When it said evolutionary, it wasn't kidding around.
Alienware has just taken the wraps off of a relatively uninspiring (or,
unworthy of hype, we should say) new laptop: the M17. Not to be confused with the
M17x, this 17-incher is the outfit's very first
CrossFire X-enabled notebook, and those with the requisite coin can get one outfitted with a Core 2 Quad / Extreme CPU, up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, a WXGA+ / WUXGA panel, an optional ATSC HDTV tuner, up to 640GB of HDD space in a RAID 0 array, a dual-layer DVD writer / optional Blu-ray reader, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, gigabit Ethernet and a facial recognition sensor. As with most of its siblings, this one puts a beating on the scales at 9.5-pounds, and we're certain you can deplete that 12-cell battery in no time flat. Granted, it does get going at "just" $1,399, but you can expect that figure to head far north when you add anything drool-worthy to the build sheet.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted November 3rd 2008 10:05AM
They're a laptop/PC company, what did you expect them to announce, engadget? You think they'd announce a cell phone or something? Jeez.
I bought 3870x2 a month ago and returned it back to the shop, then I bought 4870.
Single 4870 is at least 2 times faster than 3870x2 in crossfireX. I know its weird but its true - 4870 runs TeamFortress 2 at max settings in 1680x1050 and sacred 2 at 2560x1600 without any problem, a task impossible for 3870x2 (TF2 in medium-minimum settings was stutter-free but nothing more than that, horrible performance if you ask me).
Don't buy.
PS: I'd wait till next year - both Nvidia and ATI are said to introduce 40nm chips, and I have high hopes for these to get into laptops.
But this is a laptop.
Shinigami: I have no idea what you're talking about regarding TF2. The 3870x2 in this laptop is rock-solid at 60fps with every single setting maxxed running at 1920x1200.
Alienware really knows how to bring the ugly.
Yeah, and no Solid State Drive-even though Alienware offers that option on lesser notebooks...
I just ordered one of these babies with 2xsolid state drives in raid 0, so they do offer it.
This Alienware is an OCZ Whitebook rebrand and ironically, I can get this Alienware cheaper than the whitebook!
This is the same chassis that custom-build retailers (like Killer Notebooks) have been selling for a while. I have one, and eh, it's just not that big. Fits in the same tight sleeve that my Inspiron e1705 does, which is the same sleeve for a 17" MBP.
Sure, it's heavy for a laptop, but good lord people, it's less than 10 pounds. And some people don't call that portable? Huh? But a 6 pound notebook is? I'm a thin 160lbs and certainly no bodybuilder but I don't understand the issue with a couple pounds. It's the weight of a couple books. Did your backpack in college suddenly stop becoming portable when you put one more book in it?
Heat-wise it runs as cool or cooler than e1705, and is totally fine sitting on your lap (I use a custom-cut plastic cutting board for a laptop platform, which also gives me a nice mousing surface right next to it). Neither the CPU nor GPU have cracked 80C, and both generally run around 70C under typical gaming load. The fans are rarely running at full power, and are nice and quiet. And I've overclocked my CPU to 3.3Ghz.
And yes, it's very fast. Over 15k in 3dmark06, almost 30fps in Crysis at 1920x1200, 60fps everywhere in WoW, 60fps almost everywhere in Fallout 3 on High at 1920x1200. Shinigami, I'll try TF2, but I'm pretty sure it's going to fly even at 1920x1200. Not sure what you're talking about.
I love mine.
I'm kind of with Chris on this one. I'm a Mac+Nix guy in the general computing sense, but I looooove gaming and have been buying/building gaming desktops and laptops for years. The most high-end gaming laptops have always been 17" and have always hovered around 9-11 lbs. in the last 6 or so years. In order to keep abreast of gaming desktops they just need the space for cooling, more components, and the like. If you look at all the high-end gaming laptops in the 17" range that really have these specs (no, Sony won't have these specs) they're all going to be around the same size and weight. Alienware, Dell, Hypersonic, Malibal, VoodooPC, Sager, etc. all have a laptop like this.
Of course, my personal comment is that this one's fugly as hell and there's nothing really that "new" about it (per their hype). It's more of the same, really.
sorry but hopelessly ugly.
for gaming computer in such spec. and weight,
i cant spot any reason for not buying a nice desktop.
personally, Vaio R or Vaio L are nice choices.
Facial recognition? Finally, a way to stop people hacking into my Steam account and ruining my stats!
i still cant believe they stoped making the malx 19 you know the one with the 19in screen i would have bought that in a heart beat. and mac fans don't deserve to comment on a gaming rig .... you cant game on a mac period !
Funny... I could swear that I just logged out of Warhammer Online.
I guess I got one of those Aluminum Dell's with the Apple Logo on it, not a MacBook Pro. Explains why it has Windows on it too... huh.
oh and let me clue ya in on a lil secret dell acquired alienware back in 06
If you ask me it's a rather large and ugly machine, and probably sounds like a Harrier Jet lifting off when under a heavy load. In all honesty I would never really try to shoe-horn all this power into a notebook cause it's just impractical. Sad thing is someone is going to drop the money on this thing and have it, but the downside to it is it will have to be plugged in all the time due to the large power consumption of having dual video cards. Enjoy your 1 hour battery life, just like every other Alienware and Dell laptop that is pushed for the gaming industry.
17" notebooks are great but when they weigh in at 9.5lbs that is a little ridiculous. 6.5lbs should be max and i find that to be a little towards the heavier side of things. And what is this monster, 2 - 2.5 inches thick? It's not a NoteBook or a Laptop, it's a "SlabBook".
Stick to an HP or Apple notebook, sure they aren't pushing the specs that these things are, but atleast there is great battery life, and a sense of style and design about them. This looks like a briefcase fitted with computer parts and a keyboard laid inside of it.
It's actually really quiet -- only under VERY heavy load does the GPU fan go to max, when it's kind of loud, but under typical gaming it's quieter than my Inspiron e1705.
Also, it's 1.6" thick. Fits just fine in the sleeve that my Inspiron e1705 and a 17" MBP fit in.
And yep, I pretty much have it plugged in all the time. But it means that I have a tiny, portable desktop machine at work that I can take home and use on the couch. It's not for everyone, but I don't see why so many people dismiss this kind of notebook. I absolutely love mine.
So is this just another re-branded sager laptop?
Ayo! Diesil, help a brotha out, you said you could build something more powerfull than this for less. Please send me the list of all the hardware and software i need to purchase. I am in Botswana and alien ware machines are not available this side. I would like to build the most powerful gaming desktop possible as cost efficient as possible.
The other thing is how do the graphics of the most powerful gaming pc/notebook compare to the ps3 and xbox 360, if they are better i wouldnt mind paying for it,though it will be quite difficult, It would be worth it.