Alienware 14 Pre-order Configuration Questions and Order Status Discussion - Part 3

Hi Brave,

Since money is no issue, the 5th option with the 512GB SSD would be an ideal choice. If you decide to get this, I recommend getting an extended warranty as well.

If you do not want to purchase the best option, I would suggest you purchase an SSD aftermarket from Amazon.com or some other retailer, and install it yourself. Do a clean install. I'd get the 4700MQ or 4800MQ CPU. I'd also recommend you get the stock 750GB HDD, if you want to replace it with a regular SSD.

Hope this helps.

 

I went with the 6th option :thumbsup:
No optical drive

Just wondering latter can i change the 2nd 256gb SSD to higher 500gb SSD
or a regular 750gb hard drive ?

Thanks so much

 

Yes, of course. The Alienware systems allow for upgrades of nearly everything, even the CPU and GPU.

Congrats on the new system. It's a beast!

 

Does that mean that Alienware 14 can be upgraded to GTX 770m GPU? :O

 

In the 14? Unfortunately, no.

 

The GPU is soldered to the motherboard, I'm afraid you can't.

 

The m14x 3rd option which has option to upgrade the Hard drive
to :- 256GB mSATA Boot + 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s

Can i change the 256gb HD latter to a 512GB Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s ?

Thanks

 

Brave,
That 256gb hard disk you are talking about is a msata chip. you can replace with msata only and not a regular SSD.
Both the msata and the primary hard drive slot support 6Gb/s or SATA 3. However the ODD slot connector supports up to SATA2 or 3Gb/s.
You can find 480gb msata chips in the market from Crucial/Samsung/Mushkin.
If I were you, I would keep the 256gb and invest the money for a SSD(especially for the new Samsung 840 Evo)

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks so much
Yes i read about the Samsung 840 Evo 1T ssd its nice

 

Around how long did the "Order Processing" order status usually last for all of you? I've been in it for a few days and am getting a bit worried, read on some places that it usually processes in one day and goes into pre production. I guess I'll give it a full week before making inquiries.

 

I ordered my 14 at 10:30 am on the 23rd of July. It went from "Order Processing" to "In Production" that afternoon at 2pm. So, in 3 1/2 hrs. it was already in production and still is with delivery scheduled for Aug. 6. I also ordered the slim case and it arrived 2 days later on the 25th.

 

i have £1250 to spend on my alienware 14 do i go for the base model

Alienware 14 Laptop Details | Dell UK

with the WLED HD (1366 x 768) screen and add the NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M with 2GB GDDR5 taking the total to £1249?

or go for the model with the full hd screen

Alienware 14 Laptop Details | Dell UK

and leave the graphics card as NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 750M with 1GB GDDR5 total spend at £1200

what would you do?

 

@alphabetagaga,


I'd wait until you get the money to afford both the 1080p IPS screen and the upgraded GPU. That way in the long run you'll be happy, just wait until your next paycheck if that's possible

 

Yes, you need both the 1080p and the 765m, settling for less than that is not worth the purchase if you are looking to buy a serious gaming machine. It's not that much money extra and will really be worth it. I was in the same boat but I decided to wait and make the extra bread before purchasing.

 

thanks guys for your input. my only concern i guess screen-wise is 1600 x 900 seems to be the sweetspot for 14". just not sure if the text size on a 1080p will be large enough for me on a 14". currently got a 15.6" screen on a 6yr old inspiron (not sure what screen res it is). my current setup is as shown in the screengrab

View attachment 99751

if i start mucking around with text size etc will that affect how well certain things appear/perform?

 

Yeah if you where to do that then your text size would be larger on a 1080p resolution, it basically changes the scaling

 

what os have people been ordering with their a14? windows 7 or 8?

 

Personally I have windows 8 on mine, but I did DL a 3rd party program to add the start button and to disable the metro UI BS that I don't like since I don't have a touchscreen. You can DL ClassicShell, StartIsBack, or Start8. I personally use StartIsBack because it doesn't create a startup service or msconfig service which leaves minimal footprint but you do have to pay the $3 for the 2 PCs activation code. Windows 7 is great to since I have that on my desktop, but between the 2 I prefer windows 8

 

I ordered my 14 on the 22nd, next day shipping has it here on the 2nd hopefully, though I would be quite happy if it got here sooner. Got the 765m and 1080p screen as well.

 

I should receive mine tomorrow (July 30, 2013) The waiting is killing me inside.

 

Lol about a hour after my post it was shipped, mine will be here tomorrow as well, can't wait.

 

Ordered mine on the 23rd and today it shipped. Set to arrive on the 31st. Original delivery estimate was 8/6/2013.

 

Same here. Ordered on the 23rd with delivery for Aug. 6th. It shipped about an hour ago but no tracking number yet. I'm hoping for the 31st but it will probably be the 1st.

 

I received a Dell Mystery coupon this morning for 20% off a PC. I called Dell with the code and after getting disconnected twice and talking to 3 different reps, I finally made them understand it made no sense to return the rig when it arrives on the 1st and reorder to get my additional $400 off. They finally succumbed to my request and refunded my card $400. If you are purchasing by tomorrow, google Dell Mystery Coupon and it will take you where you need to go. Only thing is 1% get 30%, 9% get 20% and the rest get 10 which can be combined with alienware arena 10% which would still get you 20% off. Not bad for a new release.

 

The AW 14 seems to have a lot of issues with the actually hardware that you need for gaming, sound issue, super hot CPU temps under load, 765M down clocking to just 600MHz, out of control heat and noise, I mean is it worth buying it as a gaming machine?

I thought my Envy 15 was poor but the CPU, GPU don't have excessive heat issues (both overclock awesome, 750M @ 1293MHz and maintain full boost 3.1GHz four cores), and the sound system is great. Unfortunately the screen is poor quality and the keyboard is horrid, which both drive me crazy.

Would it be worth going to the Alienware 14, or will I be just swapping out to a different set of problems. Can the Alienware 14 overclock on the GPU 765M and sustain boost?

 

The 765m down-clocking is what I believe is related to the throttling issue. That can be remedies by setting up the AW 14 on dedicated mode. The heat is surprisingly good considering it uses a single exhaust. The new AW 14 is way better heat management when compared to m14x R1 and R2. The noise is what bothered me the most on this system, on full load it sounds like a hair dryer to me. The screen is wonderful though, same with the keyboard. I'm going to return my system for a full refund though, this system isn't just for me. But don't let me returning it sway you away from it, it's a great system just too loud for my taste. I'm sticking with my G46 and going to wait until broadwell comes out so I can build an ITX desktop system and going to check out the broadwell laptops, hopefully with what 800 series GPU I'm assuming

 

I hate it if the noise gets to high with anything. If I boot camp my MacBook Pro 15 with 650M then that thing is way to loud, definitely a screamer and very hot, so don't game on that. The original M17x R3 I have gets pretty noisy, but I don't have that on my lap, and I usually have it hooked in to a wall mounted TV where I don't have space for a full size desktop (sits on a dresser draws).

Just about to order, few questions I would appreciate if anyone can help (dell sales reps cannot help with this)

I want some with a better screen and keyboard to run this thing on my lap (which the Envy 15-j000 does actually very well without burning me, although the screen and keyboard are major crap parts), is the Alienware 14 going to burn my left leg with the exhaust?

When people say it loud like a hair drier, those things are really loud, how loud is it exactly, a better comparison/closer maybe?

Can the graphics card be over clocked, and will I be stuck with older Nvidia drivers?

 

So far I have not had any issues with mine, I am pretty happy with it so far.

 

So I missed that Dell mistery coupon... The best discount I can is like $150 out of the $1949 + 100 for cpu upgrade so $150 out of the 2049... Any idea how to get a better deal???

 

I ordered mine on 8/14, and it shipped today, 8/21. From order processing through production and on to shipping seems to take right around 1 week.
That's pretty good, but it never used to take much longer than 1 week unless there was a part shortage. So, the whole preconfigured build thing doesn't seem to improve on the wait time all that much. Definitely not worth the more limited configurations.

Edit: Arrived 8/23

 

I've ordered mine the 7/8, shipped the 13/8, edd today.... i'm at home waiting for it to arrive xD

 

ordered mine 14/8
deployed 16/8
shipped 17/8
delivered 21/8

the plate underneath also has the correct 765m details on it

 

@alphabetagaga Wow how did you get if that fast? I ordered mine on 8/16 and it has an EDD of 9/3. I got 2nd day shipping. I ordered my alienware 14 with a gtx 765 and 1080p screen. I asked Dell when they think it will ship and they said 8/29 for sure. So I might get it early! Can't wait. Hope I get no defects with this one as this is my first alienware .

 

no idea! i've had 2 aw14 now. both arrived 7 days or so after placing the order. we don't get a choice of shipping times from dell uk, just standard shipping. first unit came via ups. second via wuk.

 

Whats the wait time looking like? I ordered mine on Monday and the estimated delivery time is 9/3. Hoping I dont have to wait that long, its been in production for 3-4 days now!

 

I contacted dell and they said that system is ready to ship and will ship soon. can't wait. so far it has been 7 days since order and ready to ship. I will update and make youtube vid

 

How did you contact them? Every time I contact I get a generic message saying itll be ready on or before the estimated date?

 

Go to dell customer support chat and ask them for exact order status. Their tracking system sucks btw. So many different reps told me it was still in production and hasn't shipped. Some said it already shipped. Turns out it finally shipped today. it is at destination sort facility. should get aw14 tomorrow or Wednesday. (ps. I didn't get a shipping email.)

 

my alienware will be here tomorrow . the wait is killing me.
order on: 8/16
shipped on:8/26
going to deliver on:8/28

I will do an unboxing video. Hope this helped anyone.

 

Anyone get a decent discount and doesnt mind sharing an ext at Dell to place an order plz pm me ill Paypal you $20. thx

 

Does anyone know if ordering the AW14 with the 4900MQ gets you a better heat sink?

EDIT: It does not.

 

I'm at Xotic PC's M14x configuration page but am unsure about what WIFI card to purchase. Which one is the most dependable?

I know my question is related to the older M14x notebook but I can't find a stickied thread for it. Can someone kindly help anyway?

 

I ordered mine 9/24 and it has an edd of 10/9. I really hope it comes sooner, but I'll have to wait and see.
I ordered the 1080p screen, with the gtx765m. Everything else was just as it appeared originally.
I also ordered an msata ssd from newegg, to use as a boot/ program drive.
I'll let you all know how it goes once I get it.
Thanks for all of the great advice in this thread. I've read through it entirely.
Mike

 

Ordered 19/9 - 4900MQ, 8gigs, no HDD and 1080p display.
EDD 7/10 (currently in transit)

Id say pretty decent waiting time..

 

Does AW 14 have a costumable engraved name plate ??
i couldn't find the name plate options on dell website

 

They come with the cpu and gnu and model engraved on it automatically, thats it. They don't do type in your or a name anymore.

 

Ordered mine on the 28th, i74800 with a 765m 1080p. Really excited about getting my first laptop, but the waiting is horrendous already haha.

 

Ordered through the outlet and got confirmation for delivery on 1/8/14. Got a great deal thanks to their 25% off again. Windows 7, i7-4800, 16gb, 750, 2gb 765 with BD. Total was $1,180.58 before tax and free ship which made it $1,260.25. I'm stoked. I've wanted an Alienware for near a decade and glad I finally bit the bullet.

 

I saw on HID evolution that it's passible to order the AW14 with 4930xm. Does anybody know how the CPU works regarding power consumption and temps?

 

Not a verified upgrade, could be an error on the website or a custom built machine. They aren't meant to carry those processors. Maybe you should call them.