ALIENWARE M15X

The Alien goods have been into the country for quite some time. They are gregarious in appearance and having the deadliest of design, and they earn their reputation through this. Alienware is generating hype towards their range of notebooks and PCs. None will not be attracted, the men, the boys, the girls, managers, directors, school kids, teachers, gardeners, engineers, managers, executives, wretched slaves, level 99 paladins, PKers, noobs and pros alike… and Me. Alienware will just capture their attention, no matter how low their IQs, or even without prior computer knowledge at all. The drawback that turns these people away is the hefty price tag. O yes, I wish I had the ability to purchased a new customized M17x, with dual SLi enabled graphic card, but the idea of paying more than RM5K for a laptop is too hard. We would enjoy better dinner for 4 months if I forgo this one. Hmm, maybe someday I’ll get that one. It wasn’t long till I had the opportunity to purchase with a 4 months-old-used set of Alienware M15X, with valid warranty at half of the original price. Since I was insanely hooked up with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, and the incoming Call of Duty Black Ops and Starcraft 2, I bought it. By the way, none of my current notebook can handle these kinds of games well.

The M15X which I’ve purchase was Cosmic Black, fitted with the new Intel® Core™ i7 720M mobile processors, 500GB SATA hard disk, 4GB DDR3 1333 MHz memory, 260GTX Mobile NVidia with 1GB graphic, a super awesome 15.6” Led LCD with 1,920x1,080 pixel and other standard stuff you know, DVD Writer (Slotted type, cool), Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Webcam, Bluetooth, etc. etc. The design is extraordinarily out-of-this-world, and the somewhat masculine. The upper part and the main lower part of M15X are enclosed in a (approximately) 5mm thick aluminum. This aluminum provides more efficiency for dissipation of heat faster than ordinary plastic notebooks. Yes, it has some plastic components segment underneath its supersize belly, but it is kept to the minimal to certain areas where maintenance, upgrades or cleaning may take place. It is a fearsome notebook, where radical designing has been taken into the extremities, and indeed, over the past years, other notebook-manufacturers have been following this trend. Check out the Asus G74SX and MSI GX780.

The notebook sports with Alienware Command Center. It is an access to exclusive applications and controls, which includes the pre-installed AlienFX® lighting effects software and the AlienFusion power management system. Not much of useful though, unless you enjoy your notebook to be the center of attractions. Furthermore, I found that this kind of application drains the battery fast. It is cool to have extra lighting on the keyboard and notebook, but after awhile, I found it quite a distraction and boring. There are updates and new releases that can be downloaded directly into the Command Center, but I did not bother checking them out. There is also a Stealth Mode feature where it is designed to throttle back the CPU and GPU to decrease the energy consumption. It is also useful for reducing the noise output of the M15X. This Stealth Mode odometer is located above the keyboard with the touch-sensitive controls.

Back to the office, the machine was quickly underwent a software surgery. I had the Alienware M15X refreshed with factory default settings, and straight away installed more not less than 40 games in it, from my old favourite Total Annihilation to the newest Starcraft 2. Amongst other titles was, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty Black Ops, Battlefield 2 Bad Company, FIA WRC 2011, Company of Heroes Tales of Valor, Need For Speed World, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, Sniper Ghost Warrior, Colin McRae Dirt 2, GTA 4, and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011. As expected, the M15X manage to handle all these games well, on high settings. Unfortunately there are also few sicker titles, the graphic needs to be tone down to medium settings to avoid choppy performance. Notably on Metro 2033, Starcraft 2, Dawn of War 2, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit and GTA 4.

Out of these games, the M15X is indeed a very well planned notebook. Getting in and out of the system is quicker than any notebook that I have tested. Maybe I haven’t seen much of notebooks yet but, it is damn fast and stable. I had the machine for like 4 months, only on one instance the notebook goes hang and I had to use the power button to refresh it. Other time, there was no stopping this tank. The glass LED display is another highpoint for the M15X. It is glossy and provides sharper 16:9 wide display, High Definition viewing. Watch out for finger prints and smudges though. The sound quality is somehow, mediocre even with the acclaims Surround Sound HD 5.1 audio. It is crisp and clear, but does sound like a cheap RM25.00 USB powered speakers at some times. The M15X keyboard has a tapered key design, which is useful for First-Person-Shooter (FPS) mode with little room between letters. I’m not using the notebook keyboard much though, since I kept on being distracted by accidental slides on the touch pad. A cheap RM20.00 USB keyboard is OK for the time being.

Despite the bulky being, the Alienware M15X is still considered a portable gaming machine. Weighing at around 4 kg, one can still bring it around to shoot some pheasants or impress others. Plus, that might be a little workout too. The M15X is short of USB ports with only 2 ports of USB 2.0 and another 1port E-Sata/USB. As for expansions, it has an ExpressCard/54 slot and an SD card reader. Amazingly, M15X only supports normal VGA output port, despite the newer HDMI port. The audio output can be stacked into 5.1 channels. The 6 cells battery life is just enough for a little less than 2 hours of excitement. I would not recommend using this notebook without the AC adapter around, unless you’re doing FB or some spreadsheets. Then again, getting M15X for mobile FB and word processing is overkill. If you are doing this, please donate your excess dough to me!

The Alienware M15X is a premium notebook with a premium price tag. Superb performance, great ventilation, fierce design, trend-setting niche, and surely, I think it’s worth the price you pay. It is the beauty and the beast embedded in 4kg aluminum. Yes, you can get a desktop with this kind of specification at a lower price, but then, why desktop when you can save on your electric bills by long-runs, and still possess that portability (ops, did I forgot to mention, small portability?) by adding a little more dough. Yes, it has some downs, but it seriously, it won’t stop you down. The M15X notebook is somehow discontinued in Dell range of Alienwares, providing rooms for the newer models of Alienware M11X, Alienware M14X and Alienware M18X. Please, reduce the online population… and get the newest Alienware M18X!

Okay, just like the other stuff, the M15X was liquified 5 months later to a dude from Serdang.

Picture taken from: Dell Malaysia, Alienware M15X