*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 R2 / m17 R2 Owner's Lounge

Since there aren't much discussion in both R1 threads for m15 and m17, might as well combine them into one thread.

For those unaware, m15 / m17 R2 are alienware's latest thin and light laptops based on the "Legend" design language, basically what you see on the awesom Area-51m. Being a thin and light, there are sacrifices need to be made. Below are the summary of Pros and Cons

Pros
1. Thinner and lighter than Area-51m, cost less
2. Supports 2 M.2 NVMe SSD
3. Tobii eye tracking on both 15" and 17" models
4. Panel options for 15" goes from 60Hz to 240Hz IPS, all the way to OLED 4K. 17" gets 144Hz FHD IPS eye safe.
5. Better VRM design for improved power delivery
6. Supports CPU all the way to Core i9 9980HK
7. Alienware Graphics AMP supported
8. Legend design with thin bezels looks awesome
9. Improved thermals (More fan blades, PCH actively cooled, bigger heatpipes) ???

Cons
1. soldered everything. Literally. nothing is upgradable except SSD. RAM, WiFi, CPU, GPU all soldered.
2. maxed out at 16GB DDR4 soldered RAM only
3. No option for 2.5" bay
4. weak max Q crap GPU for 2070 and above
5. Inverted motherboard design (pain in the axx to service and repaste)
6. Battery reduced in capacity
7. No Windows Hello despite having tobii eye tracking
8. No G-Sync

 

Will anyone even buy this? Let's hope they blame it on Azor and cancel this dud.

 

maybe that's the reason why Azor left the company. He just couldn't accept the thin and light direction alienware is taking now due to market pressure.

 

Perhaps, but ultimately he was in charge:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/a-message-from-frank-azor-leaving-alienware.829424/

 

I think we should give this laptop a chance even though its wearing a max q badge. with the 8 phase VRM for GPU, it might just be a champ in performance. Razer certainly defy all odds with their latest Blade pro 17 which performs like a full RTX GPU even with a max q badge, so i was kind of hoping alienware can pull off the same trick.

 

The laptop is a non-starter for any discerning customers, and Alienware already posted the middling internal benchmark results. More importantly, the product represents a lurch in the wrong direction and as such should be heavily penalised by the brand's fans to send a message.

I wouldn't mind their making us a 15inch variant of the 51M, with a 90Whr battery and configurable Optimus - could be a worthy successor to the AW15.

 

Azor have also been the big boss for the XPS line. Thin and lightweight has been in his blood the last +5 years. I doubt this.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/bga-venting-thread.798775/page-222#post-10919285

His tweet about the new thin and slimmer model... "couldn't accept the thin and light direction alienware is taking"

https://twitter.com/AzorFrank/status/1136642607713595393

 

The wifi is using a daughterboard from what I could tell and there is space enough to make it a removable M2. Ram is harder but it also could be fixed in at least the 17 model, but would take a redesign. The inverted mobo is kind of crazy (well additional to all the rest) but Asus has models with Liquid metal from the factory. AW could easily do at least premium paste for next to no additional cost and then perhaps the inverted mobo wouldn't be quite as disappointing. Pads could be part of the same premium process. Honestly shouldn't this just be automatically done on anything 2070 or higher and 9850 and higher?

I can't help but wonder if this beast will make for a sales plummet and get replaced. The Wifi selling right now is 8950 which is idiotically 2 full generations behind the AX200 series. At every turn this model says "why".

And of course you could just give up and go with Razer or MSI or Asus. At least those folks understand that wifi cards get replaced and cooling shouldn't be this mess of poorly bent loose pipes buried under an inverted motherboard (to hide the condition of the pipes?).

 

Sometimes the truth is extremely painful. And, some people have no problem saying they love you, but seemingly derive great satisfaction from the pain they inflict.

 

while i totally agree with the backward directions (soldered RAM, WiFi, etc refer to con list above) alienware has taken for their m15/17 R2 series, i'm also curious on how well (or bad) it performs.

what are the real world benefits of that 8+6 phase VRMs for GPU+CPU, what real thermal improvements have they made in order to justify the heavy sacrifice they made.

 

Good reminder and good riddance. Yet not sure there is anyone left at Failienware who can take the brand back to its roots. Someone from the 51M camp maybe.

 

This is why soldered RAM is good (for Dell)


You can get a 8GB module for $30 everywhere, so I suppose that the crappy ones they put won't cost them more than $20. Clearly "Alienware recommended".

 

Exactly. Complete ripoff. Not only 2-3x more expensive than the fastest memory on the market but also probably one of the slowest.

 

You guys need to chill.
Alienware provided the Area 51m for enthusiasts. This model is for a different type of consumer - those who just want a thin and light plug-n-play machine.

I'd be fine with the specs, as long as it's affordable, doesn't sound like a jet engine and I can insert my own m.2.

The problem for me is pricing. In Australia, initial pricing on these is (frank)ly ridiculous.

 

i agree. and pricing is ridiculous in Malaysian/Singapore market too. at least you are lucky area-51m is offered in your country.

 

Yes, Dell are betting naive uninformed consumers will start buying this based on looks. The thing is that most naive uninformed consumers don't need an Alienware laptop in the first place, and even if they did consider it, the pricing makes most people think about their purchase. Hopefully Prof Google will lead some of those people to the relevant NBR threads and they will make the effort to read, understand the content, and level up their hardware knowledge

 

Shrug. Going to wait for NBC's review.

None of the negatives particularly bother me. I've never needed more than 16gb of dual channel RAM. I went the GPU upgrade once before and it was an expensive nightmare. WiFi cards have gone well beyond the point of diminishing returns for me.

What DOES matter to me on a thin machine like this:

-fan noise
-surface temps
-general thermal management
-packaged control software
-price
-display quality
-keyboard and touchpad quality
-small construction details
-styling

Now, I'm sure Alienware will drop the ball on plenty of these. I, for one, and also very miffed about the lack if G-sync. But, I'll wait and see what the in-depth reviews have to say.

 

Consider that even if upgrading isn't something you are going to do, repairs might still be needed.

 

Yes, repairs that simply rip and replace the entire thing each time do seem like a waste. Yet consider that in 75% or more of the repairs of the 51m they've removed/returned the whole machine and started fresh. So even those machines for which each component is replaceable, the real world practice is often just to change out the whole thing or gigantic sections of it. Mind you I don't agree with creating more electronic scrap. And the 51m "may" reduce that buildup somewhat because it has a longer lifespan (assuming from present that desktop chips maintain their usability for a longer service life), but not all aspects of the 51m being modular and fixable have lived up the billing in the real world.

M15 and M17 have a place. I'm pretty happy they managed to keep both an thick and a thin productline on the catalog. Many of the premier notebook sellers are killing off everything that is thicker.

 

they are also using a 9ms 144Hz screen .. while other brands have the 3ms type.

 

I don't understand why they are trying to make Alienware and XPS laptops so similar. Must be Frank's genius at work.
They should simply keep thin and light models completely separate, within the XPS line, and then just have slightly larger but much more powerful AW laptops in 17 and 15 inch, necessarily with very good battery life (90Whr+ battery, selectable Optimus).

 

We can talk about "Back to its roots". At least back to "Hybrid battery boost" once again. When Soldered ram and soldered Wifi wasn't enough...


Force the buyers over on the more expencive OLED panel and you'll get the more powerful 240w power adapter as bonus Many ways to increase their earnings.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-m15-r2.829035/page-17#post-10929877

 

Hahahahahahaha

This is scalping on steroids

 

That also suggests they have gimped the 2060 and 2070 power limits compared to the 2080, whereas currently at least the 2070 and 2080 (not sure about the 2060) both run at 90W.

Unbelievable.

 

I have a feeling if you order the 9980H or HK along with a 2080 you'd end up with a 240 brick too. Not that this will be a common configuration.

 

Right you are: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gam...rationid=eefff397-3714-45dd-81a7-642f14eeef26

 

That escalated quickly

 

Posted wrong link, sorry. The correct config: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gam...rationid=eefff397-3714-45dd-81a7-642f14eeef26

 

If you go for the option with 2060 and the more expencive OLED panel you'll get the 240w power adapter as well. The power requirement for the new models is pretty thight. Just upgrade to a less effiency panel and things change pretty fast

 

This is DOA on pricing alone never mind all the other crappy soldered parts.
If your AW fan your better off getting the M51, they cost more or less the same .

 

I couldn't find the answer to this clearly. I know they have said the only thing you can change is the M.2 SSDs but I was wondering is the RAM, 100% soldered on.
I saw places that said you can change them, and some said, there is a single vacant slot, and others said they are soldered on. Which one is it?

 

No SODIMMs for you!



If all the posts here in addition to Alienware's Bagman confirming this on twitter aren't clear enough, you could look at the service manual.

 

Alienware Japan on youtube has confirmed it will only have 16gb soldered.

Dell Japan selling
M17 R2
9980hk
16gb
512gb
2080maxq
1080p 144mhz tobi
AC 8265
76Wh battery

~$100 Amazon voucher
6% discount coupon promotion
Delivery ~ this month
----------

~$4000 Total cost of system


4yr premium support promotion $200 extra combo accidental damage $30






Similar offering for m15 r2 except price is $4150 but you get a 4k OLED HDR400 1ms 60hz screen.

 

The answer is right in the owner's manual and service manual, but to save you the time, YES it is CONFIRMED the RAMs are fully soldered with no way of upgrading it later down the line. There is no single vacant slot whatsover. read the opening thread.

 

I guess I just didn't want to believe it. Reason I asked is that they advertised it as 2x8GB.

Thanks anyway buddy. I'll look for something different.

 

Hi,
looking at the 2 models available in Canada, the only difference is the GPU, a model with the 2060 6GB and a model with 2070 8GB MaxQ which is 400$ more expensive. What is the catch? I thought the 2070 MaxQ version is ~ to the 2060 non MaxQ. Does the 2060 in this model have the same perf than a regular 2060?
Thanks,

 

2070 MQ is 10% faster than 2060 and has 33% more memory, however, IIRC with the m15 R1 the price difference was about 250 CAD not 400. The R2 is just ridiculous.

 

What a waste of an Alienware!

I'm using the AW15 R2 from 2015 right now, and have it upgraded to 32 GB Ram. I love it to bits but it's aging quite a bit.
I can't believe they went with a maximum of 16 GB soldered on this new one. They also removed the SD card slot and the speakers are no longer front firing either. I'm definitely not going to take this downgrade.

PS. I'm at a loss now about what to upgrade to...

 

Similar story. I upgraded to m15 R1, and I'm happy enough (2x faster than my old AW 15R2). The only other 15" option from Dell worth looking at is the new Precision 7540, however, the RTX 3000 GPU is a bit underwhelming.

 

I’m in the same situation as you.

The m15 R2 “legendary” design, with upgradable capability, non-inverted mobo and combine with Dell good support will be a perfect laptop. I wonder if Alienware will redesign m15 again in 2020? LOL

By the way, I’m really curious about m15 R2 thermal. I’m surprised that not even a single review available yet

 

I've almost decided, guys. I'll have to move out of dell this time (with a heavy heart).
The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen2 seems to be the most convincing buy at the moment; surpassing even the XPS 15 7590.

 

as disappointed as i am with their new thin and light direction, bad internal design choices, i am still curious about not just the thermals but also how far one can push this laptop given their over engineered power delivery circuits.

 

Over engineered is correct. I'm not at all sure why they bothered given the only issue with the m1 is the efficacy of the thermal solution. The CPU can run at 60W (undervolted) before hitting thermal limits, maybe a bit more on LM lol

 

New m17 R2 review: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/alienware-m17-r2-review

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

That's one of the lamest laptop reviews I've ever seen. Screams "sponsored" by a mile. Doesn't mention any downsides, gimped battery is "above average", and only Dell would call those things "bad boys", in fact Azor used the phrase in an announcement video.

"this bad boy can crunch numbers,"

 

A awful review (If you can call it that). shouldn’t be called that. @Eason

 

LaptopMag is a meme.

Sherri is definitely the least knowledgable reviewer out there.

You have to wait for MobileTechReviews, Notebookcheck, Ultrabookreview, Dave2D, Jarrod's Tech, Bob of All Trades and OWNorDisown.

Honourable mention to LaptopMedia. They're good too sometimes - despite lacking fan noise readings.

 

Dave2D is on level with already mentioned reviewer.

 

+1 to that.
He said recent Jokebook pro is better than last year! After throttling news he has taken a back seat with honest reviews and he looks scared whenever he brings Thermal throttling in his newer videos.

 

Based from the firestrike score of 19133, the system is cpu throttling. My New Aero Oled 15 with 9980hk downclocked to 4.1 all cores gets a high 87c on gaming profile, as if I go higher yes I get Throttling, I could go 4.3 or 4.4 but would have to ramp fans up and they are pretty loud over 70%.
But I guess my point I am making is if the 17 is throttling then for sure the 15 will and good luck taking it apart to play with repaste and repad.
I know all systems need fine tuning to achieve better results but the new design is not going to be user friendly and those that want an i9 will most likely be unhappy with the temps?
I have a loaded 15 arriving July 25 and will play with it, as I am interested to see how it compares to the new Aero, as of now I think it will be going back and will keep the Aero, even though I got the AW 1000.00 less.
Attached is image of Aero i9 on 4.1