Alienware Notebook PC Aimed at Serious Gamers

It isn't cheap, nor is its footprint particularly tiny in this age of increasingly small notebook PC's, but if you're looking for a portable powerhouse an Alienware M17 may be just what your PC doctor ordered.

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Part of the reason for the M17's 15-by-11-inch footprint is undoubtedly its 17 inch monitor, a terrific screen that would be pretty hard to shrink until the day foldable monitors become a reality. The LCD is a peach, too, offering full HDTV capability and a resolution of 1920 x 1200 that, when coupled to an HD source via its optional TV tuner (which my unit didn't have), lets you watch high definition TV broadcasts in their native resolution. Screen performance was fine indoors, though as usual it washed out under bright sunlight the way most LCD screens I've tried do. The unit also comes with an HDMI port you'd think would make it great for watching Blu-rays or other HD sources but, alas, it's for output only. Not only that but, configured as my test unit was, the computer only comes with a DVD burner drive. How dumb is that? A Blu-ray drive is an option, though one would think a company flogging its HD and all 'round high end capability would make such a thing standard. The M17 comes in a matte black, soft-touch Stealth Black finish the manufacturer says leaves it virtually impervious to fingerprints, though sometimes the heel of my hands would leave spots on the case thanks to the natural oil from my lily white skin. Alienware also says the case resists most minor scratches "leaving your notebook as flawless as they day you unboxed it", though (perhaps since I had to send the unit back after the review) I found myself removing my wrist watch while using the laptop because I didn't want to risk any scratches despite the manufacturer's claims. I was also a tad nonplussed with the size of the unit's power supply, which is bricklike and will take up a lot of room in the back pack. Alienware offers the M17 with a range of CPU options including the latest generation of Intel's Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad processors. The Extreme Quad-Core processor delivers "a dramatic leap forward in multitasking, content creation, 3D gaming and more on a mobile system", letting you "take on resource-intensive tasks such as video editing, audio mixing and 3D rendering at higher speeds." My test unit came with the Core 2 Duo CPU P8400 running at 2.26 gigahertz and with three gig of RAM. I tested some of its "resource-intensive" capability using such apps as Adobe Premiere (to work on some wedding footage I have) and I was quite happy with the performance – especially compared with my own notebook, which was up to date about two years ago but which, compared with the M-17, was about as useful with video editing as an abacus would be. I ran games like Quake 4 at their highest settings and for the most part they worked fine. I had a couple of times when things got slow and jerky, but once I rebooted the problems disappeared so, like everything else that isn't George W. Bush's fault, it was probably Bill Gates' (since the M-17 came with the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Home Ultimate). Alienware's "GPU" (Graphics Processing Unit) is robust: my test unit boasted dual ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 graphics cards. It also came with 136 gigabytes of hard drive, which seems pretty small for a supposedly high end system – but which, to be fair, is upgradeable to "up to a full 1TB of storage capacity in a RAID 0 configuration, enough to hold over 150 games, 250 full-length movies or 250,000 songs." Guess they save that for their paying customers… Other I/O's include a memory card reader, PC-Express card slot, FireWire, USB ports, Ethernet port, analog and digital audio connections, and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi. I’m not a heavy duty gamer and perhaps that's why I found some things about the M17 that simply rubbed me the wrong way. Little things, usually, such as the fact that the USB ports on the right side of the unit are mounted upside down to the rest of the industry – not a big deal but definitely weird. And when I hooked in my wireless portable mouse, the M17 announced that its built in touchpad system was shutting down, almost as if it was stamping its little foot in disgust that I'd choose to eschew the touchpad. Well I hate touchpads and have yet to find one I prefer to a mouse. That includes the M17's "AlienTouch" advanced touchpad, which the company says features customizable sensitivity, “tap and drag” functions and virtual scrolling (vertical and horizontal scrolling) with a brush of your finger. It works as well as any touch pad, which means I didn't like it. If you're concerned about security, and who isn't these days, you might be pleased to discover AlienSense, which uses the system’s two megapixel webcam to identify you by your face. The company says AlienSense "records and analyzes up to 1,000 facial features and biometric measurements" which is "tied to your user profile, ensuring protection against unauthorized access." Sounds good, but in practice it didn't work for me very well after the initial setup, forcing me to log into the computer manually most times. The system would scan my face for a while and then throw up its little electronic hands in frustration, indicating clearly that either the system doesn't work as well as it should or that my face is such that it refuses to acknowledge me. I'm hoping it was the former. At least it didn't run away and hide… To be fair, it did work sometimes. There's also fingerprint recognition built in. The keyboard has a strange, sci-fi-ish font, but it's easy to read and the keyboard can be backlit in a variety of colors. One thing I liked about the keyboard layout was the inclusion of an honest to goodness number pad, something made possible by the unit's large footprint. There are also launch buttons for your browser, email, media player and Power DVD. Alienware M17 pricing starts at $1399, and goes up from there depending on how you want it configured. Their web site says the "ultimate gamer" version sells for $3,919 and includes such upgrades as CrossfireX capability for the GPU, as well as Intel's Core2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) CPU, which Alienware's website says is the world's fastest mobile quad-core for the "ultimate multitasking experience". You can also configure it with up to eight gig of RAM, a remote control and more. Blu-ray capability would be nice if you want to take your BD collection on the road or to a friend's – or to run displays at a trade show – but for my lifestyle I'd rather have a smaller, more portable unit that does less and costs less. I'm looking forward to trying out one of the new Netbooks, those stripped down units that are designed for mainstream portability, which sound like they'd be much closer to my home and work needs. On the other hand, if you're looking for a high performance PC that'll still fit on your lap somewhat, this Alienware might be a good unit to consider.