craig5320

Alienware M17x Review
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Alienware was formed in 1996 and in the first 10-years of their existence the company created a name for themselves in the enthusiast market. It did not matter if a consumer was looking for a high performance desktop, notebook or HTPC system because Alienware had something capable to offer. When combined with futuristic and distinctive styling they have always appealed to discerning users.

Back in 2006 there was a significant change behind the scenes at Alienware when they became part of the Dell Corporation. For the first 3-years of the changeover the products released by the two divisions continued under the existing branding with Dell continuing to use XPS for their high end enthusiast products.

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Bolletje

Very nice review. I don't have read the whole review, because it's very long. :P

I think I will begin reading it in the evening

Still, al little bit too expensive for me :P

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Chaos

nice laptop but out of my price range for sure

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HyperionX

Nice review, very informational. However there's no comments on its speakers?

BlueMak

I wouldn't ever buy one, even if I could afford it.
Good review.

It looks very nice and the temps are great.

The price for the model though is a complete joke as usual.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

kris23

exppeeeeeeeenseeeb!!!!

but thats quite a bit of engineering going into the setup.... i like it

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Veridian3

A complete oversight on my part, apologies for that.

The speakers on the M17x were decent. They will suit most people for the usual tasks of gaming, music, ,movies etc but as with all "portable" systems they dont have the quality, or higher available volume, of a decent desktop setup. So anyone who is very picky about their audio quality would want to consider something like the razer mako (see below).

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews.php?reviewid=647

HyperionX

Ah thank you very much for getting back to me on the speakers.

That's pretty much acceptable in my opinion. Even if I was to do anything serious on it of course external speakers would be used

I'm sorry to bug you with one more thing. Was the slot loading drive noisy? That also wasn't mentioned although I suppose it cannot be that loud, but I recall the initial new Dell XPS 1330/1530 had extremely loud slot in drives.

Veridian3

There were no probs with the drive on either sample I used (BD on the 1st, DVDRW on the second).

raccoon.i

Great review. Very thorough. Much appreciated.


Just some questions if I may:

1. How quiet is the machine when using the 9400 GPU?
2. What is the make/model of the SSD drives? (I can't seem to find this information anywhere).
3. You mention the machine runs cool enough to rest in your lap (at least when using the 9400 GPU) so long as ones "legs are positioned to allow air into the bottom vents". Probably a dumb question, but how is air allowed into the bottom vents when resting on a desk?
4. How much of a difference do the reinfored WASD keys make? I'm left-handed (i.e. use the mouse with my left had predominantly) and wouldn't really benefit from this feature.
5. Is a matte display an option (or are there plans to provide this as an option in the near future) that you're aware of? I fear the glossy display will make using this during the day in my apartment with its floor-to-ceiling windows will be problematic. Mind you, most laptops these days pose a similar problem but you'd think a company like Alienware would at least give one the option.
6. Does the non 16:9 display pose any issues when playing digital media such as DVDs and/or BluRay?

Thanks in advance.

Veridian3

1) Almost silent under normal use, word, internet etc
2) Not sure, will see if I can find out...chances are it will vary from order to order as they get different deals on stock.
3) There are raised feet on the bottom of the system. when on the desk it creates a small area for air to move underneath.
4) That area of the board is slightly more sturdy but I would expect the rest of the keyboard to last many years anyway. Its just a "nice to have" feature really.
5) There are no plans to change the screen configuration from that offered on their site today (as far as we know).
6) Nope, games and HD content look lovely on the M17x screen.

Falstaff

I can afford it and wont buy one, I am not convinced...but good review as always. DH saves me money yet again.

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Phenixas

now m17x available with dual 1gb ati mobility radeon hd4870 in crossfire,anybody knows how system performs with ati hardware, is it better than nvidia gtx280m ?

BlueMak

I suspect that the single 4870 will not perform as good as the gtx280 and the crossfire it depends on the game. So, while in crossfire the 4870 should perform faster, but in single card mode, not .

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Phenixas

but which combination of GPU is best performing? gtx280m in sli or hd4870 in cf?

BlueMak

I am still avoiding Nvidia products for a while (I have my reasons) and I really like how my ATI cards have and continue to perform, so I would go with the 4870CF even if the performance was lower by a relatively small percentage. My guess is 280 in sli have a good chance of out performing the 4870s, but I am not sure on that.

If you want a definite answer and can't wait for the DX11 cards to arrive, then from the two I would go for the Radeon cards. But that's just me.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

JDOGITY

Wow this looks like one sweet computer, even if it is a little expensive. Check that, REALLY expensive. Duel high end graphics cards. Would be better if it had an i7 processor.