Ask Alienware's General Manager, Frank Azor, Anything on AWA! - Part Two!!

If it sucks? You doubt what the pros here are telling is definitely happening? have you taken a look at the threads in the Alienware 17/15/13 forums? It's not a matter of doubt it WILL suck but hey, some people don't like to listen if someone tells them don't go down that path, you will stumble and fall, they like to try for themselves Enjoy the hassle of testing it out, packing it back, sending it back, waiting for a refund.

 

Hands-on proof is always best, as long as he can get his money back. The more proof we can get posted here from experienced users the better for all.

 

Well you might be assuming that Im coming from some major hardware. Im currently running a 3.5 year old Asus G75 with a Geforce 670MX that puts down 2400 in Firestrike and closer to 3000 if I overclock the hell out of it and run the test on planet Hoth. Ive been doing alot of Mac iOS development lately, so I havent been filling my gaming needs at all.

Ive owned a number of AW systems, started with the m7700, then had the m17x, an m15, and then the m17 Batman edition with crossfired 4870's. I really wanted an m18 SLI 980 box, but they never sold one. Last system I had from them was in 2010 so this seemed like a fun project to play with.

 

Why, AW had no choice? Clevo had a choice. Sure, they have their "thin and light" BGA machines but they also decided not to leave the high performance laptop market with their desktop CPU / Xeon machines. Now, they are the lone wolf. Eventually, they may not have a choice. Today is not that day! A leader leads, adapts, innovates - wins. A follower caves in, makes excuses, cowers in the corner crying for mommy - loses.

 

I have a dream that one day I'll be able to plug a Graphics Amplifier into a XPS ultrabook.

Please make it happen Dell and Alienware, there's a market for it and I'd buy in a heartbeat!

 

Such a compromise is probably a better fit for a mainstream consumer premium line like XPS than it is for Alienware.

 

......and that's exactly where it should have remained - not in Dell's elite gaming line.

 

Fixed that for you.

 

You should see the hassle that is involved in something as simple as upgrading to the new GTX 970/980M GPUs. Disabling driver signatures, messing with the BIOS, modded drivers...I can't even install the new IPS panel that came out, because hardware IDs coded into the BIOS won't let it boot if it doesn't recognize it.

I tried two separate AW17 R2 (yes, that's right, I bought it twice). Unlike @Mr. Fox I wasn't too disappointed with the performance, but so many things are wrong with it (keyboard gets very hot, even when idle - requires a complete tear down to do something as simple as re-paste the CPU/GPU, amongst other things) that I just couldn't keep it. This is on top of soldered components.

I personally love my AW17 R1. The construction quality is superb, it's rock solid, a wonderful keyboard, runs cool and quiet, and is easy to maintain (two screws and the entire bottom panel slides off).

But the lack of support for older machines means you really, really have to love your older AW. I bit the bullet and ordered a Clevo P750ZM (this Clevo comes with a MXM GTX 970M and I got it with a DESKTOP Xeon E3-1241 v3). We'll see how it performs. See, Clevo is UPPING their game - they found a way around Intels soldered BGA stuff (by using a desktop CPU), they greatly improved their keyboards (this Clevo's keyboard is supposedly on par with the one on my 17 R1) and managed to adequately cool such hot components in a 15" laptop chassis.

Innovation is the game. I mean, even ASUS improved. Their G751 line, while using BGA components, is by far the coolest (temperature-wise) and quietest laptop I've ever used. Even under full load, the surface temps didn't budge. You can be playing a game on ultra settings and you won't hear the fans. Amazing, really. At least companies like ASUS/MSI are taking one step forward with each step backward. Clevo is just going forward. AW seems to just be going backwards.

The build quality on these newer machines is inferior (the lid is textured plastic, no longer actual aluminum). The display hinges are weaker/flimsier (though still good compared to other brands). They removed the slot-loading optical drive, though the machines aren't really that much thinner.

A lot of people love the new machines, and compared to everything else being sold, they aren't bad. But compared to what they used to be (or could've been)? Disappointing.

 

so not one single reply from frank.. nice.. well so alienware knows id like to swap my laptop for a desktop maxed out.. hell it would be cheaper than this thing.. and you can keep the difference..

 

Maybe @Alienware-Frank /Aw Khan should take a look on several forums/treads and seen all posting that looks exactly like this one? Perhaps he see the results of Dell's blunders at the next crossroads.

 

They'll see it at the end of fiscal year 2015. Don't worry. Money talks.

 

But how many new buyers will be fooled into buying the new trash before Dell realize that they have messed up with the new models and have begun to lose money?

 

I'm guessing profits are probably up

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

I think so too. Until the masses of teeny bobbers discover Dell thinks the jokes on them.

 

Well a quick profile search shows @Alienware-Frank was active yesterday. As for @AW Khan was last seen: Apr 23, 2015. Make of that what you will. Does he even work for Alienware/Dell anymore?

 

If @Alienware-Frank was active yesterday and earlier days he has guaranteed seen much of what is written about their "new" Aw laptops. Guaranteed seen all the dissatisfaction with the new models and that also we have not forgotten what he promised us owners of earlier Aw models... Do not know if @AW Khan has left the sinking ship.

 

Money does indeed talk. I'm guessing non-enthusiast gamers outnumber enthusiasts by quite a large margin. Honestly, most people I talk to about computers/laptops just want them to work.

And to be perfectly honest, if it wasn't for the crappy keyboard on the Clevo P650SE, I'd probably be using that right now. Best bang for the buck out there.

 

Right, there's no flex but that isn't all there is to a keyboard. It feels like every keypress hits a steel plate

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

I've been an eyes-closed speed touch typist for a long time and I've never been able to fully adjust to all of the crappy newer keyboards that have become so popular. The M17xR2, M17xR3-4 and M18xR1-2 all have better keyboards than Alienware's 2012 and newer machines or my Clevo P570WM. These flat-topped chicklet-ish type with low tactile feel and short stroke really suck.

 

If the youtube reviews for the Alienware 15 (2015) systems are anything to go on, the "masses" are indeed eating them up. It seems the old systems we loved we just a little too heavy, too bulky, and too pricey for them.

That's the only explanation for the Nintendo Wii. Which in the end sat unused and likely added more to Netflix' bottom line than Nintendo's (or game publishers/creators') bottom lines.

Agreed. The saving grace of the keyboard on my Alienware 18 is that it has decent keystroke travel. So I can adjust to it. It's no 7-row thinkpad keyboard (from back in the day), but it will do.

 

I personally love the keyboard on my AW17 R1. Easily the best laptop keyboard I've every used. Nice curved keys, solid, good travel, good spacing, not a chicklet-type keyboard. And remains absurdly cool under load (top temp recorded was 32C).

 

I absolutely adored the keyboard on the M17x R3/R4 and M18x (it is the same keyboard). It is the only keyboard that could compete with the Thinkpad T60P keyboard on a laptop, en certainly better than that of the AW17 or AW18. Forget chiclet style keyboards, those have sucked and will always continue to suck.

 

I really like the R4 keyboard as well.

 

Yes... excellent keyboards. And, it is the same part. They are totally interchangeable between those models.

 

I really really love the keyboard on the 17r2, and not to mention on the 18 as well. In fact all Alienware keyboards that I have used have been fantastic. So much so that I am timid to type on them because I don't want to mess them up with oil from my hands so I always cover them with silicone.

 

Yeah, none have been terrible keyboards. This is something I think Alienware does a great job with overall. I didn't really see much difference in the keyboards comparing the 15, 17 R2, 17 and 18 keyboards. Those were all very similar in both appearance and feel. They are also very similar to the keyboard in my P570WM. I just prefer the older style keyboard in the Sandy and Ivy Bridge machines, and the M17xR2 versus the newer ones.

 

The m15x / m14x (they use the same keyboard to an extent; different connectors and FN key combos) and the AW13 keyboards are great to type on. Even the TactX keyboard I'm using is nice to type on, though it did take some getting used to.
Just wish Alienware would tone down the soft rubber on the keyboards.

 

Keyboards are one area where I wish Clevo spent more time. Some of their machines have bad keyboards. The one on the P750ZM is decent, but not up to par with those on Alienware machines.

 

Oh, he's still around. Last posted on AlienwareArena on July 21.

 

Different audience here. Different expectations and possibly a more difficult level of accountability.

 

AWA does tend to favor more of the gamer side rather than the enthusiasts side. Those with the tech know-how aren't as common there as here, so to speak.
Hoping that changes with the coming months. But since school season will be upcoming (less activity among the forums), I have my doubts such will happen soon.

 

The environment here in the Alienware Community has become rather caustic due to the change in focus taking place with the brand. Honestly, I do not blame them for not having the same presence here. I know I would not expose myself to the kind of heated reception they have here. I'm not making excuses for either side and I think our hard feelings are completely understandable. But, they are human beings that deserve respect and they don't get much of that here now. Under the same set of circumstances, I think I would stay away also, if for no other reason except to avoid inflaming the situation. This thread (and the original one that was locked) is full of vitriol. I often feel really bad for Brother @Alienware-L_Porras with how much flak he has to take from us. He's a good man, even if many of us don't like the current product offering. I know that @Alienware-Frank and @AW Khan are both decent people as well. We don't have to like the new product they are selling to have respect for them as human beings. Hopefully, sometime in the future they will be able to offer something the more hardcore performance enthusiasts and overclockers will think is awesome. Who knows... the way things are headed with Intel and NVIDIA, there may soon not be anything available anywhere in a notebook that we think is awesome. Even desktop NVIDIA GPUs are having performance and stability issues now, and Intel's CPUs offerings are growing lackluster by the day. On top of all that, Windows 10 and its forced updates is about to be vomited onto all of us in 5 more days. These are troubled times across the board.

 

Intel also announced plans to deliver an unlocked 6th Gen Intel(r) Core™ processor “K” SKU for enthusiast notebooks later this year. This will be the first unlocked enthusiast “K” SKU for mobile. Stay tuned for more information.

This cpu + 990m SLI

Make it happen, Alienware

 

Sounds too good to be true.

They won't do a MQ CPU anymore but they're willing to do K HQs?

 

I can feel many people's brains splitting in emotional confusion over this haha

 

If it is a socketed K or X CPU, who cares about MQ? It becomes irrelevant at that point... no need for it to exist. Mobile Extreme CPUs have always had power demands that totally eclipse ordinary mobile processors and we like it that way. That's why they are "Extreme" and awesome. Hopefully, they will have fully unlocked socketed K and X mobile CPUs with unlimited TDP again. There is no reason not to. This would separate the men from the boys for OEMs. Those that want to continue offering pathetic machines that lack the power handling capabilities required of K and X CPUs can continue to peddle trash. Those that want to offer something amazing can, and those want want to service the needs of both customers can offer both options. Those that choose to only peddle limited performance trash welded to the mobo will be showing their true colors.

 

The HK could be used in the 17 R3, given the the 17 R2 uses the 4980HQ. Wouldn't surprise me if that happens in the coming months.

Well, Dell still does have MQ CPUs thanks to their business division. Who knows, Alienware might come back to socketed CPUs since parent Dell can, even if it's just for one model. Same goes for SLI, but then we ask all of this, "When?"

 

If that is true, then it's not much to be excited about. Just another lackluster CPU with a K tacked onto the end as a sales gimmick. Hopefully, it will be something considerably more substantial that a 4980HQ, mounted in a socket. Anything welded to the mobo will continue to be unacceptable no matter how great its specs appear to be. Homey don't play dat.

 

An unlocked CPU soldered to the motherboard is somewhat akin to an Olympic weightlifter with brittle bone disease.

So you want to push your CPU with some overclocks? Hope you don't fry it (and render your MB/GPU useless).

 

Exactly... That has been one of my main issues accepting BGA CPU and GPU all along. Sure, anemic specs is one thing, but stuff happens whether one is overclocking or not. In fact, most all of my hardware failures have involved issues totally unrelated to overclocking. Having to toss a motherboard CPU and GPU only because the OEM saved a few bucks and increased their profit margin by 0.5% by soldering expensive parts to it is not a good approach. So, notwithstanding the performance deficits with crippled hardware, the people with new AW machines, HP Envy, Dell XPS and MSI and ASUS and other laptops with BGA CPUs and GPUs that never or seldom overclock face all of the same challenges as those of us with sockets and slots, but they're just stuck with a less serviceable (disposable) machine in the event something does go south. And, something eventually will.

 

LOL



Man, Skylake is actually a REAL cpu upgrade with decent results. The difference in W3 is simply incredible.