Hello all
I'm writing this because when I went looking for useful info about the new Alienware 17 vs M17xR4 a few weeks back, I just couldn't find the answers I wanted no matter how many articles I read.
My background... after a long long battle, dell decided to finally agree to replace my R4 with a new 17. This hardware failure, poor service and long battle left a very sour taste in my mouth that was hard to wash out.
Today my Alienware 17 finally arrived so I could do some real hands on comparison with my R4
I hope to fill in all the blanks about longer term annoyances that none of the reviews really cover properly
The exterior design:
WIN:
The aluminium exterior is wonderful to look at and to touch.
The lighting is (in my opinion) way more mature and tasteful (dont take me as a hater, I did love my R4 also.. but Im getting old)
The SHAPE is glorious for a few reasons.
Firstly, it wraps underneath instead of jutting out like darth vader's face mask and thus sits so much more nicely on a desk without feeling like it takes up way more real estate than it should.
Secondly, it is sooooo much more comfortable to pick up, hold and carry. The awkward edges of the R4 just pissed me off constantly.
The alien head lights up in colour again :))))
The rear feet seem to be much more raised now, eliminating the need for bottle caps under the back to increase cooling. And those grills are awesome
LOSE:
Nothing.
The ergonomics:
WIN:
It feels more ergonomic to separate the screen from the base when opening. Whatever they've done, I like it.
The front edge of the laptop is far less complicated in its shape which my wrists appear to be very happy about.
The power plug goes in the SIIIIDE. You dont know how happy I am about this. The 17 / M17X is so damn heavy that I like to pick up from the front but never could out of fear of putting pressure on the dumb rear power socket.
No glossy finish around the screen means easy to open without leaving blindingly obvious fingerprints
LOSE:
Again, nothing
The screen, touchpad and keyboard:
WIN:
The screen is anti glare. Finally. This is the best improvement yet. It may not look quite as awesome as that big glossy panel but I ceased to care how good that looked once the reflections began to ruin my experience.
The screen panel is recessed into the body. Why does this matter? previously the screen was flush as one big glassy panel and the light ring around the touch pad was raised very slightly. The end result was that I'd constantly end up with marks on my shiny shiny glossy screen from where the glass would rest or flex onto the touchpad light when closed. After a while I just stopped even cleaning it off. It made the computer feel very cheap and under tested.
The keyboard feels nice and the key shapes seem comfortable
The lighty up touchpad is growing on me too, I like it. And people are wow about it
LOSE:
I feel sad that the keyboard no longer lights up like a m-f**ker. It used to set it apart from other premium laptops. Now the keys just have light up letters like the competitors. But I'm not sad, the rest of it more than makes up for this.
Other notes:
Opening this one up felt far less special than the R4. The box wasn't this huge affair with mouse pad and hat and special cloth sleeve and stickers and fireworks and dancing babies. It makes me feel annoyed with all the people who whine that it costs more than a clevo. Now that the cost of an alienware has closed its gap to the competitors to be much more similar than in times past, I bet its those same people who are whining that it doesn't come with the special sleeve and other things anymore.
Anyway, The mouse pad sucked (I use razer).. I wouldn't be seen dead wearing that hat, and I never reused the sleeve. BUT.. it did feel real special opening it up. Now its just a normal 17" laptop sized box and has lost its grandeur.
So concludes my comparison!! I'm sure performance is nice, not worried about that. I feel this has been a massssssive improvement and dell have really listened to the complaints about the previous generations design. Well done dell.
-Tristan
I'm writing this because when I went looking for useful info about the new Alienware 17 vs M17xR4 a few weeks back, I just couldn't find the answers I wanted no matter how many articles I read.
My background... after a long long battle, dell decided to finally agree to replace my R4 with a new 17. This hardware failure, poor service and long battle left a very sour taste in my mouth that was hard to wash out.
Today my Alienware 17 finally arrived so I could do some real hands on comparison with my R4
I hope to fill in all the blanks about longer term annoyances that none of the reviews really cover properly
The exterior design:
WIN:
The aluminium exterior is wonderful to look at and to touch.
The lighting is (in my opinion) way more mature and tasteful (dont take me as a hater, I did love my R4 also.. but Im getting old)
The SHAPE is glorious for a few reasons.
Firstly, it wraps underneath instead of jutting out like darth vader's face mask and thus sits so much more nicely on a desk without feeling like it takes up way more real estate than it should.
Secondly, it is sooooo much more comfortable to pick up, hold and carry. The awkward edges of the R4 just pissed me off constantly.
The alien head lights up in colour again :))))
The rear feet seem to be much more raised now, eliminating the need for bottle caps under the back to increase cooling. And those grills are awesome
LOSE:
Nothing.
The ergonomics:
WIN:
It feels more ergonomic to separate the screen from the base when opening. Whatever they've done, I like it.
The front edge of the laptop is far less complicated in its shape which my wrists appear to be very happy about.
The power plug goes in the SIIIIDE. You dont know how happy I am about this. The 17 / M17X is so damn heavy that I like to pick up from the front but never could out of fear of putting pressure on the dumb rear power socket.
No glossy finish around the screen means easy to open without leaving blindingly obvious fingerprints
LOSE:
Again, nothing
The screen, touchpad and keyboard:
WIN:
The screen is anti glare. Finally. This is the best improvement yet. It may not look quite as awesome as that big glossy panel but I ceased to care how good that looked once the reflections began to ruin my experience.
The screen panel is recessed into the body. Why does this matter? previously the screen was flush as one big glassy panel and the light ring around the touch pad was raised very slightly. The end result was that I'd constantly end up with marks on my shiny shiny glossy screen from where the glass would rest or flex onto the touchpad light when closed. After a while I just stopped even cleaning it off. It made the computer feel very cheap and under tested.
The keyboard feels nice and the key shapes seem comfortable
The lighty up touchpad is growing on me too, I like it. And people are wow about it
LOSE:
I feel sad that the keyboard no longer lights up like a m-f**ker. It used to set it apart from other premium laptops. Now the keys just have light up letters like the competitors. But I'm not sad, the rest of it more than makes up for this.
Other notes:
Opening this one up felt far less special than the R4. The box wasn't this huge affair with mouse pad and hat and special cloth sleeve and stickers and fireworks and dancing babies. It makes me feel annoyed with all the people who whine that it costs more than a clevo. Now that the cost of an alienware has closed its gap to the competitors to be much more similar than in times past, I bet its those same people who are whining that it doesn't come with the special sleeve and other things anymore.
Anyway, The mouse pad sucked (I use razer).. I wouldn't be seen dead wearing that hat, and I never reused the sleeve. BUT.. it did feel real special opening it up. Now its just a normal 17" laptop sized box and has lost its grandeur.
So concludes my comparison!! I'm sure performance is nice, not worried about that. I feel this has been a massssssive improvement and dell have really listened to the complaints about the previous generations design. Well done dell.
-Tristan