*OFFICIAL* Alienware 14 Owner's Lounge Thread

Hi Nyceis, I am really interesting of your question. May I get more information from your side?
1. Do you update BIOS A03 directly from BIOS A00?
2. 326.19 beta driver is installed before BIOS A03 installed?
3. What are you doing when the BSODs occurs? Only with a DisplayPort monitor plugged in?
4. Also, could you share your laptop information like CPU,GPU, HDD, OS and so on?

I appreciate your help in advance!

 

1) No, actually, BIOS A01 was installed on my machine when I got it. So, I upgraded to A03 and then back to A00 (because that was the only one available on support.dell.com)
2) Yes, but I tried reinstalling drivers after installing A03 - made no difference
3) Nothing or anything - absolutely no consistency. I believe it is only with the DP plugged in. What happened was that in the evening, on my sofa, I installed A03 and still had 326.19 installed. I browsed the web, checked email, whatever, ran 3dmark and tomb raider and all seemed well, no problems. Then, the next morning, I came to my office and plugged in my monitor and the BSODs started.
4) 4700MQ, 765m, Samsung 512GB 840 Pro, 16GB RAM, Windows 8.

N

 

The screen is not that bad considering that you have a home rig as main you should be fine, and the 765m will be superb on that screen. As far as cooling goes, I have a Coolermaster U3 it gives the laptop good elevation and the movable fans is a neat feature. It keeps my laptop cool about 5c less.

Buying own ssd/ram is a no brainer

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

I Have my Laptop always on the table
Amazon.com: Laptop table: Electronics

Do we really need something with fans
does it give more life to the laptop ?
make it last more than just keep on a table

Thanks

 

A laptop cooler will help improve the airflow but it's not necessary to have one. The fan gets air from below and expels it through the back, if you feel it's getting too hot in your desk you can try a slight tilt position using something small that won't scratch it (a couple of bottle caps for instance).

There's a lot of external factors that affect this too (i.e. room temperature, surface where it's used, etc..) In my opinion, try your laptop as is when you get it and after a few days of regular usage you'll know if you need a cooler or not.

 

Hey guys so i got my alienware for about 4 days now and i just notice after gaming for awhile a green dot will appear on the right bottom of the screen not sure if its a dead pixel, anyone got this or know what it is?

 

Try to take a picture of the screen next time it happens.

If you have an external monitor you could also try to plug it in and see if the dot appears in the external monitor too.

 

Running your power cable along the bottom back edge has always been my preferred method of adding a bit more clearance for a laptop's bottom mounted intake fan. Usually good for a degree C or two drop in temps. Fans generally aren't necessary.

 

So my AW 14 came in today, I called Alienware so they can send me a windows 8 recovery disk. I prefer to do a clean installation myself to remove all the extra BS that I don't want installed like the "Alienware Audio" software. Don't need that since it's like an add on to the audio drive which I already have installed. Also when I try to reinstall Win 8 OS using my own CD it keeps telling me that the product key does not match or something like that and it wont let me go through the installation, so I hope the recovery CD dell provides me won't cause any errors like the one I stated before

 

Ordered a 14 an hour ago

Let's see how the little one will behave i need more portability on the move.

 

Sounds like you are using an upgrade disc or something like that--you would need an original windows 8 key and not an upgrade key for it to work. All you have to do is connect the laptop to the internet and it will automatically register and activate itself. The product key is somehow always there no matter what, I don't have a clue how that works I just know from experience that it will activate automatically

 

Just got my new alienware 14 today with the upgraded gpu. No screen bleeds this time! But I am also having the problem of 0 bass. Anyone have a alienware 14 that actually has bass?

 

so what are all these reports of 'no' bass? i'm about to pull the trigger on one of these beasts(!) and don't want to be sent a unit that clearly has something wrong with it or missing. does it actually have a small amount of bass but the reports are from users who are 'bass-heads' and want their fix? wouldn't the reviews that have been published pointed this 'issue' out? the thread below only has a couple of pages so it can't be that alienware are sending out faulty units each time can it?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...perience-speakers-screen-tint-new-aw14-2.html

 

Hey thanks,

I was torn between the decision of going full hd - and getting a better framerate. Almost anywhere I go there's a full hd screen so I guess it won't matter too much.

I was looking at those coolermasters, I think the u2, I'm very interested in raising the temp ceiling for the gpu to get a better clock so I might try something a little more extreme if I can find something. But 5c is good, especially if that's stable.

 

Not sure about the bass, but I know it's important to install the actual sound drivers that comes in on a disc in the box and to make sure they're selected - rather than the installed default. Many just assume everything's ready for them when they boot up, so maybe that's it.

My 14 arrives today - and I'm wondering about the gpu setup when I switch it on and what it will be set to...

 

So, my laptop arrives today. Really chuffed. Over two weeks early from the edd. Just thought I'd share my checklist:

1. The packaging. For dents, scuffs, compression, warping - you name it. How the box travelled can say a lot about potential problems the sytem has suffered en-route.
2. Check the contents are all there.
3. Check the laptop for damage etc, check the connectors, hinge, for flex, the keys for if they are loose... you get the picture. This laptop isn't as much as most alienware laptops but this my baby! Also check the power brick and the cables themselves and the fuse.
4. Plug in and switch on, set it up.
5. Go through the settings - brightness power, gpu and sound, lights, wi-fi etc.
6. Run windows experience index.
7. Check all the keys and controls are working, usb ports, battery power retention.
8. Install gpu-z etc... and run them.
9. Ensure all drivers are upto date.
10.Download steam and get fragging.

 

good luck with your new arrival today! many happy days ahead. be interested to hear how you get on with bass-gate

 

I am receiving my 14 tomorrow. When I go to Dell Downloads and enter my tag number there are 15 driver updates listed. Most of these are dated around the beginning of July. My build date started on the 23rd. Wouldn't all of these new drivers already be installed since almost all were released 3 weeks before my build date? Just curious how many drivers I'm going to have to install upon it's arrival.

 

You'd think so - but if they're not installing the sound drivers that come on the disc in the box - I doubt they'd install other drivers. I think windows comes as is - except for maybe bloatware.

 

Thanks! I will most definitely take a listen into it. So much to do tonight - can't see me getting any sleep.

 

i'd expect nothing less when you get a new baby!

 

out of interest did you go for win 7 or 8?

 

alright guys, have had this laptop since last Friday.
Its been great, but there are problems that have arisen.
The subwoofer does not work, had the guy from dell come over, replaced it and it still doesn't work. Not sure what to do now ....
another problem which ive found is the batter. First night it lasted almost four hours. I was happy with that. Second night, it lasted 3 hours. Third night it only lasts 2 hours. im a bit concerned, I don't know hwats going on. O make sure not to leave it plugged in, or leve it near anything hot ....
help! I almost want to return this machine

 

We're currently investigating the situation with the subwoofers, I'll make sure to pass on any information I get on this.

As for the battery, It's very likely related to the processes and applications running while on battery. The article below was created for our older revisions but still has some general information worth noting.

Alienware | How to improve battery performance

 

Win 7 - but I considered 8 for a long time. There's aspects of it I think I'd enjoy - I just don't want to risk any problems with conflict. Plus touch-centric controls with a non-touch screen - is kind of pointless. They've changed a lot with 8.1, but the gestures and what not are still the same - punitive at best.

 

You know what I don't understand, why Alienware/Dell mess with the sound system of the 14s. The M14x R2 with the soundblaster recon sounded so good with a lil bit of thumpin bass and the audio quality overall sounded better than my Alienware 14.

The New Alienware 14 with the dolby regardless if it is on or not just sounded loud but lowish quality like something isn't right. What a shame

 

I assume that moving both speakers to the middle of the palmrest assembly and the subwoofer to the right has to do with it.

 

have you had a chance to check the subwoofer out?

 

I have, I fiddled around with the drivers, checked out Dolby - the sub does seem to be under-performing. It's not something I care too much about though, I prefer to wear a corsair headset with 5.1 and that alone gives me all the sound I could need.

It will be nice to see what Alienware come up with to fix it though.

 

that is disappointing to hear. i wonder how this slipped through the qc dept

 

My 14 arrived yesterday afternoon! I haven't spent much time with it but here's a couple of quick thoughts:

The past two laptops I've owned (Studio 1645/XPS l502x) had RGB-LED displays. IMO, I think they are the best PC displays I've ever seen. One of my biggest worries about the 14 was the HD display. I think the 14 HD display looks great! I do have a small area of light bleed in the lower left corner but it's only noticeable if the screen is all black.

I cloned the stock HDD to my Samsung 830 SSD. The 14 booted up fine. I installed Samsung Magician and made some tweaks to the OS. I also changed the BIOS to AHCI. On a side note the 830 came out of my l502x. I cloned it to a HDD before I took it out. If I ever doubted SSDs were faster I don't anymore. The l502x with the HDD seems to crawl now.

The size and weight are fine. I wanted a powerful, portable laptop and this is it. The build seems solid and I like the keyboard.

Some negatives:

Why do you have to go through so much just to change the hard drive? In an older Dell I owned you had to take one screw out of the bottom and slide the hard drive out of the side like a cartridge. Smart and easy. On the 14 you have to remove the bottom, the optical drive, and a lot of screws all while hoping said screws don't drop into the laptop guts. And also while hoping not to break the thin, crunchy-sounding ribbon cables.

Where's my Windows 8 Pro DVD? I really wanted a Windows 8 Pro DVD. I know I'll eventually need it.

Why can't I find a caddy to replace the optical drive with another HDD!?

That's all for now. I'll spend more time with it in the coming days testing and tweaking. I've yet to install any games but I will soon. So far I'm very happy with the 14.

 

Hello all, I have had my AW for roughly 5 days now, and I love it so far. Though I don't have much to compare it to seeing this is my first gaming laptop. Has anybody had issues using Windows 8 experienced any problems with Start screen(Metro) not appearing on restart after switching graphics cards? Sometimes when I switch to the 765, restart I get just a blue Metro screen. Anyone have a fix for this by chance? Could be just me but with the switchable graphics, the restart seems a little wonky. Thanks all.

 

Yesterday i switched card and i rebooted and for like 30 seconds all the leds "reset" themselves, it was like i hadn't customized them. My led configuration went back on after 30 seconds more or less.. apart from this ( strange) no problem for me

 

Nothing screams "gamer" like alienware, but for 200-300$ less you can always get the same specs from the competition: Sager/Lenovo/Asus/MSI/etc.

It's a nice laptop nevertheless, but beyond my budget and a bit too heavy for my tastes.

 

What I never understand is why people feel the need to come to an Alienware owners thread and post this nonsense. Really? $200-$300 on a $1500 laptop? The IPS screen alone is worth that. Next business day on site service? Also worth that. Go away with your trolling. (I apologize for feeding the troll, but it just bugs me).

N

 

I don't think the poster was actually trolling.... it was just a comment?..

 

If this is the case, then I apologize for the trolling comment. Just doesn't make any sense. I love my AW14, but I don't go over to Lenovo/MSI/Asus/whatever threads and post "Hey for $200 more than you I got an IPS screen and next business day service" there's no value in that sort of post. He's clearly happy with his Lenovo and that's great - I'm happy he's happy. So let the AW14 owners be happy and move on

 

I wasnt trolling. 0_o

It's like saying "Its a nice thing, but it's not for me".

Not everyone needs IPS screens. And i dont wanna start a flame war here.

 

Then please accept my apologies - Mods, feel free to delete any of my posts regarding this.

 

Hey gang... When getting the AW14 with the standard 750GB configuration, does it have an internal bay for a 2nd drive? Is everything there to add it?

Thanks.

 

hey guys, is it normal for the battery to run down from 100 % to 8% in 8 hours in sleep mode

 

Yeah you can fit two extra if you take out the optical drive

 

Yeah, there should be an open msata slot and the optical drive can be replaced with a standard drive if you get a caddy.

 

In sleep mode? No way, there's something wrong here...

 

I'm just going to offer my bit of advice that is not based on fact just years of owning probably 12 laptops and scouring forums for years. If you review many forums, you will come across post after post of issues with a laptops sleep and or hibernation modes. They are everywhere. I have come to the conclusion that lap rigs don't like sleep and hibernation modes, they want to go to bed i.e. shut down. I'm not sure if it is a windows thing or hardware thing but problems are much to common so why bother. When I get a new rig like yesterday receiving my 14, I go to power management and make sure it never enters these two modes, never. But that is just me.

 

Does Intel XTU work on the Alienware 14?

Change you change the turbo clocks with it?

 

I ordered one against my better judgement (I think) because all the reading about throttling and heat. I am a gluten for punishment. Guess I can always send it back... I should have it Wednesday..

 

Dude, you'll enjoy it. Its awesome... Benefits out weight the negatives for sure. I own one myself.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

 

Yup, absolutely. The throttling is easily fixed - it really is a great machine!

 

Cool... I hope so. All I play is BF3 and hopefully BF4 on it and COD2 online with some old clan buddies..