RIP - Alienware 18

I can see the r2 of the 13/15/17 - Alienware will be the first in the universe to be the thinnest laptop ever created - Now with soldered in ram chips and soldered in ssd storage so they can get it "MacBook Air" thin. They will be the king of disposable PC's...

 

They already still have the price premium

 

Mr. Fox, this should give you an idea of where Intel is heading in the future. I caution you, sit down while you read this and brace yourself...

Intel's $149 Compute Stick Turns Your TV into a Windows 8.1 Device | Maximum PC

 

No bueno... los pendejos!

<iframe width='420' height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bwPZu9L-CP0?rel=0" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

If we consider the glass is half full, they finally invented something Windows 8 is good at.

 

The eGPU would have been a nice to have, but certainly should NOT be the staple of a system. FFS, the amplifier is as big as the laptop! Kinda defeats the purpose of having a laptop. I would have loved to see a shrinking of MXM modules and the stuffing of THREE mxm cards in a laptop!

 

Hey guys. Long time. Visited the forum to check the new 18s only to find out its discontinued
I just extended my warranty for my AW18 last November until March 2017 so I guess this is going to be my last extension and last AW.

 

Clevo had Tri-SLI in 2006

 

Welcome to the club, Jinda. I have a feeling that bean counters at Dell/Alienware have severely misjudged their customer base, this is only going to lead to mass exodus in my opinion. So sad when you witness the beginning of the end of something that used to be so great.

 

More reasons to take care of my new Alienware. Then im gonna sell it like the last true spaceship from Alienware, before their mothership was infiltrated by the evil money grabbing hipsters that turned it in to a thin, sterile spaceship with weak cannons run by a coward leader

 

Wow, I've never ever seen an AW forum so down in the doldrums before. This is indeed a sad day, not only for solder-ama, but also the pride I saw on these forums and the overall optimism even after Dell bought out AW.

One thing I was thinking however, is that why is everyone so willing to go down without a fight? I'm not a big fan of "well let's wait until Dell will be sorry, then will come back." Uh, that rarely works in my opinion, and is a bit defeatist. They need to understand that the loyalists are what make the core of the fan-base and word of mouth. I mean I never bought an alienware before, I came to these here forums, and now I'm on my 4th version. It's these communities that make it work.

Don't they still have that "idea storm" forums, or is that BS? Or in the forums where Luis from AW may lend an ear?
Summarizing to say (please excuse any ignorance, explicit or unintentional )

• Soldered GPU, CPU is a poor business decision to have a forcing function to buy their GA wizardry
• True enthusiasts will push the limits of their machines... soldering just pisses them off
• A happy enthusiast would both try to get more powerful CPU and then an insane GA with desktop GPU configuration
• Loyalty was AW's differentiator for Dell - not cheaper, thinner
• Killing your flagship and not keeping anything for your enthsuiasts to tinker with will make you no better than those you are trying to emulate, and therefore defeats the whole point of the GA / soldering strategy.

I'm going to stop here because I'm rambling and think only 50% of what I said made sense anyway.

Point is there are many more of you here much smarter than I that could state more compelling arguments that en mass may make the bean counters turn their heads faster???

Anyway... my 2 cents.

Still a sad day.

 

Nice to see you again, ped. Well said!

New leadership, new ideas, new direction, new customers. They either don't want us any more or think we are stupid Kool-Aid drinkers. Notice the absence of logos in my avatar and signature?

Our friend, Cy Jervis, that managed Dell IdeaStorm was terminated a couple of months ago in a workforce reduction plan. I haven't logged in at IdeaStorm in since then.

 

Always a pleasure brother Fox...

Dang... you know when I read "workforce reduction" and no longer using IdeaStorm...I just hear a muffled trumpet in the background go all price is right "whaaa whaaaaaaaaaa".

So the Dell is flying blind now? No wonder the recent pro-style maneuvers are so consistent across the board. Is there something that replaces IdeaStorm, or other way to be annoying?
Sometimes a little preak can do the trick.
Of course the word is not preak.

EDIT... oh. get it now. No Avatars, no IdeaStorm. Answer is no. Hmph.... depressing.

 

Very sad to hear this. I am bummed because if my computer completely craps out, I think that my replacement of "equal value" will be very difficult to do with an SLI system.

Moreover, the loss of the 18 doesn't guarantee the loss of SLI. We must remember that arguably one of the best notebooks with SLI was the AW m17x R2. It's possible the AW 17 could bring back SLI/CF. However the problem is what everyone else has pointed out: soldered parts and completely gimped systems made for the non-enthusiast. The AW SLI/CF systems were always very appreciated by enthusiasts not because of the out-of-the box power; but the potential by tweaking and tinkering with the system. We all fully understand we are a niche group of people but I think it's a horrible idea to abandon the niche itself.

Given all this, I don't see this as the death of enthusiast laptop gaming; just the death of enthusiast laptop gaming WITH Alienware. The current trend is on super mobile platforms like tablets and the technology improvements on a yearly basis are orders of magnitudes greater than anything I have seen in recent years. However desktop gaming rigs didn't die despite the decline of desktop sales to notebooks and notebooks won't die with the increase in tablet sales. Similarly, while mobile games and tablets have cut into home console gaming sales it won't be the end of consoles.

AW has been on a decline for many years. Some of us remember when they had the big tower ALX that was customized to each user's very specific expectations. They truly built very passionate systems that were the best of the best. Their desktops became cookie cutter and the only thing that was worth getting (at the enthusiast level) were their SLI/CF lappies. Now with all the system gimping and lack of customization, it is pointless to invest in them. The enthusiast market will continue but we will have to find it in a company NOT named Alienware as it appears

 

Guy we are just speculating here! there is no official information about it!

 

What speculating? AW released their new models today. All use HQ CPUs and single GPUs, with low vRAM sizes. They're all much thinner than previous gen models. They have officially axed the 18" SLI model.

 

2 SO-DIMM slots instead of 4

 

Time to wake up and smell the wilted roses. I've got a bridge on De Nial I'd like to sell you.

 

i guess after all this, we can say that the alienware flagship, has turned into an alienware flagsh*t :laugh:

 

There just doesn't seem to be any logic behind what they are doing. Being over 1" thick still makes them too big for the Apple oriented consumer and their "bling" makes professionals shy away from the brand so WHO exactly are they marketing these pieces of junk at? Certainly not the old AW enthusiast crowd. What the geniuses at Dell have done is effectively cede a good chunk of sales and good will to Clevo who still seems to be catering to enthusiasts w/out any serious compromises.

If AW had a smart management team and wanted a bigger market share, then they could have taken this solder BS and applied it to their XPS line and make them sub 1" and sell a Dell equivalent of the AW amplifier to them. Then their customer base would have more choices - those that want on board performance 24/7 w/out compromise and aren't afraid of some extra weight, bling and dimension w/the option of the AW amp for added desktop performance or the XPS customers that could get a nice Apple wanna be laptop and also have performance on tap at home. Sadly Dell will eventually fade away as another wanna be IBM (but never be 1/10th as successful) after they spin off their notebook divisions. I knew AW was shifting in this direction back when they started cheapening out on the packaging w/the new AW 18s and jumped ship. AW is done, time to move on to either desktops or a Clevo.

 

If you have an AW18 with a complete care package I would not count on using the replacement procedure unless you wanna go to throttle-town with a 980M. I sure as hell won't be. AW18 will get repaired 20 times late in its life if it has to. It's never leaving me. *my precious*

 

The whiners and sissies... maybe themselves. Who are these people that actually want crippled stuff? I don't know. I guess the same type of people that like Razer Blades, ASUS and Aorus, and bubblegum gamer crap like that. At any rate, they are driving off the people with money that want face-melting performance and believe in brand loyalty. Treachery can be a two-way street. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

Although disappointing, it certainly won't be too hard to look out for numero uno when it's time to open the wallet. Real men don't buy wimpy garbage.

 

I foresee a lot of alienware fans here jump ship to clevos once the new processor comes out.

 

^^^At least those that pay attention, care about being able to upgrade, appreciate good performance, do their research and don't make impulsive buying decisions... the morons that do not will always exist.

 

You know, on second thought, I think I'll hold onto my m18x R2 so I can say I own one of the last TRUE BEAST notebooks that Alienware ever made. It'll be like having a piece of war memorabilia, I'll look at it and remember back to the days when Alienware was glorious, before they went "iAlienware" and faded into the abyss. :thumbsup:

 

Me, too... for pretty much the same reasons. There are very few laptops that can even compete with with my old M18xR1's level of performance with 2920XM and 780M SLI.

Plus as long as MXM modules abide by the current standard, it is an indispensable tool for failed flash recovery. Set the BIOS to SG mode and flash away. Exactly the same concept as booting using an old PCI graphics card to fix a borked AGP or PCIe GPU from a failed flash. It is rare to find a machine with this capability.

 

I noticed the new Alienwares all have a max of 16GB RAM in the customization! what the duck! did they even remove the 2 RAM slots leaving us with only 2?? They have committed suicide!

We need to email Mike Dell and ask him what the heck is he doing with Alienware! First they aquire the brand, then poo all over it with crappy DELL drivers and now crappy models for high school girls!

 

Yep, only 2 RAM slots now.

 

sad to see it go!

 

I hear the 17R3 will be an overclocked Raspberry Pi with a 17" fold-up AMOLED USB display that fits into a cylinder-shaped tube for portability.

 

Don't forget, its an "Amazing" Touchscreen fold-up AMOLED USB display, that fits into a cylinder-shaped tube for portability :laugh:

 

Um they did offer AW18 in Australia with 750GB WD Scorpio Black which is 7200RPM drive, but yes sad day for AW18

 

Time for me to throw in my 2 cents worth.
Where to begin.
All this has probably been said already so excuse me if I repeat anything.

1. I agree with the post "Don't go down without a fight" - Squeaky wheels always get oiled first, lets make some noise about this travesty, someone said that ideastorm is a wast of time now, are there any other avenues we can try?

2. "Just in case" I've opened up a post on ideastorm, please place a vote and feel free to modify the content - Maybe Someone will take notice.

Idea Storm

3. Read this review.
Alienware unleashes a pair of slimmed-down gaming laptops

Are Dell for real "The 17-inch model is 25 percent thinner, at 1.36 inch thick, and 9 percent lighter, at 8.33 pounds"

9% lighter at the expense of a dedicated GPU - OMG What idiot comeup with this.

4. Why oh why would someone purchasing a laptop want an additional box "AMP" the whole idea is to have some sort of portability, and in alienwares case power, presents and looks too. The things are a conversation starter.

5. From a resellers point of view I am pretty worried, not much room for repair (as in component replacement) with the new laptops, once one thing malfunctions the whole board needs to be replaced.

The list just gets worst by the second, two DIMM slots, limited CPU's and GPU's, less HDD space. And they have bought back the 15 inch, IMO the worst laptop Dell/Alienware ever made, what a lemon.

Hey BJ, you've been around awhile (No offence - ) Can you think of anyway people who are pissed at this rubbish can take action?

Hey I know - We can start a petition on change.org

I feel irrationally upset by this, lol. :cry:


THEY MAY TAKE OUR LIVES - - - - - - - - - - BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE....................OUR ALIENWARE 18's




Lol, hahahahahahahaha. It's war I tell you....

 

I hear ya bro. Just found this out a few minutes ago, since I haven't been to the aw website in about a year. Guess I'm done with Alienware too. Sad. I have 3 systems. That MSI you mentioned, I saw online a week or so ago. Definitely interested in that thing!!! Going to be a lot of people bailing on aw, I'll bet. Aren't power users their target audience? Who the hell do they thing is going to turn a blind eye to lower class systems being made?

 

Ugh, yeah the idea to include a touchscreen is something I view as changing the Alienware computers more to XPS/Inspiron crap :/

 

Made an account just to post my condolences for these news. The moment when I managed to become financially free and able to afford nearly 5-digit laptops, Alienware plans to discontinue the 18, which I intended to place an order once they upgraded to dual 980M's. Now in all honesty I don't have anything against MSI (got a CX61 right now) but with their new layout, not having an armrest is quite a handicap for me. I love the idea of having Cherry MX Brown keys, and from what I heard from a friend which went to CES, the touchpad is not as bad as some reviewers make it be.

Again, RIP Alienware 18 and hopefully Dell will take the head out of their arses and understand that Alienware is not Apple and they can't hijack tactics for the simple reason Alienware doesn't have Mac OS and it's not a product sold with an Apple badge in order to "trigger" the fanboys.

Advertising "slimmer laptops" is the complete opposite of what Alienware should be doing; Alienware is not Apple, and it's neither Razer to not get heavily scolded, because Alienware is not a new player in the high-end hardware field like Razer is. When you say Alienware you identify the word with powerful computers, and angular-steathly designs as well as the Alien head. Right now thanks to 18's departure the king in specs is the GT80, because right now it's the only laptop with dual graphics on the market. This might not be important from a customer point of view, but guaranteed this is a massive dent in Alienware's prestige and the words that the brands was identified with.

Amplifier box is not a proper product for the laptop Alienware makes, because if you have to be chained to your desk to play properly, then why buy a gaming laptop...no wait, why buy an Alienware and not build a PC instead?

 

Nice to see all the old folks posting and back. Haven't been around here for the longest time myself, but read about the MSI GT80 while doing dishes and came to look at the thoughts from folks here. Sad to see the AW18 die, but even though I own it myself and am generally a fan, it's agreed that AW has been moving away from uber-gaming for the last year+.

Is the MSI GT80 machine really that bad? I can understand the looks can be a downer for some, but I'm ok with no "wrist pad" on the laptop and the track pad moved to the side (I hate trackpads anyways)...With a full special keyboard, that looks more usable to me actually and dual sli still. I'll have to read more about it, but I like it personally. Also, I thought it was innovative/new to at least put that cherry switch keyboard (whatever that is since I haven't used any of those before) on a laptop.

It's always nice to see more competition in this space since it helps all of us I feel, but if MSI (and Compal/Sager/etc....) is now the only ones left (to sell SLI), then we're in the same boat again.

I sorta doubt AW will come back with anything if a lot of folks are being laid off. My guess is that the AW brand/division was just never that profitable so as a private company, they will axe it all and just come out with sub-par stuff moving forward...or have other folks take the same role.

 

The design MSI use for GT80 isnt optimal.
The GPUs will be cooled just fine with those beefy fans, but the CPU is bridged with 2 copper pipes toward the 2 fans. On AW18 you have a dedicated fan for the CPU.



MSI GT80 Titan Laptop -internal shots from pre-retail sample | KitGuru

 

Hey now, don't go knocking Raspberry Pi! I've found a few uses for these little buggers (mostly as processing units in some of my small biped robots), and they're actually rather cool to tinker with. Having said that, the comparison to the new iAlienware line pretty funny

 

The reason why the CPU doesn't have it's own dedicated fan is because there would be no way to push the hot air out, because in the back where it sits there's the power supply plug, the HDMI and 2 mDP plugs.
Besides that I don't really think that the CPU needs a dedicated fan, my MSI CX61 runs a similar configuration where the fan is on top of the dGPU and 2 heat pipes travel from the CPU to the fan as well, and never had a problem of the heat throttling my CPU (3rd gen Core i7 3630QM). At worst my CPU temperature reached 70 degrees, and the dGPU 72.

 

Looking at these new alienware lineups, dell looks poised to poach a lot of customers from asus. Granted the new alienwares cooling isnt turd like some of their previous models, asus may be in deep with this competition now.

 

Thanks for the link to your IdeaStorm post. I voted and commented, and I hope others will also. I would recommend that you start a new thread in the main Alienware forum with a link to your IdeaStorm post as well.

 

What the LITERAL goat-cow is this toad I am watching? You expect to sell me an overclockable haswell CPU with *THAT* pathetic cooling design? And the SLI bridge running over the top of that heatsink? WHAT?!?!?!?!

 

Those are the fans from the GT60/70 series by the looks of things, it's certainly an interesting heatpipe arrangement.

 

If the CPU heatpipes were shorter, I'd say it was fine. My friend with a GT70 says the fans look taller than her GT70's fan, but from my eye they look to have a smaller surface area (Z height improved, X * Y area reduced a bit).

I still think that thing won't be able to handle the CPU well.

If it has a 350W PSU for real however, I think acquiring one of those should it fit in a clevo is a good idea, especially with how the 980Ms draw power beyond stock

 

Welp. RIP in peace Alienware. Happy I jumped ship now.

The sad thing is that the external GPU concept...I actually really liked that. I think it's a good idea in some cases if you want a laptop that's usable on the go. Imagine if they made a 15"-17" laptop that was genuinely thin and light, with a 4790k socketed CPU and 2-3 heatsinks/fans cooling it, no dedicated GPU in the laptop but an external box in which you can stick anything. That would have appealed a lot to me. Take the laptop to university, use it there however I like because unlike the 18 it wouldn't weigh a ton, get home, plug it in to the external GPU and game on it to my heart's content. There's still a place for laptops with two mobile GPUs of course but the latter solution would have appealed far more to me personally. (EDIT: Here's an idea too, integrate a charger into the external GPU box and give the PSU enough juice to feed a 300W GPU plus the laptop. Still include a charger for using the laptop in places you don't want to take a huge GPU box though. Flexibility and compactness!)

Instead what we get is a glorified ASUS laptop. If I wanted a decent laptop with a decent CPU and GPU that I couldn't upgrade, I'd buy an ASUS, I wouldn't pay twice as much for the AW.

If I were still in the market for gaming laptops I'd definitely be taking a look at Clevo's machines, or the new MSI one with SLi and a mechanical keyboard. (Now that I have my Vengeance K65, I don't want to go back to a traditional keyboard. Ever. On that note, why has nobody built a low profile mechanical switch for laptops yet?)

 

Because nowadays not many companies dare to take risks and/or innovate. They just want to be mainstream and get as many "sheeps" as possible, like Alienware is doing right now. Clevo and MSI seem to be the only two who are thinking outside the box with desktop CPU's and mech keyboards. Probs to them.

 

the onboard GPU's are cut in half performance wise. A 780 is faster then the 980M they offer. They cut out half the cores and stuff from the ones soldered on, so yeah, its bad. very bad. but they don't tell you that of course. who wants to hear that their intel HD graphics are almost as powerful as the 1,000$ premium they paid for..lol

 

Hey folks, let's get some more support on the Idea Storm post, 10 votes simply isn't going to cut it! It only takes a few minutes to create an account on Idea Storm if you don't already have one, so please take the time to pitch in!

Idea Storm

 

How did you find out about that? That's quite shocking if verified.

 

This is a PM between myself and chris-m, one of the Alienware Forum moderators.

Yes. EOL (end of life) as of yesterday. Not sure. Maybe we didn't sell enough? Also the Alienware 14-R1 and Alienware 17-R1 are EOL. We now only sell new what you see here:
Alienware Gaming Laptops