I'm nutz ordered 3 Alienware's M17x R2 M17x R3 and a M18x anyone have comparison questions?

I was in the market for a desktop replacement and saw Dell had a 30% off coupon so I spent 3 days and way to much time shopping for the best deal. Each time I ordered the best deal currently available (Dell outlet) hours later a better deal came up So currently in front of me I have 2 of the 3 computers I ordered.

Dell Outlet Alienware M17x R2 Laptop - Space Black Anodized Aluminum
6X Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate
17 inch UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) RGB LED Display
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Scratch & Dent
Processor: Intel Core i7 940XM Quad Core Processor (2.13GHz, Turbo Mode 3.33GHz, 8M Cache)
Intel 6300 Wireless-N (2x2) Half Mini-Card
Crossfire 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module



Dell Outlet Alienware M17x R3 Laptop
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
Certified Refurbished
17.3 Inch Wide HD (1600 x 900 60Hz) WLED Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 2860QM Processor (2.5GHz, w/Turbo Boost 3.6GHz, 8MB Cache)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz, (4x2GB)
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 4.0
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M
Genuine Windows 7 Professional


The M18x will be here hopefully by Saturday

Dell Outlet AlienWare M18x Laptop
6X Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)
Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Certified Refurbished
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
4.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
18.4 inch Wide FHD (1920 x 1080) WLED Display
Processor: Intel Core 2nd Generation i7-2670QM Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.1GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Intel Advanced-N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology




So far things I have noticed

-The R2's RGB 1920 x 1200 Screen is Dimmer but has a much better quality screen. It seems the contrast ratio is 3x the R3's WLED 1600 x 900 screen.
-The R2's Web camera is 5x the quality over the R3's???? Software / Driver issue??
-The R2 fans are MUCH louder than the R3 under load.
-The R2 was a Scratch and Dent and is in better shape than the Certified Refurbished R3
-The R3 with switchable Graphics gets more than double the Battery life of the R2 according to Windows.
-The R2 has a nicer build quality over the R3 though is much heavier!
-The R3's LED's for the Keyboard and Eye Candy are much brighter
-The R2 even with a lower processor boots faster than the R3 (Same 750gb 7200rpm Drives)
-The R2 with crossfire 5870s' is around 12% faster in 3dMark Vantage over the 6990m of the R3
-The R3 Touchpad and Buttons are MUCH MUCH Nicer over the R2's Touchpad and single button


The quality control is horrible the R2 came with the Crossfire cable disconnected and the right video card fan is noisy (clicking)


I'll post some pics and video's when I get back to my desktop.

R2's RBG 1920 x 1200 vs R3's 1600 x 900 WLED Screen Comparison Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxkyBox5wF4&feature=g-crec-u

 

LOL madness!
What made you buy 3 of them?
How will you be using them?

(jealous!)

 

I will only be keeping one

I needed a portable desktop replacement computer for my workshop.

 

Do some comparison pics of the built and overall look before you get rid of any!

 

The R3 is the best of those three, by far. No reason to compare them, since they are all previous generations.

The only way I would keep the M18x is if you were changing video cards, but that may not be a smart decision financially. Then you're getting into the price range of a new one.

 

EDIT the R2 was $699 the R3 was just under 1k.

 

Of those 3, I'd keep the R2 unless you need the battery life.. did you really get it for only $699? Crazy good deal Although it's been done before, I'd like to see a comparison of the M18x and R2 screens and your impressions. Did you try making it brighter by playing around with the CCC settings?

 

Yes I played with the settings a little. Don't get me wrong the R2's screen is alot dimmer to the R3 that I have but the R3 screen seem too bright and low on contrast. Even if you turn the gamma and brightness down on the R3's screen you barley gain any contrast. Also the viewing angle on the R3 screen is really small it has to be adjusted just right to get the best picture and if you move your head 6 inches either way there is a noticeable difference.

I like the R3 better but after seeing the R2 Screen the R3's screen is horrid.............I also have a new Toshiba L775 with the same 1600 x 900 17" screen and when comparing them they appear to be the SAME LOW GRADE panel. Why a low grade panel would ever make it in any Alienware is beyond me. As for the video card on the M18x you are right it is far from a performance card but I will be hardly doing any gaming on it. Maybe a few times a year when I bring it to my summer camp.

Listen to how louder the R2 gets over the R3 running 3dMark Vantage especially near the end. Also look how much better the R2 screen is over the R3.


R2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhNln9nAkzk&feature=g-crec-u


R3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_iA-gm5aGA&feature=g-crec-u

 

699 for that R2? Wow. Also you have the 1600x900 screen on that r3 by the specs, supposedly the 1080 screen is quite a bit better.

Edit: oh 30% off coupon. Man where did you find/get that?

 

Dell Outlet Home Clearance | Dell

 

If you decide not to keep it, could probably sell the R2 and make some cash :thumbsup:

 

Tbh the amount of money you spent i'd have just gotten a new m14x with specs better than any of those (and possibly with an ssd). since you said you won't be gaming much.

 

The M14x R2 GPU is weaker than all the systems he has but the m18x.

 

The 560m and 650m are prtty comparable

Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Ha ha, the old 'multiple mail order' trick. Did it myself with an R3 and an M18x

Watch out though, although most countries have a 'no fault' return in law for mail-order items (7 days in the UK and 14 in the US, after receipt I believe), they can charge you a restocking fee. They tried to hit me with 10% of the order value - till I told them there was a problem with the M18x

 

I got them for cheaper than the going rate so I'm not worried about moving the other 2 Though both systems so far have issues enought that I should have no problem returning them. The R2 has a fan that is noisy and on the way out on the right graphics card and the R3 that was supposed to be a certified refurbished is more beat up than the scratch and dent R2. Ideally If I like the M18x would be to swap out the 560m for the 6990m in the M17x R3 and then sell it.

 

I would definitely get the 2nd laptop with 6990, just because of the pure performance of that GPU

 

The M17x R2 is over 10% faster with the the twin 5870's

 

How do you guys find these deals? I look just about every day at the dell/alienware outlet, I have NEVER seen an m18x in stock, not only that, there is no m17x-R2 category on the page i go to... it goes from m17x to m17x-r3....

I don't even wanna buy one, always curious as to the price of them... I bought mine as a new refurbed, used from another member on here.

And this guy gets 3 of them. LOL


Edit** never mind, I figured it out through the link he sent... go figure their alienware outlet page does show the same stuff in stock as this clearance...

 

I'm sure if you sold off the R2 you could get good money off most people here on the forums. I would even buy it, but most of you guys from the states refuse to ship internationally. Dell never does decent sales here in AUS.

 

lol most of us refuse the shipping because it cost an arm and a leg to do so and the buyer never wants to pay shipping.. customs fees ec.
ive sold an R2 screen to a guy here and he was the only one out of like 20 people that offered to pay the shipping or agreed to pay the shipping.. hope he is enjoying it as Ihavent heard back from him so i would assume he is!

 

I bought an M15X from the US and the shipping only ended up like $80USD (so like $76AUD), and most of the postage calculators I have looked at say between that and $110USD, which I wouldn't mind paying as it would still mean cheaper than retail or even second hand here. Customs fees at least here in AUS only apply to items valued over $1000, which is fine for most second hand laptops as they are valued by retailers as significantly less than they were bought for, although this depends on how honest the seller wants to be.

 

Well my M18x with 1080p screen just came and I must say the screenis MUCH better than the M17x R2's 900p.

 

Now the M18x's 1080p screan against the M17x R2'a RGB 1200p screen. In these pictures the R2's screen is at max brightness and the M18x is 2 notches up which made the brightness comparable. The R2's screen is definetly a very nice display with slightly better clarity over the M18x but the M18x is much brighter.