The announcement wasn't scheduled for a few more days -- four according to the
teaser site -- but it looks like Alienware's All Powerful gaming laptop has been set free anyway. So, does it live up to the
clues? Pretty much... how does a pair of 1GB NVIDIA GeForce
GTX 280M GPUs strike you? No Core i7 listed, instead we're looking at a Core 2 Extreme quad-core CPU at the top end with up to 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory, and 1TB of 7200-rpm disk or a 512GB SSD if you prefer. RAID 1 or RAID 0? Sure. Rounding things out is a nine-cell battery of unstated performance, FireWire, 4x USB, eSATA, ExpressCard, 802.11n WiFi, 8-in-1 media card reader, dual-layer Blu-ray, a 1920 x 1200 pixel edge-to-edge LCD, DisplayPort
and HDMI-outs all wrapped up in a massive chassis weighing 11.68-pounds with a 15.98 x 12.65 x 2.11-inch footprint. It's also packing a
GeForce 9400M G1 GPU with HybridPower technology that allows you to scale the graphics back to conserve battery power. Prices start at $1,799 for a lot less than we mentioned above.
As a footnote to the details above,
PCWorld also says that Alienware will use next week's E3 show to update us on its
42.8-inch curved monitor we went
hands-on with back in January
of 2008.
[Thanks, Steve]
posted May 29th 2009 5:28AM
I also agree with everyone here. Not as good looking as the Macbook Pro, which is also considered a gaming laptop by gaming enthusiasts. I have one and I love it, runs any game no problem.
Who lied to you? No one who knows what they're talking about considers ANY Mac to be a gaming device. I think this notebook is the hotness. I totally "jizzed in my pants" when I saw this on the PC at work this morning. The only thing I see missing, which I hope will be in the actual production model, is a fingerprint reader.
nice junk of a notebook.. but do you also get a free subscription plan for free energy from your friendly nuclear power plant nearby?? with 11.68 pounds you definitly do not need a security lock because its just too heavy ...
Dam.... that thing looks sweet. All I need now is the 4grand to afford the "worth wile" load out, then spend my days keeping it locked to the table, because Alienware's warranty doesn't cover accidental damages...
Well be fair, the red is ugly but you can change the color of the lighting or just turn it off period. What I love about the lit keyboard is the ability to write in the dark.
So which ODM made this, I think I would rather get it from them for $700 less.
" It's also packing a GeForce 9400M G1 GPU with HybridPower technology that allows you to scale the graphics back to conserve battery power. "
Apple bringing the evolution again...
Switchable graphics existed for years before Apple did it.
My 5 year old Alienware has switchable graphics. A 6600go and if you flip a switch before you power up the laptop it will use an Intel GMA 915. This was built long before Apple started building them like this.
Just wait until you see the size of the adapter.
Thats what she said.................
thats what she said
Alienware computers look good on the spec sheet, but the price, support, and fact that they deliver about 6 months after ordering anything should pretty much dissuade anyone from ever ever ever sending their money to these people. They are the worst of the worst in the computer world and basically prey off of anyone who is looking for a top of the line product. I know from experience. DO NOT EVER BUY FROM ALIENWARE, THEY SUCK HARD!!!
by Chris Iaquinta
"Dell has been called many things, but "PC gaming gods" isn't exactly one of them. The Dell XPS line of laptops definitely have a decent reputation, but many still wonder why the brand exists when Dell owns Alienware, arguably the biggest name in PC gaming. Well, apparently the Dell boys have come to the same conclusion, as today they've announced that Alienware will now be aggressively marketed as the face of the company's gamer-friendly products." - Chris Iaquinta IGN
LOL You would think they would at least give it a different name. Dell's gaming laptop was the XPS M1710, this is the M17X. (X =10) Although this is most likely all XPS M1730 inside. Sucks it doesn't have the Logitech Game Panel display integrated.
Is it upgradeable?
It's design is a pure copy of Audi R8 grilles.
I got my hands on one, and this thing is pretty damn nice. As for the lights, they're custom, so you can turn em off, change the colors to match your desktop, and add events like flashing lights (ie keyboard flashes red when your torrent is finished) and the lights really do come in handy when playing in low light.
The thing is well built and rugged as hell, this is definelty they kind of notebook to drag to lan parties. The touch pad does kinda suck, but who the hell uses those anyway? Haven't found a game I can't run at max settings yet (cept wow, have to turn shadows down, but thats blizzard and shitty design, not the system)
There is one pain with it. When you start it up on battery power, it kicks off the 280m cards, and runs on an internal (geforce 9400m g) to save power. Problem is, if you do anything other than a complete shutdown (ie, sleep, hibernate, etc) the system boots from the default bios, meaning it doesn't know you have those dual 1gig cards. Easy fix, but sucks having to go into the bios to enable the hybrid graphics everytime you forget to do a full shutdown. Also had a minor issue with a conflict between vista and whatever controlls the touch reactive strip (play, eject, volume, etc). Again, an easy fix (reload the control proggy for it) but annoying.
Overall, if you can afford this moster, it's well worth it. You actually get full USA alienware support vs the shitty indian guy prolly using an etch-a-sketch as a computer. So calling tech support or customer support takes like 2 minutes to get to a guy who can understand english.
since the alienware m17x is replacing the m1730. what happens if my m1730 is damaged? Will Dell give me the alienware m17x as a replacement? I have dell complete care warranty. Thanks!!!