AW organization suggestions

Guess I prefer overthinking to underthinking

The 17R4 actually resembles the m1x R2 design somewhat, with the extended bottom. Perhaps we need a separate forum for Alienware Extended Bottom laptops? A rhetorical question of course.

Anyway, there is no point in further rehashing a given simple idea with disregard to the counterpoints made. I'm pretty sure the admins got the gist of it from the first posts.

 

Isn’t M17 R1 2019 model? The shortest AW 17 design language in history.

 

Correct. It was announced this past CES. But considering it's literally a bigger variant of the m15, I kind of don't blame DeeX for thinking it came out a year earlier.

 

You have also m15 r1 with 9th gen Core i7 launched Q2’19. Adding the year for the models (in new sub-forum) is misleading. And I don’t blame anyone for this I just post facts.

 

True, but the m15 came in like Oct, they are sisters.
My point is the "Thin and light" m series laptops started in 2018 and have a design that is pre 2019.
Regardless, There is a clear design stylistic separation when you take the Alienware 17 R4 till the Alienware m17 R1 and then go to the modern Legend style ID.
The base stylistic design of the 17 R4 till the m17 R1, is essentially the same with some many minor differences.
I'm not talking details of specs or anything like that.
Think of this as the same as car body styles. Cars have generations based on the over all design of the body. (color scheme, shape, etc).
This is usually how car sites separate their model lines. Even if the engine, technology packages, features, etc change, they still call it Generation #.
Its really simple, the m17 R1 looks "kind of like all systems going back to the 17 R4. The m17 R2 looks like the Area51m and nothing like the m17 R1. So there for the cut off should be the Area51m as the design changed.
Sorry for over explaining my view, opinion, and suggestion. I just want to hit it from all angles.


That is pretty crazy that the m17 came out in Jan and now there's already an r2 LOLOL

 

Bear in mind a good classificatiom should be self-explanatory. I don't think anyone would fail to find their way around the following Alienware section:
Pre-2015 Models
2015+ AW 13/15/17
2018+ Light Models (m15/m17)
2019+ Desktop Replacement Models (Area 51m)

or find the contents of a subforum completely irrelevant to their system, as would be the case with the proposed styling-based categorization.

 

I think that's too specific. One could say the 17 R4 / R5 is a DTR as its very heavy and has the power of a DTR.
Also as of now, under your definition there is no other DTR so the A51m will be the only model relevant in that sub forum.
Why would we need to divide the groups by their weight or usage characteristics as opposed to their release generation?
I kinda of see what you are saying but I personally think this not ideal especially if they change the way they sell laptops.
I kind of still feel things should go by their design ID. After all we dealt with putting all into the 2015+ AW 13/15/17 for 5 years no one until now even cared the forums were getting all cluttered and not very organized.
I still think comparing AW to car body styles is a good way to look at it since AW has done this with design IDs ever since they have been part of Dell.

Also just to add what Ultra Male said...
I think a good suggestion would be to move a few sub forums to the "Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems", However I would suggest changing the name to "Alienware Desktops and Legacy Systems"
I suggest moving the following forums to the Legacy forums as sub forums.

• Alienware 14 and M14x
• Alienware M15x
• Alienware 17 and M17x
• Alienware 18 and M18x

I would keep the 2015+ outside the legacy systems forums.

 

Area 51M is very clearly the only actual Alienware DTR with desktop components since 2015.

 

Desktop components does not make a laptop a DTR.
A DTR is any laptop that is powerful enough that a user can use instead of a desktop. It does not mean that it is a desktop, it replaces a desktop.
The logic behind a laptop being a DTR simply because it has a desktop socket doesn't fully make sense.
The socket would be literally the only part that is actually "Desktop". MXM / DGFF while cool that they are modular are not desktop parts.
Plus if the laptop had more desktop parts, it would be closer to being an actual desktop, rather than a desktop replacement.
Ever tried to run a R4 or R5 on a battery? It usually stays on a desk. One could say a 17 R4 / 17 R5 are DTRs because they have desktop graphics and have overlockable CPUs, plus at the time of their release the numbers they were pulling in were pretty close to their desktop counterparts.
I would then also say that a m17 R1 or any computer with Max Q is a normal gaming laptop (as opposed to a desktop replacement). They are lighter, have more battery life, but also have a lower performance ceiling due to their increased portability.
I guess another thing that would make me consider a laptop a desktop replacement is if its cumbersome to carry around and transport. I've heard of many people saying the 17 R4 & R5 got annoying to carry around.
Just random thoughts in between work projects.

 

AW 17 is just a somewhat bulky 17 inch laptop, internals are almost identical to AW15 and performance didn't quite match reasonable top-spec desktop counterparts (not even talking about Extreme/Multi-CPU/SLI/Titan setups).

Importantly though, new models released since 2018/2019 clearly bifurcated into thin and DTR lines. The internal design varies dramatically between the two and thus content posted in relation to one line bears little relevance to owners of the opposite one. Additionally, content posted in relation to AW13/15/17 is not particularly relevant to either m15/m17 or 51M users. All this should be very clear to most people TBH.