AlienwareTech @ E3 - Alpha SteamBox Console Replacement

Yes, you are definitely out of the loop. The Alienware 18 is the dual-GPU beast with the best of everything, shackled by artificial limitations to its performance. It's OK, because I realize not everyone pays attention unless it is an area that is relevant to their own life.

The 18 is not only the Alienware flagship but also the Dell flagship product. It's the enthusiast equivalent to what the top spec Dell Precision is to professional workstations. You're entitled to a personal opinion that it's overreacting, but that's the problem with so many areas of life. It's not just this example. When we accept compromises and look at things with a "que sera, sera" attitude, the end result is lower quality in every area imaginable... gaming, family life, politics, religion... everything really and there is no shortage of examples. While some of these are obviously of greater importance than others, it needs to stop in all areas of life. Tolerance and compromise and not four-letter words, but they are the functional equivalent and their true meaning has been marginalized. The implications of their cancerous effects on our lives is leads to devastation, even in an area as ultimately unimportant as this hobby some of us get worked up about. This gets camouflaged as being "progressive" when it is actually regressive in practical application.

 

I think 'betrayal' is simply meant in the context that Dell/Alienware released the new 18 with promises that it would be better performing than the outgoing M18x R2 - it is not. Dell know it, yet they refuse to remedy the limitations that make their current flagship notebook worse than its predecessor.

I know if I had dropped big bucks on one of the new 18's, I'd be pretty pee'd off right now. Dell's answer to those customers (faithful, loyal etc) seems to be a bit of a smack in the face with regards to E3 and concentrating/pushing a gimmicky console box instead of doing something about the state of play as it stands right now....

 

This sounds like personal projections of what you expect the product to be and how you want it managed. Honestly, reading about you extrapolating your feelings about a laptop into compromise about politics and devastation in life really makes me think you're a little batty.


As far as flagship, I'd be interested to see what the market share is on 18s vs 17s. Just because its bigger and has two GPUs doesn't necessarily make it their flagship product of their laptop line.


And again, I still haven't seen what you expected out of E3 to not feel "betrayed."

These laptops are far from irrelevancy.

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The Alienware 18 IS the flagship notebook - in terms of performance.....supposedly....and as Alienware has always prided itself on performance gaming, I'd concur that it is their flagship product.

 

Fair enough. Batty is a matter of personal perception as well. I'm using extreme examples to make a valid point because I like to do that. But, I understand sometimes people have a difficult time understanding things conceptually. While E3 is the topic of this thread, that's irrelevant to the ongoing discussion at the moment. All of the hubbub is about this piece of feces called the Alpha being released with a lot of fanfare at E3 with no recognition of what the potential negative implications are for a brand that stumbled hard on the latest product launch and hasn't done anything to remedy the situation. It certainly looks, smells and tastes like they are going in an very undesirable direction to die-hard PC gamers and overclocking enthusiasts. To those that walk with one foot in console world and the other in the causal PC gamer world, it probably seems inconsequential because they stand to lose little or nothing in the movement toward mediocrity. As long as they get 30 FPS playing The Sims or Angry Birds, they're good to go.

The flagship of a fleet is usually the best-equipped, most impressive and most famous product. That usually equates with most extravagant and expensive, too. As such, they are more rare than the ordinary products. If flagship meant most common or greatest market share, then it wouldn't include any Alienware branded product. It would most likely be the Dell Inspiron or Latitude product line of belly-button systems. This is not to imply they are no good, just ordinary.

In spite of it's crippling performance impediments the stock Alienware 18 with the maximum configuration options soundly outperforms an identically spec'd Alienware 17 that has been pushed to it's functional limits with overclocking. So, without even having to put forth an effort it wins the performance battle against its scrappy little brother. It also costs a lot more, so that's to be expected.

 

Bottom line, alienware is screwing up bad, and the m18x r2 gen was the last worth getting. There was no conpromises. Raw power, tons of ports, tons of media features, tons of storage, and excellent battery life. No compromises. The new gens should have BUILT on its success, not take away. We went from mud brick to concrete, and their going from concrete to mud brick. Their doing it wrong. We had hopes this year alienware would have listened and surprised us with something awesome. E3 crushed our hopes that wouldn't be the case for the future. It confirmed it. A steam box? Haha, what peice of junk joke.

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generally the biggest and baddest is always the flagship regardless of marketshare. Look at the GTX Titan Black, nvidia considers it to be the flagship but sales pale in comparison to GTX 780 and Ti models.

 

Widezu, why did you choose 17 over 18? I'm not gonna lie, I miss my m17x r4 a little. It was alot lighter then my current

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Right on. I guess I'm just not seeing what was expected at E3 (that can't be announced any other time) and warrants accusing the company of betrayal. I'm not an 18 owner, so I can't really relate on that front, but as far as PC manufacturers go, to me, that playing ground is a little different than waiting for yearly E3 shows to show your best tech. It usually doesn't happen like that for PC games at E3.

 

Well technically the Titan-Z would be nVidia's flagship, but in this case it's more like a sinking ship LOL

 

MEH...come on Alienware, if I wanted a console I'd buy a console...

You can place me on the disappointed boat. I don't get this, especially when we have the choice of XBOX or Playstation or even the Wii U. Folks like me, I dunno what percentage I would be in, but we dream of owning an awesome piece of equipment like an Alienware laptop. Well, a few weeks ago, I got that wish. Now, I'm realizing how much better PC gaming is and how great the Alienware 17 is. Now I've never owned an earlier generation, but I can see what Mr. Fox and others are saying. Things like this Haswell CPU and my rebranded, rebrand of a rebranded rebrand R9 M290X would frustrate me to no end. Luckily, I have no frame of reference for the older systems/cpu's/gpu's so I'm happy with the performance.

BUT..business is business and if they price this thing below the new gen consoles they will probably sell like crazy and that will be unfortunate for the true PC gamer. I've been on consoles for almost my entire life. They've been a blast, but there's just something different about PC gaming. I can't really pin-point it, but I don't ever see me wanting to go back to any console...

 

+rep for the above post!

 

Simply progression from previous laptops. I have never owned more than 1 laptop and in order: old crappy HP Pavilion, Dell XPS M1530, MackBook White, MacBook Pro Unibody, Alienware M15x, M17x R3 which was then replaced with a M17x R4. I have never dabbled in the realms of multi-gpu tech and I guess that 17 was as big as I was willing to go when I was a student a few years back.

The limitations on the M17x R4 make we want to go to the M18x R2 but with the video work I do I need that higher refresh rate of the 3D monitor.

 

Thanks my friend! I just don't get it. Alienware=Awesome performance and top tier equipment. This Alpha crap box=mediocrity. Doesn't fit. I mean this is on the little card they sent me: "Your appreciation of premium performance and innovative design is exactly what distinguishes and Alienware user from everyone else."

i3 and 4 Gigs RAM=premium performance? A mac mini design=innovative?

 

Not much of a reason is an accurate characterization... All SATA3 is really the only improvement that has no legitimate dispute. Unless you're running all SSD that's not going to make much difference, but I do concede that this is a desirable feature. Not counting any of older machine's superior performance capabilities, the short list is as follows.

Alienware 18 Features	Alienware M18xR2 Features
SATA3 6GB/s on all 3 SATA ports + mSATA	SATA3 6GB/s on 2 of 5 SATA ports (includes 1 eSATAp) + mSATA
4 USB 3.0 Ports	4 USB 3.0 Ports
DisplayPort	1 USB 2.0 Port with BIOS Crisis Recovery Option
HDMI In/Out Shared Port	ExpressCard Slot
SD Card Slot	DisplayPort
	VGA Port
	HDMI In, HDMI Out
	SD Card Slot
	Highly Versatile DDR3, DDR3L and 2133 Memory Support
	Superior Cooling System (lower CPU and GPU idle and load temps)
	Tool-free Battery Swap, LED Charge Indicator
	~2 Hours Longer Battery Life

I did not count the edge-bleeding and ghosting prone IPS display and removal of the edge-to-edge glass cover because those are intangibles that are a matter of personal preference that belong in the same category as the aesthetic changes. It's a change, yes, but not necessarily an improvement. I have the machines next to each other for hours at a time and it's tough to identify anything about the newer display that is a compelling reason to choose it over the older display. If we were to build another table like the one above listing the performance and functionality problems of each machine, the list would be longer for the 18.

 

Add Media bar in there, its a waste or real estate that they removed it from the newer model. I comes in handy indeed.

 

which limitations are you referring to? Thermal/power? Your system looks pretty sweet from here !

 

No disagreement here. As I said before, the Alienware 18 is the exception to the "improvement" label for us consumers. But as a business and manufacturer, you would see the entire lineup as an improvement. I did respond to Dan's original complaint about the battery life as well with something I think you may agree with.

 

Dan, Alienware gimped the M17xR4 motherboard by limiting TDP. It has some performance issues with the XM CPU that the M18xR2 does not. It also lacks a robust heat sink, so cooling an overclocked XM CPU is a greater challenge.

No, I saw it, Brother J.Dre. I'm just not willing to call feature and performance downgrades an improvement no matter what. I'm the consumer here, so I don't need to care what the manufacturer thinks about it. They need to provide compelling products if they want me to buy them. I understand what you're saying. When I find myself having to wear my Mr. Corporate hat I do need to think like a marketing spin-meister and present things in a positive manner even when they suck. I get paid to do that for my employer, and I do my job. But, this is not one of those times.

I want the best for Alienware. They are my favorite brand, but I'm not going to operate in a state of denial about the way things are right now and pretend things are good if they are not. Advocates for the brand are doing themselves and the company a huge favor by holding them accountable. If you cut them some slack they will do it again later. This is an opportunity for them to learn from mistakes and start over with a renewed commitment to performance and feature excellence. I want them to dominate their competition and I'd like to dominate my competition using their products. Right now that's not happening for them or for us because they aren't delivering the goods.

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Why not dell one of the VPs at Dell about your thoughts. Obviously no one under the VP's seem to care much about what the end users think. They care more about business.... But a VP could throw someone at an issue and say "make sure they're happy too".

Anyways, I know its an odd place to mention this, but you guys rememember that water cooling setup thingy someone had that disapeared for an m18x laptop... well a woman I work with's parents are experts at designing such little gadgets for things like this. I wonder if creating an after market spec for heatsinks and cooling, and such on an AW would be worth while. What would someone be willing to charge for 5-10% better cooling (Like whats 5 degree's worth..?)

 

I'm with fox in every way on that one.

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I agree as well.

 

One thing that makes me scratch my head is the opening post. Given the recent events, why even bother - in a PC based environment - to post a 'teaser' about forthcoming news (or lack of it, as may be more appropriate) when that news is going to be an upset to a LOT of people on this forum.......

 

I'd be willing to bet his manager told him to post it. And his manager was probably told by their manager to have someone advertise it, and so forth.

I'm disappointed in you, Dell. Better bring us something good this year! Please.

 

Well if they are paying any attention at all, then the backlash in this thread should be enough to get a few questions raised.

Though to be totally honest if I was the manager and an employee brought this to my attention, I would probably say something along the lines of "as long as the other 90% are happy we don't have to care too much about those computer nuts" or "even if I did something I'm sure my manager or manager's manager wouldn't care and have bigger things to worry about"

Not saying they don't want to care, but sometimes their hands are tied, and all they can do is follow orders from upper level management. It may very well be that the reps do care and reflect what is being said here to their managers. Their managers may or may not care; the ones that do and try to send up this up the chain might simply be greeted with a cheery "don't worry about it and spend your time doing your actual job". That effectively shuts down any communication of the issues to senior management.

 

They probably don't care all that much. They work for a paycheck, just like the rest of us.

 

It is interesting to see how worked up and emotional some folk can be about a consumer product; don't get me wrong, respect and all that to you for supporting a favourite, I just couldn't be the same and, I suspect, neither can a lot of people.

Brand-loyalty is something many companies strive for but it is well-known that people are becoming increasingly fickle nowadays with so much choice available and the discounting trends.

I love cars, for example, but have owned many different Marques over the years: BMW's, Range Rovers, Porsche etc - I don't stick with one, I buy what I like at the time of looking and take into account many variables. The same with IT: I went through an Apple phase where my desktop, laptop, tablet and phone were Apple. Now my desktop is HP, laptop about to be Alienware, tablet still Apple and my phone is HTC.
Next year it might all change again.

I buy according to what looks attractive to me at the point of wanting something new: attractive is based upon what it brings to my life, aesthetics, cost etc. I think this is true of many if not most people and therefore manufacturers are realising this and targeting the wider market due to an ever decreasing hardcore-fan base who will endeavour to support through thick and thin.

If I find my new 17 boring after 12 months or so, I'll look at what's new and if the new one doesn't rock my boat as much as a rival brand, then I will move on. I buy what is best for me. What I want. So to go back to my opening sentence, it is interesting to see the views of the hardcore-fan base and how they react to something they aren't thrilled with and the sense of "betrayal" and discontent that their icon is no longer "best". I would simply move to the next brand and its better product if thats what I thought in my personal quest for ensuring I get what I want - but then, I don't settle for less than what I am happy with in the hope one brand eventually gets it right for me; I always go for what I want a product to achieve and have many, many brands to choose from in that quest.

Brand-loyal? Me? Never. I'm too fussy for that, few if any Brands will always be best with every new release.

 

^what you're seeing here is "asymmetric loyalty", the perfect analogy of which would be your average employer-employee relationship viz company wants your undivided loyalty but is free to <del>fire you on a whim</del> reorganize and downsize as they fit

 

That analogy would depend very much upon which country you lived and worked in I guess and the ideology around the relationship; in Germany for example, you do not "fire on a whim" since the process is very much geared towards protecting the Employee. Perhaps in the USA things are different. Here in the UK, a company can make an Employee redundant but again, there is a due process and the Employee is compensated to a degree.

I think if you work for a company (I'm self employed now but have worked for large organisations) then in accepting their pay check you owe them what you have agreed to perform for them; it is part and parcel of you delivering in accordance with your Contract. Loyalty to a company is fine and it will certainly help a career in many cases, but just as a Company can let Staff go, so can an Employee leave and seek new pastures that they feel will enhance their careers. I would disagree that a Company owes an Employee unwavering loyalty if it isn't in the interests of the survivability or profit-margins of said Company.
Companies doe not exist to provide jobs for people for Life; they exist to make a profit for the Shareholders. In other words, if you do not want to be expendable, then you need to bring something of indispensable value to that Company in order to protect your role indefinitely. Now this is a harsh view perhaps but it is a reality. Whilst fairness has to be achieved and mutual respect of Contracts, Companies should not be vilified for looking after their bottom line in much the same way an Employee should not be for seeking new challenges elsewhere from time to time.

In many industries, Companies actually value the concept of Employees leaving them for the Competition only to return 5 years or so later with ideas that might be of benefit; here in the UK, the Construction industry is one such example where "loyalty" is not expected beyond the delivery of a 100% committed effort in performing a given role for an agreed remuneration. Employees leave, work somewhere else and then another and then sometimes return all the better for the diverse experience and the original Company respects and benefits from it.

I live in a World where I enjoy choices.

Loyalty, for me, in its purist form is reserved for personal relationships, one's Country of Birth and/or residence, supporting a sports team and the like, certainly not a consumer product or business.

 

Rest your case???? Not all laptops are created equal....c'mon everyone knows that.
While you might not like the new thin and lite trend my RAZER 14 never goes over 85c even after hours of gaming on ULTRA settings ( a lot of less demanding games are in the high 70's) sure it's not the best temps but I have seen but not the worst either.Some people don't want to carry 10/12 Lbs thick and heavy laptops when on the go.
"Stupid high temps" maybe some models but not all if done correctly.
So relax if some want AW to join this new category, if you don't like it fine no need to get all negative for those that are interested. We get it you don't like but geez...don't ruin it for everybody.

 

That's all fine. But Alienware has become an enthusiast brand by not making compromises. 85 degree's on the GPU for extended gaming is scorching hot. Other companies offering flimsy laptops for gaming are a dime a dozen now, take your pick.. there's even some in the Dell range . Having a laptop with a MXM GPU for future upgrades is what its all about. If you want a thin machine its going to be soldered on to the motherboard.. which mean no upgradies.

 

I agree with TBone: I've never seen 85C on any of my Alienware laptops, even after 6 hours of gaming. They managed temps very well.

 

Razerz 14 pisses all over the aw14.

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Sure, I never said they were not.

No, I don't like this growing fad or manufacturer mentality of 'everything has to be crammed into as small a form factor as humanly possible to be deemed an improvement'. I consider 85c to be far too high for any GPU on a regular basis whilst gaming. Heat will shorten the lifespan of that component and it will increase the likelihood of GPU failure. The GTX765m in my 14 never sees much above 61c on high/ultra settings - 24c is a massive difference, too big to be ignored, IMHO. I do appreciate that the Razer is a bit lighter than the 14, but c'mon....the 14 weighs just under 6lbs vs. the Blade at just over 4lbs......there's hardly an argument in weight reduction benefits in favour of the Blade over the 14 just for the sake of less than 2lbs difference - one would have to be a really weedy fellow to be worried over such a negligeable figure. If you are talking about an AW18, sure...they are a lot heavier, but that is not an apples to apples comparison as the AW18 is aimed at desktop replacement, not portability.

I was going off the review that I linked to. 93c is stupid high. Maybe other models do perform better - I was assessing the machine in his review, not other models. When you say 'done correctly', I'm presuming you mean the purchaser of said notebook having to open up and re-paste to achieve better results, right? - see my last paragraph for more on this.

I am relaxed - just because I post my thoughts on the subject of Alienware potentially producing an Ultrabook, it does not mean I am opposed to innovation. If it could be done correctly, it would be rather interesting, conceptually. When I say 'correctly' that means not just stuffing high performance, high heat outputting components into a small box and hoping for the best. If Razer's idea of 'correct' is having their notebooks regularly exceeding 90c on GPU, to me that is simply an example of something not being done correctly.

That guy's (dajohu) review was on a stock machine from Razer - maybe re-pasting with superior thermal compound does reduce temperatures, however, it should not be on the shoulders of the purchaser to have to go to such lengths to keep things in check - that's the job of the design team, not the end user. Perhaps AW's design team cares more about cooling than Razer's team does, that's why Alienware machines have some of the very best cooling systems in the notebook world, and to have a good and efficient cooling system requires additional space and weight.

Now, if ANY manufacturer could produce a gaming notebook with Ultrabook form factor that had dual MXM gpu's, extreme edition cpu, glorious IPS high resolution screen with all the trimmings and STILL be able to run cool and quiet, I might re-assess my view on Ultrabook gaming ......but that ain't gonna happen any time soon, is it?

 

I still think your going over board and being a bit harsh with your bashing just because it's not for you. A bit tasteless too especially the part about heating up your testes. Really why puts them on there laptop anyway

I did not repaste, everything is factory stock, but c'mon man most high end users repaste anyway.
And comparing a 75W GPU to 100W GPU of course your going to get higher temps with the 870M it's almost twice as powerful and run at twice the resolution!
It's only common sense, my 85c was with BioShock infinite at 3800x1200 with Ultra settings and still getting 30FPS,let's see your AW 14 do that.
Dial back the hatred a bit and let go, you will feel much better.

 

Well, 85°C is just not very good, even if you're content with that. My 780M SLI runs much cooler than that (low to mid 70's) even with a substantial overclock on the video cards and pushing more than 120W under load. That said, it's going to be very tough, close to impossible, to get a decent cooling solution in an Ultrabook form factor. There is simply no place to house any kind of robust components. I suppose you could make it a 20" chassis to account for the loss in thickness and shoehorn some additional copper and larger radiators into the chassis, but the people that are enthusiastic about thin and light probably would not welcome the idea of the increased footprint and weight that would be required to achieve better results. It's not an indication that there is something wrong based on brand as much as an inherent physical limitation to the form factor that makes it that way. It requires compromises in terms of performance and functionality in order to work. And, therein lies the problem... compromise is OK if you're a compromiser. If you are not, then it's a nasty word that gets you labeled as a hater by those that are willing to settle for compromise. I have never been a fan of spectator sports and think it's good to be part of the "One Percenter's Club" (a commonly tossed around subjective figure offered as a reflection of enthusiast market share) because that's were the awesome stuff happens. Performance awesomeness does not exist in a compromised state.

 

Here's my take. I really liked Alienware's products, and 3 years ago bought a M17x to replace my desktop and give me some portability. Great system, but over time I migrated back to a dedicated gaming desktop, and used the M17x only for portability and non-gaming stuff.

When my son wanted a gaming laptop for his graduation gift, he looked at my M17x and said, "too big and heavy." He needed something he could carry around at college, so he got an M14 last year. Another great machine.

This year, I wanted a new system. I was finding that there were short overnight trips where I just wouldn't pack up the M17x due to it's weight/size, and I'd just take the iPad and forego any gaming. And no way I was going to lug that thing on a plane. I considered a M14, but really wanted a smaller form factor. Yes, I knew an ultrabook factor would result in less performance, but less performance is better than NO performance if I don't want to bother carrying around something huge. I waited to see if Alienware was going to do anything with a smaller factor, but that's obviously not happening.

As you can see from my signature, I went with a new Razer. Temps have been fine for me so far, the form factor is great for my needs. Would I buy it if it was going to be my ONLY gaming system? Hell no. But I'm in a position where I can maintain a dedicated gaming desktop with top-of-the-line components, AND have a very portable form factor for travel. Best of both worlds, for my needs.

That said, do I wish Alienware would take their excellent design skills toward something ultrabook-ish? Sure - but I also agree that their CORE is high-performance systems, and they need to make sure they nail that before they focus elsewhere.

 

This is going to make some folks mad but oh well. I don't get the whole "the Alienware 17 is too heavy" argument. I had a Latitude before my Alienware 17 and it weighed about 6 and a half pounds. This 17 is only 4 more pounds. Before I decided on getting the Alienware 17, I was working out one day and I grabbed a 10 pound slab. It wasn't heavy, I could handle it with one hand and it felt solid. That's when I decided, at least for me, that "thin and light" wasn't something I was interested in. Maybe you guys should do some curls or something

BUT...that being said, I do have a Macbook Pro that I use for more portability...for example when I have to console into switches while I'm working. So I get the need and want for thin and light machines...FOR WORK/BUSINESS usage. But I will say this...that Macbook gets sooooo hot, even when just doing basic things like browsing, email, etc. Could you image if that thing had a high end CPU and high and GPU? Insta 3rd degree leg burns.

Alienware to me is about having some semblance of control. If I want a new CPU I can get one. A GPU? Sure. Thin and light gaming machine? The MSI Ghost Pro I was looking to get, if you pop that thing up, the warranty is voided. No thanks...

EDIT: Back on the topic of E3 and the Alpha box...I bet you can't upgrade that POS easily. But it should be thin and light so there ya go!

 

Ok but its not that bad either but that's fine at least there is a choice if you want something lite and thinner without having to sacrifice performance.
Look we will agree to disagree but that's life, not everyone has the same wants and needs and I will leave it at that.
AW is great but in my opinion has lost there way with the current gen of laptops, they are not as good as they have been in the past, and yes I've had 3 AW laptops and talk from hands on experiance.
I don't want to turn this thread into something it's not supposed to be and will leave it at that and look forward to what AW brings to the table for E3.

 

That made me laugh! - nice one. :thumbsup:

I'm not bashing, or going over-board - nor do I harbor any hatred....I've not called the Blade a P.O.S or anything remotely close to that, have I? - just pointed out high temperatures posted by a Blade owner who himself was shocked at the high gpu/cpu temps he was seeing. Don't get me wrong, the Blade obviously fits some users requirements, just not my own. It's just my opinion, which you don't have to agree or disagree with. We can all agree to disagree and if we didn't have differing opinions, life would be very drab indeed, right?

That said, I do often game on my 2560x1600 30" Ultrasharp U3011 and with high/ultra settings, I can have a good experience FPS wise whilst my GPU still never goes above 62c. Let's see your Razer do that (j/k no need to retaliate LOL)

 

Why does Alienware offer the M14? Because some people want a system that's smaller and lighter. Well, some people want a system that's even smaller and lighter than that. And it's not just the laptop - the power brick for the M17 is huge, the bag you need to carry it around in is huge, etc, etc. There are situations where a 17" Alienware is just too damn big - I wouldn't even want to try to use one in an airplane seat.

Personally, I'd tell Alienware to make sure the 18" and 17" are totally kick-butt, upgradeable, best-in-class systems as a top priority. Second, rework the M14 into something more ultrabook-ish. It doesn't need to be the same size as the Razer Blade (which is 0.7 inches thick, 4.5 lbs) - if they could do something in the 0.9-1.0 inch range, maybe 5lbs, thin but rigid lid, then they could probably squeeze more performance out of it than the Razer. That size may also let them put in a few more upgradeable options, like a second M.2 slot (lacking in the Razer). If they had announced something like that, even being slightly larger/heavier than the Razer Blade, I would have held off on my purchase.

 

True...people that travel a lot wouldn't want to be bothered with it, however I probably would be hard headed and bring it anyways. I have a Vindicator backpack that can get quite large and heavy if I have all my stuff in it. Probably wouldn't work as carry on. But we will see what else Alienware has up their sleeves, if anything. I sincerely hope this console isn't the only thing...and yeah we are in agreement about the 18 and 17!

 

On another note - There are a few motherboards for desktops out there that can work air-cooled, but also have built in water cooling blocks for water cooling.

Wouldn't it be interesting if someone could come out with a laptop that works air-cooled, but also has similar built-in water cooling blocks. Along with some sort of external ports. Then add a dock that has the pump/reservoir and some method of quick connect/release. So - on the go, you're air cooled and maybe have to crank down some settings. Docked, you're water cooled and can really crank things up.

Note - I have no experience with water cooling (yet), and i realize this might be unrealistic given spillage when docking/undocking or vapor-lock/air bubble issues - but that sure would stand out, wouldn't it? And would fit in with Alienware's extreme reputation.

 

Alienware Alpha Preview - CNET Makes me sick.

 

Ok, so this thing isn't going to be cheaper than consoles...wth Alienware? I dun git...

 

The trouble with these frequent discussions is that we all are human beings and tend to believe what we value is most important, above all else.

An opinion that the 17" or 18" Alienware systems are too big and heavy is an opinion based on personal preference. There is no factual component to that kind of statement. The fact that many own them and travel extensively with them is ample evidence that they are, in fact, not too big and heavy. The opposite is also true. My statements that compromise and accepting less performance as a trade-off for thin and light are bad things is an opinion based on personal preference.

The underlying problem here is not the addition of more mundane products to the line up as much as the lack of attention to the truly high performance products from a brand whose claim to fame is founded on that. They have a loyal following of customers that are being ignored because of what seems to be a shift in focus. If they want to redefine the company and change their focus toward manufacturing mediocre gaming devices for the masses they should just make that announcement and stop selling crippled hardware for huge sums on money that does not meet the expectations of enthusiasts.

If you spend $3800 or more on a maxed out Alienware 17 or an even larger sum on a maxed out 18 you should expect that machine will meet or exceed all of your expectations and soundly outperform the product it is replacing. They market them in such a manner that an enthusiast can and should expect this. It used to be true. The fact that new machines don't respond well to being pushed harder is one thing... big enough problem right there because that's why a good number of people buy them to begin with. The fact that they don't even run stock correctly is a huge deal and one that deserves front and center, all hands on deck, focus on remediation and undoing what they have done to cripple them. This should be job #1, before anything else. Take care of your people and make things right.

Considering the fact that all indications from their current behavior (and lack of action) is that they are moving on, nothing has not been fixed yet--and then we see announcements about something like this ridiculous Alpha gaming appliance, where they are all excited about some console substitute device that many of us consider to be a sick joke--this is understandably going to create some hard feelings from enthusiasts. That's really what this is all about... along with what appears to be the slow death of a brand many of us think very highly of. We don't want to find another alternative because that will require compromises in areas such as build quality and aesthetics, but we will do that if we are left with no other option. It would be facetious and unintelligent to believe that an enthusiast would be OK with lowering their standards, making room for compromise, and accepting mediocrity as being a viable option.

 

Basically alienware is trying to capture the whole new pc console market instead of solidify it's current market that is sur rent my slipping.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

Looks like your phone auto-correct feature is working charm, LOL. I think I know what you meant.

You know, some of this sound likes really harsh criticism if you're a casual reader, but if the folks at Alienware are reading this thread and paying attention to the underlying message it's really very a flattering expression. The level of disappointment that has been expressed is a direct reflection of enthusiast customers that are passionate about a brand that Alienware built, Dell made it even more famous, and we all want to see it remain the best option available anywhere. We don't want to see it devalued into an ordinary company that makes ordinary products for low budget gamers.

 

Try being a woman who's only 5'1" like me - unless I want to look like a short, squat She-Hulk, I'll skip the bodybuilding. I have an Alienware M18x R1 (and had an M17x R2). I consider it a DTR, and short of a late-night gaming session, it stays in the living room (I telecommute for work, thank God). I'm not about to try lugging my very heavy system around with me in a backpack if I travel. There's room for both kinds of products - thin & lights and DTR monsters that you can overclock/tinker with - and people have perfectly valid reasons for wanting one or the other. I've been looking into a thin & light gaming laptop for traveling because I want to be able to game AND have something that can run InDesign.

I almost got a Razer Blade 14 until I canceled my preorder due to delays - that and I eventually decided that I should just ride things out until the higher-end Maxwell cards roll out next year. I have also thought about getting a new Alienware 18 at some point because I'm seriously tired of my old ATI cards (I have Crossfire with 6990m cards right now). Of course, since the M18 seems gimped based on what I've been reading over the past year or so, I'm definitely not getting one unless they do a revision and I start hearing positive things about it first. I'm only going to give serious consideration to sticking with Alienware for my DTR IF that happens.

While I love the option to have the best SLI/Crossfire cards possible and the ability to overclock, some of these thin & light models are interesting, such as the new Aorus X7 v2 refresh with the 860m SLI. Yeah, you can't modify systems like that other than, presumably, to repaste, to add more memory or to swap out drives, but if Alienware keeps gimping the M18, then I see no point in continuing to throw down a lot of my money on an Alienware system of any kind. I have entertained the idea of going with a Clevo/Sager for the upgradeability and overclocking, but I hate the aesthetics of Clevo/Sager-based machines to such a degree that I don't think I can actually be happy with one no matter how many FPS I get.

 

I think this pretty much sums up the way many Alienware 'enthusiasts' feel right now.....

I love Alienware and the build of the machines, I love the performance that one associates with the brand. What I don't love is the brand turning it's back on the PC (not console) enthusiasts that built it into a success. That sucks, and maybe Dell should sit back and contemplate on the phrase 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you'.........