So it's arrived, this is my initial thoughts or perhaps concerns is more appropriate.
Firstly if you have an ssd and you want to keep the 1tb hard drive your out of luck. This takes m.2 ssd, you only have space for 1 x 2.5 drive which is what the 1tb hard drive is in! They didn't point this out. In addition there is only 2 memory modules not 4 like in the previous model so the 2 x 4gb modules are useless if I want to upgrade to 16gb I have to buy 2 x 8gb at a later date.
In view the GPU and cpu are both soldered on this marks a change from previous alienwares flexibility. Upgradability is not what the new a17 r2 is about which is disappointing.
Having switched it on for 20 mins, the touch screen looks good but not excellent, it appears to be ips. It's not as bright as the 3d version on last years a17, but just bright enough.
Sound quality - it's ok but the subwoofer is a joke, there's not really any bass, in fact it's actually poor, this is not a premium sound given the price.
I will add GPU cpu performance later this week. I have to say though the lack of upgradability is poor from Dell.
Well my a17 is on its way from China with an eta 26/1/15. Having looked at the invoice it states anti glare touch screen. I'm hopping this is an error as I ordered the touch screen tru life glossy display. I'm also hoping the display is indeed an ips panel as per their sales staff at ces2015 and not ust ips for the a15. Anyone received there new a17 yet?
Well I placed an order for the 17 with touch panel more so for the glossy display. It dosent mention if it's ips panel like on the new a15 model. I will compare it with my 3d panel on my 17 r1. 1 thing that should be improved is sound quality as the new 17 r2 has a sub (think its the same that was in the a 18 model), hope it's as good as the xps 17 jbl sound but i doubt it. Be interesting to see if the 970m offers much of a improvement on my current gtx780m. I will find on 2 feb!
Maybe those will be available as options for extra charge? I guess everyone's focusing on lowering the price of the entry-level models. We'll ask Dell about the available display options they plan to add in the future.
For me the quality of display is key - loved the truebright 3d panels on last years machine why not offer it on this version? 300nit dosent seem very bright and the dell site dosent list them as ips panels on the 17 model.
I don't think there are too many people still using optical drives with their laptops when backup can be easily done to external drives or via cloud services, while drivers/software are found online and many laptops don't even come with a CD/DVD with drivers these days.
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