Alienware Area-51 M9750 Review

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by Charles P. Jefferies

Overview

The Area-51 M9750 is a top-of-the-line gaming notebook from Alienware. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and is available with dual Nvidia high-performance video cards.

Alienware M9750 (view large image)

Our review unit has with the following specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 (2.33GHz/ 667MHz FSB/ 4MB L2 cache)
• DUAL Nvidia GeForce Go 7950GTX video cards with 512MB DDR3 each (1024MB total) – SLI enabled
• 2GB DDR2-667 RAM (4GB available)
• Two 160GB 7200RPM Hitachi TravelStar SATA hard drives in RAID 0 (RAID 1 available)
• 17” WUXGA (1920x1200) glossy display
• Windows XP Media Center 2005 with TV tuner
• 8X DVD dual layer burner
• Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN WLAN
• Internal Bluetooth

Our system as configured is $4,448 with a one-year warranty. Two- and three- year warranties are available for $200 and $300 respectively.

Reasons to Buy

Lid view (view large image)

The Alienware M 9750 has a select user base. The main reason to buy this notebook is for extreme gaming. With the kind of components this notebook has, it is tough to beat. Its main competitor is the Clevo D900C (commonly known as the Sager NP 9260). Although the Clevo is slightly more powerful overall, the M9750 is significantly slimmer and lighter. For gamers who want the ultimate power in a reasonably portable package, the Alienware M9750 is the machine to beat. 

Build &amp; Design

An Alienware is like a high-end sports car; pictures do not do either of them justice. The M9750 has Alienware’s famous out-of-this–world case design which instantly sets it apart from every other notebook in its class.

The M9750 is entirely of one color - black. The machine looks extremely sleek, like a stealth aircraft. Personally, I find the look to be visually stimulating and attractive. No matter where this machine is taken, it will turn heads. I took the M9750 to a local coffee shop and everyone there took a long, hard look at it.

Alienware nailed build quality on the head with the M9750. The machine is constructed from high strength plastic. I was not able to detect any flex in the chassis. Even though the palm rests are quite expansive, I could not get them to budge applying any amount of pressure. There might as well be two-by-fours lining the inside of the chassis.

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Usually, notebooks with 17” displays flex quite a bit when twisted from side to side, which is understandable given they are so large. However, the M9750’s 17” display hardly moves when twisted. The strength of the display is commendable; I believe Alienware’s unique lid design has something to do with this.

The surfaces of the M9750 with the exception of the area surrounding the screen and just below it are pleasing to touch as they are soft and rubberized. Fingerprints do not show easily. I did not get the usual “sweaty palm feeling” like I do with glossy-surfaced machines. The area around the display and just below it are glossy black plastic which does show fingerprints; however, this area is unlikely to be touched often.

The M9750 is one of the lighter 17” notebooks, weighing in at the rather low weight of 8.5 pounds. It is only 1.5” thick. Here is a shot of the M9750 next to some &quot;real world&quot; objects so you can get an idea of the size:

The M9750 next to a coke can and ThinkPad X61 ultraportable. The M9750 is about the size and weight of a cat. (view large image)

Overall I am extremely impressed with the build quality of the M9750. No corners were cut and none should be on a machine this expensive.

Screen

A look at the beautiful WUXGA screen on the M9750 (view large image)

Customers can choose between a WXGA+ (1440x900 pixels) or WUXGA (1920x1200 pixels) display; our review unit has the latter. Both displays have a glossy coating.

The picture quality of the display is excellent; images have crisp detail and colors look vivid. Blacks look like blacks and whites look like whites. I did not notice any hints of ghosting while gaming. Our test unit had a pixel-perfect display. Viewing angles are generally good; from the sides, the picture does not lose anything; from above, colors appear slightly washed out but the colors are still there. From below however, the image gets darker than one would expect and the viewing angle is not the best.

The high resolution of the 1920x1200 WUXGA display is amazing for gaming and general tasks. There is so much real estate for multiple windows and multitasking. Since the display is so wide there is basically no side-to-side scrolling. This is a true high-definition resolution – the M9750 is available with a Blu-ray disc player and based on the beautiful quality of the HD clips I watched, I can only imagine how awesome a full high-definition movie would be.

On the whole the 17” WUXGA display on our test unit is phenomenal for gaming, movies, and generally anything one would do on a computer. It is very enjoyable to use and look at.

Speakers

The Alienware M9750 has two stereo speakers located along the front of the chassis below the palm rest, and it also has an integrated subwoofer. For a notebook there is very little to complain about in regards to the sound. It is detailed and the speakers can get very loud. While listening to CDs at high volume levels, the sound is a bit tinny and the speakers lack in the mid to full range. These speakers will not match a pair of desktop speakers but they are clearly a few steps above traditional notebook speakers. Game playback was better than CD playback and the sound was most impressive.

For better sound, the M9750 has an optical out port for connecting directly to high-end sound systems. This is the first time I have seen this port on a notebook. It sounded fantastic plugged into my stereo. The M9750 also has 4.1 surround sound jacks along with the standard headphone and microphone.

A rare feature I do not see on many notebooks is the external volume control wheel, located on the right side of the machine. It makes raising/lowering the volume very easy and it is a nice feature.

Processor &amp; Performance

The M9750 is based on Intel’s previous Centrino Duo platform. Even though it does not use Santa Rosa, it is still more than capable of handling any task.

Our test system has maxed out specifications, something which the price reflects. Let’s take a look at how it performed.

Prior to testing, I fully tuned up the machine, defragmented the hard drive, and disabled all unnecessary services. I did a Windows Update and downloaded all critical updates available. All Internet connections were disabled (except for online games). I did not overclock any component. All games were updated with the latest patches. This machine was optimized for dual-core – please see the Windows XP Multi-core Configuration Thread in the forums for further details. This ensures that Windows is properly handling the dual-core processor.

Overall System Performance

PCMark05

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PCMark05 Comparison Results

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Alienware M9750 (Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz, Nvidia go 7950 GTX video cards with 512MB)	6,243 PCMarks
Sager NP9260 (2.66GHz Core 2 Duo E6700, 2x Nvidia GeForce Go 7950GTX video cards with 512MB DDR3)	6,871 PCMarks
Alienware m5790 (1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI X1800 256MB)	4,411 PCMarks
Fujtisu Siemens Amilo Xi1554 Review (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI X1900, Windows XP)	5,066 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus Z84Jp (2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, Nvidia Go 7600)	4,739 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400)	3,646 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks

 

Processor Performance

Processor Specifications

Super Pi

 

SuperPi Comparison Results

Notebook	Time
Alienware M9750 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7600)	55s
Sager NP9260 (2.66GHz Core 2 Duo E6700)	46s
MSI M677 (1.8 GHz Turion X2)	1m 53s
Fujitsu LifeBook N6420 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s
LG S1 (2.16 GHz Core Duo)	1m 11s
Dell Inspiron e1505 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 16s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s
Toshiba Satellite M100 (2.00GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s
Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Duo)	1m 29s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s

wPrime

Please see the Measure your Dual/Multi Core Notebook CPU Speed - Bye Bye to SuperPI in the forums for comparisons.

Cinebench 9.5

Cinebench is a rendering benchmark tool based on the powerful 3D software, CINEMA 4D. Its rendering tasks can stress up to sixteen multiprocessors on the same computer. It is a free benchmarking tool, and can be found here: http://www.cinebench.com/

CPU Rendering Benchmark

• 1 CPU: 378 CB-CPU
• x CPU: 679 CB-CPU
• Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.80x

SiSandra Arithmetic

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SiSandra Multimedia

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Synthetic Gaming Performance

3DMark06

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3DMark06 Results and Comparison:

Notebook	3D Mark 06 Results
Alienware M9750 (Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz, Nvidia go 7950 GTX video cards with 512MB)	7,308
Sager NP9260 (2.66GHz Core 2 Duo E6700, 2x Nvidia GeForce Go 7950GTX video cards with 512MB DDR3)	9,097
Alienware m5790 (1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI X1800 256MB)	2,625
WidowPC Sting D517D (Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz, Nvidia 7900GTX 512MB)	4,833
Apple MacBook Pro (2.00GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 128MB)	1,528
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB)	2,183
ASUS A8Ja (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 512MB)	1,973
Dell XPS M1710 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX 512MB)	4,744

3DMark05

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Real World Gaming Performance

I did a number of game tests on the M9750. Please see the results below.

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Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 4

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Resolution: 1280x720. All settings maxed out

Average FPS: 48

The game was not very playable at the highest 1920x1200 resolution option. However dropping to the next lowest resolution, the game was more than playable.

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Oblivion

Settings (view large image)

Even running at the highest 1920x1200 resolution with High Dynamic Range enabled and every other setting maxed, the M9750 had no problem tearing through this game.

Maximum FPS: 61

Average FPS: 54

Minimum FPS: 30

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Neverwinter Nights 2

Settings (view large image)

Average FPS: 35

Minimum FPS: 15

The game was definitely playable although there were a few areas where I experienced slowdowns. Keep in mind I am running this at the full 1920x1200 resolution with shadows maxed.

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Star Wars: Battlefront II

All settings maxed – 4X AA – light bloom ON – 1920x1200 resolution

Level: Jabba’s Palace

Average FPS: 74

Level: Death Star

Average FPS: 77

The game is definitely more than playable at the highest possible settings. Note that this game is capped at a maximum FPS of 80 so getting very close to that at these extreme settings is impressive.

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F.E.A.R. Combat Online Multiplayer

All settings maxed – no AA – 16X AF – 1920x1200 resolution

Level: Evacuation

Average FPS: 80

Level: Docks

Average FPS: 55

FEAR was very playable at 1920x1200 in most levels. In others the resolution will need to be turned down to 1680x1050 to have the best playability.

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Call of Duty 2 Online Multiplayer

All settings maxed – no AA – Antistrophic Filtering – 1920x1200 resolution – DirectX 9 rendering

Level: Toujane, Tunisia

Average FPS: 55

Level: Caen, France

Average FPS: 60

Call of Duty 2 was playable although there were some slowdowns at the highest resolution. I found that running this game at the slightly reduced resolution of 1680x1050 was much better for fluid game play.

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Half-Life 2: Lost Coast HDR Video Stress Test

All settings maxed – 4X MDAA  -16X AF – 1920x1200 resolution – color correction disabled – full HDR

Average FPS: 58.39

This demo did not run as well as I expected it to although it was still playable. Once again, reducing the resolution one notch to 1680x1050 means a much more playable game.

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Counter-Strike: Source Video Stress Test

All settings maxed – 4X MSAA – 16X AF – 1920x1200 resolution – color correction disabled

Average FPS: 119.18

On the whole, the gaming performance of the M9750 is good although not the best when compared to other SLI systems. It does not match up to the performance of the SLI enabled Clevo D900C (Sager NP9260), but the M9750 comes in a considerably smaller package. Most games will be playable on the M9750 at the 1920x1200 native resolution of the monitor. Some games will need to be toned down to lower resolutions in order to achieve a comfortable frame rate.

Heat &amp; Noise

With two of the most powerful graphics cards available for notebooks and a fast Core 2 Duo processor, the M9750 needs a heavy-duty cooling system that can deal with the tremendous amount of heat created. Thankfully, it does. Two relatively large and high-powered fans jet air out the back of the notebook through two wide vents. The air coming out of the vents is scorching. It comes out very fast and in large volume – standing behind the notebook, even four to five feet away, I could feel the heat being propelled out of the vents.

The visible surfaces of the M9750 stay exceptionally cool. The only part of the notebook’s surface that gets more than room temperature is the area directly below the LCD. The bottom of the notebook can get quite warm towards the back where the vents are located. Even after hours of playing Call of Duty 2, the M9750 never got any warmer on the surface. The cooling system had no problem coping with heat over extended periods.

As expected the M9750 is not a silent notebook. However, the noise level is surprisingly low. The sound coming out of the M9750 can essentially be described as a very fast rush of air. It is always present and I can tell the fans kick into a “turbo mode” or higher RPM while gaming because the rush of air sounds noticeably faster. I did not notice any actual fan noise – I never heard the motors running. The only audible sound is the very fast rush of air.

Overall I am thoroughly impressed with the M9750’s ability to deal with heat.

Keyboard &amp; Touchpad

Keyboard

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1. Finger touch-button LED – lit temporarily when any of the finger touch-buttons is pressed
2. Wireless LED – lit when wireless is on
3. AC adapter LED – lit when system is connected to AC power
4. HDD/ODD activity LED – lit when hard drive or optical drive are accessed
5. Touchpad LED – lit when touchpad is activated
6. Caps lock LED
7. Number lock LED
8. Activate default Internet browser
9. Activate default email client
10. Media buttons (left to right: play/pause, stop, previous track, next track)
11. Multimedia buttons (left to right: launch TV program, DVD program, music program)

The Alienware M9750 has a full-size keyboard with separate number pad. The keyboard is very solid – there is no flex anywhere. The tactile feedback is very pleasing and I enjoy typing on this keyboard. It is fairly quiet and should not annoy anyone.

Above the keyboard is a series of touch-sensitive controls. There are keys for email/Internet as well as multimedia controls. Please see the diagram above.

I have two qualms with this keyboard, and both deal with the layout. My first complaint is the lack of dedicated pgup/pgdn/home/end keys. It baffles me how on a 17” notebook with all of the available space to integrate a keyboard that these keys are not dedicated. Instead, they reside as secondary functions in the arrow keys; in order to use them, the Function (Fn) key must be pressed in combination with the corresponding arrow key. There is another set of these keys in the number pad, so if number lock is not on they are essentially dedicated keys. However if number lock is on, then the Shift key must be pressed in order to use the keys.

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My second qualm is the layout of the number pad. It has three columns of keys instead of the standard four, and many of the keys are in different spots. The layout takes some getting used to but after a while it becomes natural.

Overall I really like this keyboard – it has excellent tactile feedback and no flex, but the layout can be frustrating and does have a learning curve.

Touchpad

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The touchpad is fairly simple on the M9750. It is slightly recessed into the surface of the M9750’s palm rest and is of the same material. I actually used the touch pad the majority of the time I had the M9750 in my possession. I found it to be more than usable – I experienced no tracking issues and the buttons functioned normally.

The touchpad can be easily turned off by pressing the Function + F5 keys. I imagine most owners of the M9750 will have external mice plugged in so the ability to disable the touchpad is convenient.

Input &amp; Output Ports

The Alienware M9750 is the most port-loaded notebook I have used. It has all of the commonly used ports such as USB as well as a few rarities, including DVI and optical out. Fancy a picture tour?

Front View

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1. LCD latch
2. Two speakers
3. Optical drive

Optical Drive Detail

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Rear View

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1. Audio-in
2. TV-in
3. S-Video in
4. RJ-11 modem/fax
5. Vents
6. Power
7. USB 2.0 port
8. S-Video out
9. DVI
10. VGA

Left View

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1. Kensington lock slot
2. Vents
3. RJ-45 Ethernet
4. 2x USB 2.0
5. IEEE 1394 mini Firewire
6. Two hard drive doors
7. Media card slot
8. ExpressCard slot

Right View

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1. Volume dial
2. Headphone jack
3. Microphone jack
4. 3x audio-out ports (front/surround/center speakers)
5. SPDIF-out
6.  USB 2.0 port
7. Vents

Bottom View

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1. Subwoofer
2. RAM compartment
3. Battery latch
4. Battery pack
5. Vents

Wireless

The Alienware M9750 has two forms of wireless communications: Bluetooth 2.0 and wireless LAN. The M9750 houses the latest Intel wireless card, the PRO/Wireless 4965AGN, which supports the draft N wireless protocol. I was unable to test the N feature because I do not have access to an N router, but I am pleased to report I had no issues connecting to a variety of secured G networks. The wireless signal was quite strong, and I did not have any trouble maintaining a wireless connection.

The Bluetooth wireless also worked well – I connected to my Bluetooth-enabled ThinkPad and transferred files back and forth without issue.

Battery

While surfing the Internet wirelessly with the display set at 3/7 brightness, our M9750 held out for one hour and three minutes before giving the ten percent left warning. I actually think that is not a bad result – the 12-cell battery is powering not one but two video cards, two hard drives running in RAID, and a large 17” display. My one hour and three minutes result can be looked at as the lowest possible time under the given conditions – with a single video card and single hard drive I would expect longer life. Still, the M9750 at least allows for some cordless freedom which should be considered a luxury in a machine this powerful.

Operating System &amp; Software

Our test Alienware M9750 came preinstalled with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. The M9750 is also available at the time of this review with Windows XP Professional, Vista Home Premium, and Vista Ultimate.

The OS install of our test system was clean. Alienware fortunately does not install any junk software on any of their systems. All of the recovery CDs and driver CDs are included with the system along with printed documentation.

Customer Support

Alienware offers 24/7 toll-free phone technical support and onsite service with all of the warranty options on the M9750, including the base 1-year. Two- and three-year warranties are available for an additional $200 and $300 respectively at time of purchase.

Conclusion

The Alienware Area-51 M9750 definitely ranks as one of the most impressive systems I have used in almost every aspect, from its striking visual appearance to the fast overall performance. The M9750’s beautiful customized case design is only half of the experience – the other half belongs to the array of top-of-the-line components inside. Despite the fact that the M9750 can house two video cards, it is fairly light and thin so taking it on a trip is not out of the question. Combine that with an excellent cooling system and high-resolution 17” display, and we have ourselves a winner.

Pros:

• Fast gaming performance
• Out-of-this-world case design
• Extremely well built
• Keyboard has a great feel
• Excellent cooling system – system stays cool
• Available with Windows XP
• Relatively thin and light
• Great-looking display

Cons:

• Missing certain dedicated keyboard keys
• Odd number pad layout
• Vertical viewing angles could be better

 

I'll be first to say that this is a another great review.

I would have to note that another CON should be noted:
- this is old Napa Platform... restricting the notebook to old Core 2 Duo and max 3 gigs of RAM
- it would have been nicer if Arima would have developed and manufactured this much earlier (kinda feels too little too late)

Other than that, this seems like a powerful rig for the money.

And the SLI 7950GTX's should easily last for at least 3 years or more.

 

Great review!!
Really, if alienware didn't have such an ugly lid, I'd seriously consider getting one of these. No offense to anyone that likes this brand, but I just find the whole top lid to be so ugly. I know it's great advertisement for them, but still.

 

Thanks for a nice and comprehensive review.

Although I rarely game anymore, It's always good to be updated on the gaming books out there.

 

Great review Chaz, that is definately a 'big rig'. Intereting place for the optical drive. Oh and I loved the picture with the kitty. ^^;

 

Great review Chaz!!!

Couple of things I noticed.

1. I believe at least some parts of the case are magnesium.

2. You didn't mention the integrated IR receiver behind the left front speaker.

3. For the pic of the bottom, the hard drives are listed as vents.

Still great review, I think I just spent a little too much time researching while waiting for mine!

 

Great review Chaz. I was just wondering which windows services you deem "unnecessary" and why. Thanks!

 

that thing is a beast. I want one.

 

It seriously looks beautiful, with the completely black casing. This is the first Alienware I have ever seen that doesn't look completely tacky and frivolous.

That 3DMark score strikes me as wrong though...Will the desktop processor on the D900C really bump the scores up by that much (nearly 2000) even though they have the same graphics card?

 

Yeah that is a weird 3DMark score... I'm getting around 8200~(8247) on 2.0GHz and JamesKirstyLou is getting 8500~(8486) on 2.33GHz

Were you running 3DMark on battery?

Good review

The pg, home and end button config doesn't bother me much because thats the exact same config my VAIO has- although it would have been nice to get dedicated buttons...

The advantage of a 3 row numpad is that (the width of a button does make a diff) is that you won't have to shift your hands as far to the left as I've heard people complain about 17" books with full keyboards.

 

Interesting analogy comparing a notebook to a cat. LOL
Great review

 

Is it just me, or is the screen on the thinkpad pictured with the cat and can of coke, a glossy screen???

 

You'll need a well-fed cat to match that Alienware beast.

Thanks for the very informative review with plenty of information and test results.

John

 

Great review! We'll just hope that the cat in question isn't a twenty pound one *joke* I have seen some pretty dense cats

 

Great review, except I really want to start seeing high end DX10 cards in these powerhouses.

 

Thanks for the great comments guys. This notebook was very enjoyable to review.

Windows has a lot of services running by default which are not necessary, including System Restore - check this site here:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/

I tried 7 different sets of drivers and I couldn't get the 3DMark scores to be any higher. Whatever could have been done was done.

Why would I run 3DMark on battery? All benchmarks are always run on AC only.

I still view the number pad configuration as a con, it really is different and takes getting used to.

The ThinkPad for the record actually has a matte screen - what you see is the screen protector.

 

Hehehe, I can just imagine the big grin you had while reviewing this, I had a face cramp from grinning while I was unpacking mine

Maybe one of the cards was faulty running at a lower clock speed.. I dunno, looks like you tried everything

 

Great review,Chaz.

 

I thinks so too . . . the clocks on the cards seemed fine. The only thing I didn't do was a clean reformat but because this was a review unit I didn't. If something got messed up or I was missing something I'd be in trouble, and I wouldn't be able to software test it.

 

Yes, yes, yes Great Review Chaz. It is the most desirable looking notebook I've seen. Especially after seeing Die Hard 4 last night

Apart from that it strikes that a dual card setup only manages to get around 1000 points over a single card setup (check others 3DMarks http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2191283#post2191283), and is behind D900C for about 2000 points. Something is not right here..

Anyway I was waiting for your review to make up my mind but now I simply don't know (if the difference was around 500 well my mind would have settled already). But it does make me want to be a Alienware fanboy

Chaz, as you played with this notebook and the D900c what would you advise? In other words, what would you want for yourself to play the latest games at high res and do some serious work for the next 3 to 4 years (after that it will become my media center below the TV). I would be taking the beast every day the office and back home. I'm more or less tall, 1.82 meters and a strong man ... Your answer would be very appreciated since you seam to be brand agnostic.

Trance
PS: I agree with Gophn, great notebook, last year's technology.

 

hmmmm, carrying a a beast like that on a daily basis? would you just throw in a car for travel or are you actually gonna be carrying it while on a train/bus? regardless of how strong you are, it does get very tiresome esp. after the initial excitment wears off, happened to me with the 17" Asus W2 and a 15" Thinkpad and that was only once a week.

Great review Chaz. Even though I've never had a great experience with AW (desktop), I must say if you're a gamer and have the money for it, there aren't too many notebooks out there with this kind of specs.

 

As other people noted the 3DMark scores for this machine are lower than what they should be. Like I said, I tried 7 different sets of drivers and optimized the crap out of it and this was the best I could do. I would have formatted it but I didn't want to risk anything going wrong.

I would have such a tough time deciding between the M9750 and the NP9260 . . . what I really like about the M9750 is that it is much thinner and noticeably lighter than the NP9260. The capabilities of both notebooks are about the same for gaming. If you plan to use this notebook full time for CPU intensive applications then the Sager would be the best choice because it has desktop CPUs. For those wanting to make a style statement, I'd recommend the Alienware because it really does have an out-of-this-world design and in real life it is amazing.

I'll just throw my thoughts into this chart here . . .
NP9260
-Highest overall performance
-Desktop CPU
-Runs quieter than M9750

M9750
-Considerably thinner/lighter than NP9260 - better for portability
-More design elements
-More durable because of rubberized surfaces (less prone to scratches)

 

Thank you very much for your answer Chaz. Can't the laptop owners give you permission the reformart it? After all they would have a clean and fast setup after that and we would get probably more confortable with the measurements?

If not, I'll pass on the style then and go for performance. Yes I do use CPU intensive stuff at work such as compiling multi megabyte software in .NET.

Trance
PS: Much more powefull (according to the benchmarks) and quieter and still transportable ... it seams like a clear winner to me.

 

I want buy an 9750 but be able to take into it some 8800GTX or other dx10 video card in the furure is important to me. It is possible or nop ??? Or it is depending on type of mxm module???? or what? pls help me

 

Theoretically the 8700M GT is possible as Alienware claims to be testing the m9750 with a DX Card Setup (must be the 8700M GT, or maybe even some hitherto unknown AMD card) and will let it be configured with it once they are satisfied with its performance. No one can tell you now if a future card will fit into a current laptop.

 

Nicely reviewed Chaz, as always. Your points on the NP9260 and Alienware M9750 differences are all very valid and people need to figure out their individual needs for a gaming notebook to decide which suits them, there is no "best" between the two. The M9750 definitely looks nicer than the beast-sized NP9260, but obviously if all you care about is more power then the NP9260 is where it's at.

Love the size comparison. The cat deserves a treat for posing so still for that shot.

 

nice review, i laughed at the cat comparison

 

Nice review Chaz.
Lynn

 

Great, great review Chaz, it´s been very helpul to me.

About the abnormally high differences in the 3dmark score between the Alienware and the Sager... have you noticed any real-game differences as those numbers would suggest? Are you planning any kind of direct comparison between the two?

EDIT: I just found your review the Sager, so I can get "direct comparisons" from it.

Thanks man

 

Hmm. I am not 100% sure, but I think that the laptop disables 1 of the video cards when you use it under battery, because powering two cars would drain the battery even more then it is.

I am not sure about this, but if someone could check, that would be great.

 

*The M9750 is about the size and weight of a cat.*
brilliant.
p.

 

Thanks Chaz.

 

Chaz,
Thanks for the review. I have been waiting to see a good review since Alienware announce it. Ok on with the question. I too like others am trying to decide between the M9750 and the NP9260. I am not a gamer but more of a fan of piggish consumption - Actually I am a developer and I am in front of my laptop 10 hours a day and I want something that is going to perform really well for the next 3 to 4 years.

I really like the M9740 looks and specs but then I priced out the NP9260 fully loaded with the extreme processor etc. and wow bang for the buck! Would the NP9260 with the extreme processor be like sitting 6 inches away from a fire place?

Thanks,
Confused in NY

 

As noted Alienware claims to be testing the M9750 with the 8700M-GT. Don't expect to see an 8800M card until the end of the year . . .

Thanks Andrew - I was actually feeding her treats in that shot. She's looking up at me waiting for another. It took me forever to get her to sit still.

You could get the Extreme processor and still be fine with the NP9260. Remember, I got the E6700 in my NP9260 and it ran cool as can be.

It's important to note that the M9750 reviewed here has max specs so it is as hot as it is going to get (and as expensive ).

 

Just curious, what's the laptop they're rebadging? Looks like some Compal model to me, though I could be wrong.

 

Very nice review chaz and when i saw the pic of the bottom lol i always thought i had a dent by the express slot cause it was located in wierd place haha. but i see its there for you to. but great review man i like it.

 

Sorry, but I just don't see why anyone would get this notebook. 4.5 grand for an average speced machine that's unbelievably heavy? Even the 7950GTX (or any next-gen 8xxx series GPU for that matter) SLI graphics configuration doesn't just justify the price. Plus the design, can I say horrid? The computer looks like it was designed 10 years ago. Plus with Alienware's given record of superb customer and top-notch build quality, pff... lol I can't even say that with a straight face.

 

This is a re-branded Arima W800 series notebook.

 

It looks like you end up spending about $ 1k more for a 15%+ drop in performance, all to save on weight. The 9260 has allot of well laid out heat venting, directed out the back and away from the user. From the pictures, this Laptop does not look like it can compete in cooling flow.
But on the bright side, some competition is always good for consumer pricing!

 

All benchmark tests were run on AC power with exception to the battery test of course.

 

thats what some people say about lenovo laptops as well... hence why its only in the eyes of the beholder.

 

It's an Arima chassis but I am pretty sure Alienware has exclusive rights to it, so you can't buy the barebones.

These are not average specifications . . . As far as notebooks go this is one of the fastest there is.
I didn't say everyone would like the design.

Like I said, the Alienware M9750 has other things to offer. It is thinner and lighter than the NP9260 and it is much more customized from a design standpoint.

 

Chaz, your reviews are always appreciated and well done. Always look forward to them.

I hope though that PC game makers wake up and realize that not everyone can afford these machines and only the less economically responsible people would by them. What the majority of people buy or own is mid spec'd machines. They should program games to be "all way to the right or up" with the detail sliders at max res for the mid spec'd machines.

I don't know. Given the consoles out there, maybe computer gaming is a niche after all.

And who am I to talk. I'm waiting for the 8800m series to come out.

 

The problem is that these machines cost a lot more then an average laptop mainly due to graphics power. Nothing, I mean nothing else of real notice and cutting edge is due to.

At least Sony with their AR41S cost around 3000 but has BlueRay (really cutting edge) dual lamp and some other perks. These guys don't even develop the technology so in terms of technology don't really offer any innovation by themselves and charge like they do. 3000 for what? Years of alienware research? The same for Clevo, common you didn't even came up with the CPU, GPU, Memory design etc etc, why charge so much for something a mobile GPU (one year old). One simply pay premium for the chassis (a plastic and sometimes magnesium box) and that is it as far as I can see.

The problem isn't so much the games should be made to average laptops but that high end laptops (desktop replacement) shouldn't cost much MORE then an equivalent desktops (2000 dollars?), considering that they cost so little to build.

Now 4500 euros that is 2500 more then a equivalent desktop, well equivalent not really as one would outperform easily any of these two machines.

I was glad to pay 2500 euros for a Tablet PC when it come out. It is still my main PC for work (altought slow), that was innovation in the PC market that I was glad to pay for.

Sorry for my rant, when the world is talking of a laptop for 100 bucks (one for each children) come these guys that bring little innovation to the technology and charge premium. Hopefully more vendors such as Asus and Toshiba will join the bandwagon of gamming laptops and charge proper prices for it. Until then well I'm one of the lucky that can afford them, but I've been lurking around for 8 months waiting for the m8800 to come out, and I'll stand still, If I'm paying premium for a card I might as well pay premium for something thast is not more then a couple of months old. If I did'nt like laptops so much ....

Trance.
PS: By the way, some guy here was talking about Microsoft monopoly, lack of innovation, raptor tactics blablablabla. Talking about that in the laptop gaming market ..... laptops stoped being a niche a long time ago, so why the distictinction? It is created artificially in order to spin the prices of a few machines that is all.

 

For the record, this laptop does have an available Blu-ray drive. But I agree that beyond gamers, the M9750 doesn't have a wide audience.

 

I would have considered this laptop last year for this price, but it's just a little late. But it looks great anyways. Who knows, if Alienware can refresh this model with dual 8800gtx's, they might just have a buyer...

 

As I've said, they did not come up technology (BlueRay I mean). Even if it cost 3800 I still feal that I'm getting something technically cheap for a lot of money. Unfortunately I need a new laptop and I don't like a tower in my living room for gaming "wife would kill me ".

Ultraportables are another ballgame, hardware miniaturization is extremly expensive to build and years or technical research go with it. So a 3000 dollars for a ultraportable seams fair. But these are simply beasts.

Dual m8800 I would pay for it too, not becouse of technological advancement to Alienware or Clevo, but to NVIDIA. And since both Arima and Clevo seam to be the only two companies that build them, will have to be it.

Trance

 

Nice review, Chaz!

 

I have this machine. Its amazing.

And it is EXACTLY what I wanted out of a laptop. I wanted a C2D SLI, 17" machine. And I will never touch a laptop with a desktop proc in it again. (I was one of many who was burned on the early Clevo d900's). Its light for a 17", and I can use it anywhere. I had a Garage Sale last weekend. I was outside playing Oblivion and surfing the web. I can sit in bed with it. The couch. The Car. I take it to work. Try THAT with a desktop.

This machine WILL last roughly 3 years or more. The technology while a little dated, is NOT outdated. And when the new dx10 mobile cards come out, I bet Alienware will let owners upgrade.

Its sharp looking, without being flamboyant. Its a sweet machine, and reasonably priced.. for what it is.

 

Can you make some comparison pics to the D900?