Alienware M17x R3 Review Discussion

Now in its third iteration, the M17x continues to be an impressive looker and performer. We go hands-on with this 17.3-inch top-shelf gaming notebook.

Read the full content of this Article: Alienware M17x R3 Review

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Great Review, very informative!

 

Yeah nice review Chaz.

Great machine for sure .

 

So when do we see the M18x review with GTX580 SLI???

 

nice review

 

Thanks for the review. Saw a minor typo, on the 1st page under Ports and Features you list USB 3 twice unstead of USB 2&3.

 

Good review, now I'm in a quandary weather to get this or a Clevo.

 

Depends on the cost of both and from which store you're thinking of buying the Clevo. Alienware (technically Dell now) has pretty good warranty support after you've made your purchase. Some Clevo resellers are great with after-purchase support and others pretty much forget about you after you've bought your notebook.

Dell/Alienware also offers frequent deals on Alienware notebooks, which makes them attractive if you're wanting huge bang for your buck.

If I found a good deal on a good configuration of a Clevo gaming notebook I wouldn't hesitate to buy it from a good reseller ... you just won't get to cool flashiness of the Alienware notebooks.

 

Thanks, that was really informative. I've always liked the idea of owning an Alienware, and one of the big selling points for me is the HDMI in.

 

This review just makes me want one even more! Good job ;]

 

Good review.

REPRESENT! ;p

 

Yes I was pleasantly surprised to see that the system has an HDMI In port!!! That's a huge selling point for me. I just imagine being able to play my PS3 through my laptop screen and not have to bother about getting a separate monitor...*drool* But alas, I have a long time before my next laptop purchase (my SXPS 1645 warranty goes until Jan 2013). Regardless, I'm happy with what I have now. Hopefully Alienware's look, quality, support and performance don't go down the drain by then .

 

Thanks for the good review. I'm wondering if anybody has any insight as to whether or not Alienware plans to offer a Blu Ray writer option?

Thanks!
Rayt

 

Yup. It's "rubberized" plastic. Plastic nonetheless...

 

That's odd, because the notebookcheck.net review specifically states that it's magnesium alloy, which is part of the reason over 2 lbs were cut off this one relative to the last one. They really liked the revision.

 

Sometimes a better configuration gets you a better price with Dell. For instance I dropped $20 or so adding the "$360" ram option because it jumped from 10% to 15% off. Trying to get one with the 6990m

 

Very informative review thank you for posting. I purchased a refurbished M17x R3 from the Dell Outlet two days ago. If you you can find a configuration that you like at the Dell Outlet and you do not mind a refurbished system you can save approximately 20% versus configuring the same system new. Moreover, through 7-29-11 there is a 15% off coupon for Dell Outlet coupons making the savings even greater. Since the coupon appeared there seem to be fewer configurations available and the ones that do appear do not stay online very long. Be ready to buy when you see what you want.

The system that I purchased has the 1920 x 1060 display, NVIDIA M460 GPU with 1.5M ram , 8GB systemram, Intel Core i7 2630QM CPU, two 320 GB HD's, Blue Ray Combo drive that reads blue ray and R/W DVD and CDROM. The base price of this system with free shipping was $1509 less 15% for the current coupon bringing the price down to $1282.65.

A big factor to me is the warranty that includes on-site service after remote phone diagnosis. My laptop serves as both a personal and business computer. I don't want to be without it for an extended period if it dies on me. I hope this is helpful to anyone who is considering a purchase.

 

Very nice deal ... congrats on the machine.

The Nvidia GTX 460M isn't as powerful as the AMD card in our test machine, but it's more than enough for the latest games. FOr the price, you can't go wrong. Enjoy it.

 

Thanks. Spot on with respect to the video card but a trade off I was willing to make to save some money. I received my Alienware laptop yesterday and am enjoying it. The only thing I would change about this laptop so far is that the sound volume when listening with head phones seems underpowered. My previous laptop was a XPS M1730 and the sound volume on that has a greater range. I'm told there might be some adjustments with the equalizer software that I can make to help.

 

I tried to purchase that one. when my card information was put through and processing it noticed it wasn't in inventory.lol you must have got to it seconds before i did.haha

 

good review! I don't think I could ever have a laptop as big as the m17x though.

 

I bought my Alienware M17 in june last year, I had it bounced around the world's oilfields, never an issue with it, until May 7th, turned it on at home, and the video went bonkers, and so it starts my nightmare, I called Dell, they said they's going to send parts to replace and a tech, I waited until the 12th, so i called again to find out where we were with the warranty, they said, we're dreadfully sorry, we have no record of your call , so i had to start the process all over again, 10 days later the tech shows up, he changes mobo, LCD panel and keyboard, so it looks like its running, next day the colors on the keyboard are all over the place, so i stay on the phone for 4 hours to get another visit programmed (Calling Dell is truly a nightmare, they hang up on you, so you have to call again and begin the story from scratch, i finally recored a call with my story, express code and everything else and played it for the next attendant) so they send me another tech with another mobo, LCD and keyboard, next day the PC goes off after 5 minutes, and here we go again, they show up yet again, change a bunch of stuff, and it does it again the very next day.

I haven't blown my top, yet, but im 1 minute from taking this piece of crap and taking it to the Consumer Protection agency, they have not offered to replace this piece of garbage......

 

Hello, RG_Hatchling, welcome to NBR.

Really sorry about your bad experience. I found out that a fast way to contact Dell and obtain support is thru their twitter page @DellCares.
Follow them and tweet about your problem. You should get an answer pretty fast.

Good luck, friend.

 

Thanks for the advice, I dont beleive I've ever been to a twitter page, or facebook, I find it impersonal, ill call Dell tomorrow, if there is no solution, its time to get a legal claim going...

RG

 

I know how you feel, the reason i signed up for tweeter was to contact Dell myself since everybody was recommending it. They were pretty fast with a solution too.

Try it, it might save you some time.

 

Well, they re supposed to send me a configuration of a replacement machine for my anproval, and then send me the machine.

My warranty expires tomorrow the 9th, I plan to buy 1 year extended warranty, i have no choice, if that thing breaks, internal pieces for that PC must be extremely expensive....on the other hand i feel driven into this, but its better than forking out another 5k for a new one.

 

40 days and counting, Dell still has not fixed my PC, nor have they decided what to do about it, they've been at my house 4 times, changed partically everything inside, and still it doesnt work, i did as you said and signed on Tweeter, Michael Dell was on there, i told him a thing or 2, that felt good...

 

it took Dell 45 days to fix my laptop, they changed everything on it, last visit they changed processor, video card and the memory modules, so far its running as it should, but still, it was a real torture to get it done, Dell's service is slow and tortuous, next PC i get will certainly be something else, the honey moon with Dell is over, im not goin thru all this again that's for sure....