980m 8GB

Hi Lozz, did you get your AW15R2 new or outlet ? How are you finding the 4K screen in terms of general use / scaling / character and icon size in programs etc ? And also in terms of general quality and brightness? Thanks.

 

Funny fact: Dell pulled the 980M variant of AW15 R2 from their UK website altogether - that's one way to solve the problem!

 

Thats not quite right. If you go to the SHOP page you can still get it

 

Yeah, that's where I looked. Have you bothered checking? 965, 970 or Radeon R9 are the only options.

 

I was on the site this morning and it was there in front of my very eyes !

 

Here you go, mate, I just checked. If I'm not mistaken this configuration is including the GTX980M 8GB .


http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-15-r2/pd?ref=3322_details&oc=n00aw15r206&model_id=alienware-15-r2

 

I was going to say I found it too, though it took some filtering through the options for it to show up......

 

Dell dont make things very easy thats for sure. Im no longer that bothered about 8GB though tbh. I may just go with the outlet option. They need to sort it out though, it ridiculous that one of the largest computer corporations in the world cant get this right.

 

Well, that's impressive, but Dell is still only showing me the 4 options ex 980M at http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-15-r2/pd?ref=PD_OC
Anyway, my point is that if someone just happens to visit the AW15 R2 store front, they won't see the 980M anymore. Just a bit more Dell tragicomedy

The link the chav posted earlier is a bit unusual too: 6700HQ+980M whereas 980M 8GB was only previously available (on the UK website..) with the 6820HK. What a mess. I would dare him to order that and see what happens lol

 

I agree etern4l, the site is a total mess at the moment. The best way to order is to speak to a chat agent. Apart from getting a verified specification in writing, you also get an extra 10% discount and free shipping. Its shocking that Dell cannot get their website right. They were mucking around with it all day. And a few days prior to that, the total figure kept changing between VAT inclusive and VAT exclusive ! Useless.

 

Interested parties might be interested to learn that I received a phone call from Dell yesterday evening. Reading between the lines, there are definitely supply issues at the moment. He admitted the timings shown on the website are inaccurate and the shortage of high vram GPUs could lead to the wrong one being included. He was eager to make the point that you have a better chance of getting what you want if you order through a sales agent (that makes sense for both parties.. the agent and the buyer), but also that at the end of the day they have no direct control over production, so even if you go through and agent, you may still "inadvertently" get the lower vram model.

As someone else pointed out, the above is supported by the plethora of low vram models on the outlet site at present.

 

The point I've been trying to make is that UK customers are getting stuffed by Dell, which is obviously not cool. What happened to that "special relationship" between the UK and the US, huh?

The 980M 8GB is available in the US but not the UK. Throughout this whole failure, US customers were getting 8GB 980M exchanges without much hassle while UK customers were being stonewalled and lied to. Sales agents truly deserve the term clueless, e.g. one had informed that AW15 R2 doesn't support 32GB RAM, even though it clearly does and it's now offered in that config by Dell US. It's just unacceptably poor delivery. One would hope that any Dell reps here will try to get the message across. Who am I kidding, they haven't even dared to comment throughout this whole embarrassing thread.

And please let's not detract from this important message through ad personam arguments. I'm sure we would be deeply ashamed of ourselves if we met IRL

 

I'm not quite sure where you are looking but the machine is indeed available and it's located under "Gaming Deals" where it has been for at least the last month. I only know that because I was checking every day whilst waiting for my refund for the wrongly specced machine I was sent. I was going to get that particular deal until I found a much better option in the Outlet.

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/deals?&#!dlpgid=gaming-system-deals (See the 15" option @ £1448)

However, I do realise that you are unable to "Configure" a machine with the GTX 980M on this page: http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-15-r2/pd?ref=PD_OC

 

Your last point is very true. I hold my hand up . We need to be united not divided. I think, to be honest, Ive become so frustrated over the minefield that is "buying an Alienware laptop" that it spilled over.

You are completely right about UK being stuffed by Dell too. An example of that is the cost of upgrades with the 15" 4K screen coming in at £300 compared to US$200 on the US site... more than double. The cost of the GA is more expensive as an upgrade than you can buy it on Amazon by almost 40%, and the cost of a GTX980 to go with the GA is £100 more than I could find it online. So we are definitely getting the shaft, right to the hilt.

By "The 980M 8GB is available in the US but not the UK" I presume you mean "to physically receive", as opposed to "available to order" ?

The sales agents are clueless, and without the least element of any racial inference, all the time Dell arrange this service through India, where the staff are so far removed from everything, this will never change. Nobody is accountable and there is no process to access a customer care department. Presumably because Dell just DONT care !

 

Just cleaned up the mess here. Let's be nice to one another. No need for insults.

This is addressed in the Notebook Review Forum Rules.

 

Yeah, I bet if you order that 980M 8GB outlet variant, no longer available in the main AW15 R2 store front, you will likely get 4GB VRAM. It's astounding they still market it as 8GB, hoping people won't notice or care.

 

There are no 8GB Outlet variants, the only GTX 980M 8GB machine currently available to order is brand new from the main site. As I said above, it is listed under "Gaming Deals". These machines are supposed to be pre-configured (and I guess, pre-built) for faster shipping.

If you order it, you "should" get it..........

 

Oh sorry, I assumed that "only available in the deals section but not in the main store" is equivalent to "outlet". The price looks discounted too. My guess is that more likely than not it's the fake 8GB. As much of this thread evidences, with Dell "ordering it" is not the same as "getting it", particularly in the UK.

 

Hey, I bought mine new. for Scaling W10 does an excellent job to make things readable, the only program I use which doesn't scale well is the Logitech mouse driver app, but that's it honestly.

What I'll say in terms of brightness is that tthis panel is frankly pretty underwhelming and I'd describe it as 'adequate'. In outside or in direct or near-direct sunlight it strains usability. For indoors indirect it's fine, but I still have to turn it nearly to full tilt.

the AW17 I had before with the 400nits version was vastly superior.

 

Anyone have the part number for the BGA motherboard that includes the 8GB 980m?

 

I can help you with that as I have had my mainboard changed twice now.

The 6820hk-980m-8gb version part number is 42PVR