Petition to bring back Alienware 18

https://www.change.org/p/dell-alien...aming-hardware-and-software?just_created=true

Update: Hi Guys,
Thank you for your feedback, we will review it internally.

- Alienware Francisco_S

http://www.ideastorm.com/idea2ReadIdea?v=1421887816992&Id=087700000009X9oAAE

 

Goodluck!!!

 

It really does come down to cost, dell have to restructure and by thinning the lines and having two similar models (15 and 17 will likely share components) and then a 13 for a smaller option you cover a larger market segment with fewer parts.

 

Alienware 18 with Z97 and GA option please.

 

Might be in the pipeline, but who knows at this point.

 

Alienware recycles through form factors every 1-3 years. Look up their entire lineup since Dell's acquisition and you'll notice a trend.

I'm sure, if there's a market for it, they will bring it back eventually. But it may never be the same... Don't get your hopes up.

 

its the perfect size to go z97 and SLI..... plus with a graphics card amp you would pretty much have the best of both worlds. True desktop performance at home if you chose and SLI for on the go. I guess that makes to much sense though.

 

Hey, doesn't hurt to try. I know Alienware are here on this and other forums and they're aware of the uproar about the 18. Personally, I think criticism of the 17 is certainly valid... the 15 I go both ways on though. I think is strikes a really nice balance between performance and portability... the 17 I find to be a bit of an odd duck especially considering what it's replacing (the 18).

I think so long as people make their voices heard (and this petition is actually a good start) then we may still see a restyled 18 with a GA port, but with MXM and probably a desktop-class CPU (since Intel's trying to push away from the mobile socketed CPUs). I know that would probably kill the 17, but again I'm not seeing a huge number of reasons to buy a 17 over the 15 anyway except screen size and more drives.

 

No petition has ever worked, they could give 2 [ cleaned] about what we want... Those guys who placed polls/suggestions on the ideastorm page... well they still got no closer to a simple modification request.

 

And this is precisely what's wrong with the entire political system in this country...

 

There would be no point in having the eGPU with an SLI laptop. The thing people don't recognize is the graphics accelerator will deliver less performance than 980M SLI no matter how great a desktop GPU you stick into it. With a low-TDP mobile CPU they won't be capable of providing a real desktop replacement level of performance. 780M SLI is stronger that a single GTX 780 and 980M SLI is stronger than a single GTX 980. It's a gimmick more than anything else. An eGPU is best suited as a franken-GPU in a laptop that has only integrated graphics and is incapable of providing a good gaming experience without the assistance of the eGPU. Without the ability to use the eGPU in an SLI configuration with the mobile GPUs, having the eGPU on something like the Alienware 18 with 980M SLI would be a performance downgrade. While the eGPU will increase the performance of these pathetic new machines with gimped components, it won't make them amazing.

While this is mostly (99%) true, change will most certainly never occur if good people do nothing. Even when petitions do not work, those that participate can at least have the satisfaction of trying to make a difference, and they will be in a good position to complain and enjoy pulling out their " see, I told you so" card when things unravel. It's like people that don't vote having no right to complain about incompetent morons and shysters that hold office. Being quiet and compliant makes a person that did nothing officially part of the problem. They don't even qualify for martyr status if things go terribly wrong... they live meaningless lives as a do-nothing loser. Compromise is almost never a good thing. When you want results, you either aim for the head or lunge at the jugular veins. Dead enemies offer no resistance.

Your point is valid on IdeaStorm. Alienware had the opportunity, more than once, to take decisive action on really simple requests, like giving us a BIOS without Secure Flash (so we could unlock it) and an updated version of AWCC with manual fan controls. Our pleas for simplest form of relief imaginable fell on deaf ears. They could have delivered on such simple requests in 30 days with minimal cost, but they merely pretended to care and acknowledge what customers wanted. Here we are, approaching year two with EOL systems that are gimped with a locked BIOS and crippled fans, and new systems that do not meet our expectations. "Dell Cares" is no longer a valid expression. Their lack of action on requests voiced in forums, including IdeaStorm, stand as visible evidence that they do not care what we want. In fact, they have taken active measures to block us from having what we want. I cannot see any way to interpret their blocking tactics and lack of action on such simple requests in a positive light.

 

Having a GA port on an SLI machine wouldn't be too bad as long as it doesn't affect the SLI performance. I mean when the GM200 chip comes out, I'm sure it'll be faster than two 980M sli.

However, I have to agree on the petition. I don't see them bringing the AW18 back because of it, although it's a good way to at least voice everyone's opinions.

 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

Nothing changes unless you make your voice heard. The big corporations and oppressive governments preempt and bank on you despair and inherit feelings of futility to have their way with you.

Even not winning at the poll, or in this case, a Dell idea storm and online request can be enough to sow the seeds of change needed for a positive outcome in the future.

 

Wow firstly the joke Alienware 15 which the M15x can give a run for it's money. Now they are getting rid of the Alienware 18 which actually due to SLI performs better than single desktop card while also being more mobile doing it!

Good bye Alienware the end is nigh.

 

Yep.. looks like your m15x might end up being the fastest 15 inch alienware if you upgrade your GPU again.

 

I'm hesitant to vote/support this petition. I'm afraid - assuming they listen - they will bring back the AW 18 and destroy it with BGA crap. I'd rather the 18" laptops go out in style and leave us with a "nostalgic feeling" every time we look back on the M18x/AW 18 systems. Just imagine the Alienware 18 R2 having a 4710HQ and 980M SLI - it would be ridiculous, lol. I suppose they at least realized that when considering tossing out SLI...or maybe not. Who knows what the hell Alienware is doing these days.

Just sit back and "enjoy the ride" while trying not to barf.

 

With this saddening turn of events it isn't a question of IF but WHEN. I am still not at the limit actually on the cpu (the clocks in sig is across all cores pretty insane). I will bump it up another 133mhz tonight and run with it for a few days before bumping it again. I am glad I went for this cherry picked 920xm 3.6ghz on stock voltage across all cores stable even in Prime 95 on stock cooling...big things await this chip.

Then I intend to install detachable water cooling and install the next gen AMD card that will blast the 980M to ashes. This of course all in due course have to please the wife and take my sweet time....

Now there is nothing to replace it with I have all the time in the world haha

 

Wait wait.. Your 920XM runs at 4.25GHz? lol... Did you change it from the one you had on 3.8GHz??

 

I did exactly that. Sold old one for same price.

4.25 ghz at 32x is very stable across all cores.

 

M15x best laptop ever

 

I liked my M15x a lot, however I prefer my M18xR2. Best laptop ever.

 

Best 15 incher perhaps The M17x R2 is also a good laptop and fun to work out all the kinks with dual GPU's. The M18x R2 is the pinnacle of Alienware laptop gaming. Seemingly also the peak.

What makes the m15x a stubborn thing refusing the die is the fact that is accepts practically any gpu without complaint and works. It helps that it isn't plagued by any kind of igpu of course. It is likely that it will only die when MXM dies.

 

All of the previous generation laptops are good, and all are better than this year's.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LDmTakhm3RU
This video is such a joke. They just flat out lie so they can sell them like hotcakes to all the hipsters who always complained.

 

I thought so, same motherboard on the 15 and 17, this is quite typical in other brands as it cuts down costs significantly for production.

It may mean the 17 has a connector supporting up to a 4k internal display if/when the high res 17.3" panels hit though.

 

Still a waste of money. Rather have a z97 system for sale and then either a 17 or 15 inch system. Really isn't a need for both of them.

 

Why are you buying off alienware knowing they're not customiseble?

 

I don't understand your question.

 

Update: Hi Guys,
Thank you for your feedback, we will review it internally.

- Alienware Francisco_S

Idea Storm

 

Translation:

Formal message to (hopefully) shut you guys up

- *fake name that DELL gave me*

 

Vote here... vote with your pocketbook... and if all else fails vote with your feet.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

 

I'm starting to wonder if it even makes good sense that we want them to bring it back. Maybe we should learn from the past and move on to something else in light of recent history.

2013 - Released Alienware 18 with Secure Flash and no way for us to unlock the BIOS; numerous features eliminated; motherboard has power-handling restrictions so that dual 330W AC adapter provides no benefit
2014 - Released multiple BIOS versions, never removed Secure Flash; never acted on any of the reasonable requested presented on IdeaStorm (remove Secure Flash, manual fan controls, dual AC adapter)
2014 - NVIDIA releases GTX 880M - Alienware provides a GPU refresh and leaves everything else broken... 880M is an abject failure, but NVIDIA pretends it is OK and refuses to do anything about its engineering failures
2015 - 980M is the new norm for enthusiasts, Alienware kills off the 17/18, introduces BGA jokebooks like the crackerbox OEMs - the new machines are...

● gimped with BGA CPU, BGA GPU and 2 RAM slots
● gimped with only 4GB of vRAM on the 980M
● crippled by inadequate AC adapters
● only able to achieve their best performance when tethered to an eGPU bound to a desk

​

Based on the above trend, I am asking myself if it even matters any more. What good is a machine that looks fantastic and built extremely well, but crippled by firmware and everything left broken that we asked repeatedly to have fixed?

 

Imo, they are giving up on minority market like lenovo did to thinkpad(which turn out to be pretty successful). Putting hardware limit and removing Mxm/SLI help cut down warranty cost, which DELL had known to be pretty generous on.

Dell know the fact average joe will not complain about 970m/980m performance even if they are crippled.(because they are "kind of" overkill at 1080p)

 

Well, the follow-up question is "what are your options?". While Clevo offers fully-fledged desktop replacements with desktop CPUs, they don't have the build quality or warranty/support Alienware provides. And even then, most of the new Clevo options are going the BGA route. ASUS is on the BGA bandwagon too.

There is truth and logic to this. The only people who will complain/are upset about the new AW line are enthusiasts. For (almost) everybody else, a Core i7 and a 970M are more than enough to run anything they throw at it.

Dell probably did the math, figured losing the enthusiast market would be more than offset by the new business they'll get thanks to more affordable machines and higher margins.

 

Mr fox, question for you.
I'm looking for my next alienware I have the m17x r4 with a 3920xm 4gb gtx 780m 16gb corsair vengeance 1866 MHz ram and 1tb ssd

With that in mind I got offered a alienware m18 xr2 with a 3720qm i7 cpu dual ati 7970m for $1500 I will replace the cpu with my xm chip and I will replace the heat sink with the three pipe heat sink my cpu came with since it's built specifically for the m18x the rest of my parts I'll transfer like my ram and ssd my question is will buying another 780m to go sli in the 18x r2 with my 3920xm 4.2 overclock be a better option then buying a newer machine ?

I hear nothing but praise about how godley the m18xr2 is I have never owned a m18 so I don't know much about it

 

An M18x R2 with 780m SLI and your 3920xm would be a formidable machine and probably considerably better than anything newer (from Alienware, that is) available now. I would say that an R2 with 780m (maybe 980m) SLI and a 3920/40xm would be the pinnacle of Alienware performance and user-tweakability to extract the very best performance possible. Dual PSU mod, ThrottleStop etc and she'll fly.........

 

I'm just a little torn because I really wanted to buy into maxwell but seems like they don't play nice with the 18x so far and the 880m is a dumpster fire... So Im afraid I'll be paying $2000 for a dead end after I buy the second 780m

 

Thanks Mr. Fox and company for the great help this forum has provided. A user base like this is what makes a machine great. After selling my R1 about a year ago and waiting for a new, decent 18 it looks like I wont be with AW anymore. The R1 and R2 were such great designs.

 

There is that to think about, regarding the possible 'dead end' - obviously 980m SLI does go into an R2, but I think there are problems with doing so and it not being entirely plain sailing to get them to play nice. 880m's are trash. If you buy ANY of the new Alienware's that are gimped with BGA chips, you're stuck for upgrading full stop. Buying a newer 18 is not necessarily going to be upgradeable in the future. As it seems that Dell are no longer going to offer an SLI monster MXM machine, the only other realistic option are the Sager/Clevo models.........

With the way it seems Intel are going, I'm even wondering if there will be socketed cpu's and MXM cards available, long term. They seem intent on welding everything on and pushing 'green power' down our throats. I can see why they are doing this - it's not for anything as noble as 'saving the planet' - it just means more sales for them when people can't upgrade their machines.....they then have to go out and buy yet another 'BGA turd sporting' Intel machine with welded on Intel 'not-so-goodness' silicone.

Tough decision for you......

 

At the end of the day, build quality and warranty take a back seat to performance... for me. From my perspective, while all of the above are important, performance and ability to upgrade major components trumps everything else. Others may have different personal preferences. Alienware build quality and warranty are unmatched. Clevo build quality is not horrible. I think warranty/support sucks with all of Alienware's competitors. I refuse to purchase any "high performance" system that cannot have both the CPU and GPU(s) replaced or upgraded. What might qualify as "high performance" today is ordinary tomorrow, and not good enough after ordinary plays out. Having to buy a complete machine to keep up instead of simple upgrades is an expensive and foolish endeavor.

The M18xR2 is epic in every way. I'm keeping mine, but it has taken me as far as it can with upgrades. I agree with Stevie's comments. An M18xR2 with an XM CPU and 780M SLI is more powerful than anything with a lesser CPU and only one 980M GPU. Only 980M SLI is more potent than 780M SLI. Having 980M SLI with sucky BGA CPU is not an acceptable option as far as I am concerned. As legendary as this machine is, one has to consider that parts availability is becoming more of a challenge and will not improve with time. If you already have one, keep it. Gather some spare parts to stash away for a rainy day. I have a number of spare parts "just in case" I ever need one. If you do not have one already, it's definitely worth buying... with the understanding that you may need to do some hunting if you need a replacement part that is no longer available from Dell. I do not recommend extending the warranty on any of Alienware's end of life models because a system exchange will result in a huge downgrade.

 

Saying all of AW's competitor's CS "sucks" might be a bit much. Especially when you take into account the fact many buy their clevo/sagers from reputable dealers like Xoticpc who often provide their own warranty and hardware support services.

 

Having parts only, a tech when necessary, dispatched for the next business day repair is hard to beat. Sending a machine in for repairs and waiting to get it back sucks no matter how nice they might be on the phone.

 

Of course sending it in you are guaranteed someone who knows the system well will be working on it (at least if you trust the place )

 

Truth is, very few resellers can match Dell's next business day on site support. If the only support you ever need is some phone tech support, pretty much any reputable reseller will suffice. Even ASUS!

But it's when you actually need physical repairs done that the warranty and support offered by Dell really shine. I had warranty work done for my old Inspiron 17R SE, and they came to my place the next day to fix it. Any other vendor would have required at least a week (send it there, repair, send it back). In addition, Dell has repair centres all over the world, so you only need to ship it to your nearest repair centre - which, if you live in/near a major urban area, is probably quite close. Some resellers only have one location, so it's possible you may live in NY and have to ship your laptop out to LA for a fix. I've heard good things about the support offered by certain resellers, but it still requires a relatively lengthy total repair period once you factor in shipping.

There's a reason that, despite all the flack the new generation of AW machines is receiving, people are still considering them. That warranty/support is just so good. While my Dell experience is limited to a AW 14 and Inspiron 17, my overall Dell experience has been pretty good. Remote diagnostic, in-home repair the next day, very quick shipping...Dell can get away with a bit more nonsense than the other brands on the hardware side, because they usually make up for it with support.

That being said, they're really pushing their luck with this new hardware. But there are already enough threads concerning that discussion that we don't need to bring it in here too.

 

Here's a good reason they need to bring it back... 2015 BGA jokebooks can't keep up with an amazing machine from 2011 or a partially crippled machine from 2013... eGPU? Really?

 

How they match up depends on the title and resolution, a single 980M is going play better than those 780M SLI ones in most titles and when the GM200 cards come out one of those in the external box will best out 980M SLI due to it being a single card.