*Official* Alienware Launch Discussion Thread

I like the design of the new lineups. But there are a couple of things which are a deal breaker for me. First is the removal of the eSATAp/USB combo port. I know the idea was to make all internal SATA ports SATA-III ready, but I still liked having the eSATA port for functional purposes. Second, why would you all remove the media center buttons? I loved those things. I can control my media player without having to use the function keys. I also don't like the removal of the Alienhead power button. I know it was prone to malfunction, but it seriously made they keyboard area that much cooler.

Things I liked: the new IPS screens, the moving of the power jack to the side of the notebook, and the backlit trackpad (that it so awesome!).

 

Me, I have no complaints except it needs to come to my house faster!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

I think we can all agree with that... My current machine is really acting up

 

I need help with my purchase

I have to pay upwards of $367 for tax only for my setup !! Moreover no sales rep offered me any discounts

Luis or anyone who was lucky to get a friendly rep can you refer to him/her please ? I was hoping for at least %10 - %15 discount or a way to reduce the tax

I will be shipping the system to Oman (next to UAE) since our alienware reseller is pretty dated and they will not be offering the new system for a good while (5 months+), I thought by shipping overseas I could also avoid the tax paid similar to how VAT works ?

This is my congifuration and qouted price:

Quote Details
Quote Number: 656186983
Item Number Quantity Item Description Unit Price Extended Price
210-AAOW
1 Alienware 18 BTX Base Mod $4,469.00 $4,469.00
370-AANP
1 32GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
580-ABEK
1 English Keyboard
490-BBHW
1 Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI Enabled
658-BBOD
1 Broadcom 4352 Driver
400-AARR
1 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching
619-ACJX
1 Windows 8 Pro, 64-bit, English
429-AAFS
1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
555-BBEQ
1 Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
470-AAKG
1 US 125V Power Cord
340-ABEU
1 Documentation, English
421-1723
1 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
950-3337
1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
994-3730
1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
995-6083
1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
995-6103
1 In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis, Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
338-BCIC 1 Overclocked 4th Gen Intel Core i7-4930MX (8MB Cache, up to A.B GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
391-BBDS 1 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED FHD (1080p) TrueLife PLS 350 Nit Display (1920 X 1080)
451-BBCB 1 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery
450-AAKK 1 330W A/C Adapter
640-BBLG 1 Alienware Command Center 3.0
320-BBDZ 1 Alienware 18 LCD Hinge Up
328-BBEK 1 Shipping Box Alienware 18
658-BBOI 1 Resource DVD
800-BBEV 1 Thank you for Choosing Dell
430-XXYQ 1 Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD
340-ADGB 1 Placemat English
332-1530 1 Dell.com Order
332-1530 1 Dell.com Order
658-BBNW 1 Additional Software
630-AAAU 1 Software: Microsoft Office 2013 Trial
817-BBBP 1 None Required
730-5458 1 Thank You for Choosing Dell
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL
A6897219 1 Alienware Vindicator Backpack Fits Laptops with Screen Sizes up to 18-inch $119.99 $119.99
Subtotal: $4,588.99
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $367.12
Environmental Disposal Fee: $0.00
Total Price w/Discounts: $4,956.11

 

Hi there, discounts are going to be difficult to get ATM. If Dell are hitting or exceeding their projected targets, why give money away to individuals?

My own tactic is that I spend an inordinate amount of time with a phone rep building a model and when he/she hits me with the price I go all quiet for a moment ( while doing a quick 10% calc) and then say, 'I really like it and if only I could get it at xxx off the bottom line I'll sign up with you now, I just haven't got that much money' As they are incentiveised on their own sales figures they may work on it for you - always worked for me. Never paid more than 10% off the sticker price.

If it fails then just hang up and try a different (hungrier) rep - unlikely you will get the same person

Good Luck.

 

Given all of the strange complaints about the chassis--keyboard scratching screen, depressing the keyboard grating to type or press the media buttons, keyboard flex, front grills digging into wrists, power button malfunction, etc.--I'm not surprised that Dell reworked it. Dropping eSATA and Expresscard might be an attempt to sway consumers to Dell's business laptops.

 

Guys.. Is the 14 able to be upgraded for a SLI ?? Or that is just possible with the 17 or 18

 

The 14 is a single gpu machine, so nope. Top gpu configuration, at the moment, is GTX 765m.

 

The GTX 765m is no slouch when it comes to games. Its getting over 4000ish points on 3dmark. Which a 675MX is getting 4400 stock.

 

Thanks for the info.. I knew that they are selling only single gpu.. But i thought that maybe it had been prepared for sli but not been offered in this launch

 

As others have said, it is a single GPU unit. However, I'm curious to know if any modifications can be done on a 17". I don't think space and cooling would be a problem. Not sure about the mobo+power. Any thoughts?

 

I doubt very much you could add a second card due to motherboard limitations - just one MXM slot.

 

Hehehe.. Just tried to changey order from 14 to 17 .. But they will no honour my 17% discount.. Thefore it is not worth it changing..

 

cancel the order. and do a new one for the 17"

 

That's what i was planning.. But they will not give me the same discount... Maximum of 10% the rep said.. They are not allowed to give more than that anymore...

 

I suggest you get a different rep. i got 14% off my order £278.25 discount on a base config.

 

Will try again then

 

Its probably they can give 10% without a managers approval. More requires an approval.

 

So I think I'm bumping my price. Because the GT70 dragon edition 2 is sounding and looking really good to me. Lot of options included for a price an Alienware won't come near. So im going to configure some tonight and see what I come up with.

 

Remember that AnandTech found a TON of issues with the 780m on that laptop... Often being outperformed by a m17x r4 with 680m. And looking at the cooling solution, you won't have nearly the overclocking headroom that an r5 will bring. (As even at stock clocks it has issues)

AnandTech | MSI GT70 Dragon Edition Notebook Review: Haswell and the GTX 780M

 

What could I put in the 17/18 to make it comparable? Raid wise and what not.

 

Theoretically, the 17/18 already pass the GT70 due to graphics and CPU (I think) throttling. Raid drives vs fully functional system; the fully functional system seems to win.

 

You really don't need RAID SSDs, just a decent 256GB one would be fine. Bought aftermarket, that should be close to $180, and it is insanely easy to install yourself. Just keep the 750GB spinner for mass storage - no reason not to!

Other than that, just make sure to get a 1080p screen (probably not the 3D one, though) and a 780m to make it "comparable".

 

So keep the 750, throw a 256 SSD, get the matte screen with a 780. That's not too bad of price.


I'm also indecisive between the 17 and 18. The 18 is huge and I am portable at times. But it's a big screen and dual graphics. I could only push 770's though. Compared to the single 780 though I've heard either the 770's and 765's sli would be better than a single 780. But the 17 is a good size and battery life at times, also would play most games I want on ultra.

 

Well, the Alienware 17 has the superior warranty, sturdier and cleaner-looking chassis, hybrid manual GPU switching, CPU overclocking in the BIOS, enough lighting effects to get through a few boring days, and its laptops typically come with less bloatware and decent paste jobs. A review I have read calls the Alienware's sound quality and screen better than the MSI's, but I would wait for a Notebookcheck review of the 17 before deciding that.

The MSI has good customer service through resellers, a lot of gimmicks, and better performance for the price in most cases, especially with Alienware's interesting new pricing scheme.

I would wait a few days for details about the 17's cooling before deciding.

 

Did dell say they were going to give you a new model replacement and not an R4? If so awesome!

 

Yeah, but they originally specced the replacement off of my original (460m) GPU, not the 6970m they later put in. So they are re-speccing the replacement, though it still should be a new machine! Really can't wait to get it (and to be able to play games again...)

 

That's a fantastic read! - and MSI owners wonder why people pay high prices for Alienware? - the answer is right there. Cooling. How the hell did MSI even begin to think that you could adequately cool a 100w TDP card like the 780m AND a cpu with only one system fan? Heck, even the SteelSeries keyboard that so many ardent MSI fans swear is "the best keyboard ever" and claim "Alienware keyboards suck" comes in for a bashing.

 

To be fair, the review sample might have been a lemon or a model with a poor paste job. That and MSIs ship with a power brick that barely suffices for the stock 780m. Still MSI's fault.

I think that the threshold for Alienware's cooling is much higher: I expect the fans to keep GPU and CPU at 50C under all loads at maximum speed, and the only cost would be your eardrums.

I agree with the reviewer's other gripes.

 

Paste job doesn't really come into it. How they thought it would be a wise move to use 1 system fan to cool 147w of Cpu (4700mq @ 47w) and Gpu (780m @ 100w) is just madness....

 

Agreed with stevie in both points i have an msi and the 1 fan cooling system is uttercrap, I WILL NEVER GET ANOTHER MSI product again. Lesson learned. Pay the extra for premium cooling and 1st class warranty thats why ive gone back to alienware.

 

The lack of matte screens for the 18 is odd, but I can see the complaints and malfunctions that will ensue if AW adds water cooling (which might require a larger R&D budget than Alienware has ever had). MSI is the "innovation brand" among gaming laptops, but we can see how well its innovations turn out. A failed watercooling system from a company as maligned as Dell/Alienware would be much worse.

Of course, I wish AW supplied larger PSUs, right-angled power cords, an IPS matte screen for the 17, and similar things to set it apart from competitors, but I think those are inexpensive.

 

The whole water cooling deal is more of a gimmik more than anything. For a portable machine its not really practical.

 

Just to clear the smoke, I didn't say I was buying an MSI, just a lot more options for the price. Sure not all good options. But I wish AW offered a tid bit more when upgrading. Course, I could do most of it myself I guess.

 

What upgrades do you need? The alienware has the majority: mSATA,Bluray,Ram,SSD x 2, SSD x 1 in optical, extreme CPU,GPU upgrades.

Edit: Oh and WiHD when it comes available.

 

To be fair to Dell, they can only offer the latest Intel/Nvidia/AMD solutions, which is what they have done. You can't blame Dell for Intel's lack of performance increase over Ivy. Aesthetics aside, as they are not to everyone's taste, I fail to see what more they could have done, realistically.....sure, some changes have been made, but without change, we never get anywhere. I'm not saying I like or dislike the new machines, it's just a different take on Alienware now. Cost cutting? - maybe, in the fact that some things are no longer there such as eSata, media buttons, 100% Aluminium casing....but I guess that as long as they are as fast as a rabid dog on steroids, people will buy them by the bucket load....regardless of these changes.

You'd have paid $5k for an R2 with 3940xm and 680m Sli not so long back, so pricing isn't really an argument that can be brought to the table - we've always known that they are expensive for top end configurations.

I read something that Fox posted that is quite apt here. It was the notion that if you try and please all of the people all of the time, it's gonna end in fail. I guess Dell had to run with something that was going to disgruntle some people, but maybe they made that decision for the greater good, from their marketing research. If they please enough people, they will remain successful.....if they tried to please everyone and brought out something that couldn't fulfil that role, success is then more likely to turn out as a fail.

Just a thought...

 

I had the impression that the m18x r2 has the same plastic as the m17x underneath the aluminum casing. If that's the case, the new chassis might actually be more durable and cooler to the touch, but I don't expect magnesium to feel as solid as aluminum.

ABS plastic might have been better for the exterior than magnesium, but I'll not condemn it before I see feedback.

 

Well, the old R1/R2 has the same basic build quality as the new 18, afaik. The chassis was a magnesium alloy frame that is different to the internals of the 17x, as it's not plastic. The external of the R1/R2 consisted of an anodized aluminium shell that wrapped around the lid, sides and majority of the underside, with the exception being the plastic access panel. With the new Alienware 18, Dell have retained the same magnesium alloy internal chassis/frame but reduced the anodized aluminium casing to primarily the lid. There is no aluminium around the side ports anymore, and the bottom looks to have a much larger plastic service panel - that's what I meant about 100% aluminium casing being reduced. I'd expect the same level of robustness with the new 18, just that aesthetically, there is less aluminium on show on the exterior, so it provides a more "mainstream" look than the previous "tank-like" feeling of the R1/R2.

 

Well, although aluminum is stronger than magnesium... Magnesium is lighter and more flexible, easier to model to the required shape and smoother in touch and depending how is produced is more expensive then aluminum because requires more tech processes to be die casted...

 

I think some people are getting aluminium and magnesium confused here. Magnesium alloy for the internal frame/chassis to cut down on weight, Aluminium for the exterior for duarbility. It is not a magnesium outer casing - the lid is not magnesium, it's anodized aluminium.

From the landing page;

 

Thank you for the clarification.

 

You would think a company like MSI that specializes in gaming laptops would test the cooling before allowing to enter the market.
What the heck was MSI thinking?!?

 

it seems MSI's single fan can do quite well, only if you dont overclock the CPU, which they may disable that in their bios. with just turbo boost and moderate OC on graphics card, MSI has no problem as a gaming machine. however if it were to put up against prime or XTU and other graphics intensive software it'll just overheat, games in itself aren't resource intensive so it will not generate as much heat as other video encoding software, or XTU stress test.

too bad I want my machine to pass stress test without throttle, and able to do it at a acceptable temperature for a period of time and MSI cant do that.

5 pipe copper heatsink, get esatap port back, get back the 3 bay HDD storage bay add thunderbolt port =( implement m19x and water cooling. the internal beauty for m18x R2 will be forever lost, RIP.

 

To be honest, a lot of other review sites didn't run into the same issues. But I guess if you just do one run of a 2 minute benchmark, it might not throttle by the end... Or as others suggested, AnandTech could have just gotten a lemon. But if they did get a lemon, that does not say good things about MSI's quality control - if this is what they send to a review site, which typically gets the handpicked "everything must work perfectly" unit, what do they send to the average consumer? (part of the reason I read AnandTech - I know that they test everything thoroughly, not just enough to get the initial numbers.)

 

Magnesium is actually pretty damn durable. My Nikon DSLR has a magnesium frame and that thing can take a beating like no other camera I've had. Pretty much any high end DSLR will have a magnesium frame, from $2k-$10k+ pieces.

 

hi, i have a question on AW 14,
in the expert review youtube, stated it is upgradeable to 3 storage drive. It used SATA 2 right? Could it configure to RAID 0? Could you explain more how this going to be done?

 

well, Anandtech isnt always right. they are generally good but they dont test everything. few times in the past with sandforce Trim issue they got few facts wrong couple times in their article, if you follow up with most of the comments you'll know. anyway, GPU CPU and heatsink and fan, if it stays cool during idle chanes are it'll stay cooler during load. a bad CPU and GPU will stay hot when idle so it's easy to tell.

 

Any idea how long it takes for alienware to produce and ship the laptops? (mine is in production stage). as for the MSI, I had a good run with my laptop though I had heating concerns with it. It tends to throttle if I play for more than an hour, though it was fixed by replacing the thermal paste with Tuniq Tx-4, however, everytime I run tests which utizlize both CPU and GPU, it would throttle down. this doesn't happen when I run tests on only either the GPU or CPU. (I'm using an MSI GT683R btw and switching to Alienware)

 

Some people say around 3-5 days, others around 5-7 days. It has also been rumored that it may be "in production" but they are short on parts and that means a delay. In addition, a few days ago Alienware said that their new systems were to start shipping soon. I guess we will have to sit and wait as no one has a real idea.

 

Thanks. I'm really hoping mine gets shipped soon