alienware AW3418DW Availability in the UK?

[NirK]

It won't be a fair test because different light levels, different cameras etc.

With a white screen it should be ok.

 

[NirK]

Nobody going to post any white screens? Would it help if I did mine? Would be extremely useful to me in deciding what to do about the one I have... Obviously looking online you will either see a) the worst examples with people saying "look how bad this is" b) review samples

 

[uberplum]

Amazon are the best when it comes to returns IMO.

I've recently bought an XBOX one controller from them (3 months ago), forgot to return it, sent them an email, and they're picking it up Monday.

My Oculus rift from them had a weird light in the right eye, they sent me a replacement BEFORE I sent mine back. When I sent mine back, they said I can keep the sensors from the old one, they just need the defective headset. Due to christmas and a family emergency, I was a couple of days out of the return window, they extended it by TWO months.

I also bought a video game from them which had a dent on the box. Mentioned it to them, they apologised, offered a REFUND for the game and told me to just keep it and not post it back. I said there was no need as I didn't want to take advantage.

Smaller companies, I've found if there is an issue; it becomes my issue with endless chasing if somethings wrong. I had an episode with my RTX 2080 from OCUK, delivery man delivered it to the wrong person. 1 week later, no news, I was forced to track down the parcel personally with some very dodgy questionable people whom they decided to leave the parcel with. With bigger companies, they sort out that rubbish and leave the customer to a more stress free experience. Personally would rather deal with bigger companies from now on as the smaller businesses just don't seem to offer anything the other isn't (apart from in my case having RTX 2080 cards in stock).

I've not found Amazon to be the best for huge/bulky/heavy things though historically. For smaller products then yes I agree.

Some pages back people were talking about the Blue Light card NHS thing to get the discount codes for Dell.

Searching Syncreon delivery codes brought me to this thread. I recently got my first gaming PC. Ended up getting it from PC specialists (who were fantastic and quick and the machine seems to be very good quality). Before I insisted on going to PCS - I wasn't involved in the buying process as someone was getting the PC as a gift for me - they bought me a Cyberpower from Amazon. The thing turned up and had issues with the graphics card and a case fan (570X) that sounded like a jet engine at all times. So I had to send that back to Amazon.

Amazon refused to come and pick the thing up. They insisted that I arrange for my own delivery and delivery protection (saying they'd refund it of course). But then I had to arrange transport and appropriate tracking of this huge gaming PC to return it. It was not a good experience.

When the PCS PC arrived, I decided I wanted to go for a 21:9 high refresh rate monitor to get the most out of my graphics card (currently using a 4k/60/27" monitor).

So I ordered the AW from Amazon, as I thought it would be safe to do so in spite of my previous bad experiences. It was listed for Prime next day delivery, and ironically I thought Amazon are probably most trusted to get this delivered on time. I ordered on Tuesday 16 April. Scheduled delivery 17 April. Late on the 17th I get an email saying "Sorry, your order has been delayed and will be delivered tomorrow". I get an email AND a call from Amazon apologising and confirming that it will be delivered tomorrow, 18th April. Nothing. Then obviously the bank holiday hits, and no Amazon movement. Yesterday I get another email saying "Sorry, your parcel has been delayed in transit and should be with you by Friday 26th April". If you haven't received by then, please get in touch with us". That was the last straw for a Prime item I ordered on 16th April. Called them, cancelled it, ordered it from Dell and it's supposed to be arriving tomorrow. Let's see.

Long story short, I will never be ordering ANY TECH over more than £150-200 from Amazon ever again. If I buy a £2k+ PC and need to return it, I expect that process to be easy and managed. If I drop 1k on a monitor, I expect it to arrive within 10 days, bank holiday or not, when it's advertised as prime next day. I don't think Amazon can be trusted with expensive tech orders.

 

[HungryHippos]

I'd say it's not the cost of the item, more the size. They were fine when I had to return a 2080 that was faulty, because it was small enough to ship it to them via Royal Mail.

They seem fine on delivering larger items, as I got my AW from Amazon, but for actually returning something of that size I think it's harder to arrange with them. Luckily I've not had to return it.

I would not rush out to buy massive items like large TV's from them though, better to buy from JL or RS or something for that kind of thing.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Nobody going to post any white screens? Would it help if I did mine? Would be extremely useful to me in deciding what to do about the one I have... Obviously looking online you will either see a) the worst examples with people saying "look how bad this is" b) review samples

I use mine at 37% but HungryHippos is right, I changed it to 100% and the picture my Pixel 3 took looked duller.



I don't know what's considered good or bad but the picture of the light bleed I posted 18 months ago looks far better than other examples. I've been very happy with it either way

 

[phrases]

Don't know if its been posted already but you can haggle with Dell customer support they will knock some off. I think i paid £908 for mine a couple of months back. Then they went down to £880 or there about. Typical. Happy though light bleed is hardly anything on mine at first it was jarring but i put that down to the size of the screen and having to get used to it.

 

[MissChief]

Had a check on uniformity on mine and in all honesty it looks very similar across the board. Like many I have some IPS glow bottom left corner but overall it looks and feels great to me. No banding that I can see either.

 

[phrases]

Worth noting there is also a driver on dell for this monitor. Not sure if it will make things any better other than color profiles.

 

[NirK]

Seems they are all similar with a darker right side, not terrible, but worse than the previous generation eg. X34... I guess because of the curve the uniformity is worse...

 

[NirK]

Anyone noticed that their white uniformity gets worse the longer the monitor is on?

When I switch my monitor on first thing, the whites look pretty much perfect, after the screen has been on about 8+ hours... I can see the right is darker and some "splotches" on the screen.

I also think it *could* be that the screen gets worse at 120hz, whereas at 100hz native it is slightly better, not sure about this.

Overall though I am not sure it is worth bothering with a replacement as I think these monitors just don't have perfect whites... I did get one replacement and it was worse than this one...

If anyone wants to prove me wrong with a photo of perfect whites on these panels I will be happy to "eat my hat"... But I have not seen one yet...

 

[Oblivion]

Does anyone know how to access the service menu on these screens yet?

 

[SeanDrake]

Quick question I currently have one of the first gen 28” 4K TN monitors and I am very happy with it but sadly it seems to be dying, to get a similarly speced TN or IPS monitor is now more expensive than when I bought it and I cannot afford the new 144mhz 4K monitors.

So I can get this monitor for £840 and it seems a nice monitor but would it be a noticeable drop from 4K and would the benefits widescreen balance out any loss in resolution?

If not would anyone suggest any other monitor or should I suck it up and just get another 4K monitor like I have?

I run a 2080 ti so for the most part running the monitor is not an issue from what I can tell.

 

[HungryHippos]

I really like the 34" wide screen size with 3440 * 1440, and find that 2080 matches it pretty well too.

 

[strocky]

I'd say it's not the cost of the item, more the size. They were fine when I had to return a 2080 that was faulty, because it was small enough to ship it to them via Royal Mail.

They seem fine on delivering larger items, as I got my AW from Amazon, but for actually returning something of that size I think it's harder to arrange with them. Luckily I've not had to return it.

I would not rush out to buy massive items like large TV's from them though, better to buy from JL or RS or something for that kind of thing.

JL gets you a 5 yr warranty
6 years with JL
Only 2 years with Amazon

 

[HungryHippos]

JL gets you a 5 yr warranty
6 years with JL
Only 2 years with Amazon

Yep as I said I'd not buy TV's from Amazon lightly.

This monitor is on deal at just under £800 new:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/alienware-aw3418dw-ultrawide-gaming-monitor-3249191

You can also get £75 back on an Amex spend:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/amex-spend-400-or-more-at-dell-get-75-back-3248091

 

[NirK]

Anyone have any information about the 120hz getting worse (X34P) ?

This one was ok for about 5 weeks, then flickered and was ok at 115 for about 1 week, now it is at 110 which I have not tested for very long.

Overall rather disappointing but it is what it is... I read someone saying it could be the power brick? It does seem to be related to temperature as this was completely ok until the weather started getting hotter.

 

[Monkeyspaz5000]

Anyone have any information about the 120hz getting worse (X34P) ?

This one was ok for about 5 weeks, then flickered and was ok at 115 for about 1 week, now it is at 110 which I have not tested for very long.

Overall rather disappointing but it is what it is... I read someone saying it could be the power brick? It does seem to be related to temperature as this was completely ok until the weather started getting hotter.

I have the AW monitor and I think this is possibly my 4th?
Both of the other ones started flickering from about the 6 week point.

I've had this one about 4 months now and have never had an issue.
All seems fine with this one! - thankfully.

I've heard some stories that you have to keep dropping the hz, but it keeps flickering (one of my previous models done this).

 

[NirK]

Bit crap how they do that really isn't it... Someone said they put a heatsink on the power brick and it fixed it, but seems a bit unlikely as the monitor is very hot but the brick is not.

 

[NirK]

Was it by any chance they started flickering when the weather got hotter?

Or did they both just start at 6 weeks and nothing to do with the temperature?

 

[aoaaron]

man.. still waiting for a price drop on this and its not coming.

whats a fair price for this monitor? i was hoping for a flash sale to see it around £700.. am i just wasting my time? any other monitors which are as good as it or better? i know its only 8bit..