Alienware m17x and m15x Gaming Laptops Unveiled at NYC Event

Andrew,

Thanks for the pictures and time away from the event to post...

Does the m17x have the same BinaryGFX or 'Stealth Mode' as the m15x?

Do either the m15x or the m17x have front panel media controls? How does that keyboard feel?

And to those who have Alienware machines,

Does Alienware have something similar to Dell's MediaDirect where you can play mp3s, CDs, DVDs, etc without booting into Windows?

Thanks,
Dave

 

god it looks like ass! how in the world can you guys get excited for this? it has no ports on the back, not even the power port for god's sake! it's also bigger and heavier than the m9750. the keyboard also looks like it's going to have flex. alienware went the same route as dell's m1730 with the shiny plastic and color-changing lights. what a dissapointment.

the m9750 with the user-upgraded 8800m is a much better choice as it has a proven chasis with zero keyboard flex and stealth black scheme.

 

Yes they do they use PowerCinema.

 

I'd be excited for this laptop if it would be on the price of around $1500, but I know in my heart it will not; it will carry a huge price premium, especially for the 15.4" version with the 8800.

Still, quite an achievement by the folks at Alienware. Now, who's the ODM of those laptops so we know who to look for when we buy our aftermarket "Alienwares" at half the price from Sager?

 

You actually saw something that looked like the keyboard would flex...from STILL pictures?? As for the power port on the side, I don't think I'd mind it if it came with a plug like the m9750 with the 90 degree angle in it. The one in the pics doesn't look like it does though...but I understand why they are doing it. That whole back section is probably venting. I'd rather sacrifice and have all my ports/plugs on the sides and venting in the back than have venting in the back and on one or both sides to cool this beast.

Anybody know if the keyboard will allow for individually choosing colors for each key for the backlighting? It doesn't look like it based on the pictures (i.e. looks like the light comes from behind the keyboard array and shines through the white on the keys as opposed to having lights in each key). It'd be really cool for gaming though, to be able to highlight different keys in different colors!

 

does anybody know if they gonna upgrade the M9750 with a 8800m (or even later with a 8800gtx) before christmas???

 

This is such a let down. I'm guessing it'll take Dell till the summer to get these dang 8800M in the M1730....

From one fan looking to game over christmas - BOO!!

 

I would agree about the let down... I am not a big fan of all this hype it s kind of "here s the lolly pop, have a nice lick because i am taking the lolly pop away for a while" .why showing this great laptops now, and having no date about the release to the public

 

MaxGem,

Thank you.

Andrew,
Sorry to bother you...but how does the m15x compare in size to the m17x? Is the m15x basically a 17" chassis with a smaller screen (and larger screen bezel)?

Lefty,
What are you going to feed to an external monitor at 2560x1600? Scaling up HD-DVDs or Blu-rays? Is there any notebook card that can run a game at that resolution? Are there any games that support that resolution? Or do you just need more screen real estate for video/photo editing? I've always been confused about 1.3...I thought it just enabled True HD or DTS HD to be transmitted encoded to a receiver for decoding...

Argh,
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...some of us like shiny, plastic things with lots of lights...and where the ports happened to be located on a machine isn't typically a selling point for me...location of the optical drive is a bit of a concern for me...I hate when they're in the front...and that's an awesome skill being able to size up notebook/keyboard flex from photos...saying a notebook is ugly is fine...that's an opinion and we all have them...implying that people who disagree with you (those that are excited about this laptop and those of us [me] who were excited about the m1730) are lacking in judgement and intelligence probably crosses the line...

And shame on nVidia for not having the part ready before Christmas...but I think Alienware was brilliant in introducing the laptops...if not for the announcement, I may have purchased a Toshiba X205 in time for the holidays...now, I'm torn...

 

ahh i think the design looks a bot like the apple mac book, but then with freaking awesome lights and backlit keyboard...

god i like the e-sata!!!!

 

15.4" with 8800M, woah, I did not expect the time to come so soon.

 

Hi guys, I'm new to this,
I own a Dell Inspiron 8500, WUXGA bought in 2003, it's dead now though, HDD went on me!!!
I think one of the big differences between the XPS1730 and the m17x is the adition of the "Turbo Memory", according to Intel it shaves up to 20% from boot time and saves battery life...as if that;s going to work runing SLI but i guess we can but try lol
Thanks alot Andrew for your excellent coverage
Stuck for choice now though, i'm still bias towards Alienware, they make awsome machines.
Is the customer service really that bad?

 

Everything looks great, but laptop for a price of a car? 5000 and up $ I don't think so, this is just too much.

 

Don't let the Intel marketing fool you - if you read around these forums you'll find that Turbo Memory is useless - it does not provide any noticeable performance gain and it's definitely not worth any money. It's a good idea but hasn't materialized into anything. Hopefully Robson 2.0 (Robson is the codename for Turbo Memory) will have better results when it is introduced with the Montevina platform in Q2 2008.

 

Everything looks great, however my question is what happen when the 45NM processor rolls out, are they going to switch to the X9000 Extreme Edition processor or leave it as Santa Rosa Platform?

 

It may be expensive but it's only £2.5 - 3 which is the same range as the 1730, it is also a desktop replacement, and fully DX10 to boot.
Bugwump - I agree the ability to change a group or seperate keys would be great for gaming, and look totally cool (",)
I like the ports too, far better then Dell's poor effort for the money! tsk tsk Dell lol

 

Hey Chaz, Thanks for the info, i will do some further research, so does the Robson drive enable any other useful features in Vista?
I'm glad you get Ultimate, i must admit Home Premium seemed stingy for the money.

 

I don't understand what you're saying here - 2560x1600 is an great res to use all the time, if you have a 30" lcd. I play all my games at that res and I expect this new notebook to be able to handle it with ease. Besides using Phtoshop and Flash all the time on it, games look awesome. And the HDMI or DVI-D (if it does that) just helps sweet'in the pot.

 

JUST as I thought, it's 15.4" but extremely THICK, from the looks of it it's about 2.5" thick which is pretty bad...

 

I would bet that you won't be buying those notebooks from Sager at any price... but you can always hope, it's good that hope is still free

 

oh man those alienwares are fuglacious...i thought it was gonna be all cool and futuristic looking....they took it back to the stone ages. for $6000 the case could be better.

 

note too excited about the way ripley turned out but i still love the sidelit skullcap btw pcitures galore at engadget http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/hands-on-with-alienwares-area-51-m15x-and-m17x-laptops/

if its been posted already im sorry and you may flog me with a 2x4

 

Sorry but desktop replacement for 5K, what kind of a desktop is that, like the ones from NASA, lol.

 

Hey, Alienware is actually starting to design decent looking laptops that aren't as ugly as the old ones. I think they're going in the right direction. Hopefully they don't grossly overprice these two machines like they tend to do. Unfortunately, that appears to be their plans right now. These new machines definitely look cheaper in build quality than their older stuff so to pay the same price is highly annoying.

Also, Alienware probably wasn't targeting Christmas shoppers. They're probably targeting people who get their tax refund checks next year. An Alienware is not a stocking stuffer for your average Joe.

 

hmmmmmmzzzzzzz..... anybody got any clue as to dimensions? because thats probably gonna either make me get an m17 or an m9750

 

NOOO!!!! HOW CAN IT COME OUT SO LATE!!!?>!!??!! I NEED IT BEFORE JANUARY 6th ! ! !

Please just come out on January 1 please please please please.... omg... nvidia just P*ssed me off for the first time

This is seriously looking bad for me... I cant really afford carrying a 17inch lappie... Will a 8700gt do crysis on high?

 

damn, i bet u ruined their day....

yaya this is good news....im not building till next spring so i dont care.

 

oh man $5000 that would be the soon to come dual 9800GTX in the desktop world. No way one would buy this laptop for $5000, that would be one hell of a killer desktop rig.

 

m15x starts "I believe" at 1399... with 8800gtx and 2.2ghz 2gb ram 160hdd etc... it ran up to 2300 so im pretty attached to that right now

 

THIS IS INSANE!!! How can they already have the 8800gtx and laptops there... but have to wait a full blown 2 months or more to release their g0d d@ng laptops... do you realize how much money they will lose by releasing so late?

 

Let me get this straight... they can actually fit 8800m in a 15inch laptop??????????

 

Good morning, I guess you missed the whole last week...

 

None. They may lose your dollar, but will pick up someone else's. It's their technology to release. It's their manufacturing capability being used. Having the technology and manufacturing it are two very different things. There WILL be a wait, as usual for all new technologies.

 

Q1 means what... from January to April ?! Thats a huge BAMF'ing timeframe

 

I dont think the performance of teh 8800 will be 2x SLI 7950GTX, if u read the fine print in the post, it says the 8800 was tested on a laptop w/ a 2.8Ghz Extreme Proccesor and the 7950 were in a 2Ghz Processor.

Will the Quarter 1 lapies be released with the new intel c2d that come out around that same time?

 

No... I was just skeptical... After all, this is the first time that a high-end card is being used in a 15 inch.

 

After all, you are just like always, a few light years behind the others...

 

1st time ?!?!?!?!??!

What about the ATi Mobility Radeon 9700 then?

 

hmmm so alienware did just rip off the 17" screen on the m17x and glued on the 15.4" screen,,,looks like it is about 2.5" thick but the the hybrid graphics system seems nice.

 

Yeah, the bezel on the 15"er looks rediculous

I guess the 17" it is then, huh? Anyone want to buy a year old M1710?!?

 

if it had a 7950 then maybe...they're goin for 700-900ish on craigslist depending on config...how much are you asking for this??

 

Hi All, new here and also very excited about the new AW Books. I just hope they are not Clevo based as I've been down that road TWICE and all I can say is that they are problematic...FAST! But problematic...overheating, motherboard failures etc...These new AW lappies look fine though...

 

Man, do I ever want an M15x. BADLY. Dual 8800s in a 15.4"....wow. And the ability to go integrated to save on battery when you don't need the gaming power....This may be the best 15.4" notebook out there, PERIOD. And it hasn't even been released yet!!

Then again, only time will tell to see what the build quality is like, especially in regards to the keyboard (with awesome backlighting BTW!), and if there are any common issues down the road.

However, there is one thing I don't like already about the new Alienwares, and that's the glossy finish they have. Too many fingerprints for me. The cleaner lid design looks very nice, though.

But overall, AWESOME!! Looks like the Asus C90 finally has some serious competition. When I'm ready for a new notebook, it'll be a tough call between the M15x, the C90, and *possibly* the HP Compaq 8510w.

 

I'm very excited for this. Of course, I'm going to be using my G2S for at least another two years. Alienware will have something killer by then, eh? xD

 

tera

The 15x has only 1 8800 in it, not sli. It's a typo in the write-up....

As far as for how much for the 1710, I don't really know - am having a hard time pricing it.

 

Oh crap. Did Alienware neglect the second mouse button again?

 

It's a very thick laptop, though. They had to make it up somehow.

Think the first Dell XPS laptop.

 

Aww...I'm truly disappointed. I mean, it's amazing to be able to fit an 8800 in the 15 incher but the glossy look just isn't for me. Although the ripley model is a nice breakaway from the regular designs. Welp, looks like I'll just have to order the 9750. But seriously props to AW. That 15' has some mad power goin on.

 

What do you guys think the price will be on these things? I'm particularly interested in the 15" model even though I just got a macbook...I was thinking about selling it because it's a great computer but once I broke it in and I wanted to start playing games which isn't possible. Do you think the 15" model will be around $2000? I'm hoping to get the 15" model with XP pro, 8800GTX, 2GB of RAM, and probably 100 7200RPM... I think I have high expectations lol

 

exactly

you and me both just to be clear, it's actually DTS-HD Master Audio. for video 1.3 adds "deep color", which is a wider gamut.

it's pretty new stuff and barely starting prove its benefits to most people. the only reason i know i want 1.3 is for the higher PC resolution