AW 17 (new) Slightly Confused

Docsteel,

I saw that about the 15" UHD being matte and just shook my head. A bit disappointed as I now do not have a fallback if this doesn't look good.

I appreciate to hear someone else with the same opinion on displays. I know we are in the minority, but man, it's really surprising. With so many people really tweaking their systems for the extra speed or performance and that they don't want the best display possible and complain about reflections... which isn't really a big deal, unless you work/play outside (who brings a 17" laptop outside in direct sunlight?!?!)

If it weren't for the fact that my machine sits docked and I use an external monitor 90% of the time, I probably wouldn't purchase but I want the upgraded speed and my current AW 17" (old model) doesn't support the ultrawide monitors I want to get. FYI, all the curved ultrawide monitors are also matte (WTF).

I'll definitely post a review of the laptop, from a glossy/vibrant color display user perspective

BTW, Have you looked at the Asus Zenbook NX500 (quantum dot display), holy crap that's beautiful. I wish I could get that display with an Alienware laptop... that's my wet dreams at night. Probably add an extra 1k for the display, but totally worth it.

Thanks

 

Hi Jeff,

I've decided to take a punt, and hope that the UHD screen is okay.
I've gone for the 17" with UHD screen, 980M and 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD. It should be with me around the middle of October, so I'll post back as soon as I've got it.

With regards to matte screens, I've got a couple of Dell U3415W monitors on my desk and they are very, very good. Although they are a matte display, the coating is much less intrusive than on any previous monitors that I've had. If the IGZO screen uses a similar coating, then I reckon it will be okay.

Andy.

 

I am disappointed as well... the contrast and color on the True Life just beats the plain IPS hands down. The IPS is good... the True Life is just better in terms of color and contrast by another couple degrees. Given the fact most people are price/fps focused, it really doesn't surprise me all that much unfortunately. If more people saw the difference in person I suspect more folks would get the True Life, but now all we have is the IGZO panels for the time being.

I have read that the main difference between True Life and the AW 13/15 R1 displays was about a 10% difference in brightness. IF that is true, then the new UHD screens might approach the same visual punch, sans a bit of contrast.

 

Docsteel,

Yea, I totally agree. I'd really like to know what the 17 UHD screen Adobe RGB / sRGB coverage is. I also wonder if they are going to refresh anything come 2016 CES. It'd be great if they had some new glossy display with deep rich colors

We should start seeing the UHD screen models get shipped/delivered this week I hope. We'll find out how good it is soon!

 

The UHD screen is absolutely fantastic. The matte coating is not at all intrusive, it easily achieves it's rated brightness and contrast and exceeds both Adobe RGB and sRGB coverage (measured by me).

For my initial impressions on the panel, and some specs. see here:
Alienware 13 R2, 17 R3 and 15 R2 Refresh
and here:
Alienware 13 R2, 17 R3 and 15 R2 Refresh
and here:
Alienware 13 R2, 17 R3 and 15 R2 Refresh

For my gamut coverage graphs, see here:
Alienware 13 R2, 17 R3 and 15 R2 Refresh