Is the AW15 recommended?

I'm considering buying an AW15, but I'm having second thoughts after reading the 'Owner's thread' on here. Looks like quite a few people have problems with their laptops. Should that put me off buying one, or is that thread more like a 'help/problems thread'? The AW15 generally has very good reviews from tech sites and such.

- If I buy one, is it likely it will have problems? What are the most common problems?
- How is the 1080p display? I've read about exstensive problems with backlight bleed and ghosting.

I have a 14 days return option if I buy one, and Dell can send out a technician the next day if I have a problem - should I stop worrying and just buy one?

Thanks.

 

I got one and I can say it's really good. The single problem that I got is a BSOD error but has been resolved by Dell tech support. The screen is really good and is up to par with the best. I can't say anything about the ghosting because I did not seem to encounter any ghosting on my part. Even IF there are ghosting, you probably won't even notice it. I've played quite a few FPS games and I have not encountered any ''annoying ghosting'' so far. You will most definitely enjoy yours if you decide to buy one

 

At least in my country, the AW15 is the cheapest way to get a laptop with a 980m. I actually have GT60 from MSI with a 780m and I am planning to get a new lappy and was interested tin the AW, but I actually have 2 HDD (1+2Tb) and 2 SSD mSATA (128+128Gb) in my laptop and it seems that these drives justo won't fit on either the AW15 or AW17

 

I have an AW15 with a 980m and also the 1080p display. The only thing that annoys me a bit is that its only 300nits, I would like it a bit bright say 350nits but in all honesty I am being very very picky.

If I had to give my impressions its the best laptop I have ever owned. Love the i7, love the 980m, love 1080, I can run things at native res. 4k really doesn't bother me, yes I know hi res is lovely but Id rather game at native res with everything on ultra than scale down to 1080p or run lower settings at 4k.

Also we do own a 5k iMac that thing is gorgeous and the scaling of the OS works perfectly. So getting 4k and it not working perfectly would annoy me a lot

 

Often times, people with problems will post in the forums. As for myself, I'm fine with everything in the laptop, including the beautiful display. 300n is more than enough on a laptop screen, imo. I do not have any display ghosting either. Also, IPS is bound to have bleeding to certain extent, but mine is fine.

The only issue I have with this computer is the super attractions of oil and fingerprints on the palm rest and the keyboard. Other than that, it's good.

This does not mean that you will not have any issue, though. You may. You may not.

 

I agree with everyone's statements, I own one as well with the 980M + 1080p screen.

I noticed a bit of backlight bleed at the top left corner but it is not a deal breaker as I can barely see it if I have a black background. Coming from a laptop with a TN panel, I also noticed a bit of ghosting but after a couple of weeks I think my eyes got adjusted to it.

My laptop came with absolutely zero problems and I'm quite happy with my purchase. I have some minor complaints but nowhere else I could get a laptop with a 980M at such a low price. People usually post when they are experiencing problems so I wouldn't worry too much about the problems in that thread.

 

I love the new line-up and especially the external graphics option. I would say this is a great time to be buying one especially for new buyers who in the past might have been put off by the price.

 

Considering you can get most of the AW17 R2 features in the AW15 shell for cheaper. The motherboard is pretty much the same as the new 17, the difference is the BGA chips you option it with.

There likely isn't any reason a new 17 motherboard with i7-4980HQ cannot be transplanted into a Aw15

 

I have the AW15 and it is hands down the best laptop that I've ever owned. This is coming from someone who has owned the Razer Blade, Macbook Pro Retina, and countless other luxury laptops. I have the 980m with 4k screen but before I had this model, I had the 970m with 1080p screen. The 1080p was defintely good and the clarity was really good. I just decided to get the 4k screen with the 980m since I had some extra money to burn. Otherwise, I could had easily lived with my old config. Dell has good service in the US especially if you purchase the accidental protection. Will you have problems if you buy one? Who knows? A friend of mine just got 2 brand new Razer Blades and both of them were defective. It's all a part of the manufacturing process. Even Apple can't avoid shipping defective products so it's best to just order it and live life man. The only complaints I have is that they removed HDMI in which is something I definitively would use if it was on the AW 15. Also, I paid $2400 for a M17x back in 2009 and I thought it was pretty cool that it came with a ball cap and a hard mouse pad. When I opened my new AW15, I was expecting at least 1 cool freebie but there was none lol. It's a small nitpick but it definitely shows the direction that Dell (and other companies) are moving in general.

 

For arguments sake if you had to pay 65% of the total price more over the 970M and 1080P for just the two upgrades of 980M and 4K, would you still consider it worth it or not?

 

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I'm going to order one! 8GB or 16GB RAM, though? Any difference when gaming?

 

You shouldn't notice any difference in gaming. But if you do a lot of multitasking or any video-editing, or if you're like me and like the extra breathing room, 16 GB might be worth the upgrade.

Also, have you considered the Clevo P650SG? It is cheaper and comes with essentially the same parts.

 

65% would probably be too much but I would advise you search for coupons and haggle until you are blue in the face. My original i7/8gb/1080p/970m config cost me $1255 after tax. My 2nd order which was i7/8gb/4k/980m was $2047 after taxes and that price included the 2 year accidental coverage along with a free Windows tablet. The difference was $792 and since I plan to keep the laptop for a few years, the price was well worth it.

 

Yeah I haggled the best I could, and couldn't get it any lower. I did have the same spec as you ordered with 980M/4K, but I had it turned around before it arrived therefore didn't actually get to experience it. Now I have the same spec as your original order 970M/1080 which will arrive in the next 5 days (pretty sure cannot turn this one around), seriously hope that I will not regret it?

If there is any consolation, how were the thermals with the lower 970M config compared to the 980M?

 

I used to own the AW15. But during the time I had the machine, it performed wonderfully. I can whole-heartedly recommend the notebook. The only reason why I no longer have it is because I had a manufacturing defect with mine and I also wanted something more portable.

 

The AW15 with the 980M is on sale apparently. Should I buy that one instead? How are the temperatures with the 980M version? Does it run much hotter than with the 970M?

Option 1: i7-4710HQ, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, 1080p IPS, 980M 4GB
15577 NOK = 1915 USD


or

Option 2: i7-4710HQ, 16GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, 1080p IPS, 970M 3GB
15742 NOK = 1936 USD



The price is basically the same, so which one is the best option?

 

Forget about the RAM, you can upgrade that yourself cheaper. You can't upgrade the 970m to the 980m without spending a lot of money and hassle.

 

Good point. Should I be worried about the cooling and temperatures with a 980M in a 15,6" laptop, though?

 

I didn't do an scientific measurements but I will say that the 970m model I had did seem a little bit cooler up top than the 980m. It's not too bad though but there is a difference. Supposedly, the cooling on the new AWs is really good so I would not worry about it.

 

To give you an idea, I got mine with 8gb RAM (4gb x 2), and purchased the RAM separately (8gb x 2) for 72 US dollars. Sold the previous sticks. So... the upgrade was pretty much 20-25 bucks for me.

Get the lowest memory and upgrade later.

 

Selling your original RAM is a good idea to recover cost, not sure if this will hurt the warranty as such. The U.S. price set for Dell RAM upgrade is more than expensive.

 

Dell's warranty obviously won't cover your after-market RAM, but since that's so cheap anyway, I wouldn't worry about it.