Marker01's Alienware Area-51 m5550 Review

The quick review: “OMG” “!!!!” “WOW”

Area-51 m5550 Full Review

Specifications:

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® Vista Home Basic
Display: 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD - Saucer Silver
Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: 80GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 5,400 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 24x DVD-ROM/CD-RW Burner w/ Nero Software
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600
Sound Card: Intel® 7.1 High-Definition Audio
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem


I ordered the 2GB of AW memory after I placed this order; it was actually cheaper. I haven’t received the memory yet,
so this review was preformed with 1GB of memory.

The most impressive feature by far is the 15.4” UXGA(1920x1200) /w the Geforce Go 7600 to back it up!
I’ve owned 17” UXGA notebooks before, the m9700 & Aurora 7700. To see this level of quality in a 15.4" screen is impressive



(Wow, that's a lot of landscape for such a small screen)

I ordered this system with Vista installed.
In this review we will explore both Vista and XP.

Vista Review:

The first thing I did with this notebook was install updated drivers and 3DMark06 to run some benchmarks.

3DMark06 Vista Results:

Driver: 100.64 Score: 1400

Next…

Driver: 97.73 Score: BSOD (oh boy…)

Next…

Driver: 97.55 (AW default)Score: 1617


(Regardless, thats a nice CPU score)


Now this is all confusing because the alienware report with my system had a 3DMark06 score of 1852 sooooooo,
i think AW uses XP to benchmark.


Vista Gaming

I loaded 3 games i still play, Oblivion, Doom 3, and an older MMORPG called Final Fantasy XI.

Doom 3
With all settings set to low or off, no AA no AF etc, I was able to run Doom 3 at 1920x1200 with playable frame rates.
Frames fluctuated throughout game play, normally sticking at 30-35’ish, and never dropping below 28FPS.
it would jump up to 60FPS in less intense areas. But at least it worked.

Oblivion
Its always a great feeling when you start Oblivion for the first time on a new PC and get the following.



buttttttt, at 5-7FPS, it was unplayable....
Also, i was unable to change the game resolution or display settings, it would automatically go back to 1920x1200/High Quality
no matter what I did, appears to be driver related. I believe Oblivion would have run fine at lower resolutions.

FFXI
This is an old MMORGP, and does not take much power to run at default or even High settings.
I had problems with this one too… regardless of graphic settings; the screen would temporary freeze throughout game play.
Game was unplayable. This also appeared to be driver related.

Given the lower then expected benchmarks, and application compatibility problems, I figured I'll see how XP pro held up.

XP Review
Now things start kicking!


Benchmarks

3DMark06 XP Results:

Driver: 86.28 (AW Default)Score: 1984


(Nuf said)


And with a little push

Driver: 87.08 Score: 2177


(YEA!)


2117 on a 15.4” notebook!!! Wow, I’m impressed.


XP Gaming

Doom3
At 1920x1200 with setting at low or off, I had a solid 60FPS, nothing could hurt this!
I took Doom 3 up to High Settings and AA 4x and still got a solid 30FPS. I never had to test anything lower then UXGA,
it can handle these resolutions fine.

Oblivion
All tests at UXGA 1920x1200
Very Low Setting: 60FPS, perfect game play.
Med Setting: 25-30FPS
I believe with a little extra tweaking of graphic settings, and maybe a little push on the card, I can keep Oblivion at the Med settings.
Otherwise we are looking at low, or very low setting to play at 1920x1200. Still rather impressive for this little guy!

And my Beloved FFXI works great, with everything set to High @ UXGA.


Other Stuff

Heat
This notebook gets just as warm as the other high performance notebooks I have used. It does get slightly hot on the right palm rest,
but nothing to cry about.

Cooling
Like all high performance notebooks, a laptop cooler is recommended, especially if you plan to use it on your lap!
I still use the same laptop cooler I had before.
However, I no longer use the fan cooler underneath, the TDD-3000 Heat-Pipe laptop cooler keeps everything cool enough by itself.

Battery Performance.
Like the CLEVO models, the m5550 (Uniwill) instantly downclocks your CPU the second you remove AC power.
By default the C2D 2Ghz is downclocked to 1Ghz when on battery.
But, if you change your windows power scheme to “Always On” the CPU was only lowered to 1.66Ghz on battery(thats workable).



Conclusion

WOW!
This is more then I expected; a totally mobile notebook that performs like a champ. The ability to play my games at UXGA on a 15.4’’ screen is simply great!
While definitely Vista compatible, all problems look like driver issues, this should resolve itself over time with driver updates.
Highly recommend for anyone looking for a mobile powerhouse under 17".




Fun Stuff


Watching Live TV wirelessly in the Kitchen via SlingBox



All hocked up to my 42" Samsung 1080p LCD using DVI to HDMI cable. Playing Oblivion at 1920x1080.

at this point, the benchmarks clearly show the m5550 is not ready for VISTA, but it will come in time. All the problems i found with VISTA are driver releated and new drivers will come out.

if your ordering one right now, XP is your best choice, but you may as well just get VISTA and stick with it, your going to have to upgrade some day

0 noise sir. I know what you mean, i had the aurora 7700 and when the fans kicked off into high mode, well, it was a loud as an X-BOX 360 (and thats loud!)