Basically a system made by Samsung that use 1GB of your RAM and puts most used programs ther automatically to access it quicker, and using the SSD for the rest. Kinda like Momentus XT, only its not a HDD with a small portion SSD for faster speed, but SSD with a small portion DDR3.

I posted information about it in the SSD forum. Right now EVO have support for RAPID but PRO will also get support soon.

 

So for the people who have received their machines, does it include the Wireless HD (maybe SiBEAM) card built in? It was on the Alienware landing page, but isn't there anymore...

(Posted in the WirelessHD thread, but I don't think anyone reads that one much).

 

I had the same problem with screen bleeding and after they replaced the screen I got this

Really Dell/Alienware -.- at least they are sending me a new one
And as far as replacing the screen goes you only have to remove the bezel with a screwdriver and pop a few screws out and the screen comes out easily.
And just for the record if you enlarge the second pic it says 1C going sideways on the screen. It is kind of engraved on the screen and it is always present. Its about the size of a dime/quarter.

 

What kind of screen blemish is that?? That seems very strange.

 

The 1C part is really strange! But to be perfectly honest, your first display seemed ok. It had very mild light leak at the top, the rest was just IPS glow. What brightness was the display at when you took the first pic? If it's 100% then that's sorta expected on most IPS panels, the best thing to do is to calibrate it to minimize bleed + maximize picture quality.

 

I can't seem to see the 1C...Can someone circle it?

 

Lol I have no idea, but it is a most unusual blemish. I cannot figure out if it is integrated into the actual screen or if it is just pixels. It cannot be scratched off and there is no filter or protective sheet on the screen. And as far as ips glow / light bleed goes, there were three major areas. The top center of the screen, the bottom left quadrant, and the bottom left. It was especially noticeable when playing dark games like L.A Noir. My other complaint with the laptop was that the touchpad left and right clickers are kind of loose. Other than that this laptop is perfect.

 

bottom left corner

 

Now that I think about it, it might be ghosting/burn in on your screen. IPS panels can get it so it may have happened when they were testing it. Try running one of those dead pixel programs at high speed over that area.

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

Totally strange. I thought that red mark was some sticker or just part of the desktop...Dell should really consider doing better QA on these new systems before shipment.

 

Last generation with the M18x, I had two systems that had significant cosmetic issues/damage on arrival (one being the replacement for the first). I highly doubt Dell stepped up their game this time around with quality control, but I hope that I am at least able to receive a "lucky" system with my new order.

 

From what I've read this is better for burn in than dead pixels:
Plasma screen wash - YouTube

 

Actually after playing a black screen and focusing in on it a bit more, depending on the viewing angle (particularly when looking up to the screen) even the screen I swapped to has some IPS glow. I think the glow on this other screen is even bigger on the bottom left than the other one, but it's more spread out and dull, so less noticeable in general. Not sure if it's worth exchanging for a third as it seems the majority of IPS screens are shipping with at least some IPS glow.

 

Got AW-18 Quad Play maxed canceled after 7 weeks of waiting in US. I don't cry, I get even. New wish list: order with Window 7(junk-out) add (Win8.1 w-Start8), junk-out 64GB mSATA SSD Caching, get Dual 780's graphics (flash GPUcards with unlocked VBios:Thx:"Titanfan"-32Gig Ram just in case - Dual Samsung 1TB EVO Raid 1 initially or switch to Raid 0 if need more speed (avail Aug 20th; like I haven't waited enough already), Thx:"Cloudfire" Guess I will keep the ODD and add 3TB USB-3 external storage when needed. Thanks everyone for the updates; I read all your stuff to help me prep for a new order.

 

Hello, Just got my Alienware 18.

Has anyone had issues with trying to boot from USB?

I have memtest86 on a bootable USB, but it doesn't get detected. I switched to Legacy for booting, but I don't see anything for USB. I tried multiple ports and a different USB key. I have used these keys on several other laptops without problems.

I called Alienware tech support, and they first said it was my usb drive, and then said it was a bios issue. I requested a Windows 8 Direct Dell USB key because I plan to do a clean install on a ssd and to see if the usb key would work, but got denied because support says it wasn't a problem with the hardware since the USB ports seem to work inside windows.

I was told to use Prime95 since you can use it from Windows. That response doesn't really address my problem. Is this the service one usually gets?

 

Is your USB 3.0? I thought I read somewhere with problems booting/accessing USB 3.0 sticks.

 

No, the two that I used are USB 2.0

 

man... you have no idea of how much problem I have had with windows 8 on my returned m18. I installed windows 8 on an ocz vertex 4 256gb and itel 520 240gb, and after one day the computer was crashing like crazy... so I did an alienrespawn backup, and I try many time to do a system restore with no look because it need 960gb to be able to install.

 

Hey guys.. can some one 'No offence" knows what there doing please test regular DDR3 memory in the new alienware.. and see if it posts..
Ive seen a few threads and post where people are saying it wont work because it ships with DDR3L..

so to put this to rest once and for all lets test it..

I find it hard to believe that alienware would limit the new systems..

 

I can't test it, Bro - but I think those who can will find that normal voltage ram works fine - as long as it's not mixed with ddr3l (Lo-Vo) ram that Dell ship with new machines. I think that is where the problem lies - mixing it is a no-go. Still, if someone with a new 18 can pull the Dell stuff and try normal sodimm's, that would put this sucker to bed for good...