Alienware M17x R4 Review Discussion

This 17.3-inch monster includes the latest 2GB Nvidia GTX 680M graphics and an Intel quad-core processor. We've always liked the M17x, so what's not to like about this fourth generation (R4) model?

Read the full content of this Article: Alienware M17x R4 Review

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Charles outstanding review as usual. Pardon my drooling. I notice you mentioned 1900 X 1080 is the highest resolution for now... does this imply even higher resolutions are " in the pipe line" for 17 inch gaming laptops?

 

Thanks for the comment. With Apple producing computers with higher-than 1080p resolutions, I can only speculate that PC makers will in time have similar offerings. But I'm not privy to non-public info; sometimes I have to sign a non-disclosure agreement but not this time.

 

Any throttling problems for the dell 680M?

 

That battery life is amazing. Such a machine and such survival... interesting

 

I'm not an Nvidia fanboy but I have to admit that Optimus (Nvidia's automatic switchable graphics) is fantastic and being tweaked all the time by the folks at Nvidia to maximize battery life.

I also know that Dell and Alienware work closely with partners like Nvidia whenever possible to make sure there aren't "wasted watts" floating around (completely shutting off power to components that aren't actively needed) that impact battery life.

I'm certain that the battery life of the M17x R4 would be greatly reduced if you played a game at even modest detail settings while on battery power. Our official battery life test is based on extended web browsing activity -- like if you took your laptop to Starbucks and spent the afternoon visiting various websites and typing a Word document for school or work.

 

Nvidia Optimus is a godsend, if you look at the battery life of the original M17x it gets just 2:15 on battery: Alienware m17x Review

It's worth noting that the performance would not be close to 100% on battery, as the battery is just not capable of providing the required power output.

None that I could tell, but you might want to ask the boys in the M17x forum:
Alienware M17x Forum

 

Why can't they start dropping IPS screen on a 2K+ machine is the question ~~ Consider this is DELL aswell...

 

Do any gaming laptop manufacturers (MSI, Asus, Sager) have IPS screens on their models?

 

On gaming machine? Nope.

 

TN panels have a better response time maybe?

 

I have an IPS panel on my HP EliteBook and haven't had issues playing games. I don't consider gaming an application that requires an especially high quality display; perhaps Alienware came to that conclusion as well. The 1080p display on the M17x R4 is plenty vibrant and bright to make any game look good. I'm not complaining.

 

I have the m18x running sli 580m and an older m17x both are aluminum. You say that the lid is rubberized, does it have the rubberized texture on top of the lid also, so the top is soft touch as well as the whole body. I like the softouch I have on my m18x but it only is on the sides of keyboard, the lid is aluminum. The older 17mx is all hard plastic or aluminum. Could you clarify that I love rubberized and will get this new m17x soon or the bitfenix prodigy torn between the two!

 

I love every bits of this machine except there's no easy access to the internal system. It would be nice if there's a temperature chart around.

 

Yes, the lid is rubberized - I agree it's pretty nice.

I still prefer the first-gen M17x for build quality. It was heavier than the subsequent versions but the quality was better.

 

What annoys me with companies all over the globe is that they market 1080p as the superior resolution, my mates 4 year old XPS came with an 18" screen sporting
a 1920 x 1200 res.

Companies slap a HD badge on it and think that it’s better, 1080 is a buzz word nothing more.

Although I do believe that 1080 has its place in the market and is a great resolution up to 22”, then all you are doing is stretching the image.

Great review BTW and I’m so very tempted to buy one.

 

Alienwares are gaming rigs. Modern games are designed for a 16:9 aspect ratio, not 16:10. Some don't even support 16:10 (Mass Effect 1 springs to mind...I played it with vertically-stretched characters on my old MacBook Pro). If you want higher resolution, they should do higher resolution in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but not switch to 16:10.

But even with a high-end mobile GPU, I'm not sure they could get good framerates on modern games at a resolution higher than 1080p, so I'm not sure it's worth it.

So no, it doesn't have any more pixels than a 13" 1080p screen. But screen real estate matters too, especially in RTS games. It doesn't matter if it's the same number of pixels; if the screen is bigger, you can see what's going on better.

 

This isn't really true. Most modern games support 1920x1200. The few that don't usually just display black bars on the top and bottom, which is hardly noticeable. Mass Effect can hardly be considered a modern game, being released six years ago and having two sequels that do support 16:10.

I'm pretty sure that these high ending gaming laptops could run these games just fine at 1920x1200. My three year old desktop runs new games at that resolution with full settings on 95% of new games, and I'm pretty sure these are more powerful. A few games you might have to knock AA and/or AF a notch down - not really a big deal.

 

Hey Charles, what annoyed me the most was the damn matte screen and Chi Mei panel on the G75VX, damn screen was so grainy and it looks like some type of grease was on it. Does M17x R4 have a glassy and clear and no greasy looking grainy foggy screen?

 

Wow - have to agree with jaug1337 that the battery life is really good. Kudos to those involved in optimization thereof!

 

The M17x's screen has none of those unwanted qualities. Of course it is glossy.