I ordered one today. I-9, 4090, 64 GB Ram, 4 TB SSD, FHD monitor, mechanical keyboard. Can't wait to play Solitaire on it, the cards are going to fly at lightning speed.
how is it? Highly considering. 4090 probably 2tb and 32gb ram. Right now that is about $3200. I could wait for the 5090 to be released but will the difference be worth it? Plus, I am sure they are going to be 4k+. I like dell computers and they have never failed me and the build quality I think is very nice. This dell precision 7540 has been great and I got it cheap.
I was soooooo pumped for this release. For several months the first thing I would do every day is head to TH-cam and search to see if there were any customer reviews. Finally they started arriving and I was heartbroken with the results of the 300nits (280 tested) on that 18inch screen. Simply a deal breaker for me.
Where did you see someone get a 280 not screen? That seems really low! Mine was 360nits! I wonder if they are using more than one panel type. I would have been really disappointed with 280nit! My 360nit is pretty good but I would have preferred the 500nit like the blade 18
@@MashITTech @GizmoSlipTech. His was the very first (I know from checking literally daily) user review once the first batch was shipped out. 290nits was the result, I had a little typo there. Regardless, not very pleasing. I ultimately went with the ASUS Strix Scar 18 with the 4090 along with the 500nit Nebula. I have yet to have the brightness at full.
@@MashITTech Yeh another reviewer came up with 290 nits such a shame was really wanting to get one of these but 300nits and no usb c charging is really terrible considering dell are asking 5k australian for these. I really don't understand why dell charge so much for their laptops when a lot of what dell use in their laptops is cheaper parts and cutting corners so much. Don't they realise if they want to be known as the laptop kings they have to use good quality parts cause atm alienware is getting stomped in sales by other competitors.
Thanks for the review. I have the M15 r7 from last year. I'm pretty happy with it still so I'm not upgrading but I do love the look of this laptop. Maybe next gen they will have finally sorted the command software
@@MashITTech. It's a shame because hardware wise it looks great though I agree the ethernet and SD reader should be swapped. They need to get there software on par with the hardware and they would be pretty much perfect
Nice review Dave! I received my M18, 3 weeks ago with the 4090 GPU, I mainly used this laptop for 3D work, after almost three weeks of work (around 8 hours a day) the Laptop started to heat and freeze a lot and then bluescreens, I was running the laptop in balance mode, and now all I get is just blue screens with different codes even when I try to reinstall windows. It's certainly related to a hardware issue, in fact the laptop was constantly running hot maybe motherboard/cpu couldn't handle the heat, I have no clue, I contacted DELL and that's the best thing about Dell is the support, they are great in that part, they will replace it but I am worry that I will have the same issue with the new laptop as it could be a serious problem with all new M alienwares. Maybe it's just my unit that is defected, I will test and see when I receive the new/replaced one. Crossing my fingers.
@@ramimator i actually bought the one with the 3080 bc is a well known laptop, that´s why i dont buy the new ones until i know they don´t have any issues sometimes is better to buy the old technology instead hopefully you will be getting a good one this time.
@@julianfelipeqiuntero4887 Yup, I see your point but the issue is these units should be tested before leaving the factory, yeah, I agree I should have maybe wait till the technologie is well known and tested enough, but again it will be other people who tested it , still the very positive side is their customer support. Anyway I hope it's only my unit that has the issue. 🤞
Just pulled the trigger on this with the 4080 and Cherry MX Keys. I also got the lowest RAM and HDD as I plan to upgrade those myself. Cheers to a good review.
Its a really easy upgrade and I have a video on it if it helps (I upgraded to 2x 4tb 80mm and 2x 1tb 30mm SSDs and 64gb of 5600mhz ram which runs at 5200mhz)
@@MashITTech Thanks! I plan to do something very similar. I remember you mentioning that in this video and I will watch it just to be sure I don't miss anything. Awesome content!
Nice review! I got my unit (13900hx+4090) a week ago and there is an interesting fact I have to share with the community. No need to do RAID 0 for two 2280 ssd, because these 2 sockets are connected to the PCH PCIe 4.0*4 speed which means a maximum 8gb/s speed, I tried 980 pro 2tb raid 0, the result is disappointing.
@@MashITTech As HWinfo shows 2 2230 ssd sockets connected directly to the CPU and sharing PCIe bus with GPU makes the gpu only get pcie 4.0*8. So if do 2230 ssd raid 0 might get a better result, I ordered 2 SN740 1TB for further testing. I fully don't understand why Dell doing this but it does not lead to any performance drawbacks so I can accept some little flaws at this price. Overall Alienware m18 is worth purchasing LOL~
I also have 2 sn740 1tb drives installed. I haven’t even had time to test raid yet but I can tell you my drives run hot! Trying to buy some 30mm heatsinks at the moment
@@MashITTech wow didn’t consider that, thanks for mentioning this useful information! Last week I have tried to ask Dell send me another 2280 ssd thermal plate and they said I have to purchase myself T-T…….
Hiya Dave, thanks for your review. Just waiting for an UHD version now, (or 18inch workstation, which ever comes sooner). My current HP beast has an SD slot in the front edge! :)
Been waiting for this review , really disappointed they didn't include the usb c charging. I use it to extend my Alienware's battery life while away from the wall and it really does come in handy. Adding another 4 hours of juice without carrying that heavy adapter . Additionally was quite interesting how you purchase units with less RAM & disk space . Can you tell us how much you save & also if there is an improvement in stock performance vs self upgrade ?
Hi Russel, Dell charge a LOT for upgrades, you can buy them much cheaper yourself and I am currently making a video about this. Also I can choose the high performance parts I want, as an example dell will only sell you 4800mhz ram but I already have my ram at 5200mhz
What can I say! This is a high-end pc. I think I love M more than X. But Dell! Listen to this man, and make AW the whole package. Waiting for X vs. M review.
Lol this version already thermal throttles with its form factor and Dell's horrible flipped motherboard layout with its garbage element 31 lm/thermal paste hybrid. Imagine these specs in a thinner chassis?
thank you for this video, so detailed and nice description and Comparisions full of insights, at the end I bought the computer, this video was key for it. Thanks for making this video, it helped me alot!
Nice review! I have an older m17 and found that even at the dimmest setting, the screen was TOO bright when watching movies in a dark room. Although this review focused on all of the key areas for a gaming laptop, it would also be great to see how dim the screen can be set. As a comparison, the Macbook Pro 16 inch laptop has an excellent selection of screen brightness, allowing a much dimmer level which is more comfortable when watching movies (and allows me to fall asleep more easily in some cases). Please consider this type of comparison in your future reviews. No one else does this currently. Otherwise, great work in your review.
Fantastic. I'm vacillating between the m16 and m18. If the m16 keeps up, I may go with that. I didn't worry about size and weight in the past, but the x17 spoiled me that way. It was quite nice having a slimmer lighter machine.
@@worldofai-games1036 Yeh i was looking at the x16 as well i got no idea why alienware forces you into certain components and soldered in ram are they stupid or something makes no sense.
One fatal flaw of the Dell Alienware series is the power socket. The design of the socket is different from other brands, and it is particularly easy to break the circuit. My 17-inch Alienware has a sudden power failure problem after using it for more than a year, and I don’t use it frequently. Plug and unplug the power socket, no more than ten times a year, the problem lies in the power socket, the warranty is only one year, that is to say, you have to repair and replace the power socket at your own expense, so as long as Dell continues to use this power socket, I will not Go to Dell...
Thanks Nick, you can see by the bags under my eyes I had to for go sleep but its been worth it 🤣 Got another video coming out tomorrow I am putting the finishing touches on
love this model in comparison to the x17. for sure much prefer the 18 inch with the 1080p webcam. also now with 40 series rtx is a must have. love the black too and the relocation of the ports. getting it soon...
@@MashITTech They might do in the future, but I think we can be happy with this 18" laptop for now :) There are not a lot of laptops that size, which is a shame...
I just bought this laptop. I9 14900hx it is coming with though... Thanks for the info about the keyboard, i didnt even notice it was a mechanical choice type, i just got the standard type, hope this will hold up for intense gaming.
Standard and mechanical keyboards are both amazing, they just feel different. Power delivery is when you can charge your laptop through the USBC port instead of the power jack. It can be quite useful if you don't have your PSU on you but need to charge the laptop. Sadly dell won't implement it on the m18, only the m16r2 or x16 get it
@@MashITTech oh okay. Thanks alot for saying so. That would actually be such a great feature to have just incase. Very happy that they made the power block alot smaller though for the ease of carrying around.
Awesome video! Man the more I watch the more I want an Area 51m R3 or something... remember when we could pump 200W GPU and 150W on the CPU and keep the temperatures under check? :D (and use 2 power bricks?) I want one of those back! Just imagine if you could put a 13900k (150-250W) chip and a RTX 4090 with a 200-250W TDP in a laptop... As always Kudos for the video!
Thanks mate, and yeah, I still love the 51m r2 and would love an updated version! My guess is Dell never really stood behind it worrying people would upgrade it rather than buy a new laptop so they didn't want it to succeed.
@Mash IT I just got myself an area 51m r2. Still a very great and capable machine. It doesn't thermal throttle like these slim laptops. Area 51m is the best with the lighted track pad etc.
You cannot undervolt in the software but found on my m18 r1 in balanced mode you can undervolt and make adjustments via the bios I did have to get a replacement on my M18 and expect it next week (a couple of p cores over heating and throttling) as had dell send a tech to re paste and he broke the display connector but other than that this machine is a beast and on cinebench I did get scores after tinkering around of over 31K wanted to add good review thanks
Some weird compromises Dell have made, as you showed in the video. I also bought a laptop with 16 gigs of DDR5 5200 and just ordered 32 gigs as well as installing another 1 TB nvme for backup.
I had a 20-inch HP 'laptop' called the Dragon like 15 years ago if anyone remembers. Similar to today's Surface Laptop Studio form factor, that thing was heavy, beautiful and blazing fast!
Been looking forward to you opinion on this laptop. Couple of questions though. Do you feel the m16 offers better performance and money worth than the m18. The build quality doesn’t looks as good it I thought it would be for that amount of money. Look forward to your full review of this.
The build quality is a massive step up over last years m series. When you asked if I think m16 was better did you mean m16 or x16? The m16 is almost exactly the same only smaller and at least in the U.K. marginally cheaper
@@MashITTech sorry should have said x16. Would like to get desktop replacement. But feel it would be better investing in the Alienware desktop instead rather than the laptop. Or get both.
Talk about a beast! A real powerhouse. It is a shame Dell has so much trouble improving the alienware command center. I've been hearing complaints about it for years, might be time for them to hire some new blood to overhaul the entire design.
Hey Dave, Nice review! Well done! In regards to the undervolting locked out, 1.6.0 was supposed to fix that. I definitely have access on my M18 now, it's currently sitting at -150
Hey mate. How!!! I am on 1.6 but mine still isn't working! 😢 I reset the BIOS to default and I can apply an UV there but the profiles seem to be overriding it
@@MashITTech The profiles 100% override any of my TCC settings, but the UV seems to stay applied, at least according to HWInfo anyways? It shows -150 across all of the profiles I have tried. It's still a little screwy, some people can use Throttlestop and XTU, but those are locked out to me.
Now Dell has a very good reason to lock chips. They have an amazing replacement policy so they want to make sure people are not damaging the computer through too much overclocking. That being said underclocking options would be nice.
Thank you for the review! I saw you mention on Reddit that you’d try to give info on CPU temperature deltas in your upcoming review, but I didn’t see it mentioned here. Did you notice any big differences between core temperatures in this laptop?
@@MashITTech The same happens on i9 13900k on Desktop for example and i have mine watercooled (Ek Vector 2 custom loop). 2 cores will always hit 100C before all others and the delta on water is around 5C. I bet those cores are the ones marked as priority in XTU as well ;)
great review! so sad that for such a towards the top end laptop Alienware have put on 300 Nits display, no USB charging...disappointing, was looking forwards to get one but need to look at competition now :(
the PD charging is inexcusable for sure. The screen was actually 360nits which felt pretty bright but they really should have used the 500 nit like Razer Blade 18, these are not cheap machines
so after owning this laptop for the past 5 months here's my personal experience. the screen has lots of light bleeding and seems a common problem. the build quality is good but my previous model alienware 15 R3 felt better. I hade lots of software problems that apparently came from the alienware support assistant app conflicting with the Dell support assistant. I had to do a fresh restart and let only one app take care of all the updates. the alienware app that controls performances feels really buggy and I gave up playing with the configurations, I let the balanced one always running. except that everything is good. edit. in the Nvidia control panel also I had to manually select the option to use my graphic card, because automatically was only using the integrated one and never my 4070 for who knows what reasons.
@@MashITTech cant wait for it man! I'll bust mine open when you release the video. I am currently in the process of tweaking the asus rog strix scar 17 SE as someone is already willing to buy it from me. NGL im taking a bit of a hit here but hopefully I can sell it soon as no point in having 2 high powered laptops. btw man can you check some of my tweaking video and see if how I can further improve on undervolting the cpu and gpu?
@@MashITTech mine is the 4080 haha but I do think I need a ram upgrade because I feel like 16 gb ain't cutting it anymore with how hungry games are becoming..
This laptop is kinda alright, but man , the inverted motherboard . UGGHH!!!. But its nice to see a numpad. No way I can't survive without one lol. Also, can't wait to see do a review of Legion 7i Pro in the future c:
I've been waiting fot your video. Any chance you can compare the M18 with the X16 side by side to compare the size difference? I was battling with myself whether to get X16 or M18 as my main concern with the M18 is the size/weight since I carry it to my sister's from time to time. BTW, isn't the trackpad on the M18 meant to be glass a stated on the website?
I have already started filming that video but I need to finish the m16 video before I can edit that for you! I need more hours in the day 😂 Trackpad is definitely plastic just like last years m series, the x series is glass. I didn't see any mention of m series getting a glass trackpad but I will go and check
@@MashITTech Lol too many laptops to wrap your head around, I understand. Regarding the trackpad, it states on the product page below the configurations you get to choose, in the tech specs area, 'Multi-touch gesture Premium Precision glass touchpad with integrated scrolling.' It does not state the 'glass' bit for the M16 though.
Love the revieuw.. almost sold it to me.. But i will wait for a beter screen.. so what ram and ssd will you put in… Ps i saw other m18 revieuws with the 4080 and they got the old power brick..
Thanks mate. Yeah I think more screen options will be coming soon! The early USA orders got the old style 330w but I think that is fixed now. I bought 64gb 5600mhz fury ram, 4tb sn850x for primary, 4tb p3plus for storage and then 2x 1tb sn740 gen 4 30mm SSDs because I couldn't leave an empty m.2 slot 🤣
@@MashITTech just like the 1gb i got for my 2230 slot on my M17r4.. can’t leave an empty slot.. But next time i will do the same as you : buy good ram and ssd seperate… I would love to see a mini lee or oled 18 inch screen.. Or at least a 240 hertz qhd or a 165 but 4 k screen..
Great full review sir. Loved you review way more than this laptop. Personally i think better laptops are out there in 13 gen. I don't like that they used 4800mhz ram in this price range. It must have 5600mhz. I don't like this laptop. I also must have mini led panel or oled.
I am guessing you are in USA? I have heard a few initial orders got the old style brick but I think the issue has been sorted now, you should complain to them
There are ways to cool the CPU. Just like you said, have to go into the BIOS and alienware command to do some adjustments. My god, I wish I had the slim power supply
@@MashITTech yes I am the US. Now I want to know what it feels like with a lighter power brick because my backpack has increased by 4 pounds since I got the m18. It's a big boy with big power
We really do share opinions on how a gaming laptop should be, 17+ screen size, numpad, easy to upgrade and good support. But one thing is just a show-stopper. 1700 quids to go from 4060 to 4090 (which is actually a slightly stripped down 4080), here in the Nordics. That price is just outrageous because of lacking competition and insults my intelligence. No thanks. My RTX 3080 with 16GB VRAM will serve me just fine for a generation or two more, when AMD (or perhaps even Intel), hopefully get their act together on the laptop GPU market. Besides, I can actually charge this unit with 100W over USB-C. Granted, the price is not as extreme as MSI or Razers competition, but the GPU price is ridiculous.
Hey mate. Yes the price is disgusting I agree. As always with Dell though they release at a stupid price to catch all the early adopters and then have regular offers and sales. It was the same as the x17r2 last year, they came out at 3.5k too but could soon be had for about 2.8k which although expensive is more realistic for a top end machine
@@MashITTech If that is the case, then yes, it is a reasonable price, but all the more reason to hold your horses and not take that price hit as an early adopter. Keep it up!
Hello David. Please, could you revisit a previous video in which you explained how to set up two NVMEs in RAID0? I was wondering if it may degrade the SSDs in the long term, or how to apply FW updates. Thank you.
@@MashITTech This comes because I followed your explanation, and now I have two Samsung 990 Pro 2TB in RAID0 in my Razer Blade 2022. Very happy that I have a unified 4TB volume. But I am a little afraid that eventually I may have to apply an urgent FW update.
I love this! I hope I can switch my X17R2 this year. I'm glad they gave a qhd screen option but the better performance could have finally supported 4k really well. Still would do fine with an external monitor I assume so no worries there for me. I see the x16 now has a 4090 + i9 which wasn't available when you reviewed ther x16. Which would you choose given that config option?
I personally would take the m18, I love the larger screen and more ssd slots! I am currently putting a comparison video of the two together to hopefully help others deciding between them
@@joezmoma19285 I have the X17R2 with the 500 nit 4k screen. The x16 and m18 both have qhd screens. Seems like a waste of the horsepower but I mainly have been playing Cyberpunk over the last 2 years so the new ray tracing overdrive will probably work qhd pretty hard at native resolution.
yes it is, especially if you get a good discount. The new r2 will launch soon but the new intel CPUs are just a refresh and the GPUs are the same so don't bother waiting for it
@@MashITTech me and old man, slow as hell, you have a way on explaining things in a very simple way!! thanks for your videos, my wife told me that I have no need to buy a laptop after watching your videos lol, she said "you can build your own now" lol, not listening to her lol
Hi, I see a gap in the grill above the F1 and F2 key. I am able to see through the laptop from that gap. Can you please confirm if there is a gap in your model? You would have to look from above.
Great Video. Loved the attention to detail. Kindly do a comparison video between this and the ROG STRIX SCAR 4090 ( ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2023) G834 G834JY-N6044X ) . PLEASE?! Cheers
@@MashITTech thank you so much! not that I plan on gaming on 8k anytime in my life. Btw I was curious and concerned,does your M18 ever get scratches from putting in and out of backpack daily? Do you think it needs a transparent skin and screen protector to avoid getting scratches?
it depends, as long as you are not catching the zipper when sliding it in and out you will be fine. Most decent bags cover the zip so this doesn't happen but make sure you check
@@MashITTech thanks! You cleared my doubts. My current laptop has tiny (many) scratches from the daily putting in bag and taking out(its not because of the zipper, I got this bag with the laptop I purchased). Good thing I put a screen protector on it, when I bought it.
Dave, thanks so much for the review. You have actually saved me from buying the bog standard M18 thinking I can whack a load of NVMe drives in it, which clearly you cannot because Dell removed the headers on the motherboard on the RTX 4060 and 4070 options. I noticed in one of your other comments that you are running your RAM at 5200MHz, but Dell only supply 4800MHz. Does the M18 support 5600MHz RAM natively, or is this an overclock on the 4800MHz RAM? I still have my M18x R1, which is sadly only running Windows 7 still due to the lack of available drivers in Winblows 10. I did have a bunch of issues with it, which Dell, to their credit, sent technicians to my house to sort out. It has had two motherboard replacements, 3 GPUs and a keyboard, but all under warranty. However, I might add, that was a few years ago (few meaning like 10 years ago). I hope that Dell's warranty and customer service is still up to par before I drop the hammer on buying an M18. Thanks again for the great review
Something else I have noticed is that you cannot spec an i7 with a 4080, which means that the price increases by almost £800. I guess the reason is two-fold. You dont have to make another version of motherboard and it entices you to pay more mulah
Yes for sure, I have reviewed the Blade 16 already and I have the legion pro 5i sitting here untouched yet. I just focus on Alienware as 1. they are easy to buy here in the UK and 2. a lot of my audience love Alienware. Asus are a little tricky to get hold of in the UK which is why I cover less of their machines
Nice review , but can you explain to us what is centi grade ? you said in the video the cpu will hit 100 degrees centi grade ? i know celsius , but centi grade ... maybe not from this planet? :)
Celsius, also called centigrade, scale based on 0° for the freezing point of water and 100° for the boiling point of water. Invented in 1742 by the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, it is sometimes called the centigrade scale because of the 100-degree interval between the defined points. It is used regularly in the U.K. but maybe not other countries 😃
@@TheLivingTribunal haha tell me about it, since starting this TH-cam channel I have learnt more about other parts of the world than I ever thought possible 😃
Can you do a benchmarks video for different games on this, also do you think this laptop could run UE5 and possibly be good for some game development, I’ve been saving for this thing forever
Any benchmarks you would like to see? I have been using unity for years but let me take a look at the unreal engine but with the power this machine has I don't think it will struggle :)
@@MashITTech I’d like to see benchmarks for Red dead 2 raw, no frame Gen, and the benchmarks for UE5 if possible to test it out, it would be interesting to see some demanding games try and push 4k in the benchmarks video
Which laptop has better battery life m16 or m18. Thinking I might get the m18 but I will wait for your m16 review to get my mind made up.does the m18 fit on the alienware backpack for 17 inch laptop?
So far the m18 had the larger battery than the m16 and got 10 more minutes than the m16 which really surprised me as I thought the large screen would have destroyed its battery. The m18 fits in the horizon travel 17" or the new travel 18" but it doesn't fit in the other bags
do you think that it would be worth the upgrade from an alienware R12, with an i7, rtx 3080 with 32gbs ram to the M18 with the i9, rtx 4090 at 32gb of ram? Also do you know how good this laptop in on a full day of gaming? Like any overheating issue, or loud fan noises?
if I remember correctly r12 was 11th gen intel? if so you will get a really good boost in CPU performance and a good 25% improvement in GPU performance. Because this laptop is a large desktop replacement I had no issues with even the longest gaming sessions. It kept cool and wasn't too loud plus you can switch it to quiet mode if you want quiet gaming but you loose a little performance
flash the bios 1.6.0 and in awcc choose balanced mode after doing that in bios reset to default, and then you can do undervolting in bios...but the fan will lock at balanced mode....when you choose another preset fan mode in AWCC it will end up with the blue screen. I tried to install AWCC ver 5 instead but it will force you to update to the latest version. I already gave up on undervolting lol just choose override mode and let it run itself, if anything happens just ask Dell to fix it or replace it (Always send it back to the repair center, DO NOT ASK FOR THE ONSITE REPAIR)
I do not know if you will see this comment, and i do not want to rush you with your next reviews in any way but i wanted to buy x16 or m18 and I LOVE YOUR VIDS, and so i am waiting for the x16 VS m18 video. Can you please give us a vague ETA on it at least?
I have to finish the m16 review first plus I have a couple of videos already in editing which should release soon so my estimate would be late next week ish (very vague 😂)
I really like the CherryMX keyboard and the 18-inch display with a Windows Hello IR camera. Are those the wrong reasons to go for this laptop, I know it looks awesome but is it worthy pursuit?
@@MashITTech I am actually in the market for a desktop replacement and an 18-inch screen is my preference. But I was wondering if the low display nits, heating and AWCC were deterrent enough to avoid it.
its not that low, mine was over 300 nits and until this year that was the norm. It is just that the blade 18 has a 500 nit panel, I am not sure why Alienware didn't choose it too, but that's not a deal breaker. AWCC has always been a bit rubbish but once set up you probably won't use it much and the cooling system is pretty robust, dell just always lets them run hot.
You mentioned there is a higher "X" series model, any idea if and when those are coming with the 4090? I too can't consider this model because of the display brightness.
the X16 now has a 4090 option in USA and UK, I am sure its out in other regions too but I haven't checked. The only problem with the x16 is currently the screen which is also only 325 nits! Why didn't they use the 500 nit panels like Razer 😢
@@MashITTech lol yeah changed it to my name, just finished watching your vid, the battery life is actually impressive for an 18 inch laptop I think. 4 Hours is solid. I'm not happy with the 100 C CPU temps but hey if it lasts 3-5 years without heat damage I'm ok with that
Hello, I want to let you know, this is a great review. I've got a question about your alienware m18. Does it have custom thing like edit your rgb like the asus rog ? Like when you press a key, that key rgb turns on and turns off like the reactive preset in asus. Is it possible in the alienware m18? Please try!
Great informative video, Thankyou. - I do love gaming, BUT, On a different note of interest, I and many others really wish, Alienware & other big gaming laptop makers would make a version of the M18 and the like for Music Studio work, this type of task does not need huge hot and loud graffix cards, quite the opposite, we need very quite machines but with massive horse power (way more than gaming machines) But some of us need a portable super power lappy for mobile studio tasks, which i am sure their is a massive market for, which the M18 would be fine if issued with just a decent 1080p type basic graphic card, or even a basic 4k card and screen. Only airing this out loud as no one else seems to be. Please spread the word ...Cheers :)
I ordered one today. I-9, 4090, 64 GB Ram, 4 TB SSD, FHD monitor, mechanical keyboard. Can't wait to play Solitaire on it, the cards are going to fly at lightning speed.
Don’t forget to play some minesweeper as well
how is it? Highly considering. 4090 probably 2tb and 32gb ram. Right now that is about $3200. I could wait for the 5090 to be released but will the difference be worth it? Plus, I am sure they are going to be 4k+. I like dell computers and they have never failed me and the build quality I think is very nice. This dell precision 7540 has been great and I got it cheap.
I was soooooo pumped for this release. For several months the first thing I would do every day is head to TH-cam and search to see if there were any customer reviews. Finally they started arriving and I was heartbroken with the results of the 300nits (280 tested) on that 18inch screen. Simply a deal breaker for me.
Where did you see someone get a 280 not screen? That seems really low! Mine was 360nits! I wonder if they are using more than one panel type. I would have been really disappointed with 280nit! My 360nit is pretty good but I would have preferred the 500nit like the blade 18
@@MashITTech @GizmoSlipTech. His was the very first (I know from checking literally daily) user review once the first batch was shipped out. 290nits was the result, I had a little typo there. Regardless, not very pleasing. I ultimately went with the ASUS Strix Scar 18 with the 4090 along with the 500nit Nebula. I have yet to have the brightness at full.
Oh wow, I will take a look and find out what panel he was supplied. I can’t imagine there is 70nits variance between panels!!!
Even 360 nits is pretty bad.
@@MashITTech Yeh another reviewer came up with 290 nits such a shame was really wanting to get one of these but 300nits and no usb c charging is really terrible considering dell are asking 5k australian for these. I really don't understand why dell charge so much for their laptops when a lot of what dell use in their laptops is cheaper parts and cutting corners so much. Don't they realise if they want to be known as the laptop kings they have to use good quality parts cause atm alienware is getting stomped in sales by other competitors.
i have also the M18 4090 mine does 31295 multi core and 2029 single core it's a beast very happy with it
wow yours is scoring better than mine! what profile was that on?
A small typo at 0:43 with the screen size mentioned at 16" instead of 18". Great video as always
Thank you mate, well spotted!
Thanks for the review. I have the M15 r7 from last year. I'm pretty happy with it still so I'm not upgrading but I do love the look of this laptop. Maybe next gen they will have finally sorted the command software
we can but hope :) I keep moaning at dell praying they will listen!
@@MashITTech. It's a shame because hardware wise it looks great though I agree the ethernet and SD reader should be swapped. They need to get there software on par with the hardware and they would be pretty much perfect
Nice review Dave! I received my M18, 3 weeks ago with the 4090 GPU, I mainly used this laptop for 3D work, after almost three weeks of work (around 8 hours a day) the Laptop started to heat and freeze a lot and then bluescreens, I was running the laptop in balance mode, and now all I get is just blue screens with different codes even when I try to reinstall windows. It's certainly related to a hardware issue, in fact the laptop was constantly running hot maybe motherboard/cpu couldn't handle the heat, I have no clue, I contacted DELL and that's the best thing about Dell is the support, they are great in that part, they will replace it but I am worry that I will have the same issue with the new laptop as it could be a serious problem with all new M alienwares. Maybe it's just my unit that is defected, I will test and see when I receive the new/replaced one. Crossing my fingers.
can you please keep us updated? im curios cause I want to buy the m18 mainly for gaming
@@element19ch yeah, sure, for now I am waiting for the replacement, I assume it will take 20 days, as it’s delivered from China.
@@ramimator i actually bought the one with the 3080 bc is a well known laptop, that´s why i dont buy the new ones until i know they don´t have any issues sometimes is better to buy the old technology instead hopefully you will be getting a good one this time.
@@julianfelipeqiuntero4887 Yup, I see your point but the issue is these units should be tested before leaving the factory, yeah, I agree I should have maybe wait till the technologie is well known and tested enough, but again it will be other people who tested it , still the very positive side is their customer support. Anyway I hope it's only my unit that has the issue. 🤞
@@ramimator Hey , did you receive your new laptop ? :) I am literally thinking of buying one..
Just pulled the trigger on this with the 4080 and Cherry MX Keys. I also got the lowest RAM and HDD as I plan to upgrade those myself. Cheers to a good review.
Its a really easy upgrade and I have a video on it if it helps (I upgraded to 2x 4tb 80mm and 2x 1tb 30mm SSDs and 64gb of 5600mhz ram which runs at 5200mhz)
@@MashITTech Thanks! I plan to do something very similar. I remember you mentioning that in this video and I will watch it just to be sure I don't miss anything. Awesome content!
Very honest review. Great work. I just hoped dell wouldn't be so agressive with their options and pricing, and be a bit less machiavelous.
Thank you mate
Great review! Awaiting delivery tomorrow!
Nice review! I got my unit (13900hx+4090) a week ago and there is an interesting fact I have to share with the community. No need to do RAID 0 for two 2280 ssd, because these 2 sockets are connected to the PCH PCIe 4.0*4 speed which means a maximum 8gb/s speed, I tried 980 pro 2tb raid 0, the result is disappointing.
Thanks for the info and that is a real shame :(
@@MashITTech As HWinfo shows 2 2230 ssd sockets connected directly to the CPU and sharing PCIe bus with GPU makes the gpu only get pcie 4.0*8. So if do 2230 ssd raid 0 might get a better result, I ordered 2 SN740 1TB for further testing.
I fully don't understand why Dell doing this but it does not lead to any performance drawbacks so I can accept some little flaws at this price. Overall Alienware m18 is worth purchasing LOL~
I also have 2 sn740 1tb drives installed. I haven’t even had time to test raid yet but I can tell you my drives run hot! Trying to buy some 30mm heatsinks at the moment
@@MashITTech wow didn’t consider that, thanks for mentioning this useful information! Last week I have tried to ask Dell send me another 2280 ssd thermal plate and they said I have to purchase myself T-T…….
Hiya Dave, thanks for your review. Just waiting for an UHD version now, (or 18inch workstation, which ever comes sooner). My current HP beast has an SD slot in the front edge! :)
Been waiting for this review , really disappointed they didn't include the usb c charging. I use it to extend my Alienware's battery life while away from the wall and it really does come in handy. Adding another 4 hours of juice without carrying that heavy adapter . Additionally was quite interesting how you purchase units with less RAM & disk space . Can you tell us how much you save & also if there is an improvement in stock performance vs self upgrade ?
Hi Russel, Dell charge a LOT for upgrades, you can buy them much cheaper yourself and I am currently making a video about this. Also I can choose the high performance parts I want, as an example dell will only sell you 4800mhz ram but I already have my ram at 5200mhz
@@MashITTech Can wait for that video .......................
@@MashITTech 1:46 😊
Just bought the m18 and I am excited to set it up
Hope you enjoy it
@@MashITTech i am sure I will 👍🏻
4 fans, impressive. Long lifespan on the CPU and GPU for sure!
this laptop gonna reach more than 7 years . i'm sure of that
What can I say! This is a high-end pc. I think I love M more than X. But Dell! Listen to this man, and make AW the whole package. Waiting for X vs. M review.
Haha, already filmed x16 vs m18, I just need time to edit it!! currently woking on the m16 review at the moment
Great video ❤I wish they could release an x18 and put some features they missed with this bad boy.
Yep, that’s exactly how I feel! I love the feel and feature of the x16 but the power of m18! Maybe they will release an x18 later
Lol this version already thermal throttles with its form factor and Dell's horrible flipped motherboard layout with its garbage element 31 lm/thermal paste hybrid. Imagine these specs in a thinner chassis?
I just wish this had a 4k mini-led 144Hz display. That would make this perfect.
thank you for this video, so detailed and nice description and Comparisions full of insights, at the end I bought the computer, this video was key for it. Thanks for making this video, it helped me alot!
Glad it was helpful! :)
Nice review! I have an older m17 and found that even at the dimmest setting, the screen was TOO bright when watching movies in a dark room. Although this review focused on all of the key areas for a gaming laptop, it would also be great to see how dim the screen can be set. As a comparison, the Macbook Pro 16 inch laptop has an excellent selection of screen brightness, allowing a much dimmer level which is more comfortable when watching movies (and allows me to fall asleep more easily in some cases). Please consider this type of comparison in your future reviews. No one else does this currently. Otherwise, great work in your review.
Fantastic. I'm vacillating between the m16 and m18. If the m16 keeps up, I may go with that. I didn't worry about size and weight in the past, but the x17 spoiled me that way. It was quite nice having a slimmer lighter machine.
Hello mate. Well m16 review is coming next but I will also do a quick m16 vs m18 video so you can see the differences
I was considering the new x16 but passed on it because it has soldered ram... otherwise, it could be an OK successor to the x17.
@@worldofai-games1036 Yeh i was looking at the x16 as well i got no idea why alienware forces you into certain components and soldered in ram are they stupid or something makes no sense.
easy, do you travel a lot? ....if yes M16, if not M18 jajaja both have same performance :)
Well made logical review man enjoyed it a lot!
Glad you enjoyed it!
One fatal flaw of the Dell Alienware series is the power socket. The design of the socket is different from other brands, and it is particularly easy to break the circuit. My 17-inch Alienware has a sudden power failure problem after using it for more than a year, and I don’t use it frequently. Plug and unplug the power socket, no more than ten times a year, the problem lies in the power socket, the warranty is only one year, that is to say, you have to repair and replace the power socket at your own expense, so as long as Dell continues to use this power socket, I will not Go to Dell...
Got a old M18..If you have some basic soldering skills, it's fairly easy to fix the power socket...Did it to mine...
Cracking some amazing videos Dave
Thanks Nick, you can see by the bags under my eyes I had to for go sleep but its been worth it 🤣 Got another video coming out tomorrow I am putting the finishing touches on
love this model in comparison to the x17. for sure much prefer the 18 inch with the 1080p webcam. also now with 40 series rtx is a must have. love the black too and the relocation of the ports. getting it soon...
Great review! Might trade the good old X17 R1 in for this monster.
Thanks as always!
hello mate, good to see you. Yeah I am preferring the m18 to the x16! I just wish they also made an x18 :)
@@MashITTech They might do in the future, but I think we can be happy with this 18" laptop for now :) There are not a lot of laptops that size, which is a shame...
I can't believe you got the slim adapter and I got the big fat brick one
They like UK customers better 🤣
@@MashITTech if I had to choose, I would take Cherry MX keys over slim charger
I just bought this laptop. I9 14900hx it is coming with though... Thanks for the info about the keyboard, i didnt even notice it was a mechanical choice type, i just got the standard type, hope this will hold up for intense gaming.
What do you mean by power delivery?
Quick Google search. Basically means fast charging, right?
Standard and mechanical keyboards are both amazing, they just feel different. Power delivery is when you can charge your laptop through the USBC port instead of the power jack. It can be quite useful if you don't have your PSU on you but need to charge the laptop. Sadly dell won't implement it on the m18, only the m16r2 or x16 get it
@@MashITTech oh okay. Thanks alot for saying so. That would actually be such a great feature to have just incase. Very happy that they made the power block alot smaller though for the ease of carrying around.
Awesome video! Man the more I watch the more I want an Area 51m R3 or something... remember when we could pump 200W GPU and 150W on the CPU and keep the temperatures under check? :D (and use 2 power bricks?) I want one of those back! Just imagine if you could put a 13900k (150-250W) chip and a RTX 4090 with a 200-250W TDP in a laptop...
As always Kudos for the video!
Thanks mate, and yeah, I still love the 51m r2 and would love an updated version! My guess is Dell never really stood behind it worrying people would upgrade it rather than buy a new laptop so they didn't want it to succeed.
@Mash IT I just got myself an area 51m r2. Still a very great and capable machine. It doesn't thermal throttle like these slim laptops. Area 51m is the best with the lighted track pad etc.
I'm still using the ARea 51m R1 with a 9600K and 2080. I am still using the OG bios so that my 2080 can run up to 200w.
Excellent review. Super informative Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
You cannot undervolt in the software but found on my m18 r1 in balanced mode you can undervolt and make adjustments via the bios I did have to get a replacement on my M18 and expect it next week (a couple of p cores over heating and throttling) as had dell send a tech to re paste and he broke the display connector but other than that this machine is a beast and on cinebench I did get scores after tinkering around of over 31K wanted to add good review thanks
Thank you mate. I will try and make adjustment in BIOS but it was being over ridden by the games performance profiles :(
@@MashITTech Also set the game profiles to balanced forgot that part and then you can select custom in the bios
Thanks
Thank you so much, that is greatly appreciated 😀
Some weird compromises Dell have made, as you showed in the video. I also bought a laptop with 16 gigs of DDR5 5200 and just ordered 32 gigs as well as installing another 1 TB nvme for backup.
Is that the funny moustache man in your profile picture?
@@TheFunnyDictator That’s mr Gumpy from Monty Python
@@mikaelbiilmann6826 Is he supposed to resemble Hitler?
@@TheFunnyDictator No. He just has a mustache. Hitler didn't have monopoly on small mustaches.😊 He just gave them a bad rep. 😁
@@mikaelbiilmann6826 Do you like watching anime?
Thanks for the review
I had a 20-inch HP 'laptop' called the Dragon like 15 years ago if anyone remembers. Similar to today's Surface Laptop Studio form factor, that thing was heavy, beautiful and blazing fast!
haha I remember that! They need to bring back the 20" monsters 😂
excellent point about the SD card vs Ethernet
Excellent review mate !! 👍
Thanks a lot mate!
looks solid, wish it had mini led screen or something tho, I doubt they will release new variations this year.
Been looking forward to you opinion on this laptop. Couple of questions though. Do you feel the m16 offers better performance and money worth than the m18. The build quality doesn’t looks as good it I thought it would be for that amount of money.
Look forward to your full review of this.
The build quality is a massive step up over last years m series. When you asked if I think m16 was better did you mean m16 or x16? The m16 is almost exactly the same only smaller and at least in the U.K. marginally cheaper
@@MashITTech sorry should have said x16. Would like to get desktop replacement. But feel it would be better investing in the Alienware desktop instead rather than the laptop. Or get both.
great review, I think ill go for the asus scar 18 though . just because of the brighter screen. its nice.
4k option is DEFINITELY needed!
agreed, I love QHD and if only gaming it makes sense but if you plan to use for work and play 4k is the way forward!
Talk about a beast! A real powerhouse. It is a shame Dell has so much trouble improving the alienware command center. I've been hearing complaints about it for years, might be time for them to hire some new blood to overhaul the entire design.
Hey Dave,
Nice review! Well done!
In regards to the undervolting locked out, 1.6.0 was supposed to fix that. I definitely have access on my M18 now, it's currently sitting at -150
Hey mate. How!!! I am on 1.6 but mine still isn't working! 😢 I reset the BIOS to default and I can apply an UV there but the profiles seem to be overriding it
@@MashITTech The profiles 100% override any of my TCC settings, but the UV seems to stay applied, at least according to HWInfo anyways? It shows -150 across all of the profiles I have tried. It's still a little screwy, some people can use Throttlestop and XTU, but those are locked out to me.
Now Dell has a very good reason to lock chips. They have an amazing replacement policy so they want to make sure people are not damaging the computer through too much overclocking. That being said underclocking options would be nice.
Thank you for the review! I saw you mention on Reddit that you’d try to give info on CPU temperature deltas in your upcoming review, but I didn’t see it mentioned here. Did you notice any big differences between core temperatures in this laptop?
sorry I was going to try and cover it in my deep dive but yes, two cores hit 100c whilst the others are about 10c lower.
@@MashITTech The same happens on i9 13900k on Desktop for example and i have mine watercooled (Ek Vector 2 custom loop). 2 cores will always hit 100C before all others and the delta on water is around 5C. I bet those cores are the ones marked as priority in XTU as well ;)
Cheers mate! Uhm as for the tuning, I think there was an update that allows us to undervolt. Own or disown made a video on how to :D
I saw Stephen's video but he mostly got a benefit from using TCC which I also mentioned. The UV isn't properly working as certain profiles override it
@@MashITTech dang I hope Alienware is watching you and they actually release a bios update for us to undervolt this beast.
@@graelstream2353 I know they watch the videos as they often get in touch after I moan about them 😂
@@MashITTech Here's to hoping mate! I think I will try undervolting the m16 with the ultra performance on and see where it gets me
great review! so sad that for such a towards the top end laptop Alienware have put on 300 Nits display, no USB charging...disappointing, was looking forwards to get one but need to look at competition now :(
the PD charging is inexcusable for sure. The screen was actually 360nits which felt pretty bright but they really should have used the 500 nit like Razer Blade 18, these are not cheap machines
@@MashITTechhow does it look side to side ? media consumption and gaming. This is the one factor holding me off AW
I just bought one with the RTX-4090, 8TB- SSD, 64Gb - RAM, and the Cherry mechanical keyboard...I can't wait 🎉😊
Wow what a beast!
@@MashITTech I'm eagerly waiting
Hi! Awaiting your review of new Alienware m18 R2 !!
Thanks for the review
Do you know if an x18 is coming out
Nothing definite yet but there have been a few rumours floating around
Coolness. Just one last thing, does this support advanced optimus? If yes why doesn't dell show it in their website?
so after owning this laptop for the past 5 months here's my personal experience.
the screen has lots of light bleeding and seems a common problem.
the build quality is good but my previous model alienware 15 R3 felt better.
I hade lots of software problems that apparently came from the alienware support assistant app conflicting with the Dell support assistant.
I had to do a fresh restart and let only one app take care of all the updates.
the alienware app that controls performances feels really buggy and I gave up playing with the configurations, I let the balanced one always running.
except that everything is good.
edit.
in the Nvidia control panel also I had to manually select the option to use my graphic card, because automatically was only using the integrated one and never my 4070 for who knows what reasons.
BTW mate, when will the Alienware m16 review come? I really love the deep dive series :D
I am currently working on the m16 review and I am hoping to get it out early next week :)
@@MashITTech cant wait for it man! I'll bust mine open when you release the video. I am currently in the process of tweaking the asus rog strix scar 17 SE as someone is already willing to buy it from me. NGL im taking a bit of a hit here but hopefully I can sell it soon as no point in having 2 high powered laptops. btw man can you check some of my tweaking video and see if how I can further improve on undervolting the cpu and gpu?
let me take a look. and what spec m16 did you get? Annoyingly Dell have removed the 2x 30mm m.2 slots on the 4060 and 4070 versions. So mean!
@@MashITTech mine is the 4080 haha but I do think I need a ram upgrade because I feel like 16 gb ain't cutting it anymore with how hungry games are becoming..
Hey, great video as always. Is the review coming soon on the M16 as well?
haha started it as soon as I finished this one! should be early next week as these reviews take a fair amount of time!
This laptop is kinda alright, but man , the inverted motherboard . UGGHH!!!. But its nice to see a numpad. No way I can't survive without one lol.
Also, can't wait to see do a review of Legion 7i Pro in the future c:
haha, you have no idea how many laptops I have queued up right now! I think my wife is going to divorce me as I am living at work 🤣
I've been waiting fot your video. Any chance you can compare the M18 with the X16 side by side to compare the size difference? I was battling with myself whether to get X16 or M18 as my main concern with the M18 is the size/weight since I carry it to my sister's from time to time. BTW, isn't the trackpad on the M18 meant to be glass a stated on the website?
I have already started filming that video but I need to finish the m16 video before I can edit that for you! I need more hours in the day 😂 Trackpad is definitely plastic just like last years m series, the x series is glass. I didn't see any mention of m series getting a glass trackpad but I will go and check
@@MashITTech Lol too many laptops to wrap your head around, I understand. Regarding the trackpad, it states on the product page below the configurations you get to choose, in the tech specs area, 'Multi-touch gesture Premium Precision glass touchpad with integrated scrolling.' It does not state the 'glass' bit for the M16 though.
i assume you drive around in your car listening to the music you use to test these speakers with
I love it so much I bought the whole infraction library
Is this a vr ready pc? Also any issues playing games via an external monitor connected to this laptop?
Have they fixed the overheat issue yet compare to the last gen. I heard the 40 series garphic card can put out some heat to cook bacon on it....
Love the revieuw.. almost sold it to me.. But i will wait for a beter screen..
so what ram and ssd will you put in…
Ps i saw other m18 revieuws with the 4080 and they got the old power brick..
Thanks mate. Yeah I think more screen options will be coming soon! The early USA orders got the old style 330w but I think that is fixed now. I bought 64gb 5600mhz fury ram, 4tb sn850x for primary, 4tb p3plus for storage and then 2x 1tb sn740 gen 4 30mm SSDs because I couldn't leave an empty m.2 slot 🤣
@@MashITTech just like the 1gb i got for my 2230 slot on my M17r4.. can’t leave an empty slot.. But next time i will do the same as you : buy good ram and ssd seperate… I would love to see a mini lee or oled 18 inch screen.. Or at least a 240 hertz qhd or a 165 but 4 k screen..
@@MashITTech honestly with this screen you might as well get the 4080..
yes you are right, I only got the 4090 version as I hadn't tested one yet 😂
Great full review sir. Loved you review way more than this laptop. Personally i think better laptops are out there in 13 gen. I don't like that they used 4800mhz ram in this price range. It must have 5600mhz. I don't like this laptop. I also must have mini led panel or oled.
Dell sent me the old big style charger with mine. (same spec as yours) For the price, they should have upgraded it.
I am guessing you are in USA? I have heard a few initial orders got the old style brick but I think the issue has been sorted now, you should complain to them
@@MashITTech I didn’t think about that. Yeah, I’m in the US. Thanks.
@@MashITTech I asked dell about it and they pretty much told me to go pound sand.
Seems kinda shady of them.
Great review
There are ways to cool the CPU. Just like you said, have to go into the BIOS and alienware command to do some adjustments. My god, I wish I had the slim power supply
Oh no, did you get the old brick! Are you in the US?
@@MashITTech yes I am the US. Now I want to know what it feels like with a lighter power brick because my backpack has increased by 4 pounds since I got the m18. It's a big boy with big power
We really do share opinions on how a gaming laptop should be, 17+ screen size, numpad, easy to upgrade and good support. But one thing is just a show-stopper. 1700 quids to go from 4060 to 4090 (which is actually a slightly stripped down 4080), here in the Nordics. That price is just outrageous because of lacking competition and insults my intelligence.
No thanks. My RTX 3080 with 16GB VRAM will serve me just fine for a generation or two more, when AMD (or perhaps even Intel), hopefully get their act together on the laptop GPU market. Besides, I can actually charge this unit with 100W over USB-C. Granted, the price is not as extreme as MSI or Razers competition, but the GPU price is ridiculous.
Hey mate. Yes the price is disgusting I agree. As always with Dell though they release at a stupid price to catch all the early adopters and then have regular offers and sales. It was the same as the x17r2 last year, they came out at 3.5k too but could soon be had for about 2.8k which although expensive is more realistic for a top end machine
@@MashITTech If that is the case, then yes, it is a reasonable price, but all the more reason to hold your horses and not take that price hit as an early adopter. Keep it up!
Hello David. Please, could you revisit a previous video in which you explained how to set up two NVMEs in RAID0? I was wondering if it may degrade the SSDs in the long term, or how to apply FW updates. Thank you.
let me check the firmware update option but it shouldn't degrade the life of the SSD
@@MashITTech This comes because I followed your explanation, and now I have two Samsung 990 Pro 2TB in RAID0 in my Razer Blade 2022. Very happy that I have a unified 4TB volume. But I am a little afraid that eventually I may have to apply an urgent FW update.
Thoughts on the newly announced amd version?
I love this! I hope I can switch my X17R2 this year. I'm glad they gave a qhd screen option but the better performance could have finally supported 4k really well. Still would do fine with an external monitor I assume so no worries there for me. I see the x16 now has a 4090 + i9 which wasn't available when you reviewed ther x16. Which would you choose given that config option?
I personally would take the m18, I love the larger screen and more ssd slots! I am currently putting a comparison video of the two together to hopefully help others deciding between them
@MashITTech Thanks! That sounds awesome! It'll be a couple months befire I upgrade. Do you have Dell affiliate links that you get commission from?
@@dcoderjr that’s very kind of you but no, dell won’t do an affiliate program 😢
the 4k screen has 500nits vs QHD m18 having only 300nits of brightness
@@joezmoma19285 I have the X17R2 with the 500 nit 4k screen. The x16 and m18 both have qhd screens. Seems like a waste of the horsepower but I mainly have been playing Cyberpunk over the last 2 years so the new ray tracing overdrive will probably work qhd pretty hard at native resolution.
Should I get a desk top curved gaming monitor with this beast? Should I get speakers too?
Hi, thank you for the video. I just got my m18 and was wondering in which bag pack does the laptop fit?
You need a large 18” bag such as the alienware horizon travel
@@MashITTech thank for for the reply. I tried the horizon travel 17 and it’s too tight in there. It’s hard to close the zip.
They actually make an 18” version of the travel now 👍
@@MashITTech oh that’s great to know thank you. I don’t see that on the sell website yet. I will wait for some time.
new subscriber here!! me willing to buy an M18, not sure if 8 months later still a great option?
yes it is, especially if you get a good discount. The new r2 will launch soon but the new intel CPUs are just a refresh and the GPUs are the same so don't bother waiting for it
@@MashITTech me and old man, slow as hell, you have a way on explaining things in a very simple way!! thanks for your videos, my wife told me that I have no need to buy a laptop after watching your videos lol, she said "you can build your own now" lol, not listening to her lol
@@hectorperez7655 haha that sounds like my wife 😂 I actually started the TH-cam channel as an excuse to keep buying laptops 🤣
Hi, I see a gap in the grill above the F1 and F2 key. I am able to see through the laptop from that gap. Can you please confirm if there is a gap in your model? You would have to look from above.
Great Video. Loved the attention to detail. Kindly do a comparison video between this and the ROG STRIX SCAR 4090 ( ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2023) G834 G834JY-N6044X ) .
PLEASE?!
Cheers
Yo brother, I was wondering, can you game at 8k using a laptop rtx 4090 using a external tv? Loved the video btw!
thanks mate. 8k is a mental resolution to game at but I think with the right mix of settings and maybe some DLSS3 it will be fine :)
@@MashITTech thank you so much! not that I plan on gaming on 8k anytime in my life. Btw I was curious and concerned,does your M18 ever get scratches from putting in and out of backpack daily? Do you think it needs a transparent skin and screen protector to avoid getting scratches?
it depends, as long as you are not catching the zipper when sliding it in and out you will be fine. Most decent bags cover the zip so this doesn't happen but make sure you check
@@MashITTech thanks! You cleared my doubts. My current laptop has tiny (many) scratches from the daily putting in bag and taking out(its not because of the zipper, I got this bag with the laptop I purchased). Good thing I put a screen protector on it, when I bought it.
I wonder why there is no 4k option on such powerful beast?
I think there is a shortage of decent high refresh 18" 4k+ panels at the moment
Dave, thanks so much for the review. You have actually saved me from buying the bog standard M18 thinking I can whack a load of NVMe drives in it, which clearly you cannot because Dell removed the headers on the motherboard on the RTX 4060 and 4070 options. I noticed in one of your other comments that you are running your RAM at 5200MHz, but Dell only supply 4800MHz. Does the M18 support 5600MHz RAM natively, or is this an overclock on the 4800MHz RAM? I still have my M18x R1, which is sadly only running Windows 7 still due to the lack of available drivers in Winblows 10. I did have a bunch of issues with it, which Dell, to their credit, sent technicians to my house to sort out. It has had two motherboard replacements, 3 GPUs and a keyboard, but all under warranty. However, I might add, that was a few years ago (few meaning like 10 years ago). I hope that Dell's warranty and customer service is still up to par before I drop the hammer on buying an M18.
Thanks again for the great review
Something else I have noticed is that you cannot spec an i7 with a 4080, which means that the price increases by almost £800. I guess the reason is two-fold. You dont have to make another version of motherboard and it entices you to pay more mulah
Would you consider big laptops from other brands for reviewing? ASUS G16 for example?
Yes for sure, I have reviewed the Blade 16 already and I have the legion pro 5i sitting here untouched yet. I just focus on Alienware as 1. they are easy to buy here in the UK and 2. a lot of my audience love Alienware. Asus are a little tricky to get hold of in the UK which is why I cover less of their machines
i see, i do like alienware just don’t like buying it 😂
Nice review , but can you explain to us what is centi grade ? you said in the video the cpu will hit 100 degrees centi grade ? i know celsius , but centi grade ... maybe not from this planet? :)
Celsius, also called centigrade, scale based on 0° for the freezing point of water and 100° for the boiling point of water. Invented in 1742 by the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, it is sometimes called the centigrade scale because of the 100-degree interval between the defined points. It is used regularly in the U.K. but maybe not other countries 😃
@@MashITTech fair enough for me :) you learn everyday :D
@@TheLivingTribunal haha tell me about it, since starting this TH-cam channel I have learnt more about other parts of the world than I ever thought possible 😃
Can you do a benchmarks video for different games on this, also do you think this laptop could run UE5 and possibly be good for some game development, I’ve been saving for this thing forever
Any benchmarks you would like to see? I have been using unity for years but let me take a look at the unreal engine but with the power this machine has I don't think it will struggle :)
@@MashITTech your literally a legend
@@MashITTech I’d like to see benchmarks for Red dead 2 raw, no frame Gen, and the benchmarks for UE5 if possible to test it out, it would be interesting to see some demanding games try and push 4k in the benchmarks video
Webcam quality looks great!
yes, it was surprisingly good!
I can't believe they cheaped out on skipping the heatsink for the 2nd slot
Dell being Dell....
Which laptop has better battery life m16 or m18. Thinking I might get the m18 but I will wait for your m16 review to get my mind made up.does the m18 fit on the alienware backpack for 17 inch laptop?
So far the m18 had the larger battery than the m16 and got 10 more minutes than the m16 which really surprised me as I thought the large screen would have destroyed its battery. The m18 fits in the horizon travel 17" or the new travel 18" but it doesn't fit in the other bags
@@MashITTech so you recommend the m18 over m16?
The RJ45 on the side is a terror attack on the end user.
do you think that it would be worth the upgrade from an alienware R12, with an i7, rtx 3080 with 32gbs ram to the M18 with the i9, rtx 4090 at 32gb of ram? Also do you know how good this laptop in on a full day of gaming? Like any overheating issue, or loud fan noises?
if I remember correctly r12 was 11th gen intel? if so you will get a really good boost in CPU performance and a good 25% improvement in GPU performance. Because this laptop is a large desktop replacement I had no issues with even the longest gaming sessions. It kept cool and wasn't too loud plus you can switch it to quiet mode if you want quiet gaming but you loose a little performance
Are there vents on the bottom? If so which laptop cooler did you use?
Yes there are. I didn't test with a cooler, will get a couple of coolers in soon and give it a try
Do you recommend this over the x16?
They should allow undervolting as these have HX chips and meant for that
flash the bios 1.6.0 and in awcc choose balanced mode after doing that in bios reset to default, and then you can do undervolting in bios...but the fan will lock at balanced mode....when you choose another preset fan mode in AWCC it will end up with the blue screen. I tried to install AWCC ver 5 instead but it will force you to update to the latest version. I already gave up on undervolting lol just choose override mode and let it run itself, if anything happens just ask Dell to fix it or replace it (Always send it back to the repair center, DO NOT ASK FOR THE ONSITE REPAIR)
Are you going RAID 0 again in the upcoming upgrade video?
I am still playing around but I think I will show people how to set it up normally and then do a separate raid video for others crazy like me 😂
Hey Mash IT! Quick question. Will that slim external power supply fit the M15 R7?
yep, its completely backwards compatible.
Dave a last question: the QHD+ dispaly is it SHARP? BOE? Or AUO? Thank you!
I got the boe on my m18
I do not know if you will see this comment, and i do not want to rush you with your next reviews in any way but i wanted to buy x16 or m18 and I LOVE YOUR VIDS, and so i am waiting for the x16 VS m18 video. Can you please give us a vague ETA on it at least?
I have to finish the m16 review first plus I have a couple of videos already in editing which should release soon so my estimate would be late next week ish (very vague 😂)
Alienware is all about 18inch screen , I buy this one soon
I really like the CherryMX keyboard and the 18-inch display with a Windows Hello IR camera. Are those the wrong reasons to go for this laptop, I know it looks awesome but is it worthy pursuit?
its a solid laptop and as long as you are onboard with the large size it is an incredible desktop replacement
@@MashITTech I am actually in the market for a desktop replacement and an 18-inch screen is my preference. But I was wondering if the low display nits, heating and AWCC were deterrent enough to avoid it.
its not that low, mine was over 300 nits and until this year that was the norm. It is just that the blade 18 has a 500 nit panel, I am not sure why Alienware didn't choose it too, but that's not a deal breaker. AWCC has always been a bit rubbish but once set up you probably won't use it much and the cooling system is pretty robust, dell just always lets them run hot.
@@MashITTech Thank you for this, it made my decision alot easier :)
great review. only sad that the new line of alienware laptops dont have the option for international/nordic keyboard...
Oh don't they! They had UK and USA options on Dell UK site so I assumes they offered the whole range. Sorry to hear that :(
@@MashITTech Sadly the Norwegian Dell website only have American option. So I have to skip this one . Hope next lineup will have that again :/
You mentioned there is a higher "X" series model, any idea if and when those are coming with the 4090? I too can't consider this model because of the display brightness.
the X16 now has a 4090 option in USA and UK, I am sure its out in other regions too but I haven't checked. The only problem with the x16 is currently the screen which is also only 325 nits! Why didn't they use the 500 nit panels like Razer 😢
oh yesss a proper beast!!
Yes..At last! You changed your username, it threw me at first :)
@@MashITTech lol yeah changed it to my name, just finished watching your vid, the battery life is actually impressive for an 18 inch laptop I think. 4 Hours is solid.
I'm not happy with the 100 C CPU temps but hey if it lasts 3-5 years without heat damage I'm ok with that
that can be changed as usual with TCC but these chips are fine at 100c. Apple has been running intel MacBooks at over 100c for years without issue :)
@@MashITTech lol yes apple has for sure been getting away with it without thermal issues, and those laptops tend to be very long lived
Did I hear you correctly that if you get >=4080 graphics you get 4 SSD connectors?
That's correct, 4080 and 4090 get 2 x 80mm and 2 x 30mm slots, which can offer an amazing amount of storage
Hello, I want to let you know, this is a great review. I've got a question about your alienware m18. Does it have custom thing like edit your rgb like the asus rog ? Like when you press a key, that key rgb turns on and turns off like the reactive preset in asus. Is it possible in the alienware m18? Please try!
My question was, can you create your own custom effects in the alienware m18 rgb keyboard?
Great informative video, Thankyou. - I do love gaming, BUT, On a different note of interest, I and many others really wish, Alienware & other big gaming laptop makers would make a version of the M18 and the like for Music Studio work, this type of task does not need huge hot and loud graffix cards, quite the opposite, we need very quite machines but with massive horse power (way more than gaming machines) But some of us need a portable super power lappy for mobile studio tasks, which i am sure their is a massive market for, which the M18 would be fine if issued with just a decent 1080p type basic graphic card, or even a basic 4k card and screen. Only airing this out loud as no one else seems to be. Please spread the word ...Cheers :)
Which are the games that you have shown in the video ???
I have x17 R1, but I did not get an update for this command center version! is this only for the the new M series?