*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R2/R3 Owner's Lounge

He always posts to incite people in some fashion, I find. He doesn't pay attention to the data or results half the time. I see him over on Alienware arena still harping about things that were solved as issues a while ago. Maybe he just wants attention, I don't know. English is not his first language so I'll give him a break if he doesn't understand something or whatever, but it seems the only thing he can do is keep bringing up why this generation sucks and make people feel bad about owning it.

It's strange because some of his posts seem very educated and informed, but the other half are incorrect or just pure inciting hate/plain stupid. Maybe he's two people on the same account? Lol.

I mean I understand if you're into customization and upgrading laptops, you'd be disappointed but there's a limit to that. If there's an issue why not bring it up again or continue the discussion of it in the Ask Frank thread where people seem to leave most of the rage there regarding this.

 

I still have the real AW .. Is no wonder one becomes disappointed after Alienware is destroyed as a brand. When it comes to Samsung, then I am the lucky owner of a fantastic Samsung 850 Pro SSD. It might be to buy a Clevo / Eurocom or a self built PC now when there is no other option anymore.

 

I would say "destroyed" is a bit dramatic, they just changed their direction with the current series. I swear they could bend over backwards for you and you'd still find something to complain about.

 

One need not be satisfied with everything. Just look at my AW 17R1; It has a useless fan profile but this problem can I cope with, but it is still the best AW 17. There are not many 17 "laptops that run Cinebench 11.5 tests with over 9.40 score with a maximum temperature of 85 degrees centigrade on processor.

 

If I recall I still see you getting angry with Alienware over fan profiles too. But anyway, the owner's lounge is for people who OWN the laptop, not for you to make people feel bad about their laptop purchase and bring up stupid crap.

 

Got my 17 yesterday and installed the ssd and moved the os to that. Computer is working perfectly so far. Does anyone have any experience with graphics accelerator ?

 

I don't personally, but there's a thread a few threads below this one stickied with people who own them. You could read through that for some help or post there.

 

thank you, this is exactly how I feel. At the end of the day these are just computers and some people really need to put things in perspective.

 

Hi Bnosam... Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house... Quoted; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pot_calling_the_kettle_black
Maybe I need to remind you about what you wrote and urged me to do on pm ?
Who calls the Alienware for a NIGHTMARE? Check by your own signature .. I am very pleased with both the service and support from Dellienware, if I'm allowed to call Dell for Dellienware then.. This must be allowed to say what you both like and dislike with a computer. When people ask for help then you have to be honest to say what is the problem with their computer, without other people to interpreting this in a worst possible way .. It is not I who complains about all the problems encumbered by AW15 / 17R2 . This manages all Aw owners well it yourself. Sorry that I'm not as good to explain in English, as this is not my main language., But you Bnosam can sure write and read Norwegian very well .. (Men du Bnosom, kan sikker skrive og lese Norsk veldig godt..)

 

It wasn't personal preference, the keyboard did in fact get HOT. It may entirely be due to a bad unit though. We'll know soon enough, since I'm foolish and ordered another R2, and I'll be able to figure out if it was a bad unit or not. And thanks to my new infrared thermometer, I'll also be able to objectively measure the surface temps.

That being said, you sir need to calm down. Repeatedly flipping out and calling people "stupid" and tossing "crap" around just makes you look like a flustered teenager who has no other way of responding to people.This is a place for adults to have intelligent, mature discussions. If you can't do that, step back until you calm down. If someone is trolling you, ignore them.

Your last few angry posts on these pages are unbecoming of you and what you're capable of (based on some of the posts I've seen from you). Having anxiety issues in no way excuses this behaviour - you have to learn to deal with it.

I seriously expect better from you than those angry tirades directed towards @Papusan, regardless of how trolling they seem.

That being said, having Papusan come in here and ignite the flames also does nothing to aid the cause. I'm of the opinion that if you have nothing positive to share...don't share anything at all. Post something helpful or post nothing at all. We all know Alienware has fallen from the mighty Titan it used to be to become...whatever it is today. Now we just need to figure out the issues with the current machines, rather than continuously complaining about them.

Hmm, maybe I should follow my own advice...

 

The difference is I made a purchase that required something. You made no purchase of that product directly. You're ruining the cause by chiming in with incorrect or outdated information, which doesn't help us at all. I can't read and write norwegian, I don't think you have a point, I never claimed I could or wrote anywhere that I could.

Ultimately the difference between your actions and mine are I owned the product in question and had issues you didn't. If you can't see the differences, I'm sorry.

If you stopped posting redundant or incorrect information or stopped baiting people, I wouldn't have a problem with you. Furthermore if you have issues with it, post in the appropriate place instead of posting in the OWNERS section with the intention with the same information of making the owners feel like they made a mistake. I don't feel it's necessary to do that unless you have some miracle discovery or issue nobody knows yet.

Probably a crappy unit, I never had any major issues with mine heating up to any extent it bothered me. It'll be interesting to see your results.

I will calm down, I'm just sick of meaningful discussions on the forums being interrupted by him making false claims or stupid claims or baiting.


Anyway I'm done with this now.

 

Just got my replacement, screen is fantastic and the colors actually seem deeper on this one, no stuck pixel. Very happy, also looks like it came with bios A01. Not going to change that, going to leave it as is

Edit: Also no light bleed at all

 

Matte screen or true life? Hope you enjoy it

 

Matte screen, also the speakers are clearer and have more bass, like a ton more bass

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

awesome, yeah the glossy panel is amazing. Have you noticed though that the glowing "ALIENWARE" logo on the front is dimmer than on the matte screen?

EDIT: never mind you got the matte

 

Do the speakers sound good to you or do they sound still not so great like others have said compared to past models?

I'm just wondering if it's my perception or if they have bad speakers going around.

 

Nah I have the matte I would like the true life but I'm so used to matte I dont mind

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

The first speakers were very meh, this time around they sound like klipsch speakers should sound imo

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

That's what I figured. Must have just been a bad batch of speakers going around. Glad to see things are even better for you this time Enjoy!

 

what is light bleed?

 

google "lcd light bleed", you'll find tons of images clearly showing it. It's essentially when the backlight of the LCD seeps through around the bezel.

 

it is what happens when you get a cut. what? you don't bleed light? how odd...


(figure 1: light bleed with Dell Precision notebooks, courtesy random internet photo)
Fortunately, my AW17R2 did not present with this. The edges fit like a glove. I was very impressed.

@Ramzay
My keyboard does get warm when I'm playing games, even when on a laptop pad.
I do not know if that is a fault in the design or simply the nature of laptops running 970m/980m GPU.
My previous laptop's keyboard would get warm as well, but there were thermal pads connecting components to the keyboard's backplate.
I always assumed it was some pseudo heat sink like design.
I have not had a chance to take a look at the AW17's keyboard, so I do not know if any of this is relevant.
Just thinking out loud really.

@Ramzay
Just curious, have you tried a clevo/sager? I can't remember if you had it in your profile, or if it was just the ASUS.
I was hoping to get some personal thoughts comparing the two from someone who has had both.
Specifically, how the keyboard, trackpad, and hinges compare.


@Splintah
Yay! Matte Screen Buddies!

@bnosam
@HaloGod2012
I cannot even imagine how nice the truelife display must look.
I was extremely tempted to add it on. Wishing the best on your new units.
I know you two have been through a lot of trial and testing to decide on a notebook.
Ramzay too

 

@Logispice

Here are the reviews I've written on the laptops I've had over the past year or so.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/quick-review-asus-rog-g751jy.772913/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-r2-quick-review.771355/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/quick-review-eurocom-m5-pro-clevo-p650se.769973/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/acer-v-nitro-vn7-791g-quick-review.768964/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/lenovo-y50-quick-review.756525/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/eurocom-shark-3-clevo-w355ss-quick-review.756034/

Between the AW and Clevo P650SE, the hinges, keyboard and trackpad are all superior on the AW. Hinges and lid are much sturdier, keyboard is of a higher quality, and the trackpad is slightly better.

In regards to keyboard temps, both the AW17 R1 & G751JY had keyboards that remained just as cool under load as when idle. So to me, any heat on the keyboard is unacceptable for a laptop as thick as the AW17 R2. I can tolerate it on something like the Clevo P650SE, due to how thin it is.

 

So just got my new alienware. Looks great (as usual) and so far I haven't noticed any issues.

My biggest pet peeve about it? The SSD is slow =( It's a samsung PM851, it's read speeds are great 540mb/s but the write is 270-320mb/s

Oh well that's what I have my Samsung 850 Evo for =) 540 read, 500 write. Hell yeah. And as soon as the M.2 850 Evos come out you can bet your ass I'll be buying them.

Now begins the painful process of reinstalling Windows and everything else...woohoo!

 

That's why I didn't order an SSD from Dell I figured they'd cut costs and jack up the price for a mediocre SSD.


In other news:

I've been selected for an interview with Needle.com to be an "alienware expert". This is hilarious, I did it as a joke...

 

I use it as my data SSD whereas my SSD evo is the OS one haha

 

God the screen is good.

I've always had glossy screens except for when I got my AW 17 R1 I chose the matte one. Since I've been using that for a while I thought it was great...but after getting this R2 and comparing the two screens side by side...the difference is night and day....it makes my R1 screen look "cheap" and hurts my eyes haha

The only thing I miss from the matte screen is the lack of reflections. While the truelife screen isn't as bad as some glossy screens can be, sometimes reflections pop through.

 

Did they replace it due to the stuck pixel and light bleed?

 

No they replaced it because I was getting the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, I found out this is actually due to the A02 bios, but I'm glad I replaced it anyway, I would hate to have to live with a stuck pixel if I didn't have to.

 

Being in the owners lounge kills me waiting for my laptop. I'm so excited to see what it can do. At least this week is flying by fast but I hope it doesn't take too long! Delivery estimation is on or before April 9th. I hope I get it April 3rd.

 

I ordered mine yesterday and the estimated ship date is the 10th. Though I get a feeling it will ship earlier, as estimated ship dates on the site now seem to be around the 4th.

 

What specs did you order?

 

Just the basic configuration with the 970M. Cheap as possible. Once again haggled, got some coupons and credits and whatnot.

I also ordered another M5 Pro from Eurocom.

 

I just noticed I have massive amounts of screen bleed while I was watching a movie. I know it wasn't there before.


It's all I can see now too, makes it even worse

 

Why did you not just clone the drive with a free program like Reflect? So much easier IMO.

I installed the same one... Samsung 850 Evo. Then turned on RAPID Mode and it is super fast. You can see the difference in the normal 850 EVO and with RAPID Mode:

 

Sounds like RMA to me.

 

Because some people have noticed issues with the laptop when it comes from Dell, due to Windows errors and stuff. This way I make sure that nothing like that happens.

Also RAPID mode is only really good for benchmarks, the real world performance isn't that much.

Do all IPS screens suffer from light bleed? The top left of my laptop screen has noticable light bleed to the point that there's a yellow tint with anything on that side. Whereas everywhere else white looks white.

 

Ahhh... I did not know that. I have not had any of those issue thankfully. The worst thing I have had is the wireless card needing to be reset twice (but mostly my internet issues stem from my provider and lately I have had DNS issues until i switch to a thrid party DNS... do you know what the fastest one is?).

Really? I do not know much about any of that... new to SSD in a PC. Though it does show 10x faster... it would be odd that it would not be much of a boost other then benchmarking.

I just checked mine and it is fine... the bezel must fit well.

 

http://techreport.com/review/25282/a-closer-look-at-rapid-dram-caching-on-the-samsung-840-evo-ssd/8

Now it's for the 840 Evo but since the technology behind it is the same, you should see the same results.

Oh wait it looks like with the 850 series RAPID mode seems to be better. So maybe they did change a few things.

In that case, um I guess keep it enabled haha? Not sure, I'll do some real world testing on my end and see if i notice anything

Yeah its sad lol, everything else about the laptop works perfect.

Oh well one quick call to them, they asked me to send a couple of pictures and now they're going to replace the entire system. The rep basically asked me if I wanted a new system or to have a tech sent out to replace the screen, I told him a new one. So they're getting that order put in now.

 

Yeah let me know, I am interested to know if it does. Are there any downsides to RAPID? Probably lifespan?


I wonder if the tech might have been the best choice? I only say that as it would suck to get the new one with a bad screen too. Hopefully I was not lucky you were just unlucky with your first one. Good luck

 

I'm not sure tbh, the 850 Evo was the first SSD I got and I've always left it disabled...i mean it's fast enough regardless.

I think the screen just got damaged during shipping. After running a bunch of tests with the tech, there is screen yellowing in that top corner as well as multiple stuck pixels. So either it got damaged in the factory or during shipping or just the screen was a dud.

Everywhere else the screen is perfect, like literally perfect. The colors are gorgeous, whites are definitely white and blacks are definitely black. So it's that just top corner.

 

Yeah it is fast without it anyways.

Is this what most people were waiting for... Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB M.2 3.5-Inch SSD?: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-E..._sbs_pc_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=14ZVFVXE2Z7PANKTE0EE

 

Yup! Essentially the same drive you have now just in the m.2 form factor.

You're not going to see any speed increase because it's essentially the same drive, the only difference will be you can now put 4 of those into your laptop vs 1 regular sized ssd.

As to your question about the fastest DNS, Google is pretty fast, OpenDNS is decent, Level3 is great. There's quite a few.

This tool should help you: https://code.google.com/p/namebench/

Also since I'm assuming you have a killer network card, do the following:

1. Open task manager -> startup -> disable Killer Network Manager (it might be called Installshield, Publisher: Flexera Software)
2. Click the battery icon -> more power options -> change plan settings -> change advanced power settings -> Wireless adapter settings -> make sure both are set to maximum performance

and finally

3. Open network and sharing center -> change adapter settings -> Right click on the wi-fi one -> properties -> Find killer networks bandwidth manager (or something can't really remember the name) -> select it and click uninstall

Restart your computer and you should see a noticeable performance increase. The killer network drivers suck dick and the bandwidth manager is even more useless.

 

Yeah I noticed Amazon just got it and saw people discussing it here. I bought a 500GB as I have am external HDD for my movies and install files so I know ifi delete things as I no longer need them 500GB should be more then fine for my programs and games. Also it was a great deal when I bought it... $180 for the 500GB SSD.

Thanks, I did Google first but noticed the ping was slow and then switched to OpenDNS (not much improvement). How do I use that link you put? Is there a program or link in that page i am suppose to use?

I think the issue is that Killer Management since my internet is slow DSL (only 3MBps as I live in a very rural area and that is all I can get... works for everything I need it for as long as i am only running one thing at a time but that Management I think it trying to split up and already small connection).


Thanks for that, I had looked into a few days ago but could not find if that program was seperate from the card itself.

 

Yup I have 2 850 Evos 512gbs haha, when I bought them they were about $200 each. So my current R2 has one, and my old R1 has one.

And yeah use the tool then, it should show you which DNSes will give you the fastest service and then you can change your settings to that.

As to the killer network management, I understand why the software exists...but its just so useless. At the end of the day since your connection is slow it probably just makes things seem slower than they really are.

 

You have the Pro? Isn't the pro the one that is 512 instead of 500? I did not think the slightly faster speed was worth the extra cost, as you said they are fast enough as is. Plus I got a good deal at the time on the standard one.

Thanks, I will download it now Already disabled that and restarted... I had disabled a couple other things when I first got it and installed a few things. I did see that "Installsheild" but I did not know if it would shut the actual card down or not.

If someone has a 20MBs+ connection and were running a few programs that used internet at once it would come in handy.

 

No I have the Evos. I'm just used to saying 512GB lol so my bad on that bit.

And nah I have a 125MBs connection and it's still useless lol. The main reason is that its buggy...I'd rather handle it myself.

 

Oh, lol. Yeah SS like the old memory cards used to always be 256/512. Weird.

I wish I could get a fraction of that speed here. Maybe someday.

 

You can over-provision the SSD if you want that extra space. But I don't recommend it.

Basically when they make the SSD they actually block off some of the available space to keep some sectors free. That way in the future if one of the working sectors is close to failing (which happens) the SSD will relocate the data to one of those "hidden" sectors.

If you over-provision the drive, then the firmware will allow the OS to see all those hidden sectors so you can now write/read to them. However if in the future a sector fails, then the firmware wouldn't be able to relocate anything so you might lose data if your SSD is full/close to being full.

 

Hey anyone else have the issue of the windows applications in the lower right and left hand corners not working? Like when I put my mouse in the lower right it is suppose to pop up from the side but sometimes it will not work at all. Same for the one in the lower left the windows emblem will not light up and cannot be pressed. I can still use the manual button the the keyboard but this is kind of annoying as I am used to using the lower right one on my Lenovo (always worked on that but that had 8 and not 8.1).

Yeah I used the Magician software to over-provision it, turn on RAPID, and configure Windows for SSD.