PCMark05 Results
Longer bars are better
By toggling the fourth button, Binary GFX, and restarting the Alienware, we could switch from the GeForce Go 8800M graphics to the integrated Intel GPU built into the laptop's 965GM chipset. Combined with Stealth mode this boosted battery life beyond two hours of continuous use. The problem, of course, is that performance was greatly reduced yet you would still have to lug a 3.6kg laptop from pillar to post.
The alternative is to step up from the 6-cell battery to a 9-cell for £95 and maybe swap out the DVD writer for a 6-cell SmartBay battery for another £80. Or simply choose only to play games when you're connected to the mains.
Verdict
You pay a steep price for the Alienware m15x with all the bells and whistles and in return you get a colossal amount of gaming power with graphics that would shame many a desktop PC.
Alienware Area-51 m15x gaming laptop
COMMENTS
re: aha!, bbbut.,.
Not sure whether you were trying for humour or not, but in case you weren't:
1> Alienware IS Dell nowadays...
2> Alienware also have a twin 8800 capable model (m17x) - but it's an absolute beast compared to the m15x.
Audio
It's Realtek audio - to the best of my knowledge there's no such thing as Intel audio
RE: compares badly
I don't think that Acer compares very well, it's much bigger at 18.4in, the CPU is slower and the graphics card is a 9650M GS so it'll give you about 9000 3DMarks compared to the 15000 of the 8800 GTX. It's not a bad laptop, but if you want the best gaming performance in a relatively small package, the Alienware is the better option.
What's with the plugs?
A tepid games section...
A HDTV love-in thread...
An echoing and self-linking news forum consisting almost exclusively of reposts of news articles.
Likewise, a baby laptops thread populated solely by re-posting of Reg articles...
And a dodgy favicon to boot.
What's with the continual approval of irrelevant and desperate eupeople plugs?
sound
the review mentions a realtek hd audio, but on the alienware site it says its intel... has it changed?
