*Official* Alienware Launch Discussion Thread

​

Hey Guys,

Wanted to create an official thread for the new laptops, our staff will be all over it so feel free to chime in with any questions.

I'll be adding the overview comparison sheets soon.

Alienware 2013 launch

Alienware 14

Tech Specs
Expert Review

Alienware 17

Tech Specs
Expert Review

Alienware 18

Tech Specs
Expert Review



FYI

NEW Alienware Vindicator Backpack
Landing Desktops 2013


**Edit:

-Can't run benchmarks but I'm pretty sure once an official driver is out the scores will be quite different.

-We don't have any news about AMD gpu's yet

-Pre-made configurations are meant to help shorten the ETA on new orders, I don't think that will change much.

-The storage options offered include using the ODD's slot, which means for instance that a 4xSSD config would mean saying goodbye to your ODD (not a big deal for most of us anyway)

-Keyboard ghosting: I'll bring some games tomorrow to test it, I'll update it then.

-Nameplates no longer include customized text, they include the laptop's model as well as the GPU(s) and CPU.

**Edit 2:

Finally got all the screen model specifics

Alienware 14
14.0 inch (355.6 mm) WLED HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare Display TN 200 Nit Display (Standard)
14.0 inch (355.6 mm) WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare IPS 300Nit Display

Alienware 17
17.3 inch (439.42 mm) WLED HD+ (1600 x 900) Anti-Glare TN 220 Nit Display (Standard)
17.3 inch (439.42 mm) WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare TN 300 Nit Display
17.3 inch (439.42 mm) 120Hz WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) TrueLife TN 400 Nit Display w/3D Bundle

Alienware 18
18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife PLS 350 Nit Display (1920 X 1080) (Standard)

Anti-glare is available where noted and provides a matte, non-reflective finish to the display (different than our old systems)

Edit 3:

Keyboard looks good so far, tried Skyrim and FC3 for keyboard ghosting purposes and the response was very good (all keys recognized regardless of the combination and amount of keys I tried to press at the same time).

Edit 4:

Here's some info on the screens, hope it helps.

Alienware 14

14.0" HD - TN 1366x768
Luminance 200/170
Contrast 400:1
Color Gamut 45%

14.0" FHD - IPS 1920x1080
Luminance 300/255
Contrast 700:1
Color Gamut 72%

Alienware 17

17.3" HD+ - TN 1600x900
Luminance 220/185
Contrast 300:1
Color Gamut 60%

17.3" FullHD - TN 1920x1080
Luminance 300/250
Contrast 500:1
Color Gamut 72%

17.3" FullHD 120Hz 3D - TN 1920x1080
Luminance 400/340
Contrast 500:1
Color Gamut 72%

Alienware 18

18.4" FullHD - PLS 1920x1080
Luminance 350
Contrast 500:1
Color Gamut 72%

 

Ah excellent. Good timing.

First question:

Surely someone at AW has benchmarked the 780m?

NotebookMag.com has tested it and only got 5600 on 3Dmark11. Thats loads less than the 680m as standard...

Bad driver? Early release product? Battery save?

Second question:

Can you confirm whether AMD GPU's will arrive soon? If they do, will they have 3 outputs for external monitors?

Third question:

Will upgrading be available from base models at some point soon? On the website currently, if you want 780M SLI you need to start off with the £2500 version. I don't need the hybrid HDD or any other extra bits as I will take my SSD's out of my current M18x R2.

 

Can you let us know if some of the screens are IPS. The "tech specs" are lacking in information on the screen type and there have been several articles online with conflicting information.

I'm very interested in the Alienware 17" if it comes with an IPS screen!

 

I am also really interested in the screens, particularly info on color gamut. I would be using the 17 for a mix of work (Photoshop) and play, and reasonable color accuracy is important to me. Also curious about the suitability of the "anti glare" displays for working outside (not in direct sunlit, obviously).

 

I agree with Spartan: The screen in M17x, is it IPS or is it just a normal LED display?

Engadget says that both M14x, M17x and M18x are IPS.

Kinda a big deal to get confirmed really

 

I wanna know how many storage bay are in this machine. on alienware.com stated 4x256gb SSD but not including optical drive so ODD is replaced by SSD. but theres still the msata slot, that makes it 5 which is same as m18x R2. R3 doesn't have esata port anymore so is that slot being used somewhere inthe machine? maybe dual msata? or perhaps five 2.5" slot bay?

heatsink, CPU heatsink remains unchanged but GPU changed from triple pipe to dual pipe. the dual pipe seems much wider does it cool better now? or overall the same? in the youtube video doesn't show HDD bay or optical bay or msata slot clearly.. need to see those badly.

 

What is the keyboard in this thing. That is what I really want to know...can I push 3 primary keys in the WASD space / shift group without ghosting.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Hmph suprising, over chat i was able to hagle down a 1499 system down to 1399 and get the 5% gift card. Not bad for Day one.
i7 4700MQ
8GB
750GB
GTX 765M
1080P
$1399 + Tax then the 5% eGift Card

Note this is on the 14.

 

The main question everyone wants answered is what the situation is with the displays. Are they IPS or not?

Also I think we should start calling these laptops by their actual names. There is no more M or X it's just 17. I'm using AW 17.

Also with the SSD situation I reckon it's 2 bays plus ODD plus mSATA that achieves the 4x SSD status.

 

Will the gift card deal be available soon with these laptops?

 

At a guess they may have moved the sata III onto the msata port, no more slowdowns on SSD RAID's. Don't know about haswell but on the R4 sata III is restricted to 6 ports and the fast USBs use them as well.

 

I was able to get the 5% eGift Card

 

I was able to get the 5% eGift Card over chat/phone.

 

This. I also have this question. Maybe Dell doesn't realize we only buy processors, screens and graphics cards from them. I'm going to give a call to a rep, hopefully a phone conversation will lead to more customization options.

 

Actually the R4 only had 2 SATA III ports. The USB ports are on headers that are independent to the SATA operation. Haswell has 6 SATA III ports which means that all devices can operate at the top speeds.

 

Damnit I wish I haggled. I just spent $5,200 on...

Alienware 18
4.3Ghz
Dual 780m SLI
32GB Ram
512 SDD + 750GB
Blu-Ray
Windows 8 Pro

Hopefully it will be worth it.

What was your estimated date? It said July 2nd on the site but after I ordered it said July 3rd.

 

Hmm, I read that USB3 and sata III share, and that my CPU supports 6 as well. With the 4 fast USB's and the two drive bays there wasn't a III port (on the chipset) left for the msata?

 

I could be wrong but it is my understanding that USB is independent from SATA. Hence Ivy Bridge systems having 2 SATA III, one SATA II for the ODD and one mSATA II.

I really hope that the Wireless HD is implemented properly. The current gen has had nightmares getting stuff to work properly especially on nvidia.

 

My EDD is 7/19/13. However on the site it says 7/2/13. Note i got 2nd day shipping on mine as well.

Haggling would have done you well. You have a lot of upgrades they probably coulda taken 250-500 off.

 

it is possible to have more usb 3 than the 6 from haswell. In desktops you can just put a pci card, which could be done to free up 4 sata lll connectors.

 

Thanks for offering to answer questions. I'm very excited to order my first Alienware machine!

Could you give us any more details about the hard drive bays for the AW17? i.e how many mSata and 2.5' disk bays can it support?
Also how accessible are the bays? Will HDbe just as easy to install as I've read about the past R4 models?

I ask because I would like to install my own SSD on top of the default 750gb x 64gb msata ssd configuration. And i'm curious to know whether before I purchase.

Finally, will the sales assistance thread be updated soon or is there someone we should be PM for quote assistance?

 

Regarding the panels, if they say PLS, they are IPS. Well, at least a derivative of an IPS panel. There are many versions of IPS available, the name given to this type of IPS panel is Samsung's 'branding', if you like, for what they term 'Plane-to-line-switching' or PLS for short. It's a similar technology to that of LG's IPS technology called e-IPS. Of course, Samsung can't call it that so it's dubbed PLS when they make it.

Supposedly, e-IPS panels are normally found on the lower spectrum of quality when it comes to IPS panels as a whole. They are cheaper to manufacture, but image quality should still be way better than a normal TN panel.

A couple of informative links: PLS vs IPS - bit-tech.net Forums and IPS panel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'd like to find out more info, too - direct from Dell about the panels. As much info as possible, please Dell.

 

When I ordered there was no charge for ANY of the shipping options so I get next day for $0. Maybe it was a mistake?

 

Cancelled my M18x R2 order and got an R3 for cheaper.

780m SLI
8gb 1600mhz
4700mq
750gb HDD 7200rpm

$3,000 after coupons. Looking to upgrade CPU when prices go down. My R2 was $3,400 with 680m SLI and similar specs. Crazy.

 

I think you might be. It's the FAST USB that needs a sata III port from the chipset. I think this explains it: Intel to Natively Support USB 3.0 on Ivy Bridge Chipsets - Bright Side Of News*

Edit: did a bit more research; the chipset for ivy-bridge and haswell both support six x 6Gb/s unique ports. It is up to the OEM to decide if they are allocated to USB 3.0 or sataIII ports. R4 went for four fast USB's and two sataIII ports
Since they describe the wirelessHD as 'streaming' I'm betting it is the intel version which will restrict it to the iGPU, but I hope I'm wrong.

 

Probably a mistake lol. I chatted with 3 agents before they could even add a GTX 765m to a aw 14 quote lol. The quotes wouldn't let them add the GTX 765m.
Then i was trying for a discount and was just chatting up the agent wasting time. Then they were like 100 off. i was like sold! I think more or less they gave me the money off so i stopped wasting their time. They were looking for coupons etc then 5 mins later they just said they would knock 100 off. I think they are just trying to move orders as fast as they can at the moment.

Nice score man. Better video cards too and Boost 2.0 so you don't really need to oc ( But still can)

 

Will the updated AlienComandCenter be available for the older m17x r3/r4?

 

I just canceled my m18x R2. ordered one of these new ones instead as it was the same price for better spec .

Spec in sig plus the HDD and SSD I will add myself.

 

any coupon?

 

You have to chat and haggle them down. No coupon.

 

Well only Alienware 18 have PLS as option.

I want to know if Alienware 17 have IPS. Where art thou Alienware representatives...

 

Do any of the new Alienware laptops support 4K external displays?

And when/why no higher resolutions? I mean: "stupid" ultrabooks with crappy graphics cards have Retinal displays, but not the fastest laptops in the world?

 

Try this QNZ5FQ9SKXX8L3 expiring 12/06/13 at 23.59
should give -7% off the new build machine

 

Man I have to take back what i said earlier, I AM NOT FOND OF THE NEW LOOK. Not that I am actually going to purchase one but playing around with on alienware.com I was at damn near $5k pretty quickly with:

4930
780SLI
16GB RAM (not that I would select that much but there is no option to go lower)
1x 750GB 7200 RPM HD
3 years warranty
3 years accidental coverage

Next step down gets you 780 SLI but with an i7 4700 CPU good for 3.4Ghz, this will still run you around $3.5k.

I'm sticking with the R2, hopefully used R2's will continue to proliferate ebay if/when I need to replace motherboard. Will probably upgrade to 780 SLI in a few years.

No matte/non "Super Reflective Plastic That Doubles As A Personal Mirror" option.

No water cooling although Dell has purchased the patent from Asetek.

Haswell seems underwhelming.

Stick a fork in it, Dell and Alienware are done. Instead of listening to its customer base, and designing successive systems with their input, they have completely ignored us and seem to be making systems that are only marginally better performing, IF THAT (Haswell looks to be a disappointment) AND are asking for significantly more for them.

"You dont get water cooling, or a non-personal mirror screen but you still can pay $5k for an i7- 4930xm coupled to 780 SLI!"

 

Most of the cost in the laptop is from the $1000 CPU you added, and the Nvidia cards. Derpa derp. Intel and Nvidia collect tax on their top end parts of which you added 3 lol. Thus the cost of the warranties go up because the parts are mega expensive. Derpa Derp.

 

I wasn't able to get it to work, is it only for certain models?

 

The link to M14 specs in the first post works.

I can't believe that Alienware is shipping a 14" high end laptop that maxes out at 16Gb!

 

It's a UK code, so might not work elsewhere. It's also in relation to the 18x R3, but might work on others, too. Code obatained from DMXDimension here: Alienware M18x Deals, Special Offers, E-Value Codes and Coupons

 

AW 14 review.

Alienware 14 review | The Verge

 

I'm thinking there must some pricing errors (at least, that's what I was thinking) because on the UK site for the 18x, HDD wise, a 750gb HDD & 64gb mSata cache is included, but to go for a 512gb SSD and a 750gb HDD is a WHOPPING increase of £1,195 - who in their right mind would shell out that much more for losing an Msata but gaining a single 512gb SSD......gotta be an error LOL

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...del_id=alienware-18&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

 

Actually Dell has always been notoriously expensive when it comes to SSD "upgrades".

 

Okay so is the base 18 better than the 17 with the upgraded video card? Cause if so I'll just buy that hah

 

Well yeah the 18 is dual video cards, the 17 isn't.

 

I still struggle to see where 18" is confirmed to have ips.

 

Haha, yeah...I know. But £1200 more for a single 512? (and that's not accounting for the fact you lose the 64gb mSata!) OUCH!

 

Just updated the opener to avoid spamming similar answers

 

Just used the coupon
QNZ5FQ9SKXX8L3

it does work on the Uk site, though I was offered this on the phone anyway lol

 

Well I figured that; but is it far better? Like well worth the extra 300$

 

Bro, you mention "some are anti-glare" in the updated post - can we get a definitive answer to which models have matte/glossy screens or the option to choose between matte/glossy if possible. For example, is the 18x an anti-glare coating, or is it matte/glossy?

Thanks mate.

 

If you don't mind the extra size/weight as well, then it certainly is. (Specially because you an ugrade 2 slots later instead of 1)