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

God, I read these ordering horror stories and realize just how good I had it when getting my first M17x. It was smooth as silk. The wife and I sat down at the computer, we went through all the configuration options (and there were a lot of options; she was also always trying to aim high, but I started having sticker shock pretty early and nixed most of her suggestions with "I don't really need that") and hit ORDER. Payment had already been set up through Dell financing, so there was nothing to do but sit back and wait the two weeks it would take.

The laptop arrived three days early, and the box was packed with stuff like a nice laptop sleeve, user manual with leather cover (I held it up and told my wife, "Behold the Necronomicon!", not knowing how true that was at least in terms of tech support), a good quality mouse pad and a hat that was too small for my head. I have a big head. It also included the free upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista.

2015 sure is different than 2009. Can we have those days back, please?

 

Ok Frank... Ill say this... I think your going about this wrong.. you cant force feed us this info behind some new machines that are far less superior than the old line up..
Not only is the competition killing it right now they are proving that you can do stuff with a desktop cpu..bigger power supplies and what not..

See heres the thing... some uninformed people might buy into this new line up but most of us wont.. we are the ones that built the brand.. even if some one else backed it..
what do i mean by that.. well 1. we brag about being able to stomp the poop out of desktops.. 2. when we get big numbers we brag! all over the place.. 3. when people come to the forums they see WHAT WE ARE DOING not you guys over there.. WHAT WE ARE DOING AND WHAT IS POSSIBLE AND NOT POSSIBLE TO DO WITH THESE SYSTEMS!!

If it were up to ALienware every thing would go locked down...(OH WAIT THATS WHAT JUST HAPPENED)..

See Frank.. it felt as if my member ship to this little exclusive club has been ripped out hands and ive been down graded to 3rd class..

Remember this Day Frank as the day Alienware Died f it keeps the way its going'

p.s. its hard to believe that the reason you guys cut your top performing system is simply because of a faulty 18 inch panel..

Id suggest very humbly that you and your staff start talking to people Like FOX, Johnksss and my self and a few others and your loyal customer base...
ALienware in my eyes never going to be a MACBOOK THIN LAPTOP.. we dont buy these machines for that reason.. we buy them because there BIG OBNOXIOUS LOUD AND POWERFUL!!
if a person wants to buy that fine but don't make US suffer from this..

Now lastly , So i guess this would be a p.s.s LOL Every other manufacturer is getting this that we want raw power in are machines and the ability to do what we want to em to some extent..
why doesn't Alienware get this? You say its intel and throw these facts at us that make no sense when other manufacturers are dropping these beast of machines... and there not BGA..

 

Ahh, memories, and the personalised 'built for..' etched nameplate...

 

How could I forget the "Built For..." laser-engraved plate? I kept mine when I returned my original system. I love stuff like that.

 

I'd assume as Frank said the following (from that article) that indeed you could be onto something, Bro.....

"Dell appears to agree that Skylake has compelling features, and will release new and upgraded laptops with the chip in the second half of the year, said Frank Azor, Dell’s general manager for XPS and Alienware products."

(where's the bloomin' quote button gone......pfft)

 

Me too! Another Alienware USP bites the dust .

 

Ah, the good old days. There is certainly no substitute for extreme performance options or the love of vanity.

A lot has changed... I miss the good old days, and I know I am not alone in feeling that way...
Red versus Green... Us versus them...

But now we are all "elitists" and "racists" for for expecting awesomeness and viewing ourselves as being better than mainstream. (No joke, I have actually been called both for demanding more and refusing to settle for mediocrity. I guess not everyone owns a dictionary or thesaurus, and some that do apparently do not know how to use those resources correctly, LOL.)

Oh well... so be it. I love being an elitist. When it comes to computers the most important thing to remember is...

It is now the "Reply" button. The +Quote button is for multiple quotes (like this one) that you click the button to insert into your new post. This new forum software is definitely going to take some getting used to.

 

This new forum software is a disaster IMO.. I've gotten used to it but so prefer the old one...Not to mention, since the upgrade, sometimes, the forum takes ages to load/refresh a page..

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head Mr Fox. The challenge faced by Frank and his team is increasing sales in line with a globally available product.

The exclusivity, whether price, performance, or a 'boutique' customised machine has a limited market. The enthusiasts that save every penny to upgrade and tweak, and the people that have a larger disposable income and just like to show-off.

This leaves a whole mass market that is being ignored - and now chased.

For example I was recently in hospital for a procedure. I had two doctors ask me about my R4. They had not seen one and were very interested. I wonder if my new R2 will elicit the same responses? I don't think so!

I really wish the team luck in finding a' happy ground' and I refuse get annoyed by the simple facts of business (mostly ).

 

Just an update to my order woes from a few pages back...

Received a call from customer support a few hours ago saying there was a problem with my order and it wasn't ever going to go through from pre production to production status, and that I would need to speak to the order modifications department to have my order canceled and then place a new order. I was then transfered to the modifications department and explained the call I received. He placed me on hold for about 15 minutes. Then came back and said he needed to cancel the order and place a new order. So that just happened, and my estimated delivery date went from 2/12/15 on my previous order to 3/6/15 on the new order.

Really Dell? Frank, feel free to step in here and get this straightened out. I am now on my 5th order!!!! Every time, it sits in pre production for a week and then they tell me it needs to be canceled....and no one ever really knows why. And each time the order has had to be canceled, my estimated delivery date falls further and further back!!! It's getting absolutely absurd that I placed my original order on 1/7/15, still don't have a machine in production, and am looking at a delivery MAYBE 2 months later...at this rate, Skylake is going to be out before I receive my order...and then it will be me canceling the order instead of order modifications saying the order has to be canceled and placed again.
Seriously though...this has been, by far, the worst experience I've ever had in trying to purchase something!

 

I ordered an AW 17 R2 with the touch screen and 4980HQ on 1/27/15 and it is sitting in preproduction. Is this cause for concern or should I just wait patiently?

I am thrilled that officials from AW are here - it gives me hope that AW will continue as a good brand.

N

 

I wish I could say for sure...I'm concerned completely now. 5 freaking orders... My order is the same as yours by the way.

My last order was placed on 1/20/15 and just received the call today on the "problem". I guess this one actually went 2 weeks sitting without movement. More time to shop the competitors I guess...

 

Just to add to the 'me too' I placed my first order (confirmed by dell) on 7/1. Cancelled and resubmitted on 15/1, still in pre-production with an EDD of 10/2, can't see that happening now.

Delays happen but please keep the customer informed, thanks.

 

Estimate moved from 12-02-15 til 23-02-15 (ordered 16-01-15)
4980HQ,980m, 500 ssd etc.

 

Now mine's just moved out to the 18th, argg . No call, no email from my rep, this sucks for customer service.

Dell clearly has issues meeting expectations of premium buyers .

 

Isn't surprising for me as their new products and the "light notebook" way they are heading are dissapointing too. In 2013 they used to have one of best customer services.

 

I wonder why in the world my order had to be canceled yet again?? So I don't get a delay, but instead get bumped to the back of the production line again.

Nonetheless, this blows for all of us waiting.

 

What would be nice to hear is' 'demand is outstripping supply right now. Sorry everyone, you know how shortages affect other high-end technologies at the beginning'.

Bit late for that now but communication, that's key for us!

 

I'd like to know why they went from a premium-built chassis made of aluminum and other metals to some sort of "carbon fiber filled" plastic.

 

High demand and following delays are ALWAYS happening when Alienware launch new notebooks. Not sure why that is shocking. Atleast they give an approx ETA to relate to.

 

Probably to make it lighter, and perhaps to reduce cost. Lighter is not better. There is no substitute for an aluminum chassis.

 

I can't help but think when they ask you to do this, cancel your order and place a new order, it is helping their metrics. They aren't delivering an order on time, but before the expected ship date of that order it gets cancelled, this makes it not show up as a missed or delayed order. Then when they get a new order they are given a new opportunity to not miss or deliver an order late. Coming from a big business background I can see this as a easy way to keep the stats up and keep management assuming everything is working great. Sure they also get a cancelled order ding, but that may or not be something they really look at. So many other reasons a cancellation could occur. I'd like to see the re-order rate on cancelled orders.
I get that shortages occur. The 4980hq processor was launched q3 2014. This isn't a 5th generation cpu that is being launched q1 2015. If it isn't available, allow orders, but give at least a moderately accurate ship date. I would rather be told upfront it is going to be March and get it early rather than tell me February and push it to March. Sucks that the "lets just be honest" trait is a thing of the past. At launch you know a ton of the high end machines will be sold. Stock up on parts so that either on launch you can have things ready to go, or don't launch until it is ready. Most consumers are insta grata type buyers, at launch if these were available at Best buy or another retail chain, there would have been people waiting in line to get one. Having to wait 2 + months ... failed launch IMO. Means you just weren't ready to launch a product line. If you can’t get it in a reasonable time don’t set the expectation and push it. Us geeks get angry with that!

 

I mentioned it before, but during the explanation of the delay, customer support actually told me that the 4980hq had not been released yet and this was a pre-order. I let them know I was fully aware that the processor had been out for some time. Their response was that they were looking at it right now and the 4980 had not come out yet.

So, if it were simply demand exceeding supply, why would they make up the lie about the 4980hq not being released yet? Popular demand would actually be something for a company to boast about. Something is definitely going on behind the scenes...and it isn't the extreme number of orders at launch.

 

Magnesium Alloy, which the chassis is made of, isnt bad either. Plastic plus Magnesium may be more sturdy than just aluminum.

GT80 is shipping with 4980HQ, so yeah, that was BS. Dell may need to fill up their inventory though, but thats no reason to lie to the customer

 

@starrk not so much a suggestion of what is really happening, more wishful thinking on my part. It does appear that the 4980 is the key factor in this.

maybe they want to collect enough orders for a full factory run, soldered components and all that?

 

M17xR2, M18xR1 and M18xR2 have all metal, no plastic in the shell. They have a cast alloy (aluminum or magnesium) with a very thick aluminum outer shell that is anodized. They are extremely rigid and made better than the Alienware 18 in that respect. The 18 is certainly awesome, but the chassis composition was a minor step backward due to the thin metal on the lid and plastic outer covers on the base..

 

According to Dell the AW18 have more metal than the older models

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2041...its-all-new-gaming-notebook-lineup-at-e3.html

 

I have a beach front property in Phoenix you might be interested in, LOL...

But seriously, even if that is accurate, it still doesn't matter. It's still slightly inferior. Plastic is plastic, and a thin metal lid is still thin metal. The chassis on the 18 is a slight downgrade compared to the previous models. When you handle both it is very noticeable which one has the more impressive chassis. This is merely an observation, not a slam. The 18 chassis is still extremely well made, and it is a little bit easier to work on.

The chassis on the 17 was a massive upgrade to the M17xR3/R4 chassis.

 

Not to mention, Mr. Fox, the article isn't referring to the last five years of models that you've referenced. By older models, the article seems to be talking about the pre-M17XR1/R2 era (could be wrong about the R1 since that was 2009?) of Alienware units. It doesn't make any blatant claims about the Alienware 18 having more metal than the M17X R2 or the M18X R1/R2.

 

I dont disagree with you at all. Im sure the X2 is sturdy as hell. So is the AW18.
Its all good. Both machines are impressive and better than plastic fantastic machines anyway

 

There simply is NOT a gaming laptop by any other manufacturer that matches the build quality, fit and finish of the Alienware machines up the last generation. All the newer machines past the m15x/m17x/18x series are nice but not on par with the "x" series... That's my opinion and like many here have owned the newer machines and the older machines. This is why I have opted to stick with the "old" alienware machines.

 

It's slowly beginning to get near the end of the week, can't wait to hear the news on the PSU.

 

First, I want to thank you all for your passion for Alienware and for our products.
After collecting your feedback and doing our promised due diligence with our internal testing, we have come to the same conclusions that some of you have regarding the Alienware 17r2 BIOS being the culprit. During our investigation, we discovered that the main issue is due to a redundant setting in the BIOS code that has been inducing throttling when the system senses a potential overload in the 180w AC adapter. The 240w AC adapter, as some of you experienced, has enough headroom to overcome this redundant setting, which is why it appeared to have solved the issue.
This bug affected the proper functioning of the hybrid power technology feature we introduced in this generation of systems. For those who are unaware of hybrid power tech, when your system receives a spike for wattage requests that go above the AC adapter’s capacity, it will quickly pull power from the battery to pay off this request for the typical milliseconds in which they occur. This allows your system to fulfill “on the fly” power demands. It also does not affect your battery life.
So what is our solution?
Our teams in Miami and Austin are putting a new BIOS through testing as we speak and we should be able to release it by next week.
Through our internal testing, the performance between a 180w AC Adapter versus a 240w AC Adapter powered 17r2 system is the same with this corrected new BIOS. For those of you who feel a 240w AC Adapter meets your needs, we understand your stance. Please feel free to contact our support team and request a 240w AC Adapter to power your Alienware 17r2. They will fulfill your request at no cost to you.
The updated BIOS should be made available sometime next week on our support page. For those of you who can’t wait, we will be hosting a beta build of the BIOS on Alienware Arena. We will come back to this forum to answer your additional questions and concerns throughout the day and weekend. Again, thank you for making us aware of this issue and for your patience.
Beta Bios Link: http://na.alienwarearena.com/forums...r2-beta-bios-for-hybrid-power-technology/last
Please note that this BIOS does not currently work on the 15. We will be publishing an updated BIOS to solve the same bug for the new 15 soon on support.dell.com
-Frank

 

Awesome Frank. Hopefully updates on the revival of the 18 with 980Ms are nearing too (wishful thinking).

 

We are trying, giving it our all I promise you on that but need more time on the 18. We are highly motivated after hearing all of your feedback here so there's no lack of effort going on just need more time to put all the pieces together (hopefully).

 

Exactly what I said would be done. Some sort of way to use the battery to supplement the weak PSU. I do appreciate you giving us the option to get the 240w anyway. I'd prefer not to rely on my battery to 'boost', even if as you say it's during spikes. I hit my machines hard, a spike for me will be the norm so I don't want my gaming going down the tubes 3 hours into a session because the battery is exhausted.

 

Frank, I'm not trying to be bad or something, however, I just wanted to point something out.. This hybrid power tech will put more load on the battery and wear out quickly.. With the battery not being removable, I think this isn't a good idea at all as the battery will be difficult to replace.. MSI have tried this tech and clearly having a 240W adapter is a much better solution for the longevity of the laptop/battery... I do appreciate that you all are offering 240W adapters but just wanted to point this out

 

Wow a lot of respect to you Frank. I'm very happy with the outcome. Especially offering the 240W.

 

Can you get your system up past 180W during a battery session? I'm fairly certain you can't as it's designed to throttle when under battery load for safety reasons so this shouldn't be a problem.

 

Good point, I will look into it with the engineers to see if this is a consequence, they have the data I'm just not aware of it.

 

@Alienware-Frank, we saw from @Mr. Fox testing that the system performed better when connected to a 330 watt vs. a 240 watt. What type of evidence did you see in testing as to the flaw in the bios and his testing with the extra headroom that it had over the 240?

 

I think your misunderstanding what I am saying. I never game on battery, that would be silly! As you say shouldn't be a problem but I feel safer giving it the power it wants directly from the mains and not hybrid'ing it. I'm a power user not a treehugger!

 

In regards to this being compared to the turbo boost tech, this tech does not drain the battery. I've been using the 15 and 17 for gaming for about 2-3 months now. It stays at its current charge throughout my entire gaming binge and I game 4-5 hours at a time. It doesn't go down nor does it stop working when you have 30% battery.

As for the battery's life itself, it should not have an affect on the battery's life cycle. You can test it yourself and let us know if your battery's murder was attributed to Hybrid Boost.

 

Then get some of that sweet sweet 240w power, baby!

 

I can speak with our engineer's and find out exactly what they found with this test. I'll get back to you on that. Off to write an email!

 

Delta or Flextronics should make 400W adapter.

 

Frank,

Is the M18x R2 and other legacy systems going to be getting command center 4.0 and will it have 64 bit version of the itunes plugin? The New version of itunes is 64 bit now, and I went to check for an update and the command center is missing from the page for my system now.

 

I got you, man! Sent an email to our software team. I should have an answer tomorrow for you.

 

AW Khan, thanks for your hands on approach with the community here.

On the topic of obtaining an updated BIOS for the m18x 1/2, AW18 series to work with Maxwell 970m/980m cards (preferably in Legacy mode).

Can you do this for us?

 

That still wouldn't be enough for an SLI beast. 680M SLI with a hefty overclock pulls up to 500W and 780M and 980M SLI both pull well beyond 500W when pushed. It needs to be a 600W or great solution for dual GPU.