15 R2, motherboard fail and battery replacement issue

Well said.. I completely agree, this will be my last Alienware/Dell laptop as well. I have had my Alienware 15R3 for barely over a year, minimally used and well taken care of, yet the motherboard has already failed. These laptops/motherboards are clearly way over priced for the terrible quality/durability. Laptop is completely useless unless I essentially buy a new motherboard at basically the cost of a new laptop. I'd rather spend my time and money elsewhere.

I have the same laptop and i think my mother board has a problem too. my battery won't charge; it claims to be charging but doesn't charge ( it says: plugged in, charging)
I've always used dell laptops. but this Alienware has been a disappointment being expensive you'd think it would last a while before it shows signs of aging

Wow, I have the same Alienware 15 R2 which the battery and motherboard died a few months after warranty, this seems to be an inherent defect with it, intentional or not this just **bleep** and sickening, I have mine sitting gathering dust. Did anyone got theirs repaired? how much did it cost? TIA

Just to confirm Alienware 17 R2 has same issue.  Most expensive dell I have purchase... should have paid attention to fact it was an internal battery...... Do not buy a dell with an internal battery.  I called dell ts repair before I sent it off.... I am technical so I knew how to state the exact issue.   They said they could fix and to send.... well after five weeks they claim they cant get the battery and have support contact me to try to sell me a new computer after only 2.5 years of use of my current one.   I don't believe for a minute they can't replace a battery on a computer they built.   Yes lets build computers to die after 2 years so we can sell more.   Moral of the story...... do't buy an expensive allienware with an internal battery.... and don't pay more money for a dell than you feel 2 years of service is worth. 

My battery just broke after three years, so I had to watch a hilarious youtube video on how to replace the battery. What a joke! 

Now I’m here and read that my motherboard’s has reached the end of its presumed life cycle, as well. I think it’s not worth replacing the battery which will cost around 110 EUR just to wait until the motherboard breaks shortly afterwards. (If I manage to not break it when I disassemble the whole laptop just to put in a new battery).

So I will join the others here and say: "Goodbye, Alienware".

I am currently looking at a 15 R2 that failed for my client about 12 months after purchase, in 2016/17. Smoke came out of the keyboard which was the first sign of any failure of the system. He had it analysed as being a failed system board and, due to the expense (around AU$1k), stuck it in a cupboard. How widespread is this system board failure? Given that the servicing of this system is well documented how easy is it to purchase a new system board, in Australia? Does Dell really support this hardware for five years from purchase date?

You won't find any "new" replacement boards -- they're all considered refurbished, as are all Dell replacement parts.  And on a system of that age, it's likely they're all used parts by now.

Local laws on repair parts vary, but most state that the manufacturer must honor the warranty, but nothing after that.  Since most buyers go for a 3-year warranty at longest, that's about as long as most manufacturers will stock parts.  And on sub-$1,000 systems, it's becoming more common for 2-3 year old systems to be replaced with refurbished ones rather than repaired, though this clearly isn't such a system.

All you can do is search locally for the part you need, or contact Dell to see if it's available.  That said, don't rule out buying a used system that failed for reasons other than the system board failing - it can be cheaper to do that than it is to buy individual parts at times.

I’d get a refurbished motherboard and a new battery as the knock off ones can literally screw the board up for some weird reason like it won’t charge or say it’s charging but it really isn’t.

I have owned multiple Alienware laptops and never had any issues with my 15 R1 since for some reason it refuses to die.

I have the 4710HQ clocked at 4.1Ghz with the Graphics AMP connected with a 2080 and the internal 980M with +500Mhz on the GPU memory and +230Mhz on the GPU cores.

I use the 240watt PSU and when it’s really overclocked I use the 330watt one.

I also modified mine with a custom 120Hz 1080p display.

Hi @Timhack  thanks for the prompt. Dell video for Alienware 17 R4 & 15 R3 Battery Disassembly is Here. Dell Li-ion battery service life is typically two years. Main battery discharge is an expected normal behaviour of the Dell hybrid power design on Alienware computers.

We have a new Alienware 17 R5 (i7-8750H, GTX 1070, QHD) Gaming Laptop whose purchase price is about $3,000. Have just looked at the Dell Alienware 17 R5 service manual and agree with your observation that our internal main battery location is not designed to be a Customer Self-Replaceable (CSR) or Customer Replaceable Unit (CRU). This is very disappointing because Dell says our main battery life is typically only two years and thereby there is a realistic expectation of many main battery replacements for our expensive Alienware 17 R5 laptop. 

We have general purpose laptops that are not Dell, whose purchase price is considerably less and these are designed for ease of main battery replacement. 

Have you noticed the way to replace batteries on the BGA designed alienware series that came between 2015-2018 all have to have the palm rest area and the keyboard membrane cables disconnected to remove them?

Id prefer a more serviceable way such as placing the battery on the bottom side area so you can remove the backplate and then disconnect it.

But I'm not qualified enough to make that decision as i am not Alienware's system engineer.