which one should i buy alienware 17 or 18?

hi guys so deciding which one to take should i take the alienware 18 or 17. so kinda confused with the 3d option is it we can use the 3d right away from the laptop or do we need to hook it up to a 3d tv. thank you
this is are the spec

Alienware 17 Alienware 17
Operating System Windows 8, 64-bit, English
Memory 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
Keyboard English Keyboard
Video Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5
Driver Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and BT Driver
Hard Drive 750GB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200 RPM) + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching
CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
Wireless Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
Cable US 125V Power Cord
Documentation/Disks Documentation, English
Support 2 Year Alienware Enhanced Support
Accidental Damage Service 2 Year Accidental Damage Service
Systems Management Alienware Command Center 3.0
Resource DVD Resource DVD
Placemat Setup Instructions English
Retail Software Dell.com Order
Primary Battery 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr)
Processor 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4800MQ processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz)
Packing Label/UPC Label Dell.com Order
Color/Bezels Silver-Anodized Aluminum
Shipping Material Shipping Material,3D
FGA Module AW17_1403_036/BTO
Optical Software Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials BD
Labels No OS Label Required
LCD 17.3" 120Hz WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) TrueLife Display w/3D Bundle
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Trial
Additional Software Additional Software
McAfee Security No Anti-virus Requested
AC Adapter Alienware 240W AC Adapter
Operating System Recovery Options OS Media : Windows 8 64bit, MUI Resource DVD


Alienware 18 Alienware 18
Operating System Windows 8 Pro, 64-bit, English
Memory 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
Keyboard English Keyboard
Video Card Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI® Enabled
Driver Broadcom 4352 Driver
Hard Drive 750GB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200 RPM) + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching
CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
Wireless Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
Cable US 125V Power Cord
Documentation/Disks Documentation, English
Support 2 Year Alienware Enhanced Support
Accidental Damage Service 2 Year Accidental Damage Service
Systems Management Alienware Command Center 3.0
Resource DVD Resource DVD
Placemat Setup Instructions English
Retail Software Dell.com Order
Primary Battery 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr)
Processor Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-4900MQ processor (8MB Cache, up to 4.0GHz w/ Intel® Turbo Boost)
Packing Label Dell.com Order
Color Choice Silver-Anodized Aluminum
Shipping Material Shipping Material
FGA Module AW18_1403_030
Optical Software Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD
Labels No OS Label Required
LCD 18.4" WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Trial
Additional Software Additional Software
McAfee Security No Anti-virus Requested
Power Supply 330W A/C Adapter
Operating System Recovery Options Windows 8 Recovery Disk Not Included

 

I expect the 17 to have better ergonomics: a thinner palm rest, a larger touchpad relative to the rest of the laptop, and a sufficiently large keyboard not thrown off center by macro keys. The base 1080p screen is anti-glare, and the 120hz screen refreshes faster than the 18's screen. It's easier to take apart.

The 18 has better performance and cooling (CPU cooling at least) and a better GPU multiplexer. Though this doesn't affect you, the loss of ExpressCard, a hard drive bay, and the larger battery in the previous m18x would make me hesitate to buy it.

 

Honestly, setting the 17 and 18 side-by-side there is not a massive difference in size or ergonomics. If you put both machines at opposite ends of the same room they seem almost the same size. I prefer huge laptops and I am more of an extreme performance nut than some folks, so take this advice with that understanding.

The 17 is just a little bit smaller than my M18x. The 18 is a little bit larger than my M18x. The 18 totally annihilates the 17 in terms of performance. Plus, I have had both the 17 and 18 completely disassembled (down to having the motherboard removed from the chassis) and the 18 is super easy to work on. The 17 is far more time consuming to take apart. You have to pull the GPU out and remove the CPU heat sink to get the palmrest off to install memory or mSATA on the 17. Neither one is a nightmare to work on by any means, but the 18 is much easier.

If you can afford both and want the best performance and easier maintenance, the 18 is the best choice. If the small increase in size would bother you and you are mainly interested in a machine that does a very nice job of playing games, the 17 is a great laptop. Beware of the 3D display option on the 17. If having reasonably good battery life is important to you, skip that option because graphics switching does not work with the 120Hz 3D display. If you don't care about that and prefer a 120Hz display, then there is nothing negative I can say about it other than reduced battery run time.

 

Go for the 18. The price difference is nonexistant or negligible right now with the 30% off coupons. I bought a 17, liked it enough, but got the itch for more performance and returned it for the 18.

 

Is that the case? I thought that the 17 was easier to work on. I might have just been thinking about removing the cooling system.

OP: Also, the 18's screen is PLS, which means that it should have unlimited viewing angles.

 

The 17 is easier to replace the CPU/GPU on, the 18 is easier to replace just about everything else on. Personally, I'd rather have an easily accessible CPU/GPU, but whatever. I'm comfortable enough taking the whole thing apart, I'd just rather not have to.

 

which of them have a better screen? is the 120 hz screen is better than the 18 true life? and can you use the 3d directly through the laptop screen? i dont mind about the battery life.

 

If you select the 3D Vision package, then yes. That is the main reason the 120Hz display is equipped with that option. When 3D is enabled, it will be 60Hz per eye.

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

 

ooo man i having dilemma in this.do you guys thnk its enough to get just the 18 with the 4800?

 

Everything Mr. Fox wrote is correct ... I had both machines and also I had the 18R2 ... right now the AW18 ist the perfect gaming machine.

Mr. Fox forgot one big thing: The cooling system of the new AW 18 is much more silent! If I use it in office mode for work or internet surfing the fans does not work at all ... and while gaming the AW 18 is more silent than the two other machines.

If you are able to spend the money: Go for the AW 18 you will not regret it ...

 

hi do you think with the same spec 17 or 18 the difference is only the dual graphic card. and do you think the 4800 is enough for the aw 18 or do you think i need to pump it up to 4900mq or 4903mx. and do you think there is a hge different in the graphis of the 3d is 17 and 18 ?
thx

 

It depends on what you're looking for. If you want the most power you can get on a mobile platform, the 18 is your choice. If you're willing to settle for less, the 17 is a great gaming machine. If you plan keeping your system for a long time, the higher tiered options will be more relevant down the road.

- 18 -

GPU - Capability of supporting two graphics cards. If you truly want performance, this is the way to go. It will also will give you more upgrade options in the future.
CPU - The 4800MQ more than adequate for gaming. However, if you truly want performance, the 4930MX is definitely the way to go as it is an unlocked processor.
Display - I can't personally comment on the new PLS display, but I've heard it is good.
Cooling - The 18 is a larger machine, and the cooling shows.
TactX Keys - I find that they come in handy for various tools. I wouldn't consider it a big factor in deciding, but they can be useful.

- 17 -

GPU - Single card only.
CPU - Same options as the 18, I believe. However, the MX will likely run better in the 18 due to cooling.
Display - 120Hz with 3D is an option, but will reduce battery life.
Cooling - Not bad at all, but less than the 18.

If you're a power user, the 18 is the way to go. I started out with an M17x R3, and it ended up fueling a craving for more power. I upgraded my GPU in that system to a 580M, myself. Due to certain circumstances, Dell replaced my machine with an R4. I ended up selling that machine for an M18x R2 with 680M SLI and a 3820QM CPU. I recently upgraded my CPU to the 3940XM, because it is awesome. Now it would be hard to settle for anything less.

 

As I wrote you in the PM: I have the 4930 but I think, the 4800 gives you enough power for 99% of all situations ... I don't use the machine just for gaming, I use it for my work, too ... and I use some programs which use only CPU power ... this is the reason why I took the 4930! For gaming I would stay the the 4800 ... I think it has the best power / price value ...

To the display: I really like the 18" more ... not because of the size but because of the colors and the black level ... this is really the best screen I used for a very long time.

So from what I can say: I would go for the AW 18 again, no question about that!

 

If everyone else is right, the 18 looks like the better choice. I'm not sure why Alienware cannot get decent ergonomics, performance, and cooling in one machine though.

 

i was too late for the 30% off deal

 

I know I am biased, but I think they already did that with the M18xR1/R2/R3.

 

I was debating between the Alienware 17 and 18. From reading both forums, it sounded like the 17 had more throttling issues out of the box, but was fixed with modified vbios. I didn't want to deal with that much tweaking so I went with the 18. Plus Dell just had the 30% off mystery deal, which just made it too hard to resist.

 

did I hear 30% off?

 

got in on that deal. was able to get a new AW 17 laptop for $1,301 OOP cant wait for it to arrive, i just regret that i didnt upgrade the processor to the 4800 one and got the 4700 instead hopefully i wont notice it too much.

 

How do I find that deal?

 

It ended Wednesday morning.

 

Yep sadly it did end a few days back. It was a 30% coupon for any desktop or laptop which was nice.

 

The problem with the Alienware 18 is that it is only available with a GLARE screen (right?).
A notebook with a glare screen is severely limited in its mobility.

As soon as you take it outside (or close to a window) playing games which are a bit darker or watching videos becomes incredibly annoying because the only thing you can see is your own face.
If it's a bright screen, surfing the web will still be ok even in relatively bright surroundings, but any darker content simply works as a mirror.
I have a glare desktop display since my room is always relatively dark anyway, but for notebooks a glare screen is really kind of stupid, because you can only use it indoors in rooms which are not very bright. I had a glare notebook before, and I hated it.
I would never have bought the AW 17 if it hadn't had an anti-glare display.

 

Taking a heavy dual GPU desktop replacement out side to game would not be my primary use for it. Had a m18x found it to be desk bound most of the time so went with a 17 again this time.

 

what 30% off coupon?


edit: oh it's over anyone think there will be another soon?


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

Yeah and considering the GPUs have to massively down clock to protect the battery anyway....

 

I'm deciding between the 14 and the 18. I don't want to go in between, its either gonna be portable, or just be a powerhouse. Problem is the AW 18 is expensive, even at base model. But the fact that dell lets you try it and return it if it doesn't work out is a plus. For that kinda money buyin something online you should be able to try it at home and see if it fits your needs without penalty of restocking fees. Go dell!

 

I wouldn't call Dell's policy a try it and return it policy. It's probably what they are required to do by law in the US (and other countries for less time). For certain cases, you may be "stuck" with the machine or restocking fees if you return it after the return period.

I disagree with you on the whole "For that kinda money buying something online you should be able to try it..."

Alienware is expensive because the components inside them are expensive (mostly the gfx cards as mentioned in another post). Doing what you propose would probably drive up the cost of the machines even more which hurts everyone.

People should decide if something like this fits their needs first and buy after. Prices aren't that bad for what you get if you are patient and willing to wait for a sale. Over the past few years, I'd had so many opportunities to buy the M18x R1/2 M18 for 20-30+% off without much work.

Either through reps who posted here or coupons. They come fairly often enough.

 

I agree with this. Seems like people don't keep it in mind. Sure, Alienware is cutting costs, but it is lowering prices and possibly offering more discounts. It would be nice if AW focused on offering better-designed and higher-quality products that fit its target market as Apple does instead of lowering prices, but Apple had the advantage to begin with: most laptop buyers want portability instead of performance and upgrade options, and desktops trounce laptops in the latter two areas while offering more "bang-for-the-buck." The cooling and connectivity of Apple's laptops remains subpar, but that's OK, because most people who buy Macbooks don't need either, and Macbooks are the best at what they do. Meanwhile AW claims "ultimate performance and connectivity" while trying to compete on cost with other gaming laptop vendors and desktops, and it succeeds at neither. Dell's trump card over Apple, Clevo/Sager, and almost every other company is its warranty, but if hosts of people think everything a company sells is junk, having the best warranty and customer service in the world (and Dell does not) would not matter.

I have the impression that the main costs for these laptops are the outsourced technicians, subsidies for the lines Dell sells with poorer sales, and the chassis guts. Dropping most of its products and focusing on quality control and consistent design would help Dell...

 

Good points all. Excellent discussion.

 

Lastly, maybe I am in the minority, but I'm actually glad that Alienware got more affordable after being acquired by Dell than when they were a more niche independent brand. I know some folks like the exclusivity, but I know I definitely wouldn't have bought it if I had to say pay upwards of 5-6k for say a current gen system. Some folks are ultra wealthy, but any working parent knows if you aren't just spending on yourself, you have tons of expenses raising kids...mortgage, etc etc etc...

That said, I was curious and just went to falcon-nw and configured a 17" laptop with exact/similar specs as what's is in my sig and I am now at $4943.10. Only difference is I got an 18" screen, 4 years accidental support with AW, the additional 64GB mSATA drive, 1600 memory. If I add the custom paint job, it's another 172 on the falcon-nw.

So the falcon-nw build is about 1k more than what I started with before any discounts so that makes Dell look downright cheap. I don't know if you can haggle with falcon-nw, but anyone can do the math and see 10, 20, 30% plus off and really see the savings add up for a system that's better according to most people.

Sure, it's not perfect considering they are still technical machines, but this can be true for any product such as if you buy Porsches, Ferrari's, Lambos, you name it...

 

Yea, I configure a Falcon like the Alienware I got, and it's almost $6k with 7 Professional, dual 780Ms, 4930MX, Blu Ray drive, 16GB DDR3 (at 1366MHz vs 1600MHz might I add) and the smallest SSD they offer. Was just under $5k without discounts from AW/Dell with the two year warranty, and just over $3k after all the discounts. Easiest decision of my life.

 

I don't think Falcon offers any discounts at all, not even free shipping. I always wanted to own a Falcon laptop, but its hard to justify the price. They offer a lot more variety price wise on desktops, few diff models and lot of configurations you can adjust.

 

Is the dual GTX 770M is better than the GTX 780M for gaming?
How is the dual card work compare to one card for gaming?

 

SLI 770M is obviously better than a single 780M. Also, when you buy an M18, you get the possibility to upgrade both your cards in the future, which is something that not many laptops have (other than some Clevo's I belive).

 

does the dual card drain your battery faster and over heat?

 

your not giving us enough details to help you make this choice..

you realize that right. Plus theres a multitude of other threads comparing both and such...

keep it simple, get the power now, get a 17. they're always more stable and better on average then the 18's which have more issues. a 780m is powerful enough, and you won't be need to having SLI anyways to run stuff, nor will you drain any cpu.. in some cases, you might perform MUCH better with a single card, especially games older then a year.

 

The AW18 has a sufficient cooling system for dual GPU's, it should not overheat unless you block the intake vents.

Dual GPU's will use more power and the battery life will be significantly lower than with the AW17. It's also an 18.4" screen versus a 17.3" screen, so, that consumes more power as well. The AW18 has an average of 1.5 - 2 hours of battery life, while the AW17 has an average of about 2.5 - 3.5 hours.

Running integrated graphics should get you about 3 hours on the AW18 and about 4 - 5 hours on the AW17.

 

You said with the Alienware 18 with dual card has more issue? can you tell me what the issue is?
My son trying to figure out if he should get a 17 or the 18 . I have read on some forum it said SLI is a pain to configure it to get the games to work and it configuration is depends on the drivers . If one GTX 780M is better what th points of having two GTX 770m ?

 

Because 2 770M's are more powerfull than 1 780M.

 

Is your son a student? If so, and he plans to carry his laptop with him, the AW17 is probably the better choice. However, if he doesn't plan to carry it around or if he's just using it as a home pc, then the AW18 is the better choice.

 

issues with all 18's... the 17's seem more soundly built for some odd reason, more time and effort put into them. The 18's have more often then not, power issues.... sound issues, SLI is not a problem, fixing profiles is EASY if you need help ever let me know, but all recent games last few years will automatically have a profile unless its a unknown game really... then you can create one profile and force AA/ and AFR/SFR anyways..

 

I had the same dilemma as you OP.

I picked the Alienware 18.

Why?

- 770M SLI is roughly 30% faster than GTX 780m.
- You get IPS display on the Alienware 18
- You have a TON of overclocking headroom on the 770Ms, because they run much cooler than the GTX 780M you find on the Alienware 17. We are talking 75W GPUs vs 100W GPUs.
- The battery life on the Alienware 18 is still very good. 3.5 hours when doing light work, better than my 17" MSI notebook.

 

Did you already received your 18 and fully tested?
Thanks

 

No, Schenker, the company that does the shipping here in Europe is most likely playing with my notebook right now. They probably couldnt take their freakings hands off my package when they saw it was an Alienware. So who knows, maybe they sre done now and formatting my computer to remove all trace of their activity.

Atleast thats what I think is happening, because my package have been stuck in my neighbour country for almost a week and havent moved a bit.

 

Get the 18 with duel 770m.

End topic

 

780M + 120hz screen.

 

IMO it really depends what games you play, as half of the games don't support SLI and not to mention the problems with sli.

 

what the problems with sli? half of the games don't support SLI ( even new games? )

 

FWIW, the difference isn't huge when walking around campus with the 17 or 18, at least from my experience. Both are heavy as hell.