Alienware 15 with 4K screen?

[riklaunim]

I've noticed few Alienware refurbs locally available from UK and I wonder "is it worth it?". Two of them have 4K screen and GTX 970M or 980M. Plus the Amplifier connection so GPU is less off an issue. The question is how 4K on 15" behaves in daily usage? Does high pixel density makes things look better (like text) or does things are still either to small or big (a.k.a Retina incompatible)?

[exercutor5]

Windows scaling is horrid.

[verydogesuchwow]

I really wouldn't get an Alienware, they're overpriced just like Macs are. You pay a big premium for aesthetics and branding, and less on real performance. They also market them way too "gamey" if you will

[Virtual01]

Windows 10 has decent UI scaling for those scenarios. But trying to game at 4K with even a 980M is not going to be fun if you play anything remotely intensive. Playing at 1080 shouldn't look too bad though, at least it scales perfectly.

[Belgarathian]

Battery life is going to suck, gaming or editing at native resolution may chug. 

 

On the positive side, the text on your Facebook wall will look positively dashing. 

[exercutor5]

1 minute ago, verydogesuchwow said:

I really wouldn't get an Alienware, they're overpriced just like Macs are. You pay a big premium for aesthetics and branding, and less on real performance. They also market them way too "gamey" if you will

Not really true any more, their prices have come down considerably.

[riklaunim]

Just now, verydogesuchwow said:

I really wouldn't get an Alienware, they're overpriced just like Macs are. You pay a big premium for aesthetics and branding, and less on real performance. They also market them way too "gamey" if you will

The key point is those refurbs are cut in price,  bit cheaper than similar Clevo - that's what makes them viable at all.

[verydogesuchwow]

Just now, exercutor5 said:

Not really true any more, their prices have come down considerably.

 

Just now, riklaunim said:

The key point is those refurbs are cut in price,  bit cheaper than similar Clevo - that's what makes them viable at all.

Still worse than building a PC with your own components, and they are still overpriced even with the price cuts

[riklaunim]

The most intensive game I have is Witcher 3 which is running on R9 270 just fine at 1080p and it also can just run 1080p scaled on a 4K screen if needed. 4K could be more handy on Heroes of the Storm it if can use 4K efficiently to get more map visibility (or at all), maybe Nova or Zeratul shimmer will be visible in better detail too Aside of that I have games that even don't understand that like 8 GB of RAM is > than 256MB or RAM

 

Other usages for 4K I can potentially find - codding (on Linux), and for astrophotography, where my "lunar" camera frame of 3096x2080 would fit whole on the screen And maybe some first hand experience how websites scale on 4K and how to make them look better if needed.