Alienware m17x and m15x Gaming Laptops Unveiled at NYC Event

Today Alienware unveiled its new Area-51 m17x and m15x gaming laptops. The m17x is a 17" screen monster while the m15x is a 15" screen notebook. Both offer dual Nvidia 8800m graphics cards and Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.80GHz processors. And yes, the cliche "out of this world design" holds true too. The only bad news is that the m17x and m15x won't be available until Q1 of 2008.

Unveiling of the m15x and m17x

Alienware Area-51 m17x

Here's a quick system overview of the M17x:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme processor (2.80GHz)
• Memory: up to 4GB DDR2 667MHz
• Graphics: Dual Nvidia GeForce 8800m GTX/Dual Nvidia 8700M GT
• Optical Drive: Blu-Ray burner
• Storage: Up to 640GB with RAID 0 plus an expandable Smart Bay hard drive option
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate
• Display: 17-inch Widescreen UXGA (1080p)
• Design: Available in black or silver with SkullCap lid (groove style lid) or Ripley (smooth with single groove in the middle) lid

Skullcap design

Ripley Design

Some other points to note, you can get up to 1GB of dedicated graphics memory if you run the 8800M cards in SLI mode. There's the ability to have up to 3 hard drives with a total storage capacity of 640GB when you use the expandable Smart Bay. Alienware has introduced a new design dubbed "Ripley", you can also go with the classic Skullcap design. Quicktouch controls make it easy to control accessing wireless, volume and other media.

So how much will an m17x notebook cost if you were to trick it out nicely? Here's an example configuration that was captured last week when the configuration page was leaked on Alienware.com:

• SKULLCAP 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology - Black
• Dual 512MB NVidia GeForce Go 8800M GTX - SLI Enabled
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor X7900 2.8GHz - Extreme Edition (4MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
• 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
• Intel Turbo Memory (1GB) - Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
• Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate
• Internal Digital/Analog (ATSC) MiniCard TV Tuner with Express Card Media Center Remote Control
• 400GB (200GB x 2) 7,200RPM (16MB Cache)
• 2x Blu-ray Writer/DVD±RW Burner
• Internal Wireless a/b/g/n with MIMO Technology
• External Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio Card
• Customizable AlienFX Keyboard with Numeric Pad
• Alienware® Odyssey Backpack
• Price: $5,628.00 (before taxes)

Yes, that's a lot of money, but imagine the power of such a machine! Unfortunately, Alienware announced today the release date will not be until during the first quarter of 2008, with no specific date set, so put away that credit card until after Christmas.

Alienware Area-51 m15x

The Alienware m15x is the more mobile gaming notebook release, having a 15" screen as opposed to the 17" screen of the m17x. It offers 8800M GTX graphics like the m17x, but not in SLI. The great news is that Alienware has integrated a feature called BinaryGFX in which a user can switch between integrated graphics and dedicated graphics depending on your need. If you're looking to do some hard core gaming, use the dedicated graphics. If you just want to type up a term paper, switch to integrated to save on power.

Here's a System Overview of the Alienware m15x

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme
• Memory: up to 4GB DDR2 667MHz
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX
• Optical Drive: Blu-Ray burner
• Storage: Up to a 320GB SATA drive plus an expandable Smart Bay hard drive option
• Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate
• Display: 15.4" WidescreenUXGA (1080p)

The 320GB of storage is achieved using a single internal hard drive and then adding a second hard drive with the hot swappable Smart Bay. You can again choose between the classic Alienware Skullcap design or the new sleek Ripley design. The "StealthMode" that Alienware offers on the m15x allows you to switch between integrated and dedicated graphics.

Nvidia 8800M Graphics Card Announced Today

The Nvidia 8800M GTX card was officially released today to coincide with the release of these new Alienware laptops that provide the option of stuffing two of these cards inside. Though we don't know exactly how well these DX10 graphics cards will run, some claims from Nvidia indicate 3DMark06 scores will run into the mid-9000's:

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Based on Nvidia's claims, notebooks with the 8800m GTX should be able to get approximately twice the performance of the GeForce Go 7950 GTX. A single 8800M GTX should also be roughly the same speed as GeForce Go 7950 GTX SLI. Can you imagine the performance of the 8800M GTX in SLI? But then, imagine the sad battery life you'll get on any notebook with such a configuration!

More pictures and video of the m15x and m17x

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ha ha 1st post:


now just waiting to show up in europe

 

Ooohhh, glad to see that switchable graphics are not just on two current units anymore(The Sony SZ and ASUS U3). x3100 or 8800GTX on the go eh?

 

theoreticly you can add 3X 320 gb HDD to m17x with that smart bay. or i just misunderstood???

 

Very nice. I had the switchable graphics feature on my m5500 ... it's nice for preserving battery life.

 

Woot, pictures/information will continue to be added throughout the event. Hopefully Alienware will unveil a configuration page for us today to see how our custom model would price.

 

Pictures are up.

Andrew: When can we expect pricing details on the m15x to surface?

EDIT: Just noticed it won't be available until Q1 of 2008. Epic fail Alienware. Why would you put something out after the holidays? Good job.

 

You are great Andrew... [I can't lie ]

Waiting for pictures... [ or can we not see something like live video...? I'm just trying.. ]

 

I quite like to know the size of the 15''

 

So what does Ripley look like?

Q1 . . . .I am going to cry . . . .

 

Wow, the bezel for the m15x is HUGE! It looks like a 2 inch bottom bezel under the screen. Though it's probably justified, I wonder what the size of that beast is!

 

Yeah, weight and dimentions... if possible or just something estimate...

 

Pictures are up, and they look amazing. These are very radical designs.

Really liking the backlit keyboard. Neat-o.

 

Uninformed: Pictures of both models can be seen:

http://www.alienware.com/intro_pages/m17x_m15x.aspx

Q1 2008 is what's killing it for me. I want a new laptop in the next 2-4 weeks, so looks like I might have to pull the trigger on the X205-S9349 and live with it. I'm certainly not waiting several months for an upgrade. Hell no.

EDIT: I must agree, those backlit keyboards look pretty darn amazing. That and the sleek look of the m15x should be definite selling points for anyone in the marketing for a high-end laptop come Q1 2008. If pricing details for the m15x are released soon and it's reasonably priced I very well may just have to force myself to wait. We'll see.

 

Seconded. I'm going to go find a corner to cry in now.

 

Same here. I've said it before, there's something about that glowing red keyboard that makes me like it. Reminds me of old sci-fi movies

 

I would like to point out though, that RockDirect have the 8800 GTX as an option on the X770. It's +£255 over the 8700.

Not sure of shipping times, but i have emailed them to find out. Hopefully before christmas.

 

thinner than i thought looks the the thickness of a inspiron/vostro

That means its gona be able to fit in a Clevo 570ru

 

Th m15 is definitely better looking. Though fingerprints everywhere. Shouldn't there be an option for the gts then?

 

There probably will be an option for the GTS. C'mon Alienware, just put up a configuration page for the laptops and let us see how much our build would cost. -_-'

 

Hopefully, they will offer a new model earplugs for it as well.

 

yeah, the timing just killed it for me....I was really excited that this tech was out before Christmas, but no dice. So now I am going back to the m9750, and expect that there is no further price drrop unitl next year (or there may even be a price increase (yikes)!

I would even wait for the tech, but I'll be in europe by the time this comes out and that means and extra $1000 due just to exchange rates....

(sigh)

totaly unfair.

 

earplugs.....LOL.....maybe some rebranded sure E2C

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/11/19/alienware.m15x.and.m17x/

Some other cool pics. ALso about the timing. Its not alienware, its nvidia. Its nvidia's roadmap and production schedule thats due for the end of the year. Its not alienware, most other manufacturers won't have this available till next year either.

 

uh huh i am not buying anything until at least Q3 next yr so...lets see what happens then

 

It's not LOL at all, a few hours with the M570RU and you can buy a ticket for a psychiatric hospital... something like 50 dB noise every few minutes, that's definitely not fun.

 

heh...well maybe you should use a Cooler master NotePal Infinite then

 

Nope, I just would not buy it...

 

I keep calling, trying to get someone to put me down for a pre-order - no luck. They don't want my money early!

 

Those are from here:
http://www.alienware.com/intro_pages/m17x_m15x.aspx

 

heh.........i want more pics

 

Why aren't they using slot in disc????

 

So should I settle for the m9750? Upgrade it later? I really wanted to buy a laptop this week...

This hurts!

 

Looks awesome, and the dedicated/integrated graphics switch option is a very nice feature. Hopefully that'll become more mainstream in the future.

I have a feeling it'll be 2500+ even for the base model, though. And of course the point in getting it is to get the tricked-out model.

They do look really thick from the pictures on Alienware's site.

 

The M15x is really thick - it doesn't seem like its going to be all that much more portable than a regular 17" notebook like the Clevo M570RU or the like.

 

yeah! I'm glad they listened and got rid of that old tired look they had...and here you guys told me they knew what they were doing with that old look And they kept the focus on the little alienhead... guess I wasn't so wrong after all?

 

I asked, and because of some supply shortages with the 8800 they're not going to be able to launch this before Christmas like they had intended to, all they can say now is Q1 2008 without any firm idea on the date.

Obviously Alienware is ready to go, but Nvidia is not.

 

more coming, just added a couple more, and video here soon.

 

Yes.... Sager has officially announced 8800M GTX's for their 5791 and 9261.

Clevo D901C with quad-core and SLI 8800M GTX's still retains its status of being king of notebooks.

 

Nice

Andrew is double posting Jokes

 

Will they be launching these with the lower GPU options? I know that the M15x will also be available with the 8700GT and 8600GS.

 

gophn have they put the 8800's in the customization section??..cuz i cant find it on their website

 

That is all I wanted to hear

 

that looks like an HDMI port to me. Is this a 17 or 15? Will the m15x have HDMI?? If so, I'm not buying this HP 8510p. Going to wait for this thing. wow

now let's just hope the screen doesn't suck

 

USB, HDMI, FW400, eSATA, phone jack, Kensington lock jack from what i see. Its the 17" there.

 

Thanks for the great post Andrew.

But I have a few notes: Q1, that means that it will come together with the updated Penryn processor for Santa Rosa (T9xxx).
The 8800GTX is a beast, up to 10000 3dmark06 points is incredible! I bet you can play Crysis on that thing!

 

please be on the 15" too now i'm wondering which version of HDMI it is? I would cry realistic tears if it is 1.3... that would mean I could use an external monitor at WQXGA+ (2560x1600). damn, i am really, really stoked at the specs on this thing so far.

 

just looking forward to some 50-60fps Pong myself ! CURSE YOU square ball of death!!

 

Did Alienware say if they were at least going to update the M9750 with an 8800M config option before Christmas?

 

I must say they looked better in the closeups .

I was wrong in regards to the size as well , it seems they don't use a 17" form factor for the 2 models -- only for the 15" one , the 17" looks like a 19" as far as I can estimate by the keyboard .

The 8800M looks good though .