*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

AW 18
i7-4700QM
780 SLI
8 GB memory
750GB HDD+64 cache msata
DVD Drive

thats my config and still in Pre-Prod. Been about 3 days

 

Well if it's the panel on the 18, none of them should have gone into production if they are being held up because of a screen problem. I'd be worried if mine actually WAS in production if this is the issue at hand....

 

Mine went into "Production" today! Does that mean they are lying to me? Can I have my new laptop please....and thank you?!!!!

 

Hahaha, well let's hope they finally start deploying the Aliens from the motherships...about time, I reckon.

 

Hello,

Not posted for a long time but I've just placed my order,


Alienware 18 BTX Base Mod
Overclocked 4th Gen Intel Core i7-4930MX (8MB Cache, up to A.B GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife PLS 350 Nit Display (1920 X 1080)
Alienware 18 LCD Hinge Up
16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
330W A/C Adapter
8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI Enabled
Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
5G WiFi Broadcom 4352 802.11n/ac and Bluetooth 4.0 driver
Internal UK/Irish (QWERTY) Keyboard
Thank You for Choosing Dell
are
Power DVD 9.6, 3D,V2
Operating System : English Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Os Media : Included with your OS
Alienware Avatar -Alienhead 3D
McAfee(R) SecurityCenter(TM) (Multi-Language) - 15 Months
e
Standard Service - 1 year of Next Business Day coverage included with your PC
INFO 1 Year NBD with Premium Phone Support
3 Years NBD with Premium Phone Support
3 years Accidental Damage Protection(OS)


I got the 3 Years NBD with Premium Phone Support, 3 years Accidental Damage Protection and aLogitech® Wireless Mouse M705 for FREE!!

Happy Days

 

Just noticed mine was ordered with:

391-BBDS 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife 400 Nit Display (1920 X 1080)

Yours is :

18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife PLS 350 Nit Display (1920 X 1080)

Could be the problem right there. Let us know if yours goes into production asap.

Edit: Just been onto the config page and the machine is now configable with the 400Nit display and not the 350Nit

 

Well Spotted!!

I've left a message with the rep but they're not back until Monday.....I will post reply when they get in touch.

 

I spotted that ages ago (12th June, actually, reference my post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-launch-discussion-thread-14.html#post9234371) and I asked one of our Alien Brothers on NBR to respond - no one did. I saw that on the discussion thread, first post at the bottom, Brother Pardo lists the screen as 350 nit: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...are-launch-discussion-thread.html#post9233620 but obviously the UK site stated 400 nit and so did my mocked up quote.

I had my rep mock me up a quote and it came through with 400 nit (UK quote, btw) so I asked for someone here to clear this up, as 50 nits is a fair bit of brightness to lose out on....of course, 400 nit is better than 350 nit, so don't fret dazzy, if it is 400, it's better for ya

Either way, we could do with CONCRETE confirmation from Dell which level of brightness these screens actually are....350 or 400.

 

Luis can you look into the LCD problem. 350nit or 400nit ???

 

Ok, I spoke with Dell support, and according to what the rep told me, the quotes that we get that show the system details are erroneously showing 400 nit. He said the ONLY available display is 350 nit. Now, this is for US. I would assume the same will be true for everyone, but I guess it's possible that people in other places could get 400 nit displays... Luis, any thoughts?

 

Mine is in production today. Original M18xR2 order May 25. I Cancelled and ordered the computer below Jun 14. EDD is July 30. EDD for original M18xR2 was Jun 18 Canada order

Alienware 18 BTX Base Mod
16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
1.5TB RAID 0 (2x750GB 7200RPM) + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M with 2GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI Enabled (Standard)
4th Gen Intel Core i7-4700MQ (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost) (Standard)
18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife 400 Nit Display (1920 X 1080)

 

Trust Dell UK/EMEA to balls things up......again

 

ordered mine from somewhere in europe ( no idea where because its a dell reseller in israel) , and it says on the order layout that the display has 400 nit.
just to get an idea of what is 400 nit , any idea how much nit is a macbook pro retina display ?

 

My order was placed 06/12/13 and it now say's it's In Production. However, it sounds like the parts aren't even really available and my guess is that the order status change is to act as a pacifier to keep people from complaining about their stagnant order. The wait is fine with me as it's allowing me to really ponder if I want to keep it! If it shipped in the next few days then I would likely just suck it up and keep the thing!

 

Btw, for those of you who might be interested, the Alienware Vindicator Briefcase (the new version, up to 18") is reg. priced at $119.99 on Dell. If you use this code (in US) ZCZ5MMX9JLG01M, it will give you 15% off, making the total $101.99 before tax. So if some of you were wondering what to buy with your 5% GC's, that might be a nice pick up!

 

Hey guys, kind of interesting article here about the Haswell architecture, but the main point I want to bring out is this quote, to address previous questions of dropping a i7-4000 series into one of the previous generation Alienwares...
"Anyway, the final part of the Haswell puzzle involves the supporting platform. With Haswell comes yet another new socket. Thus, LGA1156 begat LGA1155 and now we have LGA1150. Inevitably, this breaks backwards compatibility. You can't upgrade an existing PC with Haswell chips. You'll need at least a new motherboard"

I hear the 780's are "theoretically" possible to drop in to the m18x r2 for instance, but the 780's take up more power than the 680's, so that makes it problematic.

 

I fully expected Haswell to come with a socket change. However any modern i7 is perfectly fit for gaming. A top-end will probably help some games down the road; especially with poorly optimized console ports. Haswell is about a 10% improvement clock for clock over Ivy and Ivy was 10% over Sandy I believe as well. I'm thinking my 4900MQ with some OC ability will be more than plenty for anything I throw at it (gaming, encoding, decoding, etc).

The 780ms will likely be just fine as a drop in and bios mod. I think the extra bandwidth of the 780m along with increased shader count will help more than people realize once the drivers get optimized and likely optimized with the 780 in mind with the 500 and 600 as secondary priority. I hate to say this, but both Nvidia and AMD are great at "forced obsolescence" which was evident with Crysis 2 running about 50% worse with the 6970 compared to the 6990 which was about 15% better on paper.

 

I posted on another thread about this above. Haswell is not compatible with HM77 socket, so will not work. The Sandy/Ivy compatibility problem was not socket related, but bios related. Ivy chips would not work on older platforms because of this. As for the 780m's, same MXM, same 100w TDP as the 680m - plug and play, basically. As we know, a few R2 owners have already done this with success.

 

Pretty much every desktop review site has been blasting Intel's retail Haswell chips for being substantially inferior to the review chips they handed out earlier, running even hotter than ivy bridge and only marginally faster.

This the case for the mobile Haswells also?

 

[!! Just noticed that the power cord will go into the side of the new machine and not into the rear....

 

What dont you like? most laptops are now coming with power and NIC on sides.

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind the AC in on the side. The only thing Dell should have done was to put a right angled jack on the power lead instead of a straight jack. That way, the cable could have been routed toward the rear more easily. A few guys have tried using a right angle adapter with no success - Dell's proprietary PSU technology does not allow the PSU to be recognised correctly using such an adapter.

 

I think the power jack on the side is ugly on all laptops. I think it adds to the ugliness factor by not having a 90° angle tip on the AC adapter. It's much cleaner with the power port in the center of the rear panel, and a 90° angle tip on the cord would be better in either case. The straight tip on the AC adapter not only looks ugly sticking straight out the side of the machine, it also seems like it would be more susceptible to accidental damage.

As far as upgrading an M18x R1/R2 with 780M SLI is concerned, there is nothing theoretical about that. This has already been done. The new 18 doesn't have any more GPU handling capacity than the older models do. The M18x R1, R2 and new 18 are all shackled by exactly the same inadequate (for overclocking) 330W AC adapter.

I would love to see them release a 450W (or higher) AC adapter with a 90° angle tip on it. I'd buy two of them immediately. Even if it needed to be twice as large as the current one, I would be perfectly fine with that.

 

lol the power brick would be as big as another laptop

 

That may be worth starting a new thread on IdeaStorm. Or two, perhaps with names like "the Ultimatum: right-angled power cord contra sensible location for power jack" and "an end to penurity: providing sustenance for our Beasts" so Dell knows that they are serious.

Hard for the m17x owners to complain about an insufficient PSU, but I don't know why Dell doesn't offer 400-450W for the 18.

 

That's quite OK with me. In fact, it could be three times larger and I would not care. It would not need to used all the time by folks that might have a problem with the added bulk and weight. The 330W AC adapter is good enough for normal use and everyday gaming. It is only inadequate for extreme overclocking of the CPU and GPUs simultaneously, in which case it lacks capacity and will end up tripping its internal circuit breaker and the system shuts off abruptly due to power starvation.

 

Ok, I'm sorry if I was wrong about the GPU's, I was basing what I said on this website that compares the 780's vs the 680's and it shows that the 780's use 22 more watts apiece...Is that not really a big deal? I'm actually asking, I'm not at all trying to be sarcastic, just so no one misunderstands

 

So I'm wanting to get on the Alienware 18 bandwagon however I'm having trouble justifying the purchase, i would buy a maxxed out system of course. As of now my laptop i have a M17xR1 with the below stats and a desktop with the below stats. Just wanting some feedback on what you all think. Or perhaps just do some upgrades somewhere.

M17xR1:
CPU: QX9300
GPU: Nvidia 280m SLI
RAM: 8GB @ 1333MHz
HDD: 750 GB X 2 Raid 0
NIC: Intel 6300

Desktop:
CPU: FX-8350
GPU: Nvidia 590 X 2
SSD: OCZ: Vertex 3
RAM: 16GB @ 2000MHz
All under water!

 

I actually find having the power jack on the side more appealing not ugly (but that's always matter of personal preference right? ) and easily reachable than having it springing straight from the back (for how I have things set here the cable is in the way). I agree with you that cables tips should always have a 90° angle, as well as with the complain that AC adapter should be way more powerful.

 

Hello everyone,gonna order the 18 soon, with GTX 780M SLI, I have to ask about the international warranty as im going to have it shipped after buying it from dell us, is the standard 1 year warranty international? and to the ones that ordered were u able to haggle down the price abit? And also can i sign up for something that gets me a discount(hear about it but dont remember), I heard u also get a 200$ card for students?
Thanks.

 

AAAhh, Atleast here in the UK the Warranty is international, i have it confirmed by a rep. you just need to contact dell and inform them that u and ur machine is in a new country, some strange process that takes a week and after that u can get ur service from that country. Regarding the haggle, its all upto your skills and also who u are speaking with. Some rep are just useless to talk to but some are quite helpfull. Also, a week back you could fine online coupons that provided 7% off. So thats just a straight forward slash on price. i hope that helped

 

I'm not sure that "international" means "global" as there may be some countries where no service and support whatsoever is available. There may also be some countries where service and support is limited to only the models that Dell sells there. Maybe the most effective way to determine what is available is to go to the Dell web site, look for the country in the drop-down menu at the top of the web page, then see what is available for purchase. If the country is not listed, or the specific machine is not available for purchase in that country, it could be an indication that service and support is unavailable for that model. As an example, it has been posted that the M18x was not available in some countries. That may also be the case with the new 18.

 

Hmmmm, thanks, and by haggle, I meant at this early stage are they lowering prices? I heard international warranty is the 3 years one, which exceeds my budget by 390$, any chances they might give 390$ off. llol.

 

I managed to get the 3 years warranty for free just for stating I was a loyal customer........Rep must have got lucky night before or something

I agree. I use my M18x as a desktop replacement and it doesn't travel far so when it's at home I don't even want to see the power supply. I suppose it is down to personal preference
but I would certainly buy a 90 degree adapter if one was available....somebody start a poll!!

 

Unfortunately, the 90 degree adapters do not work properly. At least that was the case with the R1/R2 and I imagine it's exactly the same psu. It has something to do with Dell's proprietary power supplies not 'handshaking' properly when an adapter is utilised.

 

im sure they might throw in the 2 years warranty for the price of 1 years if you can haggle them right.

 

Please feel free to go to ideastorm.com and start one, and I will gladly promote it. It would be a small thing for Dell to do it, and it would win massive points with customers. They would only need one 330W AC adapter as a service part for the M18xR1/R2 and 18 laptop family, and all models would benefit from having the 90° angle tip.

I think Crabeye may have been referring to actual "AC adapter" and not just the adapter tip like we have already tried and found to not work.

 

Would love to see a review on this thing from somewhere other than Laptop Mag in the near future...

 

What I get no answer love to my question? Harsh!

 

Probably since its not in the best thread. M18x Order Status Discussion is probably better.

But Ill have a go at answering your original question. I wouldn't bother upgrading your old m17x r1.
Your Desktop can probably hold up, dunno.
But you've probably come to these forums because you want a m18x. There is no universal way to justify the purchase personally for every person. We all have our own reasons and ways of justifying the price, whether it's needed for work, gaming, or people just want quality hardware.
Most of us all want the most powerful laptop/desktop replacement available.

I usually say this, try building something more powerful, anything with the same power/weight, and aesthetics for less money.

 

No, this thread is fine for the question stringbeandean asked.

I agree with TBoneSan about not upgrading your M17x R1. It's simply not worth it, IMHO. It's too old, even though it is still built better and is more powerful than an "average" laptop.

If you can afford it, I would recommend buying a new 18 with 4930MX and 780M SLI. You'll be good to go for a long time with that kind of power. With the right CPU and GPU tweaks, you'll most likely outperform your desktop.

 

Mr. Fox what temperatures do you get while gaming on your mx18r2? Did you ever repaste your gpus/cpu?

Edit: I only ask because I'm operating under the assumption the new 18 will run at approximately the same temperatures, unless the new chassis is a disaster or Haswell runs as hot as people say it does or the 780s run hotter than the 680s for some reason.

 

Thanks for the recommendation! I know the old M17xR1 lasted me four years so I know its dated. Hopefully you will see the order list i do here within the next week.

Also one last question i read something that Intels hardware now supports TRIM support in RAID arrays. If thats true I hear quad SSD calling my name.

 

Hi all. I know that whats inside is the most important bit, but is nobody sad to to see the design become less radical, it is almost becoming like other laptops.
From a practical point of view, i think i would miss the mediabuttons, but i guess you could program the macro s for that.
My 2 cents.
By the way no 18 in the Netherlands.

 

To be honest im glad AW has his priority on Performance rather then flashy looks. I don't mind if at one day it removes all its lighting effects and style just for pure performance ( Not that I am saying they should, and I would be one of the many who will complain ) but there is no other brand that gives this performance with services all around the world. I understand there are brands like MSI and Razor, but they are still stuck in just a few countries. Paying such a huge amount, I want to be sure I have the performance and the assureance of having a helping hand by the company whenever and where ever I am. That's just what I think.

It has been a week since I have booked my AW 18 and am still in pre-production. Can you guys tell me what stage is your beasty machine stuck at. This waiting period is really bugging me !!!!! I heard a few have got theirs in production. Is there any lucky soul here with their machine in production or even on delivery ( I highly doubt the delivery stage thou )

 

I can also answer that. I find it hard to justify (and so does the Dragon) spending any amount over a thousand pounds on any laptop...however, 6 or 7 beers later and I'm clicking the buy button like there's no tomorrow and the dragon has no idea how much these beasts cost.

 

I did, but I can't understand why Dell couldn't make an adapter tip with the same 'handshaking' properties....it's just power going through it.... isn't it??

 

Sent the rep a email regarding the screen and he phoned me this morning to say that it will actually ship with the 400NIT screen and not the 350. I asked him to put it in writing but have had nothing yet. I find it strange that he would phone me back instead of replying to my email.

 

Mine said.

18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife 400 Nit Display (1920 X 1080)

 

I sent another email to the rep to confirm in writing that I would be receiving the 400 and he phoned me again just 5 mins ago. He said that he checked and ALL laptops sold in the UK would be receiving the 350 NIT display. He said that it was a 'Typo' on their website that would be rectified shortly. . I told him I wasn't happy as it is false advertising and I would need further clarification or I would be cancelling my order. He said he would phone me back tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is going on? Maybe some of you should ask your reps to clarify!