18 Area-51 AA18250, spacebar not lighting up but supposed to!

This is the first post on our Forum discussing this complaint so not a "widespread hardware defect". Also there are no Dell internal articles discussing this. Perhaps you can provide links where other 18 Area-51 AA18250 have the same issue.

Many YouTube units are not even aware that their spacebar lights up. I’ve asked multiple people if their spacebar lights up, and they’ve all said no. I’ve had two additional units, and it’s hit or miss. Sometimes, you get one that works, and sometimes you don’t. This would help detect a bigger issue. 

I’m currently working with the Dell Advanced Resolution Center to address several issues with my system, and for a device at this price point, it’s reasonable to expect flawless quality. Unfortunately, Alienware’s quality control has declined significantly, and the number of defects I’ve encountered reflects that. If this trend continues, I will have no choice but to step away from the Dell product line entirely. I’m not alone in raising concerns—many customers are reporting similar quality and manufacturing issues, and it’s becoming a consistent pattern that need addressing from multiple replacements with failures 

I've spoken to my AW rep who is heavily involved with current system/support issues and also the guy who runs the Subreddit page and neither have come across this spacebar issue before. I'd be interested to see/hear from others who have had the same issue so I can discuss it with the people I know. 

It does not seem to be a widespread production fault at this stage but maybe users are not reporting it through the proper support channels. 

The issue is that when the keyboard lighting fails in AWCC, the affected zone just appears dark with no warning or indication that it’s supposed to be illuminated. I only realized something was wrong because I personally watched the zone die while adjusting the lighting in AWCC. Even some YouTubers I spoke with didn’t know the spacebar was supposed to light up cause it never lit up from out of the box, so without witnessing the failure firsthand, there’s no way to tell from the software alone.

Ahh ok, so the key in AWCC shows dark even if you try to assign a colour to it?

I'm currently discussing it with some AW people so the more information, the better. 

Yes exactly it stays dark with no way to change it I’m going to be sending in my laptop to the repair depot for them to swap out the Top Case/Keyboard 

@DarkAliens​ Is it dark on the screen in AWCC or just dark on the actual keyboard?

If you change the zone to red does it show it as red on your screen but not the keyboard or is it dark in AWCC and the keyboard?

Wow, this is a blindside to me as I never knew it was supposed to light up.  Mine never has and has always shown dark in AWCC since day one.

So in the lighting zone it’s completely dark for the spacebar it doesn’t allow you click it when it goes out in AWCC furthermore in Bios or Booting Up it doesn’t light up either so it’s definitely a hardware issue 

Yes some units work and some do not it’s QC issue but I am addressing it cause it needs to be fixed I have multiple photos showing it lights up before it went out 

@DarkAliens​, my AWCC spacebar is completely dark and can't be selected or clicked.  I honestly thought it was supposed to be like that since my old Alienware M17 R3 is the same way with no lighted space bar.  I had to go browse the web for more picks of it lite up like your one pic lol. 

Thanks, I'll pass all of this on. 

If people are assuming that it's not a selectable zone then they may not realise there's a problem and it's not being reported. 

The fact that so many people don’t even realize the spacebar on the Alienware Area‑51 18 is supposed to light up shows how widespread this defect really is. Even Dell’s own promotional material shows units where the spacebar isn’t illuminated, while others clearly are. That inconsistency points to a deeper production issue, not user error. My unit lit up perfectly when it was new, and I have photos proving it — and now the LED is completely dead and no longer shows up in Alienware Command Center nor gives an error or indication that there is a problem. It’s extremely concerning that this failure is happening across multiple units, and Dell and Alienware need to investigate and ensure consistent, reliable lighting on every keyboard going forward.

@DarkAliens​ I've shown my AW people the posts here so they will look into it. I'd be surprised if it was a hardware issue that only affected the spacebar LED but it's definitely possible. It could still be software related (a Windows reinstall could rule that out) or BIOS/Firmware. 

I will update if I hear anything.