Alienware m16 review (m16 R1 2023 model – i9, RTX 4080)

6 Comments

  1. Anthony

    March 29, 2023 at 7:26 pm

    Hello,
    Loved your review of the Alienware m16. I've been considering this laptop for awhile now. I just been waiting for more reviews to come out before I spent my money. Your closing remarks really spoke to me, when you stated, "personally, I would spend the money and choose something that is more than just a gaming laptop." What would be your recommendations?

    • Derek Sullivan

      March 29, 2023 at 7:49 pm

      I guess it all depends on what you value. For me it's work and play so I landed with something that can play games at a reasonable level and yet still looks professional. The Alienware have always been too bulky for me and believe me I've tried to use them as a daily machine in the past.
      Before I got my Asus x16, I was a Legion 7 owner. That's certainly a viable option and it's reasonably priced similar to this Alienware. It also has a bigger battery and is significantly smaller in size. I haven't reviewed this year's model though and it did undergo some design changes.

      The Blade 16 is also a laptop I would consider and is something I've owned in the past. The Blade is insanely priced but a very strong laptop in general that can hit some pretty impressive performance marks. It's arguably the smallest 16" package that still runs at high wattage to compete with the high performers. All the smaller 16" models cap out at 4070 GPUs.

      For me, that's where I landed – I chose smaller size and weight but settled for the 3070/4070 performance. I could easily see myself going back to the Razer Blade or Legion 7 if I wanted that extra GPU performance though.

  2. Bodin

    April 5, 2023 at 9:19 am

    Hi, thank you so great review on this laptop. I'm a bit fan of Alienware. I want to ask your opinion about X17 R2 3080 Ti that has a good deal and is cheaper than the M16. Would you consider it? There is no doubt that the M16 with 4080 performs with a 25%-50% performance increase and not only Gaming machines is X17 R2 would interesting.

    • Derek Sullivan

      April 5, 2023 at 12:21 pm

      On paper x17 the same weight but an inch wider than the M16. It is a little thinner though.

      I've never tried that unit so I can't comment too much. I only briefly messed with it in stores and was unimpressed with how heavy it was even though it tries to be thin. It's very deceiving.

      I also remember hating the port placement. Literally everything except the power connection and headphone jack was in the back. And the headphone was on the right corner which is a super annoying spot fort mouse users. I probably wouldn't even consider it for these reasons alone. Depends how good this sale is.

      I bet they'll be a decent sale from Dell on the M16 in the next couple months. They frequently have coupons or rakuten and/or Amex cash back offers that you can stack and take advantage of. You just have to be patient though because they are pretty random on timing.

  3. Aldertonghen

    April 5, 2023 at 6:10 pm

    While I agree that this laptop isnt for everyone, the value it offers on the 4090 config relative to other 4090s is insane. The 4090+ 13900HX model on Dell's website is $3049 ($3099 with upgraded storage) without even going on a sale, which is pretty much one of the lowest 175W 4090 prices around- and this price goes down further via Rakuten cashback, and this price is including Dell's premier support bundled for free. No laptop over $3k is "value", but this 4090 is cheaper than the Blade and Scar 4080s. That is huge.

    If we look at same GPUs- Razer Blade 16 is $4299 for the 4090, and the Strix Scar is $3799- both are much lighter laptops, although the build quality of Scar is inferior to the Alienware (which imo is par with Razer). But that extra $1200 one saves by opting for m16 over the Blade 16 is no small amount- its enough to buy a Flow x13 with a 3050ti in the US right now!

  4. Michael DRIPS

    May 10, 2023 at 6:40 pm

    I just ordered the Dell G with the i9, 32gig, 1tb, 4070. I’ve been playing computer games since the 70s and this won’t travel much. I’ve also had 2 high end Razers fail on me in the last 3 years and their “warranty” is an absolute joke. I think this laptop will be great for my gaming needs.

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