Alienware Area 51m- The Two Month Review
Let’s dig right in; here is my two month practical performance review of the Area 51m.
-If you are looking for an initial impression review, there are many in this forum that will regurgitate my initial impressions.
Background: This is my primary work laptop and my secondary gaming machine. The main function of the machine is using MS Word and OneNote on battery power. The machine is used for gaming on the go when I am not near my shuttle (or want some widescreen gaming).
The Purchase: I had originally had a Toshiba Media Center Laptop that was purchased in August of 2003. This motherboard of the machine failed in late March of 2004. The machine was sent in for repair. I had the express warranty which meant repair should take no more than 3 days. After a long episode that I do not wish to divulge into here, the machine is still not fixed as of this review (June 2004). As I side note, I discourage anyone from buying a Toshiba Laptop. In May of 2004 I was to start interning at a German Hospital as part of a Medical School program. However a laptop was necessary. With the Toshiba Laptop AWOL I had to break down (or break the Visa account) and purchase a new Laptop. Fellow friend and gamer Craig had just purchased an Alienware Laptop. He constantly informed me of how magnificent this beast of a machine was. After much debate I finally decided to cave in. One of my main fears was that the machine would not be built in time for my excursion to Europe. I placed my order on 4/3/2004. I had told my customer service rep my story and the urgency at which the laptop was needed. I received my laptop on 4/10/2004. Not bad at all considering it had to be shipped from Florida to California. I was very impressed with the speed of the ordering and building process.
Specifications:
P4 3.2 Ghz/ 1024MB/Widescreen/60GB 7200RPM HD/Radeon 9600/CDRW
My First Impression: The machine arrived in practically perfect condition. The only abnormality was a small (3mm) square on the bottom of the laptop where the blue paint had chipped off. The packaging was superior I believe this was a mishap at the factory. This is not an issue as it is small and not in a noticeable area. The binder provided a nice order summary and the statistics of my system. Despite the small scratch my overall initial impression was “Impressive.”
Initial Tests: Immediately I loaded Unreal Tournament 2004 to test the machine. The 9600 chewed through Unreal at 1024 but at higher resolutions with all textures set to high it starts to become choppy. As an owner of a 9700pro in my shuttle system I know of the famed omega drivers. After installing the Omega drivers I was able to run UT smooth at all but the 2 highest widescreen resolutions. The color of the LCD was rich and no ghosting was evident. Counter-Strike and Quake 3 performed beautifully at all resolutions. Silent Hill 3 was playable at 1024x768. Any higher resolution was too choppy. This is due to the engine itself as my 9700 pro chokes on this game as well.
Work Use: The laptop worked beautifully on and off battery power for work use. I averaged slightly over 3 hrs if I used the lightest LCD setting in MS Word and OneNote. MP3 or Windows Media use plummeted the life to about 2 hrs or less. I have not had any crash or problem when using Office 2003 on the Area51m which is critical. Backing up files on CDR was painless. Alienware definitely did research and was wise to bundle Nero Burning Rom with their machines. No coasters have been burned as of this review. Photoshop load time is also minimal. Having multiple Adobe applications open with this system is not an issue.
Functionality:
3 USB ports are a welcome addition! I always use a USB mouse and always have my Digital Rebel plugged in uploading pictures. USB 2.0 provides great speed. I have noticed when transferring over pictures from the digital rebel (using the Hitachi Micro drive 4GB) that if the amount of files is over 2GB windows has difficulty doing any other operation until the upload is complete. Minor issue that centers on windows more than anything. Since I use high quality JPEGs and Tiffs for photography I do notice slowdown when using thumbnail mode in my pictures. The Area51m is fast, but I believe the lack of dual channel memory may be partly to blame. Another feature that I like is the manual volume dial on the side near the DVD drive. It becomes tedious with other laptops to adjust the volume through windows or a windows program. Battery life on a DVD movie was about 1.5 hrs. Not great but acceptable. For current gaming I am using the latest Omega Drivers (As of June 25 2004) and have not had any artifacts, warped textures or problems with any games. I have used the ATI tool to overclock the core of the 9600 to a little over 400mhz and the memory around 300. At these settings my machine is stable and displays no artifacts. Gaming on the road is not entirely practical. You will not get more than 1.25 hrs out of the battery.
Minor Issues:
I purchased a Linksys A,B,G wireless card. This was a mistake. This card wrecked havoc on my system. When the card was in the PCIMA slot a blue screen of death was always on the horizon. Eventually I discovered the problem was the card and have since stopped using it. Upon my return to the states I’ll purchase a netgear card. Also my laptop does NOT like BitTorrent++. I blue screen on this program when I download files over 700MB. Using other clients like ABC solved this issue.
Durability: Over the past two months I have put this laptop through its paces. It has traveled every weekend to another European country. Using a voltage adapter the laptop has worked beautifully. The titanium case is a blessing and the little knocks you incur while traveling do nothing to the system. The only issue is that two of the rubber feet have falling off in travel. If I call Alienware my instinct is they would send a couple out.
Current Use: Windows load time has not significantly increased since I first received the system. In my startup tray I have many resource hogs including AIM, Steam, and Adobe Gamma. The Alienware has no issues.
Recommendations for New Owners:
1.Immediately install the Omega Drivers if gaming is primary.
2.Install Mozilla Firefox to use instead of Internet Explorer (Personal Choice)
3.Never purchase a Linksys card for the laptop
4.Keep the fans clear, if they are blocked it could overheat.
5.For Advanced users: Use the ATI tool w/Omega Drivers to over clock to a better speed.
Closing Thoughts: In my desperate need for a laptop I believe I have made a wise decision. I bounced back and forth between a Sager and an Alienware. Craig convinced me to go with the Alienware. The main selling point was service. After my Toshiba episode I wanted to make sure my investment would last. I am extremely happy with my choice. The performance and practicality of this machine are wonderful. I look forward to putting Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 through their paces when they are released… even on the road.
Comments? Questions? Message me and I’ll be happy to answer.
-Adam
Let’s dig right in; here is my two month practical performance review of the Area 51m.
-If you are looking for an initial impression review, there are many in this forum that will regurgitate my initial impressions.
Background: This is my primary work laptop and my secondary gaming machine. The main function of the machine is using MS Word and OneNote on battery power. The machine is used for gaming on the go when I am not near my shuttle (or want some widescreen gaming).
The Purchase: I had originally had a Toshiba Media Center Laptop that was purchased in August of 2003. This motherboard of the machine failed in late March of 2004. The machine was sent in for repair. I had the express warranty which meant repair should take no more than 3 days. After a long episode that I do not wish to divulge into here, the machine is still not fixed as of this review (June 2004). As I side note, I discourage anyone from buying a Toshiba Laptop. In May of 2004 I was to start interning at a German Hospital as part of a Medical School program. However a laptop was necessary. With the Toshiba Laptop AWOL I had to break down (or break the Visa account) and purchase a new Laptop. Fellow friend and gamer Craig had just purchased an Alienware Laptop. He constantly informed me of how magnificent this beast of a machine was. After much debate I finally decided to cave in. One of my main fears was that the machine would not be built in time for my excursion to Europe. I placed my order on 4/3/2004. I had told my customer service rep my story and the urgency at which the laptop was needed. I received my laptop on 4/10/2004. Not bad at all considering it had to be shipped from Florida to California. I was very impressed with the speed of the ordering and building process.
Specifications:
P4 3.2 Ghz/ 1024MB/Widescreen/60GB 7200RPM HD/Radeon 9600/CDRW
My First Impression: The machine arrived in practically perfect condition. The only abnormality was a small (3mm) square on the bottom of the laptop where the blue paint had chipped off. The packaging was superior I believe this was a mishap at the factory. This is not an issue as it is small and not in a noticeable area. The binder provided a nice order summary and the statistics of my system. Despite the small scratch my overall initial impression was “Impressive.”
Initial Tests: Immediately I loaded Unreal Tournament 2004 to test the machine. The 9600 chewed through Unreal at 1024 but at higher resolutions with all textures set to high it starts to become choppy. As an owner of a 9700pro in my shuttle system I know of the famed omega drivers. After installing the Omega drivers I was able to run UT smooth at all but the 2 highest widescreen resolutions. The color of the LCD was rich and no ghosting was evident. Counter-Strike and Quake 3 performed beautifully at all resolutions. Silent Hill 3 was playable at 1024x768. Any higher resolution was too choppy. This is due to the engine itself as my 9700 pro chokes on this game as well.
Work Use: The laptop worked beautifully on and off battery power for work use. I averaged slightly over 3 hrs if I used the lightest LCD setting in MS Word and OneNote. MP3 or Windows Media use plummeted the life to about 2 hrs or less. I have not had any crash or problem when using Office 2003 on the Area51m which is critical. Backing up files on CDR was painless. Alienware definitely did research and was wise to bundle Nero Burning Rom with their machines. No coasters have been burned as of this review. Photoshop load time is also minimal. Having multiple Adobe applications open with this system is not an issue.
Functionality:
3 USB ports are a welcome addition! I always use a USB mouse and always have my Digital Rebel plugged in uploading pictures. USB 2.0 provides great speed. I have noticed when transferring over pictures from the digital rebel (using the Hitachi Micro drive 4GB) that if the amount of files is over 2GB windows has difficulty doing any other operation until the upload is complete. Minor issue that centers on windows more than anything. Since I use high quality JPEGs and Tiffs for photography I do notice slowdown when using thumbnail mode in my pictures. The Area51m is fast, but I believe the lack of dual channel memory may be partly to blame. Another feature that I like is the manual volume dial on the side near the DVD drive. It becomes tedious with other laptops to adjust the volume through windows or a windows program. Battery life on a DVD movie was about 1.5 hrs. Not great but acceptable. For current gaming I am using the latest Omega Drivers (As of June 25 2004) and have not had any artifacts, warped textures or problems with any games. I have used the ATI tool to overclock the core of the 9600 to a little over 400mhz and the memory around 300. At these settings my machine is stable and displays no artifacts. Gaming on the road is not entirely practical. You will not get more than 1.25 hrs out of the battery.
Minor Issues:
I purchased a Linksys A,B,G wireless card. This was a mistake. This card wrecked havoc on my system. When the card was in the PCIMA slot a blue screen of death was always on the horizon. Eventually I discovered the problem was the card and have since stopped using it. Upon my return to the states I’ll purchase a netgear card. Also my laptop does NOT like BitTorrent++. I blue screen on this program when I download files over 700MB. Using other clients like ABC solved this issue.
Durability: Over the past two months I have put this laptop through its paces. It has traveled every weekend to another European country. Using a voltage adapter the laptop has worked beautifully. The titanium case is a blessing and the little knocks you incur while traveling do nothing to the system. The only issue is that two of the rubber feet have falling off in travel. If I call Alienware my instinct is they would send a couple out.
Current Use: Windows load time has not significantly increased since I first received the system. In my startup tray I have many resource hogs including AIM, Steam, and Adobe Gamma. The Alienware has no issues.
Recommendations for New Owners:
1.Immediately install the Omega Drivers if gaming is primary.
2.Install Mozilla Firefox to use instead of Internet Explorer (Personal Choice)
3.Never purchase a Linksys card for the laptop
4.Keep the fans clear, if they are blocked it could overheat.
5.For Advanced users: Use the ATI tool w/Omega Drivers to over clock to a better speed.
Closing Thoughts: In my desperate need for a laptop I believe I have made a wise decision. I bounced back and forth between a Sager and an Alienware. Craig convinced me to go with the Alienware. The main selling point was service. After my Toshiba episode I wanted to make sure my investment would last. I am extremely happy with my choice. The performance and practicality of this machine are wonderful. I look forward to putting Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 through their paces when they are released… even on the road.
Comments? Questions? Message me and I’ll be happy to answer.
-Adam
