Area-51m, screen black

I have the exact same issue with the 2080 and 9700k. have had this laptop for 3 days now. It is the first unit ive gotten.

So, on Notebook forum it sounds like the GPU is having a lot of failure rate?  Something about First Batch of these laptops all being bad....basically if the BIOs wasn't already updated when you received it, it's First Batch and likely a bad model?

Does Dell have a comment?

Hi @Riksk

We are very sorry for the bad experience you have had so far. If you need help, please send me a private message with the Service Tag so I can review your case.

All Dell and Alienware computer products are designed, tested and certified to the UL (Underwriters Laboratories) Standard for Safety of Information Technology Equipment, UL 60950-1. We take our customers' concerns and safety very seriously and investigate all reported issues. As a reminder, please contact Dell Support at 1 (800) 254-3692 if you have any problems, to have your PC repaired or replaced under the warranty conditions.

Still not a right answer to his question... I have also ordered 2080 graphics card and 9900k processor version on april 4th and still hasnt shipped yet... Will there be a smoking issue on my laptop too???Dell???

I too have been fighting with random screen turn offs.  After 1 and a half hours with tech support they suggested a fresh install of windows...

Since I suspected a Nvidia driver issue, I paused MS auto updates upon reinstall, but issue came back after installing Alienware software.

So yet another install of windows, and seemed to work fine for a day; did a shutdown and restart this morning, and guess what---about a minute after boot up goes to a black screen (or sometimes just a frozen screen).  I paid way too much for a device to behave like this.

If anyone is suffering from this, do note that safe mode seems to work fine, not that you want to run that way.

Oh, as a side note, the tech that told me to reinstall, had to go before the download finished but said he was going to call back later (when he was next on shift).  I have not heard back from him; fortunately I knew how to install windows myself.

And as extra added slap in the face, I ordered the Alienware Graphics Accelerator (to drive multiple monitors with an external graphics card) after I ordered the laptop.  The AGA arrived quickly while it took me 4 weeks to get my laptop.  I recently found out on another call to Dell that the AGA is NOT yet supported on the Area 51-M (even though there is a built in port for it).  So now I am fighting with Dell to return it, I am outside my 30 day period, even though I couldn't use it due to a delay in getting my laptop.

I like the concept of the Area 51-M, but so far its been a bit of a let down, and Dell support is not the high quality I thought it was going to be.

Hi @Will 51-M

We're very sorry for the bad experience you have had so far.

If you need help, please send me a private message with the Service Tag so I can review your case. 

Hello, I have 3 items you may be able to help me with (in order of priority)

For context:

Original Area-51m order = (5/22)
Graphics Amplifier order = < removed> (5/23)

Actual delivery of Area 51m – 6/24
Actual delivery of Graphics Amplifier – 5/25

1) I wish to complete the return of the Graphics Amplifier, I suspect as time goes on it will get harder to get an exemption for being out of the 30 day window. As you can see from the dates above, I did not get 30 days to use the device before deciding to return it. In fact I only had it hooked ~2 days before I was told by Dell that the device is not supported with the Area 51m.

2) My service Tag for Area 51m is  – which I thought is eligible for on-site support, but no one has offered that yet. I continue to have video freeze/screen black outs. What is the best Nvidia driver to load for this hardware? Is there a firmware upgrade I need to install? The fact that people (on this forum and others) are reporting this problem makes me wonder if there is a hardware fault in the video card...

3) When I bought the laptop I did not opt for the extended warranty, but after reading comments left by others on this device, I think I should. My sells rep said that the support team could help me add the extended warranty. Can you tell me what my options are?

9700k - 2080 - 32Gb - Gsync

Just started to experience the black screen. 

Long story short: Original laptop worked fine until an alienware update bricked the keyboard (maybe 1 month in). lights out, no functionality. Keyboard replacement/service was quick, worked without issue after. Only used the laptop for VR, didn't touch keyboard much, but a few months later the 'A' keycap is lifting on one side. Support ordered another replacement (keyboard number 3), and when we booted it up it all seemed fine until right after login - then black screen. Rebooted, black screen. 

Weird thing is the Diag that we ran after the keyboard replacement didn't come up with any issues. 

Starting to feel really nervous about my $3.3k laptop investment... Please update the thread if any of you learn more... I'll come back with news once I know more. 

*deleted* post was duplicated. 

@BCambra, 

Hi! We're sorry to hear about your current issue. Please send me up a private Message with your Service Tag. That way I can check your case.