9-21-03
Ordered a loaded Alienware Area-51m2 with a 16" UXGA LCD. The order screen on the website said someone
would be contacting me within 24 hours to verify the order.
9-23-03
I'm called to confirm the order and asked some marketing questions.
They went to run my credit card, but their systems were down and they said they would have to do it later.
They said they'd call if they had any problems. He said I should get my system in 15-20 days if I heard him
correctly.
9-26-03
Card was charged and I was moved to Phase 2.
9-29-03
Phase 3
10-1-03
Phase 4
10-4-03
Phase 5
10-7-03
Phase 6
10-10-03
Phase 7
Received this email:
10-11-03
Phase 8
10-17-03
Received this email:
10-23-03
Phase 13 and shipped
10-24-03
Arrived
Very well packaged. The left package was the free Targus case that came with it and on the right is the actual system.
Here's the box compared to the size of a box the Sager 8890 comes in.
Free T-Shirt, Dark Age of Camelot, and Call of Duty game demo
Here's a shot of all it came with including recovery and software CDs, a binder with information and bench results, and a secret level 3 clearance card
Here it is next to the Sager 5680 and Sager 8890:
According to the digital postal scale we had, the weight results were:
Alienware 9.5lbs
Sager 5680 9.3lbs
Sager 8890 12.3lbs
Keep in mind weight varies, the Alienware had the 16" LCD and no floppy drive, the 5680 had a single battery and floppy drive, and the 8890 had the dual hard drive setup.
Here's the 2 power supplies compared both weighing in at 2.0lbs according to the digital scale we had on hand. They both use a 4 prong adapter and the Alienware adapter is larger with a fan on the end.
Here's the top of the Alienware with it's glowing eyes in action:
It cycles through 1 of the 3 colors at a time and then displays all 3 together:
On to some more Alienware Area-51m2 features you may like.
The black trim around the keyboard shows lights through it for things such as caps lock being on and the herd drive working. In the picture below you can see the light showing the caps lock is on and when it's not, it shows nothing to hint there's even lights under it.
The touchpad has the active scroll on the right side of it which most laptops have anyways on the side(some people don't realize you can scroll using the right side of your touchpad), but this one actually makes extra space for it.
Looking at the under side we see the battery and media drive are both quick release which is a nice feature to have that the 5680 also has:
Remove the 2 screw cover and 4 more screws you have the hard drive out:
The cooling setup pulls air from the bottom and exhausts it on the right side back corner and the back side right corner.
A couple of bios shots... of course as expected you can't overclock via the bios =)
Here's the battery next to the 8890 battery:
The Alienware comes packaged with PowerDVD while Sager comes with WinDVD. The way I bench batteries is I get the laptop, charge it up to 100%, set it to leave the screen, hard drive on, set the % as low as it goes before the system shuts down and run a full screen DVD at a good 3/4+ volume. I don't cycle the batteries or optimize anything, so many people report longer battery life than I test. Knowing that, here's my results from each straight out of the box:
Alienware Area-51m2 1 hour 42 minutes
Sager 5680 single batt 1 hour 5 minutes
Sager 5680 dual batt 1 hour 54 minutes
Sager 8890 1 hour 42 minutes
No, it wasn't a type error, the Alienware and the 8890 shut down at the exact same minute lol.
The Alienware battery is an 8800mah 10.8vdc battery
The 8890 is a 6600mah 14.8vdc battery
The 5680 main battery is a 4400mah 14.8vdc battery
The 5680 2nd battery is a 3400mah 14.8vdc battery
ON TO SOME BENCHMARKS!
I always try and run the system right out of the box as they were intended to run by who shipped them. Here's a couple quick comparisons of what they have:
Processor
Alienware Area-51m2 3.2GHZ P4/800FSB with HT enabled (fastest offered)
Sager 5680 3.2GHZ P4/800FSB with HT enabled (fastest offered)
Desktop 2.4GHZ P4/533FSB
RAM
Alienware Area-51m2 1024MB single channel 333mhz (fastest offered)
Sager 5680 1024MB dual channel 400mhz (fastest offered)
Desktop 1024MB single channel 333mhz
Hard Drive
Alienware Area-51m2 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi(fastest offered)
Sager 5680 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi(fastest offered)
Desktop 60GB WD 8MB
Video Card
Alienware Area-51m2 NVIDIA GEFORCE FX go5600 128MB
Sager 5680 ATI 9600 PRO
Desktop NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 ti4200 64MB
The Alienware now offers the ATI 9600 and the NVIDIA 5600 for the same price, if it had been available I would have chosen the ATI at the time.
UT2K3 800 X 600 Flyby
Area-51m2 151
Desktop 163
5680 204
UT2K3 800 X 600 Botmatch
Area-51m2 62
Desktop 57
5680 76
UT2K3 1024 X 768 Flyby
Area-51m2 108
Desktop 129
5680 146
UT2K3 1024 X 768 Botmatch
Area-51m2 57
Desktop 57
5680 75
X2 The Threat ave FPS benchmark
Area-51m2 32FPS
Desktop 63FPS
5680 58FPS
GunMetal Benchmark 1
LOW/AVE/HIGH
Area-51m2 3.71/9.51/45.99
Desktop 8.74/16.76/41.54
5680 8.87/16.10/58.07
AQUAMARK 3 GFX
Area-51m2 1230
5680 2886
AQUAMARK 3 CPU
Area-51m2 5515
5680 8950
AQUAMARK 3 TOTAL
Area-51m2 11,065
5680 24,859
So, I loaded the Alienware and the Sager up with Sandra 2003 PRO:
Sandra CPU ALU
Area-51m2 9745
5680 9729
Sandra CPU FPU
Area-51m2 2758
5680 2769
Sandra CPU SSE
Area-51m2 6066
5680 6051
Sandra CPU Multi-Media Integer
Area-51m2 14,736
5680 14,767
Sandra CPU Multi-Media Float
Area-51m2 23,382
5680 23,366
Sandra CPU Memory Bandwidth
Area-51m2 2454/2462
5680 4323/4351
Some notes:
The Alienware lid is very solid while the Sager 5680 and 8890 both flex. The Alienware speakers had better low end sound while the Sager 5680 and 8890 both had better highs. I would call the speakers pretty equal and without being side by side, I doubt anyone would note much of a difference... they're laptop speakers and nothing great. The keyboards on the Alienware and 5680 both felt pretty solid with little flex in relation to laptops. The 8890 we had to compare had more flex, though nothing like the Dell 8500 we compared it to. Sager has a kit you can get if your 8890 has any flex to it that annoys you.
The Alienware has the Fn key to the left of the Ctrl key which the 5680 and 8890 also has by default. We had some complaints of this and there is a swap you can do for the 5680 and 8890 now. Maybe Alienware will also come up with something like that for those out there that was them reversed.
I think they're all great machines and would like to get a chance to try the Alienware with the ATI 9600 and maybe will soon if Alienware releases it for the public to swap witht he NVIDIA card.
Tomorrow I'll try out Halo and a few other games on it to see how well it runs.
edit forgot to add the picture comparing the remotes.
On the left is the 8890 remote and the right is the area-51m2 remote. Both come with their mighty generic cheap batteries you can expect to replace right away.
Ordered a loaded Alienware Area-51m2 with a 16" UXGA LCD. The order screen on the website said someone
would be contacting me within 24 hours to verify the order.
9-23-03
I'm called to confirm the order and asked some marketing questions.
They went to run my credit card, but their systems were down and they said they would have to do it later.
They said they'd call if they had any problems. He said I should get my system in 15-20 days if I heard him
correctly.
9-26-03
Card was charged and I was moved to Phase 2.
9-29-03
Phase 3
10-1-03
Phase 4
10-4-03
Phase 5
10-7-03
Phase 6
10-10-03
Phase 7
Received this email:
Quote:
| This e-mail is to inform you of a delay in your Alienware order due to the following: These parts: 1- ALIENWARE AREA-51M 766 SAUCER SILVER 16.1" NOTEBOOK ......... Expected Date: 10/24/2003 2- ALIENWARE AREA-51M 766 16.1" PANEL .......................... Expected Date: 10/24/2003 are temporarily back ordered. We apologize for this delay and assure you that the delay will be temporary. If you have any further questions in regards to your order, you may contact our sales department by replying to this e-mail. Thank you for choosing Alienware. |
Phase 8
10-17-03
Received this email:
Quote:
| This e-mail is to inform you of a delay in your Alienware order due to the following: These parts: 1- ALIENWARE AREA-51M 766 SAUCER SILVER 16.1" NOTEBOOK REV 2.0 . Expected Date: 10/30/2003 are temporarily back ordered. We apologize for this delay and assure you that the delay will be temporary. If you have any further questions in regards to your order, you may contact our sales department by replying to this e-mail. Thank you for choosing Alienware. |
Phase 13 and shipped
10-24-03
Arrived
Very well packaged. The left package was the free Targus case that came with it and on the right is the actual system.
Here's the box compared to the size of a box the Sager 8890 comes in.
Free T-Shirt, Dark Age of Camelot, and Call of Duty game demo
Here's a shot of all it came with including recovery and software CDs, a binder with information and bench results, and a secret level 3 clearance card
Here it is next to the Sager 5680 and Sager 8890:
According to the digital postal scale we had, the weight results were:
Alienware 9.5lbs
Sager 5680 9.3lbs
Sager 8890 12.3lbs
Keep in mind weight varies, the Alienware had the 16" LCD and no floppy drive, the 5680 had a single battery and floppy drive, and the 8890 had the dual hard drive setup.
Here's the 2 power supplies compared both weighing in at 2.0lbs according to the digital scale we had on hand. They both use a 4 prong adapter and the Alienware adapter is larger with a fan on the end.
Here's the top of the Alienware with it's glowing eyes in action:
It cycles through 1 of the 3 colors at a time and then displays all 3 together:
On to some more Alienware Area-51m2 features you may like.
The black trim around the keyboard shows lights through it for things such as caps lock being on and the herd drive working. In the picture below you can see the light showing the caps lock is on and when it's not, it shows nothing to hint there's even lights under it.
The touchpad has the active scroll on the right side of it which most laptops have anyways on the side(some people don't realize you can scroll using the right side of your touchpad), but this one actually makes extra space for it.
Looking at the under side we see the battery and media drive are both quick release which is a nice feature to have that the 5680 also has:
Remove the 2 screw cover and 4 more screws you have the hard drive out:
The cooling setup pulls air from the bottom and exhausts it on the right side back corner and the back side right corner.
A couple of bios shots... of course as expected you can't overclock via the bios =)
Here's the battery next to the 8890 battery:
The Alienware comes packaged with PowerDVD while Sager comes with WinDVD. The way I bench batteries is I get the laptop, charge it up to 100%, set it to leave the screen, hard drive on, set the % as low as it goes before the system shuts down and run a full screen DVD at a good 3/4+ volume. I don't cycle the batteries or optimize anything, so many people report longer battery life than I test. Knowing that, here's my results from each straight out of the box:
Alienware Area-51m2 1 hour 42 minutes
Sager 5680 single batt 1 hour 5 minutes
Sager 5680 dual batt 1 hour 54 minutes
Sager 8890 1 hour 42 minutes
No, it wasn't a type error, the Alienware and the 8890 shut down at the exact same minute lol.
The Alienware battery is an 8800mah 10.8vdc battery
The 8890 is a 6600mah 14.8vdc battery
The 5680 main battery is a 4400mah 14.8vdc battery
The 5680 2nd battery is a 3400mah 14.8vdc battery
ON TO SOME BENCHMARKS!
I always try and run the system right out of the box as they were intended to run by who shipped them. Here's a couple quick comparisons of what they have:
Processor
Alienware Area-51m2 3.2GHZ P4/800FSB with HT enabled (fastest offered)
Sager 5680 3.2GHZ P4/800FSB with HT enabled (fastest offered)
Desktop 2.4GHZ P4/533FSB
RAM
Alienware Area-51m2 1024MB single channel 333mhz (fastest offered)
Sager 5680 1024MB dual channel 400mhz (fastest offered)
Desktop 1024MB single channel 333mhz
Hard Drive
Alienware Area-51m2 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi(fastest offered)
Sager 5680 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi(fastest offered)
Desktop 60GB WD 8MB
Video Card
Alienware Area-51m2 NVIDIA GEFORCE FX go5600 128MB
Sager 5680 ATI 9600 PRO
Desktop NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 ti4200 64MB
The Alienware now offers the ATI 9600 and the NVIDIA 5600 for the same price, if it had been available I would have chosen the ATI at the time.
UT2K3 800 X 600 Flyby
Area-51m2 151
Desktop 163
5680 204
UT2K3 800 X 600 Botmatch
Area-51m2 62
Desktop 57
5680 76
UT2K3 1024 X 768 Flyby
Area-51m2 108
Desktop 129
5680 146
UT2K3 1024 X 768 Botmatch
Area-51m2 57
Desktop 57
5680 75
X2 The Threat ave FPS benchmark
Area-51m2 32FPS
Desktop 63FPS
5680 58FPS
GunMetal Benchmark 1
LOW/AVE/HIGH
Area-51m2 3.71/9.51/45.99
Desktop 8.74/16.76/41.54
5680 8.87/16.10/58.07
AQUAMARK 3 GFX
Area-51m2 1230
5680 2886
AQUAMARK 3 CPU
Area-51m2 5515
5680 8950
AQUAMARK 3 TOTAL
Area-51m2 11,065
5680 24,859
So, I loaded the Alienware and the Sager up with Sandra 2003 PRO:
Sandra CPU ALU
Area-51m2 9745
5680 9729
Sandra CPU FPU
Area-51m2 2758
5680 2769
Sandra CPU SSE
Area-51m2 6066
5680 6051
Sandra CPU Multi-Media Integer
Area-51m2 14,736
5680 14,767
Sandra CPU Multi-Media Float
Area-51m2 23,382
5680 23,366
Sandra CPU Memory Bandwidth
Area-51m2 2454/2462
5680 4323/4351
Some notes:
The Alienware lid is very solid while the Sager 5680 and 8890 both flex. The Alienware speakers had better low end sound while the Sager 5680 and 8890 both had better highs. I would call the speakers pretty equal and without being side by side, I doubt anyone would note much of a difference... they're laptop speakers and nothing great. The keyboards on the Alienware and 5680 both felt pretty solid with little flex in relation to laptops. The 8890 we had to compare had more flex, though nothing like the Dell 8500 we compared it to. Sager has a kit you can get if your 8890 has any flex to it that annoys you.
The Alienware has the Fn key to the left of the Ctrl key which the 5680 and 8890 also has by default. We had some complaints of this and there is a swap you can do for the 5680 and 8890 now. Maybe Alienware will also come up with something like that for those out there that was them reversed.
I think they're all great machines and would like to get a chance to try the Alienware with the ATI 9600 and maybe will soon if Alienware releases it for the public to swap witht he NVIDIA card.
Tomorrow I'll try out Halo and a few other games on it to see how well it runs.
edit forgot to add the picture comparing the remotes.
On the left is the 8890 remote and the right is the area-51m2 remote. Both come with their mighty generic cheap batteries you can expect to replace right away.
