Alienware's M17x R3: An Antidote to Clevo
by Dustin Sklavos on June 20, 2011 9:06 AM ESTConclusion: Nearly as Good as it Gets
After using the Alienware M17x R3, I'm actually sorry I'll have to send it back. Usually with most of the notebooks I've reviewed there's some kind of fatal flaw, or something that makes it less than ideal for my purposes. But the M17x R3 is mostly bulletproof. It's bulky and heavy, yes, but it's also a gaming notebook running high-performance kit.
The M17x R3's biggest problems aren't even necessarily issues with the notebook itself. The aesthetic may not be for everyone, but the build quality is fantastic (outside of minor flex in the keyboard.) And while the glossy screen is going to be a dealbreaker for some people, the implementation is sound. No, the real issues lie in the configuration options that Dell offers with it. Only offering quad core processors and eschewing the extreme i7-2920XM isn't a problem, but none of the storage configurations offered are anything resembling ideal. Defaulting to RAID 0 is a great way to get the notebook sent back in for service. Most of the media seems to have drawn the same conclusion here: an SSD for a system drive and an HDD for a storage drive is the way to go. That this option isn't available on their site is downright bizarre.
The other issue is a smaller one: the graphics configuration options. I'm not sure entirely where blame needs to be placed here, either. AMD users are going to be set: the HD 6970M is tied for the fastest mobile GPU available, and the HD 6870M is a capable alternative for users who want to keep costs down. But if you need NVIDIA kit, the GTX 460M just isn't going to cut it. It's not a bad GPU, but it can barely compete with the 6870M that it's offered as an upgrade from, and Alienware doesn't offer Optimus technology with that GPU. Really, what we need are either the rarefied GeForce GTX 470M as a halfway point or at least the GeForce GTX 560M, which will hopefully become available as an upgrade option. In a perfect world we could choose between the GeForce GTX 485M and the HD 6970M, but one of these is in great supply from multiple vendors and the other is not. (By the way, kudos to AMD for finally getting top-end mobile GPUs out in force for two generations in a row.)
With all that said, though, the M17x R3 has an awful lot to offer any consumer looking for a gaming notebook. It's definitely pricier than ASUS's offering, but it's also faster, more comfortable to use, flashier, and has both better battery life and a better overall design. Clevo notebooks can't really compete on cost here, either. The M17x R3 is just fun to use, with a great screen, comfortable keyboard, minimal gloss, and a solid build. Fix the flex in the keyboard, find some way to keep the bottom from getting so hot, and offer just a bit better configuration options from the Dell website and Alienware will have a gold Editor's Choice on their hands. As it stands, we think the M17x R3 is more than worthy of the bronze.
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Brad4 - Monday, June 20, 2011 - link
In the above message I intended to complain about 16x9 screen resolutions. Unfortunately, if someone wants a really nice laptop with a 16x10 resolution, the macbook pro is the only option. I will probably purchase the 17" mbp and install win7.Uritziel - Monday, June 20, 2011 - link
So for that 1080 -> 1200 small jump into the less common format, you're willing to live with the greatly reduced GPU and halved RAM, while paying separately for the Win 7 license? Those extra pixels must mean a lot to you. Too bad they'll drag the 6750M down even further...Brad4 - Monday, June 20, 2011 - link
That is correct. Unfortunately, it is the only option I'm left with.kmmatney - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
Me too. It's not just a change of 1200 pixels - its a general reduction of the entire screen size. it feels like I'm looking through a slit with a 16x9 laptop. I'm not sure I want a MBP, but there's not too many other options out there now.I run a lot of VMs, and really need the vertical space.
cjl - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
Why not just get a nice external monitor for use most of the time? That gives you even more space and resolution (potentially) than the MBP, while retaining the performance advantage of the Alienware.Uritziel - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
I just figured, as a DTR, you could live w/ the 16:9 for the built-in monitor and just get a nice, external, 16:10, giant, productivity monitor. But, if that's not an option for your use case, I guess you're kinda stuck :\Spazweasel - Monday, June 20, 2011 - link
People who attach their self-worth and identity to what hardware they buy have no worth or importance of their own. Without the object of their hatred or the brand they've decided to ride the coattails of, they dry up and blow away.It's just hardware, dumbasses. The logo on it has no virtue or evil, no matter what that logo is. If it's evil you want, how about Dell's deliberate campaign of lies to cover up the extreme failure rate of their Optimus computers? Where's the outrage over that? Oh yeah, this isn't about truth. It's about shoring up a shattered self-esteem which actually deserves to be shattered. Haters gonna hate, and that's what makes them inferior.
Impotence + income jealousy + never having done anything to be proud of = logo hater.
k1ckass - Monday, June 20, 2011 - link
I think you mean Optiplex, Optimus is an Nvidia technology...RoninX - Monday, June 20, 2011 - link
I'm always impressed by the thoroughness of the Anandtech reviews compared to those of other popular tech blogs, and the M17x looks very nice to me (though I'd probably go with a smaller screen).One thing I would like to see in reviews of gaming/high-end laptops is an estimate of battery life while gaming. I know a lot of people use these as desktop replacements, but I already have a high-end gaming rig for home (i7-2600k + GTX570 + SSDs, etc.). However, I do a lot of traveling for business, and the only reason I would buy a gaming laptop is for playing games while waiting for flights (on battery) as well as at the hotel (on AC). This can turn "OMG, not another delay!" to "Oh well, back to gaming."
I recently purchased a Sandy Bridge Dell XPS 15 L502x, so I'm not in the market right now, but I like to keep up with what's coming down the pike. While some people would say that it's impossible to play high-end games for any significant time on battery power, that's not true. I get around 90 minutes of gaming on my XPS 15, and I carry a spare battery, so that gives me up to 3 hours, which is usually enough to deal with layovers as well as airport delays.
So, even though battery gaming time may be limited on any high-end laptop, the difference between, say, 90 minutes (one spare battery), 60 minutes (two spare batteries), and 30 minutes (five (!) spare batteries) can be significant. I would find this information very useful, and I'm guessing that others would as well.
Thanks...
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
Your request isn't unreasonable and I know Jarred's dabbled in pulling those kinds of numbers. The problem I've seen is that sometimes notebooks running on the battery, regardless of whatever the power setting is, don't perform quite as fast as they would if they were plugged into the wall. So you wind up having to add a second metric: you're testing gaming running time on the battery, and you're testing performance on the battery.Honestly I think anyone wanting to game while on battery power would be best served just buying a Llano-based notebook. Is it going to be as fast as a Sandy Bridge-based one? No, but it's going to last a heck of a lot longer. Jarred ran the Llano test unit through a loop of 3DMark06 to see how long it would run gaming, and he got nearly three hours of running time.