Alienware 13 Pre-Release Speculation Thread

It is very unfortunate that is the way that things are headed and there really isn't much incentive for manufacturers to change if that is what is making them profits

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

We (consumers in general) put up with this... we keep their lights on and their doors open by paying good money for not-so-good stuff instead of drawing a line in the sand. In sufficient number, we can force compliance using our wallets. While we have the power to manipulate and dictate what happens next using our bank accounts, there are too many that rush in to gobble up the new junk because it's new and it's a shiny object. The mentality " it's new, so it has to be better" always facilitates the distribution of garbage. It's not much different than the " I can't be out of money yet, I still have blank checks" mentality. The manufacturers (ODM and OEM) will rise to whatever level of incompetence our wallets allow them to. Tolerance is a dirty word no matter how you apply it, including technology... core principles, quality, performance... along with the baby, those get tossed out in the bath water. Whenever any entity presumes to know what is best for everyone it is a recipe for disaster (see dangerous lesson #1 in link). Monkey see, monkey do... Five Dangerous Lessons to Learn From Steve Jobs | Forbes.com - The only trouble is, so many gadget junkies have been too eager to drink the Kool-Aid... so what market research reflects is a global epidemic of stupidity... the masses have been told what they want, and now they actually do because that's just a whole lot easier than thinking.

A recent example of consumer censure (albeit a fairly weak example) using financial leverage has been the rejection of Windows 8. Where "high performance" and "gaming" laptops and PCs are concerned we need to see that same kind of consumer retaliation, in much greater measure, rip though this industry like a hurricane. Mandatory Driver Signature Enforcement? Secure Flash, locked down BIOS? Soldered CPU/GPU and memory modules? Signatures or certificates for hardware validation? Digital signatures to prevent firmware or software mods? No thanks... I'm hungry, but I will wait for something that actually tastes good. I want a cooked-to-perfection monster-sized steak with all the trimmings, not a McDonald's Happy Meal.

 

The Alienware 13 is probably filling the space of the m11x. The m11x also had a ULV processor. Makes sense they're reintroducing that segment, but with a bigger screen. The broadwell ULV i7 processors should have decent performance for what they are, ULV. I think with the 13 coming out with the 860m, the 14 will now need to come out with the 870m or if real maxwell gpus come out, an 970m.

 

I quite expect to be laughing my off at the owners of this machine.
Not because I dislike alienware, quite the contrary, but other than the design, I'm seeing absolutely nothing special about it, and the design (in my eyes) sucks anyway.
Not to mention AW's recent muckup's with the lockdowns, crippled performance, and bad offerings in general.

And oh god, ULV CPU in a 13" machine...

 

Won't be the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

 

My face when seeing this threads title:



Seriously... If they want to have a super portable laptop again that doesn't eat into the Alienware 14, they should just bring back the 11. In the 2 years or so years since its been discontinued, power and heat management in laptop components has gotten much better. Throw in a high end battery and you have an excellent machine for someone on the go who doesn't want a something weighing 8+ pounds in their bag.

The specs on this actually look really good, but I just don't see how they're still going to be able to sell the 14 next to this. Not to mention.... WHEN IS SOMONE GOING TO MAKE A HIGH RES LAPTOP SCREEN OVER 15 INCHES?!

God. Apple kicked the industries butt into gear about small laptop high res displays, I wish they would resurrect their 17 inch macbook with a high res screen and scare the competition into action again. As it was, the maxbook 17 already had a sweet 1920x1200 resolution. Think of what they could do now.

 

The difference is, putting a full voltage quad core into an 11.6" form factor is just asking for trouble, so the ULV processor there was out of necessity. But the GPU in the M11X R3 was extremely strong relative to its size, and I don't think anything in the 11.6" segment has come close to its performance since then. Keep in mind this is a laptop that was released 3 years ago. Just goes to show how much "overkill" was built into the M11x R3.

This new Alienware 13 on the other hand, offers nothing that its competitors don't already offer performance wise. If anything, the performance will be completely underwhelming relative to its size. It will get blown away by its competition instead of the other way around, and that's just not very Alienware like at all.

 

Having CPU, GPU or memory modules soldered to the motherboard will never be something I regard as being unacceptable. If they will update the 14 so it takes a full-fledged MXM GPU instead of disposable BGA garbage it will be a far better product than this in terms of specs/upgrade potential. The 14 can use the 330W AC adapter just like the 17 can, and we have already seen an example or two of the 4930MX being installed in the 14. That would be a stout little bugger with a 780M.

If I had to no option but to settle for a single GPU system, the 14 with an Extreme CPU, GTX 780M, 330W AC adapter and a 1080p screen probably would be what I would settle for if they ever decide to make it an honest high performance system and ditch the BGA. (1080p is about the max resolution that I consider practical at 14" display size or smaller... 1440p needs to be at least 17" minimum IMHO... otherwise text is too small and increasing scaling to compensate so that text readability is decent is an option that sucks.) Hopefully, there will never be a reason to have to settle for single GPU.

 

It will be great if they actually make it a 11"
Then I will buy one alongside my 14 for carrying around
What we have here is a mediocre product
it's not the most powerful in class (thanks for it's ULV processor)
it's not the smallest nor lightest
As it's Alienware I'm pretty sure it's not the cheapest as well

Sigh I wish I can still buy a 11" Alienware

 

Having BGA CPU/GPU says one thing - "Disposable". I'm really hoping AW get a MXM GPU into the 14 now.

I'm also hoping AW get back on track with their next 18 and stop shamelessly imposing artificial restrictions. I'm having a hard time not entertaining thoughts of going a mATX X99 Hex/Oct core to keep my R2 company when the time comes.

 

The same reason someone might get a razer peripheral instead of a logitech or Steelseries one that works the same or better and is cheaper. Because of aesthetics, aka "rule of cool".

Also marketing, which dell/AW does a lot more of than most other brands.

Here is the deal. To be honest, the average consumer will have no freaking idea what you are talking about here other than it vaguely having to do with laptops. I get it, but mr. average consumer, especially one buying their first gaming laptop won't. Most people do not do anywhere near the appropriate amount of research before doing a tech purchase. They look at what popular and thats their choice. The fact AW's look cool and have tons of marketing is one of the biggest reasons the fact they are often not the best value is negated.

Last year I was originally going to get an AW laptop, and I may in future, but after doing a ton of actual research, I was able to get an Asus laptop that an AW with the same specs as would have cost a grand more than.

 

LMAO yeah I know :hi2: ..but I've learned a few things reading the responses so it's all good. :thumbsup:

Not really sure why Alienware are bothering with a 13" tbh, since they have the 14" kind of locked up already.. Perhaps Alienware saw the 13.3" Clevo/Sager & Razer selling so well that they decided to come to the party too.. albeit late.

What would be nicer imo would be to see another 11.6" laptop out there (I miss my old NP6110 - shame the screen they used was not so good).. maybe in a year or two when 14nm architecture is established? An 11.6" with a high quality 1920x1080 res and decent GPU and 14nm CPU (low heat, low wattage).. yeah I'd go for it, be it Alienware or Sager or Razer or someone else.. the market is there for sure.

Ok, so I'm off to the AMD OverClock.net forums to enlighten them with the wonder that is NVidia. Might clue them in about Intel as well. Poor misinformed individuals, my heart really goes out to them.

 

Asus is actually no less expensive than Alienware with nearly identical specifications. If you are looking for value Clevo is really the way to go.

 

Value largely depends on what you are willing to put up with. A system chassis made of 100% plastic and comparatively poor warranty support should come at a reduced price. If it did not, that would be really messed up. As long as you know what to expect and are willing to tolerate it there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I may end up buying a P570WM at some point in the next 6 months. I am at a brick wall getting higher overclocked benchmark scores from my mobile XM processors and need that 4930K to go any further.

But, there is genuine value in having superior build quality and a superior warranty that distinguishes Alienware among its competitors. Anyone that thinks they are on a level playing field here is either in denial, uninformed or simply doesn't know any better.

There are several friends in this community that know what I am talking about because they have owned Alienware systems, they now own a Clevo and have needed to have repairs handled by Clevo. While they are happy with their Clevo machines, and should be, they do see a difference in build quality and they have discovered that the warranty repair experience is not a particularly pleasant one. If nothing else, it takes a long time to get things done. There is no next business day service... not even next week service, and never any in-home repair or parts-only overnight dispatches.

If you save a few bucks on an Asus or MSI gaming laptop, then you hope and pray you never need to use their warranty service... God have mercy on anyone that finds themselves in that terrible predicament.

 

Give me an M11x R4, rip out the 2.5" bay and either cram a second fan or have a socketed CPU, then chuck in 860M Maxwell (or whatever its successor will be) and I will be interested.

 

Does anyone have a release date on Broadwell ULV processors? Anyone know the model numbers also?

It seems like this laptop utilizes a dual fan system based on the pictures right?

I'm in need of a new laptop for school, guess I'll add this on my list and wait. I had the AW 14 but I returned it because the fan to me sounds like a hair dryer which is completely unacceptable.

There's no release date on the 900m series or any news right?
How bad would the top of the like ULV CPU bottleneck the GPU? Does anyone know the model number of the macbook pros 13 3.0 GHZ processor, I'm assuming that's an ULV that maybe AW will be using on launch. Realistically when broadwell comes out, it's going to be that with the 860m still and no 960m right?

Also I hope the power brick isn't too big and bulky

Thanks in advance!

 

zzzz

Sorry but you added this laptop to your list based on what? what is your list requirement to begin with? these magical lists that keep appearing here are simply wishful thinking "maybe Broadwell ULV will be on par with curret quad/ maybe 960m will come etc"

Alienware revealed the specs, they talks with nvidia and knows their GPU lineup since they tests them months before release, as of now it's awful cpu+860 for November (probably shipped at December)

You want portable laptop? A13 is bigger+heavier than plenty of "14" amazing portable gaming laptops that is already available
Want Performance? the same 14 mentioned above that is bigger in screen only yet smaller in size and lighter still more powerful than A13 duo the fact they have full i7 quad core and more powerful GPU 870m

Enough of this nonsense "but 960m is coming !" #1 it's not coming anytime soon, Nvidia didn't even reveal their full 8xx line up #2if it came others can get 970m so whats the point? A13 still weaker cpu+gpu and heavier/bigger while having smaller screen vs others

And that's why exactly people are laughing at people who talk about this laptop since no one saying why they actually wants it besides the brand logo, this laptop wont be ever recommended to anyone unless Alienware update its spec or make it lighter/smaller, why in the world it's this massive to begin with just to cool a laughable cpu and a card that already run super cool "860m maxwell)

 

Nobody wants this laptop for any reason other than the name? Are you high? There are more than 7 billion people on this planet. The members of this forum are NOT the only customers Alienware has, LOL. We make up maybe 3% of the customer base.

 

I don't own a 860M device, but from what I can read on notebookcheck, which I believe is a pretty reputable site, many if not all of the "thin, ultrabook" laptops which sport 860m suffer from overheating under heavy load. For example, P34G, W230, Y50 etc. They all have proper quad core cpu and the result is near 60C surface temperature. Experienced chef would tell you that you can slow-cook with this temperature. I know these thermal figures were obtained under synthetic 100% load, not real life scenario. But pushing the machines to limits is exactly the thing Alienware enthusiasts will do. If this 13 can do better than the other guys, it totally make sense having a thicker, larger body. I won't really comment on it's cooling ability and performance before some actual reviews and benchmarks were done.

 

860m MAXWELL is not something from unknown realm, we have it since April it's a cool card, most of the heat coming from these quad cores not the GPU, and duo the fact they are thin as hell plus there is another kepler 860 that runs hotter, i mentioned "maxwell" for a reason, A13 have neither quad i7 or 860 kepler, we are suppose to clap that it was able to cool a trivial cpu and maxwell 860? even if it did it while being as slim as other laptops it's not a big deal duo its specs, go buy it then and give us a laugh if you see a worth in it.

Nope only high person here as you who keep talking about this failure as if it was the best thing ever lol, Yes nobody wants it with a "reason" even the clueless people will ask why take this over these super slim and light sexy laptops at the shop? the shop can't tell him "well it's more powerful !" it's not, it's weaker, it has LED !!!!! Sure give me one fast!!!

 

Well now.. I am not really sure what to say to that last post, it just wasn't very well written so I didn't quite understand it except to get the general notion that you dislike Alienware.

 

You need new glasses then to see my signature because i own 2.
Defending this failure is embarrassing unless you are an internet shill so carry on doing your job, there was 0 reason given on why should anyone cares about this lap, "oh no it might get this unannounced dual core ULV cpu that will beat current haswell i7 quad or wait for 960m!!!" EMBARRASSING.

 

ALL 3 laptops I've mentioned use the maxwell chip, they all reach a uncomfortably high surface temperature underload. The cpu reach very close to the thermal threshold of 100C. From your comment quoted above you seem to understand the problem is due to two main factors:
1. They are thin
2. They use quad core cpus

Now Alienware seems to be addressing these problems by making the 13:
1. Thicker
2. Use much cooler ULV dual cores

If we don't appreciate a cool machine, are we supposed to applaud an overheating, throttling furnace? so hardcore. And you can conclude it must be rubbish even before it's officially released on the market
Nice logic you've got there

 

It's not a rocket science and your argument has no meaning whatsoever.

Mentioned laptops have no problems at all to cool Maxwell 860 so arguments about this gpu and heat has no place, alienware use the same GPU
Mentioned laptops don't heat to 100 even during benchmarks and doesn't throttle and in theory all these programs are running the laptop to its knees unlike real usage again this thing got nothing to do with it since A13 doesn't use it

Your argument has no meaning.

A13 didn't use quad core to begin with so it didn't need to be "thicker" to cool it and using the very same cool GPU, again stop embarrassing yourselves shills and bring a valid argument.
ULV CPU is in apple air have you seen its thiness and doesn't have 2 huge fans lol embarrassing and shameful

 

I've owned a macbook air 13" 2013 i7 ULV model and I've ran it through some CPU intensive stuff(some of the scientific software I use will take full advantage of the CPU and run it at 100% consistently until the task completes). One thing I can tell you is, the CPU reached 100C a lot of the time. This is of course 100% cpu usage, but still. If the AW13 has to be thicker to keep everything nice and cool at around 65-70C max at 100% usage, then that'd be great. I got rid of my macbook air and went to a Dell Precision M4800 the minute I realized the cpu was throttling and reaching those temps. That's a macbook air with its cooling system. Results will vary for people, but for me, I've decided to stick to thick notebooks like my M18xR2 for real cpu power without throttling/over 70C running temperatures.

I expect the AW13 to have very good temperatures as well of course. 1" thickness isn't that bad. Broadwell ULV will be 14nm so I don't expect temperature to be any issue in the AW13. It would be great if they have a higher clocked model since the 14nm die shrink should allow them to pack much more power at the same TDP as a haswell i7 ULV, not to mention broadwell should be a bit faster clock for clock over haswell.

I think everyone is judging this new laptop without even thinking of what it could be capable of. Who knows, maybe they'll even allow overclocking like on their M11x models. Or they'll be factory overclocked. As long as they don't bring in any of the issues from the current AW14/17/18 bios, I think the AW13 will be a decent machine.

Pricing it at $100 less than the AW14 would also be awesome, I don't remember the M11x vs M14x pricing, but I'm sure it won't be $1,799.99 like the razer blade.

 

One thing is for certain, skip out on the first generation of this, no matter now nice it may seem. Wait for the second gen so that most of the kinks get ironed out. Don't be a consumer guinea pig. Remember the first gen m14x... fan issues, fan issues everywhere...

 

What fan issues on the m14x? I owned a M14xR1 and didn't seem to have any fan issues.

 

From what I remember on the forums back then, there were lots of people reporting fan and cooling issues.

 

There are always people complaining about fan and cooling issues.

 

but less so with the R2,3, etc...

The first gen of something always has kinks.

 

I think they should have re-introduced the Alienware M11x and not created an AW13 which is mooted to be just a slightly smaller 'gimped' AW14.
I have 24" IPS monitors and Full-HD TVs and so screen res/size is not an issue and an Alienware device 'should' have Miracast(Screen mirroring) for web browsing on a larger screen... just because they can.

An AW11 with a GPU/CPU combination for gaming at medium/high settings+ and a dock for mouse/keyboard/Digital Audio/DVI/HDMI and etc.
Something that'll overclock both CPU/GPU (aka M11xR1/R2), maybe even a volt mod.
If that was possible in 2010, one fails to see why it can't be reborn in 2014.

For balls out gaming, just buy/build a mITX ROG (small from factor) with push-pull water cooling, then with an AW11 you have the best of all worlds and probably under the price of a single fully spec'd AW18 ( puts on helmet and ducks back down)

 

I think that was the M14x R2 having a throttling problem at 67C or something. I don't remember the M14xR1 having any issues with the fan. It did run hot though, as did the R2.

 

So much for the awfully bad arguments that was made here saying Broadwell ULV might be equal in power to Haswell Quad
AnandTech | Intel Broadwell Architecture Preview: A Glimpse into Core M

Broadwell’s roughly 5% performance improvement comes at a cost of just a 2.5% increase in immediate power consumption.

Broadwell Is basically +5% CPU power per clock (That comes with 2.5% power consumption) + Enhanced Intel GPU built in that is suppose to be on par with GTX850m~

no one is competing with Intel recently heck 2500K 3 years ago is still almost on par with latest cpus for gaming

 

Mr. Doom and Gloom strikes again!

Doesn't matter much. Broadwell is basically a fixed, more efficient version of Haswell. Haswell is a great CPU with some "faulty wiring," in a sense.

According to this, we should see approximately 30% lower power consumption, which will allow substantial "overclock" headroom as long as we get our hands on an unlocked BIOS.

 

It's worth noting that the systems you mentioned are often quite a bit more expensive, and noted for often having serious heat issues (a few are hot enough to actually burn you at full tilt); slim is not always better and AW/Dell has always erred on the side of caution to not degrade lifetime of components which has served them well. Looking at lower cost for lower (but not by any means bad) performance in a design that maintains correct heat levels is actually pretty good and will likely be well received.

The M11x sold very well and I expect the AW 13 to do equally well if not better actually; the Macbook and Macbook Air 13's seems to be very successful as a sweet-spot for productivity and entertainment while being very portable and lap-friendly.

 

Move to 14nm not the Architecture itself mr shill next.

Yes expect 13 is not alienware thinness and lightness, plus laptops i mentioned use 870m kepler and full quad core not ulv and 860m maxwell, to compare see Y50 and p34, Y50 is silent and no heat issues, P34 has no heat issues (but noisy) 13 got nothing to offer and everyone agreed here (expect the ones who are shills or brand blind who didnt offer a single reason yet why this is a complete failure)

 

@HSN

It's clear that best possible performance despite costs is your defining factor for a system not being a "failure"; I think you are missing the point on what people want out of this laptop design; good (not great) performance, decent battery life and lightness. If you want greater performance go up the AW/Dell chain of products or to another line with more cost. Like the M11x, it was never about maximum performance, it was about good performance in a light package that didn't burn up with a short lifetime or cost and arm and a leg (relatively speaking).

I have four systems, one a desktop with dual high-end cards on top of the laptops in my list, and I find over time I spend the most time on *gasp* my M11x despite it's lack of performance; it's the portability and size just make it great to use for many tasks including gaming. Yeah, I don't get 90 FPS, but it's good enough, and that's what this laptop design is also about.

Like all designs the buyer makes a decision about what concessions to make in terms of price and performance, and the wise ones go beyond that to warranty coverage and reliability.

It is very interesting to note that M11x-R2/R3's often sell for 500-800 USD on Ebay due to demand for them even to this day; I think that says something about what the market values which isn't just performance but rather a package that fits a niche which the AW 13 is designed to attract.

 

It's not light at all neither even "good" ULV and good don't mix, not even real dual core cpu, people might understand the choice if it was as thin as macbook air for example a13 isn't it offer nothing.
It's super heavy for its class and against others it's almost 15 in size not 13 too, there are 14 portable laptops that is more powerful and smaller (spare us the but they HEAT !!! fine they heat but A13 not using quad like them or kepler gpu neither as thin it's doing nothing special and waste of money)

A11 was special, A13 is not. if someone wants battery and passable performance A13 wouldn't be a choice since DELL/HP/etc already offers similar laptops , im sure dell will update xps to 860m soon instead of 750 etc this this a failure and whats even more failure is its defenders doesn't matter anyway market will decide and time will tell

 

A GTX 860M on a 13" notebook will be more than enough to support gaming at 1080p. Considering the 860M will be replaced by the 900 series a few months after, I don't think it's going to be an issue. The ULV processors are also going to be more than enough to support the 13" laptop. You need to at least wait until a decent review comes out after the notebook is released.

 

"whats even more failure is its defenders doesn't matter anyway market will decide and time will tell"

Yeah - I think that was my point - "Failure" is defined by the market which seems pretty willing to take on an Alienware 13 based on all the evidence.

I for one cannot wait to add it to the stable and finally break my reliance on my M11x :thumbsup:

 

I deleted a couple of posts. There is no reason to be insulting or sassy with other members of this community and doing so is against forum rules. We all have opinions and it is perfectly fine to express them, but there is no need to criticize a specific person for having a different perspective. Please refrain from using inflammatory comments like "shill" when addressing individual forum members.

 

I wonder how its going to look. I may consider one! Wish they stuffed a 870M in there though

 

Me too; I wouldn't be too surprised if they have that as an option.

 

I don't care about this Alienware 13 AT ALL, unless this product affects the aliewnare 14. Just give me mine Alienware 14 GPU update already, that's all. Unless they suddenly change the alienware 13 to have an intel quad core CPU of 2.5GHZ, and having a temperatures that won't exceed 90 degrees C, which ain't gonna happen, so yeah...
And I still don't see any reason why it's taking them so long to update the alienware 14. It's been over 4 months already.
I cannot believe that they are currently still selling a laptop with a GPU that is one and a half years old. I feel sorry for the people not knowing the performance drop it will cause for the games about to release, and buying these systems right now.

 

I think the simple fact the AW 14 hasn't been upgraded is the AW 13 is taking it's place. This disappointment was very familiar to people loved both the M15x and the M11x.... sad thing is product lines come and go, none of them are fixed

I've long felt that the perfect line up was a 13, 15 and 17 or 18.

 

I still feel the lineup should always be 13/15/17

 

Two single GPU laptops with MXM chips? Doesn't make sense at all. Why would anyone buy the AW 17 if they can get the exact same performance from a machine that's a bit smaller and cheaper? It would kill the sales of the AW 17. And if there was going to be an AW 15, we'd know about it, just like we know about the AW 13.

The AW 13 is an attempt at making an ultrabook. It's different than the AW 14, AW 17, and AW 18. They're not going to toss out their best selling Alienware laptop for a "chance" at good sales with the AW 13.

 

People that are serious about having a high performance system won't give a moment's thought to the notion of trying to use an Ultrabook to scratch that itch because it is incapable of doing that. People that are serious about wanting thin and light won't give a moment's thought to a massive beast that makes no room for performance compromises in order to save some weight or run longer on battery. Those are two totally different kinds of customers with totally different values and priorities. There's no such thing as a beast that is thin and light, and there is no such thing as an Ultrabook that is a beast. Trying to mix the two results in failure, and neither customer gets what they really want. If you want both the only good option is to have two machines that excel at what they are designed for, as opposed to one machine that fails at one or both objectives.