A review of Dell Alienware M11x

Last year Dell released the Alienware collection of laptops in South Africa. Alienware has been recognized for their line of gaming notebooks.

Alienware has desired to determine itself in the gaming laptop in market for several years. It weight 5.3kg, for their mobile 15 inch laptop.

The Alienware M11x has 2 graphics adapters, 1 Intel based and the other Nvidia based. At first you turned between two by pushing a variety of keys, but after Nvidias technology turned offered Dell integrated this into new types of the notebook.

When powered up, lights flow from different locations within the body and all these could be configured. Different colors and strobe designs may all be setup with the included program.

Dell Alienware M11x Picture

The body alone is strong and also the keyboard hardly has any bend. Thats, it does not bend a lot while typing onto it. Its definitely not the best notebook keyboard on earth, however it types easily enough.

The touch pad moreover does not run into as the best cash can purchase. It doesnt have a center click button and it doesnt appear to service multi touch actions.

Performance characteristics

When we test the gaming efficiency of the device we were slightly unhappy at first.

It appeared that the Nvidia 335M GeForce graphics card must be performing a lot better than we were experiencing, that brought us to find out that the notebook was packed with a reasonably aged edition of Nvidias card graphics driver.

Once the drivers were upgraded to version 257.30 we noticed a extreme enhancement in game performance.

Even graphically intense games like Metro 2033 appeared to run very well.

Its value noting that Steam noted a difficulty with the graphics card when starting games. That is probably due to the Nvidia technology kicking in just after the game is launched.

The largest disadvantage to the unit we examined is it just delivered with 2GB RAM. It doesnt look like it will be a problem as Dell suggested that the pre constructed devices offered in South Africa may have 4GB RAM. Deficiency of optical drive may also become a deal breaker for a few, however it could be cured to a level having an exterior USB drive.

Overall the Alienware M11x is a gaming solid notebook, though a touch on the costly side and maybe a little showy for some. Hard core PC players might be greater offered with a desktop computer they assembled on their own.

Dell Alienware M11x Picture

Alienware M17x R3

Alienware Notebooks presents the most unique designs in the market; M17x R3 is no exception. Its ultra-modern exterior looks like it was based off of a military stealth aircraft. The M17x R3 is also available with a red exterior.

And AlienFX LED lighting is integrated perfectly in the beginning and takes the design to the next level. Colors of every notebook light, even if the caps / number lock indicators that can be customized with a dazzling array of colors. The keyboard consists of four separate areas of illumination. Even more fun, the lighting can be set to be transformed from two different colors or blinking. And of course can not be completely ruled out. It just too cold.

Alienware M17x R3

The build quality is good, but R3 M17x used almost exclusively in plastic predecessor made extensive use of aluminum. I miss the metal, especially on the back. Despite this, the M17x R3 uses thick plastic enough to not hit well when tapped with your fingernail. In general, very few smooth surfaces in R3 M17x except the control area of ​​the media on the keyboard.

The cover is well supported by a strong bolt connecting it to the frame. It takes a turn when he grabbed the corners of the old folk even more than the M17x because it has a plastic bottom. On the positive side, R3 M17x accept "soft" rubber-like surface of nearly all the visible surfaces. It feels good and is easy to clean. R3 M17x is affecting the quality, even though his predecessor was a couple of notches more sophisticated.

Alienware M17x R3

Ports and Features

The M17x R3 has an arsenal from the beginning of the ports, including USB 3.0, HDMI input and output, DisplayPort, eSATA, and a pair of USB 3.0. The only thing missing is an ExpressCard slot, the old man had an R1/R2 M17x. All descriptions of the images are from left to right.

Our review of the Alienware M17x R3 is defined as follows:

* 17.3-inch glossy "butt" HD monitor (1920x1080 resolution)

* Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7

* Intel Core i7 2720QM quad-core (2.2 ~ 3.3GHz Turbo Boost, 6MB cache, 45W TDP)

* Intel HM67

* AMD Radeon HD 6970M w / 2 GB GDDR5 video memory

* 8 GB DDR3-1333 (2 GB 4x, supports up to 16 GB - 4 GB 4x)

* 1.5 TB RAID 0 disk array (2x 750GB 7200RPM Seagate ST9750420AS)

* Intel ® Centrino ® Ultimate-N 6300 AGN Wireless Network Adapter

* Internal Bluetooth 3.0 wireless

720p * Integrated webcam

* Slot-loading Blu-ray reader / DVD burner (HL-DT-ST DVDRWBD CA30N)

* 9-cell Li-Ion (90WHr)

* Weight: 9.39 kg.

Dimensions: 1.76 x 11.96 x 16.14 cm

* 1 year limited warranty

* Starting price: $ 1,499

* Price as configured: $ 2.369