Alienware M17X Review
With a completely new look and some of the high-end technology in a laptop, we are half-surprised that Alienware M17x the name for its newest 17-inch laptop has held (even if it loses the X-Files-like “Area -51″ moniker).
We are pleased with the advanced design of the new M17x, which is removed with some of the dorm-like qualities of previous Alienware systems, what a (slightly) more sophisticated-looking package. The slightly goofy is custom lighting, and automotive-inspired front-end grille and edge to edge glass on display offset.
With an Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300, two Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M GPU and 1 GB of hard disk, which is about as powerful as laptops received without the actual filling desktop parts in a single chassis. We often have less expensive gaming laptops like the Asus W90 or gateway P7809G better deal for your money. But if you want the best and are willing to pay for it, several G’s fall on the new Alienware M17x make you the coolest geek on the block.
Design
We always get down on Alienware for his dorm room chic design sensibilities, which seem to be more interested in adolescent science fiction fantasies than anything, what would someone who could drop the fact that seven grand on a laptop on the M17x made a few steps in the right direction, de-emphasizing the iconic brand glowing alien head design and offers a smart matte black finish.
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This new version sets the march toward modern, minimalist design with fewer unwanted frills place on the keyboard and a smooth edge to edge glass on display. The front edge is also getting an overhaul, with an angled automotive-inspired grille to keep the general appearance, because it helps to slab-like. The anodized aluminum enclosure feels heavy and substantial, but also means that it is the recording (to carry around unless you want to almost 7kg of computer equipment) on too many trips outside the home.
Alienware Fusion FX lighting and control settings back – even more than ever before over the top. Now you can color for the backlight of the keyboard in four separate zones, ie you can make a rainbow-like design to create the keys. The same software package also provides a fairly comprehensive power control suite, which offers more detailed options than the basic settings of Windows Vista performance, and security checks, including face recognition login software.
The UP trackpad has a very fine structure, so that your fingers can more easily determine if it was actually on the touchpad (even if most players in an external mouse connector).
The keyboard has a traditional tapered key design instead of the wide, flat keys many laptop manufacturers these days have a preference for. Alienware says that for the core gamer audience, the traditional buttons provide more space between each letter to make the better first-person shooter makes heavy use of the WASD keys. There is also a strip of touch sensitive controls above the keyboard (also with an adjustable backlight color), but their answer was a little slow for us, and it was a bewildering lack of confirmation on the screen for some of the commands.
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Features
The 17.1-inch widescreen LCD display offers a native 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, which we expect from a high-end 17-inch laptop (less expensive desktop replacement is 1,440 x 900 display) is. The display looks fresh and bright, and edge to edge glass inserts feel seamless, but is subject to glare from light sources. We would not mind seeing Alienware embrace the trend toward 16:9 displays.
There is lack of ports and connections here, including a rarely-seen mini-FireWire port and three separate video output options and a DisplayPort. Multiple audio outs can mean you easily connect a number of major PC speakers, which is a plus for high-intensity gaming.
Performance and battery life
The specifications for the system are somewhat less impressive, with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card, 4 GB of RAM, a 500GB 7200 RPM hard drive, a DVD burner and a lower resolution 1.440 x 900 monitor.
In contrast, we had a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300, along with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM and dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M graphics card, the M17x moves to the top of our list of laptop performance. One laptop we recently reviewed a desktop PC 3.33 GHz Intel Core i7-975 Extreme quad-core processor used, and was technically faster, but go for desktop parts in a laptop chassis is a completely different animal. The quad-core Extreme Edition CPU helped in our multitasking tests, but the real difference between this and the non-Extreme Core 2 Quad Q9000, which is in other high-end desktop replacement is not enough to call it a “must-have” upgrade.
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The real star here is the SLI configuration of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M. Working with two of these powerful graphics processors, we have 168 pictures per second at 1,920 x 1,200 in Unreal Tournament 3, so that our gaming laptop performance leader by far. Anecdotally, we fired F.E.A.R. 2 at 1,920 x 1,200 and put most of the graphics options to medium or high for a smooth, memorable experience. Of course, with very few high-profile PC games currently in development, it can not be that many titles that can make this kind of high-end treatment (an exception is Bioware Dragon Age: Origins, one of the few games coming Buzzworthy that is developed for the PC and consoles ported rather than vice versa).
Nvidia GeForce GPUs and the CUDA technology company that GPUs provide additional computing power for certain non-gaming tasks like video rendering possible. Remember, you need CUDA-compatible software such as CyberLink PowerDirector to use 7.
The Alienware M17x ran for 1 hour 15 minutes on our video playback battery drain test – not that we expected much more from a huge desktop replacement. It is also one of the power-hungry laptops we’ve tested, so be sure to turn it off or put it to sleep when not in use.
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