Intro
I previously had an m1710 which I purchased through ebay with a 3 year complete care warranty. My beloved m1710 was in an accident and was replaced with the odd looking m1730. 1 year after having this hideous, yet powerful machine, the 8800GTX decided to get burnt out.
I contacted Dell hoping to get a graphics card replacement but they offered me this gem instead. I have seen this beautiful machine on the Alienware website previously and always thought about selling my m1730 and getting the m17x, but as luck would have it, it wouldn't be necessary.
Specs:
1 224-5967 Black Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-7711 Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
1 317-0819 Intel Core2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 320-1000 1GB Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M - SLI Enabled (NB10E-GT1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-5063 Standard Nameplate
1 330-5414 Windows 7 Home Premium UpgradeCoupon, W0, ENG,SPN,FRE,GER JPN
1 341-0011 250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
1 410-0173 ADOBE ACROBAT READER - Eng
1 420-3251 Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0381 RSS Feeds,AW
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0415 Mouse Pointers,STANDARD
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO
What's in the Box:
Open the box was truley a treat. For those who haven't had the pleasure of owning an Alienware, getting the big black box is a fantastic start to your up and coming 'obsessive' adventures with your computer. Opening the box I found a very durable and solid mouse pad with the Alienware logo, an Alienware Baseball cap, a very nicely bound Owner's Manual, the laptop charger, and an Alienware Sticker. All very nice I must say.
Design
What do you think of the aesthetics of the notebook?
Screen:
No dead pixels. I was very worried when opening the computer that I would have one, and I was very lucky not to. The screen itself is amazing. The edge to edge display is genius and I had always wished that my old laptops had this type of screen. Though some people find the 'auto dim' feature annoying, you start to not notice it after a few hours of use. The screen itself displays rich colors with no lack of brightness. Though there is some light leackage at the bottoms of the screen, this seems to be standard with all m17x computers, so no worries.
Keyboard
Keyboard itself is great. Nice lighting, though uneven is certain areas, again, common with the m17x. There is a slight un-eveness and some keys are noisier than others. I feel that they could do a better job on keyboard on future models.
Touchpad
Touchpad itseld is too far to the left in my opinion, but I cannot really comment here since I haven't used it. I use my Logitech G5 mouse which compliments the m17x quite niceley.
Features:
I don't feel that there are any special features that other brand laptops don't have. Every brand currently has about the same features so this particular topic doesn't need to be covered. The m17x has standard equipment like camera, IR port, HDMI, Slot Loaded DVD/RW, etc.
What does help the m17x stand out is the Hybrid graphics where you have 3 graphics cards. The nVidia 9400 running when on battery, and the dual 260m GTX in SLI when plugged in.
One other feature that I took advantage of right away was the power to OC (Overclock) the processor through the BIOS. My particular processor is the P8600 which comes clocked at 2.4Ghz. I was able to OC it to 3.0Ghz and run it stable for my day to day laptop functions.
Multimedia Keys
The command center strip is the primary control module for the m17x where you can quickly access the command center, volume control, and disc eject from the slot loaded player. Though it requires some finesse to actually make the keys work, I feel that its a good placement and it looks "cool".
Wifi –
The onboard WiFi is easy to use, and though some folks have had issues with getting a good signal strength, I have had no issues and have the same strength as previous laptops.
Speakers
Built in speakers are great. Have rich sound for laptop speakers and I find them to be of about the same quality as in the m1730 (even slightly better due to drivers). It would have been nice if they included a high quality subwoofer but then there wouldn't be any room for all the cooling.
Input and Output Ports
I have yet to explore these but I do notice pretty much everything in the book.
Webcam Pictures
The built in camera lacks luster and I find it to be of sub-par quality. The built in camera on my wife's $900 Asus is better and crisper, but then again, you don't pick up one of these machines for the performance of the camera. So the point is redundant.
Bottom:
The notebook is VERY well, and i mean VERY well cooled. I ran several processor and graphics card stress tests and the laptop stayed nice and cool. The aluminum build does help it stay this way which is another great feature that makes this machine stand out of the crowd.
Benchmarks
I couldnt download and run any of the 3d mark programs and honeslty I am not worried about running benchmarks. The laptop runs and blazing speeds, thats all I need to know.
Size and Weight
Laptop is VERY heavy and not recommended for lugging around all day. It truley is a desktop replacement and about the size of the m1730.
Heat and Noise
As I mentioned before, heat is almost non-existent and the cooling for this machine has been built great. Best cooling I have seen in a notebook. Fan noise only exists from the graphics cards when doing intense gaming or stress on the processor or graphics cards.
Battery Life
Haven't really used the laptop too much on battery but the Hybrid graphics cards really shine here. When on battery, the SLI cards are disabled and you only run the onboard nVidia 9400 to save battery power. The stealth mode also helps.
Software
None really. I did get Windows 7 Pro upgrade which I plan on installing after the first service pack.
Pros:
Great design
Aluminum build
Edge to Edge display
Overclockable processor
3 graphics cards
Customizable LEDs throughout
Cons:
Inconsistent build quality
Easily scratchable surface
Poor tech support from Alienware (up to 30 min wait for tech support)
Conclusion:
My opinion is that this is a great laptop for anyone who is in the market for a desktop replacement. The computer offers top of its class performance for a reasonable price tag. Its easily customizable and upgradable (At your discretion). If I didn't receive this laptop for free, I would probably STILL buy an Alienware M17X simply for the performance, style, design, and hey... its an Alienware afterall. Thank you for reading my review folks. I didn't post pictures because it would be the same pictures of the same laptop you can find all over the forums. Take care and feel free to ask me any questions or comments.
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