Customers often highlight the excellent performance and impressive graphics capabilities of the m17 R4 gaming laptop, along with its positive build quality and screen size. However, many reviews cite concerns regarding battery life, heat generation, and fan noise. Some users also mention limitations related to RAM upgradability and the high price point.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 304 reviews
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Keyboard
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Price
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
You Get What You Pay For!~ Great Buy!
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
First of all I came from the Asus FX516PR-211.TM15 and returned that slow under powered laptop in about 2 weeks. The GPU with that laptop is at a slow pathetic 80 watts at MAX, on silent it’s 50 watts. Also another really annoying thing with that laptop is no webcam, it’s 2021 with covid / people need a simple integrated webcam to work from home. I shouldn’t have to buy one waste a usb slow and take up room.
Now this laptop is pretty sweet, right off the bat I can tell the GPU is not the bottleneck of this machine. It’s 115 watts with 25w boost and you can tell!
The keyboard is killer. You can customize each key for whatever color but you can’t put any effect on it unless it’s a premade theme (moving rainbow and a scanner effect) which is really annoying but still a huge step up from the Asus which was just a single color. You can also change the alien and the lights on the back. You can also create an assign macros to 4 keys.
The trackpad is nothing special not bad but not amazing, wish it had some sort of lighting.
The battery is pretty pathetic but who cares it has awesome processing power. Gaming on low graphics even simple web surfing just crushes the battery but that’s ok.
Another awesome thing about this laptop you can actually play VR (Rift S) unlike the TUF laptop where the thunderbolt is wired to the integrated video card and didn’t work.
Overall you get what you pay for I will be keeping this laptop. The only reason it didn’t get 5/5 is price is still a bit steep and you can’t customize effects per key, you can change color but no effects you could of made some cool stuff if that was possible. Lastly battery is a bit weak but all the other positives out weigh the negatives.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics
Cons mentioned:
Fan noise, Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
This Laptop is the Goat
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
If you are looking for a gaming laptop, I would highly recommend you get this laptop.
This is my 1st Alienware & I really cant say why it is my 1st. I have owned several Razer and MSI gaming laptops but never ventured out beyond that. What made me get this one is it was instock at best buy. I special order MSI with a RTX 3070 the raider 15" inch. Right before my best buy return policy expired the screen just died.
Lets me get this out of the way 1st. The ONLY downside or cons for me on this laptop is soldered ram. Come on Alienware the consumer that buys this laptop is the same consumer that will want to upgrade ram. There is 2 M.2 slots but no ram slots. Please figure this out, other companies have.
Now that I have that out of the way I can say that I am loving this laptop. Its my 1st 17" model but honestly its not too much bigger than 15" models that are out in the market. This is a light and slimmer 17". Not as thin as say Razer 17' Advanced but not the same thickness as say Asus Rog STRIX or comparable laptop.
The main reason I went for this one is the GPU. it has the RTX 3070 that will go up to 140watts out of the box! You have to be carefully because they no longer say max q on cards so you can get a 3080 that will perform worse than this with double the ram because it runs at lower performance for thermals.
Thermals by the way are amazing. This runs the GPU at 10 more watts than my MSI with Same GPU and it runs an average of 20c cooler. GPU when playing games for me on a table GPU doesnt get about 75c. The Fans are loud because of the power you get in such a smaller formfactor HOWEVER its not near as loud as the MSI GE Raider I just had and the Razer is on another level. You feel its going to take off when you are using it and sounds like a drone.
By the way it comes with 2 factory set overclock profiles too and you can undervolt as well if you like but honestly it runs cool now I am not going to touch anything
Bottom line if you want a killer gaming laptop you should by this. You will be happy you did.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance, Screen size
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Absolutely a beast !
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
After trying out several other big name brands like Asus’s line of ROG (M15s), 4K displays, And even iMacs, for the extra money you’re paying for this laptop is 100% worth the investment.
-Build quality is top tier, no flexing anywhere, key board is super solid, the finish is coated with a smooth finish for prolonged protection.
Note that the number pad is very convenient on these 17 inch machines. A little on the heavy side but get yourself a good carrying bag and you will be just fine.
-performance is very impressive and has not let me down one bit. I’m able to play Genshin Impact on max settings with no frame drops or throttling. I do use a cooling fan to prolong the life of the internals, it’s a must IMO. You should easily be able to get 7-10+ from this laptop with minimal repairs. (Maybe a new battery or charging cable, normal stuff).
-visuals are so impressive, it’s not 4K or 1440 but the 1080 looks beautiful on this display that you won’t even care, and honestly most gamers would rather have the smoother game play that the RTX3070 offers you in a 1080 resolution. The 360 Hz is a godsend and you will never go back to 60 Hz ever again. Note you are able to play 8k videos on YouTube with no hiccups on performance mode. The 17 inch screen will never have you going back to anything smaller.
-overall if you can get this thing for 0% finance with the Best Buy credit card and pay less than 200$ / month, it’s the way to go.
My only complaint is that for some reason google chrome will not open up and I have been using fire fox. I have installed all the drivers and updates from dell so I might be giving the customer service department a call soon, but it’s not a big bothersome as I was originally a Firefox user pre chrome.
10/10
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Quality gaming laptop for wonderful gaming experie
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Posted . Owned for 1 year when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Overall wonderful gaming machine!
This gaming laptop has the ability to comfortably run big games like “Farcry 6”, “cyberpunk” and more. The screen quality is the best I have ever seen in a laptop, and the 3070 graphics card offers a high resolution gaming experience. This computer is powerful, quick, and the speakers are of great quality. You get all of this in a slim, low profile package and for a great price. Great buy.
I would recommend this to a friend
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Heat
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Awesome, Heavy, and Power Hungry
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
It’s heavy, power hungry, and it runs hot. These are the things you get when you buy an awesome gaming computer. The batter “gauge” is a bit of a challenge in that it will tell you that at 100% you will have two hours if usage, then 10 minutes later it will tell you that your 80% battery will only last you for 50 minutes. In the end the battery will last you about two hours, just don’t listen the gauge. Better yet, keep it plugged in. You’re not exactly going to be playing Halo on the subway.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Screen size
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Slick and Powerful
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is a review of the Alienware M14 r4 Lunar Light laptop.
Pros:
The laptop is probably the most beautiful piece of electronics I have ever owned. Very aesthetically pleasing, and it has a quality heft to it, although that is not something everyone wants in a laptop.
It is incredibly powerful. For it's size I'm surprised what this laptop is capable of. It has easily and quickly handled everything I've thrown at it. Steam games, WoW, Adobe Suite CS5 (!), LibreOffice. The M.2 SSD has nearly instant load times, and the Nvidia 3070 provides crisp, smooth frame rates on the 360hz 1080p screen. Magnificent.
Cons:
Price. In this case one of getting what they pay for, but still it is a major consideration.
The laptop can get quite hot quickly. I'm not used to having a device get this warm. It's not uncomfortable to the touch, but I wonder what the future holds for an electronic device that needs to have internal fans running so hard they are plainly audible. I highly recommend having a 'cooler' base for this laptop, at least at home.
I would have liked a couple more usb ports. 3 ports is easy to use up! Also, there is no dvd drive.
I consider myself a knowledgeable computer geek, but I have not yet determined how to boot from a usb flash drive or usb dvd drive. I was able to make a full backup of the system, but there doesn't seem to be any options in the BIOS or F2 menu to alt boot (like for say a Linux boot). I haven't exhausted my options, but it's a shame it's not easier.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Beast of a laptop
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Coming from a Razor blade pro with a 2070, this laptop is a BEAST. Build quality is good, full size RTX 3070 not no max-q junk. This laptop is exactly what I was looking for, it is pricey but you get what you pay for I guess. Only complaint I guess is I wish the AC power brink was a little smaller but I guess with the full 130W to the GPU that’s what it needs :-)
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Screen size
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Certified Geek Squad Open Box
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
One heck of a Laptop! The 360hz Screen is Sick! The RTX 3070 is SUPER fast! I purchased this laptop as a Certified Geek Squad Open box. So it was pretty much brand new. It came with the Original Box, accessories and paperwork. With the Certified version you save a couple bills. I would say its totally worth it!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Performance
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Best on the market today
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Amazing performance for such a thin chassis. The 10870H holds its boost in games wuthering no throttling and the 140w 3070 outperforms the 200watt 2080 super you can find in the big 51m R2 notebook. Screen is pretty good, sound is very crisp and loud, and thermals are amazing for the GPU (under 70C) and good for the CPU if you undervolt. I had to exchange my unit once for dead pixels and a whiny fan, but new one is all good.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Screen size
Cons mentioned:
Fan noise
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Smooth like butter
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is seriously pretty cheap if you do the price match. The 3070 has more than 100w in this model and 360hz screen is sweet. The only thing I would complain is the fan noise. The fan sounds like a desperate woman screaming. Overall, I would suggest this laptop, even though the performance is not Alienware’s strength, the outlook of this laptop is sick.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Alienware Laptops treated me well for 12 years
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Alienware laptops continue to have really nice and stable hardware BUT the amount of hardware continues to diminish each year as the price stays high. 4 years ago for the same price the laptop included the now missing DVD/CD burner and 4 USB3 ports where there are now only 3 and there were both HDMI in and out ports and now only HDMI out. You are now required to use ONLY M.2 SSD drives which makes cloning harder and more expensive because you have to purchase the M.2 specific hardware to support it. For the last 12 years I've purchased a new Alienware laptop every 3 years at a minimum because I've been able to sell the old one for $1,000 each time I was ready for a new one, so in doing that the price has been minimal for me. The resale value on an Alienware laptop is extremely GOOD.. The laptop replaced my desktop and it meets all my needs and is plugged and powered on 24-7-365 to support my employment as a Network/Systems Admin.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics
Cons mentioned:
Heat
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Tha graphics
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The graphics are amazing looking but I think you will need an additional stand cooler, when gaming this bad boy gets HOT
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Remember update BIOS ! That's solved stock issues
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Coming in a sturdy magnesium alloy shell, the Alienware m17 is a well made laptop with durability to match its heft. Solid throughout, the inside of the laptop feels thick, well-protected and comfortable to rest your hands on, while the back of the display doesn’t flex inwards under pressure. It almost feels like it could survive a drop, though I wouldn’t recommend it...
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazing gaming laptop
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Posted . Owned for more than 2 years when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
After 2 years of daily use. I still love my alienware gaming laptop. Amazing fast screen and very fast for my daily gaming and zero issues
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Almost perfect build for the money!
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
A premium out of the box experience with some not so perfect design. Overall this is a solid build with a white aluminum frame. Vapor chamber cooling with some insane much need fans for this power. I'll actually rate this as a 4.7 because the "ram is soldered on the board" running at 2933Mhz without "no" room to up grade from the 16gb of DDR4. Otherwise, perfect build. It does provide 2 additional nvme m.2 open. I'm not sure if it supports optane or gen4 m.2 sources are limited because of the x17 popularity. The RTX 3070 is a full power at 140w. Cherry switch on the keyboard. which gives it a nice solid confirming membrane click . Just perfect for typing (no keyboard need) on the laptop. The screen is ultra bright running at 360hz and the studio quality built in speakers never requires you to plug in a speaker. If you can get this for a discount it's a must buy for the average gamer that's not looking to upgrade after purchase.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Alienware M17 Laptop
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Hi I just want to say this laptop is great. It is super light compare to the old Alienware 17" laptop. So far is fast and very easy to use.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Keyboard
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Alien technology
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
After doing TONS of research, this laptop was in my top 3 choices - but with part shortages this became the choice to get...and boy am I glad I chose this laptop. You are getting an 8 core 16 thread processor, a RTX 3070 140w (max wattage...formally known as Max-P) GPU that is more powerful than the majority of RTX 3080 laptops, 16gb of ram, a very good IPS 360hz screen WITH G-sync, per key RGB keyboard, and 1tb ssd.
Things I like:
Keyboard is probably one of the best membrane based keyboards I have ever used. The glass trackpad is nice also so it doesn't drag like plastic touch pads.
Laptop has actually quite the cooling setup, one of the better ones out there. Using a free program called throttlestop to undervolt the cpu and afterburner to overclock the CPU, I was able to push the performance even more while keeping CPU/GPU temps at low 70s max while gaming under balance fan mode.
Gsync - I have a ultrawide 3440 x 1440 gsync monitor. Once you use gysnc, you don't ever want to leave home without it.
Overall look - I was initially not fond of the white plating...but after setting it up, it looks quite sexy and unique.
What I dislike:
- ram is soldered. Don't listen to the dell rep who is purposely giving wrong info in the Q&A section of this product page. 16gb is the only amount you will ever get with no upgrade options. Now granted if you are not doing any heavy editing, 16gb is enough without issue for years to come while gaming.
- Battery life....let's talk about the elephant in the room. If you are traveling a lot and needing a gaming laptop running on battery...this ain't it boss. I am able to squeeze out maybe 3.5h tops while web browsing after undervolting my laptop and setting lower multiples for each core. but normally expect 2 hours tops on battery, considerably less while heavy gaming. This laptop is an absolute powerhouse, but a battery vampire sucker all the same.
Things of note:
Stock settings timespy: 10400 score.
OC/undervolt settings timespy: 10910 score.
Cyberpunk fps (Ultra settings, RTX psycho settings, DLSS Auto):
native 1080p screen 55 - 65fps
Ultrawide 3440x1440: 30-40ish fps (this is impressive)
Gsync makes the game very smooth also.
Overall, this is a desktop replacement for me (due to part shortages) and I dont anticipate having to really upgrade again for another 3-4 years with this laptop.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Dell fails to honor its warranty -- beware !
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Posted . Owned for 11 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
stay away this is an overpriced laptop...after 10 months the top display plastic bezel came off and broke. Its still under warranty. I contacted dell and they refuse to fix the plastic bezel. should have been an easy fix. the bezel being broken means water can get into the display. I've been a long time alienware customer and dell bought them out and now has terrible warranty and customer service. outright support failure and failure to honor their warranty.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Cheapest screen I have ever seen!
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Just got the Alienware R4 tonight and opened it up to immediate disappointment. The screen has a very bad vertical top to bottom screen line. I completed the setup just to make sure (also noticed the extremely bad screen edge bleed) and sure enough, the line shows up under blue light. I am returning tomorrow for a full refund. It is a sign to avoid Alienware moving forward.
*VERY DISSAPOINTED*
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from YourDellTeam
Posted .
Hello Gamer408,
Thank you for your feedback and review. We apologize for the issues you have come across with the screen on your m17. We have provided steps that can be used to run a Self-Test on the screen to help diagnose the issue.
1. Power off the Dell laptop. 2. Disconnect any external devices that are connected to the computer. 3. Connect the AC adapter (charger) to the computer. 4. Make sure that the LCD (screen) is clean (no dust particles on the surface of the screen). 5. Press and hold the D key and power on the computer to enter LCD built-in self-test (BIST) mode. 6. Continue to hold the D key, until you see color bars on the LCD (screen). -The screen displays multiple color bars and change colors to black, white, red, green, and blue. -Carefully inspect the screen for abnormalities.
If your screen still has issues, this link can be used to help run further steps and provide more in-depth information: http://dell.to/2XeDTdr.
Best regards, Wendy C.
For further assistance, you can contact Dell directly with the information below Chat or Call: https://bit.ly/DellSupportTeam. Phone number to Dell: 1-800-264-9896.
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Keyboard, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Heat, Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A gaming laptop you must have...
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Overall this a great Laptop for Gaming, the Intel i7 10Th gen, has your back! The video Graphics Nvidia RTX (2070S) definitely deliver the maximum in game quality. however, this laptop can get really hot and sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming for some users. One thing I really like about this Laptop is the design.. Dell® with alienware® definitely took their time to design this 'beast'. We can't forget about the lights on the keyboards and the FX studio® which if you ask me, is pretty dope!! So here's what I can tell so far about this laptop.
• Design 10/10.
• Performance 9/10.
(Tested with multiple games such as; Call of duty Warzone & Cyberpunk2077).
• Keyboards noise 8/10.
• Laptop fan noise 7/10.
• Laptop CPU temp (89F° while gaming).
So I will give it a 6/10 definitely needs more improvement.
• Very expensive if you ask me. But.. if you can buy one, buy one. 5/10
So that's it guys, I hope this was helpful. Bye for now.