With that super-powerful processor, we saw some of our best performance numbers to date, even beating a hybrid laptop built with desktop quad-core components. Make no mistake -- you're paying plenty for the privilege, but, at this time, no-one will have a faster laptop if you go for the most expensive processor upgrade.
Imposing performance
Using the M15x is a smooth, pleasing experience. Windows snap open and shut instantly, and annoying pauses are virtually non-existent. Gaming is likewise an excellent experience, even with only a single video card. Running Unreal Tournament 3 at a whopping 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, we got 99 frames per second. A few SLI dual-card laptops, such as the Asus W90, could beat that, but not by much, and even those systems fell behind at lower resolutions. The combination of a killer CPU and a good single GPU is a powerful one, and we can only imagine what we'll get from the first system we test with a Core i7-920XM plus dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M or 280M video cards.
As you'd expect, the M15x won't run for very long away from the mains. Even with the extended nine-cell battery, the system ran for only 1 hour and 46 minutes in our video-playback battery-drain test. That's alright for a high-powered desktop-replacement machine, but very low for a 15-inch system with at least pretensions of portability.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Conclusion
The Alienware M15x can become very expensive when you take advantage of the wealth of configuration options, and it's not particularly portable, but it makes up for these issues with cracking performance.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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User reviews3
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marshn 11 July 2011
Good: speed, graphics,display
Bad: nothing
Comment: just bought one of these bad boys its i7 820q with turbo button,ati radeon 5800 series graphics card,blue ray rw r player, 2mp web cam, 4GB memory, 250GB hard drive and its lunar red.i got this on eBay used for £700 on buy now it was a bargain i think.
i had to cancel my order from dell for one of these because it was going to take a month to deliver total cost without blue ray was £1208 so i decided to search on eBay for something similar so i could get it sooner rather than later.
i am glad i did because i saved over £500 and i got the laptop in 24hrs.i just bought fear 3 and its awesome runs excellent on high settings even with out the need to press the turbo button on the keyboard.
Jeevan Birdee 12 November 2010
Good: its epic
Bad: its over priced
Comment: i'm gonna get it soon hop it lives up to my expectations
majfaulkner 2 November 2010
Good: The graphics display and the keyboard size
Bad: If you want a lot of options it's going to cost you a bunch of money
Comment: I really like the 15x it's really nice and it would be a great benefit to my XPS770 Desktop. I want something portable.
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