The Alienware 17 Laptop Appreciation Thread

I hated it at first, now I love it.

I did not think it had a place along with my Macbook Pro but I was wrong.

The whole package is so well put together.

Anyone else got a big 'ol slab of Alienware ?

I had one, it never worked properly. Will not buy again.

The hinges went funny on mine sent it back.....

that's a shame.

I bought a 2016 model back in April I think. build quality is really nice on mine.

different materials to a MacBook Pro but still feels solid.

lots of neat features on it like the slow recharge option and klipsch audio speakers. the 980m 8gb is about as fast as an original stock 7970 so it does not feel slow. I generally stick to playing total war warhammer and avoid games like the witcher.

getting about 2 hours of moderate gaming on it or 5-6 hours general use when on battery.

I have the older M17x R4 as I still have it, I loved it at first but I soon grew to hate the thing. Heavy, expensive hot mediocre gaming machine.

Replaced it after 3 years and the last two years it was used more as a cheap to run plex server then a gaming machine, where the PS4 was IMO better , now got a dedicated PC gaming rig.

I can 100% say I won't ever buy another one. Mine is on its last legs as everytime I boot it the BIOS fails to load and gets stuck, I have to forcefully reboot it about three or four times and then it decides to boot, so I use sleep mode and just pray when it gets rebooted via Windows updates.

Useless laptop? Yes no. Its got its uses, but its certainly not got uses for what I purchased it for..

I have a 17 R3 which I got in march, pretty much the top spec one and i love it.

Barham2016 said:

I have a 17 R3 which I got in march, pretty much the top spec one and i love it.

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Same here mines the 6820hk / 980m / 4K screen I've upgraded the drives got a 512gb 850 pro boot drive, 1tb nvme m2 ssd for the games and a 2tb hdd

The best thing I have found is the graphics amplifier its replaced my way over the top 5960x x99 rig in the huge 900d case.

I now have a small box behind my screen with a Titan X pascal in it, the whole set up makes no noise uses very low power compared to the desktop and games pretty much identical.

And when I need to stay away for a week or so I can take the rig with me.

Well, my update is that my R3 has been absolutely faultless and a joy to use.

Dell offered me a deal on a new 17 R4 with Kabylake and a 1080 GTX with 1440p G-Sync.

Have had to swallow a drop from IPS IGZO goodness though.

Will post thoughts once laptop is in my hands.

I'm thinking of getting one, in about april. for my birthday , the price is putting me off somewhat, but I see some refurb ones at not a bad price sometimes

Just bought a 17 R4 from the outlet. I've been after a gaming laptop for a while, and there was an extra 10% off at the moment so...

Specs are:

17.3" 2560x1440 120Hz 400nits panel
i7-6820HK 3.6GHz
32Gb 2400MHz DDR4
8Gb GTX1080
512Gb M.2 and 1Tb HDD

Should keep me going for a while, can't wait for it to arrive. I'm looking forward to having a crack at this VR nonsense!

i bought one from the outlet, was a 15% off code at the time. considering it is meant to have a 'scratch/dent' it is flawless and doesn't have a mark on it.
6820 processor, 1080gtx, 1440p gsync screen, 512gb m2ssd, 1tb hd. 16gb ram.
1 year premium warranty. 1637 quid delivered.

love it!

just need a backpack for it now.

So.....how are these in reality guys?

So tempted.

Most of the video reviews suggest they're built like tanks, but each screen option, although very good, are not quite perfect.

I'll do a small review once mine arrives!

Teknobry - mine's supposed to have a scratch on it - good to know you can't find yours! Seems like we have identical specced machines although mine has 32Gb RAM.

waldaize said:

So.....how are these in reality guys?

So tempted.

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after having read so much about the screen issues (the first 1440p gsync screen is known for having 'watermark' issues) and trouble with heat due to poor quality paste i bought it expecting the worst.
One nice surprise is no issue with the screen, dell now has latest screens just landing in stock and will replace older ones under warranty.
personally i love the screen, 120fps makes everything look so fluid when gaming. colours seem great.
when stress testing the cpu is hitting 85c and throttling but i don't mind repasting. compared to what else is out there in that price bracket nothing comes close. it is built well!
the eye tracker thing, maybe slightly gimmicky but its a cool feature to have, especially as its given me two free games to try it out on, lol (watchdogs 2 and some asassins creed title)

I was wondering whether the refurbished 17 R4 would have had replacement screens already fitted and the changes to the thermal paste. 10% code seems to have expired now...a lot of power for not much over £1500..if a 15% code popped up I'd probably commit.

it was the 15% off that made me go for it. i think in total with the reduced outlet price and the code it must have been in the region of 1k saving.

Try to call them to speak direct, they can sometimes offer something depending on their month sales I guess?

Got the 17 R4 with a 1080 a few weeks ago. Stunning machine, had a problem with it but Dell support was excellent. No thermal issues as seen with other older machines. G-sync screen is good, no problems with that either.

Vargas said:

Got the 17 R4 with a 1080 a few weeks ago. Stunning machine, had a problem with it but Dell support was excellent. No thermal issues as seen with other older machines. G-sync screen is good, no problems with that either.

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What problem did you have with it?

MrFunex said:

What problem did you have with it?

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Power button board, was replaced by Dell next business day at my home. Saved a grand buying refurb, well worth it. The next business day on-site warranty is great.