I've had the Alienware m15x for a few months now, and I think I can finally write a reasonable review. Alienware is owned by Dell, and is their flagship gaming machine line. The m15x is the midrange of the Alienware lineup. It was ordered online through the Dell website and took about three weeks to build and ship. As built, it has an Intel Core i3 quad core processor, 8 gigs of ram, a 7200 rpm 320GB hard drive, and a 1 gig video card. It includes a number of customizable options from the factory including lighting options, a custom laser engraved plate with my gamer handle on it (and in alienese!), and custom desktop theme options. Also included is a slot loading dual layer DVD burner, a 15 inch 1080p HD display, as well as a combination wireless/bluetooth card. A built in webcam and microphones allow for video chat with stereo audio. There are lots of hotkeys that allow one to operate custom options quickly, and also a set of media keys making video and audio convenient. Performance-wise, it has so far taken everything I could throw at it and more. I am currently playing games like America's Army, Tropico 3, and Fallout 3 at full 1080p resolution with maximum settings without a hiccup. Windows 7 Home Premium runs quickly and smoothly with all of the fancy visual options enabled. Microsoft Office 2007 Standard also runs well. As a gaming machine, I give it very high marks. All games I have tried run perfectly and at incredible resolutions. As an office machine, it is definitely overkill. However, I use it in that capacity all the time and it works great. the only complaints that I have are the weight and the battery life. The case is made of thick aluminum and the machine weighs almost 15 pounds. Durable, but heavy. Running so much hardware means that the battery craps out after about three hours under normal use. Not great, but acceptable to me. I don't usually go anywhere that doesn't have an outlet, so no problem. This computer is highly recommended for fans of computer gaming, high performance, and lots of customization. Feel free to ask questions!
I'd like to know more about the other options you talked about, especially the lighting options. Can you change the color of the keyboard backlighting, for example? What else is there?
ReplyDeleteAnd why so long to build it? Is that their normal time?
The lighting is fully customizable. My keyboard and touch pad are green, the media buttons are red, the speakers and the alien head on the lid are blue. I can even do separate colors for different sections of the keyboard. The computer can act as a bluetooth headset, and I can throttle back the power to save battery/electricity. The long build time is due to custom options like the amount of memory and the 1080p display. You can order a stock one, but I wanted to have a few extras. It also came with a bunch of alienware controls that allow you to control all aspects of performance, lighting, etc.
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