AW 13 VS AW 15

Hi guys,

Some of you might remember that a few weeks ago I ordered an AW 13 i7 processor with QHD display and 256 SSD.
Today Dell contacted me that the order was canceld because they couldnt deliver the QHD display .For me thats dissapointing news, especially since I got a good deal with it.
Now I could order same configuration except Full Hd display instead of QHD.

Anyway because of this Im evaluating my options again and also thinking about the AW 15.
For 100 euro more(compared to the my AW 13 configuration) I can get the AW 15 with i7 4710HQ processor + 970m + Full HD display and 256SSD +1 TB harddrive.

This laptop will be my only computer.. I sold my desktop.
I do realize that the AW15 will be more powerfull but I feel im losing a lot of portability with the 3.2 kg weight.
I will not bringing this laptop everyday to study or work, But I will bring it during the weekend to my parants. Also I will be moving it around the house from the couch to the desk etc. Thats why my first choice was the AW 13 because its only 2kg.

What do you guys think on this power~portable subject ?

 

My opinion is all this "portability" stuff is overblown.

Unless you're running a marathon every day and have the laptop in your bag while you're running the marathon, the difference in size/weight is irrelevant.

An adult of average height and weight should be indifferent.

My opinion is go with the AW15.

 

Are they giving you any sort of discount for the trouble? A few weeks of this waiting for nothing is a complete bullsh*t. I would have called and asked for a significant discount on the second configuration of your choice.

13 vs 15, I think the priority is the importance of portability. In cases when I had to carry my old laptop , (school) weighing about the same as 15, it was quite heavy especially with the power brick. If you ever find yourself in this situation it might be better off with the 13. Unless you had the chance to experience this, you wouldn't understand. When I got aw11 to carry around, it made my life so much easier. More battery life, much lighter, etc.

I first had 13 (which I sold) and now I am waiting for the 15 to arrive. If the 15 is too heavy/big for my taste, I am returning it for another 13. Yes, it is less powerful, but it is also cheaper. I suspect that I can get a new laptop in a shorter time with the amount that I would save.

 

The base AW 15 is at least 30% more powerful than the best AW 13 and costs significantly less. The 15 is the better option, no doubt.

 

Have you considered any other laptops? The Clevo P650SG comes to mind...

 

My opinion is the opposite, but I think it is more down to personal preference.

I want the best performance I can afford within a weight I will tolerate. The weight of my old laptops was one of the main reasons I got the m11x. I felt it was right on the edge of what I thought was reasonable for my use.

When it was time to upgrade to something more current and faster I looked at the 14 but I didn't really want something that much heavier than my m11x. So when the 13 was announced at being around the weight of the m11x I thought it was perfect. I originally got the QHD 13 which was a hair heaver than my m11x. The additional weight was noticeable but tolerable. For other reasons I returned it and got a FHD 13 and this one weighs a little less than my m11x (the FHD screen is lighter than the QHD screen, and my FHD 13 has an m.2 drive where the QHD 13 I had had a hdd).

I got tempted by the 15 when it was announced, but lost interest in it when I saw the weight.

Again, though I think it is more personal preference and how you use it. Some people don't mind the weight. Personally, I don't want anything over 5lbs.

 

Im somewhere in the middle between the statement weight is overblown and having something still not to heavy. As I told before I will not bringing the laptop with me every day.
Just maybe once or twice a week. So im not sure yet what is more important to me. the more power of the AW 15 or the more portable AW 13.

Are there any other arguments except power/portability for choosing one over the other ? Seems for example that the AW 15 1080p display has a lot of ghosting problems, while the AW 13 has not i think ?
And on which device would the battery life be better ?

 

Considering that you won't be taking the laptop out of its "desktop position" that often, then the AW15 suits you better.
The AW13 should edge out the AW15 in battery life, but I wouldn't put doubts that the AW15 has great battery life.

 

If you intend to dock it then the 15 has a lot more CPU processing power. The 970M is massively more powerful than the 960M too.

 

Yes I did a lot of research but my mind is set on a alienware

Egnix dont you regret going back from QHD to FHD ?

Thats true but on the other hand im thinking since I will be hooking it up a lot to a external monitor, then the bigger display of the AW 15 doenst matter that much to.
Also all those stories about the ghosting on the AW 15 FHD panel makes me cautious.

 

If you're going to be hooking it up, then that even makes more sense for the AW15. The 15 has the CPU + GPU power that would make sense on an external display.

 

When a laptop is connected to an external monitor, does that require more power from the cpu and gpu ?

 

Only if the resolution is higher than on the laptops display.

 

I just read online that the 960M should be available by the end of this month. So, if you're looking for an Alienware 13, you should hold out. Even if the 960M is an overclocked 860M - which we expect it to be - it should be more efficient and should ultimately improve battery life combined with Broadwell.

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

I read here somewhere that the GPU in the AW 13 with the i7 broadwell, already has the overclocked 860m GPU ( 970m)

 

It "does" (it's not 100% correct yet), but it is flashed as a GTX 860m since the 960m and 860m are essentially the same GPU but different clocks.

 

The 960M will use more power than the 860M, broadwell should help out the CPU performance a bit though.

 

This is exactly my quandary too, and I am watching both laptops very closely.

Initially I was drawn to the 13 because of the two kilo weight; I am sick of lugging my 14 plus brick plus other stuff through airports and security. Then I saw the 15 with way more power and yet weighed on average 3.2 kg. Also the 15 runs higher watts than the 13 so I could maybe get away with a 3rd party power supply and actually charge the laptop off a 100w circuit with the 13.

I am definitely waiting for broadwell and the new gpu's and then I probably have to wait for them to get to Australia which will be around April I would think. Anyway, I share your agony on the weight vs performance quandary. (incidentally I play wow or strategy games so don't need that much gpu power).

 

I was on the same boat... waited for 13 to come out but before it reached our shores, 15 came along

coming from an MBA, I could say that dang this thing is heavy!
it is not something I can carry around the house ie from bedroom to couch
well, I can carry it but it is not a comfortable experience as the MBA
I only travel around 2x a year so the mobility complaint is a bit muted

and this one is not a real laptop =) I cant position it steadily in my lap hehe
there are vents under the chassis too that may get blocked

I am still thinking if I should have got the 13 but if I think about the power of the CPU and GPU, I look back and say "another another MBA" hehe

 

For the most part I don't. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
It's a given that a glass screen (like on the QHD) is going to have a clearer picture than matte screen (like on the FHD). While I love the clearer picture I hate the glare & reflection. I could live with either, so that wasn't a big factor.

While the QHD gave a crisper picture, it's not like that FHD is bad. I appreciated it on the QHD, but with the FHD I never find myself thinking, "boy, I wish the picture was crisper".

I know a lot of people love the how saturated the colors are on the QHD. I was just the opposite. I thought they were over-saturated and looked unnatural at times.

I never used the touchscreen feature on the QHD and if I still had one, I'd still have no interest in using the touchscreen. Not only and I old school and prefer using a keyboard on a laptop, I don't want to see finger prints and smudge marks all over my screen! I have a hard enough time keeping my cell phone screen clean!

I also assumed the QHD required more power than the FHD, and I'm about extending battery life... So I really didn't want to pay more for a more-power-hungry screen that I would run magnified or down-rezed....

I think the only thing I miss about the QHD screen is that it was bezel-less.

 

Yes the 1080p screen will use a fair bit less than the qhd one.

 

After reading through responses and through your needs.
Here's my opinion,
I would go with the 15" model as well.
Since you're not bringing the computer every day to work, you can loose some portability for a higher performance.

Working on a 13" may or may not be advantageous. If you're looking for a nice display for videos, and editing. Go with the 15"
If it is for something more serious or for presentations, the 13" will be very light and you'll be able to move it effortlessly.

So in the end it comes up to what you choose.
Still, I would go for the 15".
Just saying