ALIENWARE AREA-51 M5790 REVIEW

ALIENWARE AREA-51 M5790 REVIEW

Desktop Replacement Notebook from Alienware, this one is an economical option for a Gaming notebook, and is at an initial price of $1,200.

Design
The notebook has been given a deep glossy look, and a shiny silvery finish. There is the Alienware logo along with the alien head on the top, which glows blue when the laptop is on. They keyboard is a nice full size, a must for every gamer out there. There are additional keys above the keyboard which have various functions like the Power ON. The screen is a WUXGA, 17” and it offers great color reproduction and quality. Presenting a vibrant and clean feel, it can support a maximum resolution of 1920x1200. The screen has a great viewing angle and absolutely no problem was faced while viewing it from different locations. The adapter port and one USB port reside on the left and Firewire , 3 USB and Ethernet port on right. A DVI port has also been provided at the back of the laptop, which has an advantage over the traditional VGA.

Performance
The laptop has an Intel Core-2-Duo T5600 processor, 1GB RAM and 256MB ATI Radeon Mobile x1800. The laptop performs well and you can carry out a fair amount of tasks simultaneously, without any lag or slowdown. It scored a 4,411 in PCMark 05 and 2,625 in 3DMark 06, which is an average score for a gaming notebook. The notebook could play latest games at medium settings easily, but faltered at higher settings. The sound system of the notebook deserves a special mention, because the speakers of very good quality and it also includes a sub-woofer at the bottom as well. The sound-card was a bit of a setback though, and I had a feeling, that the speakers could perform better had the card been better. The battery is a plain-jane, with lasting around 1 hr and 30 mins.

Conclusion
The performance is good but there is definite scope for improving it. The price is a definite plus for a notebook as powerful as this, and the features and configuration is justified by the price tag.

Pros
+ Good design
+ Good performance-price ratio
+ Superb screen viewing angle

Cons
- Poor battery life
- Sound card limits the speaker power.

 

ALIENWARE M17X REVIEW

 ALIENWARE M17X REVIEW
Alienware claims that its m17x is the fastest gaming notebook on the market. This monster is built mostly of aluminum and comes with a customizable lighting system.

Specifications of the laptop under review
Display: 17-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) edge-to-edge display
Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 (2.53GHz/12MB/1066MHz) quad-core processor (overclockable)
Graphics: Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M 1GB graphics cards in SLI/integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M 256MB graphics card
Memory: 8GB DDR3-1333 RAM (2x 4GB)
Storage: 1TB RAID 0 (500GB 7200RPM x2) hard drive array
The base configuration can be bought for a modest $1,799. A fully decked up machine, on the other hand, will cost a lofty $4,649.

Build and Design
The Alienware M17x has a ‘stealth’ design. In looks and feel this machine is quite unique. It is constructed of high-quality aluminum so build quality is good. The M17x is available in 3 colors – Black, silver and red. While the aluminum offers good build quality, it isn’t without its share of disadvantages. All the metal used in the construction adds up to over 13 pounds. The m17x is actually one of the heaviest notebooks in the market.

A distinct feature of this notebook is its fully customizable LED lighting system called AlienFX which allows users to create lighting themes to suit every occasion. Another design element that needs to be mentioned is the screw-less design of this notebook – there are no visible screws on M17x.

Screen and Speakers
The edge to edge display is covered by a large piece of glass. The M17x is available in two resolutions - WXGA+ (1440x900) and WUXGA (1920x1200). The display has an aspect ratio of 16: 10.

The display is OK. It has dual lighting lamps, but it isn’t particularly bright or vivid. Horizontal viewing angles are good; vertical viewing angles are average. The backlighting isn’t very even because some areas appear brighter than others.
There are two full-range speakers beneath the palm rest. The speakers produce very good quality audio. The m17x comes with several audio output options including two headphone jacks, HDMI, and surround sound out.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The backlit keyboard is full-sized. It comes with a dedicated number pad. The keyboard is comfortable to use. The touchpad has a textured matte finish. It can be used with both dry and damp fingers. The touchpad is automatically switched off when you plug in an external mouse.

Ports and Features
There are two video output options. With HDMI you can connect to external HDTVs and with Display Port you can connect to monitors that support that feature.

Other features include VGA, Ethernet, 4x USB, e-SATA, IEEE 1394 mini Firewire, ExpressCard/54 slot, memory card reader, slot-loading Blu-ray drive, headphone, surround sound center speakers, surround sound rear speakers and microphone.
M17x runs on the Windows Vista 64-bit operating system. Alienware also offers free Windows 7 upgrade coupons.

Heat and Noise
A good cooling system is extremely essential for a gaming notebook. Alienware has done a good job in this regard. The heat and noise levels remain well within normal limits.

Battery
The M17x has a Stealth Mode feature which turns off the high performance GTX 280M GPU and turns on the integrated GeForce 9400M graphics card. At a little above 2 hours, the battery life is good for a gaming notebook of this size and capacity.

Conclusion
The M17x is an extremely good gaming notebook. It has a cool lighting system which enhances the gaming flavor of this notebook. Performance is good. The only downside of this notebook is its display which is subpar.

Pros:
Good build quality and design
Snappy gaming performance
Customizable AlienFX lighting system
Good cooling system

Cons:
Not-so-great screen
Pricey

M17 17 Notebook - Customizable

 

Description

Alienware M17 17-inch Extreme Gaming Notebook Computer to meet extreme gaming needs. The base model features 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile P8400, 2GB DDR2 memory, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 video card, a large 160GB SATA hard drive, 8x Dual Layer Burner drive, and a large 17-inch 1400 x 900 widescreen glossy LCD screen.


Technical Specifications

2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile P8400, 2GB DDR3, 160GB, DVD±RW DL, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, 17" LCD - MPN: PCLTM17

Alienware Aurora m9700

 Alienware Aurora m9700

Today we bring you an in-depth review of the mighty Alienware Aurora m9700. Featuring extreme gaming performance and a price tag to match, we'll see just how badass it is, and what you can expect from a laptop of this caliber.

+ Pros
Nice LCD for gaming
SLI graphics and 1GB of total graphics memory
Fancy design and color
Great for desktop replacement

-Cons
PRICE
No dual core CPU option
Poor battery life

Technical Specifications


The Alienware Aurora m9700 is configured with AMD's Turion 64 ML-44 mobile processor, and is clocked at 2.4GHz with 1MB L2 cache. This processor has a TDP (Thermal Design Power, or maximum thermal output) of 35W and is a 90nm 'Lancaster' core CPU. It is Socket 754 based. One wonders though why at this price, a dual core CPU is not offered.

The m9700 sports NVidia's Mobile SLI chipset, and is equipped with not one, but two 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900GS PCI-E graphics cards running in SLI mode for a total of 1GB of video memory. Built on a 90nm process with 24 pixel pipelines and 8 vertex pipelines, and core clock and memory speeds at 375MHz and 500MHz respectively, the GeForce Go 7900GS SLI is in the top tier of notebook video cards. You can expect a really kick ass gaming experience, which I will elaborate on later in the review.

On the memory front, the m9700 is outfitted with 2GB dual-channel DDR-400. Configurations start at 512MB and max out at 2GB.

Our m9700 came with 200GB of hard drive space in the form of 100GB x 2 Serial ATA 1.5GB/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache in RAID-0. Hard drive performance seemed to be average, and despite having two drives, they were inaudible. Alienware has a number of different hard drive configurations possible for every type of user. For users that want a single hard drive (no RAID), Alienware offers:
4200 RPM - 200GB SATA
5400 RPM - Up to 250GB SATA with NCQ
7200 RPM - Up to 200GB SATA with NCQ

For someone who wants maximum capacity, there are dual hard drives in RAID 0:
4200 RPM - 400GB SATA (2 X 200GB)
5400 RPM - Up to 500GB (2 x 250GB)
7200 RPM - Up to 400GB (2 X 200GB)

In case you skimmed that last batch of bullets quickly, that's a maximum of 500GB in the Aurora m9700. Holy $#@%!

For users who want data backup features and a more warm and cuddly feeling that their data isn't going anywhere, Alienware offers dual hard drives in RAID-1 as well:
4200 RPM - 200GB SATA (2 X 200GB)
5400 RPM - Up to 250GB (2 x 250GB)
7200 RPM - Up to 200GB (2 X 200GB)

The m9700 is equipped with an HD Audio processor which provides pretty good sound for a laptop. There are two speakers mounted on the front of the laptop base, and a subwoofer mounted in the bottom. I didn't notice a booming bass experience with this sub, but I didn't really expect to, so I won't deduct major points there.

Alienware includes a nice integrated TV tuner in the Aurora m9700. The TV tuner worked very well with Windows XP Media Center Edition, and I was up and running with my local cable channels within minutes. Recorded and live TV quality looked great and the included full size remote worked flawlessly.

I have to take this time to say that I really dug Alienware's completely barren desktop. Not many OEMs get this, but it's very gratifying when you come across one that does. To have 38,000 icons for AOL, dial up and trial movie services, and other useless crap on your desktop BEFORE you even use it is annoying as hell. Alienware put only one icon on the desktop, and that was a shortcut to an XML file that listed every driver and piece of software that was installed on the laptop, as well as the associated benchmark scores as reported by Alienware's technicians. I thought this a really cool thing to do. Alienware also has a feature called AlienGUIse, which is basically a rebranded Window Blinds-esque program that allows you to change your XP theme to one of the few alien-related selections. I tried it out briefly but actually liked the way the original theme was, so that's the way it stayed for the duration of my testing.

Alienware Area-51 m9750

 Alienware Area-51 m9750

Today we bring you a review of our second Alienware gaming laptop, the Area-51 m9750. It should be fun seeing how Alienware managed to improve on the m9700 I tested back in June. You know it's going to be badass, so let's see if it's 'Darth Vader badass', or more like 'Anakin Skywalker in Episode III badass'.


+ Pros
Nice LCD for gaming
Fast SLI graphics with 1GB of total memory make for a killer gaming system
Great for desktop replacement
Scratch- and fingerprint-resistant


- Cons
Price
Runs hot
Touchpad was slow and clunky


Technical Specifications


The m9750 sports an Intel 945PM + ICH7M-DH chipset, and is equipped with not one, but two 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950GTX PCI-E graphics cards running in SLI mode for a total of 1GB of video memory. Built on a 90nm process with 24 pixel pipelines and 8 vertex pipelines per GPU, and core clock and memory speeds at 575MHz and 700MHz respectively, it does not get any better than GeForce Go 7950GTX SLI. You can expect amazing gaming experience, which I will elaborate on later in the review.

On the memory front, our m9750 was outfitted with 2GB dual-channel DDR2 at 667MHz, with 5-5-5-15 timings. Configurations start at 1GB and max out at 4GB.

Our m9750 came with 320GB of hard drive space in the form of two Seagate Momentus 160GB Serial ATA 3.0GB/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache in RAID-0. Hard drive performance seemed to be average, and not tremendously faster due to the theoretical speed boost from the RAID array. That said, these two drives were near-silent under normal operation. Alienware has a number of different hard drive configurations possible for every type of user. For users that want a single hard drive (no RAID), Alienware offers:
5400 RPM - Up to 250GB SATA with NCQ
7200 RPM - Up to 200GB SATA with NCQ

For someone who wants maximum capacity, there are dual hard drives in RAID 0:
5400 RPM - Up to 500GB (2 x 250GB)
7200 RPM - Up to 400GB (2 X 200GB)

So there's a maximum of 500GB you can toss in this sucker that's damn sweet!

The m9750 is equipped with a Realtek HD Audio processor which provides pretty good sound for a laptop. There are two speakers mounted on the front of the laptop base, and a subwoofer mounted in the bottom. I didn't notice any great bass improvement with this sub, but I didn't really expect to, seeing as the m9700 was the same way.

Not really a 'technical specification', but I feel it's worth mentioning- the default desktop. As with the Aurora m9700 before it, I was impressed with Alienware's completely barren desktop. It's really annoying to get a new system and have it all cluttered up with icons that you probably won't use anyway, like 81 different dial-up offers.

ALIENWARE RELEASES M15X GAMING LAPTOP

 ALIENWARE RELEASES M15X GAMING LAPTOP

Alienware has introduced its M15x 15-inch gaming laptop. The company claims that it is the fastest 15-inch gaming machine out there. The M15x is powered by an Intel Core i7 processor with GTX 260M GPU. It supports up to 8GB of RAM.

Specifications
The Alienware m15x comes with the following specifications:

Processor: Up to Intel Core i7 920XM (2.0GHz, 8MB cache)
Display: 15.6-inch LED display with a standard resolution of 1600x900 (1920x1080 optional)
Graphics: 512MB GeForce GT 240M standard, 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M optional
RAM: Up to 8GB DDR3-1333
Storage: Up to 500GB 7200RPM or 256GB Solid State Drive

Ports and features

There are 3 USB 2.0 ports (one of them a USB/eSATA combo port), slot loading optical drive, integrated Ethernet RJ-45, VGA, DisplayPort, 8-in-1 media card reader, ExpressCard Slot, audio in and microphone jack. Optional features include Blu-ray drive. The M15x is not a lightweight machine. It weighs over 9lbs with its 6-cell battery.

Pricing & Availability
The M15x is now available for purchase. Prices start at $1,499. It is available in three colors – Cosmic Black, Lunar Shadow and Nebula Red.