Alienware ships 'most powerful' 15in laptop to Brits
Extreme 'Penryn', GeForce 8800 GTX on board
Alienware's first gaming laptop designed from the ground up by the company itself, the Area 51 m15x, is now on sale to British gamers.
The 15.4in machine ticks all the right technology boxes: 45nm 'Penryn' Intel Core 2 Extreme processor and Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX graphics, up to 4GB of 667MHz DDR 2 memory and the ability to swap out the multi-format DVD writer for a second battery.
Alienware's m15x: World's most powerful 15in notebook?
Alienware was keen to point out that the m15x is a truly mobile gaming machine. Whereas 17in gaming laptops are typically bought as a more portable alternative to a desktop, the company claimed the 15in machine not only delivers top-spec gaming performance but is a machine that can be used on the move.
The machine incorporates what Alienware calls BinaryGFX - a system to allow the machine to flip between the chipset's integrated graphics engine and the 8800 GTX. Alas, it's not automatic, the company admitted, but it comes close: Windows Vista's put to sleep, the GPUs are switched, then the OS is awoken once more.
Well lit, boy racers
What all this does for the battery life, Alienware didn't say. We look forward to testing the machine to find out.
The m15x also sports Alienware's customary boy-racer friendly lighting, which divides the chassis lights - keyboard, alien logo, soft-touch control panel etc - into seven zones, all of which can be assigned a colour independently of the others.
The laptop comes with an HDMI port, in addition to Gigabit Ethernet, a seven-in-one card reader, ExpressCard 54 slot, three USB ports and a four-pin Firewire 400 connector.
Available now, the m15x is priced according to its buyer-selected configuration. The most basic set-up costs £948.
Related Reviews
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 mobile 'Penryn' processor
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Rock Xtreme X770 laptop with Nvidia GeForce 8800M graphics
COMMENTS
Also typing this on a m15x
I've had the same problem with the volume control, but apart from that it's been okay. Except...for the slight issue when I first got the laptop after waiting a month only to find out it wouldn't charge the battery, so needed to go back in for a motherboard swap.
Since I've had it back it's been fine, even Vista runs fast.
@Reid Malenfant
Nobody's going to tell you to get in more if you're spending your time sifting through blog entries looking for things to preach about - quite the reverse in fact. Tell me which is more a waste of technology, entertaining millions of people who find computer/video games fun or venting your spleen at random audiences merely because you don't share their interests?
Why the alien? That's (arguably) the closest icon to a troll.
RE: Whose inefficiency is this?
To be fair, what they're doing is attempting to yank hardware out on the fly, hibernating is a pretty good attempt at this; I bet if you reached into your desktop and pulled out the graphics card while it was still running it'd not go so well.
@Tim
"Game plots are written to make interesting gaming, They are not a deep interesting story that you recommend to a friend."
Not true. It depends on the game. One of the things I look for in a game is an immersive narrative, as that's my kind of escapism. That's why I think Future Shock and Deus Ex are superior to other more modern games.
Adding to TeeCee
7) Second hand, it would be worth less than the accessories purchased for it
8) Brand new, it would be offered with 1 year's free insurance to attract young gamers
9) Aftermarket additions to the bodywork would be made from half painted MDF/fibreglass
10) It would run on a bigger screen than in was originally designed for
