Discount Alienware ALW17-6869sLV 17-Inch Laptop (Silver)

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Let me start off by saying this is the first review I have ever written. I don't want to write a book or anything, but I would like to try and help some people looking at this laptop. First we bought this computer mostly for my son. He is slowly becoming a gamer and does robotic programming. We wanted to buy a computer that was upgradeable but powerfull with its own stand alone specs . We looked for about 2 months . Looked at the Toshiba Qosmio, Asus G750 and Msi. All seemingly worthy of purchase. But after agonizing for two months we decided on this particular alienware model. This computer is everything we thought it would be and more. First I will talk about the packaging. The packaging could have been a little better. The Amazon box was damaged on one end and the AW box inside had a minor ding on the same end . Looks like loose industrial paper wrap could be upgraded to something more substantial. But there was no damage to the laptop. We received the shipment as promised within a few days of ordering. Great service! Now to the computer. The start up is quick and easy. The first thing we did was check the internal specs of computer and everything checked out as listed except one minor bit of wireless info, this model comes with 802.11 ac instead of the 802.11 bgn which we thought was a bonus. We were pleasently surprised at how clear the display was for an anti-glare screen. We have always had glass type screens so we were a bit leary but this is much more easy on the eyes. This being our first gaming type of laptop we were concerned about the overheating nature of these type of laptops but we have not experienced that type of heat from this computer. The ventilation on this is excellent, the center of the keyboard gets slightly warm after about an hour and fifteen mins. The fans are hardly noticeable and are very quiet compared to what we had. We are just getting started with the gaming but my son said their is no lag on what he has played so far, mostly Minecraft and StarTrek online gaming. This laptop is one of the most stoutly built designs I have ever seen. It is very solid, and looks wonderfull or bad ass whichever you prefer. The battery charger is a bit on the big side but at 240 hrz it has to be. But oddly enough its not very heavy.and has rubber slip pads on the bottom corners to prevent slippage on your desktop. I read that someone wanted to know if this model had a webcam. It does have one but haven't had a chance to use it yet. We have a friend that has a computer repair business to look our new laptop and was nice enough to check the cpu performance levels and said that it had peak performance standards and told us it was a good buy. We are very pleased with this laptop purchase and hope it lasts several years. Thanks Amazon !!! I thought I should mention that we did purchase a laptop cooler just in case. But we hardly use it. but doesn't hurt to protect your puchase. fyi, it was a Cooler Master Note Pal U3 model. Fits it perfectly.

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Its a little bigger than i expected but I'm a big guy so this definitely wont be a problem, I have already opened it up and installed a 128Gb crucial mSata card and reloaded OS to that.

I would be carrying this around and was thinking that it might be too heavy but after getting it I don't see it as being a problem, it would go from the house to the car and from the car to another house so no subway or taxi or far walks. I saw someone complain about the touchpad but the sensitivity can be adjusted which makes it usable. I would advise anyone who is going to purchase to actually get their hands on a 17inch so they have an idea of the size or use some cardboard and rough out the dimensions.

If anyone has questions feel free to ask I would try to answer them best I can.

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First off I wish to state, I was an Alienware hater. I only bought this one as I was having bad luck finding a laptop I was happy with and this one was clearanced out at a local store. I ALWAYS went with a "lesser" brand. Asus, Toshiba, Samsung. As they were priced lower for the same specs. But now...

I just got this model from a different retailer that was local to me. And boy am I impressed! For comparison I will list my previous laptop:

Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S01US

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-NP700G7C-S01US-17-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B006MX0WHU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381587049&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+series+7+gamer

Now, I will list comparisons:

-The Samsung is more flimsy, the screen wobbles more and the entire chassis just seems more flimsy. The Alienware is lighter but more sturdy, thanks to the magnesium alloy framework and aluminum outer body. The screen doesn't wobble, the keyboard has no flex, or if it does I don't feel it.

-The Samsung is fairly closed up. 1 screw and you can slide off a bottom panel which allows access to the 2 bottom sticks of ram, and the hard drives and optical drive. The Alienware on the other hand you remove 2 screws and the ENTIRE bottom slides off! You can access the bottom 2 ram slots, the HDD's, optical drive and what a concept, everything else, easier to clean the fans on and everything! Heck you can even replace most of the components yourself as the Owners Manual has a full step by step guide on replacing EVERYTHING! (Of course while in warranty I'll let them worry about it.) But it's nice to know that for the future when out of warranty I can replace core components much easier.

-The Samsung has a 120Hz display and the Alienware doesn't (it's only a 60Hz) but I honestly can't tell the difference, so while spec wise the Samsung wins this one, for my personal tastes, the Alienware is perfectly fine.

-It is unfair to compare last years specs to this years specs, but suffice it to say, it was an upgrade. But this one I won't label any winner as it would be one sided with the Alienware winning in about all categories. But it's also comparing Apples to Oranges.

-Samsung is a little fatter at it's fattest point (Rear). But is thinner at it's thinnest point (Front). The Alienware is pretty much uniform from front to back. Believe it or not though, the Alienware fits much better than the Samsung in my bag. An Everki Beacon Backpack. http://www.amazon.com/Everki-Backpack-Console-18-Inch-EKP117NBKCT/dp/B002WOBBVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381587845&sr=8-1&keywords=everki+beacon+laptop+backpack The Samsung took some fighting to get it in the bag and the bag zipped up. The Alienware just slides right in!

-Samsung Power brick is thicker, but smaller in the width and length than the Alienware. The Alienware power brick looks like a giant sat on the Samsung one and squished it some! But it does help make the bag not be as thick. Thus allowing a little more ease of zipping the bag up.

-Samsung wins in optical drive department as it came with a Blu-ray drive stock and the Alienware doesn't. Nothing that buying an external won't fix (or ordering an internal and upgrading yourself) I already had an external Blu-Ray drive for another laptop I no longer have so I'm not bothered by this, but it may bother others.

-Samsung also may seem to win in the HDD department as it has 2x Seagate 750GB 7,200RPM HDD's. But if I wanted for about $80 more I could have bought a 1TB 7,200RPM HDD for more capacity. Instead I went with a Samsung EVO 250GB SSD for boot and turned the included 750GB into the data drive. Another note, if your welling to pull the Alienware apart almost all the way, underneath the keyboard is an Msata slot for an SSD, so you could have a Msata SSD and dual HDD's in the Alienware. The Alienware also has built-in RAID. So while the Samsung may give you more HDD space upfront, most likely your be putting in an SSD like I did on both machines. (Samsung has an OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD in it.) Also with Alienware's capability of over time going to Dual HDD's and an Msata SSD, in the longer run the Alienware wins. (I could have say a 250GB Msata SSD and 2x 1TB HDD's for over 2TB of data and a ultra fast boot drive in the Alienware. So the Alienware wins this one in my books.

-Alienware wins customization, as you can customize the lighting in 10 different zones: Numberpad, 3 zones in the main keyboard, the touchpad is backlit, the Alienware name under the LCD lights up. There is 2 bars and the Alien head that lights up on the lid of the LCD display, and there are 2 bars that wrap around from the side to front that can be colored. The lid is one whole channel and side/ front lights is 1 whole channel. Plus the Power LED (1 channell) and HDD, Wifi and Caps lock leds (shared channel) can be customized. The power LED can be fixed to use one color for when it's plugged in and a completely different color when not plugged in and operating off battery.

-It is a tie in sound as the Samsung has a little more bass, thanks to the dedicated subwoofer, but the Alienware can get far louder and fill a large room with sound fairly easily and without much distortion. Though it does lack some of the bass, but not all the bass. I am hard of hearing an am finding that about 40% volume is decent on the Alienware, whereas I would need about 60-70% on the Samsung. I am planning on buying a bluetooth speaker system to help with the bass. I found a decent one that will do bass really well while not taking up too much space.

-The Alienware also has 4 macro keys that you can map to different functions and keystrokes, the Samsung doesn't..

-The Alienware has far better cooling than the Samsung, with practically the entire back half of the bottom being vents. The gpu gets fan AND passive cooling thanks to the vents over the gpu heatpipes. So it gets double cooling when you have a cooling pad.

-Temps wise, The Samsung would need to be lifted about an inch (at max) to get decent airflow. The Alienware doesn't need this and really doesn't need a cooling pad, though I did buy a Coolermaster Notepal U3 to help out on the hot days or such.

-Reliability, is something I will have to review later. And I will in a few months. But the Samsung needed to be sent in twice! Not once but twice in the year I've had it for repair and I have had nothing but issues when it came to hardware reliability on the Samsung. About 3 months into ownership on the Samsung it had to be sent in, then about 2 months after getting it back it had to be sent in again. Both times where for faulty hard ware. (Cpu first, then the GPU second). (This could have very well been a lemon, but it ruined it for me.) I spend a lot of money on something I expect it to break much later on in life. I hold this standard on all high ticket items. So the Alienware is and will be held to this regard as well.

All in all I am extremely impressed. The Alienware was designed for power users. You have full access to the components. Heck even the User's guide has a guide for all that! The build quality really seems to be there. Looking back, none of my other machines ever where this sturdy. You can also see it when you remove the bottom. Overall I am really impressed and have been converted from a hater to someone who will really, really consider an Alienware in the future. But this also depends on how reliable this machine is over the course of the year/s.

Any questions, just ask me/ comment me or whatever. Thanks for reading!

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Like the appearance of the alienware laptops and configuration, performance is very good, play cool. Amazon promotion orders, price is dell's official website cheaper a lot, and not wait a long time to take the arrival of the goods.

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There is a little problem with the computer. The mouse pointer will shake when the computer is busy processing assignments.