Alienware - 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M - 1TB Hard Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive - Epic Silver
Model: AW15R26161SLV
SKU: 4634617
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I purchased / demo'd a lot of laptops before landing on this unit, honestly, if this were the first unit I tried I might've not tried anything else. Of all the reviews I read online this one linked below was by far the most useful. I suggest reading the review before buying. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-15-R2-Notebook-Review.153808.0.html Since the review linked above is extremely detailed I’ll keep this post short and only go over key personal experiences. Out of the box this unit out paced and out scored, (PCMark, 3DMark, Cinebench, Valley, Heaven) both the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro and MSI GS40 Phantom, (equivalently spec’d). Now, I realize that the MSI units are going towards a unique market which consists of small, portable and light gaming units BUT looks can be deceiving with these MSI units. The Alienware is DOUBLE the weight. DOUBLE. That’s a pretty big difference when you’re mobile. The MSI units felt well build for their weight though and in the case of the GS60 paper-thin. In order to get these MSI units so thin there were sacrifices that had to be made. 1) Footprint. Since the MSI units are so thin they had to increase the footprint of the system. So, you get a thin and light laptop but one in which takes up the space of a 17” laptop in the case of the GS60 and nearly 15” laptop for the GS40. This might not SEEM to be a big deal but for me it was quite annoying, (the GS60 suffered from this problem far more than the GS40). Since the GS60 was so wide it wouldn’t fit properly into ANY 15.6” laptop bag. I had to get a 17” bag or backpack in order to be mobile with it. For me, it completely diminished the point of the extra thin / light form factor. What’s the point of going so thin and light if it’s going to increase the footprint so severely. The GS60 is freaking HUGE footprint-wise. It’s the same footprint as the Alienware 17 R3!! 2) Heat. The primary reason the Alienware scored so well is because it can more effectively dissipate heat due to its thicker chassis and better thermal dissipation. None of the three units experienced much throttling, (the Alienware experienced none and the MSI GS60 suffered most) the MSI units easily ran an average of nearly 16c hotter. In the case of the MSI units, running at 80c+ was pretty normal sitting on a flat surface while gaming. The Alienware would RARELY bump above 70c in the exact same environment. In fact, while looping FireStrike the Alienware would top out at 60c averaging both CPU and GPU temps together. That’s ridiculously cool for a mobile device. While gaming in bed, (on a laptop tray) the MSI unit would get so hot after an hour that you couldn’t even touch places on the underside of the laptop for fear of burns, (I’m not exaggerating this at all). 3) Battery. Not much to be said here. The Alienware literally gets double, (or more) than both the MSI units. If battery life is important than I would not recommend either of the MSI units. I realize that these laptops aren’t ultrabooks BUT the Alienware sure feels like one. While doing basic web browsing I’d easily go 6+ hours without needing to plug in, (and that’s with the screen set to 50% brightness). With both the MSI units I’d barely make it past 2 hours with the GS60, (mostly due to it’s 4k screen) and 3 hours with the GS40. While gaming all three units lasted under 2 hours, but come on… I never recommend gaming on these laptops without it being plugged in unless you have no other choice. 4) Support / Upgradeability. Two Screws. TWO, and you have access to anything you’d need for common upgrades. There isn’t even a warranty void sticker. The Alienware also has more upgrade options than both the MSI units, (especially the GS60 which places the M.2 connection on the underside of the laptop forcing you to remove the entire motherboard to get to it). The TWO M.2 connections on the Alienware support M.2 PCIe NVEM drives too, (score!). The MSI GS60 doesn’t support anything past the typical SATA speeds, (550mb) which is a real bummer. Both the MSI units claim to void their warranty if opened as well. I contacted MSI and was told that removing the back panel doesn’t necessarily void the warranty as long as whatever issues arise aren’t related to the removal of the back panel or cause by the user while doing this action. To be on the safe side I’d ALWAYS have GeekSquad perform any upgrades so the warranty will be saved OR just get the GeekSquad protection plan and deal with them exclusively. Also I’d like to add that the MSI website has very little support overall for drivers, software and forums. I posted a question on their forum nearly a month ago and it’s yet to receive an answer. :( As a final summary I’m going to go over some PROS and CONS for these three units seeing as how they all seem to be competing within the same performance / price bracket. ALIENWARE PROS over MSI GS60 and GS40 FAR Cooler WAY more Battery Life Exceptional Support Exceptional Upgradeability Better performance overall for equal parts Smaller overall footprint, (Actually fits in most 15.6” cases!) ALIENWARE CONS over MSI GS60 and GS40 Horrible Touchpad, (scrolling is a lol-fest) Worse Screen, (light bleed and yellowish tint) Double Weight Hope this helps anyone stuck on the fence between the MSI units and the Alienware. I’d honestly recommend any of the Alienware AND MSI units to friends and clients. Me personally though, the Alienware is a better overall value and my final choice. If it had a better display this would be an EASY five-star review. I hope Dell/Alienware don't make this mistake with their next models. Keep in mind, these are my personal opinions and may vary from others.
Posted by Flowers
This was a gift for my son. So far this computer exceeds all of his expectations. The graphics are amazing and the computer is super fast. I would definitely recommend this Alienware computer.
Posted by Tracy26
I just bought this computer month ago, and today I sent back to best buy to fix it.
Posted by Fadwa