Review of Alienware's Area-51 m17x

The Area-51 m17x is Alienware's highest-end gaming notebook. Notable features of this all-black monster include an Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, dual Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GT graphics cards, and a 500GB RAID 0 array. It is one of the most powerful machines we have tested here at NotebookReview.com.

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Great review as always Chaz! Too bad about that price. YIKES!

 

Nice review Chaz,

It would be great thou if someone loaned you a OCZ Whitebook and more Sagers so you could do reviews on them and compare them with this beast (m17x).

How many years do you think AW made the m17x? 2 or 3?
For that price, one would hope that you wouldn't have to buy another NB for top of the line gaming for at least 2 years.

 

Jeez, for close to 6,000 bucks you'd think they could throw in the bag for free.

 

6000$?IMO,not worth it!

Still,thx for excellent review Chaz

BTW,Chaz, link in the review leads to m15x

 

chaz what screen is in there if you dont mind. im looking for a near perfect screen and id love to check that one out. possibly even a model number?? or at least hardware id..?? ill guess and say lg and mmm maybe the lpl0032?? or the lpl400?? thanks

 

Chaz, what screen manufacturer is that???

9800Gt sli and it barely breaks the ~12000 mark, not that impressive IMO, and definitely not worth the money.
In addition, I don't see what's so great about smartbay, All the thinkpads, HP business-line, and Dell latitude have it. It's not something so special to me.
Thanks for the review Chaz.

 

it has old tech... yuck

 

66 mnts of battery in power save mode and wireless off?
What if not in power save mode? 30 mnts?

thats the worst laptop battery live I've ever know.

 

Nice review Chaz.

It's a mobile graphic powerhouse. I'm finally glad I got to see some good pics of the m17x. It's really thick. If you need dual 9800's.. you gotta put up with 11 pounds and no battery.

 

geezus this thing has better specs than my desktop..

 

Nice review but for me the the whole range of 2 alienware products are completely pointless. They are sooo overpriced. Who would buy a $6000 alienware that will brake in a week time when u can buy an absolute top quality monster from sager for that. I dont even know if u can get the sager to $6000 with 8Gb of ram and every other accessory.

 

I ve just customized the m17x with all the accessories except external HDs and the price comes up to $6538.
Thats for an old x9000 and 9800Gt SLi.

and for $6631 from sager u get
q9650
8Gb ram
9800GTX SLI
1.5Tb HD RAID0
BluRay BURNER
Fully painted laptop the way u want it
HD TV Tuner

OH I customized both laptops with the best warranty possible. With Sager u get No DEAD pixel warranty and accidental protection with the price

 

Thanks for the comments.

You mean how long did it take them to design the notebook? I have no idea, but this chassis is exclusive to Alienware.

I'll check the screen model # and get back to you.

It's terrible, I know. The Sager NP9262 gets around the same battery life with similar specs (E8400, 8800M-GTX SLI, RAID 0).

Yeah, it's just something you have to deal with if you want this kind of power . . .
Then again, today we have power in a 15.4" form factor that you couldn't get close to two years ago in a 17". So maybe in two years we'll have this kind of power in a smaller form factor.

As I said in the review, you don't get as much as you should for the money, but you are getting a solid laptop. Alienwares have their own allure. You pay more for the looks and the name.
The m17x has an internal TV tuner by the way.

 

At least we finally get to see a review of the m17x MONTHS after it was first released, and some close-up pictures too.

 

thanks chaz i look foward to seeing which panel it is. my 1730 gets just about the same for battery life maybe a hair more so its def on par

 

Sorry Chaz,

I meant how future proof do you think AW made the m17x. Need to proof read my own typing before I hit that submit button.

 

The price doesn't surprise me, but the 800MHz FSB on a "top end" laptop now seems kinda dumb. If only Sager 17in gaming books had a full numpad Id be all over them.

 

OK - the screen model is "LPLE400". Let me know if that is what you wanted (Hardware ID in Device Manager).

Ah - I think it's reasonable to expect a machine like this to be good for gaming for at least 3 years, maybe more.

The m17x is based on the Santa Rosa platform, but even if it was based on the Montevina platform it would make little difference. The performance difference between the platforms is insignificant at best.

 

can you try everest to see if it gives you the actual lg part number.. like lp171wu1 tl a2 etc...??

 

Everest reports the same thing.

 

Good god, $5900???? That's a lot of dough to be able to play $50 games. With that kind of money, I'd just go buy a new motorcycle or a russian wife.

 

looks like the lplf400 is the lp171wu1 (tl)(a2) fyi from my sources

 

For 6k you could buy a OCZ Whitebook or a Sager 9626 and take it on a cruise with you through the carribean.

 

I'd rather get W700 instead =P

 

Good review Chaz, The fans on my M17 are not loud at all and have not noticed any whine even when the speed up when gaming. i get about 90 minutes on battery when on stealth mode even when screen brightness is full on. i wonder is the 9800 cards make any difference. i have the 8800 cards in mine.

 

The 8800M-GTX = 9800M-GT, there's no difference between the cards. I am running the Intel Extreme processor and dual 250GB 7200RPM in RAID, which no doubt have a significant effect on battery life. What kind of processor and hard drive do you have?

 

So this is what the NBR servers are running on? Hehe.

 

That's a MONSTER, not a notebook anymore

Kind of reminds me of American cars...

 

From the m17x order page:

Doesn't that qualify as false advertisement? X9100 QX9300

 

it should lol

 

For that money I'd buy an awesome desktop and an awesome laptop.

 

build your own kick-*** desktop for 3000 (really really kick-***)
then CTO a W700 for like 3000 or so....

wow, how I wish I had that money.

 

$3000 for an awesome Tri-SLI setup and then $3000 for the Ocz witebook with crossfire. ... I really do not get the alienware pricing. Who thats not a celebrity and has some brain left will pay $6000 for a laptop that is soo outdated.

 

People are attracted to the lights and the Alien head. I have to admit that the Alien head is cool but not $6000 cool.

I love the AW look but the not the HW it packs and the price they want for it.

IMO, that's barely a $4k NB. For $4K, you can get a 9262 or OCZ WB that will blow it out of the water.

The m17x is great NB. It's just not $6k great.

 

If you have money... why not?

 

Well if you have the money to burn then it could be a good buy 'cause they are buying it purely for the looks. Plus most people don't know about the other NBs like Sager and OCZ.

I can't see someone who is computer savy and does the research buying this computer purely on HW. It also has to be the looks and the name AW.

That alienhead draws them in like flames does to moths.

 

If you turn off all the lights the m17x isn't that flashy, but its size will attract attention anyway. It's hard to portray how large this notebook actually is without seeing it in person.

As I noted in the review, you're getting a nice machine no doubt, but the $6k pricetag is over-the-top. The base $3,899 config is not that bad though:
-17" WUXGA
-SLI 9800M-GT
-T9300
-2GB
-TV tuner
-320GB 7200RPM

I recommend the m17x, but not the configuration I have. It's just too much money. For the price as I also noted . . . a 3-year warranty really should be standard. That was my major gripe with the price.
My recommended config would be the base + 4GB RAM, RAID 1 (mirrored hard drives), 3-year warranty, Orion messenger bag.
If you're on a budget, obviously the m17x isn't for you.

 

Even at the base price, 3 year warranty should be included. But AW is not the only company at fault with that. Dell, HP, Gateway, Sager, they all do it. At least at that price AW can give everyone a free mug like OB got.

But the m17x is a nice looking beast with nice HW inside of it. A little bit on the pricey side but is a nice NB and surely worthy of a look. If AW came down in their price or came up in the HW, I would give this NB some serious consideration.

 

You didn't mention Stealth Mode in the review, I assume you ran your battery life tests using that?

Yes, it does.

I echo what everyone else has said; Nice laptop but for $6000 it should be a lot better. I was originally going to buy one when they had base models starting at about £1500 but now that the models they sell start at £2500 it just isn't reasonable. Instead, I've decided to spend £1000 on a good laptop and build a desktop (which will be more powerful than the m17x) for £1000.

 

It was in stealth mode, yes.

The m17x used to start at a lot lower price in the US as well, but now that the 9800s are standard equipment, it's got a much higher pricetag.

 

Very good review!

 

Jayson S, you might want to contribute your opinion about the Notebook or something rather then just saying "very good review" for multiple threads.

Matte black looks just wrong to me. Glossy (though it attracts fingerprints) looks awesome in combo with lights

 

The black matte finish does look great on the m17x, I was actually contemplating on ordering an m17x when I heard all the horror stories with the m15x regarding the chassis and hinge.

But the most important factor that made me go for the m15x ( besides the price difference ) is the battery life. I found out that binary gfx was not a feature of the m17x, and as of now, smart bay batteries are still not available for it

 

I reckon the reason a smart bay battery is not available for the m17x is because it would simply not be able to supply enough power for the notebook to run.

 

I believe if the m17x had binary gfx as well, a smart bay battery would help with the abysmal battery life

I guess the main reason you would want a 17" laptop is for it to be a desktop replacement anyways Always plugged in A/C power and seldom moved around.

 

Yes, there used to be a 2.1ghz processor, dual 8600 or 8700s and a couple of other options. I don't miss the other dual graphics card options, they were pretty pointless anyway, but I don't see why they can't offer a single 9800 instead. The configuration I planned, with dual 8800s and a 2.1Ghz processor came out at about £2000 - So I wasn't exactly being cheap.

I think Alienware have lose the plot with the m17x; The only way to justify the price is if it's absolutely the best available and completely cutting-edge. The m15x was great because it was the first 15" laptop with an 8800GTX and I was prepared to pay a price for that. The m17x isn't the best on the market: Don't get me wrong, it's fast, but it's beaten by the Sager NP9262 for far less money. All it has going for it is the looks, and that's not worth £1000.

Yes, there really wouldn't be much of a point. On the other hand, for a notebook from a beautique brand like Alienware it wouldn't really hurt to include it - It's not as if they're on a budget.

The notebook would be that bit more justifiable if Alienware were more generous in including things such as this and a standard 3-year warranty.

 

The CPUID picture shows a 25C max teperature difference between the two graphics cards - seems like one of them isn't getting nearly as much fan coverage. And while the 62C one is nice and cool, I'd be a bit hesitant to buy an nVIDIA GPU that runs at 87C right now - sure it's within specs and they've supposedly fixed the defectiveness issues, but that's well beyond the "safe even while defective" temperatures, and I don't imagine Alienware's expended all their old stock yet.

But then again, with that high of a starting price, the hot GPU temps isn't really an issue at all.

 

bit pricey for old stuff no?

 

yes in fact for 100% sure the lple400 is the lp171wu1 tl a2 revision. it is a 260nit screen with a 16ms response time. i can answer any questions about this screen. also fyi and newer systems should be part number lgde400 instead or until alienware runs out of what they have since lg is no longer known as lg philips its now lg display hence the change from lple to lgde in the part numbers..