Alienware x14 R2 Gaming Laptop 14″ QHD+ 165Hz G-Sync, Intel Core i7-13620H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home, AlienFX Backlit US Keyboard, Lunar Silver

Returned Due to Undesirable Performance
Edit (2024-10-18): Amazon has not issued a refund for this item. Further, because I used Amazon’s payment plan, I’ve incurred another installment charge for this product. What a disaster!! I actually spoke to an Amazon customer service rep this time around and he basically stated “returns can take up to 30 days from when we receive the product back.” Throughout this ordeal, it has always been understood that Amazon has received the product (on September 20, 2024). So I guess with Amazon, anything you return will take 30 days to process the refund (and then up to 10 business days for your bank to post the transaction). So I’m looking at a 40-day return process. This is ridiculous…Edit (2024-10-14): Amazon has delayed my refund yet again. Their status page now shows “Return not processed / refund not issued”. Their chat support assured me that it would be processed by October 18, and then up to 10-business days, I would receive my money in my account. What a disaster Amazon has become!Edit (2024-10-08): the system now shows my return has been delayed further to October 18. The chatbot says they have not received my item. The second tier chat support could only provide me with “just trust the system” and couldn’t verify that my package has been received. This is a horrible experience. I thought I was dealing with a world class business.Edit (2024-10-06): I returned this laptop on September 18 and it shows Amazon received it on Sept 20, with a refund issued by October 6. I check it now (2024-10-06 12:15 AM) and it now says the refund will be issued by Oct 9. The stated refund amount has always been $1300+ but I’m only owed $600-700ish because I’m on an Amazon 5-month payment plan. The laptop was purchased through Amazon.com (Sold By Amazon and Fulfilled By Amazon) so I’m hoping I get my money.Just for the record, I returned this laptop because it did not perform as expected. It bluescreened twice in the 20-25 days I used it. I thought about replacing it but I didn’t want to risk getting another defective device.Edit (2024-09-01): I used the Dell Support Assist app to download the latest drivers for the laptop. It downloaded the drivers but you, the user, have to manually install them, which is perfectly fine…except! Somewhere along the way, I’m assuming after I updated the Realtek Audio Drivers, I lost all audio. I tried everything to get it to work: uninstall / reinstall the drivers, the Audio Troubleshooter, uninstalling / reinstalling related audio drivers and apps (Dolby Atmos, Intelligo, Realtek audio app, etc). Nothing was able to get the audio working. The troubleshooting apps available, as well as the Dell online troubleshooter, suggested I reset the laptop, or send it in for repairs. It’s a brand new laptop! And I am absolutely positive it’s a software / driver issue. I unwillingly did a full reset, which took about an hour, and now the audio works fine. It really sucks I had to do this but it’s better now rather than six months from now when I have a lot more data to lose. However, I’m more likely to return this machine now. Such a shame because I heard so many great things about Alienware. I’m lowering the rating for this laptop from 4-star to 2-star. (end edit)I wanted to replace my LG Gram (super lightweight, 1065g CPU) with a newer laptop. I wanted an i7-14650hx but can’t afford it. I use my laptop for web design and programming, watch videos, video editing (home, non-professional), and of course, light gaming.The Alienware x14 r2 fit most of my criteria:- a 13th or 14th gen Intel CPU or an AMD 7000 or 8000 CPU.- at least 16 GB RAM (preferably DDR5)- high screeen resolution (above 1920×1080) / high refresh rate (above 90 hz)- must cost less than $1499.- lightweight (under 3 pounds)The Alienware x14 r2 has a 13th gen i7-13620H, 16 GB LPDDR RAM, 16″ screen with 2560×1600 resolution and 165 refresh rate. It weighs under 5 pounds but over my 3 pound limit. And I found it on sale at Amazon for around $1250 (Sold by amazon.com and Shipped by amazon.com, so it’s not a third party or whatever). After about 10 days of use, here are my thoughts.Build: its solid. The casing is metal or aluminum, it’s not plastic or hard plastic like some other cheap laptops. The lid is firm. I’m the type of person that opens laptops from its sides. It feels very rigid but not overly tight. It is significantly heavier than my LG Gram, which is expected but I’m not sure how big of an issue this new weight will be.Screen: I’ll be honest, somewhere in Amazon’s listing for this laptop, it specified that it is QHD+, which is 2880×1800. So I was a bit disappointed to learn it’s only 2560×1600, as printed in the Product Details section. Aside from that mistake, the screen is great. It allows me to view a lot more of my code on the screen. And with the 165 Hz refresh rate, all my videos and amateur animations look a lot smoother.Interface (keyboard, trackpad): the lid has the Alienware logo on it that lights up, which is pretty cool. You can choose its color, as well as the keyboard backlight. You can also change the color of the power button. All cool. There is one major possible dealbreaker for me and I’m really considering returning the laptop over this. I’ve never liked trackpads so I always disable it in the Device Manager and use a mouse. The problem here on this laptop is that the device is always re-enabled when when I turn on the laptop. So i havr to go to Device Manager and disable it, otherwise my thumbs can accidentally touch it and put the cursor somewhere else on the screen as I type. It is a MAJOR issue for a programmer. Also, the Delete, Backspace, Enter, and all 4 arrow keys are oddly placed and smaller than I’m used to. The last column of keys are media keys (volume, mute, mic toggle) so I’ve constantly mispressed keys because of that layout. It will take a little getting used to, I guess.Battery: using Quiet Mode, which limits the total performance of the CPU and GPU, I got this laptop to just idle (ie, just sit there untouched, in a climate controlled room at about 72 degrees F) for a little over 10 hours. Under my typical use of surfing the internet, programming with VLC Player looping through my local playlist of various genres of music at max volume through Bluetooth speakers, I think I’m averaging about 3-4 hours the laptop warns me about being at 10% battery. I don’t generally use a laptop without it being plugged in so battery life is not a major factor.Noise / heat: on Quiet Mode, it IS pretty quiet. The fans seem to be off most of the time but the turn on full max when loading webpages full of media content. The bottom of the laptop gets hot, even with my homemade elevation device (a piece of cardboard that I place along the back of the laptop to elevate it). With Performance Mode, everything I do triggers the fans and the heat emitted from the bottom can be felt if I walk by it (a good two feet away). The fans are loud and I understand now Redditors compare it to a airplane take-off). The heat concerns me as this IS a 13th gen Intel CPU and i have gotten ONE BSOD already during boot up after updating a driver. The Command Center reports my CPU is around 72 degrees C and I’ve read that normal temp should not exceed the 90s for too long.Gaming: I installed a free MMO that is NOT graphics intensive called Sword and Hell. I played it on Quiet Mode and its decent. On Performance Mode, I don’t notice a difference in the graphics but I hear a huge difference in the fans and it sounds like the Airforce has been deployed.Misc thoughts: copying files to and from the laptop from a USB-C external SSD is super fast. I haven’t actually timed it myself but compared to my LG Gram, the file transfers on this Alienware seems almost instant. I transferred about 10 GB of videos to the Videos folder, started to get up to smoke a cigarette but it finished before I got a ciggy out of the box.I really like this machine but I’m looking for something I can use for at least four years. And I cannot and refuse to go into Device Manager every time I turn on this laptop to disable the trackpad. At this point, if I cannot find a solution, I am 99.99999999% sure I will be returning this laptop.I hope this lengthy review helps some make their decision on purchasing this laptop. As of today (August 31, 2024), Dell is selling it for $1199.99. Not sure how long that sale will last.

very good purchase
I’m using this laptop for everyday use and gaming it is a wonderful laptop with great hdr support. Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos work perfectly on the laptop as well. I would recommend to get extra support just incase of anything either through Dell or through Amazon when buying the laptop.