Dell Alienware 34" Curved Gaming Monitor Screen LED-lit Monitor AW3418HW

At the time of purchase, I believe this is the overall best monitor for a gaming PC you can currently get. G-Synch, 120Hz, ultrawide aspect ratio, 3440x1440, IPS panel -- I could go on, but it basically ticks all the boxes. 120Hz doesnt look any different than 144Hz to me, and its cool that 24, 30, 60 all go into 120 evenly, so pretty much any content you watch is going to be about as smooth as it could be. There are some 2560x1080 34" monitors, but you really want 3440x1440 at this size. 2560x1080 is a little too blurry when stretched out across 34". The AW3418DW at 3440x1440 resolution is very crisp. I have 20/20 vision, and I guess from a perfectionist point of view I wouldnt say no to an even higher resolution at this size, but I have to say that I am absolutely satisfied by this resolution at this size. Things are clear and crisp and its good. If you havent tried G-sync yet, you really should. The level of smoothness is difficult to describe but man it is superior - there are videos on the subject if you are curious and need convincing. Coming from many non-adaptive refresh monitors, I will not go back. The curve might put some people off, but in my opinion it only will if they are thinking of curved TVs. A curved TV isnt great because your guests off-center of the TV will see a really skewed image due to the curve. But a curved monitor, at this huge size, this close to your face on your desk? It just makes sense. If I had a totally flat screen at this size & distance, then if I look at the edge of the screen, Id be looking at that edge at a very significant and noticeable angle. But due to the curve, the edges can be looked at effectively "straight on." The way this monitor wraps around the person sitting at their desk is not extreme; and its very comfortable and hypnotizingly enveloping. Id say the level of immersion this offers is a "poor mans VR," but honestly this is not any cheaper than a VR-ready setup, so that joke falls flat. Ha. Anyway, this thing rules.

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Absolutely Amazing. Original price was $1500 and the price has since dropped to about $1299. On occasion there have been deep discounts on Amazon & Newegg as well as Dell’s website for the bargain price of $999. Now this puts it priced extremely competitively with the other Ultrawides like the Asus & Acer offerings. HOWEVER, those monitors are only 75hz and can over clock to 100hz... this offering from Dell’s Alienware Gaming line overclocks to 120hz & comes out of the box pretty well calibrated. Change your brightness to 45ish & leave contrast at 75. This monitor has no blacklight bleed at all. This monitor has no dead pixels. In the event there is something wrong with the monitor over the next three years Dell will send me a new one & once here, I can ship back the defective monitor. Thus, any problems you may experience with this monitor will be rectified quickly by Dell or Amazon making the purchase relatively risk free. I am pretty much guaranteed satisfaction from Dell as well as with Amazon’s amazing customer service. At $999 this monitor is well worth it. Bear in mind there are faster ultra wide monitors on the horizon for 2018 with amazing dream specs, such as 200hz, IPS, 3440X1440, HDR 10, GSYNC, all in an ultra-wide monitor. Expect to pay a premium for those specs close to $2000. If that cost is worth it for those specs, it may be best to wait & invest towards those monitors. As for me, this monitor more than suits my needs. UPDATE: October 2018- One year after release and about Nine months since I purchased it. Still, 100 Percent Satisfied.

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Monitor started to flicker at 120hz after one month of use. Very disappointing for such an expensive monitor. This seems to happen to lots of owners judging by reviews Ive seen online. Hopefully I will be able to get a refund, otherwise this was a terrible purchase.

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Okay so this monitor is amazing, honestly not being hyperbolic or anything and I’m coming from a really good 48’ inch 4K (60Hz) Samsung TV. For some perspective I’m hooked up to this monitor with the following: Intel I7-8700K (OC@4.8GHZ) EVGA GTX 1080 (OC@2.1GHZ) - EVGA FTW3 1080ti in-coming T- 2 days... :) 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3600MHZ Corsair H100i V2 CPU Water Cooler 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD 850W EVGA SuperNova G2 Gold PSU And so on.... So currently the weakest part in my system is the GTX 1080 (not that its weak its not) but regardless I’m able to throughly enjoy this gaming monitor at the either the highest or very close to the highest graphics settings @3440X1440P with frames rates generally ranging from 80-120. Destiny 2 for example, at 3440X1440P with nearly everything maxed I’m averaging around 80-90FPS and it is GLORIOUS! DOOM - Maxed out graphics 3440X1440P @ mostly a locked 120FPS. Its just phenomenal! AC Origins - High / Very High graphics 3440X1440P @70-100 FPS and Holly #%*& over is this game jaw dropping gorgeous!! Just Cause 3 - Nearly Maxed graphics at 3440X1440P generally 70-90FPS. This is another exceptionally gorgeous game! Overwatch - MAX graphics 3440-1440P @ generally 80-120FPS. Again gorgeous and absolutely phenomenal performance. So hopefully this gives a decent idea of what is required to take best advantage of this flat out AWESOME Ultra-Wide gaming monitor from Dell. The GTX 1080 is perfectly adequate. The only reason I ordered a 1080ti is due to being notified by EVGA that it was on sell at regular price (I signed up to be notified for when / if) No, the GTX 1080 wont get you 120FPS at Max graphics every game but it regardless is certainly powerful enough to justify this monitor. Also, you can always adjust the settings a bit to get higher FPS. Still I personally wouldn’t go any lower than a GTX 1070 with this monitor. Lastly, the build quality and esthetics of the monitor is a solid 10/10 absolutely top notch and could not be more pleased. I snagged this bad boy up for $999.99 when the price dropped recently (and rather briefly) but honestly had I paid $1500.00 I would still feel like I made out well. Its really that good. *Update Replaced my EVGA GTX 1080 (blower type) with an EVGA GTX FTW3 1080TI. The 1080 I would say was certainly adequate for this monitor but now with the 1080TI it is simply almost unbelievably great. Not only have my temps remained ~ 15-20C lower under 100% sustained load (about 55-60C vs. 70-75) but I’m getting ~ 30-35+ FPS! So instead requiring to adjust the settings down to high / very high I’m now at “Ultra” with higher frame rates to boot :) More impressively however IMO is the lower sustained temperatures which allow gaming at a higher level for MUCH MUCH longer and without the worry you’re going to degrade your equipment = Piece Of Mind! Lastly, BLB (AKA: Back Light Bleed) is there but it is very minimal and relegated to the outer four corners of the monitor. It is a complete “non-issue” yet I’m certain a minority of ultra anal-retentive folk would be “dissapointed” Anyways, flat out amazing monitor. Works wonderful with GTX 1080 and especially so with a GTX 1080TI.

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Primary use: Gaming I am the kind of person to do a TON of research before purchasing anything. I was choosing between this monitor, predator x34 and asus PG348Q. After doing extensive research, i came to this monitor. Cant beat the design and 120mhz refresh rate! 2 clicks and BOOM - overclocked to 120mhz. comes in a YUUUUUUUGE box, so make sure you have it delivered to your house and not your office. Im talking TV sized box. Box came a little roughed up but thats shipping fault. Monitor was fine, tons of THICK foam in the box, you could prob roll it down a mountain and it would be fine (DONT TRY AT HOME). I chose next day shipping, arrived very quickly with signature confirmation. Monitor is fairly heavy, stand is heavier than the monitor! If you do not have a fairly wide and long desk, this monitor will take up majority of your desk. I have the Kargby Ikea desk measuring 74 inches x 25 5/8 inches and with the stand it occupies half the desk. I decided to put this on a high quality desk mount instead to save me some space, there some "heavy duty" desk mounts available for monitors up to 32" and 20 lbs (works for 34" AW3418DW, which ways 16 lbs with no stand). Its a pain in the butt to mount by yourself, would recommend having help, but if youre lonely like me, its very much doable by yourself, just a tad bit harder. Looks perfect on a mount. BOMB DOT COM. Too many people whining on here about Backlight bleed. Thats just the way it is with any monitors that come with this kind of display. Theres always a small chance for backlight bleed, mine came with a very very small amout, not noticeable unless you really go and look for it. STAY AWAY FROM PREOWNED OR OPEN BOX VERSIONS OF THIS MONITOR. MOST LIKELY THEY ARE RETURNS WITH BAD BACKLIGHT BLEED. I use this monitor primarily for gaming, i do not do ANY editing of sort at all. LOVE THIS MONITOR. even when you try to nitpick you CANNOT see any pixels. i upgraded from a BenQ 27" 144mhz refresh rate and i believe this is a very good upgrade. its not upgrading from a 20 inch tv to a 60 inch tv kind of upgrade, but you WILL notice the difference. Colors are rich and vibrant, with gsync on no screen tearing at all. With my GTX 1080 TI, games are EXTRA SMOOTH like cream cheese on a warm bagel. Especially when you bring up games with 21:9 support such as Ghost Recon Wildlands on ultra settings...SWEET BABY JESUS!!!!!! Performance so flawless makes you wanna scream!!! (not advisable especially at night). Sometimes i just like to sit in my chair and stare at my monitor. Backlight RGB LED of monitor is not really too noticeable to be honest and that doesnt bug me. would recommend 10/10. Im trying to "force" my friends to get this monitor as well. Disclaimer: not quite sure how this will perform on lower end graphics cards, GTX 1070 would probably be the minimum in order to get sick fps. well...you CAN use this with lower end graphics cards BUT you wont be able to get the most bang for your buck. i purchased this monitor with my new video card and motherboard. GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!! Last but not least, this is the cheapest price you can get this monitor for. its $979 INCLUDING TAX AND SHIPPING. Other sites my offer lower prices, but when you add in tax BOOM 1k+++. TLDR; read my review up there you wont regret it. butttt if still TLDR - Buy the monitor. Better than all the alernatives. You will find cheaper but with sucky screen panel types like VA and TN (EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!) This is the cadillac of all monitors. If you are complaining about the price, then take your complaining somewhere else and go settle for a B or C rank monitor. Be the envy of all your friends and buy this.

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Product died today, blinking blue light and will not turn on. Apparently, it is a lemon and of course the last day to return it was 6/30/18. Dell will replace it but with a refurbished Monitor. Unfortunate for a monitor that is barely 45 days old. Disappointed. Otherwise, it was a gorgeous monitor. UPDATE 1/13/2019: I called Dell/Alienware in November and they were able to send me a NEW monitor in retail box, no questions asked. Process was seemless, although a pain given the size of the monitor. After using this one for the past couple months it’s been AMAZING!!! The first one was a lemon...which can happen...but Dell took care of me and now a very happy customer. The reason why I would recommend Dell monitors is the replacement program...just hope you never have to use it so soon...1 star to 5 stars. Thanks Dell!!!

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Had ordered this due to the amazing reviews and after having gone through 2 of these, there appears to be a common problem, please beware of the following issues. As with all IPS panels your blacklight bleeds will vary. Both panels that amazon shipped to me had moderate blacklight bleed which I would accept HOWEVER BOTH monitors had 2 very noticable dead pixels, in fact both of them had one directly in the middle of the screen where your crosshairs would be if you were playing a first person shooter. If anyone at Dell did QA and looked at this monitor for half a second they would have sent it back to the assembly line. Either this is a recent issue or most of the reviews on this site dont care about paying top dollar for a premium product that has poor quality. Sending both back to amazon, doubt I will even go for a third at this point.

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I was very excited to get this monitor, as I was coming from a pretty significant upgrade of 2x 24 in 1920x1200 monitors. Overall, the monitor is high quality, a little too gamer-ish in style for me, but I heard great reviews about the quality of it and decided to make the splurge. Unfortunately, due to some issues which I discuss below, one of which in particular being a major issue for me, I decided to return the monitor. Construction - Overall, the monitor appears well constructed and solid. The stand is definite a bit big, although I was prepared for the monitor taking up as much space as it did. Coming from 24 in monitors, this thing is definitely huge; it certainly took some getting used to the size, but it would be hard to go back to smaller monitors after this. Image Quality - Image quality is great. Images and text are clear. I was a little concerned about the curve at first, but I think for a monitor this size it is required. The corners of the screen were clear. However, there is a significant amount of backlight bleed on mine, and I am someone that has never really complained much about backlight bleeding. But, sitting here typing this up my bottom black taskbar has areas that are brighter due to the backlight bleed (and I’m in a well-lit room). Definitely disappointing, although I’m not sure if my panel is unusually bad for the monitor. Gaming - I’m sure most people looking at this monitor are considering at least some gaming. I didn’t game too much on this, as I don’t play nearly as much as I did in my youth, but the little I did do was fantastic. It definitely feels very immersive given the significant width of the monitor. Note, however, that I only ever tried playing DOTA 2 on this monitor. I never got around to playing another game (as I said, I don’t game as much anymore). However, one thing I noticed I had issues with when gaming was that I started getting a headache / nausea. I didn’t think it was related to the monitor at first, but I stumbled across many people online reporting this from ultrawide monitors. I did see one person say that issue went away after a while, but I only played games two or three times with the monitor, so I didn’t experiment enough to see if that would happen with me. Productivity - This is one area I was looking for major improvements on. I work from home as a programmer, so I wanted to explore how an ultrawide monitor would work for that. I found that I really did enjoy having the flexibility of one large canvas that I could divide how I liked depending on what I was doing. If I was working in an IDE that required significant screen space, such as Visual Studio, I would have that take up close to 2/3rds of the screen, while having the remaining 1/3 reserved for a web browser or other application. With web browsing, I typically just split the screen in half with a browser on either side. Overall, I felt this was slightly nicer in most ways than two individual monitors, but maybe not enough to say you should definitely go with an ultrawide monitor. However, there is a bit of ease lost by not being able to just maximize your window. Which option is best for you ultimately comes down to your own workflow and personal preferences. I eventually had one of my old monitors on the side as a second monitor to help with multitasking, although I imagine many people’s desks would not have the space to support that setup. Technical - While there aren’t too many input options, HDMI and DP were all I really needed. I had this monitor connected to a Windows 10 PC and a 2015 MacBook Pro. Switching between systems was relatively pain-free. When I wanted to switch from PC to Mac, I’d put the PC to sleep and could hit any menu button to bring up the input selection, hit up or down to change to the other input, press select and quickly be working on the Mac (it is slightly more difficult to change inputs when the first computer stayed on or awake, but only by a few key presses). I also enjoyed the USB ports in the monitor, as I could connect those to my PC so that I could plug the USB dongle for my wireless keyboard and mouse into the monitor when I was using the PC and quickly switch the dongle over to the Apple laptop when I was switching computers. While not a huge deal, it was a nice quality of life improvement compared to having to bend over and reach for my PC on the floor underneath my desk. There was, however, one major issue; the big deal breaker to me I alluded to at the beginning of this review. For some reason, the monitor sometimes refuses to wake up. My other monitor will wake up, but this one will not. Restarting the computer, turning the monitor off and on, pressing menu buttons, etc. all do nothing. The ONLY way I’ve found to awaken the monitor is to unplug it and plug it back in. This is extremely frustrating, especially when it can happen multiple times each day. To clarify, this doesn’t happen every time the monitor goes into sleep mode due to inactivity, but it happens often enough that it is frustrating to deal with. It is very inconvenient to have to unplug the monitor to get it working again. Overall - A high-quality monitor, with one major caveat; a serious defect with the monitor not waking from sleep. Unfortunately, this issue is annoying enough that I have trouble recommending this monitor to anyone. I’ve since read this happening to other people, although I’m unclear if this issue occurs with all of these monitors or just a select, unlucky few. While I would’ve loved to have had this work for me, this means I am returning it as there is just no way I can put up with something like that for years and years, especially given the price.

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I had a long happy history with Dell products, so when this came on sale, I thought I would go with it. I am a research junkie and read everything about anything I am going to purchase. I do read 1 and 2 star ratings first. The light bleed issue on the left side is real and noticeable. I am not a teen gamer, but a disabled senior citizen, so here is the deal. This thing comes in the largest box I have ever had left at my door. The box inside with the monitor is HUGE. It weighs a ton, I am professor and just figuring out how to get it out of the box is a task. I am a dead pixel freak, so that is what I look for, more than lightbleed. I quickly turned it on ready to repack if there were any. Then I go to put it together. The reviews say it, there is a wing shaped cover for the back of the monitor to hide the input/outputs. It is a cheap $1.00 piece of plastic, that weighs 3 oz. It is the kind of thing that aggravates me. I hate poorly designed things. The warnings were to be gentle. Out of the box they looked a bit damaged. I tried to put it on and many of them immediately broke off. Even tho I hate the lightbleed, I am too old, weak, and tired LOL to repack over that, but Dell basically told me to shove it, they have no way, no interest, of being any assistance in just putting one in an envelope and paying a dollar shipping to satisfy a long time customer. Who is just crazy enough to return and stick them with a now refurbished monitor to sell, over a $2 piece of plastic. Logic, customer service, phone assistance from native English speakers, all remnants of the past.

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I bought this one when it was on sale for $799. Im happy with it, but there at least one very, very serious issue with it. 1) Prior to this, I had (still have) an Asus P278Q. The Asus is a perfect monitor. After 4 years or so of use, its still in perfect condition and runs without any problem. 2) Why I bought the Alienware: - I wanted a widescreen. I had no intention of buying 2 screens, let alone having a system with 2 graphics cards -- especially in those days of Nvidia playing a really dodgy game with RRPs for gaming cards. - I wanted G-Sync... because I read its great, and I have a Nvidia GPU. - I wanted higher definition -- but wasnt (still not) interested in 4K. - The price was attractive. I didnt really care that it was on sale. However, $799 is a really attractive price for a widescreen 32 inches GSync monitor, coming with Dells warranty. 3) Did it meet my buying expectations? - Widescreen use. It looks great but to be honest, the screen size is still too small. Now, I used to play 1080p on a 55inches Plasma TV (works great by the way), 1080p on a 250 inches Mitsubishi projector (thats when I was living by myself, LOL -- this is the best experience ever), 2K or thereabouts on the Asus. So while widescreen is really cool -- especially for RPGs like Fallout and FPS like BfV and PUBG -- 32 inches in widescreen is actually small. - G-Sync... is a bunch of BS. Apologies, but honestly, I dont see any difference. There probably is one, but it is so lightly noticeable, that I really dont care. - Higher definition: lets be honest here, Im playing on a 980 GTX. Okay, thats a bit old, and I cant play 4K or max res on it. Im fine with that, for the moment. Point is, if you want to make the best use of a machine like the Alienware, have at least a 1080 GTX otherwise keep your 2K / 1080p monitor, you wont miss much. - Price is attractive, Im happy with the purchase, though I know the monitor wont be worth much in a year or so. 4) My installation. - I hold the monitor on a 70 inches stand. Because the monitor is heavy, Im using a piece of styrofoam to hold the bottom of it so itll stay at an angle Im happy with during gaming. 5) The problems. Many problems have been reported for this monitor, theyre pretty much always the same, and theyre apparently typical of Dell monitors. However, Im personally upset Dell isnt putting a little more support into developing proper drivers with Nvidia for it to make it work as it should -- ie perfectly. My Asus cost me $500 at the time of purchase, and it never let me down. The Alienware has let me down from Day 1, and Ive had to search the web for long hours to solve / understand the problems. - The BIGGEST PROBLEM: Power Saving Mode. Even if you deactivate it, this switches on all too often. Now, Ive had that problem when using DP (necessary if you want to use 100hz by the way), not with HDMI. For some games, this is killer: the most recent one I purchased (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice) has almost killed the entire computer. It crashed so many times, that I decided for the time being to use HDMI only. This problem is a recurrent one with Dell monitors apparently, for a great amount of years. It has never happened to me when I used the Asus (both in HDMI or DP modes). This is a shame that Dell isnt supporting this with proper driver development -- and shows how much Dell actually cares about gaming and gamers in general (apart from our cash). - Whitening on the corners of the monitor. A lot of people report this -- I do have a little bit of whitening in the corners. But frankly, this is really not a problem and, in my case, doesnt discolor anything during gaming. My only concern is: does it mean the monitors shelf life wont be long? No idea. - The besel. There is no besel so to speak. The problem here is that you can actually see some backlight around the edges of the monitor because the screen isnt properly fixed on the backplate. For the price, even at $799, this is really poor quality construction and control. Shame. - Finger prints: this monitor leaves fingers prints all-the-time! This is crazy. And theyre so visible that you have to clean them asap. Theres an upper screen on top of the actual screen: this upper screen minimizes daylight reflection, but it gets dirty very easily. - I/O access. The power input in particular is hard of access -- I understand why its done like this -- ie Dell must be using a standard or slightly modified motherboard made by some OEM in Taiwan or South Korea -- but this is a real pain at times. - The lights fx around the monitor are useless. Ive actually deactivated the whole thing after a few months. - The onscreen menu... will never switch on when the monitor is on Power Saving Mode. So imagine the frustration when you want to change some importants settings from the onscreen menu. 6) Overall Satisfaction. Day 1: 30% happy with the purchase because of the confusing onscreen menu and the Power Saving Mode problem. Day 30: 70% happy with the purchase. I corrected the power saving mode for most applications / games. It does bring a superior gaming experience compared to the Asus, but it isnt that much more better. Day 120: 65% happy with the purchase. That would probably be superior if I was wishing to spend $1300 on a new motherboard / CPU / RAM / GPU combo, with a 2080/2070 RTX at its core. Most of the dissatisfaction I have with the monitor is that: 1) Dell isnt Asus when it comes to gaming products. Asus is vastly superior in quality construction, control and applications (drivers and product application eg OC). 2) Im concerned about the shelf life of the product given its poor quality construction. This is no surprise that Dell have discounted this item for about 50% of its original RRP so quickly after its original market launch. If you absolutely want a WS 32 inches Gsync (Gsync fwiw?) experience and your budget is limited ($799 is high, $1299 is stupid), then this is a good monitor. However, you have to have the proper installation to justify the purchase, dont be like me and make the purchase of an improved GPU an afterthought or youll regret it.

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