It's been about a month now since I recieved my AW M7700, and I held off writing this review for a reason, and that will come later in this review.
The packaging of this thing was supberd, there was never a doubt about that after reading several reviews stating this fact.I'm not going to bore you with those details anyway.
Here are the specs:
P4 3.0 proc
Screen resolution is 1400/900 and is the matted screen not the glossy (which I prefer the matted)
1 Gig of ram
60 gb hard drive 54 rpm
standered CD/DVD drive (slot loading-think of your Cars in dash CD player-pretty damn cool)
6800 Ultra Vid card
This thing has played every game Ive thrown at it flawlessly, and all settings maxxed. Oblivion plays smooth as silk as does World of Warcraft and Doom3. I see these games in a whole new light and It is utterly amazing. I appreciate my game time alot more now that I can see my games run at a decent frame rate.
As far as games goes, this machine gets a Ten out of Ten.
Portability? Thats another story, This Notebook weighs about 15 to 20 lbs (I must admit I never did weigh it-I'm guessing) You wont be carrying this with you to the local Wi-Fi Coffee or hot spot thats for sure. Since it is a PC powerhouse and the 17inch widescreen combination, doesn't fair well with battery life. I'm lucky to get just over an hour surfing the net and less than 45 minutes watching a movie, and even less playing a game. So if portability is an issue, this Notebook isn't for you. Six out of Ten for Batterylife and Portability. (Thats not a bad thing mind you)
Overall quality is ACE, there is not a single flaw in the construction of this Notebook, all LEDs are lit, Alien Eyes still glowing ,all USB and other ports as tight as they where when I cracked the box open.
Ten out of Ten.
So how does the AW Area 51 7700 measure up? I just can't think of a reason to give it less than a Ten, I have no complaints whatsoever.
(Sorry theres no pics, my camera was stolen along with the previouse Notebook I had
)
Now onto the purchasing experience.
The first thing to pop into my mind when I think about the buying experience is how much a nightmare the wait was. I'm a pretty much a patient and understanding fellow, but AW support is anything but supportive. If it wasn't for boards like this one, I'd have cancelled after a month of being stuck in Phase 3, but in all fairness[ this was my first experience with AW and I honestly didn't know what to expect, had I known I may not be writting this review on an AW and I shudder at that thought. In other words, it is a double edged sword. There was a mix up at one point on which Vid card I was actually getting, and that sort of stolen the moment of joy when I fired it up for the first time, but It was an honest misunderstanding so there is no reason to go into that here.
Purchasing Experience I give it a GENEROUSE Eight out of Ten (and I am being realy realy nice)
Final Thoughts:
The Area 51 7700 is a sweet machine, It does what I wanted it to do and has exceeded many expectations I had, and thats always a good thing. The portability issues are a minimum to me, I have it plugged in all the time anyways. It is still nice to be able to move it around the house with ease and theres that side effect of the increase of my upper body strength
.
Sorry for the delay in this review, but I wanted to give it a good run and actually USE the thing before I could give it a fair review.
I'm happy with my purchase, though I'm not sure I'll be willing to go through the Phase game anytime soon. It sucks.
Those of you caught in the Phase Game know this, your prize will arrive. Hang in there and be strong. Your baby is on the way!
Thanks to so many on these boards for the support and Information.Thank God for boards like this.
Catch you in WOW (maybe lol )
Evandino
The packaging of this thing was supberd, there was never a doubt about that after reading several reviews stating this fact.I'm not going to bore you with those details anyway.
Here are the specs:
P4 3.0 proc
Screen resolution is 1400/900 and is the matted screen not the glossy (which I prefer the matted)
1 Gig of ram
60 gb hard drive 54 rpm
standered CD/DVD drive (slot loading-think of your Cars in dash CD player-pretty damn cool)
6800 Ultra Vid card
This thing has played every game Ive thrown at it flawlessly, and all settings maxxed. Oblivion plays smooth as silk as does World of Warcraft and Doom3. I see these games in a whole new light and It is utterly amazing. I appreciate my game time alot more now that I can see my games run at a decent frame rate.
As far as games goes, this machine gets a Ten out of Ten.
Portability? Thats another story, This Notebook weighs about 15 to 20 lbs (I must admit I never did weigh it-I'm guessing) You wont be carrying this with you to the local Wi-Fi Coffee or hot spot thats for sure. Since it is a PC powerhouse and the 17inch widescreen combination, doesn't fair well with battery life. I'm lucky to get just over an hour surfing the net and less than 45 minutes watching a movie, and even less playing a game. So if portability is an issue, this Notebook isn't for you. Six out of Ten for Batterylife and Portability. (Thats not a bad thing mind you)
Overall quality is ACE, there is not a single flaw in the construction of this Notebook, all LEDs are lit, Alien Eyes still glowing ,all USB and other ports as tight as they where when I cracked the box open.
Ten out of Ten.
So how does the AW Area 51 7700 measure up? I just can't think of a reason to give it less than a Ten, I have no complaints whatsoever.
(Sorry theres no pics, my camera was stolen along with the previouse Notebook I had
)Now onto the purchasing experience.
The first thing to pop into my mind when I think about the buying experience is how much a nightmare the wait was. I'm a pretty much a patient and understanding fellow, but AW support is anything but supportive. If it wasn't for boards like this one, I'd have cancelled after a month of being stuck in Phase 3, but in all fairness[ this was my first experience with AW and I honestly didn't know what to expect, had I known I may not be writting this review on an AW and I shudder at that thought. In other words, it is a double edged sword. There was a mix up at one point on which Vid card I was actually getting, and that sort of stolen the moment of joy when I fired it up for the first time, but It was an honest misunderstanding so there is no reason to go into that here.
Purchasing Experience I give it a GENEROUSE Eight out of Ten (and I am being realy realy nice)
Final Thoughts:
The Area 51 7700 is a sweet machine, It does what I wanted it to do and has exceeded many expectations I had, and thats always a good thing. The portability issues are a minimum to me, I have it plugged in all the time anyways. It is still nice to be able to move it around the house with ease and theres that side effect of the increase of my upper body strength
.Sorry for the delay in this review, but I wanted to give it a good run and actually USE the thing before I could give it a fair review.
I'm happy with my purchase, though I'm not sure I'll be willing to go through the Phase game anytime soon. It sucks.
Those of you caught in the Phase Game know this, your prize will arrive. Hang in there and be strong. Your baby is on the way!
Thanks to so many on these boards for the support and Information.Thank God for boards like this.
Catch you in WOW (maybe lol )
Evandino
