It's not that good... Alienware M16 Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2023
- The last time I used an Alienware product was 2005... since then Dell bought the company and it has been the center of many complaints for both customer service and value... Has anything changed? Let's have a look!
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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 🗿
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
AlienWare was awesome before Dell acquired them.
Been a real long time since then. It sure is true though.
Dell ruins all
Alienware was a seperate company??? I thought Dell launched Alienware
@@100uschallenge3Alienware was a small company back then that pretty much put the hurt on dell's XPS line. Literally nothing could compete with the laptop's of back then.
@@100uschallenge3dell bought the good and well reviewed Alienware brand in 2006. It's been dell-ified ever since.
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
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 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.
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 😂
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...
Room heater, egg cooker, but definitely NOT a gaming PC, and not even a reasonable PC for basic email/browsing/writing/work, let alone even the simplest tiers of data science
Same issue. I wasted my entire first year of college fixing issues and having 4 replacement laptops. Went with a legion instead
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!
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 makes any problem with the performance?
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
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!
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.
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
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.
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?"
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
In a world where some TH-camrs 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.
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 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.
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)
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.
Jay you did a more professional review on this item then other items sent to you in the past. A+
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'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!
Would appreciate also listing the nits for the screens on laptops! Brightness makes a big difference
300....
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.
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 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 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 ;)
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.
out of serious curiosity, are there laptops with cooling solutions that would draw air through the keyboard. i know that would be a bad idea possibly as junk can be sucked in there but there must be a laptop weird enough to try. is there a laptop that is completely made of mostly perforation? and i know Asus(blah blah i know Asus sketchy) made that mothership layout which seems like a great idea overall for cooling and wonder if there are other laptops that have not directly adapted that form (probably trademarked design).
Great video and I appreciate you looking at gaming laptops. I've been curious about one for a while now so I can game elsewhere in the house. Would love to see more gaming laptop reviews!
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 just got the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i that you showed with the i9 and 4070 and I really love it. Amazing performance and temps so far.
Hey Jay. I have looked around the internet but can't get a good grasp on if my system will run starfield well. I have amd 5900x ND the asus tuf 3080, 32 gb ddr 4 ram and the ssd needed. Am i good? I built this about 5 months ago at mocrocenter after watching your videos which I love.
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.
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.
I have a dell g15, can agree on the slow dab curve. I’ve noticed the laptop would literally heat a 1cm thick pressboard table through. Once you change the fan curves, yes it becomes noisier, but the temps go down from almost 100 to around max 82c
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.
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.
Those laptops were the best. You could swap out the gpu and it had the most amazing feature, HDMI-IN which allowed you to use the laptop as an external display for other devices, it was AMAZING for troubleshooting PCs, because you had a fully functional PC and an external display in 1, was also pretty cool, cuz you can plug a console into it and game on the go
@@ianvisser7899agreed! HDMI In is such an underrated feature.
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.
me and my brother both use gaming laptops but we run a cooling pad underneath it with fans, makes a huge difference for cooling. i will add we use them like a desktop hooked up to a monitor just have a laptop because we go back and forth from alaska to washington quite a bit and can just put it in a backpack instead of paying $200 and waiting for shipping.
Excellent video! I’ve been looking for a review of this Alienware M16 AMD advantage addition. Do you think I should buy this laptop or a dell G16 with an RTX 4070, an I9 13900 HX, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1600P 240 Hz display?
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 think the cover on the RAM may have thermal conductivity. A lot of laptops have those sorts of things.
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?
Got the 18" version of this 5 months ago. The heat thing is true on that as well, I always keep something propping the back of it up. The 18" is advertised as having 2 2230 slots. My MB has 0. Which I figured out after buying a 2230 drive. The keyboard is a good size, but one major complaint: after a few months, the D key fell off. There's no sign of anything connecting it to the button, no way to put it back on short of supergluing it to the rubber.
)
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!
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.
Hi i have a question i want to buy an nzxt kracken 240mm aio and i wanted to know if there are specific requirement for it to be top mounted in the case
I feel like this video's a must watch for PC builders, "techies", or even those looking to buy a new\first machine, there's just so much to unpack and the way you explain it all is just great, keep it up as always and forever jay ❤💪🔥🔥
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.
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).
Very nice review, my last two laptops have been Alienware but I went Lenovo this time, their value just can't be beaten atm, especially on last gen stuff! I got a 12700H + 3070 for £999.99 which ain't too shabby imho!
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.
Great review Jay. To me it seems that Alienware really neuters the cooling on their lower spec laptops. I recently received my X16, which is thinner than the M16 in this video, and the thermal performance seems to be better despite being thinner and having a 13900HK and a 4090. I wonder if the fan setup on the X models have anything to do with it? I believe the lower end models just have regular heat pipes while the higher end ones have vapor chambers.
is software problem jejeje m16 needs so work out of the box :)
I have 4 Alienware alpha 3 R1 and one R2 I love those little systems. Sadly they killed Alienware alphas they don't make them any longer. In fact Dell if you're interested in bringing those back out I would buy another one but they have to look exactly like the first one same case design just called the R3.
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.
I currently have a skylake era 17r3 (6820hk + 980m) bought brand new back in the day. Still works. It had two repairs the audio jack and the RGB lightning was going haywire. And one brand new thing (maybe a driver issue) if i connect it to my external display (AW3420DW) with HDMI or with a graphics card (Graphics Amp + 3080 TI) i get an instant BSOD. Still trouble shooting that.
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
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.
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.
Take a look at the Omen 16 next, last year's Omen 16 has been treating me decent. There is one small problem with the fTPM that is just a Ryzen problem as long as TPM is enabled the system will just hang and/or the screen will flash once or twice during the course of an 8ish hour day roughly.
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.
I wish I could own something like that. I hope who ever gets it enjoys it.
I just got this laptop for thanksgiving gifts! Thank you for geniune perspective about the laptop❤
Could someone please point me in the direction of companies using the Tongfang chassis that jay mentioned? I am currently looking for a gaming laptop, and am currently focused on the Clevo chassis, but would like another option to at least compare against. Especially if they also offer the mechanical keyboard like Alienware.
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. ☹️
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 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.
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.
The last Alienware I owned was purchased in 2004 before my 2nd Navy deployment. It was also pre-sellout to Dell and was an absolutely AMAZING laptop for that reason. I'd gotten the best parts for it and it even had four gigabytes of RAM, and Intel Pentium 4 CPU, and I think it was an Nvidia GPU (it was NOT cheap). Sadly I fried it in 2007 when I inadvertently hit it with an ESD. I miss that PC because it was an absolutely phenomenal laptop. Sadly, after all the issues I'd had with my next PC which was a Dell XPS, I chose not to go with a post-sellout Dellienware, and recent history solidifies why I'll never purchase or promote a Dellienware PC or laptop (let alone Dell computers in general).
Thanks for your service. AT2 myself from 05-11.
Yeah I had one in 03 for iraq. The sand nearly killed it. That was also back before dell bought them
I got one in 2003 as well. Was over $4000 at the time. Was also a desktop Pentium 4, and I deployed on CV73 in 2004 with it. The mobo died in 2005.
I learned about Sager after that, and have used a Sager ever since. Retired at 20 in 2014.
@@muskaos Sager... Funny you mention that. My last squadron had an IT3 that raved about his Sager. They make good stuff. This was in 2007? 08 maybe. His Sager at that time was a TANK. I hadn't heard of them before that. But his admiration of them has led me to check them out from time to time since. They're nice PCs for sure.
@@muskaos , you were a bit north of my homeport. I deployed on the USS Carney from 04-05. My system died while I was on shore duty after I got up from my couch during a snow storm outside (statically charged) and tapped the metal coffee table my laptop was sitting on. Insta-killed the laptop, unfortunately. I then got a Dell XPS desktop (since I was on shore duty), and quickly learned to loath Dell for the rest of my days. Thanks to @Jayz2Cents I began building my first PC since High School a couple years later.
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 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.
Love all the Kingpin’s in the background. Pls let us know when he starts building again.
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.
You know why I love this channel. Honesty. No bs.
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.
Is it best to take/leave the cover off the RAM to allow better cooling or does it help with cooling with the small dedicated fan?
Those sheets are mostly to guide airflow, best to leave it in a laptop.
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
At least their ultra wide monitor is good.
I have the M18 & I’m really enjoying it, GPU temps are amazing CpU temps on the other hand struggles 😅, but I do have the 13980HX so I’m basically asking for that. Software sucks but guess the job done I guess. Will I buy it again for future gen? Maybe but it is a sexy beast & feels amazing
I am currently looking to get a new gaming laptop, and had considered the M18, in large part because of the Cherry mechanical keyboard. The smaller track pad was also a selling point for me. But the way they placed the CPU and GPU on the top side of the motherboard was a deal breaker for me, due to thermals. First, this would reduce the benefit of my cooling pad, but would also heat up the keyboard, making it uncomfortable to use. Had that issue with an older alienware that I had, could not put my hand on it.
I use a cooling pad with my M 18 with absolutely no problems. I’ve also taken the bottom off to add RAM and a second hard drive with absolutely no problems. Are use a wireless trackball, so I also like the smaller trackpad. I will say that it does seem to run a bit warm, but I’ve never had an issue with typing and heat in anyway whatsoever, even in gaming or video editing.
The M18 is worth it. Yes, the keyboard gets moderately warm. It won’t burn you though. The main thing is temperature regulation is superior with the vents and fans. Monster machine.
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 just got in an R16 desktop. So far it seems like a solid rig, nearly silent and nice looking.
is it just the full AMD vertion or dell just add and extra SSD slot for the the lower version?
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.
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.
I never had an Alienware laptop but I did have one of their desktops. Basically an ancient internal metal hotbox surrounded by a bunch of plastic. A ton or proprietary parts including the Motherboard. I had to leave the case open to get any airflow at all. Eventually the GPU died as did the MB. I threw the case away.
the other question, will the bios/MB allow use of "fan control", will it be locked out to the user like a few models of the legion. i would NOT have bought my current laptop had i know that.
If you only knew what Corsair is doing to me with there products you would fire them like you did Asus.
Jay did address Corsair and Origin a few months ago in response to a video that Steve Burke and Gamers Nexus did about a $6,000 prebuilt gone wrong…
…It’s kinda funny that criticism by Gamers Nexus has brought about so many controversies lately in the tech industries.
@@bryanwhite433 Hello sir, I bought the Corsair desktop case and their QL120MM fans with the Lighting node a pack of 3 fans then I bought two more of the QL140MM to mount on top of the case then I started building my gaming rig and I started screwing the front three fans and the screw heads are not wide enough or the slots where you use to mount the fans is too wide it’s either one but I had to go and buy washers for all three fans 12 washers then I mounted the top QL140MM and it was perfect size and you do have the option of either fan size. Everything else mounted just fine until 2 weeks later I had to reset the bios on my MPGZ590 msi gaming plus and I’m on my fourth motherboard because they kept going bad on me and let me be clear I’m not a newbie I have custom built over 200 desktop and that’s not including a hospital contract that I won by doing bids for the job anyways I had to remove my RTX 3060 12 gig ddr6 or 5 but I only mounted it one time and I don’t use electric screwdrivers on desktop’s I use a standard and I don’t over tighten I tighten it just enough to support and hold the gpu in place and I use a adjustable rod to help hold up my gpu so when I took out my gpu to get to the motherboard battery to pop it out and then put it back in to reset the bios and then I plugged in the gpu on the motherboard I started to turning the screws on the case for the gpu slot the screws just kept turning they never tighten up and that’s because they are stripped out and I couldn’t believe that happened so thinking that it might be the two screws I tried using the other same screws and the same thing happened the holes are stripped out and Corsair refuses to work with me plus I was still within the 30 days return and they would not respond back to my emails other than 1 email saying that they no longer use the phone for support and I used there email they sent to me and I sent them a very short video and photos for the washers. So I’m stuck with a pretty much useless 4000D case and even the metal side panel came bent. I will never ever buy anything from Corsair products and they do not honor the warranty st all.
Those temps under load woo!😳
The slim 7i you compared it to near the end is the exact model I just got in October. Loving it so far. It’s wild that it’s the same price as the lower end m16 🤦🏼♀️
I got an Alienware x16 R1 with Intel 13900HK and Rtx 4080. I love it and it was a massive improvement from my prior rig.
Alienware is an alien that eats warehouses but it fell on a hard surface so it sells hardware
Stop
@@eclipsez0r never
Well done review, i appreciate your more concise and slightly more brief approach from others.
I've had good luck with 2 Dell G Series setups, so I just ordered an M16 with a Ryzen 7845HX / RTX 4080 combo. Wondering if the Cherry MX keyboard lives up to the hype, guess I'll find out. 😄 What is your opinion of the mechanical keyboard?
Just got the cherry MX keyboard for my M16! Let me know how you like yours!
I have an X17 from dell that is a couple years old now. It has the 3070 in it and its slightly more expensive than other laps of the similar specs. However, I came from a track of 3 different razer models across 5 different laptops and all of them had batteries that bloated and had to be replaced, they were so hot you couldn't put them on your lap, the battery time degraded so quickly. The Alienware's cooling was so quiet and so good and it delivers a really nice TGP so you actually get the power of the card. It's weird to see that this one ran a little warmer. Strange.