Radio Control Batmobile
Alienware M17x
When you call some thing ‘the most powerful laptop computer in the universe,’ you’ve a lot to reside up to. And Dell’s flagship gaming program, the Alienware M17x ($4,649 as configured), mostly lives up to those claims. This anodized aluminum beast is loaded using the fastest hardware you are able to put inside a notebook these days, such as two of Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 280M graphics cards and a 2.53-GHz Intel Core 2 Intense Quad QX9300 CPU. It’s a semi-truck of a computer, and it’ll shred the latest 3D titles like a diamond-toothed chainsaw via a zombie skull, but is it really worth nearly 5 grand’
Design
Measuring 16.0 x 12.6 x 2.1 inches and beginning at 11.6 kilos (depending in your configuration), the M17x will be the kind of notebook that demands a hernia belt just to lift off a desk. But that just means there’s more to adore. With a case made of anodized aluminum, this notebook looks and feels as difficult because the Batmobile. Two speakers on the front with the computer have a sports automobile look, and each includes a honeycomb grill that reminds us of the body armor in Crysis.
Our program had a matte Room Black finish, but it’s also available in Lunar Silver and Nebular Red. There aren’t any visible screws anyplace but on the customized title plate, which resides on the underbelly with the beast. Like a personal rave, Alienware managed to cram customizable lights in several locations, including the Alienware logo beneath the 17-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution display, along the touchpad, beneath the keyboard, around the Alienware head-shaped power button, as well as on the back again with the lid.
Our biggest beef with the M17x’s industrial style is its lid. It feels like the hinge isn’t strong sufficient to last via thousands of openings and closings. Whenever you flick it lightly, the lid bounces back and forth a bit’a testament to its weight. We would have preferred a much sturdier hinge that stretched the breadth with the computer’s underside to make certain lifelong sturdiness.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The M17x’s keyboard is huge and strong. The keys don’t have any flex to them, so it’s as if you’re typing on the legitimate desktop keyboard. As with Alienware’s previous desktop replacement methods, there’s a complete quantity pad, as well, which means you are able to store all of your macros in video games like World of Warcraft. As talked about over, you can tweak the keyboard’s backlight colors, and Alienware even enables you to alter the keyboard by region. So, for example, you are able to have the far left of your keyboard glow blue, the middle-left glow red, the middle-right glow orange, and also the far right glow green. It’s a really awesome snow-cone-looking effect, but 1 numerous will most likely pass up for fear of generating their keyboard look like a clown’s wig.
Over the keyboard are soft-touch buttons for ejecting Blu-ray discs, full media controls for skip and play/pause, volume controls, a wireless launch button, and quick-launch buttons for the system’s AlienFusion control panel (1 for controlling lights and another for its power-tweaking Stealth Mode).
The touchpad on the M17x is large and flush with the wrist relaxation, except to get a small glowing border; its honeycomb texture allows for swift finger glides across the surface. The two touchpad buttons provided good feedback, but if you’re playing a first person shooter you’ll wish to resort to a complete gaming mouse for faster button presses.
Ports and Webcam
The M17x has an assortment of ports, but some are awkwardly positioned. Around the left aspect of the unit are: HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, two USB two.0, eSATA, DisplayPort, FireWire, along with a Kensington lock slot. The right aspect has two extra USB two.0 ports, an 8-in-1 memory card reader, and an ExpressCard/54 slot. The mic, line-in, and line-out jacks are placed around the back right side, which indicates that you’ll have to run your headphones across the computer; we prefer these to become around the front with the chassis. The charging port is conveniently positioned on the back with the M17x.
The webcam was satisfactory for video chatting throughout our Skype tests, but we discovered the colors to be a little oversaturated, and had been informed that our face could be a little brighter. There was a bit of motion blur throughout fast movements, like when we waved our fingers around, but the quality was great general.
Display and Speakers
The M17x includes a large 17-inch show with a flushed glass plate that covers the entire surface. It sports a crisp, 1920 x 1200 high-definition resolution for each a killer film watching and gaming experience. The high-gloss end resulted in a honest amount of glare, so you’ll wish to maintain off on playing games or viewing films till you dim the lights.
The speakers around the M17x were a few of the best we’ve heard on the notebook. They had been loud and crisp, allowing us to clearly listen to our commander’s voice belting out commands in Call of Duty: World at War, along with the click-clacking of footsteps about us. They’re also loud enough to fill a small room with music. When we streamed the New Country station from Slacker Radio, the audio didn’t distort at higher volumes, and also the guitars in Kenny Chesney’s ‘I’m Alive’ sounded in balance with his voice.
We watched an episode of Heroes on the M17x and discovered that the playback was extremely great in the display’s complete 1200p resolution. We did notice, however, that the Blu-ray looked a little grainy, and there were a few hints of artifacts when we looked carefully at the edges of the home in opposition to a blue sky. Sitting back again in our chair, although, these were barely apparent; an action scene of two with the primary characters operating from a police officer played back easily, voices stayed in sync, the audio was clear of any popping, and we didn’t experience any frame stuttering.
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