*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 R2 / m17 R2 Owner's Lounge

Good reminder and good riddance. Yet not sure there is anyone left at Failienware who can take the brand back to its roots. Someone from the 51M camp maybe.

 

This is why soldered RAM is good (for Dell)


You can get a 8GB module for $30 everywhere, so I suppose that the crappy ones they put won't cost them more than $20. Clearly "Alienware recommended".

 

Exactly. Complete ripoff. Not only 2-3x more expensive than the fastest memory on the market but also probably one of the slowest.

 

You guys need to chill.
Alienware provided the Area 51m for enthusiasts. This model is for a different type of consumer - those who just want a thin and light plug-n-play machine.

I'd be fine with the specs, as long as it's affordable, doesn't sound like a jet engine and I can insert my own m.2.

The problem for me is pricing. In Australia, initial pricing on these is (frank)ly ridiculous.

 

i agree. and pricing is ridiculous in Malaysian/Singapore market too. at least you are lucky area-51m is offered in your country.

 

Yes, Dell are betting naive uninformed consumers will start buying this based on looks. The thing is that most naive uninformed consumers don't need an Alienware laptop in the first place, and even if they did consider it, the pricing makes most people think about their purchase. Hopefully Prof Google will lead some of those people to the relevant NBR threads and they will make the effort to read, understand the content, and level up their hardware knowledge

 

Shrug. Going to wait for NBC's review.

None of the negatives particularly bother me. I've never needed more than 16gb of dual channel RAM. I went the GPU upgrade once before and it was an expensive nightmare. WiFi cards have gone well beyond the point of diminishing returns for me.

What DOES matter to me on a thin machine like this:

-fan noise
-surface temps
-general thermal management
-packaged control software
-price
-display quality
-keyboard and touchpad quality
-small construction details
-styling

Now, I'm sure Alienware will drop the ball on plenty of these. I, for one, and also very miffed about the lack if G-sync. But, I'll wait and see what the in-depth reviews have to say.

 

Consider that even if upgrading isn't something you are going to do, repairs might still be needed.

 

Yes, repairs that simply rip and replace the entire thing each time do seem like a waste. Yet consider that in 75% or more of the repairs of the 51m they've removed/returned the whole machine and started fresh. So even those machines for which each component is replaceable, the real world practice is often just to change out the whole thing or gigantic sections of it. Mind you I don't agree with creating more electronic scrap. And the 51m "may" reduce that buildup somewhat because it has a longer lifespan (assuming from present that desktop chips maintain their usability for a longer service life), but not all aspects of the 51m being modular and fixable have lived up the billing in the real world.

M15 and M17 have a place. I'm pretty happy they managed to keep both an thick and a thin productline on the catalog. Many of the premier notebook sellers are killing off everything that is thicker.

 

they are also using a 9ms 144Hz screen .. while other brands have the 3ms type.