*Official* Alienware Launch Discussion Thread

I will get the AW 18 with dual GTX780m by the end of this month. I want to get confirmation on the IPS panel. It's a shame that the RAM isn't 1x8GB but that's a side issue.

I don't think I can haggle the 18 with 4800MQ + SLI 780M for less than 3k but I will try anyway. I don't need 16GB of RAM, as I prefer to buy my own stick, and I don't need blu-ray drive. Eventually I might get a ODD drive bay and put another SSD in it, but I think the ODD might run on SATA II and not SATA III.

 

I heard about that today. The problem is I already ordered a few other things since I had that savings and now my budget would go over. Is this system at least somewhat good or would it be better to cancel? If I switch off the 3D feature would it still be decent?

 

Interesting that customers can haggle on the phone for such discounts. Thats great to know. If there are discounts being given then the 18" looks more possible.

How about windows 8 vs win 7 ultimate? What are people doing in that area?

Also considering doing the dell preffered account, anyone use that for this purchase?

Any reason why NOT to get the 18?

 

I'd reorder without the 3d. It shouldn't be a problem at all.

Well Windows 8.1 is coming out with a lot of nice improvements like the return of the start button so keep that in mind. Definitely go for the 18 if you can.

Sorry for double post guys, I'm on my Samsung Galaxy Note II and cutting and copying would have taken another 5 seconds and I'm too lazy lol.

 

Thats one crazy maxed out AW 18 in that signature! WOW!

 

Haha thanks. I own over 500 (almost 900 on the my profile count that counts DLC) PC games on Steam alone as well as hard copies of games from early 90s to present day. It will get put to good use!

 

I did not see a thread for pre order configs for a R5, so i thought this could still be a good place to post and ask a question.

I am looking to get a R4/R5 very soon, i just wanted to know what if i should get a 64GB mSATA SSD Caching or a 256GB mSATA Boot. i see these two as options on dell's website. My aim is to get faster performance and boot times. I have read that most ppl say you can get a aftermarket ssd for a little cheaper than what dell sells it for.

I also wanted to know, if i should configure any hard drive as RAID 0 ? this is a noob question, i am just trying to make the best decisions with the best opinions.

 

Well my order is placed. Now I am just debating if I keep my current rig (in sig).

Specs on new system:
M18, 4900mq (OC 4.0ghz), 16gig ram, 780m SLI, 750hd+64gig ssd caching drive, win 8 and 3 year extended warranty.

I was able to get from my employment $83.00 off, plus 150, 5% gift card and a B/W Laser printer. Out the door $4100.00. A bit more than I like to spend. But I really wanted the 4900qm with the extra cache and speed and needed the 780m SLI.

 

Either of those will give you good boot speed. Raid 0 is pretty much pointless on SSDs because it won't make them work faster. Raid 0 will combine your hard drives into one though which is really nice. You'll just have just a C drive in your My Computer instead of them being spilt into how ever many drives you have. If you can get raid 0 then go for it.

Sick system, one of the best I've seen so far. Congrats!

 

Size is the only reason I went for the 17. I will probably move my 17 around around twice a week, and like that it offers a little over 4 hrs battery with WiFi enabled. The 18 is not just 1" bigger in screen size its over 12 LBS (15 with charger) and is considerably bigger than the 17 as shown in this pic:

 

That is pretty much the same reason I picked the 17. I saw that picture and the specs and it wasn't that much of a difference for a more portable machine. It is not like the 14" v. 18".

 

Go big or go home

 

Any idea when the new Alienwares will be available in Hong Kong?

 

I bought my first Alienware last year, M14x R2 in Nebula Red. The silver isn't doing it for me, either. Not everyone wants a notebook that looks exactly the same as all of the other ones. At least you had the choice of two before.

We were not given the option of customized name plates in Canada, it was US only (I believe this occurred when Dell took over). If you complained they'd give you a blank plate and tell you go to an engraving shop, as if the local engraving place had access to the Alienware font.

Yep, it's like they have no idea of what sets the notebooks apart, why we fork over the money for them, and thus feel it's no big deal to remove the Alienhead and put an ordinary button in it's place. You add cool, unique things, you don't remove the classic symbols that define the brand.

I was all for replacing my not even a year old M14x R2 and after research was saddened to see that... the new model is a downgrade.

Nebula Red > Silver
Glowing keys > Colored letters
Sloped front > Wrist cutting edge (noted in 2 out of 2 reviews I read)
Alien head > Generic notebook power button
Larger battery > smaller battery
Lighter > Heavier
Thinner > Thicker
Wide keyboard with right-side Delete/Home/Page Up/Down/End > Entire row removed and keyboard doesn't cover the full width anymore, no idea where those keys are, probably require a function key to use now
Cool temp keyboard > 119f keyboard
Quieter > Louder
Sim card slot > No sim slot

All so I could get a decent IPS screen? Although reviews say it is not very bright at all, which rules that benefit out.

Okay, a better GPU? Yes, but it's sharing the same flawed single heat-pipe solution and is startling loud.

Okay, the track pad is pretty, but we all use external mice.

I was literally willing to spend money unnecessarily to treat myself but Dellienware has killed the features that attracted me to the M14x over anything else in the first place. This is not how it's supposed to work.

...Donovan

That means the PC should have 8gb, not that the game uses 8gb when you are playing it. "thanks to a highly efficient streaming system Last Light’s world uses less than 4GB of memory, and less than 2GB of VRAM, even at 2560x1440 with every setting enabled and maxed out."

Is it really an upgrade if it's RAM that you will never, ever, use? I have 8gb of RAM and was running one game while my coworker asked me something about Borderlands 2, so I fired it up as well without closing the other game. I still had 3.5GB of RAM free.

 

I brought my m18x into work today. Totally effortless and painless, suck it up . 1 more inch for double the power is seriously worth considering.

 

How does everybody feel about the M17x vs the 17 (as in design and performance)? I love the design of the M17x and hate the new design. I was wondering how does the Nvidia 680 compare with the Nvidia 770 in performance?

Look at that beautiful keyboard on M17x and those grills <3

 

thank you, i did some more reading and saw that the SSD's are a much better performance wise than the caching ! i think i will do that ! i might not be able to get the RAID 0 though !

thanx for pointing me in the right direction

 

Dude, why the heck would you not at least upgrade your own RAM and SSD? Sorry, not worth it.

 

Because it was cheap and easier. I called back and haggled them down on the price too so free upgrades.

 

I have the same opinion as you do, and i have a feeling it might be a little cheaper as well ! Can you please keep me in the loop of what you find out and decide
thank you !

 

Ah, nice! I cringed pretty hard at your original price.

 

Same. I'll be moving my 17 with me to class 3 days/week, and 15+lbs with charger just sounds terrible. Though in all honesty, I might wind up keeping my MacBook just to bring to class and use the 17 for LAN parties and for a gaming PC when I go back home and/or am away from my desktop rig. Also didn't want to spend the extra cash on futureproofing an 18 when I almost always buy a new laptop every two years.

 

Yay! Someone agrees Well I did a little research. This website say that the GTX 770 is a tweaked version of the 680 with a 5% performance increase. If you compare the M17x with the 680 vs the 17 with the 770, the 770 is cheaper. (Picture a whiny little girl) But I like the design of the M17x!! lol Everybody says the 17 looks like a Clevo/Sager. I couldn't agree more. I was stuck between a Sager and the Alienware M17x. I went with the Alienware simply because it was prettier Now they look the same which is disappointing. The Alienware/Dell website is like forcing it on us (I find). They got rid of the 1080 screen on the M17x. So depressing. Thank God for XoticPC if I decide against the 17 completely. Shucks I'm even considering the MSI now. Cheaper and I get the best of both worlds that I miss with the 17.

The website I got the info from
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 compare Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 GPU

 

Hello guys,
I have been lurking here for a few days now and finally decided to post. I ordered the base model 18'' and was able to get $50 off from a coupon I found online. I also was able to get $100 credit back to my bank account and free next day shipping(-$25) because of a sales rep screw up. Long story short, I was promised next day shipping to begin with after a long negotiations, and on my order it stated " 2nd day shipping"... Got mad, called dell, complained, threatened to cancel, and was instantly credited $100 as well as free next day shipping.
Order date 06/12/2013
Estimated delivery date 06/17/2013
Status SHIPPED!!!!!!
I am sooooooooo EXCITED!!!

 

Wow those base models ship fast! Enjoy.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but they are comparing desktop cards, not the mobile ones - totally different. What you want to look for is 770 m vs 680 m. I'm pretty certain the 680m's spank the 770m's. As of now the 780m's are still in their infancy aren't that much of a jump on the more matured 680m's.

Hopefully we'll see some more decent side by side benchmarks come in soon

 

There was a 680m vs 780m game benchmark and they tested about 10 games. The 780m was 31% better and we can probably expect close to 40% with future drivers.

 

If you have a chance you should see the 3D. You get a 120hz refresh rate monitor and I would never go back, once you see something like Max Payne 3, well...

Everyone I show it to says the same thing 'how can you go back to 'normal' gaming after that!'

It's all subjective, some people find it causes eyestrain but I find a couple of hours are no problem for me, and my card is about the minimum for decent frame rates in 3D

Good Luck.

 

That very well may be. Do you have the links? I've only seen nVidia saying they are a 30% increase so I'd like to see some more alternate concrete sources.
Either way the 780m's are the way to go for the new configs.

 

I'm on my Note 2 now >_<. I found quite a few sites through Google. Try Google and/or I'll post the links tomorrow.

 

Notebookcheck has game benchmarks (non-SLI)... Enjoy

Bear in mind that these are pre-dedicated driver support.

EDIT: LINK...
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Battlefield 3 (ultra):
680m - minus 26%

Alan Wake (ultra):
680m - minus 20%

Risen 2 (ultra):
680m - minus 21%

Max Payne 3 (ultra):
680m - minus 22%

Sleeping Dogs (ultra):
680m - minus 22%

Hitman Absolution (ultra):
680m - minus 27%

Crysis 3 (ultra):
680m - minus 25%

You get the idea...

 

Not too shabby at all

 

I'd expect probably 30-35% difference once drivers are fully supported. Although that's pure speculation

 

Are you considering ever re-releasing the Alienware 11''? Or has the market switched to tablets so heavily, that it's not worth making such a small laptor, albeit with gaming in mind?

 

The real question is will they OC like the 680's? I'm dying to see some benches from you lucky new owners.

 

Alienware 14 review | The Verge

Read the last paragraph. Or let me paraphrase: "The 11-inch was very disruptive. We want to be disruptive again."

 

Yeah, that IS the real question. I'll be sure to give it a whirl, although mine's SLI. I'll post up results when I do. It seems to be delayed and could take 6 weeks though - no stock of the 780m apparently.

 

I can't wait, it will be a good day

 

I know everyone thinks I am nuts but my order is still in pre-production. Anyone else like that??

 

Give then a call and make sure there is no problem with your payment method. This usually happens while all the finance is being cleared...

 

Anyone know if the new vindicator back pack is check point friendly still or did they take that away too.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

Yeah I will do that. I had an issue with my CC that I got resolved with their customer support that day and it was cleared to go into production.

 

Not sure if these have been posted already - these posts are flying in faster than I can keep up LOL. Anyway, nice little look at the new Alienware's below:

 

It's rather interesting to see that they decided to put different panel technologies in to each model, rather than go IPS across the board. I've heard good things about PLS though.

 

PLS is Samsungs IPS. I'm guessing it was cheaper for the 18.4" Samsung than LG

 

First forum post.

I just received my new Alienware 17R4 a few days before the announcement of the new model lineup! Dell only offered $100 to keep the outgoing model rather than return and start anew with the new model. Seems paltry.

For those keeping tabs, I ordered a new 17 which configured out to $2,837 (Cdn). They sold it for $2,449 ($388 or just under 14% off).

Am thinking, however, of cancelling the order and just keeping the old one, that is, if Dell can improve the retention offer. My main reason to change would be to get rid of the glare screen - already bothering me.

 

Call up and tell them about the purchase. From my knowledge if you buy another dell laptop there is no restocking fee on the one you have. They will either A. offer you more off. B. just take the return.

 

Not sure how it is in the U.S., but in Canada there is no restocking fee to return within the 30 days. That is why I was surprised the offer to keep the R4 was not better. What are they going to do with it now?

The new 17 would cost about $400 more. While I would lose the 256SSD (only ssd cache drives currently available, it would seem), I would benefit from the non-glare screen, etc.

 

They are going to offer you money to keep it because if you return it it becomes refurbished. They won't be able to sell a refurbished year old model for nearly that much.

 

I think in Dell's mind, they are offering premium panels in each model with the 14 having IPS, 18 having PLS and 17 with 3D. The 17 is missing out but personally, some of the video work I do really benefits from the 120Hz refresh. Just my 2c.