The Alienware 17 Laptop Appreciation Thread

Snubber · 7 Jun 2017 at 13:09

Took delivery of a 17 R4, i7-7700HQ, 16Gb RAM, GTX 1070, 256Gb M2 SSD, 1Tb HDD, 1440 AOU panel (no banding/striping so think it is most likely a Rev 1.4).

Was delivered 2 weeks ago but only just really got to play with it as been on holiday in Greece for last 10 days.

Absolutely love it so far...no issues whatsoever. Build quality is fantastic. Bit on the heavy side but not intending to take it very far. Gaming performance is excellent.

Purchased from the Dell outlet, originally paid £1478 (this was with a 15% discount code). Just negotiated a further 10% reduction using the tip mentioned above bringing price down to £1330...not too shabby!

MrFunex · 8 Jun 2017 at 09:41

Snubber - how do you know what revision of the panel you have?

Snubber · 8 Jun 2017 at 10:43

I used HWINFO and confirmed it was the AUO panel...unfortunately it does not give the Rev number. However I am pretty sensitive to screen quality issues, can see no banding/striping on the panel whatsoever so assume it is not one of the original AUO panels and (most likely) the new Rev 1.4.

kaktus · 17 Jun 2017 at 00:11

+1 for the AW17 R4. Absolutely superb (but needs a repaste with liquid metal to keep temps down and noise to a whisper). Build quality is second to none. It's a wonderful piece of kit and a lovely keyboard

djimty · 17 Jun 2017 at 22:32

I'm in the market looking for a laptop. how often do the R4's appear on the outlet store?

Also what are the differences between the R3 and the R4?

Teknobry · 18 Jun 2017 at 12:26

quite often, they seem to be like buses. you'll be waiting a while for one to turn up then half a dozen will appear on there.

mufc802 · 20 Jun 2017 at 20:23

How often do discount codes pop up such as 20% off? There seems to be a load of 17s which have shown up on there

djimty · 20 Jun 2017 at 22:17

mufc802 said:
How often do discount codes pop up such as 20% off? There seems to be a load of 17s which have shown up on there

I was just about to ask the same thing.

MrFunex · 20 Jun 2017 at 23:50

Every other month..?

Keep an eye on Hot UK Deals... they'll show up on there as they're really popular.

Emlyn_Dewar · 21 Jun 2017 at 09:32

Did you get a discount off initially?

addyb · 25 Jun 2017 at 16:52

Hi guys and gals. Seriously tempted to get one of these from the outlet. Scratch and dent ones though...are these minor?

Also R3 and R4....what's the difference? If I have a budget of around £1400 is a 1070 doable? I'm looking on there at the moment and really don't know what to go for. Are they still the best pieces of kit for the price (build quality etc) are any of these gsync or is that not needed?

Sorry bit of a ramble.

MrFunex · 25 Jun 2017 at 18:16

Mine was scratch & dent - the mark on the side of the lid is a few mm.. took me running my fingernail over it to even find the mark.

R3 - 9xx series GPU
R4 - 10xx series GPU

Probably a few other tweaks too...

They're built like a tank - every bit as solid as Apple - no creaks or flexibility here. I have a 1440p GSYNC and it works beautifully in gaming. Fab on desktop too, but 95% of the time I'm using it to game. Some people occasionally moan that the TN screen isn't vibrant or has banding. Either I got lucky, or I'm not so picky, but the screen on mine seems OK.

Any faults with a laptop from the Outlet, you've got 14 days (I think..) to return it if you're not happy.

addyb · 25 Jun 2017 at 18:22

Are you sure about the GPU just being 9 series on the R3? It's just that I'm looking at an R3 now and it has a 1070.

MrFunex · 25 Jun 2017 at 18:48

addyb said:
Are you sure about the GPU just being 9 series on the R3? It's just that I'm looking at an R3 now and it has a 1070.

In that case, I may be wrong. I was looking at a 17 R3 a while back and the best GPU was a GTX980. I waited until the R4 was released which appeared to offer a GTX1080 as more or less the only difference. Later, there was a minor KabyLake refresh, but mines a R4 with a SkyLake 6820HK and a GTX1080. All the gaming performance I need for a few years!

Teknobry · 25 Jun 2017 at 19:14

also the outlet models come with a 1years next business day warranty. anything at all goes wrong then they'll come out to you (work, home, wherever you want) to sort it if it can't be done over the phone.
i never found the scratch or dent on mine!
for gaming get the gysnc screen, its awesome.

the outlet often do 10 or 15% off codes, you can also once you've received it say you're not sure on it and want to send it back, they have been known to offer a further 10% for you to keep it.

price wise 1400 should bag you a 1070, i got a 6820hk with 1080gtx for 1640.

addyb · 25 Jun 2017 at 19:15

MrFunex said:
In that case, I may be wrong. I was looking at a 17 R3 a while back and the best GPU was a GTX980. I waited until the R4 was released which appeared to offer a GTX1080 as more or less the only difference. Later, there was a minor KabyLake refresh, but mines a R4 with a SkyLake 6820HK and a GTX1080. All the gaming performance I need for a few years!

Yeah definitely. I'll be happy with a 1070 for a few years. 1080 is a beast though.

addyb · 25 Jun 2017 at 22:50

Snubber said:
Took delivery of a 17 R4, i7-7700HQ, 16Gb RAM, GTX 1070, 256Gb M2 SSD, 1Tb HDD, 1440 AOU panel (no banding/striping so think it is most likely a Rev 1.4).

Was delivered 2 weeks ago but only just really got to play with it as been on holiday in Greece for last 10 days.

Absolutely love it so far...no issues whatsoever. Build quality is fantastic. Bit on the heavy side but not intending to take it very far. Gaming performance is excellent.

Purchased from the Dell outlet, originally paid £1478 (this was with a 15% discount code). Just negotiated a further 10% reduction using the tip mentioned above bringing price down to £1330...not too shabby!

I've just seen similar on the outlet and I'd love it but it's over £1700. No codes available at the moment and part of me is wondering if it's worth that anyway without a discount.