Trying Alienware one last time

Against my better judgement I am trying an alienware purchase again. I was deployed during the refund process the last time, forcing me to use email only, which was hopefully the root of the issues I had.

So anyway, I am stuck between 15 and 17 now. I had a 17r4 with 1070 and 1440P. That is not an option any more for some reason. I heard Dell got their **** together with the 1440P screens, and really want to try my luck. But, the laptop is mainly for trucking around the world with, and TBH the 17R4 is about 1.5" wider than it needs to be, making bags a nightmare. I also plan on doing a sweet 1080TI build at some point in the next few months.

So I got these offers from Dell:
15R3
7820HK
1070
120hz FHD Screen
16GB 2667 Ram
512 SSD/1 TB HDD (They wouldn't remove this option)
99 Watt battery
Total: $1915+tax
---------------------------
17R4
7820HK
1080
120hz QHD screen
16GB 2400
512/1TB
Total: 2332+tax
---------------------------

I have a 1,000 dollar gift card, which I know I can sell, for a loss, and I have nothing to buy from Dell. If they had a 21:9 120+hz monitor I'd buy that, but they don't at the moment that I found. In addition, I'm in love with the port layout on these new laptops. I bought an MSI GS73VR as a placeholder for a few months and the ports are idiotic. Why does everyone put usb on the right?

So yeah, should I take the plunge again with Alienware? And if so, from people who've got the laptops, would you recommend the 15 over the 17. (I wish the 17 with a 1070 was an option, I'd get that)

 

Will be getting a 15r3 too with similar specs but only at the outlet so i can save abit a bnew machine imo will be a lottery in terms of thermals. Anyway howd you get a 1k usd coupon/discount :O . Max discount a customer rep gave me over chat is 2% on the refurb laptops.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

How were you able to get the AW 17 to $2332? That is so dope

 

Be careful with 120Hz screens! They don't work with the integrated graphics card so you'll be using your discrete graphics card all the time which would give you really horrible battery life.
So I believe the 120Hz screens are TN panels. Never in a million years would I buy a TN panel again. Just no.

 

That's some crazy stats. If you face some issues, follow up with me if you can't find any help, I would love to tackle the mysteries of that laptop !
I'd go with the 17" Just to be safe... it's thier mainstream lineup, things just might work out better. (though I wouldn't be surprised if it's like same motherboard in both series the 15" and 17"

 

This is generally good advice. Things just work out nicer in in the 17 inch class chassis (IME and in my preference)

Since you are doing a desktop build, I'd save the $417 difference then apply it towards your DT build. That is roughly what I did this time around. I went with the $2K 15 inch (Eurocom Tornado F5, for me) kept the GTX 1070 in it, then also built a DT. That seemed like an OK compromise.

 

Guy is in the military and deploys, needs the mobility, the criticism about TN panels might have been valid 3 years ago but hey, my Asus ROG Swift PG278Q 10 Bit TN looks fantastic (previous display was an Eizo Foris IPS for comparison) not sure about the TN's in the AW but yeah, TN's are coming along, and 120 Hz G-Sync is pretty much a must have, especially with a GTX 1080, and 2560x1440 17"? Nice. I would go with the 17" unit brother man, youre not going to notice the size and weight difference when carrying it around but you WILL notice the difference between a 15" 1080p display being pushed by a GTX 1070 and a 17" 1440p display being pushed by a GTX 1080. GTX 1080 is head-and-shoulders above 1070. Two years down the road youre going to regret not spending the $400 difference between the 1070 15" unit and the 1080 17" unit.

Don't skimp, do it right.

 

@vulcan78 I had the same issue in terms of screens with my AW13. smaller resolutoin and more fps, or higher res but a better screen. I do agree that one should do it right, but what sort of gaming is OP doing? If he's doing a lot of FPS, then yes more FPS = better, but if he's doing design work and other stuff, the 4k monitor with better color render may actually be beneficial. Yes though to the 1080 / 17 inch combo though. I just hope that where he's deployed it doesn't overheat.

 

Why isn't the 17 with the 1070 an option for you? Having owned both the 1070 17 and the 1080 17 I prefer the 1070. I can't go back to TN regardless of how fast it is. I went with the 1080p display with the GTX 1070 and if I don't turn the GPU on I can get plenty of battery time. The 1080 on the other hand doesn't have optimus so the battery life will suffer. Performance wise, when I had it they were nerfing the 1080 so the difference in power wasn't all too much when compared to the 1070. Either way, I'd still go for the 17 over the 15 given your 2 options.

 

Yeah I agree as well with the 17 r4 option. You might also want to try a retail box store to see if you can find better deals. I got an 17 r4 with a 1070 but with a 6700hq for almost 1200 at a local bestbuy; it was a clearance items and haven't looked back