Hey guys, just a couple misspeak clarifications (I dont use a teleprompter so it happens) When comparing to the Lenovo Legion I said that the Lenovo was $50 more than the Alienware, its actually $50 less! When talking about the fans taking too long to ramp up, I said that it takes a full minute for the fans to ramp when the CPU hits 60, I meant to say 100. Minor misspeaks but misspeaks none the less. Will try to do better!
All good Jay. I don't know how big your op is, so I'm not sure how feasible a reshoot would be once you caught those mistakes - as minor as they are. I still trust you a lot more than LTT at this point.
That's funny because the TSA always checked out my really old Alienware whenever I traveled with it (at the time it was like 25 lbs and they thought it was some kind of weird case full of electronics instead of a laptop).
I grew up always wanting an Alienware desktop. I finally bought one when I got a big boy job and I spent $5,000 on a top of the line specced PC. It was the biggest piece of junk I’ve ever owned. It was after Dell bought them. The front cover was cracked, one memory stick was dead and causing constant blue screens and hard crashes. It was like pulling teeth to get Dell to fix it. I spent hours on the phone with customer support it was a complete drain on my life. Eventually after several weeks of being jerked around by Dell’s support team, I filed a complaint with the BBB. Someone from Dell called me and arranged to pick it up and issue a full refund. I will never buy anything from them again. It was a complete disaster.
@@ffwast That was in fact literally just a typical dead-brained zoomer reply, failing to understand even the most obvious differences and, as per usual, the actual meaning of "literally"
I remember back in the day I wanted one sooo bad. I finally got one and honestly it was pretty sweet. The M11x was wayy ahead of its time and I use the hell out of it.
Same. Unfortunately ended up frying the gpu (wear and tear), but it was great while it lasted. The gpd win max series seems to revive that type of laptop
This is interesting considering Alienware has burned me for life. Ended up with an Alienware laptop years ago when I did a degree and within 3 weeks of having it, it died and took over 3 months to get it fixed after multiable returns. They replaced every part trying to fix the problem apart from the chassis and the keyboard and it ended up being the keyboard that was shorting out the motherboard... which I figured out myself after having enough of their BS... that and it 100% really was capable of cooking an egg when not even under load...
I've had the M18 with the i9 13900hx and RTX 4090 for about 6 months now and it's an absolute beast. most of the time I use an external monitor (Alienware QD-OLED 34in ultrawide) and keyboard so the screen options didn't really bother me. using a 15 tcc offset (85deg target) in command center and a mild GPU overclock I don't notice any throttling in games ever. I do have some feet that keep the laptop off the desk, but I don't have to use a cooler at all. my use case is mostly a desktop replacement gaming rig (some VR, racing sim rig, and a lot of Destiny 2) that I can also use to tune my car in the garage or travel with.
I recently picked up the m16 with a 4080 and the AMD 7845HX. Temps were initially high on the cpu but running it in balanced mode still crushed games that look great on the 240hz QHD+ screen. I also used the offset and the temps seem to have come down a bit
It makes me so happy to see that you aren't just doing partnerships for money reasons, and you actually do them for good products we actually want. Big kudos to you and the team Jay!
but JayZ doesn't care, he doesn't even include time stamps... also temperature graphs don't exist, he literally films a screen, such poor production quality i don't know how people even watch him
An alienware M15 with a 2070 super literally got almost gifted to me for $100 usd because the owner said it was broken and over heated, i just unvolted and its been running like a champ so im happy with it
Alienware always seemed a bit garish with their designs when I was younger, this looks quite nice aesthetically to me. Loved the Top Gun reference too!
I think we're in the same boat here; my last Alienware was an A51 from 2006. It had dual 8800's in it! Absolute powerhouse back in the day. A shame to see how the mighty have fallen.
Thanks for the review. Just picked up the M16 7845HX RTX 4080 from BestBuy, open box, on sale, about $600 off retail. Didn't take any time to get used to the keyboard, haven't accidently turned it off with the power button. Just upgraded the RAM to 64GB and added another M.2 drive. I've had issues with Alienware in the past, but this machine seems solid to me. Sorry you can't get over Dell, would have liked a real review on it.
I have an Alienware 17R4 with a GTX1080 from around 5 years ago and it runs great. I bought it as a student in the US and the customer support for Alienware was great. They had a separate call line for Alienware vs Inspiron and other Dell stuff. I had thermal issues on day 1 but I had a technician sent over in literally 3 days and had them repaste it for free with the Thermal Grizzly that I bought. Its been great since! I think its worth every premium penny I spent on it, I love it to death and its so easy to work on and upgrade. I really think you should give them another chance Jay! Ask them to send you a higher spec one, with the liquid metal stuff they add from factory. With Alienware the lower spec stuff really are trash - go big or go home.
I was actually considering an Alienware laptop alongside the Asus ROG laptop I eventually purchased 2 years ago. Looks like I was trying to pick between "bad" and "worse", because the ROG laptop (True to Asus Quality Standards) broke within a year and Asus made me jump through all the hoops you could ever dream of just to get my money back.
Yeah, I went through the hoops of looking at those two brands but quickly discovered they didn't have the best reputation. Now I'm looking at Lenovo legion or origin 17x for my next laptop.
My rog zephyrus m16 broke within like 2 or 3 months, tried to go through their warranty since it wasn't user caused and their response can be summed up to "not our problem".
I just bought an ROG Strix 18" 4080. So far the thing is absolutely amazing. I've had numerous high end laptops and so far the Strix is right up there with the other ones. The thermals are fuggin amazing. Cpu idle at 31c and never goes above 80c, meanwhile the gpu never exceeds 72c. I got one of the later 2023 batches and maybe ASUS really checked themselves. I'll remember your comment though if anything happens to it prematurely.
Still have an alienware laptop from back in the day and its going strong after all this time after a few upgrades of course. Back when Alienware was a solid brand 🙂 It weighs a bloody TON though
Same here! I have mine from 2011 (M17X R4). Rocking a 1 TB SSD, 2 TB HDD, and a GTX 970M I installed a few years ago. Downside is making edits to the drivers so it'll install properly.
same here. Have an M15 with an 8750h and the 2070, and a 15 R3 with the 7700hq and 1060. The M15 does het pretty toasty with that 8750h, as you cannot undervolt it, but the 15 R3 does pretty well really. It's a damned good unit.
I have a 3 year old Alienware m17 r2 and honestly yes it was expensive but it is the best built laptop I’ve ever had. It has a magnesium alloy chassis which makes it super rigid and it only weighs 5lbs.
Same! My first laptop was 10 years ago with the Alienware M17X R2. Now I have the M17 R2 with the 980M. In between both of these laptops, I had a Lenovo laptop and the build quality was trash and the henge broke so the screen was just hanging. Yes, Alienware is more expensive for the same price but you're paying for the quality, in-house build, and bragging rights in the same way a Ferrari is double the price of a Corvette with the same performance, no difference.
my AW from 2019, has been working avg degree of 90 C for 4 years.....still working, moreover AW has really solid and tuf build@@stanleysimmonsreactions9056
I guess it depends on what your level of gaming is. If you play older games or just not super graphicly intense games then maybe it can be an option. I personally would save up and get a newer GPU one but if you're on a budget then yea M17 R2 is great in my personal experience.@@R0CKFORD
@@aldoortega4496Or the guy just upgrades whenever he wants to. Not goo g to act like I've never done it, not specifically with Alienware, but I'll buy myself a PC, and see a sale on one that is technically better specced and grab it. I just give the other PC to a friend.
In a world where some RUclipsrs are struggling with integrity issues, it’s nice to see consideration and honest perspective, even more refreshingly shooting down a sponsor opportunity that doesn’t quite fit rather than shoehorning dollars into your pocket and distorted content onto the channel. Kudos, guys, appreciate your work!
@@mat967 while I can’t speak for anyone else, I’m simply expressing support for this channel and this video with my comment. Whether I am right, wrong, or inevitably somewhere in the murky middle, it would be a mistake on your part to presume I harbor any “hate” for anybody. But since you mentioned it, I also have no problems with being transparent-I am certainly disappointed with all the shenanigans going on with Linus and crew. This isn’t his channel though, nor is it his video, so I won’t spend any time further chumming the waters for unrelated commentary. My point is that on this particular issue of accepting sponsorship (and the related laptop review), this channel was relatively transparent and relatively honorable when considered against folks like LTT and their current issues. Given the current climate of this admittedly marketing-dominated medium, my commentary is at bare minimum relevant and perhaps even necessary as we all wade our way through the madness. So far as I’m concerned, Linus doesn’t need random support online, rather, he needs to step up and accept responsibility. While no one is perfect, I applaud this example of doing better than he has done recently. I am not merely mindlessly piling on to dramatics and theatrics. You are entitled to disagree or agree as you see fit, I wish all involved nothing but the best.
Struggling with integrity? More like intentional money grabbing while sacrificing one's conscious, or lack thereof. Luckily for Linus, his in-law parents stepped in to give him a beat down. If not for that, he would have ended up like Logan.
I'm still rocking a Alienware 18 deployed November 11 of 2013. That thing is a serious tank! I love it. Even has SLI GTX770Ms, which results in awesome battery consumption!
I bought an alienware in 2017 for $1400 on 30% sale with a military discount on top of that (only company who does that) Im still using it today. I added 4 times the ram. Replaced the hard drive with a solid state when it got old. Bought a new GPU in the summer and a new power supply to run it because i went from an rx580 to an rx6750xt. Its never crashed. Nothing has ever broken. Nothing weird. I dont know whats wrong with everyone and how you all seem to run your computers into the ground.
@TheAgentAssassin I've only experienced two issues that I can point the blame at alienware for. 1. I've upgraded half the parts in it and the bios doesn't like my new CPU fan. So it tells me that every time I start it. (Goes away after I click 'ok' so it's not a problem) 2. Poorly applied thermal paste.
i have a 2014 14 inch with a i5 4200m and GTX 765m. I upgraded it to 16gb ram and moved up to windows 10 and have loved it. I'm upgrading soon but considering the age this thing is awesome. My experience with my alienware has been fantastic, I would def recommend.
We purchased an Alienware M18 for my son as an engineering freshman. Availability of on-site service at his college was one of the main reasons we went with Dell versus another brand. Performance has been good but longevity and wisdom is still up in the air. Thanks for covering the M16 Jay.
I used to own a M15X back in the day and just after my warranty expired the hinges starting literally coming apart and cracked my screen as I tried to open and close it. When I reached out to Alienware, customer support see if there was anything they could do, they simply told me sorry you’re out of warranty. I believe for the price point you can get more performance from somewhere else.
I bought my first Alienware earlier this year, an M15 R7. Has the 6900HX and a 3070Ti. Runs well and stays relatively cool in performance mode. My biggest gripes have actually been more about Windows 11 than the laptop itself. The only thing I wish Dell had done is enable Tbolt 3 backwards compatibility for the USB 4 port. I got it for a cheaper price when I compared it to similarly specced laptops from other brands I researched at the time and I'm fairly happy with it. However it will be replaced with my Framework 16 once that shows up next year.
I thought thunderbolt was intel cpus exclusive? I have an m17 r5 with the same specs, but id recommend installing tiny11 to speed things up and do away with unnecessary background tadks eating up cpu and gpu usage. I just had a way better experience afterwards
I got a 6900hs and 6850m xt with 4k 120 Hz. I do regret getting the 4k but they didn't have the 1440p display that I wanted. You can use AMD super resolution to increase the resolution of the display
I got the same one earlier this year (6900/3070Ti) and it is an excellent machine, my only gripe is win 11 (chrome book edition). The M15 it was priced lower than many of the 3060 specked laptop offerings.
Interesting review. I have the M16 with the 4080 in it and I can say that I'm very happy with it. For full disclosure I typically use a lapdesk when I use it that has ventilation on the under side of the board so allows further air flow. My experience with the M16 has been very solid. I was actually impressed with the thermals. My last laptop was an ASUS Zepherus with a 2070 in it and that sucker got so hot I couldn't even use some of the keys on the keyboard without extreme discomfort. I've ran my M16 for 8+ hours gaming and I've never had hot keys or anything of that nature. I find it interesting that my experience is significantly different then yours. Keep up the good work sir! Thought I would throw my experience out there.
Good to hear that. Is that still the case? I just bought an open box from BB with same specs m16 R1 R9 7845 RTX 4080 for $1,200 + taxes. I will pick it up tomorrow. Anyways I was looking for some reviews and feedback. I just sold my old Asus Zephyrus with GTX 1060 (this was insanely hot and fans noisy as hell), I also sold my Z13 ACRNM i9 RTX4070 it was good but at same time I hated it, it was compact but battery life sucks, could not use in my lap that was the reason I bought it. I know m16 will not be portable but will be good for gaming for a couple years
@@Fr4nkSanchez I'm still enjoying mine. The only real thing that drives me nuts whenever I use it is that there is no chin for the keyboard. I've learned to still be okay with it but they fixed this with the new revision so it was a miss but as far as hardware goes and just quality of the machine it's still awesome!
I have an Alienware X17 R1, it's been the best laptop I've owned. But, I had to buy 2 other Alienwares and return them before I finally found the one that I fell in love with. The build quality is outstanding on it, and it's super easy to work on yourself. They even give breakdown directions in the manual. My complaint with it is that I wish it ran cooler, but I love it anyways.
I bought, and returned it because the mouse pad wasn't lit right otherwise I would have kept it. It was the nicest thing I ever owned!. I wish I would have got another. Maybe next time! However it was a struggle to order at first which sucked, and was time consuming due to needing to call them. (Forgot why)
after investigating, checking, and checking reviews everywhere, my advice before you buy this M16, 1. buy it on sale. (2,199$ in best buy) good deal for i9/4080 2. Isn't ready out of the box. (You have to some adjust in the bios/AWCC/a lot of shit to do) 3. Seize the sale and get a 5600mhz RAM. (not from Dell please) literally, you have to test, adjust, retest, and adjust the M16 by yourself, is a shame a powerful and such expensive laptop comes out of the box like this, not all people who buy a laptop are tech-savvy, some people just want to turn it ON and done, so for 2199, is a good deal, but you have to be ready to deal some hours after got it to fix it and seize all the power of the M16.
Never owned any Alienware product but when they first came out I was really interested but couldn't afford it because I was still in school with only parttime job, but after they became part of Dell I lost all interest in Alienware.
Years ago my only Alienware purchase was: (2) X51s & a 14" laptop. They served me well & I still have al (3) collecting dust now. This 16" reviewed better than I thought it was going to, but I still think Dell/AW prices items a bit heavy-handed. I've read about Dell customer service horror stories & AW's proprietary items which always make me hesitate in considering them nowadays & it's probably just my bad timing but whenever I do look at their site their "sales" don't really seem like sales to me.
Dell Australia was recently fined $6.5 million for price shenanigans on their website, so I wonder if their sales are even sales at all. As for their customer support, I've had great experiences if you're within warranty. They will ship out items to you or send a technician to do the repair for you. However, that doesn't mean their customer support will be great all the time, so I can imagine people having issues. I also hate the weird, proprietary engineering Dell and Alienware do with their desktops, meaning it's hard to reuse and upgrade them. The Alienware desktops might be easier to upgrade, since they're likely to have better PSUs and more space, so at least there's that.
Regarding the power brick though, on a positive note, at least if the power brick is that overpowered, then it's probably going to last longer unless you're using it on those OP models, I wish I suppose in the smaller case is actually a benefit, since we all know that those adapters are going to break and you are going to have to pay out the ass unless you can find some cheap universal replacement.
I got into PC Gaming when I got an Alienware M17x R3 back in 2011, loved that laptop. 120hz 3d screen with Nvidia 3d Glasses and Nvidia 560m, gpu died after 4 years.
I liked the Alienware laptops more back when they stubbornly refused to go thin and light when everyone else did. Those “laptops” were 11 lbs, but they were built like tanks and used the extra girth for cooling headroom. Yes, it was basically a desktop that easily packed up to take with and not really a “laptop”, but that’s really how most people use a gaming laptop anyway. Those older chonky models at least differentiated themselves.
It took less than 4 minutes of this video for a flaw to show up. No numpad region on this keyboard. I'm certain there are far more problems with this laptop but I'm not interested in finding them out.
I still have my Alienware M17x from 2010 that I bought for one of my Iraq deployments. Ended up being REALLY busy with people shooting at us all the time but when I did get the chance that thing ran whatever game I wanted to.. Sounded like it was going to lift off and fly around but it never overheated even when the ambient air hit the 120s°F. I was there when the temp hit 127.4°F..... Laptop was packed up by then as we where a month from heading back. I'd bet good money it would have flown around the room trying to stay cool. LOL
I used to really like Alienware, Then I realized they were selling me a product with no ability to upgrade. They effectively castrate your ability to move forward with tech, but happy to remind you that they will always be willing to finance you a newer model. Thanks to you Jay, and Bitwit, and Paul I decided I was never going to do a pre built ever again. Last year I built my first pc, simply to give the EVGA 3080 FTW3 I had just purchased to upgrade that Alienware, a new home as Alienware DID NOT like me putting that in the pc (effectively locked the system up because it was not a dell official product.) I have built 3 computers since then, and one of them a super small form factor build. I have loved every moment of the last year, way more than if I would have just thrown away more money on a dell opti plex reskinned. I will NEVER buy anything Dell or Alienware again. Thank you so much Jay and crew, you really did inspire me to go outside the pre boxed sink holes.
An absolute Alienware hitjob. If you don't like the company because of an experience you had 20 years ago then don't review the laptop. But the majority of your gripes are things that already have built in solutions - "the cpu runs at 100c, but I won't use the integrated cooling system" if you ran the thing in the overdrive mode with maxed out fans you'd notice the cpu temps rarely get above 85c during gaming - wow you mean I actually have to use the cooling system to keep it cool? Shocker. "The rubber ring is restricting airflow", newsflash, all laptops cool down when you lift them off the surface they're on that's why people make money selling cooling pads - wow, again, what a shocker. "For 3 whole seconds the pc freezes as it switches between igpu and gpu, what a hardship" you mean to tell me you had to wait 3 whole seconds after hours of gaming to do something, wow, that is quite a hardship. "The battery dropped to 73% in 30 minutes when I had it in performance mode, what a junker" really?? A laptop that has components that require a 300 watt power supply goes through it's battery life quickly when it's in performance mode?? Wow this is all brand new information. I'm glad you decided to turn their deal down because I think I speak for quite a few of us when I say, we just want objective reviews of these machines and you didn't even touch on any of the major benefits of the alienware computers. Alienware really dodged a bullet on this one.
Even speccing from a Dell laptop to an Alienware with the same hardware is like a +$500 premium, the only difference is the chassis. I almost bought one back in the day but went will DellXPS19 instead, with dual 8800gtx gfx cards. If you wanna take a look at that old beast it ill send it to you guys to test and tear apart.
I bought a Alienware i7 11800h/ rtx2070 laptop after having a long great 4 years with a dell inspiron 960m gaming laptop. I was not disapointed at all it has been great for the last 4 years and im probably going to use it for another couple of years. I just recomend waiting for a sale from the dell website because they happen often.
So Aliemware has a deal for an M16 4080 12gb, 64g ram for 2000. Would you guys recommend it ? The price seems very fair for the hardware and all I want is to do is 3d modeling animation and play BG3 and Dragon's Dogma 2
Your comments about elevating it reminded me that laptop cooler platforms or pads are a thing. Do you think this unit would have benefitted favourably from using something like that, perhaps helping reduce the temps a bit more even?
most probably. even passive stand with no fans underneath would have improved the airflow thus reducing the temps and fans struggle to push past the resistance when facing the "floor". one thing I always remind people around me of is not to use tablecloths under any laptop. that should be an obvious thing, but somehow people just don't realize how much blankets and other types of cloths kill the airflow and shorten the lifespan of at least the cooling fans if not the laptop itself. yes it's cozy having a computer on your knees in bed on a cold winters night, but it's also devastating to it's hardware.
@@edplat2367 It was so long ago that I had to look it up - it was dual 256MB GeForce 8700M GT. For those interested, the other specs are 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 and 2GB of 667MHz memory. And I was wrong - it was a Dell XPS M1730, apparently prior to Dell buying out Alienware (though I did have an Alienware later on, I think).
Really awesome things about the X16/M16 laptops. Esp M16. They set up for amazing performance for quiet/balanced modes. I compared a mercury blade with a 4080 to the X16 with a 4080 and much worse CPU (worse than the M16) and I was getting much better performance and less fan noise out of the X16. Build Quality equals Razor. I wouldn't buy tbe M16 but the X16 looks awesome. Biggest issue that was barely emphasized was the crappy screens. Esp for the X16. Only reason I choose the Razer over the X16 was for the Mini-Led 1000 nits.
The last "gamer" laptop I bought was a Sager notebook with a Clevo motherboard for half the price of a similar Alienware in 2005. I got about 4 good years out of it before the gpu fried. Since then it's been desktop for gaming for about a third of the price all the way.
Those are actually some beasty CPU scores. I have a laptop with 6800H, so the previous generation. Cinebench, even cranked, it does ~1550 single core, and 14500 multithread, so you're talking a good ~15-20% single core performance uplift, and almost double multithread. Impressive gains in a single generation.
I used an alienware laptop from 2012 through 2017 while I went through architecture school. It was great at the time but nearing the end of 2016 it was already feeling its age and I could tell it didn't have much life left. Overall it wasn't a bad laptop, it just liked to get very loud when I was doing any kind of rendering or gaming.
I just found your channel by chance or mood of the YT algorithm gods' and instantly subbed. I even didn't mean to buy an Alienware or a gaming laptop, FWIW. But love your direct, brutally honest and straight-to-the-point style of narrative. Rara avis around here. Kudos and keep up the good works on these vids.
Having 10lbs of laptop weight on my backpack is worth it for high quality gaming on the go imo. I used to carry my Series X with me when I travel, most of the time internationally. It's been a relief since I bought myself a Legion i7 last year. Best investment I have ever done!
@@dawnfire82 The problem is thats a heavy laptop to only come with a 7600 , Especially when you consider you could buy a clevo model for not much more that has a 13900HX + 4080. It also had the added bonus of not being so garish with its gamer aesthetic , thats entirely user subjective though.
I never had an Alienware device. However, I do have a couple of Dell XPS which I use every day. So far, my warranty experience with DELL UK has been great! When I initially purchased my XPS 9710, they supplied me with the wrong keyboard layout to what I ordered. I emailed them explaining the problem, they got back asked me two questions; 'would I prefer to send the machine back?' or 'they send the part out and do a DIY replacement?' I chose the latter. Within a week, they sent me a new OEM part to fit. I asked if I accidentally damage my machine during the process, would I be covered under warranty? They said yes... So I proceeded to do a keyboard replacement.. I created a lengthy video about this, it's on my channel.
Seeing what looks like the same power brick my old Dell M1730 used puts me off. Anyone who had one of those will remember the bios that put the laptop into a nearly useless low performance/low power mode if it didn't recognize the official power brick. And that brick would break the little wire that identified it to the laptop withing a few weeks if you actually ever move the unit around or actually treated it as portable. I would be curious if they still have that "safety feature" on these new systems now the Dell took over.
I went with Alienware about 3-4 years back (m15 R3) after having quality issues with other brands. I decided to give them a shot because I got one on an exceptionally good deal. Its been a really solid unit with absolutely zero problems. I don't think that's ever happened with a laptop for me, much less a gaming laptop. So I think build quality in the long term is worth talking about. I've had an MSI and Asus gaming laptop that were bought around the same time and have already died. My relative has the Dell clone of my Alienware (m15 r2) that is also still running fine. I keep hearing that Lenovo should have good lasting quality like this. Sample size of 3 and all but yeah.
Something you forgot to mention is how bad is the bloatware on the system. Whenever I get a new laptop I immediately reinstall windows so I don't have to deal with that.
Compared to Blade and MSI, current Alienware laptops aren't as expensive as you think. My M18 with a i913900HX, RTX4080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Cherry Keyboard was $2600. It's been a great experience so far!
@SoranoGuardias only reason I'm going with an i9 is it'll play dual roles as both a gaming and video editing machine. You have a very solid setup at a great price!
I also had an alienware laptop from 2011, I had an M18x with radeon crossfire lol. that thing lasted me for years, I sold it in 2022 for surprisingly, 1/3 of what I paid for it still back then, sure it was not perfect, I had worn down keycaps etc, or a broken track pad, which I addressed and fixed myself with replacement parts, but what I am trying to say is, at least in 2011 they were good enough, you could just replace any broken or worn down part, and upgrade them to a certain degree, that is what kept it going, to the point it still was worth something in 2022, it had really good performance and okay thermals, the noise tho...it was like a spaceship taking off and the battery life was abyssmal. even from new, when I sold it, it had a new battery and it was the kind of laptop youre lucky if it lasts 50 minutes.
I like that you go a bit in-depth without going into lengthy comparisons with performance when some people don't need comparisons. The "Is it good enough" instead of "What's the best/least expensive" laptop is the mentality a lot of people have. You make it easy to digest and more accessible. Some people might want more in-depth stuff, but there's other channels for that. Kudos on the quality videos. :)
I get the power limits... My laptop works as expected but even trying to push it a little hurts the thermals coz we can't compare them to Desktops in terms of cooling.
I bought one back in 2015 and it ran all fine till 2022, and finally sold it off at 35% cost. It was a AW17 R3 with GTX 980 and i7 6700 HQ. Weighed in a good hefty 3.8 kgs plus its heavy 180W power brick. (It required one battery and one speaker replacement in it's life). Now, I am again searching for a good gaming laptop and can't help myself in deciding between Alienware vs all other brands. My budget stands at a maximum of 1800$. I hope I stumble upon a great deal!
Jay, these laptops on sale are worth it, the other thing you may not be aware of is that if you get tired of the Alienware laptop you got, you can actually get trade in credit with Dell for a better model. I feel that is something to be taken into consideration also.
I had one of these with a 10875H and 2070 super, was playing siege one day, no OC no tweaking done to the pc ever, and the pc just cut off and never turned back on. Dell scheduled their techs to come out and fix it, took 2 weeks and they broke it opening it, and had to RMA it, another month, and then they sent me a laptop with a 2070 and not a 2070 super, and a 165hz screen instead of a 300hz screen. Pretty great experience.
I have an Alienware 15 R3, Manufacturered in 2017. I spec'ed it but didnt enjoy what I had chosen as soon as it arrived. I got the 4K display on it, and at the time the best GPU for it was the Radeon RX 570, which at the resolution of the display was pretty underwhelming. It has the Intel i7-7700HQ, and 32GB of RAM. Its heavy. When I flew for work, I had to put the power brick in my checked luggage, and the laptop by itself in the laptop backpack. It chews through the battery pretty fast too - but thats somewhat to be expected. It gets hot too. I 3D printed and designed some standoffs which clip to the rear cooler, and step the back end of the laptop up, so it can breath better - which made a huge difference. More so than the tests you showed on this latest Alienware in this video. I could play Cyberpunk, but it was way down on the settings. Its still going, but I dont play games on it anymore, havent for a while, and really its just if I need a mobile computer for a particular job, else I just use my desktop these days. I wouldnt buy another one again, and your review confirms the main reasons. I installed Windows 11 on it last year, which was no problems at all. Runs totally fine and havent had any issues with it, so that was a bonus - as it was the test device I used for Windows 11 before I installed it on my desktop.
Something to be wary about is that the hinges are fragile. I have an m15r4, and I've had the screws pop out the sides of the hinges and takes some very delicate and fragile work to get them back in place.
7:18 and they failed already, that head was designed to prevent factory workers from tightening the screws too much, it is not made with the idea that they will be removed for service or upgrade, even flathead is better in that regard. They should be using something that won't strip if you look at it wrong.
My bro-in-law worked for Dell, and I used their friends and family discount to pick up an Alienware laptop a few years back with a GTX 1070 for an actually good price. Other than the short battery life (because gaming laptop) it's been a solid performer and has an amazing screen. It still works good for modern gaming too, with Diablo 4 and Baldur's Gate 3 being the most recent games I've played on it. As long as you can get a competitive price, I'd recommend one. It's fun to meme on Alienware in general, but their laptops are solid. Regarding fan noise, I have an old remote control that I stick under the back of the laptop to give it a quarter inch lift for the fans to suck in more air. As Jay mentioned it doesn't change the thermals, but it does run cooler and has less fan noise with the tilt allowing more air intake. I imagine you'd get the same results with any gaming laptop if you do that though. Once the headphones are on, you don't hear the fans anyways.
Since Alienware scammed their customers by selling the Area 51M as an upgradable laptop then never delivered and discontinued the product I’ll never buy one again. They’ve become horrible since Dell acquired them.
An unfortunate situation but it's not their fault that Intel changed the desktop socket again. Their desktops are underwhelming but their laptops are great, and the customer support is top tier. No need for the NPC Alienware hate.
@@noahbollinger2828 and the upgradable GPU modules they said they they would produce to allow people to upgrade to newer gens(and didn’t deliver either)? Is that also somehow not their fault?… Cope and seethe harder fanboi
I got an m16r1 and i LOVE it, the only thing is that alienware control center takes updating and windows 11 pre install is garbage. A clean wipe fresh OS, AWCC up to do date version and this thing is a powerhouse, it's got great cooling and handles everything i've thrown at it. i got the i9-3900hx and rtx4080 and bagawd. Everyone complains about the 300 nit brightness but it seems fine to me. i don't even keep it at max brightness, i feel its too bright. i got a gt500 cooling pad and the temps are massively better
As someone who got the maxed out x16 from alienware and have been pretty satisfied. I gotta say. Their stuff is probably not the best, but every brand got their quirks, just comes down to which quirks you can accept from which company.
@@blackfacegaming191I got a razer laptop and the screen had such awful ghosting i had to return it. They tried to charge me a $300 restocking fee!! Their own customer support got me my money back on the 4th attempt. The guys name was Sushil, I still remember his name
Ive owned several Alienware laptops and desktops over the years. None of them had any major problems other than 2 of the laptops. The first Alienware laptop I had was a 15 inch silver model with edge lighting, might have been the first model ever with RGB lighted keys, and glossy screen. I upgraded the CPU, RAM and HD on that one myself and kept it many years. The batteries were super easy to pop out with just a button press on the bottom of the laptop, so I could charge up multiple batteries and swap them out on the go. I also found a way to disable Optimus on that laptop so it would run the GPU at faster clock speeds and not switch to the iGPU on battery. The only problem I had with it was the left hinge broke and cracked the plastic on that side. After that one I had a huge 17 inch Alienware laptop that I upgraded to have an internal blu-ray drive. I believe that had an nvidia 680GTX GPU. It lasted a long time and after many years the sound card died which meant no more sound from the speakers and AUX/headphone jack. Then I got an Alienware 15 that had no more DVD/bluray drive, but it was still good. Then in 2018 I sold that one and got an Alienware M15 R4 with a nvidia 1080 GTX. This one lasted exactly 7 years until the battery recently started puffing up. It puffed up so bad, it cracked open the right side of the laptop case. I watched a youtube video on how to remove the battery since these modern Alienware laptops started copying Apple's policy of making it really difficult to upgrade/repair/replace any internal parts including the battery... And sure enough you need to remove 6 external screws, use a plastic sploodge to carefully unsnap the cover, then remove 20 screws scattered all over the place with some marked and some not marked, unplug the battery cable, unplug both fan cables, unscrew and remove the 2 very tiny and fragile wifi cables, remove the wifi card, unplug, unscrew and remove both the SSD drive and nvme drive, carefully remove the very fragile keyboard ribbon cable, then use the plastic sploodge thing to carefully unsnap a giant plastic tray, then finally 1 more screw and you can remove the puffy battery and replace it with a new one. This is a roughly 45 minute process... compare that with the time it took me to pop out and swap a battery on my first Alienware laptop which took just 2 seconds to do it and if that battery started puffing up, it wouldnt destroy the entire laptop like these newer ones do. Anyway I bought a replacement battery on ebay and it charges only up to 78% and when you remove the charge cable, the laptop instantly shuts down. So I am just going to sell this and buy a new laptop thats not Alienware this time. I think they really need to go back to the older designs at least for the batteries so you can easily pop them out without unscrewing anything. And bring those prices back down to something affordable.
I ended up getting a Alienware M15 R7 and a Alienware X17 r2 and love both of them. One had a 3080 and one has a 3070. One has a i9 12900 and one is a 6900hx. Both do pretty great. Though they are older and I was picky with the ones I got. I didn't like what folks were saying about these new ones.
I had one from 03-06 and absolutely loved it. Bought another in 13 and sold it in 13 at a loss because I did not care for it THAT much. Super laggy, roasted my lap and just didn't perform like the previous one had performed. I have looked at used ones since- to buy and to trade- and just never taken to them. I used to live off of Asus laptops, but my last two have roasted the mobo in the first year. So I've been living without a laptop for the last almost 8 years.
We tried Alienware after ROG (x2 ea) and HP (x4 ea) in 2017. We were aware of complaints. The Aurora has been perfect to date. The M15 has been perfect to date. New battery. Used for Remote office work daily for 4 years, on the road, CAD, video production, photo processing, and household uses. No complaints.
Dell inspiron have been my laptops going back to 2007. they have great warranty and they will ship you all the parts you need - overnight - to minimize down time. motherboards, keyboards, screens... you repalce them, comes with prepaid shipment to return your old parts. A++ customer service. Dell is the only laptop i will ever buy. i did try the M17R3 but performance wise i just went with a desktop.
I have a problem with your review. So what your saying is, that all the problems you have with this is fixable in the setting that’s you didn’t test. Because you arbitrarily decided that users weren’t going to do that. Fan, etc. You have something personal going on and can’t provide an unbiased review. Maybe the deal went bad and your gaslighting everyone?
Wow another title that explicitly states what the video is about. Thats about 4 times in two weeks... so awsome! Im Hooked. Now lets see about this expensive laptop. I had a M11x years ago. The lighting was cool; the hinge problen that plagued them wasnt. But Dell did finally provided and even extended a hinge replacement program for the issue.
Wow. Your experience was literally mine (2003) and as soon as Dell bought them and pushed them into the XPS line... I have looked many times, but they just have too many design problems, power problems and pricing problems. They need to be better or as good as a Macbook Pro w/Windows for me to care... and they aren't. Thanks for the great review.
I've been having nothing but issues on my older Dell laptop I use for business so I finally replaced the fan and heat sink with a new old stock and some kingpin the other day and noticed that all of the vents on the bottom of my Dell laptop were literally blocked by black tape designed to channel air in a really really insignificant way for other models of the laptop so completely removed it and now I temperatures are way way better
I worked for Dell for 3 years, during my time it was insane, but the warrenty extends to the Alineware systems. So you are fully able to service the system yourself however you break anything you'll need Accidental Damage to cover it, you can also purchase AD after purchasing your system you can't use it though until 30 days after purchase
I have a work Dell laptop with a 12900HX and an A2000. I see the same heat dissipation design issues with it as you do with the Alienware. I ended up having to buy some wedges to prop it up for both when I work from my main desk and travel because the fans would constantly be at 100% in use. This seems to be a Dell issue all across the board.
I currently own an Alienware X14 R2 and love it. I did have issues with my old Alienware 13 R2, but Alienware repaired it free of charge since it was still under warranty. The horror show started when the display died, and they referred me to the Dell division. Dell was horrible. They had no idea what they were doing, and I ended up losing $250 for nothing. I literally repaired the laptop myself. Even after the bad experience, I gave Alienware another chance. So far I really love my X14 R2 and I hope it lasts a good while.
5:30 yeah, not having ports, but trading that for 80'C air blowing at your hand. ufff.... most companies allow opening on back-plate, so you can use compressed air and clean it up a bit, and add/replace ram/ssd's. I ask for this each time I buy a laptop, its instant no go if they tell me I cannot do that. Acer, asus, msi all of them told me its fine, but please RTFM before you do. Dell was one of most open in how far they let me dig myself, so I assume alienware is as well.
Hello! I've got an X17 R4, and I can confirm that they do not put adequate feet on the bottom of any Alienware laptop. If I prop this thing up just 1/3" or so, the temp difference is real. The cooling solution inside is actually REALLY good, but they just don't have an adequate amount of airflow underneath, which makes me sad. Worse: I've tried an M17 R4 and an M15 R2, and both systems had the SAME problem. With the MUX though, my battery life doesn't suck (as long as a I remember to turn it down from 360 Hz refresh on the screen). My X17 R4 is a pretty sick system though, and the build quality is better than any other gaming laptop I've laid hands on. Also, hands down, the best keyboard (it's Cherry Red for laptops) I've ever used on a laptop as well. I also love the port config with just about everything on the back of the machine. Side note: my laptop has a long delay on the power button too . . . you get used to it, but it's weird.
It is too bad about the venting underneath the laptop. If that was remedied along with a more vibrant/brighter screen, I would probably buy one if it went on sale. I have been a long time fan of Alienware/Dell, and the last one I bought was back in 2014 of the Aurora R4 that actually I am still using, but I just can't do it again. I wish their quality was better to reflect the price-point. Thanks for reviewing the laptop, it has helped me a lot. Love all you do! :)
I bought a Dell Gaming series laptop a few years ago. These Alienware units are the essentially the same foundation but with higher spec components and the typical Alienware aesthetic. There's not much that differentiates them otherwise.
14:30 I actually got a pair of feets that come with 3m tape and I have to say, it doesn't improve temps too much (around 5c) but hell does it make my laptop a lot quieter, runs on boost longer and gives me a bit more ease of mind knowing it's sucking in more fresh air ❤
Hey guys, just a couple misspeak clarifications (I dont use a teleprompter so it happens)
When comparing to the Lenovo Legion I said that the Lenovo was $50 more than the Alienware, its actually $50 less!
When talking about the fans taking too long to ramp up, I said that it takes a full minute for the fans to ramp when the CPU hits 60, I meant to say 100.
Minor misspeaks but misspeaks none the less. Will try to do better!
Everyone's gonna be soooo para about this sort of stuff for the next 6 months :-)
@@--_DJ_-- Im screwed
@gamersnexus 😆
@@columelvin3081Ill tell you this though. Steve better hope no mistakes slip on his end.... for obvious reasons. And mistakes WILL happen!
All good Jay. I don't know how big your op is, so I'm not sure how feasible a reshoot would be once you caught those mistakes - as minor as they are. I still trust you a lot more than LTT at this point.
At airport
“Sir what is in your bag?”
“Oh yeah thats just my m16.”
“You mean a gun??”
“No, it’s a laptop”
@@MuzakkiEa25 🗿
That's funny because the TSA always checked out my really old Alienware whenever I traveled with it (at the time it was like 25 lbs and they thought it was some kind of weird case full of electronics instead of a laptop).
I grew up always wanting an Alienware desktop. I finally bought one when I got a big boy job and I spent $5,000 on a top of the line specced PC. It was the biggest piece of junk I’ve ever owned. It was after Dell bought them. The front cover was cracked, one memory stick was dead and causing constant blue screens and hard crashes. It was like pulling teeth to get Dell to fix it. I spent hours on the phone with customer support it was a complete drain on my life. Eventually after several weeks of being jerked around by Dell’s support team, I filed a complaint with the BBB. Someone from Dell called me and arranged to pick it up and issue a full refund. I will never buy anything from them again. It was a complete disaster.
Don't frett they sucked before Dell bought them too.
The BBB is literally just yelp for boomers
@@ffwast That was in fact literally just a typical dead-brained zoomer reply, failing to understand even the most obvious differences and, as per usual, the actual meaning of "literally"
@@misatzudont forget the emojis and the "word" "unironically" + bro here and there.
You bought a Dell computer. Sucks you never experienced the awesomeness they were in the late 90s and in the 2000s pre-Dell.
I’ll never forget my 19”, dual gpu Alienware laptop running Windows XP. What a monster.
Haha good old days what was it called crossfire something? lol
I remember back in the day I wanted one sooo bad. I finally got one and honestly it was pretty sweet. The M11x was wayy ahead of its time and I use the hell out of it.
Brand tanked as soon as it was acquired by Dell
Same. Unfortunately ended up frying the gpu (wear and tear), but it was great while it lasted.
The gpd win max series seems to revive that type of laptop
Best damn laptop I've ever had
M11x was way ahead agreed. Solid little machine
We need gaming laptops in the 11 inch form factor again
This is interesting considering Alienware has burned me for life. Ended up with an Alienware laptop years ago when I did a degree and within 3 weeks of having it, it died and took over 3 months to get it fixed after multiable returns. They replaced every part trying to fix the problem apart from the chassis and the keyboard and it ended up being the keyboard that was shorting out the motherboard... which I figured out myself after having enough of their BS... that and it 100% really was capable of cooking an egg when not even under load...
Same issue. I wasted my entire first year of college fixing issues and having 4 replacement laptops. Went with a legion instead
I bought an Alienware M16 RTX4070 last November. So far it hasn't given me any headaches.
I've had the M18 with the i9 13900hx and RTX 4090 for about 6 months now and it's an absolute beast. most of the time I use an external monitor (Alienware QD-OLED 34in ultrawide) and keyboard so the screen options didn't really bother me. using a 15 tcc offset (85deg target) in command center and a mild GPU overclock I don't notice any throttling in games ever. I do have some feet that keep the laptop off the desk, but I don't have to use a cooler at all. my use case is mostly a desktop replacement gaming rig (some VR, racing sim rig, and a lot of Destiny 2) that I can also use to tune my car in the garage or travel with.
We got a lot in common lmao
I recently picked up the m16 with a 4080 and the AMD 7845HX. Temps were initially high on the cpu but running it in balanced mode still crushed games that look great on the 240hz QHD+ screen. I also used the offset and the temps seem to have come down a bit
@@Young_Bourdainbought the same laptop runs hot but plays all my games fine
It makes me so happy to see that you aren't just doing partnerships for money reasons, and you actually do them for good products we actually want. Big kudos to you and the team Jay!
I respect Jayz for turning down the offer alienware provided. It proves he cares about products and what consumers pay for.
Unlike someone else we know
Its just Jay. Not JayZ
he's just shortening the name of the channel. There is a Z in the channel name. @@Waldherz
but JayZ doesn't care, he doesn't even include time stamps... also temperature graphs don't exist, he literally films a screen, such poor production quality i don't know how people even watch him
@@deivytrajansays on Jayz channel’s comments section 😂
An alienware M15 with a 2070 super literally got almost gifted to me for $100 usd because the owner said it was broken and over heated, i just unvolted and its been running like a champ so im happy with it
Alienware always seemed a bit garish with their designs when I was younger, this looks quite nice aesthetically to me. Loved the Top Gun reference too!
I know it’s an Alienware but you did it a slight but important disservice by not showing the color keyboard.
I think we're in the same boat here; my last Alienware was an A51 from 2006. It had dual 8800's in it! Absolute powerhouse back in the day. A shame to see how the mighty have fallen.
Thanks for the review. Just picked up the M16 7845HX RTX 4080 from BestBuy, open box, on sale, about $600 off retail. Didn't take any time to get used to the keyboard, haven't accidently turned it off with the power button. Just upgraded the RAM to 64GB and added another M.2 drive. I've had issues with Alienware in the past, but this machine seems solid to me. Sorry you can't get over Dell, would have liked a real review on it.
One Month Update - still haven't accidently turned if off. Can't believe you used that as one of the reasons to avoid this laptop.
@@acid357should I get I know nothing about pc but was recommended this
@@acid357 hows the battery life in basic websurfing
Is it good to upgrade alienware m16 Ram 16 to 32?
Does it make any problem with the performance?
Hey what keyboard did the laptop come with? Mechanical or non mechanical? Thanks
I have an Alienware 17R4 with a GTX1080 from around 5 years ago and it runs great. I bought it as a student in the US and the customer support for Alienware was great. They had a separate call line for Alienware vs Inspiron and other Dell stuff. I had thermal issues on day 1 but I had a technician sent over in literally 3 days and had them repaste it for free with the Thermal Grizzly that I bought. Its been great since! I think its worth every premium penny I spent on it, I love it to death and its so easy to work on and upgrade. I really think you should give them another chance Jay! Ask them to send you a higher spec one, with the liquid metal stuff they add from factory. With Alienware the lower spec stuff really are trash - go big or go home.
I was actually considering an Alienware laptop alongside the Asus ROG laptop I eventually purchased 2 years ago.
Looks like I was trying to pick between "bad" and "worse", because the ROG laptop (True to Asus Quality Standards) broke within a year and Asus made me jump through all the hoops you could ever dream of just to get my money back.
Yeah, I went through the hoops of looking at those two brands but quickly discovered they didn't have the best reputation. Now I'm looking at Lenovo legion or origin 17x for my next laptop.
My rog zephyrus m16 broke within like 2 or 3 months, tried to go through their warranty since it wasn't user caused and their response can be summed up to "not our problem".
@@offdazaza2769 wow, that's sucks 😞
@@rowankeltizar5961lenovo the same shit
I just bought an ROG Strix 18" 4080. So far the thing is absolutely amazing. I've had numerous high end laptops and so far the Strix is right up there with the other ones. The thermals are fuggin amazing. Cpu idle at 31c and never goes above 80c, meanwhile the gpu never exceeds 72c. I got one of the later 2023 batches and maybe ASUS really checked themselves. I'll remember your comment though if anything happens to it prematurely.
Still have an alienware laptop from back in the day and its going strong after all this time after a few upgrades of course. Back when Alienware was a solid brand 🙂 It weighs a bloody TON though
same ,I still use my m14 from 2011 even though its a Dell version
Would you like to sell it?
Same here! I have mine from 2011 (M17X R4). Rocking a 1 TB SSD, 2 TB HDD, and a GTX 970M I installed a few years ago. Downside is making edits to the drivers so it'll install properly.
same here. Have an M15 with an 8750h and the 2070, and a 15 R3 with the 7700hq and 1060. The M15 does het pretty toasty with that 8750h, as you cannot undervolt it, but the 15 R3 does pretty well really. It's a damned good unit.
🤣LOL He "May" auction it J,K@@robertstamps2674
I have a 3 year old Alienware m17 r2 and honestly yes it was expensive but it is the best built laptop I’ve ever had. It has a magnesium alloy chassis which makes it super rigid and it only weighs 5lbs.
Same! My first laptop was 10 years ago with the Alienware M17X R2. Now I have the M17 R2 with the 980M. In between both of these laptops, I had a Lenovo laptop and the build quality was trash and the henge broke so the screen was just hanging. Yes, Alienware is more expensive for the same price but you're paying for the quality, in-house build, and bragging rights in the same way a Ferrari is double the price of a Corvette with the same performance, no difference.
my AW from 2019, has been working avg degree of 90 C for 4 years.....still working, moreover AW has really solid and tuf build@@stanleysimmonsreactions9056
Im thinking of getting the m17 r2, is it still worth it in 2023 and how much years would it survive from now on
I guess it depends on what your level of gaming is. If you play older games or just not super graphicly intense games then maybe it can be an option. I personally would save up and get a newer GPU one but if you're on a budget then yea M17 R2 is great in my personal experience.@@R0CKFORD
I've owned 6 Alienware PC's, 3 desktop and 3 laptop, they've all been awesome.
the fact that you've had 6 is telling
6? They should have lasted more. That is not awesome at all.
@@aldoortega4496Or the guy just upgrades whenever he wants to.
Not goo g to act like I've never done it, not specifically with Alienware, but I'll buy myself a PC, and see a sale on one that is technically better specced and grab it. I just give the other PC to a friend.
@@aldoortega4496 They were probably just choosing to upgrade every couple years...
Well at leas this answers the questions "Who the hell is buying this shit?"
In a world where some RUclipsrs are struggling with integrity issues, it’s nice to see consideration and honest perspective, even more refreshingly shooting down a sponsor opportunity that doesn’t quite fit rather than shoehorning dollars into your pocket and distorted content onto the channel. Kudos, guys, appreciate your work!
Like Linus
Cant you haters stop?
@@mat967 just wait until action :)
@@mat967 while I can’t speak for anyone else, I’m simply expressing support for this channel and this video with my comment. Whether I am right, wrong, or inevitably somewhere in the murky middle, it would be a mistake on your part to presume I harbor any “hate” for anybody. But since you mentioned it, I also have no problems with being transparent-I am certainly disappointed with all the shenanigans going on with Linus and crew. This isn’t his channel though, nor is it his video, so I won’t spend any time further chumming the waters for unrelated commentary. My point is that on this particular issue of accepting sponsorship (and the related laptop review), this channel was relatively transparent and relatively honorable when considered against folks like LTT and their current issues. Given the current climate of this admittedly marketing-dominated medium, my commentary is at bare minimum relevant and perhaps even necessary as we all wade our way through the madness. So far as I’m concerned, Linus doesn’t need random support online, rather, he needs to step up and accept responsibility. While no one is perfect, I applaud this example of doing better than he has done recently. I am not merely mindlessly piling on to dramatics and theatrics. You are entitled to disagree or agree as you see fit, I wish all involved nothing but the best.
Struggling with integrity? More like intentional money grabbing while sacrificing one's conscious, or lack thereof. Luckily for Linus, his in-law parents stepped in to give him a beat down. If not for that, he would have ended up like Logan.
I'm still rocking a Alienware 18 deployed November 11 of 2013. That thing is a serious tank! I love it. Even has SLI GTX770Ms, which results in awesome battery consumption!
I bought an alienware in 2017 for $1400 on 30% sale with a military discount on top of that (only company who does that)
Im still using it today.
I added 4 times the ram. Replaced the hard drive with a solid state when it got old. Bought a new GPU in the summer and a new power supply to run it because i went from an rx580 to an rx6750xt.
Its never crashed. Nothing has ever broken. Nothing weird.
I dont know whats wrong with everyone and how you all seem to run your computers into the ground.
Same , my Alienware 13 R3 laptop since 2017 going strong. Only issue I had was ram about 2 years ago, replaced the ram and it's been great ever since.
@TheAgentAssassin I've only experienced two issues that I can point the blame at alienware for.
1. I've upgraded half the parts in it and the bios doesn't like my new CPU fan. So it tells me that every time I start it. (Goes away after I click 'ok' so it's not a problem)
2. Poorly applied thermal paste.
i have a 2014 14 inch with a i5 4200m and GTX 765m. I upgraded it to 16gb ram and moved up to windows 10 and have loved it. I'm upgrading soon but considering the age this thing is awesome. My experience with my alienware has been fantastic, I would def recommend.
21:00 The 7600M XT is actually about 15% faster than the 4070 laptop version.
We purchased an Alienware M18 for my son as an engineering freshman. Availability of on-site service at his college was one of the main reasons we went with Dell versus another brand. Performance has been good but longevity and wisdom is still up in the air. Thanks for covering the M16 Jay.
I'm using my 17R3 from 2015 here in 2023 with absolutely no issues.
I'm sure the M18 will be just fine for many years to come.
My AW r15 2019 is still alive, just one reminder, repasted every year.
Had a reply here but it was for another comment 🤷
I used to own a M15X back in the day and just after my warranty expired the hinges starting literally coming apart and cracked my screen as I tried to open and close it. When I reached out to Alienware, customer support see if there was anything they could do, they simply told me sorry you’re out of warranty. I believe for the price point you can get more performance from somewhere else.
I bought my first Alienware earlier this year, an M15 R7. Has the 6900HX and a 3070Ti. Runs well and stays relatively cool in performance mode. My biggest gripes have actually been more about Windows 11 than the laptop itself. The only thing I wish Dell had done is enable Tbolt 3 backwards compatibility for the USB 4 port. I got it for a cheaper price when I compared it to similarly specced laptops from other brands I researched at the time and I'm fairly happy with it. However it will be replaced with my Framework 16 once that shows up next year.
I thought thunderbolt was intel cpus exclusive? I have an m17 r5 with the same specs, but id recommend installing tiny11 to speed things up and do away with unnecessary background tadks eating up cpu and gpu usage. I just had a way better experience afterwards
did you opt for the 240 hz 1440 p screen? one of the best parts of that laptop.
I got a 6900hs and 6850m xt with 4k 120 Hz. I do regret getting the 4k but they didn't have the 1440p display that I wanted. You can use AMD super resolution to increase the resolution of the display
I got the same one earlier this year (6900/3070Ti) and it is an excellent machine, my only gripe is win 11 (chrome book edition). The M15 it was priced lower than many of the 3060 specked laptop offerings.
Interesting review. I have the M16 with the 4080 in it and I can say that I'm very happy with it. For full disclosure I typically use a lapdesk when I use it that has ventilation on the under side of the board so allows further air flow. My experience with the M16 has been very solid. I was actually impressed with the thermals. My last laptop was an ASUS Zepherus with a 2070 in it and that sucker got so hot I couldn't even use some of the keys on the keyboard without extreme discomfort. I've ran my M16 for 8+ hours gaming and I've never had hot keys or anything of that nature. I find it interesting that my experience is significantly different then yours. Keep up the good work sir! Thought I would throw my experience out there.
Good to hear that. Is that still the case? I just bought an open box from BB with same specs m16 R1 R9 7845 RTX 4080 for $1,200 + taxes. I will pick it up tomorrow. Anyways I was looking for some reviews and feedback. I just sold my old Asus Zephyrus with GTX 1060 (this was insanely hot and fans noisy as hell), I also sold my Z13 ACRNM i9 RTX4070 it was good but at same time I hated it, it was compact but battery life sucks, could not use in my lap that was the reason I bought it. I know m16 will not be portable but will be good for gaming for a couple years
@@Fr4nkSanchez I'm still enjoying mine. The only real thing that drives me nuts whenever I use it is that there is no chin for the keyboard. I've learned to still be okay with it but they fixed this with the new revision so it was a miss but as far as hardware goes and just quality of the machine it's still awesome!
Just bought the m16 with a 4070 and an i7 12700 and it was $1350 on sale. So far i love it.
Is it better than Lenovo Legion Pro 5i?
I have an Alienware X17 R1, it's been the best laptop I've owned. But, I had to buy 2 other Alienwares and return them before I finally found the one that I fell in love with. The build quality is outstanding on it, and it's super easy to work on yourself. They even give breakdown directions in the manual. My complaint with it is that I wish it ran cooler, but I love it anyways.
I bought, and returned it because the mouse pad wasn't lit right otherwise I would have kept it. It was the nicest thing I ever owned!. I wish I would have got another. Maybe next time! However it was a struggle to order at first which sucked, and was time consuming due to needing to call them. (Forgot why)
Great look over, only issue I have about the Lenovo you listed is the RAM is soldered on so upgrading isn't an option for the RAM on that model.
Isn't the Slim has 16gb soldered and 1 slot to upgrade or am i wrong
after investigating, checking, and checking reviews everywhere, my advice before you buy this M16,
1. buy it on sale. (2,199$ in best buy) good deal for i9/4080
2. Isn't ready out of the box. (You have to some adjust in the bios/AWCC/a lot of shit to do)
3. Seize the sale and get a 5600mhz RAM. (not from Dell please)
literally, you have to test, adjust, retest, and adjust the M16 by yourself, is a shame a powerful and such expensive laptop comes out of the box like this, not all people who buy a laptop are tech-savvy, some people just want to turn it ON and done, so for 2199, is a good deal, but you have to be ready to deal some hours after got it to fix it and seize all the power of the M16.
Never owned any Alienware product but when they first came out I was really interested but couldn't afford it because I was still in school with only parttime job, but after they became part of Dell I lost all interest in Alienware.
Years ago my only Alienware purchase was: (2) X51s & a 14" laptop. They served me well & I still have al (3) collecting dust now. This 16" reviewed better than I thought it was going to, but I still think Dell/AW prices items a bit heavy-handed. I've read about Dell customer service horror stories & AW's proprietary items which always make me hesitate in considering them nowadays & it's probably just my bad timing but whenever I do look at their site their "sales" don't really seem like sales to me.
Dell Australia was recently fined $6.5 million for price shenanigans on their website, so I wonder if their sales are even sales at all. As for their customer support, I've had great experiences if you're within warranty. They will ship out items to you or send a technician to do the repair for you. However, that doesn't mean their customer support will be great all the time, so I can imagine people having issues. I also hate the weird, proprietary engineering Dell and Alienware do with their desktops, meaning it's hard to reuse and upgrade them. The Alienware desktops might be easier to upgrade, since they're likely to have better PSUs and more space, so at least there's that.
Regarding the power brick though, on a positive note, at least if the power brick is that overpowered, then it's probably going to last longer unless you're using it on those OP models, I wish I suppose in the smaller case is actually a benefit, since we all know that those adapters are going to break and you are going to have to pay out the ass unless you can find some cheap universal replacement.
I got into PC Gaming when I got an Alienware M17x R3 back in 2011, loved that laptop. 120hz 3d screen with Nvidia 3d Glasses and Nvidia 560m, gpu died after 4 years.
@ianvisser7899agreed! HDMI In is such an underrated feature.
I liked the Alienware laptops more back when they stubbornly refused to go thin and light when everyone else did. Those “laptops” were 11 lbs, but they were built like tanks and used the extra girth for cooling headroom. Yes, it was basically a desktop that easily packed up to take with and not really a “laptop”, but that’s really how most people use a gaming laptop anyway. Those older chonky models at least differentiated themselves.
Amen to that!
It took less than 4 minutes of this video for a flaw to show up. No numpad region on this keyboard. I'm certain there are far more problems with this laptop but I'm not interested in finding them out.
I still have my Alienware M17x from 2010 that I bought for one of my Iraq deployments. Ended up being REALLY busy with people shooting at us all the time but when I did get the chance that thing ran whatever game I wanted to.. Sounded like it was going to lift off and fly around but it never overheated even when the ambient air hit the 120s°F. I was there when the temp hit 127.4°F..... Laptop was packed up by then as we where a month from heading back. I'd bet good money it would have flown around the room trying to stay cool. LOL
I used to really like Alienware, Then I realized they were selling me a product with no ability to upgrade.
They effectively castrate your ability to move forward with tech, but happy to remind you that they will always be willing to finance you a newer model.
Thanks to you Jay, and Bitwit, and Paul I decided I was never going to do a pre built ever again.
Last year I built my first pc, simply to give the EVGA 3080 FTW3 I had just purchased to upgrade that Alienware, a new home as Alienware DID NOT like me putting that in the pc (effectively locked the system up because it was not a dell official product.)
I have built 3 computers since then, and one of them a super small form factor build.
I have loved every moment of the last year, way more than if I would have just thrown away more money on a dell opti plex reskinned.
I will NEVER buy anything Dell or Alienware again.
Thank you so much Jay and crew, you really did inspire me to go outside the pre boxed sink holes.
An absolute Alienware hitjob. If you don't like the company because of an experience you had 20 years ago then don't review the laptop. But the majority of your gripes are things that already have built in solutions - "the cpu runs at 100c, but I won't use the integrated cooling system" if you ran the thing in the overdrive mode with maxed out fans you'd notice the cpu temps rarely get above 85c during gaming - wow you mean I actually have to use the cooling system to keep it cool? Shocker. "The rubber ring is restricting airflow", newsflash, all laptops cool down when you lift them off the surface they're on that's why people make money selling cooling pads - wow, again, what a shocker. "For 3 whole seconds the pc freezes as it switches between igpu and gpu, what a hardship" you mean to tell me you had to wait 3 whole seconds after hours of gaming to do something, wow, that is quite a hardship. "The battery dropped to 73% in 30 minutes when I had it in performance mode, what a junker" really?? A laptop that has components that require a 300 watt power supply goes through it's battery life quickly when it's in performance mode?? Wow this is all brand new information. I'm glad you decided to turn their deal down because I think I speak for quite a few of us when I say, we just want objective reviews of these machines and you didn't even touch on any of the major benefits of the alienware computers. Alienware really dodged a bullet on this one.
20:35 that ram is soldered in thats horrible, and its more money? Theres no way id be taking that over the alienware
Even speccing from a Dell laptop to an Alienware with the same hardware is like a +$500 premium, the only difference is the chassis. I almost bought one back in the day but went will DellXPS19 instead, with dual 8800gtx gfx cards. If you wanna take a look at that old beast it ill send it to you guys to test and tear apart.
I bought a Alienware i7 11800h/ rtx2070 laptop after having a long great 4 years with a dell inspiron 960m gaming laptop. I was not disapointed at all it has been great for the last 4 years and im probably going to use it for another couple of years. I just recomend waiting for a sale from the dell website because they happen often.
Jay you did a more professional review on this item then other items sent to you in the past. A+
Would appreciate also listing the nits for the screens on laptops! Brightness makes a big difference
300....
So Aliemware has a deal for an M16 4080 12gb, 64g ram for 2000.
Would you guys recommend it ? The price seems very fair for the hardware and all I want is to do is 3d modeling animation and play BG3 and Dragon's Dogma 2
Did you pull the trigger? Thinking of getting the same one
I own two alienware laptops.
Alienware m14x r1 from 2011
Alienware 15 R3
Both are rock solid laptops.
My goto daily driven laptops.
Happy buyer!
Your comments about elevating it reminded me that laptop cooler platforms or pads are a thing. Do you think this unit would have benefitted favourably from using something like that, perhaps helping reduce the temps a bit more even?
most probably. even passive stand with no fans underneath would have improved the airflow thus reducing the temps and fans struggle to push past the resistance when facing the "floor". one thing I always remind people around me of is not to use tablecloths under any laptop. that should be an obvious thing, but somehow people just don't realize how much blankets and other types of cloths kill the airflow and shorten the lifespan of at least the cooling fans if not the laptop itself. yes it's cozy having a computer on your knees in bed on a cold winters night, but it's also devastating to it's hardware.
This takes me back. I had an Alienware laptop over a decade ago with SLI GPUs. Calling it a laptop is being VERY generous, though...
Was it something like the gtx 295 era of computing?
@@edplat2367 It was so long ago that I had to look it up - it was dual 256MB GeForce 8700M GT.
For those interested, the other specs are 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 and 2GB of 667MHz memory.
And I was wrong - it was a Dell XPS M1730, apparently prior to Dell buying out Alienware (though I did have an Alienware later on, I think).
Really awesome things about the X16/M16 laptops. Esp M16.
They set up for amazing performance for quiet/balanced modes. I compared a mercury blade with a 4080 to the X16 with a 4080 and much worse CPU (worse than the M16) and I was getting much better performance and less fan noise out of the X16. Build Quality equals Razor. I wouldn't buy tbe M16 but the X16 looks awesome. Biggest issue that was barely emphasized was the crappy screens. Esp for the X16. Only reason I choose the Razer over the X16 was for the Mini-Led 1000 nits.
Build quality is the single most important aspect. I dont want to spend money on something that easily breaks.
The last "gamer" laptop I bought was a Sager notebook with a Clevo motherboard for half the price of a similar Alienware in 2005. I got about 4 good years out of it before the gpu fried. Since then it's been desktop for gaming for about a third of the price all the way.
Those are actually some beasty CPU scores.
I have a laptop with 6800H, so the previous generation.
Cinebench, even cranked, it does ~1550 single core, and 14500 multithread, so you're talking a good ~15-20% single core performance uplift, and almost double multithread. Impressive gains in a single generation.
I used an alienware laptop from 2012 through 2017 while I went through architecture school. It was great at the time but nearing the end of 2016 it was already feeling its age and I could tell it didn't have much life left. Overall it wasn't a bad laptop, it just liked to get very loud when I was doing any kind of rendering or gaming.
You should repaste the laptop each year if you use it heavily or at least every 2 years.. just saying ;)
I just found your channel by chance or mood of the YT algorithm gods' and instantly subbed. I even didn't mean to buy an Alienware or a gaming laptop, FWIW. But love your direct, brutally honest and straight-to-the-point style of narrative. Rara avis around here. Kudos and keep up the good works on these vids.
Having 10lbs of laptop weight on my backpack is worth it for high quality gaming on the go imo. I used to carry my Series X with me when I travel, most of the time internationally. It's been a relief since I bought myself a Legion i7 last year. Best investment I have ever done!
I don't mind the weight, either. I want the performance.
@@dawnfire82 The problem is thats a heavy laptop to only come with a 7600 , Especially when you consider you could buy a clevo model for not much more that has a 13900HX + 4080.
It also had the added bonus of not being so garish with its gamer aesthetic , thats entirely user subjective though.
I never had an Alienware device. However, I do have a couple of Dell XPS which I use every day. So far, my warranty experience with DELL UK has been great! When I initially purchased my XPS 9710, they supplied me with the wrong keyboard layout to what I ordered. I emailed them explaining the problem, they got back asked me two questions; 'would I prefer to send the machine back?' or 'they send the part out and do a DIY replacement?' I chose the latter. Within a week, they sent me a new OEM part to fit. I asked if I accidentally damage my machine during the process, would I be covered under warranty? They said yes... So I proceeded to do a keyboard replacement.. I created a lengthy video about this, it's on my channel.
I think the cover on the RAM may have thermal conductivity. A lot of laptops have those sorts of things.
Seeing what looks like the same power brick my old Dell M1730 used puts me off. Anyone who had one of those will remember the bios that put the laptop into a nearly useless low performance/low power mode if it didn't recognize the official power brick. And that brick would break the little wire that identified it to the laptop withing a few weeks if you actually ever move the unit around or actually treated it as portable. I would be curious if they still have that "safety feature" on these new systems now the Dell took over.
I went with Alienware about 3-4 years back (m15 R3) after having quality issues with other brands. I decided to give them a shot because I got one on an exceptionally good deal. Its been a really solid unit with absolutely zero problems. I don't think that's ever happened with a laptop for me, much less a gaming laptop.
So I think build quality in the long term is worth talking about. I've had an MSI and Asus gaming laptop that were bought around the same time and have already died. My relative has the Dell clone of my Alienware (m15 r2) that is also still running fine.
I keep hearing that Lenovo should have good lasting quality like this.
Sample size of 3 and all but yeah.
I had a Lenovo in between my updates to get a newer Alienware 10 years ago. The build quality was bad, the hedge snaped and the screen was hanging.
Something you forgot to mention is how bad is the bloatware on the system. Whenever I get a new laptop I immediately reinstall windows so I don't have to deal with that.
Dawid Does Tech Stuff specifically reviews that lol
Compared to Blade and MSI, current Alienware laptops aren't as expensive as you think. My M18 with a i913900HX, RTX4080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Cherry Keyboard was $2600. It's been a great experience so far!
I got a Gigabyte Aorus XE15 with a 12700H and 3070Ti for $1300. Added in a 32GB memory kit and an additional 2TB M.2 for $200.
@SoranoGuardias only reason I'm going with an i9 is it'll play dual roles as both a gaming and video editing machine. You have a very solid setup at a great price!
@@cueball981 It is nice. It trades blows with my 11700K/3070 desktop.
I also had an alienware laptop from 2011, I had an M18x with radeon crossfire lol. that thing lasted me for years, I sold it in 2022 for surprisingly, 1/3 of what I paid for it still back then, sure it was not perfect, I had worn down keycaps etc, or a broken track pad, which I addressed and fixed myself with replacement parts, but what I am trying to say is, at least in 2011 they were good enough, you could just replace any broken or worn down part, and upgrade them to a certain degree, that is what kept it going, to the point it still was worth something in 2022, it had really good performance and okay thermals, the noise tho...it was like a spaceship taking off and the battery life was abyssmal. even from new, when I sold it, it had a new battery and it was the kind of laptop youre lucky if it lasts 50 minutes.
Time to make someone feel old. Last time Jay used AlienWare is when I was born.
I wasn't wven born
Go to the gym
@@eclipsez0r Did you reply to the wrong comment?
@@plutobioptic675 it would seem so.
*throws things at child*
I like that you go a bit in-depth without going into lengthy comparisons with performance when some people don't need comparisons. The "Is it good enough" instead of "What's the best/least expensive" laptop is the mentality a lot of people have. You make it easy to digest and more accessible. Some people might want more in-depth stuff, but there's other channels for that. Kudos on the quality videos. :)
I get the power limits... My laptop works as expected but even trying to push it a little hurts the thermals coz we can't compare them to Desktops in terms of cooling.
I bought one back in 2015 and it ran all fine till 2022, and finally sold it off at 35% cost. It was a AW17 R3 with GTX 980 and i7 6700 HQ. Weighed in a good hefty 3.8 kgs plus its heavy 180W power brick. (It required one battery and one speaker replacement in it's life). Now, I am again searching for a good gaming laptop and can't help myself in deciding between Alienware vs all other brands. My budget stands at a maximum of 1800$. I hope I stumble upon a great deal!
Jay, these laptops on sale are worth it, the other thing you may not be aware of is that if you get tired of the Alienware laptop you got, you can actually get trade in credit with Dell for a better model. I feel that is something to be taken into consideration also.
I had one of these with a 10875H and 2070 super, was playing siege one day, no OC no tweaking done to the pc ever, and the pc just cut off and never turned back on. Dell scheduled their techs to come out and fix it, took 2 weeks and they broke it opening it, and had to RMA it, another month, and then they sent me a laptop with a 2070 and not a 2070 super, and a 165hz screen instead of a 300hz screen. Pretty great experience.
You know why I love this channel. Honesty. No bs.
I have an Alienware 15 R3, Manufacturered in 2017. I spec'ed it but didnt enjoy what I had chosen as soon as it arrived. I got the 4K display on it, and at the time the best GPU for it was the Radeon RX 570, which at the resolution of the display was pretty underwhelming. It has the Intel i7-7700HQ, and 32GB of RAM.
Its heavy. When I flew for work, I had to put the power brick in my checked luggage, and the laptop by itself in the laptop backpack. It chews through the battery pretty fast too - but thats somewhat to be expected.
It gets hot too. I 3D printed and designed some standoffs which clip to the rear cooler, and step the back end of the laptop up, so it can breath better - which made a huge difference. More so than the tests you showed on this latest Alienware in this video.
I could play Cyberpunk, but it was way down on the settings.
Its still going, but I dont play games on it anymore, havent for a while, and really its just if I need a mobile computer for a particular job, else I just use my desktop these days.
I wouldnt buy another one again, and your review confirms the main reasons.
I installed Windows 11 on it last year, which was no problems at all. Runs totally fine and havent had any issues with it, so that was a bonus - as it was the test device I used for Windows 11 before I installed it on my desktop.
Something to be wary about is that the hinges are fragile. I have an m15r4, and I've had the screws pop out the sides of the hinges and takes some very delicate and fragile work to get them back in place.
The hinges for the M16 and M18 were redesigned. They're legit SOLID!
I opened my alienware m14x r2 one day and the hinge popped pushing the screen out and there's no way everything is just going to go back in place.
@@venomlightYT that's very unfortunate. ☹️
7:18 and they failed already, that head was designed to prevent factory workers from tightening the screws too much, it is not made with the idea that they will be removed for service or upgrade, even flathead is better in that regard. They should be using something that won't strip if you look at it wrong.
I wish I could own something like that. I hope who ever gets it enjoys it.
My bro-in-law worked for Dell, and I used their friends and family discount to pick up an Alienware laptop a few years back with a GTX 1070 for an actually good price. Other than the short battery life (because gaming laptop) it's been a solid performer and has an amazing screen. It still works good for modern gaming too, with Diablo 4 and Baldur's Gate 3 being the most recent games I've played on it. As long as you can get a competitive price, I'd recommend one. It's fun to meme on Alienware in general, but their laptops are solid.
Regarding fan noise, I have an old remote control that I stick under the back of the laptop to give it a quarter inch lift for the fans to suck in more air. As Jay mentioned it doesn't change the thermals, but it does run cooler and has less fan noise with the tilt allowing more air intake. I imagine you'd get the same results with any gaming laptop if you do that though. Once the headphones are on, you don't hear the fans anyways.
Since Alienware scammed their customers by selling the Area 51M as an upgradable laptop then never delivered and discontinued the product I’ll never buy one again. They’ve become horrible since Dell acquired them.
An unfortunate situation but it's not their fault that Intel changed the desktop socket again.
Their desktops are underwhelming but their laptops are great, and the customer support is top tier. No need for the NPC Alienware hate.
@@noahbollinger2828 and the upgradable GPU modules they said they they would produce to allow people to upgrade to newer gens(and didn’t deliver either)? Is that also somehow not their fault?… Cope and seethe harder fanboi
@@rclova7474 Lol no one is coping or seething, chill out little dude. It's a product, it can't hurt you. Yeah, once again an unfortunate situation.
I got an m16r1 and i LOVE it, the only thing is that alienware control center takes updating and windows 11 pre install is garbage. A clean wipe fresh OS, AWCC up to do date version and this thing is a powerhouse, it's got great cooling and handles everything i've thrown at it. i got the i9-3900hx and rtx4080 and bagawd. Everyone complains about the 300 nit brightness but it seems fine to me. i don't even keep it at max brightness, i feel its too bright.
i got a gt500 cooling pad and the temps are massively better
As someone who got the maxed out x16 from alienware and have been pretty satisfied. I gotta say. Their stuff is probably not the best, but every brand got their quirks, just comes down to which quirks you can accept from which company.
Like with razer. Make sure you get a 3yr bestbuy warranty!
Every single year you’ll have an issue that needs repaired
Bloating, melting and bsod
@@blackfacegaming191I got a razer laptop and the screen had such awful ghosting i had to return it. They tried to charge me a $300 restocking fee!! Their own customer support got me my money back on the 4th attempt. The guys name was Sushil, I still remember his name
Ive owned several Alienware laptops and desktops over the years. None of them had any major problems other than 2 of the laptops. The first Alienware laptop I had was a 15 inch silver model with edge lighting, might have been the first model ever with RGB lighted keys, and glossy screen. I upgraded the CPU, RAM and HD on that one myself and kept it many years. The batteries were super easy to pop out with just a button press on the bottom of the laptop, so I could charge up multiple batteries and swap them out on the go. I also found a way to disable Optimus on that laptop so it would run the GPU at faster clock speeds and not switch to the iGPU on battery. The only problem I had with it was the left hinge broke and cracked the plastic on that side. After that one I had a huge 17 inch Alienware laptop that I upgraded to have an internal blu-ray drive. I believe that had an nvidia 680GTX GPU. It lasted a long time and after many years the sound card died which meant no more sound from the speakers and AUX/headphone jack. Then I got an Alienware 15 that had no more DVD/bluray drive, but it was still good. Then in 2018 I sold that one and got an Alienware M15 R4 with a nvidia 1080 GTX. This one lasted exactly 7 years until the battery recently started puffing up. It puffed up so bad, it cracked open the right side of the laptop case. I watched a youtube video on how to remove the battery since these modern Alienware laptops started copying Apple's policy of making it really difficult to upgrade/repair/replace any internal parts including the battery... And sure enough you need to remove 6 external screws, use a plastic sploodge to carefully unsnap the cover, then remove 20 screws scattered all over the place with some marked and some not marked, unplug the battery cable, unplug both fan cables, unscrew and remove the 2 very tiny and fragile wifi cables, remove the wifi card, unplug, unscrew and remove both the SSD drive and nvme drive, carefully remove the very fragile keyboard ribbon cable, then use the plastic sploodge thing to carefully unsnap a giant plastic tray, then finally 1 more screw and you can remove the puffy battery and replace it with a new one. This is a roughly 45 minute process... compare that with the time it took me to pop out and swap a battery on my first Alienware laptop which took just 2 seconds to do it and if that battery started puffing up, it wouldnt destroy the entire laptop like these newer ones do. Anyway I bought a replacement battery on ebay and it charges only up to 78% and when you remove the charge cable, the laptop instantly shuts down. So I am just going to sell this and buy a new laptop thats not Alienware this time. I think they really need to go back to the older designs at least for the batteries so you can easily pop them out without unscrewing anything. And bring those prices back down to something affordable.
I ended up getting a Alienware M15 R7 and a Alienware X17 r2 and love both of them. One had a 3080 and one has a 3070. One has a i9 12900 and one is a 6900hx. Both do pretty great. Though they are older and I was picky with the ones I got. I didn't like what folks were saying about these new ones.
At least their ultra wide monitor is good.
I had one from 03-06 and absolutely loved it. Bought another in 13 and sold it in 13 at a loss because I did not care for it THAT much. Super laggy, roasted my lap and just didn't perform like the previous one had performed. I have looked at used ones since- to buy and to trade- and just never taken to them. I used to live off of Asus laptops, but my last two have roasted the mobo in the first year. So I've been living without a laptop for the last almost 8 years.
Might be more economical to get a netbook with an APU and then get a mobile eGPU (or better yet a DIY eGPU) with oculink and/or USB4/TB4 separately.
We tried Alienware after ROG (x2 ea) and HP (x4 ea) in 2017. We were aware of complaints.
The Aurora has been perfect to date.
The M15 has been perfect to date. New battery.
Used for Remote office work daily for 4 years, on the road, CAD, video production, photo processing, and household uses. No complaints.
Dell inspiron have been my laptops going back to 2007. they have great warranty and they will ship you all the parts you need - overnight - to minimize down time. motherboards, keyboards, screens... you repalce them, comes with prepaid shipment to return your old parts. A++ customer service. Dell is the only laptop i will ever buy.
i did try the M17R3 but performance wise i just went with a desktop.
Alienware is an alien that eats warehouses but it fell on a hard surface so it sells hardware
Stop
@@eclipsez0r never
Alienware: Sends Jayz a laptop
Jayz: *shits on it*
Alienware: Am I a joke to you?
Jayz: ...yes
I have a problem with your review. So what your saying is, that all the problems you have with this is fixable in the setting that’s you didn’t test. Because you arbitrarily decided that users weren’t going to do that. Fan, etc. You have something personal going on and can’t provide an unbiased review. Maybe the deal went bad and your gaslighting everyone?
Wow another title that explicitly states what the video is about. Thats about 4 times in two weeks... so awsome! Im Hooked. Now lets see about this expensive laptop. I had a M11x years ago. The lighting was cool; the hinge problen that plagued them wasnt. But Dell did finally provided and even extended a hinge replacement program for the issue.
Wow. Your experience was literally mine (2003) and as soon as Dell bought them and pushed them into the XPS line... I have looked many times, but they just have too many design problems, power problems and pricing problems. They need to be better or as good as a Macbook Pro w/Windows for me to care... and they aren't.
Thanks for the great review.
I've been having nothing but issues on my older Dell laptop I use for business so I finally replaced the fan and heat sink with a new old stock and some kingpin the other day and noticed that all of the vents on the bottom of my Dell laptop were literally blocked by black tape designed to channel air in a really really insignificant way for other models of the laptop so completely removed it and now I temperatures are way way better
I worked for Dell for 3 years, during my time it was insane, but the warrenty extends to the Alineware systems. So you are fully able to service the system yourself however you break anything you'll need Accidental Damage to cover it, you can also purchase AD after purchasing your system you can't use it though until 30 days after purchase
I have a work Dell laptop with a 12900HX and an A2000. I see the same heat dissipation design issues with it as you do with the Alienware. I ended up having to buy some wedges to prop it up for both when I work from my main desk and travel because the fans would constantly be at 100% in use. This seems to be a Dell issue all across the board.
I currently own an Alienware X14 R2 and love it. I did have issues with my old Alienware 13 R2, but Alienware repaired it free of charge since it was still under warranty. The horror show started when the display died, and they referred me to the Dell division. Dell was horrible. They had no idea what they were doing, and I ended up losing $250 for nothing. I literally repaired the laptop myself.
Even after the bad experience, I gave Alienware another chance. So far I really love my X14 R2 and I hope it lasts a good while.
5:30 yeah, not having ports, but trading that for 80'C air blowing at your hand. ufff....
most companies allow opening on back-plate, so you can use compressed air and clean it up a bit, and add/replace ram/ssd's.
I ask for this each time I buy a laptop, its instant no go if they tell me I cannot do that.
Acer, asus, msi all of them told me its fine, but please RTFM before you do. Dell was one of most open in how far they let me dig myself, so I assume alienware is as well.
Hello! I've got an X17 R4, and I can confirm that they do not put adequate feet on the bottom of any Alienware laptop. If I prop this thing up just 1/3" or so, the temp difference is real. The cooling solution inside is actually REALLY good, but they just don't have an adequate amount of airflow underneath, which makes me sad.
Worse: I've tried an M17 R4 and an M15 R2, and both systems had the SAME problem.
With the MUX though, my battery life doesn't suck (as long as a I remember to turn it down from 360 Hz refresh on the screen).
My X17 R4 is a pretty sick system though, and the build quality is better than any other gaming laptop I've laid hands on. Also, hands down, the best keyboard (it's Cherry Red for laptops) I've ever used on a laptop as well. I also love the port config with just about everything on the back of the machine.
Side note: my laptop has a long delay on the power button too . . . you get used to it, but it's weird.
It is too bad about the venting underneath the laptop. If that was remedied along with a more vibrant/brighter screen, I would probably buy one if it went on sale. I have been a long time fan of Alienware/Dell, and the last one I bought was back in 2014 of the Aurora R4 that actually I am still using, but I just can't do it again. I wish their quality was better to reflect the price-point. Thanks for reviewing the laptop, it has helped me a lot. Love all you do! :)
I bought a Dell Gaming series laptop a few years ago. These Alienware units are the essentially the same foundation but with higher spec components and the typical Alienware aesthetic. There's not much that differentiates them otherwise.
Its shit still, thats the point...
14:30 I actually got a pair of feets that come with 3m tape and I have to say, it doesn't improve temps too much (around 5c) but hell does it make my laptop a lot quieter, runs on boost longer and gives me a bit more ease of mind knowing it's sucking in more fresh air ❤
What did you get exactly, if you don’t mind me asking.