How far Alienware has gone backwards

hm, wonder where clevo would be standing in such a statistic... and why they havent even been mentioned in that article!

 

Let's not make this an Alienware problem. I'm not making excuses or offering forgiveness for how things have turned out, but let's be fair. Truth be told, this is a consumer ignorance problem at its very core, and we have the clueless masses to thank for what an undesirable pathetic mess Alienware products have become. It was not long ago that we had a handful of folks in this sub-forum whining and complaining bitterly about big and heavy Alienware monster laptops, many of them never having actually owned one, literally begging for thin and light Alienware trash with MacBook-like features. We don't need to name names, but there were several and there were a number of heated debates that surrounded the expression of their wish list. Unfortunately, Alienware have listened to the wrong voices and they are just going where they think the the greatest pool of money is going to be. Their old customer base is an expendable minority and they know most of their "new" customers won't notice all the corners that got cut. And, because those "new" customers have no point of reference, they have no ability to understand how much hardware awesomeness has just totally vaporized.

What is even more sad, and born out about those tragic sales statistics... with MSI and ASUS accounting for 50%, combined with the stats for all of the other BGA turdbooks, it conclusively confirms that the majority of "gaming notebook" buyers don't have any clue about what a high performance notebook is made of or runs like. All they need is a fancy wrapper and the approval of their Facebook friends to feel like they have something special. The majority are ignorant, mislead by marketing hype or just flat-out don't care about performance or quality, and they are more than willing to settle for something grossly inferior as long as it looks nice and has a fancy GPU. Who cares if it is a crippled mess that throttles and runs hot, it's got a 980M, OMG, OMG, a 980M, OMG, so it has to be amazing, right?

No wonder we are in such a sorry state of affairs right now. The turdbook peddlers must be extremely thankful that ignorance is bliss. Otherwise, they would all be filing for bankruptcy and auctioning off millions of unopened crates filled with pathetic BGA gamer-boy electronics garbage that nobody that knows better wants to waste their money on. Very sad days we are living in right now, and not many acceptable options left for the savvy performance enthusiast. There has never been a time when upgrading "old" laptops has been this much smarter than buying something brand new. Thank God there are a couple of new Clevo models that are awesome enough to actually be worth buying... but, the pickings have never been slimmer.

 

I think 100,000 units shipped are very good. Remember these new modern Aw models is a big flop. You know that Dell have crippled these models? I realize now why Dell chose the weak flimsy 180w psu to their early 2015 Aw models... Because the sale of these laptops is not bigger than this. Dell wanted obviously earn money in such a way since the number of the laptops are so few. Cheaper with a 180w vs the more powerful 240W. How do you think a +200w Nvidia desktop card works in the new and thinner design Dell has opted for Alienware?

Hope more and more people realize that the big 3; Asus, MSI and Dell can't make anything better than what they now create. The time has come to choose Clevo as the only brand if you want desktop performance in a gaming laptop. Hard facts but so it has been now long time. You can not get away from the reality.

 

on the flipside: clevo will have even more reason to continue with monster machines sporting socketed monster hardware with all enthusiasts jumping ship and buying their stuff

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Well, that is very true. But, they need to hire @Prema to make their awesome hardware actually function correctly. They obviously lack the capacity to do a good job on their own with that part of the puzzle. They've never done a nice job with their BIOS... ever... always seems to be a terrible worthless, crippled mess, just like their competitors. Kind of like building a nice muscle car with a high output V8 and only installing 4 of the 8 spark plug wires, LOL... firing on 4 cylinders... woo-hoo!

While their firmware is severely botched up, at least they offer some excellent hardware as a base to start out with and nobody else does at this point. Clevo FTW.

 

You can fix the bios in Clevo models with individuals as @Prema Try this on 2013 mod Aw17/18 or Acerbook/similar... You are doomed. LOL

 

Clevo will probably support Secure Flash too so Prema will do nothing in newer models.

 

theres always a way...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Indeed, if one has the necessary knowledge, tries hard enough and does not give up too soon, almost anything can be hacked by force. The rub is whether it's actually worth doing. *reaches for bigger hammer*

I'm still planning to at least try to unlock the Alienware 18 by removing the chip, manually programming it with an unlocked A12 BIOS mod, and soldering a socket in place to make it easier the next time. But, I'm too busy with Clevo stuff right now. I am 99.9% positive that will work, as @svl7 was able to do that with his Alienware 17. It's unfortunate it was not already done while it was still a new product, before it became obsolete.

 

excatly that .. i am trying to tell my customers that even if youir damn apple super thin macbook as an i7 it never runs full speed because it too sleek it cant handle the heat fast enoupf..
i have a bunch of family friend who bought asus "rog" laptops .... bigs specs on the box and nice stickers....

Most Customer don't really care about reality they care about color thickness and stickers. if Dell want to sell laptops they aim there lol
you would not believe how many of those cheap 300$ can laptops sells ... if it brakes buy a new one every 6 months pffff



ohh well since i am going back to full tower myself anyways .. tired of overpriced box of problems... i discovered that i can buy used dell workstation monster dual xeon e3 for 500$ canadian ... + get 2 used gtx680 and i am in business for under 1000$ canadian ..

 

I'm new to all these hating. Can someone point me to some reading on what's so bad about BGA/soldered CPU/GPU with the exception of not being able to upgrade?

 

It's not hating as much as resentment about the severe lack of available options for those with higher expectations. But, what's wrong with BGA... for consumers that want something that gets the job done without any fanfare, don't care a great deal about performance, and doesn't too cost much up front it is OK. To each their own. My wife doesn't care if her XPS 15 is BGA. It's nice, pretty looking, made really well and it makes her happy. But, for enthusiasts and people that want the best that can be had, it is just a huge joke. Other than the inability to upgrade, as you already identified, the top three reasons (in my book) are:

• More expensive to repair (mobo + GPU = more money)
  
• Reduced serviceability/disposable product (GPU dies, sorry... you need a new mobo... if one is still available)
  
• Universally lower CPU performance, frequent throttling, lower TDP, totally locked down or just barely any tweakability
  (theoretically to reduce power, extend battery run time and, presumably, to avoid overheating in poorly engineered laptops, but many still run too hot due to a compromised form factor that cannot accommodate any thermal challenges)

The problems associated with most systems that use BGA CPU and GPU can often go far beyond the BGA part as well. They are usually either focused on being cheap (as in inexpensive) or thin/small/light form factors, along with all the problems inherent to that effort, all of which have a negative impact on performance. This also benefits the ODMs and OEMs selling BGA crapbooks because the products they sell more swiftly become obsolete and they get to sell more garbage to replace the garbage they sold before.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/246907-how-mobile-i7-cpus-work/ By @D2 Ultima

 

I must say, even for a BGA, EVGA really let outdone themselves with the bios. Details are still limited but would like to see the bios a bit more. Meanwhile, alienware is still locking bioses or releasing crappy ones.

 

Even more of the unpleasant BGA garbage that will be sold to ignorant boys/girls who appreciate design vs performance. EVGA should have understood better than develop this CrAppbook similar nonsense. They only destroy their excellent reputation when they produce such trash.
Should have used desktop processors and latest Gtx980 desktop card + Sli support. This is just pitiful.
Now is EVGA, Alienware and Razer in its own league. It will be an intense competition to see who can create the lightest and thinnest gaming laptop ever made

 

still kudos to them for the seemingly unlocked uefi bios otherwise, agree as usual with @Papusan

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

lol

Are you trolling or serious ?

 

didn't apple win this with the iPhone ?

 

they won the thinnest phone yes, but not the best phone. I would rather Alienware be the best. So sick of this thin and light crap in phones, laptops, everywhere. Enough already.

 

RIIIIGHT~!~! I'm the same way.

 

Thin and light BGA notebooks work great as high-tech boot scrapers. Just bury the LCD hinge end of it in concrete.

 

see always new uses for things. Always recycle I say.

 

Notebookcheck.net Rewiev had Rebadged Aw17R3 on the test bench. WHAT A MESS

Dellienware continues to use full hybrid bios although the rebadged Alienware 17R3 (with Gtx980m) now comes with 240W psu and not the flimsy weak 180w psu aka PSU Gate .
How is this possible??? A 240W psu will not be utilized to its fullest... Dellienware desire apparently to use the battery as well. Nice way to inflict every laptop owner extra charge when the battery is killed prematurely. Incredible. This is very clumsy DELLIENWARE !!! But as expected.

Read what Notebookcheck write in their reviews of rebadged Aw17R3...

Energy Management

Power Consumption
Compared to our review configuration of the Alienware 17 R2, the new model is not always more frugal. 12-26 Watts while idling are only possible by Nvidia's Optimus technology, which can switch dynamically between the integrated and the dedicated GPU. As soon as you stress the Nvidia chip, the consumption will rise noticeably, although 95 Watts in 3DMark 06 are still acceptable (124 Watts @17 R2). We measured a maximum value of 188 Watts in the stress test. Unfortunate: The power adaptor is sufficient with a nominal output of 240 Watts, but the battery is still drained under maximum load. LOL

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-17-R3-Notebook-Review.159535.0.html

 

Power Consumption: CPU alone 243W in this test. 188W total system draw is child's play.

 

Dont you guys get tired of saying the same stuff over and over again? A non power efficient system and then bragging like "yay its sucking 243watts from the powergrid yay my system is bad ass". The power per kg/size of the systems you are constantly praising are seriously out of wack. Twice the size and weight for an extra maybe max 20% of power (if you dont count SLI systems) and an inferior chassis build quality.

There is no clue from that review what happened. Maybe their psu just disconnected for a bit due to a loose connection while testing for example. I have tested my system thoroughly past weekend with the latest bios. Full load everything. No power drain from my battery, no thorttling. The AW15R2 motherboard is the same as the AW17R3. Also the review states there is no 8GB 980M offering from Alienware. Guess on what system I am typing this message now and how much videomemory it has.

You guys are so quick to draw any conclusions and as always......gravely overstating opinions. Run any clevo with a desktop cpu from the battery and they die out quicklier than you can say BGA. Hating on Alienware because they actually made a portable gaming laptop which you can actually use for productivity for around 7 hours while away from a power socket. In the end how many cases do you know of a BGA system failing? How many of you could actually upgrade a cpu to a whole new generation?

 

we say this stuff over and over again because apparently, there are still more than enough people refusing to listen and understand ^^

Sent from my Huawei Mate 8 NXT-AL10 using Tapatalk

 

Understand? Not listening?

I refuted some statements a few times with proper results and they where just neglected and ignored

Till now every new CPU architecture comes with a new socket, chipset etc. So the upgrading a CPU argument is pretty much garbage. Just as with desktops, If i want to upgrade my CPU to a newer generation, I have to buy a new platform.

MXM graphic cards on the other hand, have some potential but has problems with multiple form factor types, bios'es etc and a new graphic card with an old cpu architecture is not ideal either. SO the only real argument in my opinion is just that it is easier to maintain your system if there is a problem. But how often does a system truly break down?

BGA by the way has nothing to do with performance only the way it is mounted on a motherboard. If you solder a desktop K class cpu on a motherboard it is BGA as well but will just perform the same. So complain about Intel not progressing as much, something tha tis totally the case. This is the same reason why a 5 year old Sandy bridge can still perform with overclocks almost on the same level as a modern Skylake cpu except for floating point performance. So in my opinion you guys are complaining to the wrong manufacturer. In the end people get lower priced but well made gaming laptops now which perform almost in the highest range (only the 980 gpu is faster or a SLI setup) while being actually a portable laptop. True performance enthusiasts buy a proper desktop with a hexa or octacore workstation class cpu, something that I am already doing for pretty much 18 years now. Damn elitism and constant childish crapbook this, bga turd that.

THe chassis of the EVGA is pretty much one of the best on the market and actually a fully thought out product. No Clevo can come close to that. Granted you cant upgrade it, but you can at least use it as a laptop.

 

yep, always do

nope, havent seen any valid arguments yet

nope, read up

more often than u think. naturally, if u go ahead and buy a new system every friggin year, then probably rather seldom. but i also have other stuff to spend my money on try and keep a system for 2-3 years and ull see, instead of upgrading to every little "sidegrade" the industry throws at you like a good lil fanboi

again, read up. it has everything to do with performance. and its not about the actual installation / mounting of the cpu, but the way intel bins BGA cpus. they basically have two sections: good cpus go into sockets, crap cpus are soldered onto mobos. deal with it

right, how many clevo machines have u had thus far?

 

I presented actual benchmarks and they were ignored in another topic multiple times.

For example an AW M15X cannot be upgraded from the first gen of Core I7 to a Sandy bridge and Ivy bridge.

I upgrade once in a year or 2. Keep the degrading remarks for yourself. I already presented a calculation what it would cost of fully upgrading a system (also screen, abttery etc) It wasnt that far off buying a new laptop.

There is no proof of this whatsoever.

I actually had 2 and returned them, weak chassis, poor construction, poor battery life, fairly noisy and the design was too 90s for me.

 

right, and a Pentium MMX 133 cannot be upgraded to a core i7 skylake. whats ur point? a BGA cpu cannot be upgraded at all

right, where exactly do u get a brand new gaming machine for 700 bucks? thats the cost of upgrading the GPU for example to the new gen. thatll get u a significant boost in gaming performance. upgrading battery and screen? not necessary, what are you talking about?

LOL. @D2 Ultima, would u be so kind?

also, theres been tons of proof posted in various thread, which u chose to ignore so right back at ya...

...i think there we have the actual reason u returned them,. true, theyre definitely not built for teenage boys in puberty going crazy over bling and preferring that over performance and function.

just man up and deal with the consequences of your poor decision making: uve wasted money on a non-functioning machine thats all about looks and "thickness", rather than function and performance. and sure, keep telling urself that buying a new machine for a 5700HQ to a 6700HQ sidegrade is SO worth the investment becaaaaause....oh yeah, its NEWER! and thats all that counts!

 

I've owned a few Clevos, they're great machines, I've always found the screens to be lacking, but that's just my personal opinion. What I discovered for myself was that if I really wanted a powerful machine, it was much easier and cheaper to build a desktop. My Alienware serves a dual purpose as a machine that I can use for work off the power adapter and game when I need to. The Clevos don't have the battery life due to the desktop processor unfortunately. They do make great servers and are easy to service. To each their own though, everyone has different needs for their laptops, I'm not sure why everyone needs to have this virtual pissing contest every time.

 

The point is that there are only meager update possibilities which arent in my opinion not really worth the money compared to the performance gained.

So your battery lasts longer than 2 years? Your screen is still up to par with current screens? I saw a huge jump in screen quality to be honest. But you arent probably a professional designer so I guess you dont care about color fidelity and accuracy I must admit though the fullHD panel in my current R2 is not that great in terms of brightness. But that is why I am going to replace the panel.

And i posted benchmarks to refute it

I am a fairly successful 31 year old web/marketing designer traveling the world. It is the build quality that counts. You know when you turn off the lights of an Alienware, the design is actually quite polished. A Clevo looks like a budget laptop and the plastic creaking and bending is quite off putting. I even doubt if those weak screen lids will survive the road like most of my other laptops did. LCD " bruising" is still an issue for a lot of laptops.

Non functioning machine? Tell me what's not functioning then? The 980M 8GB in this machine is performing wonderfully with a nice 200mhz boost on both GPU & Memory. The CPU works on advertised speeds without throttling and I can render my 3d designs quickly without any hiccups. Oh and I can take it without me for almost a workday without hooking it up to a charger. If I would have had a M15X I would have replaced it with this machine as well. Nice that I could upgrade the graphic card but it wouldnt run for more than 4hours without a PSU and the CPU architecture could not be upgraded. So in the end I would have had to buy a new one anyway. SO what is wrong with the function? It performs excellent and is a true mobile workstation (please keep the word mobile in mind). I got what I paid for a machine with great build quality, great mobility and great performance.THe only functionality that I do not have is that I can switch the CPU and GPU.[/QUOTE]

Kinda my point, that everyone has different needs. But I felt because I also have some time off just to kinda go against some overstated opinions in this topic. Indeed different needs and different wishes. Doesnt make a product worthless, crap etc.

Also salute for just giving your honest opinion with your insights without bringing childish remarks and words to the table!

 

From the POV of someone that just recently bought their first "gaming" laptop, for the most part, many machines out there are so huge or just gaudy that I'd feel like a toolbag just using it in public. This is the 1st generation that I've looked at and actually thought, "yeah, I'd rock that and not feel like an idiot doing so".

I lot of people ***** about how Alienware is going backwards, but they are a company. If their sales are increasing and userbase is increasing then they are definately NOT going backwards, they are just not a company you want them to be.

 

Alienware is the 4th best selling game laptop manufacturer out there. Its not Clevo in front of them but still behind them (quite a lot behind by the way). Brands like Asus and MSI take the top spots. It is because people seem to want a different balance between performance and mobility. Cant blame dell for following that trend. They could make a prestige type laptop though to show they have the best technology available.

 

Nope... I never get tired of railing on filthy, nasty, smelly, gooey, make-me-wanna-vomit BGA feces. I hate consumer-grade computer trash with a passion. Maybe you're forgetting that I am used to be Mr. Alienware fanboy x100 that only likes massive and heavy monster machines. So, why would I ever get tired of it? Maybe you're just tired of vocal people that don't hush up and drink the Kool-Aid? Plus, that all Alienware fanboy stuff abruptly ended when they went all sissy-pants on us with their BGA crap.

I don't where you're coming up with 20% between a pile of crap BGA quad core throttlemaster CPU and a monster hexacore, but I think you're off more than a little bit. With 16K 3DMark 11 physics score versus about 8-9K, or about 8 to 9 points in Cinebench versus 14+ is quite a bit more than 20% difference. But, even if it was only 20%... that's actually a big difference. Even 10% more performance is pretty huge. And, enough difference to underscore the fact that BGA sucks. I just don't get why the gamer-boys are so eager and willing to settle for something pathetic and think it's OK. You do realize that for every inch of forgiveness you guys dole out they're going to take a mile of liberty with lameness, right?

I don't care. MSI and ASUS trash is just as bad. Selling the most trash doesn't make it any more desirable. Popular... perhaps. But, it just doesn't matter. If your friends tell you jumping off a cliff is a good idea that doesn't make it true. The world is full of people that would not recognize awesome if it slapped them across the face and said, " Hi, I'm awesome."

Yes, I do blame them. They had a choice to make and chose totally wrong. By my definition. That's all that matters. I use my own tape measure. They have been weighed, measured and found wanting. End of story.

 

I'm probably just getting too old for the fanboy stuff overall. When I first started frequenting this forum a few years ago, I was probably the same way, but nowadays, I'm just buying what works for my needs and not caring about what others think. I've owned enough laptops to know what I need. It's just odd that guys who don't own or don't plan to own Alienwares anymore come in and make random comments. I don't even see this kind of thing in the Apple section of the forums. Maybe it's just a just more mature or older group of people in there.

 

SHouldnt a mod not show a bit more maturity in his posts? You dont like the products, that is clear. But trash? a like the year 1999 performing laptop made in 2016 can be considered trash probably. But the majority of gaming laptops in this class? You have a problem with putting things in perspective I think, no offence.

The physics score of the 6700HQ is actually surpassing an to 4.8ghz overclocked desktop sandy bridge 2500k which perform up to 20% lower than a desktop 6700K. I was talking about max 20% difference between the quad core cpu's and that real performance what you are talking about isnt to tbe found in any laptop. Because the real performance monsters are the workstation class cpu's

It is actually more desireble, The pricing is very similar between all these brands. So if money isnt the problem why else wouldnt they buy your beloved Clevo? I wouldnt want any Clevo instead of my AW15. Some probably perform somewhat better (the desktop 980 equipped laptops). But......the machines are still not something I consider a laptop. Too thick, no batterylife, poor design language and not an optimal build quality in my opinion.

 

I'm old enough to qualify for a senior citizen discount at most restaurants, but I'm not too old for for standing up for what it I think is right. And, not kind enough to pretend wrong is right just because some people think it's OK. I don't hate the people that think it's OK... I love people... just hate the pathetic garbage being sold to us. And, because I care so much I want people to know the difference between awesome and ordinary. The only way for them to know better is to be informed. What they do with the information from that point forward is up to them. But, I'm not going to be quiet and pretend crap is good.

The emperor is naked, and the dude looks really bad with no clothes on. If I can get 1 out of 10 people to pay attention and set down that glass of wee-wee flavored Kool-Aid, that is a 10% performance increase. Or, depending on how you look at it, a 10% loss of business for BGA peddlers. Little by little... we can win this war. Exploit every crack in the foundation you can and eventually the tower will crumble and collapse. I've got all the time in the world to chip away at it and I have no intention to stop chipping... ever.

 

Everyone is free to have their own opinions, but this much is fact. The QC on Alienware has gone to crap. Complete and total crap. My 17 R2 came with a giant lump on the palmrest...turns out it was an extra CMOS battery. WTF. I'm sure you've all heard of the screen bleed issues I've had on the 18 and 17R2, none of which existed on the M17x/M18x series. They have cheapened the brand substantially. Go look at a M18x R1 unboxing video vs Alienware 18 Boxing video. We used to get a leather bound manual, a hat, a carrying sleeve, and other extras. Alienware couldn't be bothered to throw in a recovery/resource USB or a sleeve anymore. The chassis on the Alienware 18 just feels CHEAP, compared to the aluminum chassis of the M18x. Don't even get me started on port reduction

The only thing Alienware has accomplished, is shrinking the size of their laptops.

 

The war against BGA...

The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

Indeed... shrinking size, performance, features and value. And, the majority of the people that are OK with that were not Alienware customers until they went cheap mainstream crap on us. There are a few rare exceptions, but those that appreciated the level of excellence they used to offer have left the building. I have no room for compromise with any brand... Alienware, ASUS, MSI, Razer, Aorus or any other turdbook manufacturer. My contempt for trash goes far beyond the Alienware brand. Their share of it is only a small slice. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect better from them, because they used to be the best.

I think it is human nature to feel compelled to speak. That's fine and it's one way forums like this add value. I'm critical of products that fail to meet my expectations, which does not require any approval or the agreement of others. While there are some folks that have no basis for their opinions, I'm very confident that most with an opposing view feel the same way. It's only bad when people take it personal rather than recognize the harsh criticism is for inanimate objects.

 

As evidenced by the completely different userbase in the Alienware 13/15/17 subsection vs the rest of the sections lol

 

2500k doesnt performance within 20% of an overclocked 6700k at multi threaded app.

I may not know too much about alienware but I will say this from a different angle. I was looking into some workstation class laptops from dell, and my buddy happened to review them. What he had told me made me absolutely refuse to touch any mobile BGA CPU anymore.

So the XPS CPU throttles, all precision lines CPU throttles except the top of line 17inch. Which throttles after both GPU and CPU are both stressed. If thats dell's altitude towards their top of line workstation, I dont think the alienware line is doing any better. I like to have performance without worrying about a machine too busy on saving the 20w that I dont care either way. I believe my friend may have prime95 which places a very heavy load, but still it is ridiculous.

The fact is, you cant get a "mobile" gaming laptop with good battery life without significantly comprising something. There is a fundamental limit on chemical battery for consumer right now, so the direction of increasing battery life while maintaining same battery size is not realistic. So we go the other direction, reducing power draw of components usually have an impact on performance and the methods of doing them is not done right in a lot of time.

If you want truly portability laptop, forgo the GPU. Its better to get 2 tools that fit right for the job instead of adapting one tool. I had looked into this heavily before. On a kg/performance basis without worrying about anything else, aorus have alienware completely locked down. The top alienware 17inch cant touch a x7 SLI with 970ms and 6820hk or a x7 dt if we take any throttling decision out of the question.
MSI's line have fundamental faults as well, such as under providing PSUs and using underpowered CPUs such as 6920hq but at least on their top lines, all the GPUs are MXM. The GS60 under load was apparently very very loud but didnt throttle. ASUS's line is a bit of joke right now but in my eyes, they did a better job than alienware as well. Their laptop is all BGA but at least the cooling and acoustic performance is very acceptable. As for GA, with TB3, there is no reason for it to exist anymore.

When I took the time to research laptops, there is not a whole lot of reason alienware is providing anything special. MSI has MXM advantage on high end laptops. ASUS have acoustic/thermal advantage. Aorus/Gigabyte has weight/performance advantage. Clevo have pure performance advantage. Where does that leaves alienware?

 

The joke on this is that the M18x R2 on iGPU can outpace my Alienware 17 R2 on battery life too. What a total joke.

 

Odd, I pretty much get 5-6 hours on battery on integrated graphics. I could only get three on my previous Sager.

 

Well I will always appreciate my Alienwares even if they are the BGA ones. Needless to say the eGPU won't work out in my current situation so I just went with the P870DM-G, doubt there will be any regrets with this decision.

 

I have tested it myself. The SB 2500K OCéd 4core performance is almost equal to a 6700. The 2500K is a core i5 ofcourse. But it shows how slow the progression was.

The fat is the AW15 and AW17 are both well reviewed gaming laptops, perform up to par with any other similar specced gaming laptop and DO offer great battery life. This is a fact stated by various reviews. Comparable Clevo machines with the 980M that do perform the same in terms of performance only offer 3 hours of battery life with mild productivity so in the same laptop class, with the same performance level. The AW15 for example is the better choice with a better build quality.

I actually had a Gigabyte laptop and it was the worst throttling machine I ever owned. The build quality is shoddy at best and often complained about by a lot of reviewers and users. They are loud as well. This goes for both the Aorus and Gigabyte gaming laptops. Hell a lot of users even have issues that their GPU is "disappearing" and they need to send their unit back. They do offer SLI laptops but you need to game with your headset on because of the sheer noise. Hot as well with temps over 90c;

The MSI ghost series are okay, comparable but the battery life sucks and come with battery wear out of the box. I was actually in the market for one. But the fit and finish was not to my standards and they only go up to a Geforce 970m. The others too bulky for my taste. Only their highest end biggest laptop offers MXM though. That machine comes with a useless formfactor and a mechanical keyboard in a strange position.

Asus is just a lot of bulk. They are the size of the bigger Clevos but without any upgrade path. No idea about the build quality though. I never could test it for a longer period unlike the other laptops.

So what does Alienware offer? For me the best balance between battery life, usability, mobility, quality and performance. Under normal circumstances they do not throttle under load (in fact i never got it to throttle at all with various benchmarks running at the same time with the latest firmware. The fan noise is by the way low, the temps are are lower than the other thinner gaming laptops with less noise. My grips with Alienware? Lack of fancontrol options and easy acces to the parts for stuff like repasting jobs. Regarding the graphics amp. the GA still offers benefits over a TB3 setup.

Did you actually test any of these laptops yourself? I did actually.

Proof it because every review and battery test out there states otherwise. The AW17R2 and AW15R1 go up to 7 hours under moderate productivity.

 

I looked at those other options also, the only other one I was really considering was the MSI. I've had bad experiences with the services that Gigabyte and Asus provided me for previous items I have bought from them, so I will no longer be purchasing products from them. That pretty much left the Alienware and MSI, and I got a pretty good deal on the Alienware, so that sealed the deal for me. I do agree that you can't have everything though regarding battery life/performance, you usually get one or the other.

 

Product QC in general has gone done the past 10 years to be honest.

But your experiences are different from mine. My friends AW M15X's had issues and my AW15's (3 of them) all had no issues, no screen bleed, came with USB install drives. Unfortunately the first AW15 that arrived was dropped by UPS and the box was heavily damaged and one of the laptop corners was damaged because of that, the second had a battery that was wearing out a bit too quickly and they wanted to replace it, unfortunately the technician wrecked my system so they replaced it with a new AW15 R2. Thats service!

The inside of the current ALienwares are metal by the way. The motherboard is on a metal plate, the screen lid is aluminum and under the palmrest there is a big metal plate as well. The old ones had a fair share of plastic bits as well.

 

I agree, I don't really take it personally, I don't really have a stake in any of the manufacturers, it's all mass produced stuff anyways. That's why I always find it funny that people feel the need to defend their brand. None of these companies actually care about you, they only care how much money you're bringing them. I can definitely say that as far as BGA stuff goes, it's the future as far as Intel is concerned, and that's not going to change at least for the next 5-7 years. Maybe AMD will come up with something good to win back some of the hardcore.

 

The proof is in my ownership. I could barely get 4.5 hours out of my Alienware 17 R2, I could easily get 6-7 in my M18x R2. Perks of a 12 cell battery vs 8 cell.