Customer Ratings & Reviews

First and foremost, let's talk about the specs. The specs listed by Best Buy seem inaccurate so here is what actually comes with this model. Starting with the screen, yes this an 60Hz IPS display and it IS G-Sync enabled. If you don't believe me, look at the image below showing the NVIDIA control panel. Also, the RAM included in this laptop is clocked at 2400MHz, not 2666MHz as stated by Best Buy. You can however, use memory 2666MHz memory if you wish to upgrade later. As far as temperatures go, the 1070 seems just fine the way it came, while playing games at max settings, the GPU never saw temps over 70 degrees celsius. the CPU on the other can get very hot. The laptop itself doesn't get hot but the CPU can cook if you don't monitor it. The i7-8750H is a warm chip by design and runs pretty hot in any laptop. You can avoid these issues by simply repasting your CPU and or undervolting the CPU using free downloadable tools such as Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. I've undervolted mine to -0.200 V and that seems to have done the trick. Now, on to the "formal" review of the Alienware 17R5; the screen is wonderful, it gets very bright, is color accurate and has great viewing angles due to it being an IPS display. It's only 60Hz, but is G-Sync enabled which helps eliminate screen tearing. My only real gripe with the display is that bezels are a bit large for a laptop in 2018. I don't mind the bottom chin as it raises the screen to a comfortable level, but I think they could have squeezed a little more out of the sides and top. The overall build quality of this laptop is fantastic. It feels and performs like a premium product should. It truly is built like a tank and weighs like one too. At almost 10 pounds, I wouldn't call this a LAPtop, but rather a desktop replacement. You can use this system in your lap but I would highly recommended not to unless your just browsing the web or doing simple tasks. A rig like this requires good airflow and should really only be used on a desk when playing games. The keyboard is fantastic, it features long key travel and no flex whatsoever. You can program your own marco keys to open up specific program or keyboard shortcuts as well. I do like the track pad, but wished it was a bit larger to accommodate the overall size of the laptop. However, I almost always use a mouse, whether I'm gaming or not. The speakers are pretty good, the laptop can get pretty loud and shows no signs of audio distortion even at high volume. The speakers are located near the flat edge at bottom of the track pad and fire towards the user for the best audio quality. They pack quite a punch and the laptop even has a small subwoofer on the bottom of the device. The I/O features every port you could possibly want except for an SD card slot which is rather unfortunate with the amount of room they have on the right hand side for one. Of course you can always get an external SD card slot but a laptop of this size really has no excuse not to have one. Lastly, the webcam is located at the top of the screen and features 1080p quality which is great for Skype and conference calls. Overall, I really do like this laptop as it satisfies all my needs. I do sacrifice a lot of portability but in return receive the power and repair-ability of most full sized desktops. For those who need the power of a desktop and the option to at least move around easier than a desktop than look no further than the Alienware 17 R5.

I Love This computer. it is very high end, works well, very Fast. I do mainly 3d architectural modeling & rendering, an intensive Photoshop collages, so I am a happy camper. my previous Best Buy computer lasted 8 years. I hope This one works as well as The previous computer.

Purchased 15 months ago (open-box for $1418) to have a "portable" gaming station (for HTC Vive) which I could take to friends if needed. On 7th month the motherboard/graphics died (from overheating?), but Dell's warranty service was more-than-outstanding. Cons: - it's way larger beyond it's 17.3" screen (won't fit under airplane seat nor into large laptop bag - it's about 21" across) - it's much heavier than any "laptops" I ever had (but lighter/smaller than desktop solution of same performance/screen) - needs good non-hot air intake while under load - some dropped VR fps if running on battery-only - fans are a little bit noisy after lengthy full load - no DVD/BluRay Pros: - more than enough for all VR games I tried so far - after I made sure the (hot) charger is further away from laptop's air intake - it runs 24h under full load with no hiccups - quite fast boot (under 30s) - exceptional performance - strong build - yummy large screen with nice colors and non-flicker back-lit

I am disabled and spend alot of time on my computer gaming to distract myself from the pain, especially at night. I got the laptop to use in bed and to have a portable gaming device when I am away from home. It plays Path of Exile very, very well - clear graphics, no lag and no freezing up in group parties or large monster packs. It also handles WoW very well even though for WoW I prefer my desktop, FPS is high enough to raid with but wouldn't want to test it in mythic, everything below mythic is awesome, just my personal preference. Every Steam game I have tried on it has done outstanding. So far after several months of gaming I have no complaints with it and am actually surprised it is doing as well as it has.

I bought the open box. It is working perfectly with my drafting work and rendering work.

Best gaming laptop and powerfull fps i like my Alienware laptop best choice

I bought my son an open box as a gift. He fell in love with it and I fell in love with the price cut.

great machine for all aspects of life. very happy with purchase

This laptop was on sale for $200, ($1699.00) ran to BESTBUY pronto. It's a great laptop, It had a 17.3 G-Sync 60 Htz FHD (1920 x 1080) G-Sync display, i7-8750H CPU, 16GB DDR4 (2666Htz memory/Ram), gtx1070 with 8 GB Vram, 256 SSD and a 1 TB Hard Drive. Great sturdy build. It plays all the new titles with room to spare. I purchased a Enhance Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad Stand with 5 Blue LED Cooler Fans ($24.99) to keep my laptop cool. Also, Alienware Vindicator Backpack 18-Inch (AWVBP18). Great backpack case! ($82.20). I got an ANKER 4 input USB 3.0 for adding ports for (Mouse, Game Pad, external drive or USB, monitor etc.. ($14.99) All three from Amazon. I didn't want to pay another $1300 Dollars just for a GTX1080 card and an i9 inlet processor. The GTX1070 is good enough for gaming and Virtual Reality. I ran the STEAM VR test and it reported that I had 3 X the minimum requirements for VR Gaming. I might eventually get a 27" external gaming monitor to accompany this beast or get a UHD TV I could plug into. Game on people game on. If you've have money for the gtx1080 graphics and an Intel i9 CPU you should order from the Alienware site and verify exactly what you're getting or work closely with your BESTBUY Agent.

I work in the media industry and can handle 4k footage with ease with this machine. Multitasking works smooth. My unit has the 250GB M.2 boot drive with a 1TB hard drive, which boots up in seconds. As far as gaming, I can max out my whole steam library at 1080p and get (on average), 60 fps for my library. The fans run a bit loud, but what can you expect from a beast of a machine like this in a compact, metal body. Before buying my Alienware, I had an Asus ROG laptop. Alienware is thinner, but the speakers are lacking low end. Final thoughts: it's a great bargain now. Especially with the new Alienware units coming out in 2019.

"Alienware" the name alone makes people giddy with excitement, however, it left me slightly disappointed. The box and the advertisement plaque in front of the display model stated processing speed base was 3.9 ghz...upon checking once the system was started, the base is 2.2 ghz. Ugh. Not a deal breaker yet. Picture, sound, SUPERB! A+++ I downloaded my favorite game, SWTOR (2011), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 performed as expected, GeForce Experience optimized my game settings and I was pleasantly surprised my new card could handle the Ultra settings. Until 20 minutes into playing when the fan kicked on and drowned out the sound of the game. Next on my list; SSD and the 1TB HD. The SWTOR game installed on the SSD and took up 25 GB. Should I be concerned about adding anymore games? I will have to do some research. Overall. I would recommend this to a friend with a little caution. It's worth the money but I am not completely happy with the fan and heat issues I mentioned.

after using this laptop for a couple weeks now i am absolutely in love with this laptop. its fast... i mean ridiculously fast 4.25 second boot time. in under 10 seconds i can be to my desktop. it seems to stay sufficiently cool when used on a solid flat surface and do not mistake this for a highly portable laptop the only bag i have found that will fit this powerhouse laptop is the alienware backpack. all in all would recommend this to anyone that is tech savvy and wants a fast computer mostly for gaming and tabletop use. i say tech savvy because Dell and windows 10 include a lot of Bloatware and useless applications you will never need so i recommend before you setup your computer do a clean windows 10 install and then only install the alienware and driver software you see fit to keep your system light and efficient.

I have been using this machine for a few weeks and have found it actually meets every need I have. From the build quality to the power I have not been able to find a problem. The machine will not do well on your lap because it is like holding a 10 pound baby. You will feel it if you hold it. Now with that said what it loses in lap holding it makes up in mobility! I have greatly enjoyed it and am very happy. I have not had the heating issues some discuss but I use it enough to say it can get toasty if used for something intensive I have not seen it be so hot it caused a problem. Overall if I was looking for a review for this machine I would wonder the things I covered so I listed everything I felt mattered. Oh and to clarify for anyone who wonders - this IS G-Sync Capable and Enabled.

Prior to this computer I had an Asus Republic of Gamers i7 with 20 gigs of ram. This thing, with the ssd drive, blows it out of the water. To give you an example of the power of this thing: I have a Bible program (Logos) with about 8-10 windows with multiple tabs, Chrome open with 10+ tabs, 3-5 Word documents, 2-5 PowerPoints, Paint.net, Tick Tick productivity program and OneNote all open (and maybe even Netflix) with two extra hdmi 1080p monitors and this thing isn’t even using half of its system resources. If you are into gaming or into video production I don’t think you will have any trouble with this. My only ding is oddly the fan pops on loudly occasionally for no reason (i.e. under a light load). Oh and you can change the lighting to a number of colors as well as the track pad....I set mine to red and it looks sweet! I highly recommend this computer :)

Great computer. Bought it to replace an aging Toshiba web-surfer. This computer does everything I would like it to. Light photo-editing, iTunes actually runs on this computer without any long load times. Been playing Cities: Skylines the last couple of weeks and the game runs beautiful, optimized by the on-board Nvidia programs. This computer is great. Easy to upgrade. Put a 512SSD in place of the included 1TB 7200RPM spinning drive. I'd like to maximize the ram capability at 32GB, but how much RAM do you really need to surf the internet? Would by again, especially at the openbox price I got it at. A great desktop replacement.

Was considering building another PC but considering not being tied to a desk chair and cords was very attractive. Screen is nice, dual drive, and enough ports to do what I needed for creative projects. Gaming-wise can run FarCry, Destiny2, WOW, Overwatch all at max settings 60fps so it checks that box. Downside is that it’s not going to fit in a normal laptop bag and pretty heavy (for I don’t mind though, adds to the beast factor)

I used to have a MSi laptop but it didn’t really meet my expectation. I then switched to this Alienware and it worked out perfectly. It is able to maintain a constant fps in every single game that I played and no heating problem like my MSi. Nice RBG and tanky design. It is a little heavier compared to others but its made for the best gaming experience so cant complain about that!

This is an amazing computer. I use it with my Oculus Rift the graphics are amazing. huge 17 inch screen, which makes it hard to fit into a regular laptop bag. Needed to buy the Alienware bag to ensure a good fit for travel. It is also very heavy due to the size! No other cons to mention. All in all I love this computer!!!

I waited to write this review to ensure the laptop had some longevity to it. It does! I use the laptop for CAD programs and the usual windows internet stuff and haven't had any problems with it as long as I keep it upgraded. Most CAD programs are single thread and require a separate video card which this laptop provides. Previous laptops with integrated video just wouldn't perform and would crash a lot. Occasionally the cad program gets wonky but I believe it is probably more of a CAD program issue than the laptop itself. One upgrade I highly recommend from the start is a SSHD. This thing boots in seconds and makes the aforementioned cad program work really well. My next upgrade may be memory but I haven't really noticed a problem with it so far.

It’s probably pretty heavy because it’s Alienware, good for gaming but the fan too loud (my opinion). It runs out of battery a little fast so I always bring the charger along with me. Not a good idea for someone to buy it for school, it’s heavy and big